Latest News

by Nilantha Ilangamuwa “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried” ― Oscar A. Romero (1917 –1980) The earlier idea of the destruction of the social system and �...

GENEVA (14 August 2014) – Two United Nations human rights experts* today expressed their grave concern at the situation of Pakistani asylum seekers in Sri Lanka who are being detained and forcefully...

On the 4th of August, a meeting for the families of disappeared persons, held at the Centre for Society and Religion in Colombo, was disrupted by a mob of people led by several Buddhist monks. The fam...

Lawyers Collective urge Ministry of External Affairs Responding to a statement made by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on 5th August 2014 on the   incident at CSR, the Lawyers’ Collecti...

Urges credible probe into the actions of the mob attack on 4th August Lawyers witnessed an event of a mob disrupting a peaceful meeting to discuss issues of disappeared families, held at Center for So...

On Monday, 28 July 2014, an unidentified group kidnapped five-year-old Damindu Yasen Kumara. They arrived on motorcycles, with their faces covered by helmets and masks. They stabbed his parents, who s...

by Basil Fernando The idea of the executive presidency, as found in the 1978 constitution, is now a failed idea. Almost everybody agrees that it is a failed idea. The people who are maintaining it als...

by  Lakshan Dias Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), are the popular punching bag of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), when its actions are challenged by any individual and/or organization. Name...

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that on 9 May 2014 Mr. Edirisinghe Devayalage Sanjeewa Edirisinghe, 29 years of age, a resident of No.164, Heen Agara, P...

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the Inspector General of Police We reproduce below a letter sent by the Executive Director of Asian Human Rights Commission to the IGP about t...

Adding to a series of unconstitutional restrictions placed on the legitimate activities of the Non-Governmental Organizations, the Director General of the Department of External Resources (DGDER) has ...

There have been reports of an alleged abduction and rape of an eleven-year-old girl by a group of Navy officers, and of another nine-year-old girl treated in a similar manner.  In the first case, the...

by Kishali pinto jayawardena The Government’s boast this week that the Colombo High Court’s conviction of a local authority chairman and three of his henchmen for the 2012 Christmas Eve murder of ...

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to clarify its position regarding the controversy about the government’s proposal for a law to force the registration of non-governmental organisations with ...

Mr. Upul Jayasuriya, the President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has been followed by an unidentified group (a motor bicycle and a three wheeler)  today (15th July 2014) for  hours. Mr Jayasur...

‘Lawyers for Democracy’ is dismayed at the appointment of Major General (Rtd) G. A. Chandrasiri as the Governor of the Northern Province disregarding repeated calls by the Chief Minister of the No...

The National Secretariat for Non Governmental Organizations, functioning under the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, issued a letter to all registered Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on...

Targeting Freedom of Expression “It is clear that the freedom of expression and opinion is a fundamental right, the mother of all rights.” – Abid Hussain, UN Special Rapporteur on th...

An article from the ‘The Island’ forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission by Maheen Senanayake “No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another.” ...

A National Secretariat functioning under Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence and Urban Development has issued a curious letter on 1 July 2014. The following is the letter in full: MINISTRY OF DEFENCE AN...