Democracy

The national debate regarding India’s position about the proposed resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council concerning Sri Lanka is limited to a Tamil view of the issue. The views exchanged in both houses of the country’s parliament and in the media reflect this. This parochial view about the resolution exposes the widespread lack […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following press release from [Name of the Organisation/Media]. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Press Release from Lawyers for Democracy forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) 13th March 2012 ‘Lawyers for Democracy’ (LfD) is gravely concerned with […]

The judiciary is that branch of the state which adjudicates on conflicts between state institutions, between the state and the individual and between individuals. The judiciary is independent of both legislature and the executive. This is a feature of judicial independence which is of prime importance, both in relation to the government according to law […]

The murder of an Indian Police Service officer Mr. Narendra Kumar on 8 March in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh has again brought to light the criminal nexus between the mining mafia operating in the country and their patrons in power who have political interests. The young, 2009-batch police officer, stationed as the Sub-Divisional Police […]

The government of Bangladesh on Monday blanked out three satellite television channels – Ekushey Television, Bangla Vision and Islamic TV – almost an hour before the leader of the opposition Begum Khaleda Zia started her speech at a four-party grand rally today, March 12, 2012. According to a Daily Star report, viewers could not watch these TV […]

The people of Bangladesh are living in a tense situation prior to a mass rally in Dhaka on March 12, 2012 called by the opposition parties against the ruling regime. The opposition political parties, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have organised a march towards Dhaka, on March 12 which is aimed at showing their […]

INDIA: GHE fear at New Delhi Reading the proposed draft resolution mooted at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) concerning human rights in Sri Lanka, one cannot help wonder why India did not propose such a resolution before? Today by delaying in arriving at a decision, whether to support the resolution or not, India has once […]

Freedom of expression is one of the essential pre-requirements for the practice, protection and promotion of democracy. If we are to speak of a democratic Pakistan we need to examine, whether the media is free. Each and every day media professionals are facing threats of kidnapping or murder for telling the truth. The truth about […]

Today, the world’s largest democracy along with the rest of the world would celebrate international women’s day. The media will reproduce public statements and the promises made. Institutions like the National Commission for Women would reiterate its mandate to protect, promote and guarantee women’s rights and thus ensure gender equality in the country. The President […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following report published in Prothom Alo, a national Bangla language daily newspaper of Bangladesh, on 1 March 2012. The original story can be read at: http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2012-03-01/news/228930 . Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from the Prothom Alo, a national Bangla language daily newspaper of Bangladesh, […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following report published in New Age, a national English language daily newspaper of Bangladesh, on 1 March 2012. The original story can be read at: http://newagebd.com/newspaper/detail.php?date=2012-03-01&nid=2466. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from the New Age, a national English language daily newspaper of Bangladesh, […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following report published in The Daily Star, a national English language daily newspaper of Bangladesh, on 1 March 2012. The original story can be read at: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=224539 . Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from the Daily Star, a national English language daily newspaper of […]

One of the sad truths that we have to live with today is that the people’s struggles for human rights are highly fragmented in India. Equally disheartening is the fact that whenever or wherever human rights comes up for discussion, it is addressed in piecemeal, ignoring and leaving far behind a comprehensive approach to rights […]

In a cold blooded attack by men in uniforms of the Pakistan Army, 18 persons from the Shiite community of Islam were targeted and killed. The incident occurred in the Khyber Pakhtunkha province close to the border of Gilgit and Baltistan area where Shias reside almost in good numbers to the Sunni population. On February […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned with the introduction of the new online service for national elections by the National Election Commission (NEC). The failure of the previous system in October last year during the Seoul Mayor election has raised serious concerns about allegations of election fraud. The National Assembly decided to […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the Honourable Attorney General of Sri Lanka The Honourable Shanthi Eva Wanasundara Attorney General Attorney General’s Department Colombo 12 SRI LANKA Fax: +94 11 2 436421 E-mail: ag@attorneygeneral.gov.lk Dear Ms. Wanasundara, SRI LANKA: Abductors threaten the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka We wish to bring […]

In the case of the eleven missing persons, among them four have died in military custody due to systematic torture. The Supreme Court had ordered the military and its intelligence agencies, the ISI and military intelligence agency (MI) on February 2 to produce the remaining seven detainees before the court on February 10. However, this […]

“What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.” – Viktor E. Frankl1 High level military officials were […]

By Baseer Naveed The disappearances, killings in military detention centers and dumping of bullet-riddled bodies including torture marks on the bodies of the victims, by the spy agencies particularly by ISI and military intelligence are no longer a secret. This was exposed during the case of Abdul Saboor (29), which was taken in custody illegally […]

On January 25, 2011, Nepal’s human rights record was reviewed for the first time under the Universal Periodic Review mechanism. That mechanism was established by the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006 through resolution 60/251 to “review the fulfilment by each State of its human rights obligations and commitments.” On that occasion, peer countries […]