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SRI LANKA: ‘Murder of five Tamil youths highlights need to end impunity’ — Govt must protect witnesses to Trinco killings — HRW 

The New York based Human Rights Watch, in a statement issued from its headquarters, expressed deep concern that the only prosecution witness, willing to testify into the killing of five youth in Trinc...

SRI LANKA: No avenues available for redress of human rights abuses

Mechanisms for making complaints about human rights violations, for conducting investigations into such violations, for the arrest and prosecution of offenders, for the protection of complainants and ...

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Serious acts of torture followed by the fabrication of charges against the victims by the Wattegama police 

[RE: UA-136-2005: SRI LANKA: Two persons severely injured after being tortured by iron rods by the Wattegama police; UP-97-2005: SRI LANKA: A torture victim with serious injuries is chained to his bed...

New easy process to support the urgent appeals programme

The Asian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC) Urgent Appeals Programme wishes to remind you of our new urgent appeal online support system. We strongly urge you to use this system and to help pressure g...

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Further intimidation faced by torture victim J.V. Saman Priyankara from Matale 

[Re: UP-80-2005: SRI LANKA:  Further death threats to torture victim J.V. Saman Priyankara from Matale ; UP-74-2005: SRI LANKA: Torture victim Priyankara received death threats again and urgent witne...

SRI LANKA: Government’s hypocritical human rights policy and its failure to eliminate torture

The International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is a sad reminder of Sri Lanka’s complete failure to eliminate torture.  This is even sadder because it was the past practices of horrendo...

SRI LANKA: How has the judiciary been diminished in value since 1978 and why?

This paper has been prepared in question and answer form to discuss how the status and the value of courts has diminished since the 1978 Constitution which is an authoritarian Constitution. The presen...

SRI LANKA: Threat made against tenant of the late Gerald Perara 

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has come to learn of a threat made against the tenant of the late Gerald Perara. Owing to the seriousness of the threat and given the person who ...

SRI LANKA: Open letter from the AHRC to the Minister for Disaster Management and Human Rights

June 16, 2006 Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe Minister for  Parliamentary Complex Colombo 1 Sri Lanka Dear Mr. Minister, Having seen the report in the Daily Mirror of June 12, 2006 by Uditha Jayasinghe on ...

SRI LANKA: The only way to genuinely mourn the spread of the carnage in the country is to address the fundamental causes of the total crisis in Sri Lanka.

A landmine attack on a bus on June 15 at Kebethigollewa on a remote road near rebel-held territory killed at least 64 persons and wounded many more.  Immediately thereafter there were several air str...

SRI LANKA: Flight, Displacement and the Two-fold Reign of Terror 

We reproduce a call from University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) Sri Lanka, UTHR(J) Information Bulletin No. 40, Date of Release: 15th June 2006, Flight, Displacement and . The full report is av...

The AHRC is happy to launch the urgent appeal online support system

The urgent appeals programme has experienced considerable growth over the last years. To ensure that individual support by UA programme subscribers will continue despite the increased issuing of urgen...

SRI LANKA: The language of absolute presidential power

Attempts to promote Sri Lanka’s executive president as an absolute ruler continued this week through two statements (Daily News June 14, 2006) made by persons very close to the government. First...

SRI LANKA: Failure of the police to investigate mysterious death of 23-year-old 

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to raise its concern about a mysterious death of a young man and the possible cover-up by his father, who is a police inspector, surroundi...

SRI LANKA: President’s onslaught on the supremacy of the Parliament

Although there are not so many supporters anymore for the President’s appointments to the courts and several commissions, in contravention of the Constitution, there are still a few apologists. ...

SRI LANKA: If the present generation destroys Sri Lanka’s legal foundations, what is left for the future

AHRC-OL-017-2006 June 9, 2006 Open letter to the President of Sri Lanka Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse President  Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka C/- Office of the President Temple Trees 150, Galle...

SRI LANKA: Implications of Court of Appeal judgment on 17th Amendment of the Constitution

The judgment of the Court of Appeal on the application of two citizens regarding the recent appointments to the Police and Public Service Commissions by the President of Sri Lanka [CA Application 66/2...

SRI LANKA: FMM condemns President’s appointments to independent commissions

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following statement by the Free Media Movement (FMM) of Sri Lanka on the President’s appointments to independe...

SRI LANKA: Torture of a boy by the Thelikada Police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of a boy by police personnel from the Thelikada Police Station. Ag...

SRI LANKA: Intimidation and threat of fabrication of murder charges against two human rights defenders 

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of a disturbing incident that took place at the Wennipuewa police station on 6 June 2006, when two human rights defenders ac...