Freedom of expression

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) had previously issued urgent appeals and wrote appeal letters to the Congregation of Mother of Sorrows Servants of Mary calling for the justice for Sr. Vanaselvi who was exqelled by the Congregation while she was in detention. Sr. Vanaselvi was arrested by the Suramangalam Police of Salem […]

Dear Friends Great news! Professor Salai Tun Than has been released! The Irrawaddy Online (05 May 2003) reported that, on Sunday, 4 May 2003, eighteen political prisoners, including Dr Tun Than, were released. Full story: http://www.irrawaddy.org/news/index.html?#dr, and part below: Dr Salai Tun Than arrived home yesterday (04 May 2003) from Insein Prison after serving 18 months […]

INDONESIA/ACEH: Denial of freedom of expression; threat to people’s movement for peace and democracy ———————————————————————- \”I will politically take reponsible for what I have done in Sura Peace Rally on January 9, 2003. I will also keep on calling for democracy until fundamental freedom and independence prevail in Aceh. Repression will never stop me.\” The […]

SRI LANKA: Assault, fabrication of charges by police, and an attack on freedom of expression ——————————————————————– – Name of the Victim: Mr. Uvidu Kurukulasuriya – Date of the Incident: November 15, 2002 – Assaulted by: Police of the Maharagama police station CASE DETAILS Uvidu Kurukulasuriya, a journalist from the well known Sinhala newspaper, Ravaya was […]

On 8 October 2002, Singaporean Court sentenced Chee Soon Juan, Singaporean opposition leader, and Ghandhi Ambalam for five and four weeks jail for breaking Singapore’s Public Entertainment and Meeting Act by holding a public event without a permit, after they refused to pay a S$4,500 (USA$2,540) and S$3000 fine, respectively. Ambalam has since been released, as his family paid the fine, but Chee continues to be imprisoned.

On September 30, 2002, police clashed with protestors peacefully demonstrating against the Mangla Dam extension in Mirpur, a city in the Pakistani controlled area of Kashmir. The police attacked the demonstrators with batons and tear gas, arresting 13 people and injuring others. Mr. Najeeb Asfar, a member of the Association of British Kashmiris, reported that following the incident, most of Mirpur City was put under curfew.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is alarmed to learn that a close associate of AHRC and an associate member of the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), Muzamil Jaleel, has been assaulted by several police officers who were escorting Superintendent of Police (East) Rafiqul Hassan on the night of Aug. 31, 2002.  Mr. Jaleel is […]

Asian Human Rights commission (AHRC) is bring to your notice threat to a journalist for reporting torture cases – T.J. A Abeynayake, journalist of Island¡¯s new paper group

Sign petition for attorney general to bring justice to May 1998 riot victims INDONESIA: Denial of right to adequate remedy for victims of systematic gross human rights violations ——————————————————- The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has prepared an online petition to call on the attorney general of Indonesia to finally act to deliver justice to […]

State violence and repression in Asia INDONESIA/MALAYSIA/SINGAPORE/AUSTRALIA: Repression and violence against human rights defenders on May Day 2002 ——————————————————————– Last Wednesday was International Labour Day – the day to remember and continue the struggle for basic human rights for workers around the world. Far too often the efforts of worker activists for justice end in […]

Richard Cook, Director of UNRWA operations in the West Bank: 
“The reports we are getting are of wholesale destruction of a kind more normally associated with natural disasters such as earthquakes…. We implore the Israeli authorities to open up the camp to allow our relief teams to help its desperate population.” 

Dear Friends We are asking for your urgent action in the light of dramatic developments in the struggle of the ISA detainees for proper medical and legal treatment. The 8-day long hunger strike and several days without water has seriously weakened the six detainees to the point where two have been put on intravenous drip […]

We are forwarding an appeal from Eviction Watch and the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) for your further action to protect Indonesian human rights defenders. After the second attack on UPC by the FBR (Betawi Brotherhood Forum) which caused many of you to write protest letters, 7 of the attackers have been arrested. 

(RE: UA-11-2002: Attacks on human rights defenders, destruction of property, public use of weapons with impunity)  UPDATE (INDONESIA): Further attacks on human rights defenders, public threats made with impunity  ———————————————————————-  Dear Friends  We are including here a joint statement by 48 Indonesian NGOs in response to another attack by the FBR (Betawi Brotherhood Forum) on […]

A Statement By the Asian Human Rights Commission – AHRC   The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is saddened by the Indian Supreme Court’s judgement on 6 March 2002 against Arundhati Roy for a statement she made in her affidavit to the court in an earlier case. In her affidavit, Arundhati Roy explained her criticism […]

Dear Friends  For your continued information and attention to this case, we are issuing here three letters that have been sent on behalf of Sister Vanaselvi, who was summarily ejected from her Order and ostracised upon being arrested by the police on what have so far proven to be baseless charges. If you have not […]

On February 7 we released a special joint urgent appeal with People’s Watch Tamil Nadu regarding the expulsion of Sr. Vanaselvi from the religious congregation Mother of Sorrows Servants of Mary, based in Chennai, India. Sr. Vanaselvi had been a model servant of the poor her entire life before being arrested by the Suramangalam police on baseless allegations. The Superior General of the Order, Sr. Corona Mary, not only dismissed her without warning or discussion while in prison, she also ordered all of the nuns of the congregation to completely ostracise Sr. Vanaselvi. 

Further to our Urgent Appeal of 28 January 2002 regarding the arrest and detention of Dr. Salai Tun Than in Rangoon, Burma, for holding a peaceful one-man protest, we have received additional details of the Professor’s arrest and his distinguished biography. 

AHRC welcomes the recent capture by the Indonesian police of Tommy Suharto – fugitive son of Gen. Suharto, accused of crimes ranging from corruption and graft to bombings and the assassination of a judge. However, we have serious doubts about the ability of the criminal justice system to proceed effectively, as the system is fundamentally flawed. Time and time again the influential elite and members of military and police charged with horrendous human rights crimes are not prosecuted or let off with ridiculously light sentences; while the poorer sections calling for decent wages and conditions, land for peasants or self-determination for indigenous peoples are harshly punished for raising their voices. 

PUBLIC AI Index: ASA 31/010/2001  UA 142/01 Prisoners of conscience 6 June 2001  NEPAL Yubaraj Ghimirey, editor-in-chief of the Kantipur  Binod Raj Gyawali, director of the Kantipur  Kailash Sirohiya, managing director of the Kantipur  Yubaraj Ghimirey, Binod Raj Gyawali and Kailash Sirohiya, the editor-in-chief, director and managing director of the main Nepali newspaper Kantipur, have […]