Fabrication of charges

INDIA: APDP & JKCCS welcome the report of the UN Office of High Commissioner For Human Rights on the situation in Jammu & Kashmir

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: A Gratuitous Relationship for the Promotion of Human Rights – AHRC and Sri Lanka

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 […]

AHRC TV: Indian youth lynched in Assam and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 223

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 […]

AHRC TV: Thai activists charged for walking and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 222

  This week Just Asia begins with Thailand, where police issued summons to at least another 47 individuals on May 29, for exercising their freedom of peaceful assembly to call for elections and democracy. Fifteen others were charged by the police earlier, also for participating at an assembly held at Thammasat University and the UN […]

PHILIPPINES: Four people arrested and implicated in three separate false cases

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you about the wrongful arrest of four people in three separate cases. In the first case, a human rights defender was denied her right to call her family and lawyer to inform of her arrest. In the second case, indigenous peasants were tortured and […]

BANGLADESH: Killings of suspected “drug offenders” in Bangladesh must stop – UN Human Rights Chief

A Statement from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission GENEVA (6 June 2018) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Wednesday condemned the alleged extra-judicial killings of suspected drug offenders in Bangladesh and urged the authorities to ensure […]

PHILIPPINES: Five peasants arrested as alleged rebels in Cagayan Valley

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you regarding the arrest and trumped up charges against five peasants in Cagayan Valley. The military claims the five farmers are rebels. One of the victims is presently detained at the Bureau of Management Penology (BJMP) in Ilagan, while the others are in Isabela […]

PHILIPPINES: Government petition lists human rights defenders as “terrorists”

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you regarding the labeling of human rights defenders and activists as terrorists. The human rights defenders in the petition belong and serve to their respective organisations. CASE NARRATIVE: Based on the documentation by the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights (KARAPATAN) On 21 […]

AHRC TV: Death penalty for sexual assault of children in India and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 220

This week Just Asia begins with India, where the government has cleared an ordinance introducing the death penalty for those committing sexual assault of children younger than 12 years. The ordinance has come under fire as such a serious change in the law has been attempted without proper debate and consultation in parliament. Furthermore, the […]

NEPAL: Contracting civil society under pretext of ‘national integrity’

Statement | Nepal | 07-05-2018

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance The proposed draft of Nepal’s National Integrity Policy (NIP)1 has created havoc among the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) and the wider human rights community in the country. It has been reported that the National Integrity Policy drafted […]

INDIA: The political capture of the police in India

An article from The Mint forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Kathua and Unnao. The eight-year-old, gang raped and murdered in Kathua, was reported missing in early January—more than three months ago. According to the chargesheet, the victim’s body was discovered on 17 January, five whole days after her father reported her missing. In Unnao, a Bharatiya Janata Party […]

AHRC TV: Three years after devastating Nepal earthquake and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 218

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where April 25 marked the third year since the devastating Gorkha-centered earthquake. The 2015 earthquake killed 8,979 people and destroyed around 900,000 homes. It is a tragedy that many victims continue living in tattered makeshift camps and tents. As yet another monsoon nears, people hope that the new […]

AHRC TV: Eight-year-old girl raped in Kashmir and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 217

This week Just Asia begins with India, where an 8-year-old girl from Kashmir was gang-raped and murdered. Her family reported her missing in January this year, and only a week later was her body found. According to the charge sheet filed in April, the girl from the Bakarwal Muslim community was gang-raped and murdered by […]

PHILIPPINES: Duterte regime on a red-tagging rampage in Negros – Karapatan

A Statement from KARAPATAN forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Press Release April 18, 2018 “The criminalization of activists and rights defenders is apparently the standing mandate of all agencies of government, regardless of whoever is appointed – from the Justice Department, the military, the police, and down to the local government. This practice […]

INDONESIA: Residents in Krembangan East Java forcibly evicted from their houses and then occupied by the Navy

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding cases of forced evictions. They were conducted by the Indonesian Navy (Lantamal V TNI AL) against local residents in Jalan Tanjung Karang (East Part), Jalan Tanjung Balai (East Part), Jalan Tanjung Pinang (East Part), Jalan Tanjung Torawitan, Jalan Tanjung Layar, Jalan Tanjung Pura […]

INDONESIA: Press freedom and journalists must be protected

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) notes that press freedom and journalist protection in Indonesia is under serious threat. Despite the fact that the government commits to support press freedom, media and journalists have yet to fully enjoy such rights. According to Press Legal Aid (LBH Pers), the number of human rights violations against journalists […]

INDIA: Smokescreen judgments, police impunity and judicial overreach

Article | India | 11-04-2018

By Urmila Pullat On Mar 20, 2018, in Dr. Subhash Kashinath Mahajan vs. The State of Maharashtra And Anr., the Supreme Court of India held that there is no absolute bar on granting anticipatory bail for complaints under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (hereinafter the SC/ST Act). Further, […]

INDONESIA: East Java High Court sentenced environmental activist to 10-month imprisonment

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the East Java High Court sentencing of Mr. Heri Budiawan, alias Budi Pego, an environmental activist, to 10-months imprisonment. Despite the fact that Budi’s lawyer had presented evidences and witness testimony explaining that the original banners with a Communist logo have never […]

AHRC TV: Nationwide strike in India results in nine deaths and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 215

This week Just Asia begins with India, where a nationwide strike has resulted in nine deaths so far. The strike was called on Monday, to protest the changes to the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes prevention of Atrocities Act by the Supreme Court. The changes will make it difficult to file cases against public servants for caste atrocities. Next, […]

BANGLADESH: Crackdown on opposition prior to elections deteriorates the Human Rights situation

Joint Statement (28 March 2018): Bangladesh’s incumbent Government has escalated cracking down on the country’s opposition prior to the general elections expected to take place by December 2018. The country’s Law-Enforcement Agencies regularly demonstrate violent attitudes towards the dissents while the poor situation of Human Rights is highly alarming. Documentation on gross violations shows a […]