Torture

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the illegal arrest and torture of 24 year-old Halneththi Susil Indrajith Silva by the Paiyagala Police. Silva was standing outside his house when the police suddenly appeared. He went inside the house but the police forced themselves inside, dragged him out and beat […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received an another torture case from Welawa, Sri Lanka. According to the information we have received, a young man named Nanumuralage Roshan Jayaweera (26) was illegally arrested and brutally tortured by the Wariyapola police on 14 July 2004. In particular, when the victim went to the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the case of Chamila Bandara, a 17-year-old boy who suffered from serious injuries due to being hung and beaten at the Ankumbura Police Station from 20 to 28 July 2003, has not yet been prosecuted under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) Act, Act […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by the illegal arrest and assault of Mrs. M. Piyawathi by the Baduraliya Police on 31 May 2004. After the arrest, she was taken into police custody along with her 22-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son. Later, the Baduraliya Police charged her and her two […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received a copy of an affidavit signed at the remand prison in Kandy on 16 July (written in Sinhala) from Saman Priyankara, who suffered for the second time at the hands of several police officers from the Matale police station on 7 July 2004. The police […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the arrest, detention and torture of Wilfredo Damalerio and James Francis Defiesta, that took place on 27 June 2004 at about 9:00 am in Sitio Tagaytay, Barangay Mipangi, Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, Mindanao, Philippines. On allegation of being members of the New Peoples Army, soldiers […]

Dear friends Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC has been informed that Jayasekara Vithanage Saman Priyankara, a former torture victim, has been severely beaten up by police officers attached to the Matale Police Station and he is being held presently at the same police station. AHRC has learned that Saman Priyankara has been severely pressured during […]

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the illegal detention of Terrance Fernando from 21 February to 25 June 2004 at the Kaduruwela Police Station in Polonnaruwa. He was arrested without charge, tortured and detained for four months. After his release in June, Fernando was told that the crime he […]

Torture is the most serious obstacle to the advancement of human rights in Asia, whether civil and political rights or economic, social and cultural rights. This is because torture is the prime generator of fear, which inhibits people’s ability to react when other rights are threatened. Where large numbers of people decline to participate in […]

As the world commemorates the International Day against Torture 2004, the countries of South Asia continue to be known only for their collective record of endemic torture. From the pre-colonial period to the present day, horrendous torture has been a characteristic of law enforcement throughout the region. In virtually every police station of every South […]

Dear friends, It has come to the attention of Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that a case of illegal arrest, detention and severe torture has taken place in Gurutalawa, Sri Lanka. Moningal Akila Dilhara De Silva, a 17-year-old student of the St. Thomas College, Gurutalawa, was brutally arrested for no apparent reason at his home […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a person named Mr. Kolavan (60 years) was severely tortured at the Thrithala Police Station on 8February 2004. It is reported that the alleged motive for torture was to compel the victim to withdraw his complaint against his brother, after the Sub-Inspector of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Punchi Kankanamge Nimal (37, a casual worker) was severely tortured by the Horana Police on 6 June 2004. The police arbitrarily arrested P.K. Nimal on suspicion of theft without any concrete evidence and assaulted him in order to make him confess. According to […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information about the releasing of five suspects in the alleged abduction of human rights lawyer Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit who has been missing since 12 March 2004. There have been complaints by the senate panel committee led by Senator Sak Kosangruang that the committee does not feel that the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by the severe torture of Aththana Gamaralalage Ravindra (26) by Inspector of Police (IP) Attapattu of the Katupotha Police Station on 13 May 2004. The only reason of brutal torture by the police was that he dared to ask the police the reason of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man named Baburaj P.K, 44, was brutally tortured by police officers from the Guruvayoor Police Station and Pavaratty Police Station on 20 April 2004. At first the victim was taken to the Pavaratty Police Station, where he was inhumanly tortured and later […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Vigil India Movement that a man named P.K. Joy was illegally detained in police custody and brutally tortured by head constable Sugathan of the Ettumanoor Police Station, Kottayam, Kerala with the concurrence of Sub-inspector (SI) George on 26 April 2003. More seriously, Joy […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by the illegal arrest and brutal torture of Vidanalage Dinesh Tharinda de Mel by the Moratuwa Police on 1 June 2004. According to his mother, who met her son at the police station, the police severely tortured him and his right hand was broken […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two young men, Thusev Kamal Priyantha and Matarage Sudhrsana Priya Kumara, were severely assaulted by several policemen attached to the Aluthgama Police Station without any reason on 26 April 2004. The two victims made a complaint to the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), […]

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by the torture and inhuman treatment of a prisoner, Kalpeliyanege Priyantha Anuruddha Shammi, by prison officer Rajive at the Kalutara Remand Prison. According to the information we have received, Rajive has tortured Shammi physically and mentally since he refused to give Rajive the money […]