Torture

NEPAL: In Commemoration of Anti-Torture Day in Nepal

Article | Nepal | 26-06-2014

In the recent case of three Rupandehi boys being tortured by two police personnel deployed in the Area Police Offices of Suryapura and Rupandehi, the Court delivered a verdict on 22 June 2014 ordering departmental action against the guilty police personnel and NRs. 3000 compensation to be paid to each of the three victims pursuant […]

NEPAL: The police state quite likes torture

Nepal is a country where torture and ill-treatment are widely practised by state and non-state actors. Torture haunts detention centers, and there is no mechanism for the investigation of allegations of torture in the country. The culture of impunity strengthens its hold in Nepal, despite the armed insurgency having ended, and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement […]

SRI LANKA : An addiction to torture

© Cartoon by Awantha Artigala 17-year-old Sandun Malinga died in police custody on May 9, 2014. He had been wrongfully arrested and beaten. His repeated entreaties for medical attention because of the chest pains he suffered after the beatings were ignored. After his arrest and initial beating, he had been brought before a magistrate. He and his […]

INDONESIA/PHILIPPINES: Events in Hong Kong to mark the day for torture victims

(Hong Kong, June 26, 2014) To mark the day for victims of torture, a forum and a public gathering with migrant workers will be held simultaneously in Central and in Causeway Bay on Sunday, June 29. For the Filipino community, an indoor forum on “Torture and human rights in the Philippines” will be held in […]

INDIA: A law against torture is of no use

Four years have passed since the Government of India mooted the idea of drafting a legislation criminalising torture. The Prevention of Torture Act, 2010, after being passed by the lower house of the Indian Parliament, was discussed in the upper house. The upper house constituted a Parliamentary Select Committee to review the law, a process […]

PAKISTAN: Successive governments using torture as a means of oppressive governance

A statement on the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture In Pakistan, torture has become a norm, for oppressive means of government by successive regimes; it is used mainly as a means of oppressing opposition and against youth irrespective of gender, in the suppression of their freedoms, their freedom of thought and […]

CAMBODIA: UN human rights expert on Cambodia welcomes progress, calls for widening of democratic space and further reforms

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Professor Surya P. Subedi, on Tuesday ended his 11th fact-finding mission to Cambodia, noting progress in some human rights areas and commending the Government’s response to a recent sudden and massive return of Cambodian migrant workers from Thailand. He called on the Thai […]

SRI LANKA: Deaths in Police Custody

The Friday Forum has urged the Inspector General of Police to respond as a matter of urgency to the current public concern, including that of the Bar Council, on the deaths that are taking place in police custody. A particularly shocking recent incident involves the death of a 17year old minor after assault in police […]

INDONESIA: Trial against victim of torture is ongoing

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding another case of torture and the fabrication of charges in Jakarta. The victim was reported to have been taken to an unidentified location and tortured before finally being taken to Jakarta District Police station. His family was not promptly informed on his arrest […]

PHILPPINES: Tortured and falsely charged activist detained for nearly nine years to be freed today

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that the charges against Fernando Obedencio, a human rights activist whom we reported to have been tortured, falsely charged and held for nearly nine years, have been dismissed. The court granted his petition to dismiss the fabricated charges of possession of illegal […]

PHILIPPINES: Torture survivors ask Ombudsman to finally resolve case vs. Palparan, other military

For the third time, torture victims Raymond Manalo and Oscar Leuterio asked the Ombudsman to resolve the case of kidnapping, arbitrary detention, torture, physical injuries, threat and involuntary servitude and violation of RA 7438 (Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained or under Custodial Investigation) against their military torturers. Manalo and Leuterio were both victims of enforced […]

NEPAL: Torture victims file case against police at Kanchanpur Court

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance (THRD Alliance) regarding the police having tortured two persons on 30 April 2014. The police took Kalu and Hikmat Chaudhari on their private motorcycles to the Bhasi Police Station and ordered them to sign a document. When they raised […]

ASIA: Sexual violence- The new Normal

by Avinash Pandey “If she had been killed on a street corner in this village, would you even be here?” was the question put to journalist Mehreen Zahra-Malik, by the husband of Farzana Iqbal, a young woman bludgeoned to death in front of the Lahore High Court. Probably not, as violence against women is not […]

THAILAND: Human rights defender and law professor charged by the junta

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned to have learned that Professor Worachet Pakeerut, an associate professor in the Faculty of Law at Thammasat University, leader of the Khana Nitirat, and human rights defender (HRD), has been charged in the Bangkok Military Court with violating an order of the National Council for Peace […]

NEPAL: Police torture a Tamang family in Dhading district

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Forum for Protection of People’s Rights Nepal (PPR Nepal) regarding the police having tortured a Tamang family living in Jivanpur Village Development Committee (VDC)-6, Dhading district. The police took two children, Ruben and Prabesh, in custody on 7 February 2014 and tortured […]

SRI LANKA: State must act to end impunity

‘Lawyers for Democracy’ views with alarm the spate of attacks on civilians by the police during the recent past.  The case of the torture of Udaya Kumara of Udawalawe police station, the killing of Subash Indika of Pasyala and the shooting at a Three Wheeler at Katunayake are serious incidents of police excesses.  From the […]

SRI LANKA: Advocating A Different Political Project

Dear friends,  We wish to share with you the following article from The Sunday Times, written by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena. Asian Human Rights Commission  Hong Kong ————- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-FAT-017-2014 June 15, 2014 An article from The Sunday Times forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Advocating A Different Political Project by […]

INDIA: Restore the rule of law, curb sexual violence in U.P.

Statement | India | 13-06-2014

Since India’s general election, Uttar Pradesh has witnessed sharp escalation of sexual violence and lawlessness. The rape of a session court judge in her official residence, guarded by the Provincial Armed Constabulary round the clock, highlights the extent of violence and lawlessness in the state. There is no indication that the Uttar Pradesh state government, […]

INDONESIA: Live webcast of HRC side event on freedoms of expression and assembly in West Papua

A side event at the human rights council organised by the Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC), Franciscans International (FI), International Coalition for Papua (ICP), Pro Papua Foundation, Tapol, Vivat International, West Papua Netzwerk (WPN), on Thursday, June 12, 2014  14:30 – 16:30 (CEST, UTC+2), Room XXII  Palais des Nations, Geneva Live Webcast West Papua in Indonesia […]

SRI LANKA: Drunken police officers gun down 24-year-old

On the night of June 11, officers attached to the Nittambuwa police station gunned down Subash Indika Jayasinghe, a 24-year-old man, for no reason. A friend named Saveen Chathuranga, 18-years-old, was accompanying Indika. Saveen describes the incident as follows: Indika and Saveen were travelling on Indika’s motorcycle. As there was significant traffic, they were moving […]