Threats and intimidation

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that a court in Thailand has dismissed an appeal against 20 persons who were arrested for demonstrating against a pipeline project. The court held that the group was exercising their freedom of assembly which was protected under the abrogated 1997 Constitution. Another […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the continuing failure by the authorities to take adequate action against the policemen involved in torturing a school teacher following his arrest on August 23, 2007. The victim, Siya Ram Gachaedar, was taken for questioning to Haraicha Area Police Station (APO), Haraich […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned that Mr. Jahangir Alam Akashi, a journalist, as well as a human rights defender based on Rajshahi city, has been implicated with an alleged false extortion charge on 28 August 2007. The charge against Mr. Akashi is based on a complaint lodged by Mr. […]

Dear friends, Further to our most recent update on Burma from last week, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that another human rights defender in Burma has been sentenced to jail for three years on the pretext of giving illegal tuition. As described in the previous appeal (UP-105-2007), Ko Min Min […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture, illegal arrest and detention and the fabrication of charges of a 42-year-old man by the police. He was brutally tortured and denied medical treatment. His lawyer informed court about the torture but despite of the threat to his life the Magistrate […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two cases relating to torture and abduction allegedly committed by the Young Communist League (YCL) which was affiliated to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) (CPN (M)). After the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Government of Nepal and CPN (M) on 21 November […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information about the continued harassment and intimidation of a torture victim who was allegedly severely assaulted by the Moratuwa Police in September 2004. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) had recommended compensation of Rs. 12,500 (approximately 112 US dollars) to be paid […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source regarding the alleged brutal torture of four persons by the Meherpur Sadar police in Meherpur district, Bangladesh on 19 June 2007. Three among the four victims are from the same family, while the fourth person is their neighbor who was […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the continued attacks and threats to the minority Islamic sect Ahmadiyah in Tasikmalaya, West Java, from 19-26 June 2007. An Ahmadiyah mosque was attacked by mobs from three other Islamic sects, and there are continuous threats from the mobs to ban the religion. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by reports that a torture and sexual molestation victim, 30 year-old widow Ms. Kalpana Bhandari, has received serious threats from the police since she registered a case demanding compensation for torture with the Kathmandu District Court on June 11, 2007, concerning her arbitrary arrest, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information on the case of a 15-year-old girl who was gang-raped by more than a dozen attackers from Town Layyah in Punjab province beginning on 30 January 2007 (For details, please see: UA-081-2007). According to the latest information we have received, the victim has been […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from KontraS regarding the continued violation of religious freedom in Indonesia by alleged “extremist” elements of society and the police. Several cases have been reported in mid-June 2007 in Surakarta, locally referred to as Solo (Central Java) in which religious sects (either Christian or […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received credible information of ongoing attacks, intimidation, surveillance and threats, including death threats, against human rights defenders from West Papua that occurred in mid-June 2007, following their meeting with Ms. Hina Jilani, the UN Special Representative to the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders. It is […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information about the continued intimidation by members of the Medan District Police towards Suherman’s family, the man who was brutally shot dead by the police on 11 April 2007. The police allegedly tried to cover up the case by offering some money and forcing […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that on 16 June 2007, a Radio Free Asia reporter, Lem Pichpisey, who is also known by his on-air pseudonym, Lem Piseth, 38, received a death threat through his mobile phone after he reported on the illegal logging activities and massive deforestation in Kompong Thom […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the public threats on two advocates from the Medan Legal Aid Institute (LBH Medan) by six members of the Indonesia Armed Forces (TNI-AD) on 5 June 2007, during a court trial at Pancur Batu State Court. It is reported that the military personnel […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by the alleged torture and fabrication of charges against a man by the Kotadeniyawa police. According to the information from the Human Rights Citizens Committee in Gampha district, Mr. T.G. Chaminda Weerawardene, who resides in Divulapitiya, Negombo district was illegally arrested on 2 June […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about threats to which human rights defender Mr. Jitman Basnet of Solukhumbu District, Nepal, was subjected on May 21, 2007, giving rise to serious concerns for his physical and psychological integrity. Mr. Basnet was arrested on February 4, 2004 by plain-clothed army personnel from […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about continuing threats, including death threats, and harassment allegedly being perpetrated by members of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) (CPN-M) against 13-year-old school girl Sarita (name changed for her security) and her mother in Baglung district, Nepal. Since March 2007 the two victims […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the inhuman treatment by the police towards a 29-year-old man, Mr. B Sumith Priyantha Fernando, on 26 March 2007. Mr. Fernando was illegally arrested, detained and was subsequently brutally tortured by a police officer, Officer- in Charge (OIC) of the Special Investigation Unit […]