Fabrication of charges

A Statement from The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission 4 June 2019 In pursuance to a string of recent attacks of at least three pro-democracy activists including Aekachai Hongkangwan who was physically assaulted seven times and had his car set on fire twice since early 2018, and of […]

The government of Nepal has been repeatedly throttling the civil society, media and human rights organizations in Nepal. Even the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has now come under its ambit. The present government, led by the Nepal Communist Party, does not like civil society questioning its business. In an attempt to silence critical voices, […]

This week Just Asia begins with Burma, where two Reuters reporters have been freed by a presidential amnesty. Wa Lone, 33 and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29 had spent more than 500 days in prison, after being convicted under the Official Secrets Act and sentenced to seven years in jail last September. Their jailing was seen […]

A well-functioning legal system can be measured by its response to daily crimes and complaints. This is a much better test in fact, rather than a country’s constitution (in Sri Lanka’s case, the 1978 constitution still remains a major barrier to the functioning of a legal system), or statutes, or judicial presence, all of which […]

This week Just Asia begins with Bangladesh, where a fast-moving fire in the historic district of Chawkbazar in the country’s capital city of Dhaka has killed 78 persons and injured 55. The death toll and the number of victims is expected to increase as more bodies are found from the wreckage. The 400-year-old Chawkbazar district […]

This week Just Asia begins with Sri Lanka, where President Maithripala Sirisena told parliament last week that he was ready to bring back the death penalty for drug offenders within one or two months. The last hanging in Sri Lanka took place in 1976, since when there has been a moratorium on capital punishment. President […]

Nepal saw a year of poor human rights protection in 2018. The government was instead seen to further restrict people’s rights by introducing harsh laws to control the functioning of human rights NGOs and INGOs with its National Integrity Policy (NIP). The NIP places tighter controls over non-governmental space and is currently under discussion, while […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where the overruling of Asia Bibi’s blasphemy conviction and death sentence last week has mired the country in protests. To end the protests, the government made a deal with the Islamist hardliners, where Asia Bibi would remain in Pakistan while a final review of the Supreme Court ruling […]

This week Just Asia begins with Bangladesh, where police arrested a prominent government critic on Monday. Police said Moinul Hosein, a top lawyer and publisher of an English daily, was detained after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina slammed him for his comments against a pro-government female journalist. His arrest comes in the wake of a recent government […]

This week Just Asia begins with Indonesia, where the Corruption Eradication Commission arrested Bekasi’s Regent, Mrs. Neneng Hassanah Yasin on Sunday. She was arrested together with 10 other persons including government officials and employees of the Lippo Group. The Lippo Group apparently agreed to provide 13 billion rupiah for the Regent and her officials in order to […]

This week Just Asia begins with Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province, which was hit by a 7.5-magnitude earthquake last Friday, followed by a tsunami. Official figures are reporting the deaths of 1,234 people. Indonesia’s geophysics agency (BMKG) has faced criticism over its handling of a tsunami warning. Indonesian President Joko Widodo is accepting international help for […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the custodial death of Ram Manohar Yadav, 30, a resident of Janaki Rural Municipality, Banke district. Yadav died in Police custody while on the way to Kathmandu for medical treatment. Police had admitted him to the Bardiya District Hospital in Gulariya and subsequently to the Bheri Zonal […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned by the police encounter killing of Ajay Tamang and Gopal Tamang on 6 August 2018. A team from the Metropolitan Police Crime Division shot dead Ajay and Gopal after the police figured out that they killed 11-year-old Nishan Khadka on Sunday evening from Kandaghari of Bhaktapur district. Ajay […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where 149 people have died in a suicide bomb attack in Balochistan’s Mastung district. A suicide bomber detonated his explosives at an election rally of the Balochistan Awami Party on Friday afternoon. The death toll continues to rise, with more than a hundred others injured. This was the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the unlawful arrest and detention committed by police officers of the Timika Police Office (Polres Timika) between 9 and 10 June 2018. Five indigenous Papuans were arrested without any arrest warrant: Titus Kwalik (48), Polce Sugumol (31), Julianus Dekme (31), Alosius Ogolmagai (49), and Orpa Wanjomal (40). According […]

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where a mother is dying in the search for justice. Ganga Maya Adhikari has been on a fast-on-to-death hunger strike for over 30 days, and her health is severely deteriorating. In the ICU of Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, Ganga Maya has a simple demand: the arrest of Chhabilal Poudel, […]

For several months now, rumours of traveling child snatchers have been floating around the country, spreading fear through Whatsapp messages and Facebook posts. Recently, the consequences of these rumours was the lynching and killing of two men from Guwahati who ventured into the tribal region of Karbi Anglong in Assam, and, of a group of five […]

A Press Release from Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society and Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) June 14th, 2018 Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) welcome today’s important report by the Office of the High […]

Sri Lanka Report for 2017 2017 was a decisive year for Sri Lanka, showing what progress had – and hadn’t – been made in the past few years. In January 2015, a new government was elected with a massive intervention on the part of the people. For 10 years, their premiere, Mahinda Rajapaksa, ran an […]

This week Just Asia begins with India, where two young men were lynched on the suspicion of being child abductors. Niloptal Das and Abhijeet Nath were artists based in Goa, who had come to Assam to celebrate the Bohag Bihu festival and do some sight-seeing. A mob stopped their SUV at night, believing a child […]