Press Releases

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WORLD: Pride and Pain in Difficult Times: Selected Poems by Basil Fernando

Global Human Rights Activist, Basil Fernando, Pens Poetry Collection Chronicling Sri Lankan Civil War New York, NY. February 11, 2017 – Belle Marquise Books has released Pride and Pain in Difficult...

SRI LANKA: “Though heavens fall let justice prevail”: An Interview with Basil Fernando on TV1 Newsline

Mr Basil Fernando, Director of Policy and Programmes of the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong speaks with Mr Faraz Shauketaly, Host of the News First – TV1’s “Newsline” program...

BANGLADESH: Mahmudur Rahman should be allowed to travel for medical treatment

BANGLADESH: Mahmudur Rahman should be allowed to travel for medical treatment Paris-Geneva-Hong-Kong, December 24, 2016 – Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has so far refused to grant journalist Mah...

SRI LANKA: AG asked to appeal from a Judgement of the Puttalam High Court as the decision amounts to a miscarriage of justice

[December 8, 2016] On September 2003 a 15 years old boy complained of torture by officers of the Saliyawewa Police Station alleging that officers made him sit on ant hill, for about 20 minutes and th...

WORLD: Illegal detention of Khuram Parvez continues, despite High Court order for his release

Bangkok-Dhaka-Geneva-Paris-Quezon City, 29 November 2016 – Kashmiri human rights defender Mr. Khurram Parvez remains in arbitrary detention, despite a High Court order declaring his detention illega...

BANGLADESH: Mahmudur Rahman finally freed after more than three years in arbitrary detention

Paris-Geneva-Hong-Kong, November 24, 2016 – After 1,322 days in arbitrary detention, journalist Mr. Mahmudur Rahman has been finally released on bail this afternoon. The Observatory for the Protecti...

Sri Lanka: An Interview with Basil Fernando on human rights and national reconciliation in Sri Lanka on Rupavahini TV Channel

The Rupavahini, TV channel’s “Suba Udesanak” ( Good Morning ) programme on 28th October 2016, telecast an interview with Mr Basil Fernando of the Asian Human Rights Commission where he discusses...

Sri Lanka: An Interview with Basil Fernando on the importance value systems and good governance in Sri Lanka on News First’s Hot Seat Programme

Mr Faraz Shauketaly, Host of the News First – TV1’s “Hot Seat” programme on 26th October 2016 interviews Mr Basil Fernando, Director of Policy and Programmes of the Asian Human Rights Comm...

INDIA: Authorities prolong unlawful detention of Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez

(Hong Kong, Bangkok-Dhaka-Geneva-Madurai-Paris-Quezon City, 26 October 2016) The High Court in Jammu and Kashmir has again prolonged the arbitrary detention of Kashmiri human rights defender Mr. Khurr...

WORLD: The trial of a Khmer Rouge torturer — In the latest issue of Torture Magazine

(Hong Kong, 30 September 2016) “The evacuations and arrests were just part of a larger Khmer Rouge project of mass social engineering which involved obliterating everything that smacked of capi...

PAKISTAN: Pressure on Pakistan government from UN to ratify all human rights treaties signed

Human Rights Commission, held a side event during the 33rd Session of the Human Rights Council on the systematic killings of lawyers and human rights activists in oppressed regions of Pakistan. The p...

INDIA: Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez arbitrarily arrested and denied due process rights

Joint Press Release Bangkok-Dhaka-Geneva-Madurai-Paris-Quezon City, September 16, 2016 – Our organisations strongly condemn today’s arbitrary arrest of Kashmiri human rights defender Mr. Khurr...

WORLD: Indian authorities prevent Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez from travelling to Geneva for U.N. Human Rights Council session

Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Human Rights Defenders Alert – India (HRDA) ...

THIALAND: The Judicial Harassment of Human Rights Defenders and Torture in the South

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to draw the attention of the interested persons to follow the judicial harassment of three human rights defenders in Thailand. According to the AHRC U...

SRI LANKA: A New Book on negativity and Nihilism in Sri Lankan Consciousness – by Basil Fernando

There is something deeply negative and nihilist imbedded into the Sri Lanka consciousness. By ‘Sri Lankan consciousness’ I mean the consciousness of all Sri Lankans, whether they are from the majo...

THAILAND: Call for observers in verdict of landmark Kaeng Krachan National Park case

On 7 September 2016, at 10:30 a.m., the verdict in the case of Karen people forcibly relocated from the Kaeng Krachan National Park will be read at the Central Administrative Court in Bangkok. The Asi...

PAKISTAN: The AHRC asks UN working group to re-open the case of Ehsan Arjumandi, missing since 2009

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been actively following the case of disappearance of human rights defender Ehsan Arjumandi, a dual national of Norway and Iran, who has been missing since ...

WORLD: A Video ON ”Thoughts on poetry, with poetry recital in Sri Lanka by Professor. K. G. Sankara Pillai”

Professor K G Sankara Pillai – is a well-known Indian poet, philosopher and author. He came into prominence in the 1970s with the publication of the poem “Bengal” and is now one of t...

ASIA: A NEW BOOK – TRAGICOMEDY OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTOCHTHONY – By Basil Fernando

Introduction Many of the essays published in this booklet were initially published in several publications, such as Ceylon Independent, The Nation, and Colombo Telegraph. All these articles are link...

SRI LANKA : Emperor Asoka’s contribution to Sri Lankan culture – a speech by Basil Fernando

The ‘Trikone’ Foundation has issued a video of a speech by Mr Basil Fernando, Director of Policy and Programmes, on the Emperor Asoka’s contribution to the Sri Lankan culture and the crisis of...