Torture

Enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions are on the rise amidst the political crisis in Bangladesh. At least nine people including two women have been disappeared, and seven men extrajudicially murdered between 5 January and 27 January 2015. Personnel from the Detective Branch (DB) of Police, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and the Joint Forces (which […]

On 21 January, the Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics has unanimously adopted a draft anti-torture bill. PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar moved The Torture, Custodial Death and Custodial Rape Bill, 2014, last August and the Chairman Senate referred it to the Committee. The objective of this Bill is to prevent and protect all persons from […]

India is celebrating its 66th Republic Day today. The national capital territory is under a layered security blanket, to ensure the celebrations will not be marred by any inconvenient incident, and that the foreign as well as national dignitaries will return home safe. Some amongst the millions of Indians watching today’s celebrations may wonder why such […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young man, Faraz Alam, who has been tortured to death in police custody and the Sindh Provincial Government, has to-date failed to conduct an inquiry and to set up a judicial commission of inquiry into this incident despite promises by the Minister […]

We, the Conflict Victims Common Platform (CVCP), feel extreme exclusion in the whole process of transitional justice process, specifically concerning the recent recommendation committee’s list of candidates for the forthcoming Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Commission for Enforced Disappearance (CED). The recommendations were made public last week without prior consultation with victims and surviving […]

Schools across Pakistan reopened on 12th January 2015 following the horrors of the Peshawar carnage that was unleashed on 16th December 2014, on the innocent school children at the Peshawar Army Public School (APS). Parents and teachers along with the Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Shareef attended the sombre morning assembly where the surviving students vowed […]

The Asian Human Right Commission and Asian Legal Resource Centre has developed  a handbook on torture titled “Let’s Stop torture together” the book is first of its kind in South Asia to have reached out the victims directly and to help them cope with the aftermaths of torture and how to seek legal redress. Our […]

6 January 2014 shall forever be etched in our collective concise as a sad day when we sold our souls to the devil. Senator Raza Rabbani appeared heartbroken on the floor of the assembly as he shed tears for the assembly taking its last breath “Perhaps, I never felt ashamed as much in my life […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on Human Rights Day 2014 The second Constituent Assembly election, which was held on 19 November 2013, changed the political situation of Nepal. The Maoists, which got the highest number of votes in the first Constituent Assembly elections, clocked in third this time. The Nepali Congress (NC) […]

This week’s episode of Weekly Roundup covers recent cases from several countries. This week’s episode of the AHRC TV Weekly Roundup (please insert hyperlink here) covers recent cases from several countries. The episode begins with Sisto Dos Santos speaking about disappearances in East Timor. Next, AHRC TV brings you the latest regarding the wife of a victim […]

“Matters can go to such a head that the SHO (station house officer) would have to bring him (the detainee) chapattis and chicken curry to satisfy him.” Indeed, this is not an obiter dictum by Justice T. S. Thakur. This comment that the Supreme Court judge has made while hearing a case concerning the installation […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a horrifying incident of a Christian couple being burnt alive on charges of Blasphemy in Pakistan’s Punjab Province. According to information, the couples’ legs have been broken so that they cannot escape the burning. The young Christian couple has been severely beaten and were […]

Dear friends, The Advocacy Forum (AF) has informed the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that Mr. MadhoTajpuriya, a 57-year-old resident of Ward Number 3, Sijuwa Village Development Committee (VDC), Morang district, was arrested by the police from the Area Police Post (APO) Sijuwa, Morang District, at around 4 p.m. on 24 October 2014. He died […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the continuous persecution of human rights defenders in Gilgit and Baltistan, the occupied lands by Pakistan. Mr. Baba Jan and his associate Mr. Iftikhar Hussain were sentenced for the second time for life imprisonment by an Anti Terrorist Court (ATC) in Gilgit, […]

We have completed two years of publishing our groundbreaking initiative on torture, Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives. It was inaugurated in April 2012. Since then, thousands of people have rapidly joined us in their best capacity to improve this magazine. Your opinion and feedback is very important to us. We are looking forward to getting […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that freelance journalist Aung Kyaw Naing (aka Par Gyi) was killed while in custody of the Burmese military and that the body has been hastily buried before the story broke. The military claims he was arrested, but facts available make it clear that procedures […]

Dear friends, The Terai Human Rights Defenders (THRD) Alliance in Nepal has informed the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that Juglal Tharu, a 15-year-old, and Mr. Maneshor Tharu, a 28-year-old, both residents of ward 5, Binauna Village Development Committee (VDC), Banke District, have been arrested unlawfully on 14 October 2014 and tortured while in custody. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a local partner organization, Human Rights Defenders and Promoters, that the police, a municipality officer, and a village administrative officer from Kangyi Daunk Township, Ayeyawady Region, arrested a villager without giving any reason and tortured him. When the case was brought to court, […]

(Hong Kong, October 24, 2014) The Asian Human Rights Commission announces that the International Bar Association has awarded Adilur Rahman Khan with IBA Human Rights Award 2014. The AHRC congratulates its partner, Adilur Rahman Khan, for one more Award for his struggles against state-sponsored persecutions in Bangladesh. The awards that Adilur has been receiving one […]

Today, AHRC TV releases its milestone 50th episode of Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup. In this episode, AHRC TV interviews participants from the 3rd annual meeting of the Asian Alliance Against Torture & Ill-treatment (AAATI) to gain perspective on the meeting. In particular, AHRC TV interview: Farooq Hamid Naek, a Senator from Pakistan Eran Wickramaratne, […]