Rule of law

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that four police officers, including a Sub Inspector of Police, have been arrested regarding the murder of Lalantha Fernando. (To see full details of this case please refer to UA-191-2005). Lalantha Fernando was abducted from his house on 10 October 2005 and brutally assaulted […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that three police officers responsible for the custody and murder of a 28-year-old man, Mr. Udayakumar, was arrested and later released on bail by an order of the local magistrate. The AHRC is informed that the police officers who were arrested were detained in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed of the shocking beating to death of two marine officers on 21 September 2005 and the subsequent arrest of 12?villagers in Muang district, Narathiwat province, southern Thailand. The marine officers were reportedly involved in a shooting incident that killed two villagers and wounded four […]

[Re: UA-138-2005: INDIA: Human rights activist facing death threats for working with Dalit and Backward Community, UP-95-2005: INDIA: Another human rights activist threatened for working with Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, UP-100-2005: INDIA: Updates on death threats to human rights activists working with dalit and marginalized group in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh] ——————————————————————— UP-166-2005: INDIA: Police inaction […]

[RE: UA-164-2004: The family receives death threats for demanding an impartial inquiry into the death of Munir; UP-30-2005: Unveiling of suspect in Munir’s death may end further inquiries; UP-47-2005: State intelligence officers delay Munir investigation; UP-72-2005: Mandate of fact-finding team into Munir’s murder should be extended and made more effective; UP-83-2005: Police fail to follow […]

[RE: UP-43-2005: SAUDI ARABIA/SRI LANKA: Questions remain in Sri Lanka’s willingness to save three of its citizens; UP-39-2005: Three Sri Lankans face imminent execution in Saudi Arabia; UP-38-2005: SAUDI ARABIA/SRI LANKA: Please send a letter to the King of Saudi Arabia urging his intervention to commute the death sentence of three Sri Lankans; UP-34-2005: Death […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Perhimpunan Bantuan Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia Jakarta (PBHI Jakarta), a human rights organization in Jakarta, Indonesia that a 51-year-old man, Bagus Ariyanto, died after he was brutally tortured by a group of army officers attached to the Detachment Supplies and Transportation Jaya […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding 73 workers from the Orex Factory in Ekala, Jaela, Sri Lanka, who were unlawfully dismissed after the owner arbitrarily closed down the factory in 2002. The AHRC previously reported that the owner, Mohamed Mohamed Izzath deprived his workers of the Employees Trust […]

The life of an average citizen in the Philippines these days is beset with fear. Even the expression “rule of law” evokes cynical reactions among ordinary folk, as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo uses the very same expression to justify blatant and brutal repression.  Sloganeering about anti-terrorism and anti-crime drives is used as a weapon to subdue […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes the resolution adopted by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) to introduce a . BASL appointed a committee comprising a former chief justice and two former Supreme Court judges to draft this code of conduct.  This move by BASL answers a dire need in the country. It deserves […]

[RE: UA-112-2004: BURMA: Complaints against forced labour blocked and victims punished issued on 3 September 2004; UP-11-2005: BURMA: Four officials sentenced to prison for forced labour in Kawmhu Township, Yangon Division; UP-63-2005: BURMA: Local officials seek revenge against villager who obtained first successful forced labour prosecution; UP-68-2005: BURMA: Preliminary hearing against villager who obtained first […]

The AHRC is holding its advanced human rights study programme from October 9-14, 2005 in Hong Kong, at which participants from 10 nationalities will participate. To mark this occasion, the AHRC is launching a series of discussions aimed at drafting an Asian Charter  With a view to drafting an Asian Charter , the Asian Human […]

[RE: UA-34-2004: PAKISTAN: A 13-year-old girl was killed by her in-laws on the pretext of honour killing and her body was not found yet] Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that the President’s Office in Pakistan has sent a special in investigation team to investigate the murder of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information through its local partner MASUM in West Bengal that Mr. Gopen Sharma, a human rights activist was illegally detained, threatened and assaulted by the officers at the Block Development Office in Jalangi, Murshidabad District, West Bengal. Mr. Sharma was, at the time of the […]

[RE: UA-136-2005: SRI LANKA: Two persons severely injured after being tortured by iron rods by the Wattegama police; UP-97-2005: A torture victim with serious injuries is chained to his bed due to legal technicality; UP-98-2005: Rohitha remains in chains in hospital due to legal technicalities] Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expresses shock and condemns the killing of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar on 12 August 2005. In direct and indirect terms the Government and many other sources have accused the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) for the murder. The LTTE has denied this allegation. Though a […]

[Re: UA- 50 -2005: INDIA: Three and a half year wait for justice for the brutal murder of an Adivasi (tribal person) by a forest official in Gujarat] Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information on the case of Manishbhai Motibhai Vasava (30), an adivasi who was murdered by an Indian […]

Strange news has been coming from Thailand, where five police have filed defamation complaints against a reputed forensic pathologist and senior government bureaucrat after they suggested that a man with five bullets in his vital organs probably didn’t shoot himself. The death of Sunthorn Wongdao on May 21 has captured public imagination since the police […]

On May 26, the Danish government announced that it has earmarked 4.5 million Danish Krone (US$ 750,000) for the new office of the U.N. High Commission on Human Rights in Nepal. The office will use this money over the coming two years for active monitoring and investigating of gross rights abuses occurring on the ground […]

Since January 2005, at least 18 human rights and political activists have killed or disappeared in the Philippines. The latest reported attack was on Alden Ambida, a provincial coordinator of the opposition Bayan Muna party in Eastern Samar this April 11. He is now fighting for his life in hospital. In March, three other Bayan […]