Indigenous people

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learn from a field visit that more than 30 hamlets of Mandla and Seoni districts are going to be affected by the power plant project being launched by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) in association with the government since 1984. Most of the hamlets […]

We hope that wishing for a happy new year in Sri Lanka is not just mere wishful thinking. We wish: 1. That Rizana Nafeek, facing a death sentence in Saudi Arabia, will be released as soon as possible. This wish can become true only if the Sri Lankan government makes all the diplomatic efforts to […]

Dear friends, An Indigenous Papuan man, Tuanliwor Kiwo was arbitrarily detained and tortured in May 2010 by the Indonesian military. Mr. Kiwo survived by escaping two days after being detained. Despite the significant international attention that the case received after a video of the torture was published by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in October 2010, […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from investigative journalist Allan Nairn regarding a secret Indonesian military report planning intelligence operations against civilians in Papua. The military has responded by justifying this approach. For more information please visit www.allannairn.com. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- (Jakarta, November 9, 2010) Secret […]

Since October 28, 2010, the Asian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC) website has been subjected to a concerted “cyber-attack” in which computers with hidden locations and identities have been used to flood the website’s servers with fake requests, in order to overload it. This has resulted in visitors not being able to access the website’s content […]

(Hong Kong, October 17, 2010) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received video footage from sources in West Papua, who must remain anonymous for security reasons, showing the torture of indigenous Papuans by the Indonesian military (TNI). The full video can be viewed here. The AHRC has chosen to remove some of the scenes showing […]

A Press Release from Mr. Abbas Butt Chairman, Kashmir National Party forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (September 9, 2010) Kashmir National Party leaders Abbas Butt and Dr Shabir Choudhry had a detailed meeting with senior officials responsible for issues related to Kashmir and South Asia at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that charges have not yet been filed in court against soldiers involved in illegally arresting, detaining, torturing and threatening to kill five indigenous tribe members over a number of days. On December 1, 2009 the victims, one of them a minor, were arrested […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that Mahiyangane police officers witnessed the severe beating of a man by a priest and refused to intervene. The act constitutes torture under international law. The victim was then arrested with scant evidence of his crime and his allegations of torture were not addressed by […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has been informed that an indigenous Papuan was illegally arrested, detained and tortured in July after he was taken into custody by the airport security unit of the police in Wamena town. During his assault he was ordered to confess to the killing of five Javanese Indonesians, however […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to report that various police units have squabbled over the custody of a rebel in front of a judge in open court and violated various other procedures, suggesting an interest in securing a bounty and other rewards. Police deceived the rebel’s indigenous village elders by falsely […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from the Universal Periodic Review Forum of Bangladesh, a coalition of 17 human rights, women’s rights, labour and indigenous people’s rights NGOs from Bangladesh. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from the Universal Periodic Review Forum of Bangladesh, a coalition of […]

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that we have received information of detainees being tortured and ill-treated by prison officials in Abepura Prison, Papua province, Indonesia. According to the information received seven persons were tortured from February 1, until February 5, 2009. They were reportedly beaten and put in […]

[NOTICE: The AHRC encourages you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to them. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Indonesian authorities are attached below with this appeal. You may reproduce with reference in part or in full the content of this urgent appeal including photos. Thank you.] Dear friends,   The […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the police allegedly ordered parents to pay a bribe of 150000 riels (US$37.5) each if their sons were not to be arrested after these youths had damaged a party sign in Soeung commune, Bor Keo district, Rattankiri province. On 2 July 2008, they arrested […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the police in Rattanakiri province have applied disciplinary measures to pressurize one of its officers named Sven Vev to stop joining a collective action against the grabbing of his indigenous community’s land and forests in Tapang village, Lumpat district in that province. Sven fears […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that around 300 families of indigenous villagers occupying a land since 1918 in Lima Puluh Kota Municipality, West Sumatera, had been threatened with forcible eviction by the government. The villagers had been evicted twice before but were forced to return having no other means […]

[NOTICE: The AHRC have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of some of the Cambodian authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Cambodian authorities are […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a group of indigenous people peacefully marching to protest against land grabbing in the northeastern province of Rattanakiri were dispersed on 19 December 2007. The police used water cannons and briefly took one of the organisers into their custody. This is the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you about the prolonged detention of two farmers in Davao Oriental province, the Philippines. Both of them have been detained for almost three years without any progress in their case because the prosecution witnesses failed to appear in court on six occasions. One of […]