Inhuman & degrading treatment

INDIA: Assam police assaulted mother and daughter during mid-night at home

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Barak Human Rights Protection Committee (BHRPC), Assam concerning the case of assault of a 24 year-old-girl and her mother by the police in Cachar district, Assam. This incident occurred at midnight when the police were searching for a fugitive, Mr. Hussain Ahmed […]

SRI LANKA: Man illegally arrested, detained and tortured by the Beruwala police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man named Samarasinhage Sudath Pushpakumara was illegally arrested by police officers attached to the Beruwala Police Station in the district of Kaluthara, illegally detained and severely tortured on 1 November 2010. Then he was shown to a group of witnesses of the […]

PAKISTAN: Failure to take action against fundamentalists makes a mockery of the law

A YouTube presentation recently found on the internet shows Mumtaz Quadri, the assassin of the slain governor, Salman Taseer, singing in the custody of the police during his interrogation. The officers are seen standing by and sitting next to him, enjoying the performance. Quadri was reciting ‘Naat’, a poem in praise of the Prophet Mohammad, […]

SRI LANKA: New Year Wish List – 2011

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 […]

PHILIPPINES: ‘Morong 43’ case–exposes a prosecution system directly under political control

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcomes with reservations President Benigno Aquino III’s order to withdraw the charges against 43 health workers, collectively known as ‘Morong 43′, as reported today. We strongly believe, based on the documents and information that we have also obtained, that they should have not been arrested, detained, and forced to […]

INDONESIA: Impunity for soldiers accused of torturing an indigenous Papuan

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, […]

BURMA: Prisoner attacked over complaint of inhuman conditions

A recent case that has come to attention of the Asian Human Rights Commission is a stark reminder of the inhuman conditions under which tens of thousands of prisoners in Burma, many of them prisoners of conscience, are struggling to survive. According to information obtained and confirmed by the AHRC, a person who is currently […]

PAKISTAN: A woman was gang raped and kept for 50 days in a private detention center of police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a woman, who received a stay order from court over a dispute on ownership of her house, was picked up by policemen and their informers and taken to a private detention centre where she was gang raped for more than 50 days. The […]

PAKISTAN: Prison officials remain unpunished despite torturing inmates by taping their male organs

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and other rights groups about brutal form of torture to the prisoners. The male organ of three prisoners were taped for many hours in such a way that they could no longer urinate. Each was then forced […]

PHILIPPINES: Torture victim’s mother talks about her first meeting with him in detention

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is sharing with you the interview conducted with the mother of one of the five men we reported to have been tortured and continuously held in detention over questionable charges. The victim’s mother described in tears the visible torture injuries she had seen of her son and […]

PHILIPPINES: Torture of a utility man who was arbitrarily arrested

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a man had been tortured while in the custody of law enforcement officers who arbitrarily arrested him. The officers did not produce an arrest order or explain to him why he was being taken into custody. The victim was taken to the […]

PHILIPPINES: Police torture five men inside their headquarter

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that the five men, whom the police arbitrarily arrested in San Fernando, Pampanga, had been tortured while in police custody. One of the victims, who revealed his ordeal in an interview, said the police suffocated him, severely assaulted him, burnt his skin with […]

SRI LANKA: A woman domestic worker in Saudi Arabia nailed 24 times

A woman domestic worker in Saudi Arabia nailed 24 times Mrs. L.T. Ariyawathi (49), a mother of three has returned from Saudi Arabia after less than five months of employment. Within a short time of her return she was hospitalized for an operation to remove 24 nails from her foot and a needle implanted by […]

PHILIPPINES: Police arbitrarily detained protesting farmers and filed legally incoherent charges against them

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that 11 farmers, including four minors, were arbitrarily detained. Legally non-existent charges have been laid against them after the policemen arrested them. The farmers were requesting the landowner’s representative, who had come together with the policemen in Calamba City, Laguna to refrain from […]

PHILIPPINES: Five months on, no charges filed against soldiers who tortured indigenous villagers

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 […]

PAKISTAN: Police torture a young man in front of his mother to elicit a bribe; he dies shortly after

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that police officials from two different police stations tortured a young man to gain bribe money. He was tortured with screwdrivers in front of his mother in the first police station, and was allowed to be removed from remand in jail by another police station […]

SRI LANKA: Police assault a three wheeler driver and force him to carry them for free

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that police in Chilaw illegally arrested, tortured and falsely accused a three-wheeler driver of carrying drugs. After ejecting the passengers, beating the driver and searching the vehicle the officers then forced him to give them a free ride. The man was later hospitalised. After a […]

UPDATE (Philippines): Falsely charged workers released on bail face legal action to be sent back to jail

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that 14 of the 20 workers who were held for over two years after having been falsely charged have been temporarily released from jail. They were released after a Regional Trial Court (RTC) granted their petition to post bail; however, after their […]

UPDATE (Bangladesh): A woman tortured by police while pregnant gets help from the courts after three years; police harassment continues

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has issued regular updates on the case of Mrs. Shahin Sultana Santa, a pregnant woman who was brutally tortured and whose unborn child was killed by police after she became caught up in a political demonstration. One witness has been killed, and at least two others have […]

UPDATE (Pakistan): An elderly man rescued by court order from a 34-year captivity has been locked up again, with the knowledge of local police

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the relief of a 75-year-old man who was illegally chained in a room for almost 34 years by relatives, with the knowledge of local police. Though the man was released under the orders of the Supreme Court and declared mentally sound, we […]