Torture

Dear Friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the gang rape of a young woman. The rape was recorded and she was blackmailed into marriage. The perpetrators have links to a trafficking gang operating under the patronage of the Gujrat city administration and police. The modus operandi of the gang […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding Mr. Kariyawasam Wickramarachchilage Milan Saman Wickramasinghe (21) permanent resident of Kantale Police Division. He was severely tortured by two Police Officers attached to the Kantale Police Station and two other assailants who allegedly participated in the torture following the instructions of the Police. […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the abduction of a minor from the Bhutto family home. Previously, two brothers from this family were abducted, disappeared and extra-judicially killed. A video of their sister went viral on social and electronic media. She was narrating how persons from military intelligence […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from its partner organization in Kerala, Nervazhi, regarding the torture and violence meted out to a poor lottery ticket seller by the Thrissur police on a false charge. CASE NARRATIVE: Sajeevan is a lottery seller and his wife goes for domestic work. On […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from MASUM, its partner organization in West Bengal, regarding the alleged torture and custodial death of a Muslim villager by the Border Security Force Personnel in Nadia, West Bengal. CASE NARRATIVE: A 22-year-old Muslim villager, Safikul Mondal, was allegedly tortured to death by […]

“Fr. Nandana Manatunga tortured the victim…” claims President’s Counsel, Mr. Nalin Ladduwahetty in his defence of a police constable in a torture case. The case of torture of Mr. Daundalage Pushpakumara came up today at the Court of Appeal in Sri Lanka. The court was considering a petition filed by Pushpakumara, seeking leave to appeal in […]

Sanjeewa Weerawickrama [1] Torture is an act, a form of punishment, a horrible experience, causing severe physical pain and mental suffering. It uses force to make a person confess to a crime he did not do. [2]. A person has the fundamental right not to be tortured. Freedom from torture is covered in the next two examples […]

On 17 February 2017, in Kerala, a criminal gang abducted and sexually assaulted an actress. The lady was travelling in a car, when a group of persons brought the car to a stop creating an accident, and forced themselves into the vehicle in which the lady was travelling. It is alleged that the men sexually […]

A video has recently surfaced in Pakistan, where a contingent of police officers can be seen baton charging a group of unarmed women mill workers protesting in Muzaffargarh, Punjab. The scuffle occurred inside the district court of Muzaffargarh in broad daylight, yet the judicial officer never took any action against the erring police officers, nor […]

Referring to the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Mr. Tomin J. Thachankary, the former State Police Chief, Mr. Senkumar, has said that this officer is a butcher stationed at the state police headquarters. Allegations against Thachankary, one of the senior most officers in service in the state, is nothing new. The only difference this […]

A Study on the use of torture as a routine part of criminal investigations in developing countries; lessons from the situation in Sri Lanka Basil Fernando The Asian Human Rights Commission is happy to present its latest publication which is now available in print and as an e-book. The book is based on over 20 […]

This week Just Asia focuses on the situation of torture in Asia, in commemoration of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Beginning with Pakistan, the UN Committee Against Torture has condemned the widespread practice of torture in the country and called on the government to enact urgent reforms. The government however, is […]

The State Police Chief in the Indian state of Kerala, has openly said that “there are more criminals in the state police service in the IPS cadre than within the constabulary.” State Police Chief, (SPC) Mr. Senkumar, in a speech delivered in a public function held at the state capital today (30 June 2017) has made this […]

by Avinash Pandey ‘Why do armed women cut off a particular organ of Indian soldiers engaged in combating armed insurgencies across India, be it Punjab, Kashmir, Arunachal, Assam, Bengal or Jharkhand?’ asked senior opposition leader Azam Khan. The insinuation was unmistakable, and it had a basis: armed Maoists had indeed chopped off private parts of Central Reserve […]

Recent events in India remind us of the landmark case of Balwant Singh & Anr. v State of Punjab 1995 (1) SCR 411. In this case, two Government officers were convicted by a Special Court under Ss.124 A and 153A of the Indian Penal Code for raising slogans in support of Khalistan on the day […]

by Avinash Pandey ‘There are no stains on my government,’ said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to the United States of America. This can only mean that the Prime Minister thinks the bloodstains of innocent Indians are not stains. In actual fact, no one can remember another time when so much blood was […]

A Statement from Front Line Defenders forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission On 20 June 2017, human rights defenders Noor Ejaz Chaudhry, Usama Malik and Shabir Hussain were abused and beaten by a large group of lawyers in the courtroom of the Lahore High Court. The three lawyers are part of the defenceteam led by […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the occasion of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture The government of Pakistan has stated before the UN Committee on the Convention against Torture (CAT) that it does not intend to set-up legislation against torture and ill-treatment. On May 13, 2017 during the UN review, […]

A Press Release from Their world News forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) PAKISTAN: Host to the second largest refugee population – 1.4 million, almost entirely from Afghanistan — UNICEF Around the world last year, an average of 28,300 people every day were driven from their homes by conflict, persecution or human rights violations. […]

This week, to mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, celebrated annually on June 26, Just Asia has a special report on Hong Kong’s plan to withdraw from the UN Convention against Torture. The reason for such a withdrawal is a misguided attempt to address the rise in torture protection claimants in […]