Death in custody

BANGLADESH: Protest rallies must be peaceful

Public places in Bangladesh have become unsafe today for the people when protest rallies are held. Even without a public protest, person and property in the country does not have any guarantee to their security. The overall breakdown of law and order is of such state, that a pro-government group, or those protesting against the […]

NEPAL: Suspicious death of elderly man in police custody

Dear friends, The Advocacy Forum (AF) has informed the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that Mr. MadhoTajpuriya, a 57-year-old resident of Ward Number 3, Sijuwa Village Development Committee (VDC), Morang district, was arrested by the police from the Area Police Post (APO) Sijuwa, Morang District, at around 4 p.m. on 24 October 2014. He died […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Police torture husband and pregnant wife who dies in custody

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police in the delta region of Burma in 2013 detained and tortured a young couple over an alleged theft, resulting in the death in custody of the wife, who was pregnant at the time. Although the police were investigated and subject to action […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Police illegally arrest, detain, & torture rickshaw driver to death

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police in Bago No.1 Police Station arrested a 37-year-old man on 4 July 2014, without an arrest warrant or court order, over the theft of bottles of motorcycle fuel. While in custody for three days, he was tortured. Subsequently, he was admitted to […]

SRI LANKA: A young man tortured to death in Kandaketiya police custody

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding a young man of the age of 17 who was illegally arrested by officers from the Kandaketiya police and severely tortured along with his brother and another family member. Despite appeals by his parents and lawyers the Magistrate who heard the case presented […]

INDIA: Detainee succumbs to torture by police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Civil Society Women’s Organization (CSWO), an anti-corruption and women’s rights organization based in Shillong, Meghalaya regarding the custodial death of an 18-year-old youth Mr. Balsan S. Marak. Balsan was arrested under dubious circumstances on charges of kidnapping and torture of women on 13 […]

INDIA: A woman dies in illegal custody

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Nervazhi – a human rights organization based in Kerala, concerning the custodial death of a young woman aged 23 years. It is reported that the police took the victim in the case, Ms. Hanisha, into illegal custody on 23rd March 2014. The police […]

INDONESIA: A detainee found dead in police custody in Tangerang

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) regarding the death of a detainee in police custody in Tangerang. The detainee was found hanging in the toilet of his cell. The police have claimed that his death was ‘purely suicide’ but irregularities were found, […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: The police cannot avoid responsibility for the torture to death of a man in custody

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that the police force of Burma has dismissed several officers involved in the torturing to death of a 39-year-old man. Other officers have been either suspended from duty or transferred to different townships. Myo Myint Swe was tortured during interrogation over a murder […]

INDIA: Custodial death in Manipur Dressed up as Suicide

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from civil society organizations based in Manipur, India, regarding the custodial death of Mr. Thoudam Digbijoy. Mr. Digbijoy was illegally detained in Wangoi police station, Wangoi Makha Leikai, Imphal West district, Manipur. On 26 February 2014 he was found dead, supposedly by suicide. This […]

PAKISTAN: A nationalist and political activist killed by law enforcement agencies after severe torture

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that officers of the law enforcement agencies abducted a young activist who was tortured to death in illegal detention. After the incident officers of these agencies threw the tortured and bullet riddled death body near the Bharia Road City Railway Station of District Naushero […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Court finds torture victim was killed, but no action taken

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the updated information that courts and police did not take any action even though they found that U Than Htun’s death, which occurred while detained in police custody in Burma, was not natural. In the post mortem inquiry, the lower courts decided that the death […]

INDONESIA: Man in Bau-Bau dies under police custody, witnesses at high risk

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) concerning the death of a man in police custody in Bau-Bau. KontraS and Buton Raya Legal Aid Institute (LBH Buton Raya) reported that bruises were found on the victim’s body, raising the strong […]

INDONESIA: Banten High Court reduces punishment for police officers who tortured and shot a man to death

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the torture case of Yusli, who was physically assaulted and shot to death by three police officers in 2011. In March this year, Tangerang District Court sentenced the perpetrators to two to five years imprisonments for maltreatment. However, the AHRC has learned […]

SRI LANKA: A short report on the features of the increasing authoritarianism

Download the full text of the report ( PDF) (Word) In her media statement from Colombo on 31 August 2013, Dr. Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said, “I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state, […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Police torture man to death, claim he beat up himself

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the case of a land rights activist who was tortured to death while detained in police custody in Burma. The officers at the police station detained U Than Htun illegally. After three days of detention, the police informed his family that he died […]

BANGLADESH: In week-long arbitrary detention, Sonargaon police torture businessman to death

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young businessman named Shamim Reza was tortured to death by police officers of Sonargaon police station in Narayanganj distirct. The police, on 14 May 2013, illegally arrested Shamim without any warrant of arrest issued by Court. In violation of Bangladesh’s constitutional provision, […]

INDONESIA: Lenient punishment for police officers who tortured and shot a young man to death

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the punishment of three police officers who tortured and shot a 23-year-old man, Yusli, in 2011. The court sentenced two of the officers to two years of imprisonment and the other one to five years. It found the officers were responsible for […]

INDONESIA: Police shoot two brothers to death in Medan, questions arise on the proportionality and necessity of the measure

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the information from the Medan Legal Aid Institute (LBH Medan) concerning the death of two brothers from Medan, North Sumatera. The two brothers, who were suspects in a drug case, were shot to death by the police who claimed that they attempted to escape and […]

INDONESIA: Military shoot four detainees to death and beat prison guards in Sleman

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a local NGO, KontraS, regarding the shooting of four detainees in the Cebongan Correctional Facility by military officers. The shooting was an act of revenge by the officers for the murder of one of their colleagues which took place a couple of days […]