Rule of law

SRI LANKA: Hell Hath No Fury….

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article written by Tisaranee Gunasekara who is a Sri Lankan columnist based in Colombo Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article written by Tisaranee Gunasekara, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Hell Hath No Fury…. Tisaranee Gunasekara “Tyrant, why swell’st thou thus, of […]

PAKISTAN: UPR report lacks objective realism and denies the reality concerning human rights

For the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Pakistan, the country presented a four-year working report of how the government improved the state of human rights in Pakistan. Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, the foreign minister leading the Pakistan delegation, presented the report to the UN. The UPR is a process in which the UN […]

SRI LANKA: The final nail in the coffin of the judiciary

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from the Sunday Times, Colombo, Sri Lanka, written by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article from the Sunday Times, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: The final nail in the coffin of the judiciary For those of us […]

SRI LANKA: The banality of the impeachment

Under the present circumstances and under the 1978 constitution, when the president does not want the Chief Justice, the president just tells them to get out and go home. The way he does it is called impeachment proceedings. Once the president decides to file such proceedings – he has a two thirds majority in parliament […]

SRI LANKA: Impeachment of CJ – An Unconstitutional Witch-hunt

The Rajapaksha Regime, through its parliamentarians, handed over an impeachment motion to the Speaker, the elder brother of the President Rajapaksha against the first woman Chief Justice of the country. It appears that the Government of Sri Lanka is in a mighty hurry to “get rid of the Chief Justice” so that a major obstacle […]

INDIA: Villagers face imminent forced eviction at a dam site in Manipur

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Mapithel Dam Affected Villagers Organisation and the Committee on the Protection of Natural Resources in Manipur that the villagers of Riha, Thawai, Lamlai Khullen, Chadong along the Thoubal River in Ukhrul district, Manipur are likely to be evicted by force to complete […]

BANGLADESH: To release an exfiltrated abductee the RAB demands bribes from the family

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from local human rights organisation Odhikar that the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) caused a man to disappear. After his abduction, they ex-filtrated him from among a group of criminals. The reason for this was the failure of the family to pay bribes. Officers of the RAB-2 […]

SRI LANKA: AHRC and RCT collaboration

Appreciation on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the RCT (Photo Courtesy: Janasansadaya) On the occasion of the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT) celebrating its 30th Anniversary, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to record its appreciation for the RCT and recognize the contribution it has made to the development […]

INDIA: Malnutrition kills 28 more children while the administration looks the other way in Madhya Pradesh

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Sahyog, Support in Development about the death of 28 children belonging mostly to the Sahariya community; a scheduled tribe ravaged by malnutrition and diseases related to it. Most unfortunately, the deaths have occurred despite the administration being well aware of the situation. Hunger […]

SRI LANKA: The ugliest attack in Sri Lanka’s history on the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice

The Mahinda Rajapaksa regime has resorted to the ugliest attack in Sri Lankan judicial history on the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice this week by using the state media as a slander machine and through employing the state media to introduce deliberately manufactured slanderous letters to the parliament solely with the purpose of abusing […]

SRI LANKA: The executive is exposing Sri Lankans to a dangerous situation by ruthlessly attacking the judiciary

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government is now engaged in a ruthless attack on the Chief Justice, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the independence of the judiciary in general. The immediate reason for the attacks is the Supreme Court decision against the Divineguma Bill and the JSC decision to take disciplinary action against a judicial officer alleged […]

PAKISTAN: A missing student is dumped on the roadside with severe torture marks and cannot survive if immediate medical treatment is not provided

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a student from Sindh province who was arrested by uniformed persons on May 9, 2012, has been dumped on the roadside having endured severe torture. His condition is critical and doctors have lost hope for his recovery if he is not been provided […]

PAKISTAN: A former Jihadi was disappeared after his arrest by a secret agency of the army for refusing to join future jihad activities

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a former militant (a Jihadi) was abducted by persons from intelligence agencies of the military and was later disappeared from Pakistani Kashmir. He was tortured and suffered a heart attack during the illegal custody. He was disappeared at the time he had the […]

BANGLADESH: Government is abusing its police to harass dissident voices

Five persons including four senior journalists of the Daily Amar Desh, a national newspaper, are under imminent threat of detention and subsequent torture by the state agents. The country’s police fabricated a criminal case (No. 2) against four senior journalists namely Assistant Editor Mr. Sanjib Chowdhury, Crime Reporter Mr. Alauddin Arif, Chief Editor Mr. Seyed […]

BANGLADESH: Three cases of sexual violence in Chittagong Hill Tracts require credible investigations

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two young women have been raped and one girl narrowly has avoided an attempted rape due to her neighbours’ assistance in three separate jurisdictions of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. The police have allegedly been biased against the non-ethnic settlers instead of […]

PAKISTAN: The president must immediately implement the order of the Supreme Court against the former chiefs of the army and ISI for rigging the 1990 elections

The Supreme Court (SC) today ordered the government to take legal action against former army chief General Aslam Beg and the former director general of the Inter Intelligence Service (ISI) Lt-Gen (retired) Asad Durrani for distributing money during the elections of 1990 among some politicians in order to rig the elections. A three-judge bench comprising […]

INDIA: Minister of Law and Justice not above the law

This week and the last one have witnessed an overflowing of violence in India. It manifested in manifold shapes, colours, and intensity: permeating right from the gory incidents of rapes reported in the media to the sensational allegations of corruptions against the most powerful players in the country, the shameless circus-dog denials of political leadership, […]

PAKISTAN: The ‘lady gangster’ remains at large while her victim’s whereabouts are unknown

While the daughter of the chief minister of Punjab remains at large her husband, Ali Imran Yousuf, has been arrested in an effort to show that the chief minister is willing to respect the rule of law. The entire provincial machinery is attempting to influence the witnesses and manipulate the case in favour of chief […]

INDIA: Police kill three Dalit youth in Thangadh of Surendranagar in Gujarat

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Navsarjan Trust about the extrajudicial killing of three Dalit youth by the Gujarat police in repeated firing over protesting Dalits. The first incident took place on 21 September when police opened fire on a crowd after failing to control a clash between Dalits […]

BANGLADESH: State’s unpardonable failures deserve credible investigation

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission and Odhikar The entire governmental machinery of Bangladesh, with its retinue of law-enforcement units, intelligence agencies, and security forces, have totally and abysmally failed to protect minority communities in the South Eastern region of the country.  A large number of monasteries, temples, houses and establishments of the […]