AHRC News

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SRI LANKA: Chief justice warns judiciary is becoming a joke

Speaking at the induction of the President Elect of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka during its 32nd Annual Convocation, the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka warned that the judiciary could become a laughin...

PHILIPPINES: Law needed to stop torture and systemic negligence in the Philippines

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 31, 2006 AS-057-2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission PHILIPPINES: Law needed to stop torture and systemic negligence in the Philippines The brutal police t...

CAMBODIA: Prime Minister’s attack on UN representative must be condemned

At the end of his second mission as the Special Representative of the Secretary General on human rights in Cambodia (March 19-28, 2006), Professor Yash Ghai pointed to the stark fear present throughou...

ASIA: Three outstanding Asian widows jointly nominated for 2006 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights

Today, March 30, 2006 the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has nominated three outstanding widows of human rights defenders to receive jointly the prestigious 2006 , awarded by the May 18 Memorial...

SRI LANKA: Human Rights Commission will cease to function from April

In a news item published in the Island on March 29, 2006 outgoing chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Radhika Coomaraswamy, confirmed that the terms of office of the Commission me...

CAMBODIA: Investigation of 1997 grenade attack on peaceful demonstrators must be conducted effectively and report made public

On 30 March 1997 Sam Rainsy–now leader of Cambodia’s opposition party–organised and led a peaceful demonstration in front of the National Assembly in Phnom Penh. The rally was called...

SRI LANKA: Fear syndrome may also extend to Auditor General’s department

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 28, 2006 AS-051-2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) SRI LANKA: Fear syndrome may also extend to Auditor General’s department Reports followin...

CAMBODIA: Judge and prosecutor of Rattanakiri provincial court must be sacked and tried for corruption

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that recently a judge at the provincial court of Rattanakiri in northeast Cambodia took a bribe of over USD 13,000 in exchange for the release on b...

THAILAND: No obligations, just public relations

An article in Friday’s Thai Day supplement to the International Herald Tribune quoted an officer of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) working on the case of abducted human rights law...

THAILAND: Here is Angkhana, there is Porntip… where is Sombat?

In recent days a visitor to the banks of the Mae Klong River in Ban Pong of Ratchaburi province, west of Bangkok, might have noticed a little dinghy moving about in the middle of the swollen water, a ...

SRI LANKA: Auditor General under attack

While the incident of two Supreme Court judges resigning on the basis of matters of conscience is still very much a part of the public debate, the Auditor General of Sri Lanka has now also come under ...

CAMBODIA: The authorities must ratify the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR now

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) notes that, as a result of encouragement from the international community, the Cambodian government signed the First Optional Protocol to the International Cov...

HONG KONG: Changes in Hong Kong’s policing needed to meet international obligations

This March 2006 the Hong Kong administration is having its human rights record examined for the second time by the U.N. Human Rights Committee, under its commitments as a party to the International Co...

INDONESIA: Ratification of key human rights instruments must be followed by legal reform

The Indonesian government’s commitment to ratify two key human rights instruments, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, So...

PHILIPPINES: No law to address persistent forced disappearances in Philippines denies the possibility of redress

On 3 March 2006, Joey Estriber was waiting for a lift home in Baler, Aurora, when four armed men suddenly dragged him into a nearby van and drove off. Days later, Rogelio Concepcion was also forcibly ...

CAMBODIA: Restrictive law on demonstrations will further consolidate dictatorial rule

The latest draft of Cambodia’s law on peaceful demonstrations is so restrictive, that if adopted, the Cambodian people will be unable to exercise their rights to demonstrate and express their op...

PHILIPPINES: To justify the use of torture is a constitutional and human rights violation

In a letter dated 21 January 2006, the City Director of the General Santos City Police Office (GSCPO), Senior Superintendent Alfredo Toroctocon wrote to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to den...

UNITED NATIONS: A second chance for all – the AHRC welcomes the establishment of the United Nations Human Rights Council

The first step on a new road towards the worldwide enjoyment of human rights and the protection of victims was taken yesterday, with the creation of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, fol...

SRI LANKA: Draft Contempt of Court Act must be enacted promptly

In an attempt to fill Sri Lanka’s legal lacuna, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has adopted a draft Contempt of Court Act to be submitted to the government this month, March 2005. The draft bro...

CAMBODIA: Government should remove obstacles to freedom of expression

In violation of their right to freedom to expression, the Kampuchea Krom community, on March 6, 2006 was denied permission to demonstrate against the arrival of Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai...