AHRC News

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, where the king serves as head of state and has traditionally exerted political influence. In May 2014, military and police leaders, taking the name of the Nation...

The Rupavahini, TV channel in Sri Lanka, on 23rd June 2016, telecast a one hour interview with Basil Fernando of the Asian Human Rights Commission, and Mr Manoj Jinadasa, Senior Lecturer, Mass Media, ...

Nepal has been a party to the UN Convention against Torture (UNCAT) since 1991. Since then however, the government has failed to bring about any comprehensive anti-torture legislation in line with the...

This week’s episode of Just Asia focuses on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. June 26 is marked around the world to speak out against the heinous crime of torture and to stand ...

To state that torture is endemic and rampant in Pakistan would be an understatement; torture has in fact become a lifestyle, a norm that is the beginning and end of judicial process in Pakistan. Thous...

Beginning with Thailand this week, Just Asia covers three human rights defenders who have been accused of criminal defamation and violation of the Computer Crime Act for publishing a report detailing ...

After monitoring 20 months of the human rights situation in Papua and West Papua provinces under President Joko Widodo’s administration, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is dismayed at the u...

15th June 2016 Mr. Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC.,  The Attorney General The Attorney General’s Department  Hulftsdorp, Colombo 12,  Sri Lanka Dear Mr Attorney General, Regarding a State Counsel’s ap...

This April, Nepal’s transitional justice bodies, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP), began recording testimonie...

By Basil Fernando I do not know Poddala Jayantha personally. However, I have felt for several years and still strongly feel that I as a human being, and we as Sri Lankans, owe a serious obligation to ...

This week Just Asia begins with the attack on a peaceful public protest in North Sulawesi, Indonesia on June 1, calling for professionalism by parliamentarians, and the prosecution of those involved i...

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to mark 31 May 2016 as an important date in Thailand’s history with respect to the protection of human rights defenders. On this day, the Provincial C...

A State that prides itself on being a nuclear State, a symbol of strength and technological advancement, needs a double take. There is something very wrong in a nation and a society where the most fun...

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the detainees and prisoners in Indonesia face serious problems, in particular those related to overcrowding. In the past year, according to th...

See the YouTube Video relating to this article. Journalist, Poddala Jayantha in a moving article, written in Sinhala, recalls his ordeal which took place exactly 7 years ago in the evening of June 1st...

Fifteen-year-old Javaid Hussain was arrested on 11 May 2016 by the Frontier Corps (FC) of Pakistan Army, for allegedly attacking security forces. According to the media, an event was organized in Kurr...

This week Just Asia begins with the growing demands in Bangladesh seeking the return of disappeared persons. Families are taking to the streets and holding press conferences to voice their concern and...

In a country where 52 percent of the population suffers sexual and domestic violence, intolerance and extremist behaviours are only to be expected. Pakistan’s media reports daily abuse against women...

Avinash Pandey Mathura, a city in Uttar Pradesh, witnessed a sensational encounter between the police and a semi-religious cult that left at least 21 dead, 2 senior cops among them, yesterday. The pol...

In retaliation for the recently passed Women’s Protection Act by the Punjab provincial government, Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology has made parallel suggestions for amending the Act, includ...