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Introduction: In the second round of the 14th Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the foreign minister of Pakistan, Ms Hina Rabbani Khar presented Pakistan’s national report on promotion and protection and mentioned that Pakistan staunchly supported the promotion and application of human rights universally. She added that establishing the National Commission on Human […]

In an earlier article we asked the question, “Can the legislature declare all automobiles to be rickshaws?” We must simplify the question by asking whether legislators have the right to be silly when they are legislating. We are not concerned about their silliness outside their duty to deal with legislation. Even if we are guilty […]

Appreciation on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the RCT (Photo Courtesy: Janasansadaya) On the occasion of the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT) celebrating its 30th Anniversary, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to record its appreciation for the RCT and recognize the contribution it has made to the development […]

The involvement of young children in collecting the offal, leftovers and refuse of sacrificed animals, on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, an Islamic festival, has been a common sight in many cities and towns in Pakistan. It is however a very disturbing fact that poor children, along with their parents or other family members, are doing […]

The answer to that question is if the legislature can do whatever it likes, as it is becoming fashionable for some in Sri Lanka to say, it can also make such a declaration. The leader of the party that has the majority in parliament (even better if there is a two thirds majority), can order […]

Making bad laws has become the hallmark of lawmaking in Sri Lanka for several decades now. The most recent example of the making of very bad laws is a bill which has recently been placed before parliament under the title Code of Criminal Procedure (Special Provision). The pursuit of injustice through legal enactment finds one […]

आन्ध्र प्रदेश में श्री काकुलम थर्मन पावर प्लांट का विरोध; उडीसा में पास्को का विरोध, गोवा में खनन घोटाला, बेल्लारी में भूमिगत संसाधनों की लूट, उत्तरप्रदेश में चिल्कदांड का संघर्ष और सड़कों-पावर प्लांट के नाम पर खेती की 1 लाख एकड़ जमीन की लूट की खिलाफत, हिमाचल प्रदेश में हुल -1 जल विधुत परियोजना और […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission is forwarding the following letter from Mas Rashid Singawangsa, a Sri Lankan citizen, which gives detailed information of the ordeal he suffered at the hands of the Fort Police. Please see below the letter from Mas Rashid Singawangsa. I humbly and respectfully submit the following facts with the fervent hope […]

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child. The occasion aims to highlight the difficulties and barriers faced by young girls in their social and economic development. No one can deny that education is the right of every human, either male or female; […]

By Nilantha Ilangamuwa In case of fraudulent agreements, only such shall be valid as are entered into by spies. – Arthashastra by Kautilya She was an icon who gave her energy to develop Sri Lankan cinema. Perhaps it was the era in which the country was searching for meaning through cinema to find and assert […]

“History had a slow pulse; man counted in years, history in generations” — Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon It was another extrajudicial killing. And, it happened two days ago. This time the victim was cut into pieces and the pieces were strewn in a suburb of Colombo. Eyewitness to the incident told media that some people […]

“Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down.” — Frederick Douglass (1860 speech in Boston) The tread of hundreds of thousands of feet walking across the country in […]

“An ignorant mind believes itself omniscient and omnipotent; those impulses in itself which really represent the inertia and unspent momentum of its last dream it regards as the creative forces of nature.” —  Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense- George Santayana Despite all protests by the public, the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, who […]

Distrustful sense with modest caution speaks, It still looks home, and short excursions makes; But rattling nonsense in full volleys breaks, And, never shocked, and never turned aside. Bursts out, resistless, with a thundering tide,’ – Alexander Pope (Essay on Criticism) It was not a surprise when yesterday morning in a Colombo suburb, a motivated […]

Introduction The primary objective of a fair and free democratic election has to be the creation of truly representative institutions at all levels, federal, provincial and local government levels – a truly representative and sovereign parliament, capable of giving expression to the genuine aspirations of each and every segment and section of the citizens of […]

The third issue, volume one, of Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives has hit the presses and has several unique twists that will make it stand apart from other issues for some time to come. Due to an unusual set of circumstances, this issue was actually published jointly by both the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) […]

The third issue of volume one of Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives is now available and is being distributed at the time of writing. Published jointly by the AHRC and the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT Denmark) Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives is a great contribution to the anti torture campaign in […]

Honorable guests and friends: I would like to thank you for the invitation of Odhikar to this important meeting to advocate for the Accession to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. Enforced disappearance is among the most serious violations of human rights. According to the International Convention for the […]

गोघल गाँव और खरदना गाँव में 200 लोग 17 दिनों तक नर्मदा नदी में ठुड्डी तक भरे पानी में खड़े रहे। वे कोई विश्व रिकार्ड नहीं बनाना चाहते थे। उन्हे अखबार में भी अपना चित्र नहीं छपवाना था। उन्हे विकास के नाम पर जल समाधि दी जा रही थी, जिसके विरोध में उन्होने जल सत्याग्रह […]

सुनो वर्षों बाद अनहद नाद दिशाओं में हो रहा है शिराओं से बज रही है एक भूली याद !! वर्षों बाद ……..| दुष्यंत कुमार की ये पंक्तियाँ 10 सितम्बर 2012 को तब चरितार्थ हो गईं  जबकि मध्यप्रदेश सरकार ने खंडवा जिले के घोगलगांव में पिछले 17 दिनों से जारी जल सत्याग्रह से परेशान होकर सत्याग्रहियों […]