Rule of law

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the forced dissolution of a national workshop on access to economic, social and cultural rights for victims and family members of past human rights abuses in Indonesia. The workshop was part of an advocacy effort by victims and human rights groups to seek […]

This week Just Asia begins with Burma, which has been called on by the UN Security Council to end the violence in Rakhine state and allow hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya to return. In a unanimous statement backed by China, the Council strongly condemned the violence forcing more than 600,000 Rohingya to flee across […]

by Javeria Younes  Despite lacking legal framework on disappearances Pakistan’s constitution prohibits illegal and arbitrary detention and under article 10. Though the phenomenon of disappearance has been ongoing incessantly for two decade to make matters worse the LEA officials have now adopted the tactic of picking up and disappearing innocent women and children of wanted man as […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expresses its deep concern over the inhuman and degrading treatment being meted out to Dalit rights activist Chandrashekhar Ravan by the government of Uttar Pradesh. Last reported, Mr. Ravan, was rushed to the Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College from Saharanpur on Nov 8, 2017 for ‘stomach infection’. Mr. […]

An article published in the Colombo Page on 8th November 2017, titled “Sri Lanka responds to media report on allegations of torture by government, assures investigations into the claims” forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Nov 08, Colombo: Sri Lanka, today responding to an Associated Press report which alleged that dozens of Tamil men were raped […]

A Letter from article from Mr. Nagananda Kodotuwakku, Attorney-at-Law ( SL) and Solicitor( UK) and public interest Attorney, on 09th November 2017, to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission READ LETTER HERE The Secretary The Bar Association No 153, Mihindu Mawatha Colombo 12 09th Nov 2017 The need to […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the following information from the Terai Human Rights Defenders’ Alliance (THRDA). On 29 October 2017, a 17-year-old Muslim girl, a resident of the Parsauni Rural Municipality-4, Sakhuwa of the Parsa District, had been gang raped. Mukhtar Ansari, 22, son of Ward Chairperson, Jumadin Ansari, and […]

The weekly Times column, Focus on Rights, titled ‘Tensions unravellingacross the reform road-map’ by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena, in the Sunday Times, Sri Lanka, on 05 November 2017, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena There appears to be a brisk uptick in the tone of visiting European lawmakers to Sri Lanka this week as compared […]

An article from The Indian Express forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission In India, the shame associated with the naked human body, with exposed skin, makes it easy for police officers to use nudity and sexual abuse as a tool of punishment. This goes back to the theory of punishment our penal system ascribes to – […]

by Raksha Ram Harijan The routine practice of torture in Nepal is nothing new; decades of work by human rights organizations working on torture and impunity can provide solid examples of the Nepal Police and Nepal Army practicing torture during their work. Despite the government’s ratification of the Convention against Torture (CAT) on 14 May […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a fabricated case lodged by police officers of the South Aceh Police Office and Sawang Police Office in South Aceh regency, Aceh province. Without proper investigation and a lack of evidence, the police accused Mr. Abas Rizal bin Agusmar alias Sibay of illegally […]

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where a 14-year-old Dalit girl was raped by a 19-year-old youth. After raping the girl on October 28, the non-Dalit Santosh Shrestha tried to kill her by slashing her with a sickle, and gouging out her left eye. The delay in receiving treatment cost the girl her left […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely disturbed by the mysterious death of 16-year-old Priyanka Yadav in police custody on October 29, 2017. The Area Police Office (APO), Mirchaiya arrested Priyanka and 14-year-old Sanjay Sah on October 28 for the murder of Bhavesh Yadav, Priyanka’s 13-year-old cousin brother. The next day, Priyanka was found […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the enforced disappearance of a Shia man, Muhammud Bilal, by officials of a Law Enforcement agency. He has been disappeared twice and indicted on murder charges under frivolous grounds. A few days before his disappearance, Bilal had a hernia operation. To date his […]

Dear Friends, Asian Human Rights Commission has received the information regarding the case of Mr. Sudarshana Wijekoon (49) who is resident of Wattegama Police Division. On 9 September 2017, team of police officers attached to the Wattegama Police Station forcefully entered and searched his house. The officers failed to present any tangible, credible evidence for […]

Over the past decade, Human Rights Watch has recorded the occurrence of over 1,000 killings of civilians at the hands of Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, in which a majority of victims were unarmed. Despite these numbers, arrests are rare in such instances of arbitrary use of force – which often result in the death of the […]

In this short video, Mr Basil Fernando explains the preparation for updating of the Asian Charter for Human Rights – A People’s Charter which was launched in Gwangju, South Korea in May 1998. This Video explains the purpose for which this Charter was adopted, the process of consultations which led to the drafting of the Charter, the […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a 14-year-old Dalit girl who had been raped. It was carried out by a non-Dalit male named Santosh Shrestha (19). He is an eighth-grade student at the local Saraswoti Secondary School. After raping the girl, Santosh tried to kill her by slashing her […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the three years Indonesia has been under President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla’s administration, October 2014 – October 2017, there remains two years in the presidential term (2014-2019). Indonesia has ratified several key international human rights instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is alarmed at the Nepali police’s firing in broad daylight, with an intent to kill, at protesters who were protesting at the lack of investigation in the death of an 11-year-old child. Laxman Shiwakoti was found dead in a pool of floodwater on 1 October 2017 after he went […]