AHRC News

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CAMBODIA: Independent & competent courts needed more than a human rights committee

In a September 26 address at a conference on national human rights institutions, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, said that he supported the creation of a national human rights committee for t...

THAILAND: MILITARY COUP – How to make courts independent?

A few years ago, some senior United Nations staff in Cambodia met with a government minister to discuss the state of the country’s courts. They expressed concern about their lack of independence...

INDONESIA: Verdict in the murder case of Munir — the courts mock justice

The Indonesia Supreme Court quashed a judgment by the Court of Appeal which affirmed the 14 year jail sentence pronounced by the Central Jakarta District Court last December against Pollycarpus Budiha...

BANGLADESH: What is really needed to maintain law & order

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AS-236-2006 October 5, 2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission BANGLADESH: What is really needed to maintain law & order The Daily Janakantha newspaper on Oct...

CAMBODIA: Will donors decide for or against the rule of law?

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to bring to the notice of the international donors that no progress of any sort can be made in any area of life in Cambodia until the country’s governmen...

PHILIPPINES: Bishop is latest victim of extrajudicial killing

A prominent critic of the wave of extrajudicial killings that have swept the Philippines under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has himself become a victim of these killings. Bi...

SRI LANKA: Why a Presidential Commission cannot ensure protection of human rights and why foreign observers cannot play a positive role in such a commission? The case for an international monitoring mission

The Asian Human Rights Commission is concerned about the negative response of the Sri Lankan government to international requests for the establishment of an independent international human rights mon...

THAILAND: MILITARY COUP – The right man for what job?

When General Sonthi Boonyaratglin led the armed forces of Thailand to overthrow the caretaker government of Pol. Lt. Col. Thaksin Shinawatra on September 19, the military indicated that it would withd...

SRI LANKA: Only the practice of telling the truth can bring back respect for Sri Lanka’s international diplomacy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AS-231-2006 October 4, 2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Only the practice of telling the truth can bring back respect for Sri Lanka’s inte...

SRI LANKA: Arrested gang of abductors may escape due process of law because of political interference from the government

Civil society organizations in Sri Lanka made a great advance during the last week when they were able to identify a group of persons who are allegedly involved in the abductions in Colombo.  On the ...

THAILAND: MILITARY COUP – Misunderstanding the coup

There has been a lot of misunderstanding about the September 19 coup in Thailand. Many foreign correspondents, tourist bloggers and other casual observers have written that the local market is still b...

SRI LANKA: The Sri Lankan state shows complete disregard for its international human rights obligations

(The state’s failure to implement the views and recommendations of the Human Rights Committee on individual complaints, and the failure to implement the Human Rights Committee’s and the CA...

THAILAND: MILITARY COUP–No way forward but backward

On September 27 the Bangkok Post newspaper published an article pointing to the likely shape of Thailand’s new draft interim constitution in the wake of the September 19 military coup. The inter...

SRI LANKA: Diplomacy on human rights issues seriously under threat

It was reported in the Sri Lankan press (Daily Mirror September 27, 2006 – Sri Lanka signs convention on transnational crime and child abuse) that Sri Lanka has recently ratified the Transnation...

CAMBODIA: Government again silencing critics

At the beginning of this year there were hopes for more freedom of expression and the improvement of democracy in Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen had dropped his defamation lawsuits against human act...

THAILAND: MILITARY COUP–Someone had to do something?

On September 21 the Royal Thai Consulate General in Hong Kong wrote to the Asian Human Rights Commission. In the letter, the consul general said that despite the September 19 military coup “the ...

SRI LANKA: Further information regarding the recent Supreme Court decision on the Singarasa case

We refer to the recent Supreme Court (please see below for reference) and our subsequent statements on this matter. As there has been considerable interest in this case and also some confusion we are ...

SRI LANKA: The order of the United Nations Human Rights Committee dated 26 June 2006 on communication number 1250/2004

The Asian Human Rights Commission draws your kind attention to Sundara Arachige Lalith Rajapakse who was the author of the communication mentioned above. The AHRC understands that a copy of the decisi...

THAILAND: MILITARY COUP–What is benign?

The September 19 military coup has been described by some persons as benign. Their reasoning goes that the government of Thaksin Shinawatra was bad and intransigent. Whatever way it could be removed w...

THAILAND: MILITARY COUP – Junta poses grave dangers to lives and liberties

The Asian Human Rights Commission reiterates its condemnation of the military coup in Thailand and calls for immediate restoration of the constitution and civilian government. Since this morning, Sept...