Paper

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to inform you about a paper on “Prospect and Problem of the Transitional Justice in Indonesia after 32 years Political Injustice under the Soeharto Regime.” The paper is written by Chris Biantoro, a human rights lawyer and Indonesia desk officer at the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong. […]

Written by Chrisbiantoro1 Introduction As a member of the United Nations (UN)2, Indonesia has ratified at least six major international human rights treaties3. Currently, Indonesia is a member of the UN Human Rights Council [HRC]4, therefore, it has obligations to increase the standard of human rights protection in its territory under the resolution of the […]

By Arif Maulana Introduction In the last two years, under the government of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Jusuf Kalla, the execution of death row inmates in Indonesia has occurred frequently. The government has said the executions are conducted due to the state of emergency cause by the narcotics problem. In 2015-2016, 19 prisoners were […]

A supplement to the Asian Human Rights Charter launched in Gwangju, South Korea on 17 May, 1998 This declaration is to be launched on the 20th anniversary of launching of the Asian Human Rights Charter (A People’s Charter) The Asian Human Rights Commission (Hong Kong) and the May 18 Memorial Foundation(Gwangju, South Korea) are presenting herewith the […]

Two recent reports prove the predictions that the Asian Human Rights Commission has been making for several years, that Bangladesh is likely to become a major refugee producing country in the Asian region. The UK basedIndependent published a report on 5 May 2017, with the title “Bangladesh is now the single biggest country of origin for refugees on boats as new route to Europe […]

Topic: Violence against Women in India Objective: Inform the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences; on violence against women in India pending the Rapporteur’s visit to the country. Submitted by the Asian Human Rights Commission – Hong Kong Researcher: Ms. Meredith McBride Introduction: 1. Violence towards women prevents equality and hinders […]

Abstract: This paper studies the decision of the Philippine Supreme Court on two cases, People v. Lumanog (Abadilla Five case) and Lejano v. People (Vizconde massacre case), in comparison to the theory and practice in common law countries on the protection of Constitutional rights on the issue of arrest and detention, self-incrimination, legal assistance and […]

Danilo Andres-Reyes1 Obstacles in the implementation of norms & standards of rights in developing countries2 Reading from the abstracts of papers from other participants and guest speakers for this Conference, the idea of ‘access to justice’, as a theme to improve work on torture prevention and rehabilitation of victims is given strong importance. To lay […]

(This is the text of a presentation at A Consultation on Peace and Security in Asia and Ecumenical Responses held on August 1-6, 2011, organized by WCC and CCA) As a start we may try to reflect on some of the concerns expressed by the participants of this meeting who have spoken so far. One […]

This paper was initially published in the Law and Society Trust Review, Sep. — Oct. 2010   Basil Fernando* “LIBERTY RIGHTS AT STAKE: THE VIRTUAL ECLIPSE OF THE HABEAS CORPUS REMEDY IN RESPECT OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN SRI LANKA” is a study of 880 judgments of various courts of Sri Lanka on habeas corpus applications from […]

Context: The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the cowardly attack in Chingavaram by the Maoists that killed 35 persons including 11 civilians in Chhattisgargh state on 17 May 2010. It is reported that a bus in which the victims were traveling along the Dantewada-Sukhma road hit an Improvised Explosive Device (IEV) believed to be […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has compiled and published in sequence, the recent exchanges of views regarding the column on ‘the appalling silence of the good among us’ in the Sunday Times ‘Focus on Rights’ column of August 9, 2009 by Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena. This conversation commenced upon an attack by Rajpal Abeynayake on Pinto-Jayawardena titled […]

To mark the fifth anniversary of the police abduction and forced disappearance in Bangkok of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit on 12 March 2004, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is distributing a series of three extracts from the newly-released English translation of a book by his wife, Angkhana, first published in Thai to mark […]

To mark the fifth anniversary of the police abduction and forced disappearance in Bangkok of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit on 12 March 2004, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is distributing a series of three extracts from the newly-released English translation of a book by his wife, Angkhana, first published in Thai to mark […]

To mark the fifth anniversary of the police abduction and forced disappearance in Bangkok of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit on 12 March 2004, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is distributing a series of three extracts from the newly-released English translation of a book by his wife, Angkhana, first published in Thai to mark […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-PAP-005-2008 May 7, 2008 A Paper by the Asian Human Rights Commission PHILIPPINES: Christmas with a Dead Man’s Watch Abstract This article is an account of a well known Filipino priest, Fr. Roberto Reyes, whom a rebel group claiming responsibility to the murder of Colonel Rolando Abadilla had approached nine years ago. […]

No Indian can imagine “India without the caste system”. Is it possible to have an Indian society without caste system and other social evils?  In northern India, it is alarming to notice strong in-built age-old practices that ensure the caste system not only survives but thrives. Land distribution and related traditions significantly contribute towards this […]

The cultural heritage of cruelty and repression (Paper 2) **************************** The organisation of pre-modern Sri Lankan society was based on the caste system Basil Fernando These days there are discussions about democracy, rule of law and human rights as alien to Sri Lanka and that there should be a return to a “paradise” that existed […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-PAP-002-2008 March 14, 2008 A Paper by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Caste of mind and the ‘silly season’ (The cultural heritage of cruelty and repression) Basil Fernando In a recent statement by the Secretary to the Peace Secretariat, he refers to a series of criticism made against the Sri […]

PAKISTAN: The exclusive interview with Munir Malik to We are publishing an interview with Munir Malik, the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association who was imprisoned and given drugs under the pretext of painkillers which caused him renal failure and liver damage, but who continues to be an inspiration for the movement for […]