Women's rights

SRI LANKA: Democracy mourns for judgment fled to brutish beasts

An article from The Sunday Times forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission As the sun went down this Friday on barebodied ruffians raucously celebrating Parliament’s spectacularly unjust impeachment of the country’s Chief Justice with crackers and kiribath, judgment fled to brutish beasts and Sri Lanka entered its darkest phrase since independence. This Government with […]

SRI LANKA: 13 Jan, 2013-The 1978 Constitution is fulfilled

Today, with the President of Sri Lanka signing the removal notice of the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, the 1978 constitution came to be fulfilled. The 1978 constitution is a representation of the conflict between the rule of law and the absolute power of the executive president. The historical circumstances in 1978 […]

SAUDI ARABIA/ SRI LANKA: UK Foreign Office and France condemn killing of Rizana Nafeek in Saudi Arabia

Both the United Kingdom Foreign Office and France issued statements condemning the killing of Rizana Nafeek. However, the Sri Lankan government which expressed sadness about the killing did not make any statement specifically condemning the killing. Commenting on reports that Sri Lankan national, Ms Rizana Nafeek, was executed yesterday in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, […]

SAUDI ARABIA/SRI LANKA: Sri Lankan woman executed today in Saudi Arabia

The International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP) condemns today’s execution of Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan housemaid, in Saudi Arabia. She was beheaded in Dawadmi province near Riyadh. Rizana, a teenage domestic worker, was condemned to death after a four-month-old baby boy she was bottle-feeding choked and died in 2005. According to her birth […]

SAUDI ARABIA/SRI LANKA: The imminent danger of the execution of Rizana Nafeek

According to the news received from Saudi Arabia Rizana Nafeek, who has been the Dawadami Prison since 2005 may be executed at any moment. This was revealed to the BBC Sinhala Service by Dr. Kifaya Iftekhar, who is based in Saudi Arabia and who has been looking after the interests of Rizana for several years […]

INDIA: What it implies by police reforms?

Statement | India | 03-01-2013

The brutal incident of rape in New Delhi, the death of the victim and the public response to the issue has brought to the forefront several vital issues plaguing India. Of primary concern were three aspects (i) the nature and frequency of violence, committed against the vulnerable sections of the society, most importantly women; (ii) […]

PAKISTAN: A Dark Christmas in Balochistan

As the joy of Christmas dawned worldwide from Manila in the east to Managua in the west, and places in between, the spirit celebrating the birth of the Prince of Peace bypassed Pakistan. Most of the country was distracted by the frenzy of a cricket match against rival India, while its tiny Christian population was […]

SRI LANKA: Increase of crimes and constitutional tomfoolery

The construction of a government that prevents one person becoming the prey of another can be said to be the aim of constitutionalism. Ever since Montesquieu, the greatest of political thinkers and statesmen have struggled to develop principles to achieve this aim of preventing citizens becoming prey of rulers who rule not for the purpose […]

PAKISTAN: Increasing vulnerability of women and children in Pakistan

The vulnerability of innocent women and children has been astonishingly increased in Pakistan in past several months as the country has witnessed some deadly and planned attacks on unarmed women and children from militants. On 18 December, Five Polio lady health workers were killed in Karachi and Peshawar, while two of their male colleagues received […]

PAKISTAN: Minority Rights Day–year 2012 proved to be a nightmare for the religious minorities

The law enforcement agencies, the local court system and above all the government institutions are failing to protect the lives and properties of religious minorities all around the country. As in previous years, 2012 proved a nightmare for the religious minorities in Pakistan.  People from the Hindu, Dalit, Christian and Ahmadi communities and even the […]

SRI LANKA: Women’s rights activists condemn the use of vulgar, sexist language against the chief justice by ministers and parliamentarians

We, the undersigned note with extreme concern, the proceedings related to the impeachment hearing of the first woman Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Banadaranayake by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC). Any hearing, regardless of the person, must adhere to principles of natural justice and rule of law. In the case of the Chief Justice all those […]

SRI LANKA: The Judicial Service Association (JSA) on the Parliamentary Select Committee

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement issued by the Judicial Service Association (JSA) of Sri Lanka on the Findings of the Parliamentary Select Committee which probed the allegations of misbehavior of the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka.. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from Judicial Service Association […]

PAKISTAN: The gender discrimination in superior courts allows for only three females out of 103 judges

Please sign the online petition to eliminate gender discrimination from the superior courts of Pakistan Mr. Iftekhar Choudry, Chief Justice of Pakistan Supreme Court of Pakistan Constitution Avenue, Islamabad PAKISTAN Fax: + 92 51 9213452 E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk Mr. Asif Ali Zardari President of Pakistan President’s Secretariat Islamabad PAKISTAN Tel: +92 51 9204801/9214171 Fax: +92 51 9207458 Email: […]

SRI LANKA: Crisis in the University of Jaffna — A new wave of old scenarios

The Asian Human Rights Commission expressed grave concern over the present situation in the University of Jaffna. Most students are unable to attend lectures as the whole university is in a state of stalemate. The government has added a “national security” mood to the crisis, rather than taking it as a part of the problem […]

PAKISTAN: Malala — Not the broker, but the breaker of silence

Share| When I was leaving Pakistan for Hong Kong, after a long trip to different countries, I received some shocking news at Karachi International Airport. Mr. Solangi, the Director General of Radio Pakistan informed me about the news that Malala Yousufzai had been attacked by the Taliban and was in critical condition. The doctors were […]

PAKISTAN: Failure of the institutions related to the rule of law provides impunity to the perpetrators of violations of human rights

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day 2012 The full report is available for download at: http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2012/ahrc-spr-008-2012.pdf/view  The PPP-led government under President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Ministers Yousaf Raza Gillani and Raja Pervez Ashraf has made some effort to improve the protection of human rights […]

SRI LANKA: Tamil women coerced into joining the military

A Statement of Concern by the Women’s Action Network Womens Action Network (WAN), as a collective of 11 women’s groups from the North and the East, is deeply concerned by the recent efforts to recruit women into the military in the districts of Killinochchi and Mullaitheevu. Post-war development has failed to provide the most basic […]

SRI LANKA: We salute the Chief Justice and her legal team for the historical decision to walk out of the PSC proceedings.

We call upon the people, in particular the judges and lawyers, to grasp the historic significance of this moment It is news now that the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and her legal team, led by Romesh De Silva PC, walked away from the Parliamentary Select Committee proceedings, expressing no confidence in the manner in which […]

SRI LANKA: Impeachment against CJ — Irreparable loss of confidence and public respect of the judicial system

Noting with grave concern that the impeachment proceedings initiated against Her Ladyship the Chief Justice would inevitably lead to an irreparable loss of confidence and public respect of the judicial system as a whole which in turn would further deteriorate the state of governance of the country. Noting in particular as lawyers from the North and East […]

INDIA: Is it not time to question the role of police in crowd control?

Statement | India | 30-11-2012

The Surendranagar firing that killed three Dalit youth on 21 September this year has once again brought to light the concern, that in India, the police do not have adequate training nor the government has necessary resolve to overhaul the police service into one that fits a modern democracy. An affidavit filed by the Gujarat […]