Democracy

INDIA: Country’s democracy stripped naked by Delhi police

Article | India | 14-06-2010

Avinash Pandey Samar* On 23 May 2010, police officers, including a woman police constable reportedly tortured and abused a mother and her 12-year-old son in Rajouri Garden Police Outpost in Delhi. It is reported that the officers forced Mala (name changed) to strip naked in front of her minor son and demanded her to have […]

INDIA: Country celebrates the 61st day of successful oppression in Manipur

Statement | India | 11-06-2010

Today, the Union Home Ministry, the Chief Ministers of Manipur and Nagaland and a handful of Naga and Meitei nationalists are celebrating the 61st day of their successful enforcement of an indefinite economic blockade organised against the ordinary people living in Manipur state. In tribute to the strenuous effort of the All Naga Students Association […]

INDONESIA: Where questions can lead to convictions

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from The Jakarta Post. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article from Elaine Pearson (HRW) published in The Jakarta Post forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission INDONESIA: Where questions can lead to convictions Elaine Pearson, The Jakarta Post, June 5, 2010 […]

NEPAL: A strong commitment to the principles of democracy is required for the extension of the Constituent Assembly term to yield result

Statement | Nepal | 31-05-2010

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcomes the agreement over the extension of the term of the Constituent Assembly in Nepal, though it was arrived at the last moment. It renews the hope to establish strong and long-lasting democratic institutions that could reach out to the people of Nepal. These institutions are expected to form […]

PAKISTAN: The tragedy continues — the killing of more than eighty Ahmadis by Muslim extremists

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has repeatedly drawn the attention of the world’s community to the blatant abuse of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan. This ongoing abuse is neither investigated properly nor remedied by the government who are effectively depriving them of their fundamental freedoms and Human Rights. The Ahmadi Muslims do not have the […]

INDIA: Manipur at the verge of complete breakdown

The ongoing economic blockade enforced by All Naga Student Association Manipur (ANSAM) and others in the Indian state of Manipur since 11 April 2010 has pushed the people in the state to the verge of existence. The state-wide strike organised by the ANSAM blocking roads and highways, national highway 39 and 53, which are the […]

BURMA: Elections without speech

When the military government of Burma passed five new laws and four bylaws during March in preparation for planned elections later this year, it attracted a lot of interest, discussion and analysis in the global media. The only place where the media did not pick up the story was in Burma, or Myanmar, itself. Aside […]

BURMA: Elections without rights

The government of Burma has set down conditions for the forming of political parties that would have people associate in order to participate in anticipated elections, but nowhere is the right to associate guaranteed. While parties are required to have at least a thousand members to enlist for the national election–500 for regional assemblies–a host […]

BURMA: Elections without a judiciary

One of the basic prerequisites of a fair election is that agencies exist which are responsible for settling disputes that arise before, during and afterwards. These disputes take many forms, and are a normal part of electoral politics. It is essential that well-prepared institutions can address these disputes within rules that are clearly set down […]

SRI LANKA: An inspector assaults a fisheries union leader

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a criminal investigator restrained and struck a fisheries union leader while he was detained at Negombo Police Station. Though police assault is classified as torture under Sri Lankan law it remains common and little addressed, and must be met with a criminal investigation. The […]

PAKISTAN: The electoral process is self-contradictory and denies the Ahmadi minority its right to vote

Pakistan claims to provide a universal right to vote to all its citizens, which proves to be contradictory to the facts. Indeed, the members of the Ahmadi community have been denied this fundamental right. The shameful regulations implemented against Ahmadis are in violation of the 1973 Pakistani Constitution and the process of democracy itself. Right […]

NEPAL: Police torture a man to extract confession

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police have tortured a 30-year-old man to force him to confess a theft and kept him under illegal detention for nine days. The police also let him be beaten up by villagers after announcing his ‘confession’. He was arrested along with three other […]

BURMA: Authorities persecute political opponents ahead of announced election

While the military regime in Burma has iterated that it will hold a general election for a new legislature before the end of 2010, government officials have been relentlessly pursuing, intimidating and imprisoning political opponents. In recent weeks the Asian Human Rights Commission has issued appeals on a number of such cases, including the sentencing […]

SRI LANKA: The second term of the president-outside constitutionalism, rule of law and due process

The Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapakse, has begun his second term in office. The system of governance in which he works is one that falls clearly outside constitutionalism. The basic principle under which the existing ‘Constitution of Sri Lanka’ works is that the head of the state is above the law. Once the head of […]

SRI LANKA: Developing the Language of Peace and Reason

Long years of war have had a terrible impact on all areas of Sri Lankan life and one of the major areas to suffer from the war was the media. This was only natural. The war on the military front is also fought on the propaganda front by all the parties involved in the conflict. […]

PHILIPPINES: The Philippine Congress must revoke martial law in Maguindanao province

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is seeking your support in calling upon the members of the Philippine Congress to revoke Proclamation No. 1959, which has been signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and has declared a state of martial law in Maguindanao. It suspends the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, and […]

INDONESIA: Two activists are accused of criminal defamation by the Attorney General after questioning gaps in his annual budget

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two anti-corruption activists have been accused of defamation by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), after their group publicly pointed out a multi-trillion rupiah gap in the AGO’s annual budget and called for an investigation. The case raises questions about the use of the […]

PHILIPPINES: Military style intimidation tactics are being used against labour rights defenders

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that intimidation tactics are being used against a group advocating labour rights. Men giving a military impression have been openly surveying the office in shifts and photographing visitors to the building. Three of the men also beckoned a volunteer to them, late one night. These […]

UPDATE (Burma): Human rights defenders are among those released from jail

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to let you know that a number of human rights defenders on whose behalf we have campaigned in recent years have been released from imprisonment in Burma, as well as some of those who were involved in the September 2007 protests.  DETAINEES RELEASED:  The AHRC […]

PAKISTAN: The trade of justice continues as police protect ruling party members who are guilty of rape and maiming with acid

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received detailed information about a case of extreme violence, corruption and impunity involving members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a ruling partner of the Zardari government. Police and high ranking officials are continuing to thwart all attempts by a young rape victim to prosecute MQM […]