Enforced disappearances and abductions

The 30th of August is marked internationally as Enforced Disappearance day but in Balochistan the blatant violation of human rights, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances of the Baloch are continuing at the hands of the State agencies.  The State institutions and politicians justify their blatant human rights violations under the pretense of Pakistani patriotism; despite […]

This week Just Asia marks the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance, August 30, by looking at the situation of disappearances around Asia. Enforced disappearances are frequently used to terrorise individuals, communities and societies. Pakistan is notorious for widespread enforced disappearances, with state agents finding it an easy way to keep persons in their […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the arbitrary arrest and detention of Tanveer Ahmed, a Kashmiri freelance journalist and researcher on public policy. He was last seen in Pakistani Kashmir on August 15, when persons claiming to be ISI agents picked him up. Ahmed has been critical about […]

This week Just Asia begins with Thailand, where 25-year-old Jatupat Boonyapatraksa is continuing his hunger strike at Phu Khiao District Prison, Chaiyaphum province to protest against the country’s broken justice system. Jatupat was arrested on August 6 for distributing anti constitution flyers. The Resistant Citizen group have invited ordinary Thai people to write post cards […]

Balochistan Province continues to suffer the wrath of law enforcement agencies; even by official figures, corpses found are threatening to breach the 1,000 mark in recent years. The real numbers are greater, with violent death scarring the countryside and blotting humanity. According to official reports, nearly a thousand bullet-ridden corpses have been recovered from various […]

A wave of anxiety has gripped the most populated province of Punjab, following the kidnapping of more than 700 children within this past year.. Several areas in Punjab particularly Lahore, the capital city, has witnessed a sudden surge in child kidnappings. There have been reports of the dead bodies of missing children surfacing in deserted […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been actively following the case of disappearance of human rights defender Ehsan Arjumandi, a dual national of Norway and Iran, who has been missing since August 2009. For the past seven years, after he was picked up by the Pakistani security agencies, the whereabouts of Mr. Ehsan are […]

By Nasurullah Baloch, Chairman, Voice of Baloch Missing Persons In 2010, a Commission was founded by the Pakistan Government to probe the missing persons’ cases and trace those still missing and unaccounted for. On 16 July 2016, this Commission presented its report to the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Then, the head of the body, (retired) […]

By Basil Fernando It has been 33 years since Black July, 1983. These 33 years have been part of our lifetime. We have witnessed not only the horrendously criminal acts of July 1983, but also what happened by way of justice after those serious crimes. I would like to illustrate my point in terms of […]

The statement made by Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa the former head of state in Sri Lanka, that ‘establishing the office of the Missing Persons is a betrayal of the armed forces’ is a statement unbecoming of a former head of the state and a prominent political leader in Sri Lanka. What it directly says is that […]

On June 20, the delegation of ALRC submitted a 160-page report on enforced disappearances and extra judicial killings in Pakistan, citing the cases and also the updated list of disappeared persons. The delegation of WGEID, led by Ms. Gabriela Guzman, secretary of WGEID and Human Rights Officer, Protection, Religion, Accountability & Human Security Session, expressed […]

The Rupavahini, TV channel in Sri Lanka, on 23rd June 2016, telecast a one hour interview with Basil Fernando of the Asian Human Rights Commission, and Mr Manoj Jinadasa, Senior Lecturer, Mass Media, University of Kelaniya in its early morning programme ‘Ayubowan Suba Dawasak”- the morning talk show. The Rupavahini morning show host, Chaminda Gamage, […]

Beginning with Thailand this week, Just Asia covers three human rights defenders who have been accused of criminal defamation and violation of the Computer Crime Act for publishing a report detailing 54 cases of torture by the Thai Army in the country’s southern provinces. The three defenders, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation […]

After monitoring 20 months of the human rights situation in Papua and West Papua provinces under President Joko Widodo’s administration, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is dismayed at the utter lack of progress in the protection and realization of people’s rights. Since President Widodo’s inauguration on 20 October 2014, there were considerable expectations for […]

By Basil Fernando I do not know Poddala Jayantha personally. However, I have felt for several years and still strongly feel that I as a human being, and we as Sri Lankans, owe a serious obligation to him. I remember the first day I heard about the cruel way he was dealt with some 7 […]

This week Just Asia begins with the attack on a peaceful public protest in North Sulawesi, Indonesia on June 1, calling for professionalism by parliamentarians, and the prosecution of those involved in illegal drugs. While waiting to have a dialogue with some parliamentarians at the Manodo parliament office, the student protesters were suddenly attacked by […]

See the YouTube Video relating to this article. Journalist, Poddala Jayantha in a moving article, written in Sinhala, recalls his ordeal which took place exactly 7 years ago in the evening of June 1st that shocked the entire nation. A threat which has been made to him by the brother of the then President Mahinda […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Bolli Monsur Ahmed remains disappeared since the police arrested him three years ago. The Fatikchhari police of Chittagong district arrested Ahmed from his uncle’s house at 4:30 am on 27 March 2013. Recently his family held a press conference to demand his […]

This week Just Asia begins with the growing demands in Bangladesh seeking the return of disappeared persons. Families are taking to the streets and holding press conferences to voice their concern and seek justice. On May 26, relatives made a ‘human chain’ in front of Dhaka’s National Press Club, and were joined by prominent human […]

By Basil Fernando The attitude towards murder is one thing on which hardly any progress can be made in Sri Lanka. Murder is regarded as quite normal and not something to worry too much about. This attitude is also something that should worry everyone. It is this attitude we see in the proposed Office of […]