Rule of law

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man was found dead with a broken neck and severe injuries on his head in a river in Takeo province on 8 May 2008. The police have classified the case as accidental drowning. It is suspected that the man’s death was a political […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that following the Court of Appeals (CA) conclusion of its appellate review affirming the conviction imposed by a lower court on the Abadilla Five, the lawyers for the accused are seeking to nullify the CA’s decision on April 1. They filed a Petition […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that a young woman and young man are among those persons currently being tried in courts in Burma over their alleged roles in the nationwide protests of last August and September. The two were illegally held without charge for months before being brought […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that the Supreme Court dismissed all charges against Song Du-yul, German professor, under the National Security Law (NSL) on 17 April 2008. The AHRC welcomes the court’s decision and we thank you for all your support. UPDATED INFORMATION: Song Du-yul, 64, was immediately […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained detailed information about a case of land confiscation in the delta region of Burma. Officials in Pantanaw illegally confiscated land belonging to elderly farmer Daw Thein Hmyin after she made a complaint that one had encroached on one of her smallholdings. Although she has written […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that the Attorney General (AG) has, at the time of writing, failed to appeal the case of Gerald Perera even though there are serious grounds on which to pursue this case (AHRC-STM-088-2008). The AHRC, once again, kindly asks for your immediate intervention in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that the accused police officers responsible for the torture of Gerald Perera, who was later assassinated before giving evidence before a court, were acquitted by the Negombo High Court on 2 April 2008. This judgment is extremely dangerous as hereafter persons who want […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding another case in which the whereabouts of a man remain unknown after arrest in Colombo, allegedly by officers from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) on 20 March 2008. CASE DETAILS: According to the information received, at around 9:30pm on March 20, seven persons […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the police authorities have allegedly received bribes for arbitrarily arresting people from a community involved in a case land dispute. It is reported that when the villagers exposed corruption of the police and the harassment they were suffering, the police threatened them to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the case of the rape of a 17-year-old girl after her abduction allegedly by a politician on 17 December 2007. While the Biyagama police have commenced an investigation into this case they have failed to secure the family’s safety despite the fact that […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been documenting cases of illegal arrest, detention and prosecution since the nationwide protests in Burma last September. In this appeal we give the details of the case of one young man who was arrested because of having some publications linked to those events and after a […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned about the case of a young woman who was arrested coming into Burma from neighbouring Thailand and charged with illegal immigration, joining in illegal associations and sedition. The laying of charges and the passing of sentences against Ma Thanda were all in violation of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the extra-judicial killing of 13 men by the authorities in Sahiwal district, Punjab province on 10 February 2008. Police appear to have carried out the murders in the guise of an ‘encounter killing’. Their bodies were immediately buried without autopsies having been done […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is aggrieved to share the news of the continuing extrajudicial killings of civilian men, women and even children in Sri Lanka. A claymore mine targeted at a bus carrying civilians, most of whom were school children, killed 6 civilians and 12 children in Thatchanamadhu in the Mannar […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the deteriorating health of a Pakistani prisoner detained in a U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The prisoner is suffering from a serious heart ailment and his health has worsened since he was first imprisoned there in September 2004. The government of Pakistan […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that since our appeal on the case of a child soldier who was jailed in 2005 (AHRC-UAC-016-2008) a number of persons involved in the case have been threatened by local authorities. His aunt, who made the complaint, is under watch, and two people […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been documenting cases of illegal arrest, detention and prosecution since the nationwide protests in Burma last September. In this appeal we give the details of the case of one woman who was abducted and held at a special military camp and later released but again rearrested […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to inform you that there are several new web resources on the rule of law, democracy and human rights in Sri Lanka which provide information and documents valuable to researchers and concerned persons. www.ruleoflawsrilanka.org This website contains historical reports such as the Police Commission Reports of 1946 and 1970. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is saddened to inform you that yet another list of killings and disappearances for the month of November 2007 has been reported in Sri Lanka. While the conflict has been going on, it is the citizens who have been affected and who live in fear of threats […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that the government of Thailand is imposing policies which further deprive migrant workers of their rights. The policies, particularly on migrant workers giving birth in the country, are discriminatory as they effectively excuse the government from any responsibility to ensure the welfare of […]