Torture

Police officials accused of having, along with a soldier, gang-raped a 16 year-old girl for one year are now targeting the lawyers working with the victim. At the time of writing, four of her lawyers were abducted, kept in illegal detention, tortured and threatened to quit the case on different occasions. The resoluteness of the […]

Dear friends, A 14-year-old school child, Uve Adikarige Shashendra Sampath of Horana Thakshila Primary School was severely tortured by a teacher on 20 October 2011. This assault has happened despite the assurance of the government that violence against school children would be closely monitored. This case is yet another illustration of the fact that the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the 2002 torture case of Hom Bahadur Bagale will be heard by the Supreme Court on Monday, 31 October. This former police officer was tortured and illegally detained in 2002 for having refused to obey an illegal order from his superiors. Nevertheless, the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has once again received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation working in West Bengal, concerning the brutality practiced by the Border Security Force (BSF) against civilians living along the Indo-Bangladesh border. In this instance, the BSF was in fact assisting the cross-border smuggling gang of which […]

Dear friends, Mr. Rajavarothayan Kavirajan (27) of Nalloor, Punarin in Kilinochchi District, a final year student of Art Faculty of the Jaffna University was severely assaulted by members of an unknown group, who are believed to be of the country’s military intelligence units, in Jaffna on 24 October 2011. Rajavarothayan was seriously injured, and was admitted to […]

(Hong Kong, October 25, 2011) The United Nations Committee against Torture is due to examine the Sri Lankan government’s performance under the CAT Convention on November 8 and 9, 2011.  The government has submitted its report and the CAT Committee has in turn submitted a long list of questions to the government. These questions are […]

Dear friends, Mr. Henegoda Vithanachchige Gamini (41), of Udugama in the District of Galle was illegally arrested and severely tortured by the police officers attached to the Udugama Police Station on 16 June 2011. On that day when the officers asked him to accompany them he did so without hesitation as he was innocent. Regardless […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Pathrage Don Jayathilaka (56) of Molkava, Baduraliya in Kalutara District was illegally arrested and severely tortured by the police officers attached to the Baduraliya Police Station on 21 October 2003. Then the police officers forced him to accepted crime of possession of […]

Dear friends, On 13 August 2010, Mr. Suriyaarachchige Lakshman de Silva was illegally arrested, detained and severely tortured by the police officers attached to the Kiribathgoda Police Station. His wife, B.M. Ajantha Weerasinghe, was illegally arrested, detained and verbally abused. Lakshman, a painting contractor by profession, agreed to do a number of contracting tasks for […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from the BBC Sinhala Service. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article from the BBC Sinhala Service forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission 23 October, 2011 – Published 15:04 GMT Hundreds of people were tortured in police custody since January this […]

Pakistan rights-based organizations, groups and human rights defenders to synergize efforts to combat torture. (Hong Kong, Lahore October 21, 2011) Forty human rights defenders held a joint consultation on the issue of torture and ill-treatment at Lahore, capital of Punjab province and decided to become part of a regional alliance against custodial torture and ill-treatment. […]

Dear friends, On 28 September 2011, Mr. Battharamulla Gamage Susantha Buddhika (19) of No: 243/3, Pelahela, Dekatana, Dompe in Gampaha District was illegally arrested, detained and tortured. He was tortured on two occasions; he was hung from a ceiling beam and beaten with pipes and poles by three officers, including the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the […]

Dear friends, The AHRC has received information regarding the killing of at least one person and the arrest of hundreds of participants at the Third Papuan People’s Congress including Forkorus Yaboisembut and Edison Waromi on 19 October 2011 in Abepura, Papua. Concerns about the safety of the arrested persons and the need for an investigation […]

Fabrication of Charges, delayed for 08 Years.  Pathrage Don Jayathilaka is a 56 years old unmarried farmer. He is a resident of Molkava, a village in the Kalutara district. His brother P. D Sunil, is a stickman and also a drunker. Because of his brother’s illness, the Baduraliya police used to arrest Jayathilaka instead of his brother. In every […]

An article from The Express Tribune forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Shamsul Islam ”Torture is the only way many police officials know of extracting a confession. They don’t care about whether it is true or not,” Criminal lawyer Ch Muhammad Zulfiqar. Incidents of water boarding and other forms of torture in police custody […]

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Center for Victims of Torture-Nepal As Lapka Tamang’s torture case will be heard on October 24, 2011 in Dulikhel District Court, Kavre, the Center for Victims of Torture-Nepal (CVICT) and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expect the hearing will take place according to […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Subramaniam Thavapalasingham, President of the Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU) was severely assaulted by members of an unknown group in Jaffna on 16 October 2011. Thavapalasingham was seriously injured, and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has once again received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation working in West Bengal, concerning the murder of an innocent person who was attempting to cross the Indo-Bangladesh border. The victim in the case Mr Khalil Sk. is a local medical practitioner who went across the […]

The Indonesian military and police started shooting at around 2:37pm West Papua time, yesterday 19 October. Information about what exactly transpired are still sketchy but at least one person was shot (believed dead), scores have been arrested, hundreds have fled to the hills and jungle surrounding the capital, and the capital is in a state […]

Dear friends, Mr. Sathira Dharshana Jayawickrama (22) of Manigawatta, Ketagoda, Udugama is single and a driver by profession. On 6 June 2011Sathira was arrested by police officers attached to the Udugama Police Station who severely tortured him. He was remanded for 42 days after the police filed a fabricated case against him. After he was […]