Torture

SRI LANKA: A demonstration is not a riot; AHRC tells the NPC

We are re-producing below a letter written to the National Police Commission, Sri Lanka, by the AHRC on the inquiry into the attack on students by the riot police on 29th October 2015. Image caption: Acting IGP Pujith Jayasundara, DIG Gamini Mathurata and SSP Champika Siriwardana arrived at the National Police Commission (NPC) in connection with […]

SRI LANKA: The AHRC condemns the attack on students by the Riot Police

The Asian Human Rights Commission is seriously concerned about the attack by the riot police on the students of Inter Student Collective for the Protection of the Higher National Diploma in Accountancy (HNDA), who have gathered to present a petition to the Minister of Higher Education at the University Grants Commission, in Colombo yesterday, 29thOctober […]

INDONESIA: Land rights activists attacked and killed for protesting illegal sand mining

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the killing of environmental activist, Mr. Salim (known as Salim Kancil) and the attack on Mr. Tosan in Selok Awar-Awar Village, Lumajang Regency, East Java Province, Indonesia. The two activists were attacked by thugs who were ordered and supported by the Head of […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Imminent elections causes spike in politically motivated arrests

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the state of freedom of expression in Burma, at a time when Burma is awash in election campaigns. Rather than allow for the people to air their opinions as befits a democratizing nation, the government has chosen to suppress freedom of expression and Internet freedom and […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 94

This week AHRC TV continues its coverage of the 4th annual Asian Alliance Against Torture and Ill-Treatment and for Fair Trial Meeting, which saw parliamentarians, senior policemen, and senior activists gather in Hong Kong last to deliberate on the transformations required in the justice institutions of Asia. The programme includes talks by Sri Lankan Deputy […]

INDIA: Fanatic fringe the new mainstream

Article | India | 15-10-2015

Avinash Pandey “Incidents like Dadri and Ghulam Ali are really sad but what is the role of the Centre in them?” These are the words of Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, who finally appears to have broken his silence in this statement made to the Bengali newspaper Anandabazar Patrika on the increasing instances of […]

INDIA: Human rights defender tortured and falsely charged by West Bengal police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from human rights organisation MASUM that Mr. Ajimuddin Sarkar, a district human rights monitor of Murshidabad district, West Bengal was illegally arrested and detained by plain-clothed police personnel of Islampur Police Station in broad daylight after being abused and beaten up. Mr. Sarkar had been […]

INDIA: Dalit women stripped naked is the fact that matters

Article | India | 09-10-2015

Avinash Pandey It is the Republic and not a Dalit family that stands naked in front of Dankaur Police Station in Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, located not more than 50 kilometres from the national capital. There are “conflicting” reports, as well as pictures and videos, which have gone viral on social media about what […]

PAKISTAN: Patriarchal culture amongst the lawyers reaches alarming level

Javeria Younes Women in Pakistan are treated as second class citizens. Denied their fundamental rights, the they are often viewed as property, to be dealt with as their owners deems fit. The chauvinism and patriarchy prevalent in Pakistan ensures systematic gender subordination, which perpetuates violence. In a society where the male ego is inflated at […]

PAKISTAN: Sindh Police stop medical treatment of a half fried victim as punishment for contacting media

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information of another case of police brutality. A psychiatrist has been half fried by police officers, who mistook him for a wanted criminal. Dr. Deepak Raj, a psychiatrist, lost his leg, which received 12 bullets, while his other leg and arm also damaged badly. Dr. Raj was […]

PHILIPPINES: Lumad leaders killed by paramilitary forces

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the killing of three indigenous leaders in the community of Km.16, Barangay Diatagon Lianga, Surigao Del Sur. Paramilitary forces were threatening the civilian community, accusing the victims of being rebel New People’s Army members. CASE DETAILS: (Based on the documentation by Alliance for […]

BURMA/ MYANMAR: Denial of rights and arbitrary detention of student protesters

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) calls for the release of all detained student protesters from prison, who have been charged with multiple sections. Student protesters awaiting trial have spent more than six months in prison, prosecuted under sections 143, 145, 147, 332 and 505(b) of the Myanmar Penal Code, allegedly over unlawful assembly and […]

PAKISTAN: teenage victim of torture committed suicide after being distraught by the judiciary

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information through Human Development Organization HDO Hazara Division KPK province that a teenage victim of police access and custodial torture and who was being habilitated at the rehabilitation facility of HDO has committed suicide. Three teenage boys from an urban locality suffered severe physical and […]

PAKISTAN: Police implicate the brothers of Tahira Khoso in murder case to adversely affect the case of honour killing

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information in the case of honour killing of Tahira Khoso by her husband in presence of her father and brother who were trying to stop him from torturing her. Umrani was later found murdered in Balochistan province. The Jacobabad police under the pressure from […]

SRI LANKA: නීතිපති දෙපාර්ථමේන්තුව පිළිබද ප‍්‍රශ්නය හා ලංකාවේ යුක්තිය පසිදලීමේ අනාගතය

නීතිඥ බැසිල් ප‍්‍රනාන්දු එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් කොමසාරිස්තුමාගේ කාර්යාලය මගින් 2015 සැප්තැම්බර් 16 වන දින ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව පිළිබදව පරීක්‍ෂණ වාර්තාව ප‍්‍රසිද්ධියට පත්කරන ලදි. ලංකාවේ මානව හිමිකම් කඩවීම් හා යුද්ධ අපරාධ පිළිබදව ඇමරිකා එක්සත් ජනපදය ලංකාවේ ආණ්ඩුවේ එකගතාවය ඇතිව මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සලයේදී ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති යෝජනවාට පදනම වන්නේ එම වාර්තාවයි. ලංකාව තුළ විශේෂයෙන් 2002 සිට 2009 අතර කාලය […]

SRI LANKA: OHCHR Investigation contributes to reconciliation and justice development in Sri Lanka

The Investigation Report issued by the Office of the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) dated 16th September 2015, is the most comprehensive report on human rights issued by any international or national agency to date. It is comprehensive and balanced. If implemented it could lead to considerable positive developments in Sri Lanka. […]

INDIA: Let them eat rasgullas

Statement | India | 24-09-2015

Death of children under its care is nothing novel for the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Post Graduate Institute of Paediatrics located in Cuttack, Odisha. It took 58 of them to die in less than 10 days for it to become scandalous. Over the years, the Institute, popularly known as Shishu Bhawan, has recorded an alarming number […]

SRI LANKA: Brutal Murder of little Seya and the relevance of the OHCHR Investigation Report

The abduction, rape, and murder of Seya Sadewmi of Kotadeniyawa on 12 September 2015 has led many Sri Lankans to react across the country, and provoked many demonstrations by women’s organisations and also by children. Even yesterday, 23 September 2015, demonstrations by school children were reported from the North of the country. Similarly, media reports […]

NEPAL: Immediate measures for Biratnagar violence needed

Statement | Nepal | 21-09-2015

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the Nepal government to take urgent measures in order to defuse alarming on-going violence in Biratnagar. Police have indiscriminately fired on protesters that had just begun to gather in order to carry out their plan to burn a copy of the Constitution promulgated yesterday. The police fired live […]

NEPAL: Terai deaths blot new Constitution

Statement | Nepal | 18-09-2015

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has repeatedly raised the alarm against the killings in Terai; however, they fail to stop. The police have again opened fire, this time on 15 September, a market day. The police firings have resulted in four innocent citizens in Bethari, Bhairahawa town, Rupandehi District being killed. The mentality of […]