Torture

On 21 March 2013 a member of the national legislature in Burma introduced a motion calling for the country to join the United Nations Convention against Torture. In his motion, Dr Aung Moe Nyo, member of the National League for Democracy for Pwintbyu, Magway Region, argued that as the country is now developing and democratising […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that an Indian prisoner was tortured to death by officials of the Kot Lakhpat prison of Lahore, Punjab. He was inhumanely beaten to death for committing the ‘crime’ of washing his clothes at a public tap at the courtyard of the jail. The jail […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the attacks on the houses belonging to Ahmadis. The attackers were from two religious organizations, the Sipah-e-Sahaba (SP) and Khatm-e-Nabowat (KN) and were provided with protection by the police during the attack. The local in-charge of the Ahmadiya Jamat was seriously injured when […]

Although there is a law in Pakistan against honour killings known as the ‘Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2004’ these inhuman acts of revenge against innocent people continue to increase. The fact that the law has been amended to include honour killings shows the very real need for this inclusion, however, amending the law alone is […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has been following with concern news of the latest outbreak of communal violence in Burma. Although the circumstances of how the violence began are clouded, the president on 22 March 2013 declared an indefinite state of emergency over four townships of Mandalay Region–Meikhtila, Wundwin, Mahlaing and Thazi–after the imposition of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the arrest and detention of two teenagers based on fabricated charges in Paniai, Papua. The police arrested them after finding a woven bag filled with a cartridge and other materials associated with pro-independence movement, which did not belong to either of them but […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a fifteen year old boy was arrested under allegations of illegal possession of arms and robbery and was tortured three times in the same day to make him confess those crimes. He has been remanded in custody on three occasions for a total […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) appreciates the proposed reforms to the criminal law in India – Penal Code, 1860; Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, and the Evidence Act, 1872. Amendments to the three legislations, collectively known as the Criminal Major Acts, partially address some of the pitfalls in India’s criminal law architecture with regard to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a newlywed Pakistani couple was abducted from Nepal by agents of the Indian intelligence agencies while they were leaving for Pakistan. They were quickly shifted to India where they were kept in a private torture cell for 17 days where they suffered severe […]

A Press Release from Front Line Defenders forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) On 13 March 2013, human rights defender Ms Perveen Rehman was shot and killed by armed motorcyclists, close to her offices. Perveen Rehman was a social and economic rights defender, working with communities in the slums of Karachi. She was director of […]

Based largely on a series of drawings by Nepali artist Sushil Thapa, Modus Operandi TORTURE exposes the true horror of what takes place in police stations around Asia. Thapa, in collaboration with the CVICT in Nepal, interviewed a number of police torture survivors and based these illustrations on their gruesome accounts of what they experienced at the […]

When the case regarding the torture of Chamila Bandara Jayaratne came before the Supreme Court yesterday (March 11) the lawyer appearing for the respondent police officers, Mr. Manohara de Silva, mislead the court by stating that leave to proceed had not been granted by the Supreme Court in this case. In fact, leave to proceed […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture of a priest in Pania, Papua, which took place on 2 March 2013. The priest was arrested and beaten by five police officers after randomly shouted in front of a police station. As a result, the priest was injured but the […]

Avinash Pandey* The decision of going naked in protest to the oppression committed on them by POSCO and its supporters must not had come easily to the women of Govindpur village of Jagatsingpur district in Odisha. It cannot come easily to women of anywhere in country, however, much distressed they are. It is a country, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Balasundaram Jeyamagudam (32) was illegally arrested, detained and severely tortured by Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) officers for two months without being produced in court. He is married and has a son aged 6. Balasundaram was never involved in the any of the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Kitnasami Rajendran(57) of Udayarkattu North, Udayarkattu in Mullaitivu District was illegally arrested in 2008 and has been detained without trial for more than four years. He was tortured in the custody of the Colombo Criminal Investigation Division and is now detained at […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the case on torture of 20 prisoners at Abepura Correctional Facility, Papua. After intervention from various human rights groups on the case, the Head of the correctional facility who was responsible for the torture was removed from his office earlier this month. […]

He had to die. Die, because a nation wanted him to, or so were we told by the Supreme Court of the nation. He had to die to satisfy the collective conscience of the nation, the court added for a good measure. So, he did die, nay, hanged till death. His body was left hanging […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Varnakulasingham Arulanandam was rearrested by the Terrorist Investigation Division after he was released by a court of law for lack of evidence. He has been severely tortured, his wife has only been allowed to visit him twice and there is no indication […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that a man, whom we reported in September 2010 to have died under suspicious circumstances, did not escape from the custody of his investigators before he was found dead, but was tortured and murdered in their custody. UPDATED INFORMATION: In 3 September 2010, we […]