Women's rights

This week, Just Asia begins with Indonesia, where, after massive pressure from hardliner and anti-tolerance groups, judges of the North Jakarta District Court sentenced Jakarta Governor, Mr. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok, to 2 years imprisonment on 9 May 2017. Just Asia speaks to Chris Biantoro for more details. Next, in a grim reminder of the Nirbhaya incident […]

First of all, I would like to thank you all for your continuous support for the longest 13 years journey, where I undertook the painful battle to get justice for the murder of my daughter. Yet, I need your support once again. Since it has been more than a decade now, let me refresh your […]

This week Just Asia begins with the arbitrariness of the ‘rarest of the rare’ doctrine in India regarding the death penalty. The Supreme Court upheld the death penalty awarded to four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder case on May 5. Another judgment in the same week was passed in the 2002 Bilkis […]

An article from Scroll.in forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Indians have internalised the notion that criminals deserve some pain. And the country still does not have a robust law against torture. The popular Malayalam film Action Hero Biju, as the name suggests, is full of “action” performed by the “hero” Biju, a police officer in Kochi, Kerala. The […]

An article from The Wire forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Due to its negligent drafting, the Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Act is unlikely to benefit the workers in the unorganised sector. There is a need to amend the Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Act to make employers duty-bound to provide very clear, unambiguous forms […]

This week Just Asia begins with a call from Filipino lawyer Jude Josue Sabio, asking the International Criminal Court to charge President Duterte with mass murder and crimes against humanity. A 77-page complaint to the Court on Monday states Mr. Duterte was the “mastermind” of a campaign that has killed more than 9,400 people since […]

An Article on “Right to Information and Batticaloa women : Hypothesis vs Reality” by Radika Gunaratna , published in the Daily Mirror issue of 20 April 2017, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission By Radika Gunaratna, Attorney-at-Law, Human Rights and RTI Activist Yet, it is still questionable whether citizens from all corners felt the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to share that the Kavrepalanchowk District Court has finally sentenced three army officers to 20 years’ imprisonment for the murder of 15-year-old Maina Sunuwar at the height of the Maoist insurgency in February 2004. On April 17, a single bench of Judge Medini Prasad Paudyal convicted the former army officers Colonel […]

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal. March 21st, celebrated as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, is simply a day to mark all that is not right in Nepal. Since the day’s inception in 1960, the situation of Dalits has barely improved. There is no implementation of Nepal’s law against caste […]

First, the facts. Yes, crimes against women are a major problem in Uttar Pradesh. As per the data of the National Crime Records Bureau, the state has the dubious distinction of being the most unsafe Indian state for women in 2015 despite losing ‘top rank’ in number of rapes reported, to Madhya Pradesh, followed by […]

This week Just Asia begins with calls by activists for a UN special rapporteur to be appointed to look into deteriorating human rights in Balochistan. Leading the protest outside the UN office in Geneva, Baloch activist Mehran Marri said the past 4-5 months had seen a particular low, with the abduction and disappearance of women […]

This week Just Asia begins with International Women’s Day, annually celebrated on March 8. The theme for 2017 is ‘Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030’. The idea is to work towards the 2030 Agenda, which includes ending discrimination and violence against girls and women, and ensuring free quality education for […]

Yesterday, on 8 March 2017, International Women’s Day was observed with much fanfare across India. Everything was in place, almost orchestrated to perfection with nothing amiss. The President and the Prime Minister issued customary greetings and honoured women who had made their presence felt and achieved something. There was something peculiar in the mix though. […]

A Press Releasefrom Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) 8 March 2017- On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)held a conference “opening up spaces for women human rights defenders” in Islamabad. Among others, KishwarNaheed, MarviSirmed, FauziaSaeed, Mangla Sharma, Tahira Abdullah, […]

On February 27th, a Christian priest in Kerala, Mr. Robin Vadakkancherry, was arrested on charges of raping a minor-girl. The incident came to light when the Childline (1098), the crisis helpline for children in distress in India was informed of the rape. The survivor got pregnant and last month, she gave birth in a Church-run hospital in Kerala. It has been […]

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said the following in a message on International Women’s Day. “On International Women’s Day, let us all pledge to do everything we can to overcome entrenched prejudice, support engagement and activism, promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.” The 2017 UN theme on International Women’s Day is–Women in the Changing World of Work: […]

This week Just Asia begins with Sri Lanka, where five police officers have been arrested in connection with the custodial death of a suspect at the Peliyagoda Police station. The 42-year-old Chadik Shyaman Wickramarachchi was arrested on February 25, following information provided by another suspect. The next day, Chadik’s body was recovered by his family at the Police Mortuary […]

The sudden and inexplicable surge in violence against women this year has sent shivers down the collective spine of the country. Not that previous years had been any different in terms of violence against women. However, the year 2017 appears to be particularly brutal with more than a dozen honour killings occurring in the first […]

This week’s episode of Just Asia begins with the UN’s new report detailing mass gang rape, killings and other human rights abuses against the Rohingya by the Burmese military. A team of UN investigators interviewed over 200 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, who told how their children, including a newborn, were trampled or cut to death. […]

The film by Prasanna Vithanage titled “Usaviya Nihandai” (“Silence in the Courts”), is being shown not in cinema halls only, but also at popular gatherings. I had the privilege of attending four such gatherings in different parts of the country, in Panadura, Negombo and two showings in different parts of Kandy. In each instance, about 30-40 […]