Rule of law

Yakub Memon, a terror convict, will be hanged to death, most probably on 30 July 2015. He will be killed by the State because the Supreme Court of India rejected his curative plea, the final appeal, and cleared the way for hanging. He will hang after being convicted under the much reviled Terrorist and Disruptive […]

Pakistan courts have finally started taking a proactive approach to support religious minorities and safeguard their interest. On 22 July, the Supreme Court of Pakistan suspended the execution of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court granted leave to appeal to Asia Bibi and […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding allegations of gross violation of human rights, which has resulted in five students being killed and 17 others getting injured in Paniai Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia. Up until now, the law enforcement agency and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) have […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that the Meghalaya state government has placed an application before the National Green Tribunal to extend the date of transportation and payment of royalty on coal. This application has been made despite the government and mine owners having had one entire year to clear out […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the use of excessive force by the police in different districts of the Terai during public’s feedback collection on the first draft of the constitution. The Madhes based parties, Mohan Baidhya and Netra Bikram Chand led Maoist parties, and some other outfits, had decided to […]

A total of 180,657 rural households continue to engage in manual scavenging in India, despite the inhuman practice being repeatedly outlawed by the Parliament and Judiciary. This is the state a year after the launch of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), a flagship scheme of the incumbent government, covering 4,041 statutory towns, aiming to […]

Javeria Younes The mob justice meted out to 13-year-old Samiul Alam Rajon, who was beaten to death in Bangladesh by an angry mob resolute on teaching the youngster a lesson for stealing a bicycle, is a classic case of mob madness witnessed on our streets every day. Throughout Asia, deteriorating rule of law and ineffective […]

An Announcement by the Asian Human Rights Commission This week’s Roundup begins in the Indian state of Kerala. The state government has initiated a process of police reforms. This unique initiative involves enabling the police to undertake scientific crime investigation. AHRC TV interviews AHRC Executive Director Bijo Francis to learn more about the outlook for […]

Gender jurisprudence is unheard of in the realm of Pakistan’s criminal justice system. In fact, it is continuously at discord with social norms that are enforced by the biases of the criminal justice system. While there is a preconceived notion that the criminal justice system primarily revolves around men, as men are predisposed to violence, […]

The criminal justice system in Pakistan is known to be faulty, exploitive, and inequitable. Compound this with a low conviction rate, between three and seven percent, at best, and what one has is a recipe for chaos, as is being witnessed in the country today. The investigators are poorly trained and lack access to basic […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the arbitrary arrest and torture of 19 people allegedly involved in motorcycle robberies. The brutal behaviour of the Serpong police officers resulted in the custodial death of five suspects. According to the police however, their deaths were the result of self defense by […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information about a woman, Ms. Victoria Dayoun Kharkongor, being found dead inside the toilet of the Dispur Police Station in Guwahati on 5 July 2015. The police claim that she was mentally ill and hung herself inside the toilet. According to the preliminary police reports, Ms. […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission reproduces below the full text of a circular issued on 3rd July 2015 by the Director General of Police of our neighbouring Indian state of Kerala. It announces a historically important initiative to modernise the police, so that the institution will become able to perform its functions within a modern democracy. […]

Dear Friends, The Jagaran Media Center (JMC) has informed the Asian Human Rights Commission that A Dalit woman, who queued up to receive relief materials after suffering loss in the Great Earthquake of 25 April, has been beaten black and blue. The beating by local non-Dalit Deepak Bhattarai’s family members has resulted in Saraswoti Sunar, […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern about the endorsement by the Department of Education Region XI to shut down at least 24 accredited community schools, which will affect 2,896 Lumad children. Furthermore, concern is also being expressed at the decision to allow military personnel to operate as para-teachers in […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a final student in University, named Toqier Mashori, has been tortured to death in the Central Prison of Hyderabad, Sindh, within three days of his arrest. His family was asked by the police and prison authorities to pay large bribes for Mashori’s relief […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the brutal murder of Mr. Jopi Teguh Lasmana Peranginangin (39), an environmental activist who used to work with the Indigenous People’s Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN). He was kicked, beaten, and stabbed to death by Indonesian navy personnel on 23 May 2015 at […]

Owing to a mountainous topography, many parts of Nepal are inaccessible during monsoon season; travelling to those more accessible can also be perilous at this time due to landslides. The problems that monsoons bring are more severe this year in aftermath of the devastating earthquake on April 25, and its destructive aftershock on May 12, […]

Burma got a new government in 2010, after decades of military dictatorship. The change, by general election and under a new constitution, converted Burma from a military to a semi-military government. Some things changed, but most have remained the same.  Torture is still part and parcel of the way the military and law enforcement agencies […]

This week’s special Roundup coincides with International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The programme tunes in to AHRC partners from around the Asian region as they deliver their message to the world on this special day. Viewers can also watch AHRC TV’s special short video produced for DIGNITY Day, which is being celebrated in Copenhagen today. The […]