Rule of law

INDIA: Robbed of sleep and freedom: illegal arrest, detention and fabrication of charges in West Bengal

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM concerning the illegal arrest, detention and torture of Mr Jalil Sardar and Mr Ramjan Tarafdar by personnel from Swarupnagar Police Station, Baduria Police Station and Kaijuri BSF Camp. Unlawful arrest and detention, torture, religious discrimination, fabrication of charges and a culture of […]

SRI LANKA: An innocent man has been detained more than six months without being produced before any court or charged

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Jesuthasan Tennisan Leon (27) has been detained in Boossa Detention Camp for more than six months without being produced before any court by the state authorities. Leon was abducted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2001, a period when […]

CAMBODIA: The culture of impunity and violence must stop

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission Phnom Penh, 30th May 2012– We, Cambodian and International civil society organizations represented in this statement, condemn the use of armed force and escalating violence against citizens peacefully defending their land, labor and natural resources rights. We are referring to not only the events earlier last […]

INDIA: Stop harassing human rights organisations and defenders

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from the Right to Food Campaign India. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-FST-036-2012 May 30, 2012 A Statement from the Right to Food Campaign India, against the continuous harassment and attempts to criminalise the work of Jagrit Adivasi Dalit […]

INDIA: BSF bludgeoned a boy, then shot him

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM concerning the torture and attempted murder of Sanjit Mondal on 15 April 2011 in yet another case of Border Security Forces (BSF) brutality in West Bengal, India. Torture, extrajudicial killings, religious or caste-based discrimination and a culture of impunity are features of […]

INDIA: Endemic brutality of the BSF

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM concerning the gruesome murder of 21-year-old Babu Seikh on 22 April 2012 in yet another case of Border Security Forces (BSF) brutality in West Bengal, India. Torture, extrajudicial executions, religious discrimination and a culture of impunity are features of everyday life for Indians […]

INDIA: An Act to suppress democratic rights

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is informed that District Magistrate Barwani in Madhya Pradesh state has issued a “show cause” notice to human rights defender Ms. Madhuri Krishnaswami on 10 May 2012 asking her why actions should not be initiated against her under the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam, 1990 (Madhya Pradesh State Security, […]

INDIA: Judgments cannot replace good governance

Statement | India | 24-05-2012

India will be evaluated at the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland today. The three countries (Troika) involved in the review are Kuwait, Mauritius and Mexico. That these countries have worse records of human rights in comparison to the country they would collectively review suggests how firmly, and perhaps blindly, such processes are […]

INDIA: Senseless police brutality

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM concerning another case of illegal arrest, detention and police brutality against Mr Golam Kibria from Murshidabad district, West Bengal, India. This is yet another in a seemingly infinite number of cases wherein law enforcement agencies due to ingrained malpractices and callous attitudes have […]

INDIA: Rape, red tape and bureaucracy- India’s police fail vulnerable young woman and her family

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) concerning a case of rape of a young woman by and officer-in charge (OC) at Bhadrewswar Police Station in West Bengal’s Hooghly district on 23 April 2012. The victim’s husband had just prior to this […]

INDIA: Jurist, stop preaching

Statement | | 21-05-2012

The observations made by the Supreme Court of India in a case concerning disciplinary action against a former Major of the Indian Army contradict the Court’s own profile. Dismissing the appeal filed by the Major, who had filed the appeal aggrieved by the Army’s action against him, the court held that discipline is paramount in […]

SRI LANKA: Is the legal intellect dead in Sri Lanka?

Basil Fernando The President of Sri Lanka has the power to frame charges and to remove the liberty of any citizen. He also has the power to return that freedom whenever he so decides. This has been brought to light in the Sarath Fonseka saga.   Former General Sarath Fonseka and JS Tissainayagam Of course […]

INDIA: Institutional peril and murderous politics

Statement | India | 17-05-2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-104-2012 May 17, 2012 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission INDIA: Institutional peril and murderous politics The assassination of Mr. T. P. Chandrashekharan in Kerala on 4 May is another example of the murderous nature of politics in India. The police investigation has revealed that hired assassins executed the murder. […]

INDIA: Three men tortured and killed in controversial encounter with 23rd Assam Rifles

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Centre for Organisation Research & Education (CORE) concerning torture and the extrajudicial killing of three indigenous Meitei in Manipur by an encounter with the 23rd Assam Rifles (AR) under the command of Major Hanuman near Maphou Dam, Nongdam Village of Ukhrul District […]

INDIA: A tribal man tortured and his wife abused by West Bengal state police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM concerning another case of police brutality by personnel of Habra Police Station in West Bengal, India, of 28-year old Mr Raju Chowdhury of Kamarthuba, West Bengal, India. Mr Chowdhury’s extended and unjust detention and brutalisation since 9 January 2012, as is the […]

INDIA: BSF torture yet another person in West Bengal

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM concerning another case of Border Security Forces (BSF) brutality in West Bengal, India. 60-year-old Ms Rupjan Bewa from the Murshidabad district endured physical assault and injury, outrage to her modesty and verbal abuse from BSF jawans on 21 February 2012 at approximately […]

SRI LANKA: An innocent man was illegally arrested, tortured and laid with fabricated charges by the Chilaw police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. N A Aruna Roshantha (42) of Mugunuwatawana, Chilaw in the district of Puttalam was illegally arrested, detained, brutally tortured and laid with fabricated charges. On 24 March 2012, he returned home for lunch as it was his custom. When returning to work […]

INDIA: An innocent person tortured by West Bengal police on suspicion

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, concerning the case of torture of an innocent person by the West Bengal state police. The victim in the case, Mr. Babulari Gazi, is a three-wheeler driver. The police arrested Gazi on 7 February 2012 on the suspicion that he was involved […]

PAKISTAN: Human rights defenders were tortured during jail custody in Gilgit-Baltistan

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the human rights defenders, Mr. Baba Jan Hunzai along with four companions was brutally tortured by the police and military intelligence, ISI, officials while in custody of the jail. The victims were not given access to any medical treatment facilities despite being severely […]

BURMA: A litany of abuses–the torture and trial of Phyo Wai Aung

On Tuesday, May 8, a judge in Rangoon will read the verdicts in four cases brought against a young engineer, Phyo Wai Aung, for alleged involvement in a bombing attack of 15 April 2010 that killed 10 people, seriously wounded 46 and injured 27 others. The trial started on 30 June 2010. Until the end […]