Death penalty

Everyone knows that Pakistan’s government and military have failed to deal with the widespread terrorism in the country. All Pakistanis would agree that this problem needs to be addressed and that it should be addressed urgently and thoroughly. However, the government’s suggestion of enabling the military to try terror suspects in military courts is no […]

Lifting of moratorium from Capital punishment: punishing death with death The immediate reaction of the government to the killing of the children in Peshawar on December 16 has been to lift the moratorium on death sentences of prisoners on death row. It is most likely that the popular anger that has developed as a result […]

The Pakistan Government should take the military to establishment to task, for failing to protect the 141 innocent children and staff killed by the Taliban The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) unequivocally condemns the attack by the Taliban on 16th December in a school in Peshawar, killing 132 children and nine staff members. The world […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a horrifying incident of a Christian couple being burnt alive on charges of Blasphemy in Pakistan’s Punjab Province. According to information, the couples’ legs have been broken so that they cannot escape the burning. The young Christian couple has been severely beaten and were […]

A Divisional Bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) upheld the death penalty of a Christian woman convicted of Blasphemy by a Sessions’ Court in 2010. Ms. Aasia Bibi, was a mother of five. She was arrested in 2009 under blasphemy charges while working in a farm with many other Muslim women. A two-judge bench […]

A tribute by Bushra Khaliq Well done, Malala! Every Pakistani is proud of you. Today you have made our head high. After Dr. Abdus Salam, Malala is second person who has shown other side of Pakistan and introduced terror-torn Pakistan’s soft face to the world and provided us a moment of real joy. For all […]

TEXTS ADOPTED Provisional edition P8_TA-PROV(2014)0024 Human rights violations in Bangladesh PE536.999 European Parliament resolution of 18 September 2014 on human rights violations in Bangladesh (2014/2834(RSP)) The European Parliament, –    having regard to its previous resolutions on Bangladesh, –    having regard to the EC-Bangladesh Cooperation Agreement of 2001, –    having regard to Articles 33 and 35 […]

The Singapore Working Group on the Death Penalty Statement on executions carried out on the 18th of July 2014. The Singapore Working Group on the Death Penalty deeply regrets, and is gravely disappointed at the executions of two individuals that took place today, 18th of July 2014. Inmates Foong Chee Peng, 48, and Tang Hai […]

A blasphemy case has been registered under sections 295, 295C 298C and others against GEO media group owner, Mir Shakilur Rehman, anchor Shaista Lodhi, Veena Malik, Asad Khatak and other people, creating a new state of affairs. Perhaps this is the first time that such high profile people have been charged under the blasphemy law […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to inform you that we have released the 10thEpisode of the Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup today, December 18, 2013. In this week’s news roundup we begin by taking you to Burma, also known as Myanmar, for a special report taking a look at the progress made three years after the […]

Democracy in South Korea is under attack. The ruling Saenuri Party of President Park Geun-hye and the National Intelligence Service have launched a witch hunt to purge progressive voices from the political process. On August 28, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), formerly known as the Korean CIA, raided the offices and homes of the Unified […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) appreciates the efforts of the Pakistani Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and his two-member fact finding team to probe the cases of the Pakistanis who are on death row and awaiting beheading on the charges of drug smuggling. The government of Saudi Arabia must also be praised for its readiness […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes the postponement of the scheduled executions of condemned prisoners in Pakistan which were to take place from August 20, 2013. A temporary stay on the hangings was announced on Sunday, August 18 in response to protests from outgoing President Asif Ali Zardari and various international human rights organizations. This […]

The Pakistan People’s Party took office in 2008, and shortly thereafter issued a moratorium on the death penalty, temporarily commuting thousands of death penalty cases to life imprisonment. The move was hailed by the UN and rights organizations worldwide, as it indicated a move by the Pakistani government to respect the right to life and […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that several Pakistani citizens currently incarcerated in Damman Prison in Saudi Arabia face death by beheading for allegedly trafficking drugs into Saudi Arabia. The Pakistanis in question, all hailing from poor families, were in fact forced to carry the drugs. In some cases the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a local NGO, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), regarding the fabrication of charges and torture committed by the police against a 72-year old man and his two sons. The innocent men were falsely charged, tried and sentenced to […]

After refraining from executing individuals for four years, the Indonesian authorities executed a Nigerian national, Adami Wilson, on 14 March 2013. The Tangerang District Court named Adami guilty of drug dealing and sentenced him to death in 2004. The Attorney General Office (AGO) mentioned to the press that Adami’s sentence is the first of other […]

Mangala Samy Pungonda, the mother of Wengadasalam Sudeshkar yesterday, February 19, appealed for the final sum of Rs. 600,000/= (approximately US$ 5,000) for the saving of her son’s life from execution in Doha, Qatar. She thanked those who have already contributed to the raising of the sum of Rs. 3.5 Million and said that about […]

Mangala Samy Pungonda, the mother of Wengadasalam Sudeshkar yesterday, February 19, appealed for the final sum of Rs. 600,000/= (approximately US$ 5,000) for the saving of her son’s life from execution in Doha, Qatar. She thanked those who have already contributed to the raising of the sum of Rs. 3.5 Million and said that about […]

On February 4 the chief monk of Sunandonanda of Egodauyana, Moratuwa was assassinated by a group of persons during the evening. According to reports, at 5:30 pm and again at 7:30 pm, the chief monk made complaints to the Moratuwa Police stating that he was facing an imminent threat to his life and sought the […]