AHRC News

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SRI LANKA: An Appeal to the women’s movement against inhuman treatment of a young woman on religious grounds

This is a narrative of the husband of the victim, a 17 year old woman with a two month old child, who was subjected to the horrible experience of being beaten about 100 times with the hard centre stem...

PAKISTAN: Negligence of the authorities exposes the lives of millions to peril

The negligence of the authorities and improper mechanisms to deal with natural disasters has put the lives of millions of people in peril after the heavy rains in Pakistan. As a result the lives of th...

NEPAL: The Nepal Army has given absolution to one of Maina Sunuwar’s murderers

The Nepal Army announced on 14 July that an internal inquiry had found Major Basnet ‘innocent’ of the torturing to death of Maina Sunuwar. The details of the enforced disappearance, tortur...

NEPAL: The Nepal Army has given absolution to one of Maina Sunuwar’s murderers

The Nepal Army announced on 14 July that an internal inquiry had found Major Basnet ‘innocent’ of the torturing to death of Maina Sunuwar. The details of the enforced disappearance, tortur...

SRI LANKA: Moral dilemmas involved in the Sakvithi incident

After the arrest of Sakvithi many persons from the more affluent sections of Sri Lankan society are demanding the money which they have invested in his illegal business. This raises many issues regard...

WORLD: Climate justice and human rights

There are times when children are wiser than the adults. We live in such a time. Today’s children know more about the problems of climate as a man-made problem. They worry about it, talk about i...

SRI LANKA: The state of denial and the descent to silliness

For several decades now the Sri Lankan people have been exposed to extraordinary acts of separation, large scale forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, illegal arrest and detention. T...

BURMA/MYANMAR: Request to intervene on complaint of severe torture by police

An Open Letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Professor Manfred Nowak Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment...

INDIA: A democracy that fights stones with bullets

*Avinash Pandey Thinking about tragedies, especially manmade ones, is a subversive process bursting with its inherent dangers. It makes one go numb, outrages the self and at times fills one with the d...

SRI LANKA: Bar Association should ensure speedy passing of a law on contempt of court

The fear of arbitrary use of contempt of court charges has a negative effect on legal profession and legal process. Twice United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC)has commented on this issue relat...

ASIA: Women’s views on prevention of torture – Interview 35

An interview conducted by the Asian Human Rights Commission. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the AHRC. Philippines–I usually encourage crime victims to go to the police,...

SRI LANKA: A mother burns the mouths of two little children who were crying for food

Basil Fernando A mother burned the mouths of two children who were crying for food. The two children were girls, one and half and five years old. The mother has been arrested and is presently in reman...

PAKISTAN: The WISE women of Karachi

WISE — Women’s International Shared Experience Project – travelled to Karachi, to work with women from throughout the Sindh area who have been raped, sexually assaulted or domestically ...

INDIA: Because Khairlanji is not just another murder story!

*Mr. Avinash Pandey The recent verdict of the Bombay High Court in the Khairlanji massacre case convicting all the accused to life imprisonment could have been a welcome one and gone a long way in res...

SRI LANKA: Human rights organizations should urgently address the Contempt of Court issue

In times of serious repression such as the situation that Sri Lanka is faced with now, the courts are the citizen’s last resort. If the citizens are intimidated from seeking redress from the courts ...

SRI LANKA: Disappeared journalist’s wife declares loss of faith in Sri Lanka’s judicial process and turns to seek help from supernatural forces

Sixth months after the disappearance of her husband, Prageeth Eknaligoda, Sanya Ekaneligoda and her son held religious ceremonies at the famous Kalli Amma Kovil, a Hindu temple at Modara, Colombo on 2...

SRI LANKA: The Supreme Court must use its authority to expedite the passing of a law on contempt of court

On two occasions the United Nations Human Rights Committee has viewed that the GoSL has abused contempt of court laws The Human Rights Committee of the United Nations has found that the Supreme Court ...

PAKISTAN: An ISI torture victim may commit suicide if not rehabilitated and his family may join

Mr. Mohammad Iqbal Awan, who was kept in an army torture cell by Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) officials for five years, announced that he will commit suicide along with his wife and child on Augus...

NEPAL: ‘If not now maybe never’; Implementation of Anti-caste-based discrimination laws

Nepal’s politics is reeling under frequent changes but the alarming governmental lethargy regarding the issue of caste-based discrimination seems to be a constant, barely affected by the evoluti...

ASIA: Women’s views on prevention of torture – Interview 34

An interview conducted by the Asian Human Rights Commission. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the AHRC. Nishanthi, 42 is a housewife with two children and a husband who works as...