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Hundreds of families of disappeared persons will gather at Raddoluwa Junction at Seeduwa, Sri Lanka at the monument for the disappeared to commemorate the day. This monument was erected in 2000. In a ...

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) draws your attention to the appeal made in 2007 into the case of Rizana Nafeek, who went to Saudi Arabia as a maid when she was 17 years old and ...

(Hong Kong, October 26, 2010) The death sentence of Rizana Nafeek has been confirmed and her case is now before an advisor to his Royal Highness the King who has the power to pardon her. There is good...

Nothing can be worse for a country in the modern world than to have a bad constitution. Anybody with common sense would not find it difficult to understand that proposition. The constitution lays down...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 26, 2010 AHRC-OLT-011-2010 An Open Letter to President Mahinda Rajapakse Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse President Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka C/- Office of the Pres...

Extrajudicial killings and custodial deaths are happening because of: Refusal of the police and judiciary to investigate; The absence of investigations is the result of breakdown of the rule of law; W...

When extraordinary explanations justify extrajudicial killings   By Sofie Rordam Arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings are an almost daily occurrence in Sri Lanka today. The police system ...

Basil Fernando The attacks on the students and rhetoric against them appear in many of the reports covering Sri Lanka today. The Minister, S.B. Dissanayake is heard over television channels talking in...

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from Jour...

SRI LANKA: How does the constitutional question affect the question of Sri Lankan identity? Basil Fernando  The question of ‘identity’ means who is a Sri Lankan? It could be spoken of pur...

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza Endemic over-simplification by internal and external actors and purposeful attempts to reframe political debates have ensured the conversation concerning Sri Lanka’s governme...

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement and joint letter from the International Crisis Group, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong K...

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from the Sri Lanka Guardian. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong   ————- An article from Sri Lanka Guardi...

Basil Fernando Robberies- Police and 18th Amendment October 11 Anuradhapura – Rs. 1,100,000 — Rs. 1.1 million October 8 Nugegoda – Rs.1,400,000 — Rs. 1.4 million October 5 Rawa...

Basil Fernando   Making a person disappear over a land dispute A place where there is no room for justice is not a nation but a madhouse. That is what Sri Lanka has become today. Ask anyone who h...

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man was shot dead by police officers attached to the Pitigala Police Station on 27 August 2010. A wood cutter b...

Sofie Rordam   In Sri Lanka as globally, the most prevalent form of violence against women is domestic violence. According to a survey from 2006 by the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s...

Basil Fernando The Constitution Places the Executive President above the Courts This picture shows the executive president sitting above the Supreme Court Complex. The Supreme Court is the highest cou...

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man was shot by police officers while in the custody of Mihintale Police. He was arrested on 9 June 2009 and br...

Basil Fernando   The Degeneration of police into “licensed thugs”   This is a photo of Mr Ganegoda Sinhage Haritha Lakmal (30) of No. 590/2A, Middle Gate Upper Road, Addunkelle W...