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SRI LANKA: Widow of assassinated Journalist Wickrematunge on the World Press Freedom Day Conference 

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from Sonali Samarasinghe Wickrematunge, widow of Lasantha Wickrematunge and 2009 UNESCO World Press Freedom Laureate on the World Press ...

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Abducted human rights defender is in imminent danger

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the detention and abduction of Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj, a human rights defender based in Jaffna...

SRI LANKA: Abduction of a human rights defender Stephen Suntharaj after his 2 month detention and release by the courts: Immediate intervention needed to save his life 

Stephen Suntharaj, age 39, has been working for Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) since March 2008 as program officer. He formerly worked for Child Protection Authority, Jaffna branch. St...

SRI LANKA: UN Secretary General’s offer of assistance should not be ignored 

The world’s attention at the moment is fixed on about 192,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and another 50,000 – 100,000 civilians trapped within a five square-kilometer area in what...

SRI LANKA: Fundamental rights upheld 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-096-2009 May 6, 2009 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Fundamental rights upheld Supreme Court holds that police authorities have not heeded ch...

SRI LANKA: Failure of medical examination in a case of police torture

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police attached to the Bulathsinhala Police Station allegedly assaulted a man and cut his hand with a knife while...

SRI LANKA: Non-violent action needed to crush criminal gangs 

The parents in Batticaloa decided to stop sending their children to school for a week as a mark of protest over the kidnapping and killing of an eight year-old girl Satheeskumar Thinuska. Earlier six-...

SRI LANKA: Nationalists call for the use of choppers and machetes 

“We may have to take choppers and machetes, we will have to attack with choppers those who jump over the boundaries,” chanted a group of people from Hela Urumaya, (a Sinhala heritage party...

SRI LANKA: Alleged torture and prolonged detention of a couple

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that officers attached to the Dehiwela Police Station arrested a couple on 21 November 2007 who were allegedly torture...

ASIA: Rural and Indigenous Women Claim our Right to Food! 

You claim that although the food crisis we suffered globally in 2008 is only a cyclical phase, the serious structural problems remain. The structural problems affect much more people in developing cou...

UNITED NATIONS: Elect Rights-Respecting States to Human Rights Council

General Assembly Members Should Not Reward Rights Abusers with Votes (New York, April 20, 2009) — Serious human rights violations in Azerbaijan, China, Cuba, Russia, and Saudi Arabia undermine ...

SRI LANKA: LTTE Is No Excuse For Killing Vanni Civilians 

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following document from the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) UTHR(J) in Sri Lanka, which is available in full online. Asian Human Rights Commis...

SRI LANKA: Use International Clout to Press Both Sides to End Humanitarian Disaster 

(London, April 14, 2009) – The Commonwealth and its members should use their combined diplomatic influence to press the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to cease ...

SRI LANKA: Secretary-General’s Statement on Sri Lanka 

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from the Secretary General of the United Nations. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from...

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar who unravelled the unique South Asian master-servant relationship based on the Indian caste system 

Basil Fernando B.R. Ambedkar was a man whose work unraveled the unique nature of the master-servant relationship in South Asia. Today is the anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar’s birth. Born to the family of...

SRI LANKA: Stop Shelling ‘No-Fire Zone’ – UN Security Council Action Needed to Avert Humanitarian Catastrophe 

(New York, April 8, 2009) ¡V The Sri Lankan government should stop firing heavy artillery into the ¡§no-fire zone¡¨ in the northern Vanni area where some 100,000 civilians are trapped by the sepa...

SRI LANKA: “Disgraceful” failure to identify those responsible for newspaper editor’s murder three months ago 

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following press release from Reporters without Borders. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ———...

SRI LANKA: Report blames an ultra-powerful authority for attacks on media freedom — Asian Human Rights Commission

Five media organisations in Sri Lanka issuing an investigative report entitled, ‘The Resurgence of Terror and the paramilitary forces in Sri Lanka,’ stated that covert operations are carri...

SRI LANKA: UN expert appeals to LTTE and government of Sri Lanka to save lives of internally displaced persons trapped by conflict 

COLOMBO – The Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the HumanRights of Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kälin, expressed urgent concerns today for the lives of over 100,000 civilian...

SRI LANKA: Release Santha Fernando from arbitrary detention and protect humanitarian space — 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) calls upon the Sri Lankan government to immediately release Mr Santha Fernando, secretary for justice and peace in the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka ...