Rule of law

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from MASUM, concerning the case of Mr. Tabibar Molla. The Border Security Force (BSF) had tortured Molla on 13 December 2011, against which Molla had filed complaints with the help of MASUM and the AHRC released an Urgent Appeal AHRC-UAC-007-2012 on 26 January 2011. It […]

If a girl sits badly, it is up to her mother to cover her thighs. – Orma (Kenyan) Proverb Again, it works, doesn’t it? But for how long you are going to trap the public with this same strategy which has different faces? When the person who has abused power and undermined the basic rights of […]

The President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Md. Zillur Rahman has once again exercised his power of clemency. This time his office has commuted the sentence of a convict formerly given a life sentence to that of a ten years’ imprisonment.  It is not surprising that the same person has received two commutations in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Ms. Madurasinghe Arachchilage Chandrani Madurasinghe (42) of Bibilideniya, Udubaddawa in Puttalama District was assaulted by the Chairman of the Udubaddawa Pradesheeya Saba after the man instructed her to hand over a road construction project to one of his cronies. The assistant of the […]

One of the sad truths that we have to live with today is that the people’s struggles for human rights are highly fragmented in India. Equally disheartening is the fact that whenever or wherever human rights comes up for discussion, it is addressed in piecemeal, ignoring and leaving far behind a comprehensive approach to rights […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Herman Kumara, a well-respected Sri Lankan human rights defender has received a number of death threats after he helped organize fishermen in protest of rising fuel prices. Soon after, he was followed by a group of people in a white van who […]

Dear friends, Mr. Saman Sampath Rajapakse (34) of No: A/182/24, Adurapotha, Kegalle was working as a soldier attached to the Commando Regiment of Sri Lanka Army. At the request of his family members, he resigned from the service and began work as painter. Soon after he became a painter, he was arrested by a team […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that in 2008 Mr. A Navajeevan (27) of Rawatte Lower Division, Ukuwela in Matale District was working as a motor mechanic. Around June of 2008 the police began to arrest Tamil youths of Indian origin in the Ukuwela area. The reason for the arrests […]

One of the advisors to the Sri Lankan president went to Vavuniya last Saturday (February 25) to talk to the people displaced by ‘the war’ and was interviewed by a BBC correspondent. The presidential advisor told the correspondent that the displaced people in Vavuniya had not received as much benefit as the people in the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding continuous death threats to environmental rights activists at Sonargaon in Narayanganj district for resisting the illegal mining of sand from the Meghna Rivera that threatens the existence of 900 families living in Mayadip and Nunertek islands under the Sonargaon sub-district of Narayanganj. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from Guria, a local human rights organisation based in Varanasi, India concerning the case of Maya (name changed), a girl who was kidnapped and sold by human traffickers in 2006. After rescuing the girl, Guria and the AHRC had issued an Urgent Appeal […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 15-year-old girl was raped with the connivance of her mother. Despite repeated complaints to several police stations the culprits remain at large, one of them being released on bail. The rapist and the girl’s mother are making continuous threats both to her […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) concerning yet another case of torture by the Border Security Force (BSF) stationed along the Indo-Bangladesh border. It is reported that the victim in this case was tortured first by the BSF driver who had agreed to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) concerning the case of custodial torture and fabrication of a false case against two persons by the officers from Baduria and Basirhat police stations. It is alleged that the victims in the case now face a fabricated charge […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 19 year old woman was abducted, raped for more than a year and sold with the connivance of high officials of the police. The officials of the Citizen’s Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), a government agency, were pressuring the young woman and her […]

Mr. Rajitha Seneratne, the Cabinet Minister for Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, when answering a question to a BBC Sinhala Service correspondent regarding the shooting of a fisherman at a peaceful demonstration in Chilaw stated that the shooting of demonstrators is a usual practice of the Sri Lankan police. Sri Lankan policemen have shot demonstrators […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the US Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Maria Otero Under Secretary, Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 United States of America Fax: + (202) 647-1579 Dear Ms. Otero, NEPAL: […]

Dear friends, M. Nishantha Fernando Jayawardena of Panadura in Kalutara district was assaulted by the Superintendent of Police (SP) for Panadura, Lesly Hamilton Gregory Cooray on 4 June, 2010 when he went to answer a query. For no reason at all the SP grabbed Nishantha’s shirt collar and struck him on his chest and face. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Santhan Stanys Ramesh (33) was falsely charged by officers of the TID in a fabricated case when he refused to become a witness on their behalf. He was subjected to degrading treatment and remains in detention at the Anuradhapura Remand Prison. The […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Ms. Warnakula Gunawardhana Sellapperumage Mangalika Jayasooriya, of 120/1, Bogamuwa, Kalagedihena in the Gampaha District is facing death threats after her properties have been forcibly grabbed by the henchmen of a powerful politician and a deputy minister of the ruling government of Sri Lanka. despite making […]