AHRC News

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SRI LANKA: Reflections on the Constitution — Part 3

Basil Fernando The Constitution Places the Executive President above the Courts This picture shows the executive president sitting above the Supreme Court Complex. The Supreme Court is the highest cou...

WORLD: Cambodia — Abysmal lawlessness and the powerlessness of the citizens

(Part One)   The first election in post Pol Pot Cambodia was held in May 1993. The new constitution promised a liberal democracy and a system of governance based on the rule of law. However, the ...

SRI LANKA: Reflections on Sri Lanka’s constitution – part 2

Basil Fernando   The Degeneration of police into “licensed thugs”   This is a photo of Mr Ganegoda Sinhage Haritha Lakmal (30) of No. 590/2A, Middle Gate Upper Road, Addunkelle W...

WORLD: Cambodia — Abysmal lawlessness and the powerlessness of the citizens

(Part One)   The first election in post Pol Pot Cambodia was held in May 1993. The new constitution promised a liberal democracy and a system of governance based on the rule of law. However, the ...

SRI LANKA: TISL summoned before CID — the abuse of the criminal justice process to suppress discussions relating to corruption

The Sri Lankan branch of Transparency International (TISL) has been summoned to appear before the Financial Investigation Unit of Criminal Investigation Division who is conducting an investigation int...

SRI LANKA: Street protests against the denial of fair trial

Basil Fernando Perhaps for the first time in Sri Lankan history, many people have taken to the streets in the last few days to protest against the abuse of the judicial process and to demand fairness....

SRI LANKA: Reflections on Sri Lanka’s Constitution

Basil Fernando The picture above speaks for itself. It depicts what happened to a young man who went to get police assistance to stop illegal gambling happening near his house. When the man went to po...

PAKISTAN: The troubled history of domestic violence legislation in the country

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza For more than a year, Pakistan’s Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill has languished in legislative limbo, awaiting political resuscitation. The National As...

WORLD: Sarath Fonseka of Sri Lanka and Sam Rainsy of Cambodia

Basil Fernando What Sarath Fonseka and Sam Rainsy have in common is that they are the most popular opposition leaders in their countries and that they have been jailed for that very reason. Political ...

INDIA: Neither a temple nor a mosque will save this country

The elaborate security and precautionary arrangements made by the state and central governments expecting a communal violence in response to the anticipated judgment of the Allahabad High Court is pro...

INDONESIA: President ignores parliament while protesters are arrested over major human rights case

On September 28, 2009 the House of Representatives issued several recommendations to the President to bring the perpetrators of the infamous student disappearances of 1998 to justice. Human rights act...

THAILAND: The government must protect the rights and safety of villagers in Map Ta Phut

Map Ta Phut in Rayong district is a long-standing major industrial and manufacturing area along the eastern seaboard of Thailand. In June 2009, Map Ta Phut villagers and the Stop Global Warming Associ...

INDIA: Pot calling the kettle black

The argument between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan concerning Kashmir during the UN General Assembly debate exposes the lack of respect both these governments entertain for their people,...

INDIA: Test of honesty for the country’s judiciary or an ode on its demise

The contempt of court proceedings initiated against Advocate Prashant Bushan in the Supreme Court of India for the allegations he made against some of the former Chief Justices of the country will tes...

PAKISTAN/USA: Dr. Aafia Siddiqui should be pardoned from her sentence of 86 years

Please sign the online petition urging President Obama to grant amnesty.   Dr. Aafia Siddiqui was arrested in March 2003 by Pakistani intelligence personnel and allegedly handed over to the Feder...

INDIA: Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 requires a thorough review

On 31 August 2010, the upper house of the Indian parliament, the Rajya Sabha, constituted a Parliamentary Select Committee to review the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010. The Committee, chaired by Mr....

SRI LANKA: What upsets Colombo’s middle class?

Basil Fernando  “We in Colombo also now have to become like people living in the North and East in our outlook. We no longer know what is what, which is which, whether we are coming or goin...

SRI LANKA: AHRC condemns the politically manipulated verdict of the second court-martial proceedings against Sarath Fonseka

The Asian Human Rights Commission categorically condemns the decision of the second court-martial delivered today in the case against Sarath Fonseka. The political use of the judicial process is a com...

INDIA: Diarrhea and cholera are social disasters in Orissa

Death visited Orissa once again. Whenever the rainy season comes, death from the waterborne diseases of diarrhea and cholera follow. As the rains are a natural phenomenon, can the deaths also be natur...

INDIA: Enlightenment that took thousands of Kashmiris lives to dawn upon the Indian government!

*Avinash Pandey Enlightenment, it seems, has finally dawned upon the Indian government. The words of wisdom that came out of yesterday’s all-party meeting on Kashmir, convened by the Prime Minis...