Torture

INDIA: Student Tortured in Police Station

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 […]

PAKISTAN: A political activist dies in the custody of Rangers after severe torture including the drilling of his knees

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 […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 70

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 […]

NEPAL: Police use waterboarding to extract confession

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 […]

WORLD: Torture promotes impunity – latest issue of Torture magazine

( 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 […]

PAKISTAN: Husband kills wife with pretext of defending “honour”; Sindh government supports murderer

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a woman has been killed by her husband and brother-in-law, who claim to have been acting to defend “honour”. The woman was murdered in front of her father and brother. The young woman was first locked in a storeroom for three days, without […]

SRI LANKA: Extrajudicial killing at Kalutara North Prison must be independently investigated

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has gathered detailed information on the cell death of an innocent man at the Kalutara North Prison on 5th April 2015. Mr. Goniyamalimage Suraj Priyantha Aponsu (44), resident of No. 75/11, Uswatte, Moratuwa in Colombo District was a married man and labourer by profession. He was illegally […]

WORLD: Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives: Online Reader Survey

Since the April 2012 debut of Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives, “Torture Magazine” has been providing unparalleled reporting and analysis on torture and other human rights issues around the world, as well as academic essays relating to the psychology and history of torture, interviews with some of the world’s top minds in human rights issues, […]

SRI LANKA: A 17 year old young man was illegally arrested, detained, tortured and pushed to accept fabricated charges of stealing a three wheeler vehicle

Dear Friends, On 9 March 2015, Jeevandarage Ashan Tharanga, a 17 year old young man of No: 62, Balummahara, Dekatana in the Gampaha District, was illegally arrested and severely beaten by police officers attached to Meegahawatte Police Station. He was detained in the station for 3 days and produced before the Magistrate of Kadawatha on […]

SRI LANKA: Independent investigation needed on an extra-judicial killing by the police as a result of torture

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information on an extra-judicial killing of an innocent man in Attanagalle in Gampaha District in Sri Lanka on 2nd April 2015. Mr. G A Gayan Pubudu Kumara (32) was illegally arrested, tortured and killed by police officers attached to the Nittambuwa Police Station.  Gayan, is […]

PAKISTAN: Hindu youth arrested by Rangers must be produced in court

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the disappearance of Mr. Sajan Avinash, a young man belonging to the Hindu faith. Sajan has gone missing following his arrest by a contingent of Pakistan Rangers, who raided his house in the early hours of March 28 2015. The reasons for his […]

SRI LANKA: New government lacks credible strategy for eliminating corruption

One of the promises of Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, as common candidate at the last presidential election, was the elimination of corruption, i.e. something the last government was steeped in. Elimination of corruption is therefore a major objective of his newly elected government. His catchwords were Yaha palanaya (good governance), which itself implies radical elimination of corruption. Today, […]

SRI LANKA: Independent investigation needed for Sameera’s extrajudicial killing

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has detailed information on the killing of Sameera Dananjaya Pathirana (39) in the cell where he was detained in Ja-Ella Police Station. Sameera was illegally arrested on 17 March 2015. Later, police officers admitted him to the Ja-Ella Government Hospital due to his precarious medical condition. Immediately […]

NEPAL: Inescapable truths

March 24 marks the fifth annual International Day for the Right to Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed this day in 2010 to honor the memory of victims and recognize the work of countless human rights activists around the world who have devoted […]

INDIA: Is it for the police to form a policing policy?

Arrest brings humiliation, curtails freedom and cast scars forever. Law-makers know it so also the police. There is a battle between the law-makers and the police and it seems that the police has not learnt its lesson; the lesson implicit and embodied in the Cr.P.C. It has not come out of its colonial image despite […]

SRI LANKA: Efficient police investigation needed into mysterious deaths and the dismembered human body parts found scattered in several parts of the country

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that human body parts have been found scattered in several parts of Sri Lanka between 14th March and 18th March 2015.  Dematagoda, Nawala, and Diyawanna Oya near Parliamentary Complex are the sites in Colombo where the body parts have been found. Yatiyantota and the […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Attack gangs and falsification again the orders of the day

Over the last week Burma, or Myanmar, has witnessed the re-emergence of some of the most sinister methods of handling public demonstrations in its modern history. The police and civilian attack mobs have violently broken up demonstrations of workers and students in the former capital, Rangoon (Yangon), and the town of Letpadan to its north. […]

NEPAL: ­­­Impartially investigate suspicious death of Gyani Raja Thakuri

Dear Friends, The Advocacy Forum Alliance in Nepal has informed the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) about the suspicious death of Gyani Raja Thakuri. The family of the deceased suspect direct involvement of the police in the death, as it followed an argument with local police officers. The police have, however, denied involvement and attribute […]

SRI LANKA: Custodial death at Dummalasuriya Police Station must be independently investigated

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has gathered detailed information on the custodial death in custody of an innocent man. This took place at the Dummalasuriya Police Station in Kurunegalle District on 4th March 2015. He was, illegally arrested and questioned immediately after his wife filed a complaint with the police regarding a family […]

SRI LANKA: An independent investigation needs to be carried out on a torture killing by the police and the murder of the witness to the crime

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has detailed information on the murders of two innocent people; one who was illegally arrested, tortured and killed, and the other who was willing to be the witness to the first murder. Liyanarachchilage Samantha (34) of Viharagala, Suriyawewa in the Hambantota District was illegally arrested and severely tortured on […]