Rule of law

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the illegal arrest and torture of Hendrick Sikumbang by the police officers of Pekanbaru police office on 14 June 2007. By the way it was done, the action wad deemed more an ‘abduction’ than an arrest. The police brutally tortured Mr. Sikumbang after […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the brutal torture of two men, both belong to Muslim minorities, following their arrest by soldiers over allegations they are involved in incidents of bombing in Central Mindanao. Victim Thos Ulimpain and his cousin Nasser Mendo were arrested by soldiers in Midsayap, North […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that Sindh police again allegedly threatened a gang-rape survivor to immediately leave the apartment where she and her family have been temporarily staying in Karachi for their safety on 21 June 2007. The police threw their household possessions out of the house provided […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that no action has been taken against the soldiers, including a lieutenant, accused in killing youth leader Nelson Asucena, six months ago in Rizal, Cagayan. No investigation was conducted despite the filing of criminal charges against them in court. In a separate […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner in Jakarta regarding a case in which a young man, Kurniawan, was allegedly tortured by police officers at Tegal police headquarters, on 3 May 2007. He was allegedly tortured in an attempt to force him to confess to a case […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that the workers of a Korean-owned garment factory, who had been on strike for nine months, were violently attacked by armed men while peacefully holding a picket line in front of their factory on 10-11 June 2007. The attackers, carrying bladed weapons […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that three of alleged perpetrators of the severing of Mr. Hazoor Buksh Malik’s (24) penis, were arrested in early June 2007. However, Mr. Tunio, the main perpetrator, as well as the Station Head Officer (SHO), of the Market police station in Larkana District […]

Dear friends, The AHRC writes with deep concern regarding the forcible abduction and subsequent disappearance of a man, Arnold Aliman, in General Santos City on 27 May 2007. Witnesses have revealed that the vehicle used by the abductors, who were armed, has been traced to the local police Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB). The whereabouts of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the public threats on two advocates from the Medan Legal Aid Institute (LBH Medan) by six members of the Indonesia Armed Forces (TNI-AD) on 5 June 2007, during a court trial at Pancur Batu State Court. It is reported that the military personnel […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is sorry to inform that as feared local officials in Rangoon appear to have successfully covered up their murder of a young man in March (UA-096-2007). The family of Ko Naing Oo has not been notified about any of the legal proceedings or other matters since his […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man who was detained by the army in Burma has since disappeared. Although it is more than one year since Maung Ko Kyi was taken away from his workplace, requests by concerned persons to know what has happened to him have not yielded […]

(Note: We are reproducing the report published on June 14 2007 by the International Crisis Group. The Executive Summary and Recommendations follow below). ____________ *INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP – NEW REPORT* Colombo/Brussels, 14 June 2007: The international community must press the warring sides for urgent action to address wide-spread human rights abuses in Sri Lanka as […]

For immediate release 15 June 2007 Meeting with the President of Sri Lanka yesterday, the Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) expressed serious concern about the grave human rights situation in Sri Lanka, including, renewed patterns of enforced disappearances and targeted killings of civilians, as well as shrinking space for civil society. “I […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that on 8 June 2007 the Minister of Information, Mr. Khieu Kanharith, reportedly issued a warning letter to the Sralanh Khmer newspaper to stop its publication of the Global Witness report on illegal logging. The GW report, released on 1 June 2007, reportedly exposed the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partners in Uttar Pradesh – The Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties [Uttar Pradesh Chapter] and Guria Sansthan – regarding the forceful and illegal eviction of poor and helpless families in Mau city of Uttar Pradesh. It is alleged that the families […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned about the situation of a group of Burmese human rights defenders who were assaulted with the backing and involvement of local authorities and the police last April (UA-135-2007). Six have been charged upsetting public tranquillity and have been refused bail (UP-062-2007). Meanwhile, the criminal […]

The Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum (CDCF) composed of donors and the Cambodian government will convene on 19-20 June to discuss the progress in the implementation of Cambodia’s development plan and its funding. This meeting is yet another occasion for all participants to honour their human rights obligations towards the Cambodian people under the Paris Peace […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the detention of Dr. Binayak Sen, a medical doctor and human rights activist based in Chhattisgarh, India has been extended to a further period of 14 days. The AHRC had in the past forwarded an appeal issued by the Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that another two peasants were killed while six others were wounded when security guards of an influential landlord open fired on them on 4 June 2007. The guards started shooting at the farmers to prevent them from entering a portion of the […]

Abductions, killings and robbery have become regular incidents in Sri Lanka. The telltale symptoms of a broken down rule of law and a system that has failed to address it. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has issued several statements in the past expressing its concern over the widening gap between the fact and fiction in Sri […]