Independence of judges & lawyers

Justice M. Ilancheliyan is one of the greatest judges to be produced in Sri Lanka for the last many decades. He is still a High Court Judge, but he deserves to be raised to the Supreme Court. If that were to happen, he would be a great asset not only to the Supreme Court, but […]

This week Just Asia begins with India, where the Supreme Court passed a historic judgment last Friday, ordering the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe into the allegations of ‘fake encounters’ by uniformed personnel in the conflict ridden state of Manipur. To ensure an impartial investigation, the Court ordered that no member of the Manipur […]

An interview with J.C. Weliamuna, President’s Counsel, Eisenhower Fellow, former Member of the Transparency International Global Board, and Constitutional Law practitioner in Supreme Court for over 28 years, in an interview with the Daily FT shares a frank inside view into the status of the Judicial organ of the State today forwarded by the Asian […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been found guilty of corruption by the Supreme Court’s Joint Investigation Team. The team found the Sharif family wealth to be beyond their sources of income. The country’s political parties and Bar Associations are now demanding Sharif’s resignation. Moving to Burma, the […]

“Fr. Nandana Manatunga tortured the victim…” claims President’s Counsel, Mr. Nalin Ladduwahetty in his defence of a police constable in a torture case. The case of torture of Mr. Daundalage Pushpakumara came up today at the Court of Appeal in Sri Lanka. The court was considering a petition filed by Pushpakumara, seeking leave to appeal in […]

READ FULL REPORT – HERE ලංකාවට අවශ්‍ය අධිකරණමය සංශෝධන එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මණ්ඩලයේ විනිශ්චයකාරවරුන්ගේ හා නීතිඥයන්ගේ ස්වාධීනත්වය පිලිබඳ සුවිශේෂ වර්තකාරිය වන මොනිකා පිටෝ විසින් ඇය ලංකාවට පැමිණි දුත ගමනින් පසු සකස්කොට නිකුත් කොට ඇති නිල වාර්තාව.  මහ ලේකම් කාර්යාලයේ සටහන 2016 අප්‍රේල් 29 සිට මැයි 7 වෙනි දින දක්වා ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුල කල දුත ගමනේදී සකස් කරනු ලැබූ විනිසුරුවරුන් හා නීතිඥයන්ගේ ස්වාධීන බව […]

A Statement from Front Line Defenders forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission On 20 June 2017, human rights defenders Noor Ejaz Chaudhry, Usama Malik and Shabir Hussain were abused and beaten by a large group of lawyers in the courtroom of the Lahore High Court. The three lawyers are part of the defenceteam led by […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the occasion of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture ‘“As a last resort,” wrote a Nepalese Inspector, “torture is practical and necessary.”’ This was reported 43 years ago in certain newspapers in the United States, in articles titled “Chilling views on torture tactics” […]

An Open Letter from Professor A.N.I Ekanayaka, Ph.D (Lond.), DDPH.RCS (Eng.), BDS Emeritus Professor, University of Peradeniya forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) 91, Epitamulla Road, Pita Kotte, Kotte June 22, 2017 Hon Dr Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha PC Minister of Justice Dear Dr Rajapaksha, Arrogant and Foolish Attempt to Deny the Persecution of Christians […]

READ Report on Independence of Judges and Lawyers  READ Report on Torture The Asian Human Rights Commission strongly endorses the reports of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of Judges and Lawyers, Ms. Monica Pinto and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Dr. Juan E Mendez. For […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) congratulates Chief Justice (CJ) Sushila Karki for successfully completing her term before retiring on 7 June 2017 due to her age. Before leaving her office, she exposed pertinent issues marring the judiciary in Nepal. The exposure buttresses the AHRC’s long-time position that there is political interference in the judiciary […]

By Sanjeewa Weerawickrama Criminal offenses such as thefts, rapes, homicides, assaults and kidnappings should be investigated according to existing laws. A criminal investigation is team work where multiple entities are involved. Analysis is necessary to establish that a crime was committed by a particular person or persons. Reliable and correct evidence should be gathered with […]

A former judge of Rajasthan High Court, Mr. Mahesh Chand Sharma, has claimed that a peacock does not mate with a peahen to breed, and it was because of this quality that it was declared India’s national bird. Elaborating his knowledge on the subject, Sharma said “a peahen gets pregnant after swallowing the tears of […]

  I am writing this to the public as a judge who has presided over the affairs of the public for 16 years as a Magistrate and as a District Court Judge. For all those 16 years, my record has been impeccable. I want to bring to the notice of the public that, due to […]

A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, and Odhikar, on the International Week of the Disappeared Hong Kong/Dhaka/Manila; 25 May 2017: Enforced disappearance is universally recognized as a ‘crime against humanity’ under International Law. This crime is widespread across the world. Every year, on the last week of May, […]

An article from Scroll.in forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Indians have internalised the notion that criminals deserve some pain. And the country still does not have a robust law against torture. The popular Malayalam film Action Hero Biju, as the name suggests, is full of “action” performed by the “hero” Biju, a police officer in Kochi, Kerala. The […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to inform you about an essay with title “Considering Victims to Strengthen Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”This essay reflect from the book “Just and Unjust Peace and Ethic of Political Reconciliation.” The writer also used other books to extend his view on politic of reconciliation. This essay is also reflect to the experience of politic of reconciliation in Indonesia, […]

A Statement from Front Line Defenders forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission On 4 March 2017, prominent lawyer and human rights defender Muhammad Jan Gigyani was murdered by two armed, unknown assailants in Shabqadar, a small town located near the Afghan border, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Muhammad Jan Gigyani was a well-known human rights defender […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where two blasts occurred outside a court in Charsadda, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday. At least eight people were killed and 20 injured in the attack. Since the beginning of 2017, Pakistan has witnessed an unprecedented spike in violence, with 20 terrorist attacks claiming the lives of more than […]

17th February 2017 Mr Pradeep Jayatilake  Secretary  Judicial Service Commission  Hulftsdorp St,  Colombo 12,  Sri Lanka Dear Mr Jayatilake, Letter to the JSC by the Asian Human Rights Commission  Over five years of investigation into a baseless and malicious allegation against a District Judge, (now retired) Mr B. A. R Somasinghe I am writing to […]