Administration of justice

BANGLADESH: Jibon or Jibika: The struggle for life and livelihood amid pandemic

An article from ubinig.org forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Introduction Conventional narratives, mostly nationalist, statist and GDP centered neo-liberal statistical accounts of development, outright miss or intentionally exclude certain salient facts about the stylized story of Bangladesh development. Bangladesh has been born through a bloody liberation struggle, but nationalist narrative exclude the fact that it […]

INDONESIA: Public Defenders under the Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation face terror and intimidation

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-010-2021  September 24, 2021 ——————————————————————— INDONESIA: Public Defenders under the Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation face terror and intimidation ISSUES: ISSUES: Fabricated cases, terror and intimidation, human rights defenders, administration of justice —————————————- Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from […]

SRI LANKA: Women take humans rights to the mainstream

By Basil Fernando Human rights have now become very much an integral part of public discussions in almost all public media. At one time, it remained an interest confined to a few groups and persons who were either advocates of human rights or those who attacked the very notion of human rights as part of […]

INDONESIA: 44 people dead in a tragic incident at the Tangerang Class 1 Penitentiary Banten Province

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-009-2021 September 23, 2021 ——————————————————————— INDONESIA: 44 people dead in a tragic incident at the Tangerang Class 1 Penitentiary Banten Province ISSUES: Access to justice, fair trial, legal aid, administration of justice —————————————- Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information […]

SRI LANKA: Situation of prisons in Sri Lanka

An Open Letter from Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the UN General Assembly Mr. António Guterres, Secretary General of the UN (Through the UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka) 22nd September 2021 Today, the day the Sri Lankan President addressing the […]

SRI LANKA: “Should we take the High Commissioner’s statement seriously?” A comment on a TV discussion

By Basil Fernando A discussion on the statement made by the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner (HC) for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, at the 48th Session of the UN Human Rights Council on 13th September 2021, was held on the same day in a television programme, and it is now available on YouTube. The moderator […]

INDONESIA: Two suspects who brutally attacked a journalist not yet detained

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAU-001-2021  September 17, 2021 RE: Journalist Brutally Attacked While Carrying Out Media Coverage ——————————————————————— INDONESIA: Two suspects who brutally attacked a journalist not yet detained ISSUES: Administration of justice, Freedom of expression, Freedom of Press, Impunity, Right to a fair trial, ——————————————————————— Dear Friends, […]

SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka’s rapidly shrinking public space

by Basil Fernando The freedom of association In the past few months, the Sri Lankan Government intensified its pressure against associations who are contributing to defend the rights of people against a series of serious attacks by the Government. Government attacks centre round the passing of several laws that affect the right to education, the […]

INDONESIA: Two Human Rights defenders receive warning letters after criticizing the Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-008-2021  September 15, 2021 ——————————————————————— INDONESIA: Two Human Rights defenders receive warning letters after criticizing the Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment. ISSUES: freedom of expression and opinion, access to justice, fair trial —————————————- Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received […]

MYANMAR/BURMA: Perpetrators of International Crimes Must Face Punishment

An Oral Statement to the 48th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) Madam President: The Asian Legal Resource Centre appreciates the continued efforts being made by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar since the establishment of the mandate. The Mechanism continues its mandated tasks of collection […]

SRI LANKA: UN Human Rights Mechanisms Ought to Explore New Approaches to Protect Rights

A Written Statement to the 48th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre For several decades now, the widespread practice of enforced disappearances has been experienced in several countries in Asia and elsewhere. Despite many attempts by the UN human rights agencies including the Working Group on […]

BANGLADESH: Government Uses Arbitrary Detention and Degenerated Judiciary Against Dissidents

A Written Statement to the 48th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) brings the issue of arbitrary detention and the degenerated justice mechanisms to the United Nations Human Rights Council focusing on the situation in Bangladesh, which is a Member of […]

SRI LANKA: Regarding the Covid-19 pandemic and survival in prison

An Open Letter from Inter-University Students’ Federation forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Commissioner General of Prison, Prison Headquarters, Dr Danister De Silva Mawatha, Colombo 10. Commissioner, SRI LANKA: Regarding the Covid-19 pandemic and survival in prison Convener of the Inter University Students Federation Wasantha Mudalige, Amila Sandeepa President of the Jayewardenepura University […]

INDONESIA: New Regulation on Special Autonomy for Papua must ensure protection for Indigenous Papuans

A Written Statement to the 48th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC) wishes to draw the attention of the UN Human Rights Council to the problem of amendment of Law on Special Autonomy for Papua. The House of Representatives of […]

SRI LANKA: The Emergency Powers Of The President & The Situation Of Women

By Basil Fernando While Sri Lanka is faced with many crises, the President has acquired the powers to act under the National Security Law by taking emergency powers into his hands. Will that contribute to Sri Lanka’s ever deepening crises or will the situation aggravate, as all power is taken away from everyone else except […]

INDIA: Annual Mystery fever returns to kill dozens, where are the authorities?

Statement | India | 06-09-2021

Mystery fevers are no strangers to many states in India. They keep returning, almost annually, leaving a death toll behind. They make news with their onset, media follows the trails, deaths subside and then the trails go cold. Other than this almost orchestrated performance of all the stakeholders barring victims and their families, the only […]

SRI LANKA: Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and detainees

An Open Letter from Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) 4th September 2021 Ms. Michelle Bachelet UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Dear Ms. Bachelet, SRI LANKA: Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and detainees The Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979 (PTA) was […]

WORLD: Measuring the impact of advocacy programmes

Article | | 03-09-2021

BY Basil Fernando “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” – Friedrich Nietzsche The word advocacy is used for various purposes and in each case, there is a different connotation attached to it. Commercial advertisements advocate the buying of their products and the promotion of other commercially-related objectives; political parties […]

BANGLADESH: Pro-government entities create copyright disputes over virtual contents critical of the regime

Governmental repressions continue as Bangladesh keeps curbing the civic space of the people with impunity. The Sheikh Hasina government has systematically using multiple technics and spying technological tools to curb the freedom of expression in online and off-line. The pro-regime cyber-worriers have launched a trend of creating fake copyright disputes over the contents that criticise the government. […]

SRI LANKA: Wife of Mathugama police custodial death victim writes to the IGP

A Statement from Right to Life Organization forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission 1. Chairperson, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, No. 14, R. A. De Mel Mawatha, Colombo 04, 2. Inspector-General of Police, Police Headquarters, Colombo 01 3. Attorney General, Attorney General’s Department, Colombo 12 4. President, National Police Commission, Block No 9, […]