Rule of law

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward you the following statement from the mother of Premakumar Gunarathnam and his sister. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong —————————– A statement from the mother of Premakumar Gunarathnam and his sister, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Earlier, we reported about the abduction of […]

Mr. Premakumar Gunarathnam the leader of the JVP dissident group and Ms. Dimuthu Attigala a member of the same group are reported to be missing from yesterday night. According to a report, published today in the Daily Mirror, both have been arrested. However the grounds on which they were arrested or the location of the place of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward you the following statement from the movement for people’s struggle and the Frontline Socialist party. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong —————————– A statement from the movement for people’s struggle and the Frontline Socialist party forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) This […]

Salem News interviewed one of the exiled journalists of Sri Lanka. (CHENNAI / COLOMBO) – Nilantha Ilangamuwa is an ambitious young journalist purged by the government for his conviction to uphold freedom of speech and independence of media in the island nation. He was taunted by the agents of the government and its secret service […]

By Nilantha Ilangamuwa  Directions and instructions are determinations of action which have an influence upon a number of minor circumstances too numerous and unimportant for general laws. — Carl von Clausewitz  A new chapter of politics is emerging in Sri Lanka after the UN resolution adopted at the 19th session of the UNHRC in Geneva. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the illegal arrest, detention and custodial torture which led to the death of Mr Abdul Qudoos Ahmad, a school teacher and the president of the Nusrat Abad chapter of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat, by the Chenab Nagar police. He was kept in illegal detention […]

The criminal justice system of Sri Lanka is in decline. Across the country numerous reports document that illegal arrests and detention continues to happen indiscriminately. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has issued several hundred urgent appeal cases over the past decade regarding illegal arrests and arbitrary detention in locations across the country. Most, if […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from MASUM, concerning the case of gruesome murder of four teenagers by the Border Security Force at Harudanga Mini BSF Border Outpost Camp, near Golpak (a rivulet of Padma) situated at Nirmal Char under the jurisdiction of Ranitala Police Station, in West Bengal […]

The Fisherfolk community in Pakistan is considered the poorest of the poor, dwelling in slum settlements along the 1129 kilometres coastline with no basic amenities. A high level of poverty prevails in all the capital assets and makes a sustainable livelihood for the fishermen in Pakistan extremely difficult. Human poverty, social poverty, financial poverty and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young man was seriously tortured by the police of City Bhalwal, Sargodha, Punjab Province, and was forced to confess to the murder of a 14-year-old student. The victim was kept blind folded in solitary confinement where he was tortured. As he would […]

The Fisherfolk community in Pakistan is considered the poorest of the poor, dwelling in slum settlements along the 1129 kilometres coastline with no basic amenities. A high level of poverty prevails in all the capital assets and makes a sustainable livelihood for the fishermen in Pakistan extremely difficult. Human poverty, social poverty, financial poverty and […]

Bangladesh celebrates the 42nd year of its independence at the moment while the nation is found to be still debating over the truths of its history related to the war of independence. The country has witnessed manipulation of public institutions, even judiciary, on the part of the successive governments, to distort historical facts in favour of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that six trade union activists were arbitrarily arrested by the Pakistan Rangers, a paramilitary organization, on the behest of the owners of a power loom factory accused of creating a trade union for the workers. The six trade union activists were tortured for 30 […]

Nilantha Ilangamuwa “Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first deprives of their senses.” – Euripides The government has about an year to improve governance in terms of human rights, instead of selling racial nihilism and isolating itself from the world and the people. Next March (2013 March) the High Commissioner for Human Rights would […]

The statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry, ‘explaining’ the country’s position regarding the United Nations’ resolution on promotion, reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka is worth an analysis from the Indian perspective. Contrary to the misgivings widely published throughout the country, India’s affirmative vote at the UN yesterday is not a “foreign policy disaster”. […]

The successful United Nations Resolution on reconciliation and accountability should pave the way for a new period of commitment to cure the wounds of a long conflict, caused upon individuals as well as on the institutional structure of democracy and the rule of law in Sri Lanka. A responsible approach to dealing with the past […]

The National Human Rights Commission is a specialised statutory body mandated to protect, promote and fulfil human rights. Set up by virtue of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the NHRC is the result of India’s pre-emptive commitment to United Nations General Assembly resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993, also known as Principles relating […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Surendra Rajan of Matale has been in remand prison without being charged or even informed of the reason for his arrest for three years. His problems began when he was asked to pay compensation by his employer, a government minister, after he […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) concerning another case of brutal custodial torture of Mr. Samad Mondal. It is reported that the police from Haroa Police Station arrested the victim from a Gopalpur market on 20 January 2012. It is alleged that the police tortured […]

By Nilantha Ilangamuwa Our lives are spinning out from world to world; the shapes of things are shifting in the wind. What do we know beyond the rapture and the dread?- Stanley Kunitz* “They finished off my husband after two days of torture, and then took me to Hambantota where a number of women were […]