Administration of justice

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from our partner organisation from Manipur, India that the security forces deployed in Manipur are engaged in murder, arbitrary and illegal arrests and custodial torture. The AHRC is also informed that the acts committed by the 24 Assam Rifles, a military contingent deployed in […]

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has recently secured a pardon for opposition leader Sam Rainsy and his colleague Cheam Channy, who were respectively given a jail sentence of 18 months for alleged defamation and seven years for allegedly organising an illegal army. He has promised to restore their parliamentary immunity. He has also withdrawn his […]

[RE: UP-013-2006: BANGLADESH: Three persons tortured by the Chapainawabganj police; UA-041-2006: BANGLADESH: Eight people killed and at least one hundred injured by police fire in Chapainawabganj district; UA-013-2006: BANGLADESH: Two people killed and thirty-five injured by police fire in Chapainawabganj district; UP-016-2006: BANGLADESH: Three detained and tortured leaders have been released from prison in Chapainawabganj] […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission has today learnt that two of the three members of the Judicial Service Commission of Sri Lanka have resigned their posts as continuing to hold them would be incompatible with their consciences. The two are senior Supreme Court judges Shiranee Bandaranayaka and T B Veerasuriya. The third remaining member and […]

[RE: UP-013-2006: BANGLADESH: Three persons tortured by the Chapainawabganj police; UA-041-2006: BANGLADESH: Eight people killed and at least one hundred injured by police fire in Chapainawabganj district; UA-013-2006: BANGLADESH: Two people killed and thirty-five injured by police fire in Chapainawabganj district] ———————————– UP-016-2006: BANGLADESH: Three detained and tortured leaders have been released from prison in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the attack on three hamlets, Karama, Bonto Gaddong and Ujung Moncong, in South Sulawesi by a group of army personnel from the 700th Raider Infantry Battalion, which took place on 29 November 2005. A group of army personnel and others from outside […]

[Re: UA-251-2005: Brutal torture of a 25-year-old man over mistaken identity in General Santos City, Mindanao; UP-156-2005: Unabated killing of activists; killing and threats against witnesses exposes the country’s defective witness protection programme UP-158-2005: Two more activists killed, one of whom suffered twenty-two gunshot wounds; UP-160-2005: Armed men kill female activist in Bataan, Luzon; victim’s […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) takes the opportunity of the first anniversary of Cheam Channy’s imprisonment to write to you regarding the injustices of this case. Cheam Channy, a MP from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), will complete one year in jail on 3 February 2006, out of the seven year sentence passed […]

This February 1, 2006, the case of Ma Su Su Nwe will come before the Supreme Court of Burma. The court will be asked to decide whether or not to admit an appeal against Su Su Nwe’s imprisonment on charges of having abused and intimidated members of a local government council. In effect the court […]

[RE: UP-011-2006: NEPAL: Further arrests occur in Nepal’s escalating crisis; UA-036-2006: NEPAL: Further arrests in Nepal’s worsening political, security and human rights crisis; UG-002-2006: NEPAL: Immediate intervention required in Nepal’s deepening political, security and human rights crisis] ———————————————————————- UP-012-2006: NEPAL: Widespread repression and mass arrests continue to take place in Nepal NEPAL: Human rights defenders; […]

A strange notion prevails in Sri Lankan legal circles that presidential immunity extends even to constitutional violations. This is despite the fact that one of the grounds for the impeachment of a president is ‘intentional violations of the Constitution’, as set out in article 38(2) a(i). A judgment made by the Indian Supreme Court on […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in General Santos City, Mindanao has commenced its investigation into the case of Haron Abubakar Buisan, who was allegedly illegally arrested, detained and brutally tortured by mistaken identity. (See our previous appeal: UA-251-2005). A reliable source said […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received news that two police officers in central Burma have been charged with rape by a local court, despite attempts by the police to bribe and intimidate the victim to withdraw the charges. According to the information received, the Twente Township Court decided after preliminary hearings […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received disturbing information regarding the re-arrest of citizens in Nepal, indicating that the practice is still rife within the country. From this information we can confirm that Shanta Rai, a permanent resident of Itahara VDC ward no 3, Morang and Yeshodha Khatiwada, a permanent resident of […]

INDIA: Feudal lords attack Daliths for claiming proper wage, while police refuse to take action and pressure the victim to withdraw complaint in Uttar Pradesh, India INDIA: Racial discrimination, murderous assault, corrupt policing, complete failure of rule of law ——————————————————————— Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from our local partner […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is in receipt of your letter dated 13 December 2005 detailing the Philippine government’s response to our concern about the unabated incidents of extra-judicial killings and violence against activists, the lack of witness protection and the failures in police investigations. In your letter you said: “I assure you that […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 5, 2005 AS-002-2006 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) SRI LANKA: Six years after Chemmani exhumation: Inquiry commission needed to review attorney general’s department Pending indictments being filed at a high court, the case of the Chemmani mass graves was called before a magistrate’s court this week to […]

Former presidents of Sri Lanka, JR Jayawardene, R Premadasa and C Kumaratunga are well known for their authoritarian operation of the executive presidency, therein crippling the country’s most vital public authorities. Jayawardene and Premadasa aimed for direct control over all public authorities. Kumaratunga, who came to power with promises of change, continued this tradition even […]

The past two weeks saw Hong Kong become a theatre in which the conflict between free trade and human rights played out very visibly, with broadcast and other media conveying the interventions of all those involved in this conflict: namely, those inside the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference, and those outside on the streets.  […]

Dear Mr. De Silva, I am writing this letter in response to newspaper reports concerning a speech that you have made on the right to life, where you claimed that there are ‘improvements in the field of human rights.’ Unfortunately, I have not had the benefit of seeing your complete speech. However, I have no […]