Torture

Between 314 and 544 persons have been executed in Iran in 2013 alone 16 Baloch political prisoners were executed in Iran in an act of revenge for an attack on the border security forces. The executed Balochis were already in Zahedan prison and took no part in the attack. It was alleged that the Baloch […]

Civil society must join the peaceful long march in solidarity with the relatives of disappeared persons and provide all possible assistance to the marchers The relatives of missing persons from Balochistan started a 730 kilometre peaceful long march for the recovery of disappeared persons. The participants assembled and started their march from the Quetta Press […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission ASIA: Watershed legislation criminalising torture & custodial violence enacted in Bangladesh The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) congratulates the people of Bangladesh for the enactment of the Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Act, 2013. The Jatiyo Shangsad (National Parliament) enacted the draft law, the Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Bill, […]

He is Jejhon Macalinsal. To those who know him he was a young activist, those that did not would fear him. In April 2002, he and two others were arrested, tortured and detained after the police illegally raided their home and planted explosives for which they were charged with possession. They were linked to a […]

The government of Pakistan has – within a short period of less than two weeks – promulgated two draconian laws, ostensibly, to combat terrorism. The first ordinance was promulgated on October 11. It has amended the Anti-Terrorist Act, 1997, and curtailed fundamental rights of citizens. Now the government has gone ahead and promulgated another ordinance […]

An outcome statement from the Manipur Convention on “Protection of Human Rights Defenders of Manipur” forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Resolution Adopted at the Manipur Convention on “Protection of Human Rights Defenders of Manipur” Manipur Press Club, Imphal, Manipur, 19 October 2013 The participants of the Manipur State Convention on “Protection of Human […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to announce the launch of its weekly video news bulletin, the Asian Human Rights Commission – Weekly Roundup. The second episode, released today, 21 October 2013, covers a wide range of human rights issues, including custodial rape in Pakistan, how Pakistan’s anti-terror laws negate fair trial guarantees; India’s appalling […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is forwarding to you an appeal from the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) about the torture of a 16-year-old boy. The boy was arrested together with other rebels during a battle with soldiers in Zamboanga City. The boy claims that he took arms and joined […]

The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA), the largest bar association of the country, in a general body meeting has passed a resolution against the conduct of three judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan including the Chief Justice, Iftekhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The resolution has demanded that a reference be filed against them before the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to announce the launch of its weekly video news bulletin, the Asian Human Rights Commission – Weekly Roundup. The first episode, released on 14 October 2013, covers a wide range of human rights issues, including corruption, judicial independence and military torture in Asian states. The bulletin can be watched online […]

The Minority Rights Group International has published a report entitled, ‘Living with insecurity: Marginalization and sexual violence against women in north and east Sri Lanka’. The executive summary of the report is as follows: Four years since the end of the armed conflict, the situation of minority women in the north and east of Sri Lanka […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the gang rape of two young women in police custody over a period of three days by the in-charge of the police station and two head constables. This was supposedly to solve a four-year old case of abduction for ransom. A member of […]

The case of Ganeshan Nimalaruban, a Tamil prisoner whose death in prison evoked local and international expressions of concern last year was taken up on October 14 before the Supreme Court and the de facto Chief Justice, Mohan Peiris, refused to grant leave to proceed in the fundamental rights case. The de facto CJ refused […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Padang Legal Aid Institute (LBH Padang) regarding the torture of an inmate by two prison guards in Solok, West Sumatra. Following the abuse, the inmate and his family complained to the relevant authorities. The inmate and his family’s eagerness to seek justice, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following press release from the Friday Forum. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- FORWARDED PRESS RELEASE AHRC-FPR-046-2013 A Press Release from the Friday Forum forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) SRI LANKA: An Appeal for the Early Publication […]

The following interview was originally printed in the latest issue of the Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives. An Interview with Dr. Sunil Cooray on Torture in Sri Lanka Dr. Sunil Cooray is a senior lawyer who is very well known in Sri Lanka. He has been in legal practice for 46 years. He is the […]

Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan, globally known to have critiqued the incumbent government of Bangladesh against its human rights abuses, has been released from prison today, October 11, 2013, after 62 days of prolonged arbitrary detention. It was back in August 10 that officers from the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrived at Adilur’s Dhaka […]

The following review was originally printed in the latest issue of the Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives. by Eran Wickramaratne Basil Fernando’s well researched book documents state perpetrated torture reaching back to 1998 and tells a harrowing narrative of the willingness of state machinery to resort to the most egregious violations of personal security and dignity […]

The following interview was originally printed in the latest issue of the Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives. An exclusive conversation with Dr. Nora Sveaass Born in Oslo, Norway, in December 1949, Dr. Nora Sveaass is a clinical psychologist who has been engaged in various parts of the world in relation to human rights and rehabilitation after […]

The following interview originally appeared in the latest issue of the Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives. Norman Finkelstein is an American scholar, political activist, and author. He is an expert on the Israel-Palestine Conflict, the politics of the Holocaust, and the life and beliefs of Mahatma Gandhi. He earned his Ph.D in Political Science from Princeton University […]