Torture

An interview conducted by the Asian Human Rights Commission. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the AHRC. Sri Lanka — A woman speaks out against bad policing and torture Inoma Karunathilaka has been involved in civil society organizations and women’s organizations for several years. She has been an active member in helping […]

Kalutara is situated around 35 kilometers from Colombo and is one of the centres of the Sinhala Buddhist heartland. What happened to a mother and her 17-year-old daughter in this place where the ‘Bodiya’, the Bodhi tree is revered, demonstrates the extent to which security has broken down in the entirety of the country. Kalutara […]

An interview conducted by the Asian Human Rights Commission. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the AHRC. Sri Lanka — A woman speaks out against bad policing and torture Harshi Perera, a young Sri Lankan lawyer spoke on her views of policing and torture. Ms. Perera holds two degrees in arts and […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the soldiers from a field regiment stationed in Manipur Block, Hailakandi district, Assam illegally raided houses in Mohanpur village and in the process tortured the inmates, molested women and girls and even took their pictures at gun point. It is reported that the […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that an Aceh-based journalist was beaten and threatened by a military officer. The journalist had published an article – against the request of the officer – about illegal logging in the area, and its possible involvement with the Alapan District Police Station (Polres), and […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the Chatkhil police, of Noakhali district have tortured a man to death on 13 May 2010. The witnesses told the AHRC that the body of the deceased torture victim had several marks from injuries. The police prepared a complaint and got it signed by […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission will work to draw the attention of civil society and governments to the endemic torture that is prevalent in almost all Asian countries. Despite many declarations by governments, torture is carried out every day in almost all police stations throughout Asia. The routine practice of torture in normal criminal investigations, […]

The government must prosecute the Frontier Corp for running torture cells Mr. Murad Khan Marri was missing for eight months before the Frontier Corp (FC) announced that he had been arrested in March 2010 while crossing the Afghan border into Pakistan. He was produced before the chief justice of the High Court of Balochistan province […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man who was arrested, badly beaten in custody and detained for more than five months, has been acquitted by the South Jakarta District Court. According to judges, Mr. Aan was arrested and detained on charges based on a fabricated police brief. However no […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that a couple have been declared ‘Karo-Kari’ and sentenced to death by an illegal tribal court, but cannot get protection or redress from the Pakistan authorities. The tribal court was allegedly chaired by the bride’s uncle, a policeman, and includes her father, who is also […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from The News International about a revolting story of a 13 year-old girl, who was continuously gang-raped, mentally, and physically tortured by police officials during 21 days of illegal detention. After finding that she was pregnant, the policemen produced her before a Session court under false charges. […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the disappearance of a man who had gone missing after a Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) team illegally arrested and detained him along with several others in February 2010 (Please see our previous appeal for details: AHRC-UAC-043-2010). We have learned that the government has […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) had been informed that a farmer, whom soldiers had arbitrarily arrested over allegations that he was a commander of a rebel group, had been tortured and held incommunicado for six days. The soldiers did not turn him over promptly to police custody, but illegally detained him in […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a man arbitrarily arrested by the police in General Santos City was tortured while in custody for seven days. The police had him severely beaten, subjected him to suffocation using a plastic bag and burned his thumb with lit cigarettes. When carrying […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received a report of the torture of six persons from a Christian family by officials of the Pakistan Air Force. The arrest and torture continued for a period of 18 days and was due to the suspicion that they had stolen gold ornaments from the house of a […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that charges have not yet been filed in court against soldiers involved in illegally arresting, detaining, torturing and threatening to kill five indigenous tribe members over a number of days. On December 1, 2009 the victims, one of them a minor, were arrested […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man was arbitrarily arrested, tortured and held in remand for more than two years before he was finally granted bail. Dehiwela police held him illegally for one month and ten days before his transfer to a remand prison and he reports that officers […]

Elaris Fernando of Kandana is a special friend of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). He passed away today, April 14, after suffering from worm illness. In 2002, when his grandson was tortured by a group of policemen at the Kandana police station, Elaris Fernando began a fight seeking justice against such behaviour. His fight […]

The Union Cabinet of the government of India will today discuss about introducing a domestic law criminalising torture in the country. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcomes the move and finds it as an encouraging opportunity for the law enforcement agencies, civil society organisations and for the general public to participate in local and […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to report that a young torture victim has won a fundamental rights case in Sri Lanka. He has been awarded compensation and the case has been duly handed to the Attorney General for action. Although the country has a an anti-torture act such rulings remains […]