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Urgent Appeals

Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries. Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings. Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere. People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person. And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm. There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances. Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly. In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate. Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle. In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates. For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.
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SRI LANKA: Illegal arrest, brutal torture and fabrication of charges by the Kalutara South police

Urgent Appeal Case | Sri Lanka | | July 18, 2006

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the brutal torture of a 19-year-old boy named Dhanuka Tisara by the Kalutara South police after his illegal ar...

INDIA: Police officers and thugs assault a person on mistaken identity; superior officer refuses to take any action on complaint

Urgent Appeal Case | India | | July 17, 2006

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the brutal assault of Mr. Sadiq Ali and how he was threatened by a superior officer when he approached the off...

PAKISTAN: Killing of a 14 year old boy by the police in Lahore

Urgent Appeal Case | Pakistan | | July 17, 2006

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a killing of a 14-year-old boy named Salman and the serious injuries of a 15-year-old boy named Asqhar by the Musl...

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Court hearing of a torture case postponed 22 times due to deliberate inaction by the police

Urgent Appeal Update | Sri Lanka | | July 17, 2006

[RE: UA-176-2004: SRI LANKA: Another alleged police murder of a man by the Moratuwa police; UP-05-2005: SRI LANKA: Mt. Lavinia police’s apparent inaction to arrest/prosecute those responsible fo...

NEPAL: Alleged perpetrator of rape of 17-year old girl must be brought to justice

Urgent Appeal Case | Nepal | | July 17, 2006

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by Nepalese partner organisation Advocacy Forum of the rape of a 17-year old girl by a member of the Nepalese Army. It is feare...

THAILAND: Alleged abduction, torture & armed robbery of couple by police; no effective investigation despite many complaints

Urgent Appeal Case | Thailand | | July 16, 2006

THAILAND: Abduction; illegal detention; torture; robbery; attempted rape; threat to life; forced confession; attempted extortion; corruption; impunity; non-investigation; denial of redress —R...

SRI LANKA: Arbitrary arrest and harassment of a man by the Ingiriya police

Urgent Appeal Case | Sri Lanka | | July 16, 2006

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the illegal arrest and detention of a man named Saman Rohana Manawadu by the Ingiriya police. Mr. Manawadu was...

SRI LANKA: Illegal detention, torture and fabrication of charges by the Wanduramba police

Urgent Appeal Case | Sri Lanka | | July 16, 2006

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of a situation regarding B. Nimal, who was illegally detained by the Wanduramba police because his son had disappeared with ...

GENERAL APPEAL (Cambodia): State repossession of illegally cleared and owned woodland must be transparent and unlawful owners punished

Urgent Appeal General | Cambodia | | July 13, 2006

Dear friends, Over the years some rich and powerful people have illegally cleared different portions of woodlands that belong to the public domain so as to own the land cleared of forests as their pri...

INDONESIA: Police inaction in case of national intelligence staff’s assault on student and motorcycle taxi driver

Urgent Appeal Case | Indonesia | | July 13, 2006

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Legal Aid Institute of Jakarta (LBH Jakarta) that three security guards from Indonesia’s National Intelligence Body (BI...

INDONESIA: Threats and kidnapping of human rights defender in West Sumatra

Urgent Appeal Case | Indonesia | | July 12, 2006

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Padang Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Padang) in West Sumatera, Indonesia that Mr Kamzul Abrar, coordinator of the F...

UPDATE (Bangladesh): Government orders departmental action against the alleged perpetrators of police brutality on journalists

Urgent Appeal Update | Bangladesh | | July 12, 2006

[UP-121-2006: BANGLADESH: Judicial Probe Commission has yet to submit its report regarding police brutality; UP-095-2006: BANGLADESH: Government names District Judge to conduct a judicial probe into t...

PAKISTAN: The Ghotki police fail to act on the gang rape of a 19 year-old girl

Urgent Appeal Case | Pakistan | | July 11, 2006

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a blind beggar’s 19-year-old daughter was gang raped by three influential men for several months. Upon knowing her...

PHILIPPINES: Another four activists face threats in General Santos City

Urgent Appeal Case | Philippines | | July 11, 2006

PHILIPPINES: Threats against human rights and political activists; inaction by authorities to ensure their security and protection; inadequate police investigation; violence against women; complete co...

PAKISTAN: Three persons are missing after allegedly taken by the police and army personnel

Urgent Appeal Case | Pakistan | | July 11, 2006

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned about another three disappearance cases in Pakistan. They are Mr. Asif Baladi, a publisher of Peace Publishing House and the...

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Responsibility of prison officers for death of M.S.F. Perera and injuries to L.G. Munaweera

Urgent Appeal Update | Sri Lanka | | July 11, 2006

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the death of Mudalige Sunil Fermin Perera, who died on 6 July 2006 due to torture by prison guards (Se...

CAMBODIA: Government’s alleged attack on three labour union activists

Urgent Appeal Case | Cambodia | | July 11, 2006

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that in the late afternoon of July 3 the police of Kandal province arrested at their respective homes Mrs. Lach Sambo, president, Mis...

BANGLADESH: Man sexually violated by the police in Chuadanga

Urgent Appeal Case | Bangladesh | | July 10, 2006

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that on 3 July 2006, a rickshaw driver named Inarul Islam Ena was arbitrarily arrested, forced to drive overnight, and sodomize...

UPDATE (Philippines): More charges filed against police, military and militias involved in torture of 11 persons in Benguet

Urgent Appeal Update | Philippines | | July 9, 2006

[RE: UA-082-2006: PHILIPPINES: Brutal torture of 11 persons and the subsequent filing of fabricated charges against them; UP-063-2006: PHILIPPINES: Lawyers for 11 torture victims file motion to withdr...

UPDATE (Thailand): Petition on DSI attracts international support; please sign!

Urgent Appeal Update | Thailand | | July 9, 2006

[RE: UP-20-2005: THAILAND: Human rights lawyer still missing after nearly one year; Action needed today to have case transferred… UP-77-2005: THAILAND: Department of Special Investigation fails ...

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