Rule of law

PAKISTAN: Four persons including a writer, teacher and Ahmadi disappeared after arrest

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the disappearances of four persons from Sindh province–a famous writer, a teacher, a government employee, and an Ahmadi–after their arrests by men in uniforms. All four persons are from Badin district. The police deny their arrest and have advised family members to […]

SRI LANKA: A letter to the public from a retired Judge

  I am writing this to the public as a judge who has presided over the affairs of the public for 16 years as a Magistrate and as a District Court Judge. For all those 16 years, my record has been impeccable. I want to bring to the notice of the public that, due to […]

INDONESIA: Seko Indigenous People victims of torture, ill-treatment and land grabbing

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture and ill-treatment of Seko indigenous people in North Luwuk, South Sulawesi province. The North Luwuk police favored the Seko Power Prima Company (PT. Seko Power Prima). They arrested, detained and forced the local people to accept the company’s plan to develop […]

SOUTH KOREA: Ghosts from the dictatorial past haunts innocent civilians even today

Dr. Kang Yong-ju is a medical doctor from Gwangju, South Korea. Dr. Kang is a victim of the notorious National Security Law and the Security Surveillance Act of South Korea. When Kang was a student in the high school, he participated in the Gwangju democratic movement in 1980, popularly known as the “Gwangju Uprising.” Later, […]

AHRC TV: Deportation of Kashmiri activist and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 172

This week Just Asia begins with Belgium’s deportation order of activist Sajjad Husain. As a frontline defender for human rights and a free Kashmir, Husain’s work was not appreciated in Pakistan and he sought political asylum in Belgium in 2006. Finally refused asylum, Husain was facing imminent deportation to Pakistan. Due to the AHRC’s Urgent […]

INDONESIA: Anti-terror unit should be evaluated in wake of suicide bombing

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the suicide bombing and explosion in Kampung Melayu, Jakarta, Indonesia, which killed five persons and injured 10. Three police officers and two alleged perpetrators died in the blast. In the last one year, the suicide bombing in Kampung Melayu is the second such incident. Earlier, there was a […]

INDIA: Arbitrary death sentencing policy must go

Statement | India | 22-05-2017

On May 5, 2017, the Supreme Court of India(SC) passed the much-awaited judgment in the case of Mukesh & Anr. Vs the State for NCT of Delhi & Ors. or more colloquially known as the ‘Nirbhaya’ case. The gangrape and murder of the 23year old physiotherapy student in New Delhi on the night of Dec 16, 2012 shook […]

PAKISTAN: Glamourizing ‘good’ terrorists-new way to serve state interests

Glamorizing terrorists as born again saviours of humanity is the new tactic adopted by the state to abet home grown terrorism. Those who dare demand their rights are shunned as separatists while the radicals who commit barbarity are released on the pretext of being innocent. The recent news of the release of ISIS operative Naureen […]

AHRC TV: ‘Indonesian government succumbs to pressure on blasphemy cases’ and other stories on JUST ASIA, Episode 171

This week, Just Asia begins with Indonesia, where, after massive pressure from hardliner and anti-tolerance groups, judges of the North Jakarta District Court sentenced Jakarta Governor, Mr. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok, to 2 years imprisonment on 9 May 2017. Just Asia speaks to Chris Biantoro for more details. Next, in a grim reminder of the Nirbhaya incident […]

An Open Letter from Devi Sunuwar – mother of late Maina Sunuwar

First of all, I would like to thank you all for your continuous support for the longest 13 years journey, where I undertook the painful battle to get justice for the murder of my daughter. Yet, I need your support once again. Since it has been more than a decade now, let me refresh your […]

SRI LANKA: Innocent man illegally arrested by Police to satisfy a corrupt businessman

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information regarding Mr. Harischandra Raja Niroshan (27) of No: 62, Ambakotte, Kengalla in the Kandy District. He was illegally arrested, detained and produced before the Courts on fabricated charges. Mr. Niroshan stated that, when his service was terminated, he requested the rights and benefits due him […]

SRI LANKA: Eleven year-old child tortured by his class teacher at Vidiyartha College Kandy

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Mr. K M M G Sudath of No: 19/1, Watagoda Temple Road, Aruppola, Kandy, about maltreatment of his oldest son. His child was tortured and harassed by his class teacher. Though he lodged a complaint with the Police, they have not investigated these […]

AHRC TV: Indian judgments spotlight arbitrary nature of death penalty sentencing and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 170

This week Just Asia begins with the arbitrariness of the ‘rarest of the rare’ doctrine in India regarding the death penalty. The Supreme Court upheld the death penalty awarded to four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder case on May 5. Another judgment in the same week was passed in the 2002 Bilkis […]

BANGLADESH/WORLD: Establishing effective governance is way to stop refugee flow out of the country

Two recent reports prove the predictions that the Asian Human Rights Commission has been making for several years, that Bangladesh is likely to become a major refugee producing country in the Asian region. The UK basedIndependent published a report on 5 May 2017, with the title “Bangladesh is now the single biggest country of origin for refugees on boats as new route to Europe […]

INDONESIA: GOVERNMENT SHOULD DROP THE BLASPHEMY LAW

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned about the implementation of The Blasphemy Law Number 1/PNPS/1965 on the Prevention of “Religious Abuse and/or Defamation. In many cases, the police investigators and prosecutors still apply article 156 and 156a of the Indonesian Penal Code to indict accused persons. Recently, the North Jakarta district court sentenced […]

PAKISTAN: Media management hides casualties to protect powerful tycoon

A criminal nexus between the police, tycoon and media was exposed one week after the collapse of an artificial stadium killing three persons and injuring some 150 persons. When the 22-feet stadium collapsed on 28 April 2017 during the shoot of a game show aired from ARY Channel, a private television channel, the organizers, Bahria Town Islamabad and ARY […]

PAKISTAN: Attempted lynching to dislodge Hindu business

Mob violence continues to grab national headlines; most recently, a mob of some 500 persons gathered outside a police station in Balochistan, demanding that Hindu trader Prakash Kumar, arrested on blasphemy charges, be released so they could publicly lynch him. When police refused, the mob opened fire and started beating police officers, resulting in the […]

PAKISTAN: Four Ahmadis gun downed with impunity during the first five months of 2017

In the last 60 days, five Ahmadis, including a woman professor were shot dead. One person was shot and injured in a calculated manner in order to eliminate Ahmadis from the country. For many decades the Ahmadi places of worship (mosques), houses, cemeteries, clinics and educational institutions were attacked and many professionals murdered. On May […]

INDIA: Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi says torture is alien to Indian culture. Is he right?

An article from Scroll.in forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Indians have internalised the notion that criminals deserve some pain. And the country still does not have a robust law against torture. The popular Malayalam film Action Hero Biju, as the name suggests, is full of “action” performed by the “hero” Biju, a police officer in Kochi, Kerala. The […]

SRI LANKA/WORLD: Reconciliation in a country entrenched with multiple discriminations

By Basil Fernando IN spite of several years of discussions and talks the work towards reconciliation in Sri Lanka has not made much progress. In this paper we will try to look into the problem areas relating to reconciliation in the light of multiple discriminations that are entrenched in Sri Lanka. This is against the usual approach […]