Enforced disappearances and abductions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 22, 2005 AS-84-2005 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) What is the point of Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation? For at least the third time, Thailand’s Ministry of Justice has announced that its Department of Special Investigation (DSI) will take over the inquiry into disappeared human rights lawyer […]

It should come as no surprise to anyone that has followed the saga of missing Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit to hear that his wife Angkhana has now taken his case directly to the U.N. Human Rights Committee in Geneva. The Committee is considering Thailand’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political […]

On June 6, the deputy director of Thailand’s Central Institute of Forensic Science, Porntip Rojanasunan, was told by senior government officials that the police force has been given the go-ahead to establish the country’s proposed missing-persons centre. This is despite the fact that the proposal for the centre came from Porntip herself, that she has […]

Speaking in Bangkok on June 2, Stephen Toope, chairman of the U.N. Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances, said that the Working Group has taken up the case of Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit, who has been missing since he was abducted on March 12, 2004. He said that the Working Group has […]

NEPAL: Exceptional collapse of rule of law; Re-arrests; Undermining of court orders; Re-arrest ——————————————————————— Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received disturbing information regarding the re-arrest of citizens in Nepal, indicating that the practice is still rife within the country. We are aware of at least eight different cases involving the re-arrest […]

INDIA: Disappearance; Potential police cover-up; Police failure to properly investigate; failure of West Bengal Human Rights Commission to properly assess police investigations and report. ——————————————————————— Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal, regarding the possible trafficking of a woman and a potential […]

[RE: FA-06-2004: THAILAND: A human rights lawyer Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit missing; UA-94-2004: Severe torture victims still in custody while police torturers remain in posts; UP-14-2004: Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit is still missing and the police may be involved in his disappearance; UP-26-2004: 5 suspects in the alleged abduction of missing human rights lawyer Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit […]

[RE: FA-06-2004: THAILAND: A human rights lawyer Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit missing; UA-94-2004: THAILAND: Severe torture victims still in custody while police torturers remain in posts; UP-14-2004: THAILAND: Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit is still missing and the police may be involved in his disappearance; UP-26-2004: THAILAND: 5 suspects in the alleged abduction of missing human rights lawyer […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to draw your attention to a particularly disturbing case involving a Mrs Nisha Neupane from Prithvi Nagar, Chitwan, who was arrested by Security Forces on 31 March 2005. Mrs Neupane is pregnant and requires continuous medical treatment for kidney problems. However, the police have detained Mrs […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 23, 2005 AS-32-2005 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission Anticipating Thailand’s missing-persons centre  The announcement last week by Thailand’s new justice minister Suwat Liptapanlop that a missing-persons centre will be established under the Forensic Science Institute deserves strong public support. The growing number of alleged disappearances in Thailand is […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the disappearance of a young man named Sanjiv Kumar Karna (alias Dipu), whose whereabouts have remained unknown since 8 October 2003. On that day, Sanjiv was picnicing with friends when joint security force personnel approached. The security forces took Sanjiv and his […]

[RE: FA-06-2004: THAILAND: A human rights lawyer Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit missing; UP-14-2004: THAILAND: Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit is still missing and the police may be involved in his disappearance; UP-26-2004: THAILAND: 5 suspects in the alleged abduction of missing human rights lawyer Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit bailed out; UP-20-2005: THAILAND: Human rights lawyer still missing after nearly […]

[RE: FA-06-2004: THAILAND: A human rights lawyer Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit missing; UP-14-2004: THAILAND: Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit is still missing and the police may be involved in his disappearance; UP-26-2004: THAILAND: 5 suspects in the alleged abduction of missing human rights lawyer Mr. Somchai Neelaphaijit bailed out] Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) shares the concerns expressed by the Secretary General of the United Nations in his statement on the human rights situation in Nepal. Time and again the AHRC has stressed that regional governments such as India, international governments and bodies such as European Union, national political parties and the King […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by another illegal arrest and forced disappearance of a young man named Mr Naniram Kafle (23) by around 50 personnel of the Joint-Security Force, which took place in the Naubise Village Development Committee-1, Dharke, Dhading, Nepal on 21 September 2004. His whereabouts are currently […]

Around two hundred Nepalese are now have been witnessed to be crossing the border into India every hour, escaping the atrocities of both government and Maoist troops. Clearly, the violence in Nepal is intensifying. Recent reports speak of highly deliberate and aggressive strategies on both sides to harass and intimidate civilians. Others reveal deeply worrying […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that in Nepal the situation is under extreme conditions where loss of life is the rule of the day. A large number of cases have been reported on disappearances. People – women, men and children are reported to be disappearing within the country, especially […]

Dear friends, In response to the previous update on the case of disappeared human rights lawyer Mr Somchai Neelaphaijit, the Thai Minister of Justice, Mr Pongthep Thepkanchana, has defended himself and insists that progress has been made in the inquiry.  The Minister has said that although the Special Investigation Department had not taken over the […]

With the expiry of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Punishment and Control) Act — 2058 this 12 October 2004, His Majesty’s Government of Nepal has introduced a more severe and draconian version of the same law in its stead: the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Ordinance — 2061. Clause 9 of the latest […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that in Nepal the situation is under extreme conditions where loss of life is the rule of the day. A large number of cases have been reported on disappearances. People – women, men and children are reported to be disappearing within the country, especially […]