Rule of law

Reconciliation has not been treated as an attractive word in Sri Lanka. The government’s view is that forgetting is the best course available. It argues that reconciliation attempts could reopen the wounds and will do more harm than good. Officially therefore, the government policy is to encourage forgetting. This policy does not come under serous […]

Once again violence against the Ahmadi community has erupted in Punjab province. As the election are approaching (May 11) this recent outburst is seen as an attempt to influence the voters to support fundamentalists and right wing parties. On 28th April 2013 supporters of Khatme Nabuwwat (the movement against the Ahmadi sect of Islam) raided […]

Some call it the land of murder; it is also known as the land of rape; the land of robbery; the land of corruption; the land of criminals and the land of liars! It must be asked if our country has lost its identity with the positive values in life and in doing so has […]

An Indian prisoner, Sarabjit Singh, died in a state run hospital in Lahore, the capital of Punjab, after he slipped into irreversible coma. He was attacked by six ‘prisoners’ inside the Kot Lakhpat jail during the day on Friday April 26. However, the authorities are claiming that he was attacked by the two prisoners who […]

For a law enforcement agency the elimination of thuggery is one of the simplest things to do. For thugs are cowards and they crawl and beg for mercy whenever they find that there is a strong enough will on the part of the law enforcement agencies and the courts to deal with crime. Anybody who […]

There have been some developments during the past two weeks that reveal that in the coming elections elements of the Taliban and Al-Qaida had been offered seats in the parliament. Before these developments the security agencies with the help of right wing parties have also allowed 53 sectarian candidates to contest the elections without passing […]

CIJL Newsletter N°3 – April 2013 EDITORIAL Every two years, the leaders of the Commonwealth of Nations assemble at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the association’s principal policy and decision-making forum. This year, the meeting is set to take place in Colombo from 15 to 17 November, where the Sri Lankan Government will […]

Basil Fernando A seven-year-old child, Pushpakumara Wijekoon from Kegalle, went to school as usual and left around 1 pm. He walked to the junction where his father usually picked him up on his cycle to bring him home. As the child did not see his father, he started walking back home. The distance was about […]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa was recently quoted as saying that he will take stern action to see that the judiciary will remain ‘pure’. This statement raises many questions. The test of a good judiciary is its ability to act independently. Here, ‘independent’ means the absence of dependence on the executive. The judiciary must be able to […]

On 18 April 2013, the Attorney General for Bangladesh Mr. Mahbubey Alam participated in the hearing of a writ petition before a High Court Division Bench of the Bangladesh Supreme Court. The writ was filed by Mrs. Firoza Mahmud, wife of Daily Amardesh‘s Interim Editor Mahmudur Rahman. Mrs. Mahmud had challenged the order of the Chief […]

The General should be prosecuted for betraying his oath as a member of the Armed Forces Just twenty days before the general elections the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, has come out with a policy statement which gives the political views of the Army. The statement was delivered with the express […]

The authorities in Bangladesh, yesterday, shifted the Interim Editor of Daily Amar Desh, Mr. Mahmudur Rahman, to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Muzib Medical University (BMSSU). Rahman is detained at the Kashimpur Central Jail since 17 April 2013. The court had allowed Rahman to be detained in police remand for six days, before the police handed him over […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is writing to inform our readers that police action was taken at the offices of the Association of Global Human Rights and Ethics (AGHE). The police with the help of a magistrate have sealed the office and forcibly removed the staff. The government of Gilgit and Baltistan […]

แถลงการณ์ของ Finnwatch 1 เมษายน 2556 การดำเนินคดีกับนักวิจัยของ Finnwatch เป็นการโจมตีนักปกป้องสิทธิมนุษยชน และเสรีภาพในการแสดงความเห็น ทางการไทยจะต้องดำเนินการสืบสวนการปฏิบัติงานของบริษัท เนเชอรัล ฟรุต และ บริษัท แนท กรุ๊ป (NatGroup) ซึ่งเป็นบริษัทแม่ และจะต้องมีการพิจารณาถึงประเด็นด้านสิทธิมนุษยชนในการเจรจาข้อตกลงการค้าเสรีระหว่างประเทศไทยกับสหภาพยุโรปด้วย บริษัท เนเชอรัล ฟรุต (Natural Fruit) ผู้ผลิตสับปะรดกระป๋องและน้ำผลไม้เข้มข้น ได้ยื่นฟ้องต่อนายอานดี้ ฮอลล์ ผู้เชี่ยวชาญด้านการย้ายถิ่นซึ่งเมื่อเร็วๆ นี้ได้ประสานงานการวิจัยภาคสนามของ Finnwatch ในประเทศไทย สองข้อหา หากศาลตัดสินว่ามีความผิด อานดี้อาจจะต้องรับโทษจำคุกนานถึงเจ็ดปี  บริษัทเนเชอรัล ฟรุต ยังเรียกร้องค่าเสียหาย 300 ล้านบาทในคดีแพ่งอีกด้วย ข้อกล่าวหาที่บริษัทฟ้องร้องนั้นเกี่ยวกับงานวิจัยของ Finnwatch ที่อานดี้เป็นผู้วิจัยในเดือนตุลาคม-พฤศจิกายน 2555 และเกี่ยวกับการสื่อสารผลของการวิจัยต่อสาธารณะ ข้อค้นพบที่น่าตระหนกที่สุดของงานวิจัยมาจากการสัมภาษณ์ลูกจ้างของบริษัทเนเชอรัล ฟรุต  คนงานของบริษัทซึ่งบางคนเป็นแรงงานข้ามชาติที่ไม่มีเอกสารเข้าเมืองตามกฎหมาย ได้เล่าถึงสภาพการทำงานที่ไม่ดี ค่าแรงต่ำกว่าที่กฎหมายกำหนด การยึดเอกสารทางการของคนงานไว้ การใช้แรงงานเด็ก และการให้คนงานทำงานล่วงเวลาเกินไปอย่างมาก  มีการบันทึกการสัมภาษณ์ไว้เป็นเอกสารและสามารถตรวจสอบได้ Finnwatch ได้นำเสนอข้อค้นพบของการวิจัยต่อกระทรวงต่างๆ […]

FINNWATCH STATEMENT 1st of April 2013 Legal actions against Finnwatch researcher are an attack against human rights defenders and freedom of expression. Thailand’s authorities must immediately launch an investigation into the operations of Natural Fruit and its parent company NatGroup. Human rights issues must be tackled also in the ongoing free trade agreement negotiations between […]

REFERRING to the Statements we have previously issued expressing our grave concern about the flawed impeachment process by which Chief Justice Bandaranayake was removed from the office of Chief Justice in defiance of the judgements of the highest courts in Sri Lanka REFERRING also to the statements of concern issued by the UN Special Rapporteur […]

The following is a statement issued by a group of Asian jurists, who met from 9-11 April in Bangkok, to discuss about threats to professional freedom of lawyers and the independence of the judiciary in Asia. Jurists from Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam, and Hong Kong attended […]

A statement by Asian Jurists on the Impeachment of the Chief Justice, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, and about the threatened rule of law in Sri Lanka. The statement is issued by the jurists who attended a consultation organised by the Lawyers’ Collective of Sri Lanka and the Asian Human Rights Commission, on the Independence of Judges […]

Today, 11 April 2013, the authorities in Bangladesh have arrested the Interim Editor of a prominent Bangladeshi daily, Daily Amardesh, Mr. Mahmudur Rahman. Officers raided Rahman’s office at about 8:30 am and taken away by the Detective Branch of Bangladesh Police. Rahman’s arrest is an attempt to stifle dissenting voice. Rahman is in a serious […]

(Hong Kong, April 10, 2013) A Burma-based lawyers group has released its findings on the Letpadaung land struggle in English. The 39-page illustrated report was submitted by the Lawyers Network (Myanmar) and the Justice Trust in February to the government’s investigation commission into events at Letpadaung, recounts the land struggle and subsequent crackdown on protestors. […]