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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MALAYSIA: Six supporters of the Bersih 2.0 rally for electoral reforms remain in detention under the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that six leaders of the Parti Socialis Malaysia (PSM) remain in detention without trial under sections 3(1) and 4(1) of the Emergen...

INDONESIA: The military ignores agreed settlement with an assault victim

Dear friends,  Two members of 756th Wimaneseli infantry battalion of the Indonesian National Military (TNI) in West Papua assaulted and threatened Yani Meage on 31 May, 2011 in the Kurima district, Y...

INDONESIA: Surabaya police beat journalists – regional police cover up the case

Dear friends,  Surabaya District Police officers attacked several journalists during a public parade when they refused to stop video recording the arrest and beating of a fellow journalist. The journ...

PHILIPPINES: Ombudsman exonerates policemen ignorant of the law from liability

Dear friends,  Despite of our appeal, the Office of the Ombudsman also exonerated the policemen, who were responsible in filing a charge for “serious resistance and disobedience” on seven...

SRI LANKA: Widow of three children denied justice to protect a Superintendent of Police by the Headquarters Police Station of Kandy

Dear friends,  Ms. Q. Mahendra Devi (42) is a widow and the mother of three children. She resides at No: 100/36, Dharmaraja Road, Kandy and works as a cleaning labour working for a private company. A...

PAKISTAN: Impunity provided to the perpetrator of sexual harassment found guilty by two separate inquiry committees

Dear friends,  Impunity is being provided to a perpetrator of sexual harassment by the higher authorities and members of the ruling alliance. It is alleged by women’s organisations that the pri...

SRI LANKA: Innocent man and his family members were tortured by police officers at the behest of a third party

Dear friends,  Mr. George Jayakody (55) of No: 24, Kundalagama, Kundasale, Kandy is a businessman. In 2008 he wanted to sell his land he came to an agreement in the presence of a lawyer. The second p...

PAKISTAN: A journalist was booked in a false case of murder for protecting a rape victim

Dear friends,  A journalist has been implicated in a fabricated case of murder by persons from the ruling party. The journalist was assisting a rape victim (a 14-year-old girl) and her family in the ...

INDONESIA: Army members stab indigenous Papuan to death following his complaint

Dear friends,  At least five members of the Indonesian national military killed an indigenous Papuan, Derek Adii on 14 May 2011 while he was boarding the Lalobar ship service, in Samabusa Nabire Port...

NEPAL: Torture victim in need of immediate medical treatment

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding repeated torture inflicted on Mr. Kedar K.C. by a police team deployed from Hanumandhoka Metropolitan Police...

NEPAL: Bring all the perpetrators of Ram Hari Shrestha’s murder to book

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the abduction and murder of a businessman, Ram Hari Shrestha, by members of the Maoist party in 2008...

PHILIPPINES: Concern over Ombudsman’s “closure and termination” of cases

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is from today publishing a series ofInvestigation Reports made by the Office of the Ombudsman on cases they have ruled as “closed a...

INDIA: Police try to cover-up custodial death as suicide in Manipur

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Human Rights Alert (HRA) that the 12 Maratha Light Infantry stationed at Patsoi in Imphal West district of Ma...

THAILAND: Call for observers in the case of torture and murder of Mr. Kiettisak Thitboonkrong; strengthening Witness Protection is needed

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the case of Kiettisak Thitboonkrong that on 7 June 2011 at 9 am at the Criminal Court in Bangkok, th...

PAKISTAN: Police fail to arrest the murderers of two fisher folk activists whereas encouraging false charges upon the villagers

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from the fact finding team that conducted a fact finding mission concerning two deceased fisher folk activists...

PAKISTAN: A senior journalist is missing after exposing the Al-Qaida network in the navy

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a senior journalist of Asia Times, a Hong Kong-based news agency, was abducted by unidenfied persons from Islamab...

PHILIPPINES: Ombudsman did not investigate cases of threat and torture on its own

Dear friends,  With regard to two cases that we have asked the Ombudsman to conduct investigations into one involved threats to the lives of an activist and his family. No investigation had been cond...

NEPAL: Court acknowledges torture but no sanction is taken against the perpetrators

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the case of torture of Mahima Kusule, a 26-year old woman who was tortured by officers of the Dolakh...

SRI LANKA: Innocent man brutally assaulted and DIG (Central Province) prevented the victim from making a complaint

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Suppaiah Sivakumar (33) of No: 51/2, Pinnakutiya Watte, Allepola, Senarathwela, Teldeniya in the Kandy distri...

NEPAL: Conflict torture victim needs immediate medical treatment

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the critical health condition of Mr. Thir Nath Sharma, who was severely tortured during the conflict ten yea...