Institutional reform

Basil Fernando The basic premise of Frank de Silva’s article ‘Proposed change to criminal law – now withdrawn’ which appeared in the Island newspaper recently is summed up in the following paragraph, “The difference is also that the opponents – the HRC and the BASL going by media reports – are conscious only of rights, not […]

Just Asia begins this week the detention of Hong Kong student activist Joshua Wong at Bangkok airport, for being a threat to Thailand’s national security. Invited to give a talk at Chulalongkorn University, Joshua was barred from entering the country by immigration officials. According to the Thai Deputy Police Commissioner, Joshua’s detention was purely a […]

Basil Fernando Kadireshan Ravishankar, 34 was severely tortured by the HQI and other officers of the Hatton police station merely for failing to provide a haircut immediately on his order a couple of days ago. The case exposes the dangers of not allowing lawyers from representing their clients at police station, an amendment Minister of […]

A Press Release from Muslim Attorney Centre Foundation (MAC) and Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) On 11 October 2016 from 09.00 -16.00 at the courtroom no. 2, 2nd floor of the Pattani Provincial Court (new court), a hearing in the post mortem inquest will take place in the […]

Basil Fernando A new dimension was added to the debate on the proposed amendment to the criminal procedure code when the Minister of Justice attempted to defend the amendment on the basis that it is required to enable investigations into crime. The proposed amendment is that lawyers would not be able to represent people at […]

RULE O’FLAW is a satire program with a difference. We believe in offering solutions. So, keeping in mind all the judges all over Asia who have such a difficult task writing judgments in line with the wishes of the Executive, while still having to appear independent and judicious, we offer the Automatic Judgment Generator, an all […]

The Police firing, killing 4 citizens, including a minor, in Dadikala Village of Barkagaon Block in Hazaribagh District of Jharkhand, has not come out of the blue. The state authorities were well aware of the popular anger against forced acquisition of villagers’ lands for a coal mine project of the NTPC Limited (NTPC), a public […]

On 17 August 2016, the Office of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) officially informed Ms. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet that the NHRC could not investigate the facts revealed in a torture report that she and two other human rights defenders had submitted to the NHRC. The Commission claimed that the report failed to provide […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission is pleased to witness the historic coming into being of Sri Lanka’s Right to Information (RTI) Commission with three Commissioners being appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council on Friday, 30th September 2016. The three Commissioners, namely retired public administration officer Mahinda Gammanpila (Chair), Attorney-at-Law & […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned about six Pacific countries raising the subject of human rights violations in Papua in the General Debate of the Assembly’s 71st Session, on 26 September 2016. The video can be accessed here. The six Pacific countries are Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and Tonga. The […]

Though incidents of accusation of blasphemy are on the rise, it is heartening to note that the police attitude has improved remarkably in handling such cases. Thanks to the incessant and relentless lobbying and advocacy by civil society and rights organizations, the tide has begun to turn in favor of marginalized religious minorities, especially in […]

This week Just Asia begins with an update regarding the execution of mentally ill Imdad Ali. Pakistan’s Supreme Court rejected his mercy appeal, and has set his execution for Tuesday, October 4. The Supreme Court decision arrives despite four United Nations human rights experts having urged authorities in Pakistan to halt Imdad Ali’s execution. The […]

Police and public officials have prevented a press briefing of Amnesty International (AI)’s about state-sponsored torture, saying that AI speakers might be charged for not having working permit. On 28 September 2016, at Four Wings Hotel in Bangkok, Special Branch police officers and officials from the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare intervened at a […]

Seldom does a verdict fully betray the rot that permeates the judicial system from policing to the Judiciary. The Supreme Court of India verdict on 24 September 2016 counts as one such verdict. In acquitting death row convict Dhal Singh Dewangan, a resident of Chhattisgarh, the verdict exposes the façade that passes off as forensic investigation in […]

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has upheld the death penalty against a mentally ill person, Mr. Imdad Ali, thereby overturning a previous appeal and a court decision staying his execution. The Supreme Court decision arrives at a time when four United Nations human rights experts have urged authorities in Pakistan to halt the execution of Imdad Ali, […]

The hasty passing of laws and emergency regulations particularly with the intention of encouraging law enforcement officers to commit acts which amounts to serious crimes is not an unfamiliar practice in Sri Lanka. How Sri Lanka became second in the world with regard to committing the heinous crime of enforced disappearances is an example of […]

On 7 September 2016, the verdict in the landmark case of the Karen people was delivered from the Central Administrative Court in Thailand. It ruled that the authorities did not break the law in burning down six Karen plaintiffs’ properties to forcibly relocate them from the Kaeng Krachan National Park. The Asian Human Rights Commission […]

What if you woke up one morning and realized you were living under institutions that looked more like mental institutions than institutions of justice? And, rather than trying to bring sanity, the institutions were being run by mad men? Would you run? Or would you stay? What if we somehow took your Stockholm Syndrome away? […]

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where the Supreme Court ordered a week-long stay on the execution of mentally ill Imdad Ali. Despite being diagnosed as “insane”, Ali was to be hanged early on September 20. Due to appeals by rights groups, the Supreme Court will now hear the case on September 27 and […]

By Basil Fernando One more judgement from the Supreme Court, on torture by the Sri Lankan police, was added to a long list of such judgements, when the Supreme Court decided in favour of a petition filed by W.N.L.K. Fernando of Naththandiya Police against officers attached to the Wennapuwa Police Station [S.C.F.R. Application No. 612/09]. The […]