AHRC News

(This is the first of a series of statements that will be issued on this subject) The wide circulation of death threats through a letter from a group calling itself the Mahason Battalion last week has...

In May of this year a Jirga, an illegal tribal court, was held against a girl of 17 years in which she was declared as Kari (having had an illicit relationship with someone). This was done, according ...

Several months ago eight women, three of them minors, were buried alive in Balochistan, reportedly by the same men. Those responsible have close ties to the provincial government and to the police, an...

The success of the first phase of Chandrayann-1, undertaken on Tuesday, 21 October 2008, entitles India to claim membership in the elite club of countries that have proved their technological and fina...

Mr. W. Dayaratne, President, Bar Association of Sri Lanka Hulftsdorp Colombo 12 Sri Lanka Facsimile: 94 11 2448090 Email: wdaya@slt.lk Dear Mr. Dayaratne, By now the Bar Association must be aware of ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AHRC-STM-271-2008 October 22, 2008 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission SOUTH KOREA: Time to define ‘torture’ in Penal Code Whenever being asked by the ...

Yesterday an announcement was received by registrars of all courts and a number of human rights lawyers by a group that calls itself the Mahason Balakaya (Mahason Battalion). The notice threatens deat...

In Sri Lanka the legal profession is very much a threatened profession. The recent grenade attack on September 27 on the residence of senior lawyer, Mr. J.C. Weliamuna, once again brought to the notic...

The Faculty of Law was established 60 years ago to enhance the legal education in Sri Lanka as such education was to provide the qualified persons to run the institutions in the country within the fra...

“Man arrested by the police yesterday was found dead today”, was the heading of a news item yesterday in a well known Sri Lankan newspaper. Such a report of custodial deaths is so common that t...

The only way to prevent the three convicted Sri Lankans in Saudi Arabia from facing public execution by beheading is to lodge an appeal within 30 days from the date of conviction and this can only be ...

The Negombo High Court last week acquitted the accused in a torture case where a Sub Inspector of Police was charged with an offense under the CAT Act (Act No. 22 of 1994) punishable with seven years ...

The deliberations of senior Indian politicians during the National Integration Council Meeting held in New Delhi on 13 October contradict India’s positions in international forums like the UN. T...

The media reports alleging that it is in fact a military officer who decides the case lists in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh is a shocking revelation which sharply brings to light the militarised po...

(The following letter was sent today to the following Sri Lankan authorities: Inspector General of Police, Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Natio...

The High Court judge of Negombo has acquitted the accused in the torture case of Lalith Rajapakse stating that the brain injury that the torture victim claimed due to assaults inside the Kandana Polic...

In the most significant blow dealt by the Supreme Court against the system of the executive presidency introduced by the 1978 Constitution, yesterday (October 8, 2008), a former president of Sri Lanka...

On the occasion of the World Day against the Death Penalty, the Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to thank and congratulate the federal government of Pakistan for stepping in at the eleventh hour t...

The father of two young girls will be hanged in the early hours of October 8, 2008 at Adiala jail after being convicted on a charge of murder on April 14, 1998. Mr. Zulfiqar Ali, the condemned prisone...

To the recipients of communications through the AHRC network, Rizana Nafeek is a familiar name. The 17-year-old girl from a poor family from a conflict ridden area with a passport indicating her age a...