Freedom of assembly

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from the Sunday Times, Colombo, Sri Lanka, written by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article from the Sunday Times, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: The final nail in the coffin of the judiciary For those of us […]

Under the present circumstances and under the 1978 constitution, when the president does not want the Chief Justice, the president just tells them to get out and go home. The way he does it is called impeachment proceedings. Once the president decides to file such proceedings – he has a two thirds majority in parliament […]

The Rajapaksha Regime, through its parliamentarians, handed over an impeachment motion to the Speaker, the elder brother of the President Rajapaksha against the first woman Chief Justice of the country. It appears that the Government of Sri Lanka is in a mighty hurry to “get rid of the Chief Justice” so that a major obstacle […]

The Mahinda Rajapaksa regime has resorted to the ugliest attack in Sri Lankan judicial history on the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice this week by using the state media as a slander machine and through employing the state media to introduce deliberately manufactured slanderous letters to the parliament solely with the purpose of abusing […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the information regarding the arbitrary arrest of five Papuan activists in Jayapura, Papua on 12 October 2012. The five activists were arrested on the allegation of involvement in importing or distributing explosive materials. The police did not have any evidence to arrest and detain them […]

The Ahmadis, a sect that believes in Islam and claims to be an ardent follower of it, has been declared as non-Muslim under the Pakistani legislation. Evidently, the Government of Pakistan has not only confiscated their freedom to faith, belief and practice, but also proactively victimises them socially, economically and educationally. The declaration goes against […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the recent arrests and detention of two land rights activists consecutively in just two days. They are currently being held in pre-trial custody for their involvement in land protests. Ms. Yorm Bopha (29), an outspoken Boeung Kak Lake village representative, was arrested on […]

Last week we reported on three great protests taking place in Asia. We will now add a fourth from Pakistan where there was a worldwide protest against the charging of a 14-year-old girl, Rimsha, under the notorious blaspheme law. We can now briefly look at the partial results of these protests. In India the protestors at the […]

The attached video shows how the police in Sri Lanka are dealing with student protests. Hundreds of policemen surrounded the students and a group of students were forcibly put into a police van and taken away. Further pictures show the police using tear gas and water cannons to disperse the students. For the article and […]

The villagers’ protest against the absence of reasonable settlement for the land and livelihood lost to the Omkareshwar and the Indira Sagar Dams in the Narmada Valley project has thus far fallen upon a blind and deaf government. The agitation, though has received wholehearted support from a section of the Indian civil society, has failed […]

When people are hurt by the actions of authorities, they protest. When the hurt is deep and widespread it could give rise to collective modes of protest. Three such protest movements are now taking place in Asia. One is in Hong Kong, where the protesters are young students, supported by parents and a large section […]

The ongoing protest by village communities acting against the increase of water level in the Omkareshwar Dam is unique in several aspects. The protest, which has completed 11 days today, is directed against the Madhya Pradesh state government that has failed to adequately rehabilitate those who have lost their land and livelihood to this ‘development’ […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) congratulates India and the people of this great country on the eve of the 65th anniversary of independence. Occasions like this are opportunity for the country and its people to reflect and introspect on the promises they made, both 65 years ago, when celebrating newfound freedom, and subsequently. The […]

The government is again planning to change the criminal justice mainframe of the country. Again, the ruse is that of justice to the people and national security. The proposal is open; its true purpose clandestine. If the 2007 report of the Committee on National Policy on Criminal Justice, chaired by Dr. N.R. Madhava Menon, is […]

According to reports we have received, a group of criminals allegedly sponsored by a government minister, stoned the High Court and the Magistrate Court of Manner in a coordinated attack yesterday. A very tense situation is reported to be taking place in manner. According to information we have received, a mobile fishing hut was attacked […]

Basil Fernando The interview of the Defense Secretary Mr. Gotabaya Rajapakse with the editor of the Sunday Leader on the airlifting of a dog deserves comment not because of anything surprising contained in the interview. Its importance lies in its banality. It reveals something that has come to be quite common and ordinary in the […]

The Government of Bangladesh plans to immediately arrest members of human rights organisations and activists suspected of providing information for the Human Rights Watch Report “Bangladesh: Torture, Deaths of Jailed Mutiny Suspects”. The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned from reliable sources that there are discussions among some quarters in the Bangladesh government of arresting […]

Hong Kong, July 3, 2012 “For over a year, I was in hiding. My life was empty,” said Myrna Reblando as she shared her story to a group of local and international journalists in Hong Kong. Myrna Reblando, the widow of Alejandro “Bong” Reblando, a journalist murdered in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, was one of […]

Yesterday (19th June 2012) Sri Lanka’s United National Party (UNP) published a statement demanding the resignation of the Secretary of Defence. The UNP claimed that the resignation was warranted in light of the recent deaths of two people at the JVP meeting at Katuwana, Hambantota. However, a larger issue that should be considered in this […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is informed that District Magistrate Barwani in Madhya Pradesh state has issued a “show cause” notice to human rights defender Ms. Madhuri Krishnaswami on 10 May 2012 asking her why actions should not be initiated against her under the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam, 1990 (Madhya Pradesh State Security, […]