Statement

SRI LANKA: How some lawyers trivialise legal proceedings

“Fr. Nandana Manatunga tortured the victim…” claims President’s Counsel, Mr. Nalin Ladduwahetty in his defence of a police constable in a torture case. The case of torture of Mr. Daundalage Pushpakumara came up today at the Court of Appeal in Sri Lanka. The court was considering a petition filed by Pushpakumara, seeking leave to appeal in […]

PAKISTAN: Non-Muslims forced to do sanitary work

In an act of blatant discrimination against the Christian religious minority, and an infringement of Article 27 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has invited applications for the job of sewers from Non-Muslims only. Moreover, applicants are required to take an oath on their religious holy book – Geeta or Bible – […]

BANGLADESH: Questions arising from the abduction of Farhad Mazhar

Law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh have announced on 3 July 2017, that at 11:30 pm they have ‘rescued’ Mr. Farhad Mazhar from a Dhaka bound passenger bus at Noapara in the south-western district Jessore, bordering India. The police later interrogated him during which he was allegedly ill-treated. Farhad was in police custody till 3:00 pm […]

INDIA: Abduction and sexual abuse of an actress, and the cacophony so far exposes the putrid social culture in Kerala

Statement | India | 06-07-2017

On 17 February 2017, in Kerala, a criminal gang abducted and sexually assaulted an actress. The lady was travelling in a car, when a group of persons brought the car to a stop creating an accident, and forced themselves into the vehicle in which the lady was travelling. It is alleged that the men sexually […]

PAKISTAN: State sanctioned police brutality against women must stop

A video has recently surfaced in Pakistan, where a contingent of police officers can be seen baton charging a group of unarmed women mill workers protesting in Muzaffargarh, Punjab. The scuffle occurred inside the district court of Muzaffargarh in broad daylight, yet the judicial officer never took any action against the erring police officers, nor […]

SRI LANKA: What is Folk School Method and what is its relevance to human rights work – Two Videos;

Watch English Version Watch Sinhala Version The Asian Human Rights Commission is happy to present two video presentations; one in English and one in Sinhala by Mr. Basil Fernando on the Folk School method. For almost 25 years, the Asian Human Rights Commission has constantly utilized the Folk School methodology, as its approach for developing a human […]

NEPAL: Government and police collude in rotten power play

Statement | Nepal | 04-07-2017

For the past several years, the Asian Human Rights Commission has been reporting on the widespread practice of abuse of power by the Nepal Police. The extent of abuse of power and politicization within the police today is such that even senior police officers are targeted. On 24 April 2017, a team of police officers […]

INDIA: “This ADGP is a butcher in police uniform” claims the State Police Chief

Statement | India | 03-07-2017

Referring to the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Mr. Tomin J. Thachankary, the former State Police Chief, Mr. Senkumar, has said that this officer is a butcher stationed at the state police headquarters. Allegations against Thachankary, one of the senior most officers in service in the state, is nothing new. The only difference this […]

INDIA: What has been done to prevent criminals serving in the state police?

Statement | India | 30-06-2017

The State Police Chief in the Indian state of Kerala, has openly said that “there are more criminals in the state police service in the IPS cadre than within the constabulary.” State Police Chief, (SPC) Mr. Senkumar, in a speech delivered in a public function held at the state capital today (30 June 2017) has made this […]

PAKISTAN: Stop Shia genocide in Khurram Agency

The scenic Parachinar valley, capital of the federally administered Khurram Agency, has been under the grip of sectarian violence for many years, resulting in thousands of deaths. However, the Parachinar twin blasts on June 23 were the deadliest, unnerving citizens ahead of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. The […]

INDIA: Hyper nationalist policing must be stopped

Statement | India | 29-06-2017

Recent events in India remind us of the landmark case of Balwant Singh & Anr. v State of Punjab 1995 (1) SCR 411. In this case, two Government officers were convicted by a Special Court under Ss.124 A and 153A of the Indian Penal Code for raising slogans in support of Khalistan on the day […]

SRI LANKA: The Sinhala Translation of the Report of the UN Special Rapporteur for the independence of Judges and Lawyers

READ FULL REPORT – HERE ලංකාවට අවශ්‍ය අධිකරණමය සංශෝධන එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මණ්ඩලයේ විනිශ්චයකාරවරුන්ගේ හා නීතිඥයන්ගේ ස්වාධීනත්වය පිලිබඳ සුවිශේෂ වර්තකාරිය වන මොනිකා පිටෝ විසින් ඇය ලංකාවට පැමිණි දුත ගමනින් පසු සකස්කොට නිකුත් කොට ඇති නිල වාර්තාව.  මහ ලේකම් කාර්යාලයේ සටහන 2016 අප්‍රේල් 29 සිට මැයි 7 වෙනි දින දක්වා ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුල කල දුත ගමනේදී සකස් කරනු ලැබූ විනිසුරුවරුන් හා නීතිඥයන්ගේ ස්වාධීන බව […]

SRI LANKA: Lawyers state that the Daily News Report on Lakshan Dias issue is false

A news item was published in the Daily News today under the title – Alleged attack on 160 Churches – BASL asks lawyer to come clean. In this news item, it refers to an order made on the basis of a decision at the Bar Council calling on Mr. Lakshan Dias, Attorney-at-Law, to explain the statement made by […]

PAKISTAN: Jails, breeding places and recruiting grounds for hard-core militants

With the collapse of the overall system of governance in Pakistan, the jail system followed suit and collapsed. As the last resort in the system of criminal justice, jails were meant to reform an individual who has gone astray and resorted to crime. Due to pervasive corruption and incompetence the prison system has been reduced […]

PAKISTAN: Government before UN committee reluctant to make law against torture

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the occasion of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture The government of Pakistan has stated before the UN Committee on the Convention against Torture (CAT) that it does not intend to set-up legislation against torture and ill-treatment. On May 13, 2017 during the UN review, […]

SRI LANKA/WORLD: Rapid collapse of the secular state

The events that unfolded this week shockingly foretells the story of the very rapid collapse of the secular state in Sri Lanka. Although, the events around which a new melodrama unfolded in Sri Lanka were some trivial events of several warrants issued against one Buddhist monk, in which the Sri Lankan state finally proved that […]

NEPAL: Police continue using torture as the only resort in the year 2017

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the occasion of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture ‘“As a last resort,” wrote a Nepalese Inspector, “torture is practical and necessary.”’ This was reported 43 years ago in certain newspapers in the United States, in articles titled “Chilling views on torture tactics” […]

BANGLADESH: Institutionalization of torture within law enforcement defeats the purpose of criminalization

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission and Odhikar on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Bangladesh’s law enforcement agencies have institutionalized torture within their day-to-day operations. Policing, maintaining law and order, and conducting crimeinvestigations, all incorporate torture as an integral part. At the same time, the widespread use of torture […]

PAKISTAN: The AHRC thanks the Prime Minister of Belgium for saving the life Sajid Hussain

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to sincerely thank the Prime Minister of Belgium M Charles Yves Jean Ghislaine Michel and his administration for taking serious note of the Urgent Appeal issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission AHRC- UAC-033-2017 and taking prompt action with regard to the immediate suspension of the deportation process of Kashmiri […]

INDIA: A country where torture is the norm

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the occasion of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture India is the only country in Asia that has during the past seven decades remained a parliamentary democracy, having elected its government through a transparent and accountable democratic process. Its judiciary is independent, and […]