Rule of law

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. S. E. Logathayalan, a journalist working for the ‘Uthayan’ and the ‘Thinakkural’ Newspapers in Jaffna was remanded on 8th (Wednesday), April 2015, on orders of the Acting Magistrate, Point Pedro for a period of 09 days. The Magistrate had issued the order […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that on 14th April 2015 at around 9.45 p.m., three journalists have been threatened with their lives and from continuing their work as journalists while they were travelling near the Kandaswamy Hindu Temple in Nallur, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. According to information received, two unknown […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a woman has been killed by her husband and brother-in-law, who claim to have been acting to defend “honour”. The woman was murdered in front of her father and brother. The young woman was first locked in a storeroom for three days, without […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission and KontraS to Mr. Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly, the Indonesian Minister of Law and Human Rights Mr. Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly Minister of Law and Human Rights Jalan H.R. Rasuna Said Kavling 6-7 Kuningan Jakarta 12940, INDONESIA Tel: +62 21 525 3004 Fax: +62 21 526 3082 Dear […]

According the information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) a mother and her 18 month old infant has died suddenly, on 6th April 2015, as a result of continued domestic violence and abuse. Ms. Matinge Dilrukshi Helsi Pavithrani 22 years old, was a residence of No. 03rdPiyawara, Doramadalawa, Mihinthale, in the Mihinthale Police Division, […]

Dear Friends, On 9 March 2015, Jeevandarage Ashan Tharanga, a 17 year old young man of No: 62, Balummahara, Dekatana in the Gampaha District, was illegally arrested and severely beaten by police officers attached to Meegahawatte Police Station. He was detained in the station for 3 days and produced before the Magistrate of Kadawatha on […]

The former Chief Whip of the ruling coalition in Kerala, Mr. P. C. George, has released a letter to the media, which he has sent to the Chief Minister of the State, Mr. Oomen Chandy. In the letter, among other accusations, George alleges that the Finance Minister of the State, Mr. K. M. Mani, had […]

by Danilo Reyes  (Note: this article was first published in the March 15, 2015 issue of the Sunday Examiner) The little girl asked me, “Why did you come here?” She is one of nearly 7,000 people holed up at an evacuation centre in Zamboanga City. Mostly Tausug people, one of the Moro ethnic groups in Mindanao and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is issuing this special Urgent Appeal following a spate of alarming, serial killings, particularly of women in the Kahawatte Police Division, during the past few years – which constitutes several elements of systematic extrajudicial killings. On 4th April 2015, the Kahawatte Police Station received a complaint of […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the persecution, kidnapping, and premeditated murder of Mr. Indra Pelani (22), an activist of a local peasant group, in Pelayang Tebat Village, Lubuk Mandrasah Sub-District, Tebo Regency, Jambi Province, Indonesia. The AHRC notes that the murder of Indra constitutes premeditated murder, considering the […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information on an extra-judicial killing of an innocent man in Attanagalle in Gampaha District in Sri Lanka on 2nd April 2015. Mr. G A Gayan Pubudu Kumara (32) was illegally arrested, tortured and killed by police officers attached to the Nittambuwa Police Station.  Gayan, is […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the forced eviction of Mrs. Christina Gurning (85) from her house in Jalan Kusumaatmadja No. 76 of Menteng Sub-District, DKI Jakarta Province, Indonesia. Christina is a widow of Mr. Timotius Markus Gurning, who is a national hero and retired Colonel of the Indonesian Army. […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the disappearance of Mr. Sajan Avinash, a young man belonging to the Hindu faith. Sajan has gone missing following his arrest by a contingent of Pakistan Rangers, who raided his house in the early hours of March 28 2015. The reasons for his […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. J M Piyathilaka, who is a social activist and a member of the Justice of the Peace (JP.), was assaulted in public by three people at a restaurant at Jaffna Junction in Anuradhapura on 21 February 2015. He lodged a complaint at Police […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that members of the Southern Peasants Federation of Thailand (SPFT) continue to face death threats in Surat Thani Province. Despite a legal judgment in favour of the Agricultural Land Reform Office five months ago, one that ordered the Jiew Kang Jue Pattana Co. Ltd., a […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a minor girl and her mother being set on fire after their being gang-raped by three men. The girl, who suffered 90% burns, died the following day in hospital, while the mother has survived her 60% burns, regaining consciousness from coma after 26 […]

On March 24, pictures of four detainees, one of them a woman, with their hands chained and padlocked together, circulated online. The photos were taken by Bong Son, a newspaper photographer, while the detainees were being transported to another detention facility in Manila City. Photo: GMA News screen grab In response to public condemnation, Senior […]

Discrimination based on caste practices, including untouchability, is a deep and unhealed wound in India’s collective conscience. Caste-based prejudices adversely affect an estimated 160 million Indians. Despite a constitutional injunction and legislations that seeks to prohibit caste-based discrimination, the practice continues in India. Most tribal communities in the country also face discrimination that has its […]

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched with much fanfare and was touted at the vehicle to drive India’s poor out of financial untouchability; it remains one of the pet projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A country dealing with the double whammy of a nightmarish accident toll and a virtually non-existent public […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young man belonging with Ahamadi religious minority group was killed by the unknown men amid the military operation against the terrorists and target killings. Before his cold blooded murder he was warned and threatened that being an Ahmadi he will not be […]