Torture

The government of Nepal ratified the Convention Against Torture (CAT) in 1991, and passed the Torture Compensation Act (TCA) in 1996. The TCA, however, does not criminalize torture and focuses on compensation if police officers are found guilty of practicing torture. The TCA treats torture merely as a civil offence, which thereby encourages officers to […]

June 26 is observed as the International Day in support of the victims of torture. Unfortunately, in Thailand, the day will be eclipsed by the military regime that is in power since May 2014, when it overthrew the last elected government. The National Council for Peace and Order that is in power is military machinery. […]

It has been 17 years since Indonesia ratified the Convention against Tortureand Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, and promulgated Law No. 5 of 1998. However, the Convention has yet to be enforced in the domestic legal system. Indonesia still doesn’t have a national law that criminalizes torture and allows for prosecution of acts of torture […]

That torture is endemic to Bangladesh is not news to the human rights community, or to the millions of citizens who directly and indirectly suffer at the hands of law enforcement personnel. The enactment of the “Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Act, 2013”, i.e. Act No. 50 of 2013, is acknowledgement of the widespread practice […]

On 23 June 2015, the Negombo High Court judge M.Z. Razeen found Sub Inspector Suresh Gunaratne and one of his assistants guilty of murdering Gerald Mervin Perera in November 2004. The two policemen have been sentenced to death. Another case of torture is pending against the same Sub Inspector and several other police officers who […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture in police custody of a young man, Faisal Muhammad Raja, who is a mason by profession. As Faisal is employed in Dubai, the Phularwan Police, Sargodha District, Punjab Province, have attempted to extort money from him by torturing him. The police demanded Pakistan Rupees […]

The AHRC has received information about the torture of a minor in custody at Kotwali Police Station, Katni, Madhya Pradesh. A video has been recently broadcasted in different national news networks in India displaying actions of the police, who were seeking to extract a confession from Ravi, a minor, by visciously torturing him in the […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the abduction of Raja Dahir, the son of a prominent intellectual and the writer, from his home by uniformed Pakistan Ranger personnel and those wearing civilian clothes who identified themselves as State intelligence agents. Following Dahir’s abduction, his whereabouts are unknown. Mr. Raja […]

Dear Friends, The AHRC has received information about deepening cycles of violence in Manipur. A 12-year-old boy, Bishal, has been subjected to torture by the Kuki Revolutionary Front (KRF), a militant group based in Manipur. KRF suspected Bishal to be the member of Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), another Valley-based insurgent group. This act of torture […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you of yet another killing of a woman in Manipur by the 20th Battalion of Assam Rifles posted in Pallel. The woman received a bullet injury as officers fired indiscriminately without warning towards a group of villagers, who were approaching to identify a masked man […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture to death of Ramadan Suhuddin, a sixteen-year-old boy, in the Municipality Police Office, Samarinda City, East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. The alleged perpetrators remain unpunished. The police are protecting their fellow officers, who tortured the boy. CASE NARRATIVE: On 16 October 2011, […]

In a letter dated 10 April 2015, the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission—an innovation of the current period of political change in Myanmar, or Burma—wrote to the Asian Human Rights Commission concerning the death in police custody of Ma Than Than Aye, and alleged torture of her and her husband Ko Nan Win (AHRC-UAC-128-2014). According […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information about a police officer, Mr Amitabh Singh Arambam.  He was brutally beaten by the security contingent of the Manipur Assembly Speaker, while he was on his way home with his wife and children.  Mr Amitabh Singh Arambam is known for his honesty and integrity at […]

An Article by Basil Fernando  This is a speech delivered by Basil Fernando at  The Fifth  Human Rights Cities Forum-  As the Keynote address for the Special  Session on Asian Human Rights – Human Rights in Asia and Vision of Human Rights City- 16th May 2015. It is useful, I think, to recall the aims […]

[RE: AHRC-HAC-005-2015: PHILIPPINES: Stop demolition against Laguna Lakeshore Community in Taguig Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from Defend Job Philippines about the ongoing demolition and evictions targeting the urban poor community of the Laguna Lakeshore area of Taguig City. The authorities have already demolished the houses of community […]

Dear Friends, The AHRC has received information about the torture of a young man by the police authority of Pavaratty Police Station in Kerala. Aslamuddin, a young man of 18 years, studying at Venmanad School in Kerala, was riding his bike through the Chuku Bazaar Road along with his friends, Avinash and Jamshir. According to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a political worker died after severe torture in the custody of Pakistan Rangers including the injuries by drill machine at his both knees. He was arrested by Pakistan Rangers on the suspicion that he was involved in facilitating the target killing. He was […]

In this week’s Roundup, AHRC TV begins in The Philippines, where three rights activists have been killed and two others wounded in separate incidents in the month of March. This is a sign of continuing impunity. Union activist Ronald Ian Evidente shares concerns about the perils faced by rights activists in the country. Next, AHRC TV […]

Dear Friends, The Advocacy Forum (AF) in Nepal has informed the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) about the alleged police torture of Mr. Munna Lal Yadav. Munna has been arrested on the fake charge of killing Tirtha Ram Yadav. Following his arrest the police allegedly beat him with plastic pipes on the soles of his […]

( Hong Kong SAR, April 17, 2015) Despite the court order and provision in the 2007 Interim Constitution of Nepal, no law criminalising torture has been enacted. The Nepal Government failed to provide justice to survivors and punish perpetrators,” Kamal Raj Pathak, human rights lawyer from Nepal states in his latest paper, published in the […]