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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: Custodial death of a man who was allegedly tortured by the Ratgama police

Urgent Appeal Case | Sri Lanka | | June 28, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned by the alleged torture and death of Kosma Sumansiri by the Ratgama police. He was arrested with three of his friends  by the Ratga...

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Inquiry into the torture of Bernard Janapriya and charges laid against the perpetrators are insufficient

Urgent Appeal Update | Sri Lanka | | June 28, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the torture of Bernard Janapriyana (See further: UA-63-2005). In a letter to the AHRC dated 25 May 20...

BURMA: Court refuses to act on death due to torture in custody

Urgent Appeal Case | Burma (Myanmar) | | June 28, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from reliable sources about the torture and death of a man in Hlaing Township, Rangoon, Burma. On 1 May 2005 30-year-old...

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Police torturers who caused a woman’s loss of her unborn child must be brought to justice

Urgent Appeal Update | Sri Lanka | | June 26, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the torture of Gamini Senadeera and his wife, who gave birth prematurely to a stillborn child due to p...

INDIA: Police attack on students of Jadavpur University

Urgent Appeal Case | India | | June 26, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal about a police attack on the students of Jadavpur University, Wes...

NEPAL: Restriction of movement of activists can prevent human rights monitoring

Urgent Appeal Case | Nepal | | June 23, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source regarding the restriction of human rights defenders and political atavists in Nepal. Freedom of m...

UPDATE (Philippines): Witnesses of activists’ killings in Luzon refused to give evidence fearing their security

Urgent Appeal Update | Philippines | | June 23, 2005

[RE: UA-34-2005: Killing of a labor rights activist for the Hacienda Luisita farm workers in Tarlac City, UP-26-2005: Priest supporting for the Hacienda Luisita farm workers in La Paz, Tarlac killed a...

THAILAND: Police lodge defamation charges against forensic scientist over “5 bullet suicide” case

Urgent Appeal Case | Thailand | | June 23, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is outraged that five Thai police officers have filed defamation complaints against a senior forensic scientist and government bureaucrat followi...

SRI LANKA: Torture victim fears for his life following threats and intimidation by Horana police to withdraw his case against them

Urgent Appeal Case | Sri Lanka | | June 22, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that a torture victim, who filed a charge of torture against the officer-in-charge (OIC) and a police constable from the Horana...

PAKISTAN: Arrest of activist’s wife over fabricated charges

Urgent Appeal Case | Pakistan | | June 22, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source regarding alleged fabricated charges laid against a human rights activists, who is a member of th...

THAILAND: Extremely brutal torture of a man at Chonburi Provincial Police Station

Urgent Appeal Case | Thailand | | June 22, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by another case of extremely brutal torture by the police in Thailand. According to the information available to the AHRC, Mr...

NEPAL: Confirmed re-arrest of at least 32 political activists and human rights defenders in violation of court orders following the royal takeover

Urgent Appeal Case | Nepal | | June 21, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source regarding the current grave human rights situation in Nepal. From this information we can confirm...

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Torture victim Priyankara received death threats again and urgent witness protection is required

Urgent Appeal Update | Sri Lanka | | June 21, 2005

[RE: UP-37-2004: SRI LANKA: A Kandy coordinator of National Police Commission allegedly cooperates with torture perpetrators; UP-34-2004: Priyankara brutally assaulted and arrested with no access to l...

UPDATE (Burma): Defamation case against villager continues

Urgent Appeal Update | Burma (Myanmar) | | June 21, 2005

[RE: UA-112-2004: BURMA: Complaints against forced labour blocked and victims punished issued on 3 September 2004; UP-11-2005: Four officials sentenced to prison for forced labour in Kawmhu Township, ...

BURMA/MALAYSIA: Sixty eight Burmese protestors holding a peaceful demonstration are arbitrarily detained by the police

Urgent Appeal Case | Burma (Myanmar) | | June 21, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from SUARAM, a human rights organization in Malaysia, that 68 Burmese protesters are being detained at the Pudu Police S...

PAKISTAN: Arrest of 317 telecom workers following government’s crackdown on workers on strike

Urgent Appeal Case | Pakistan | | June 21, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that 317 workers of the Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd (PTCL), opposed to the government’s decision to privatize...

UPDATE (Indonesia): Mandate of fact-finding team into Munir’s murder should be extended and made more effective

Urgent Appeal Update | Indonesia | | June 20, 2005

(RE: UA-164-2004: INDONESIA: The family receives death threats for demanding an impartial inquiry into the death of Munir; UP-30-2005: Unveiling of suspect in Munir’s death may end further inqui...

SRI LANKA: Illegal arrest and torture of a 25-year-old by the Palmadulla police

Urgent Appeal Case | Sri Lanka | | June 20, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has been informed by reliable sources that a 25-year-old three-wheel driver has been illegally arrested and tortured by two Police Constables attached t...

NEPAL: Two recent incidents involving threats to a Teachers’ Union leader and the re-arrest of citizens despite Supreme Court release orders

Urgent Appeal Case | Nepal | | June 20, 2005

UA-99-2005: NEPAL: Two recent incidents involving threats to a Teachers’ Union leader and the re-arrest of citizens despite Supreme Court release orders Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Comm...

SRI LANKA: Severe torture of a 26-year-old man by the Sub Inspector at Panadura Police Station

Urgent Appeal Case | Sri Lanka | | June 16, 2005

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by a reliable source that a 26-year-old man was allegedly severely tortured by Sub Inspector Ranaweera of the Pandaura Police, ...

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