Institutional reform

by Basil Fernando A determination issued by the United Nation’s Human Rights Committee on 1st April 2015, reveals extraordinary failures on the part of Sri Lankan State agencies – the police, the forensic pathologist, the Attorney General, and the Supreme Court – regarding a custodial death that took place at the Moragahahena Police Station on 26th July […]

The former Chief Whip of the ruling coalition in Kerala, Mr. P. C. George, has released a letter to the media, which he has sent to the Chief Minister of the State, Mr. Oomen Chandy. In the letter, among other accusations, George alleges that the Finance Minister of the State, Mr. K. M. Mani, had […]

by Basil Fernando  Last week, several news reports revealed the story of an 8-year-old child (reported as a 10-years-old by some media houses) from Ambathenna, Katugastota. The mother made the initial report about her missing child to the Katugastota police. Initially, the police ignored the complaint and did nothing to begin searching for the child. […]

An article from the The Sunday Times, written by Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission by Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena Even close to one and a half decades later, it is heartening to see the virulent politicization of the Sri Lankan Supreme Court from the year 2000 amidst the bypassing of honourable judges of […]

The Prime Minster of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, invited the top judges of the country and the Chief Ministers of the states to his official residence for a dinner. The judges accepted the invitation and dined with the Prime Minister. This is the first time in Indian history that a Prime Minister has resorted to […]

In this week’s Roundup, AHRC TV reveals bizarre behaviour of members of legislative assemblies in some states in India. We then provide expert views, on the upcoming World Health Day, from Right Livelihood Award Laureates Vandana Shiva and international non-profit organisation GRAIN, talking about how they view the “false miracles” of Golden Rice. Next, AHRC TV […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information of an 8-year-old boy who was recently kidnapped, sold, and by chance rescued. However, by willfully neglecting their responsibilities, the court, the police, and the Probation Department have returned the boy to the very same vulnerable environment that saw the boy being kidnapped and […]

A statement made in court by the driver of a movie actor has again exposed the abundant opportunities for exploitation of the criminal justice process in India; defending his employer, the driver has stated it was the driver, not the actor, behind the wheel when the vehicle sped out of control, killing a person sleeping […]

An article from the Kathmandu Post, written by Kanak Mani Dixit forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The Teaching Hospital at Maharajganj is presently dealing with two fasts-unto-death, one, which has already seen its tragic and terrifying finale and another that is ongoing. Nanda Prasad Adhikari died 187 days ago while on a second-time […]

Discrimination based on caste practices, including untouchability, is a deep and unhealed wound in India’s collective conscience. Caste-based prejudices adversely affect an estimated 160 million Indians. Despite a constitutional injunction and legislations that seeks to prohibit caste-based discrimination, the practice continues in India. Most tribal communities in the country also face discrimination that has its […]

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched with much fanfare and was touted at the vehicle to drive India’s poor out of financial untouchability; it remains one of the pet projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A country dealing with the double whammy of a nightmarish accident toll and a virtually non-existent public […]

In this week’s special episode, AHRC TV brings you excerpts from a lively panel discussion between four Right Livelihood Award Laureates during a regional conference held in Mumbai last week. The panel of Laureates comprised of Afghan doctor and human rights defender Sima Samar, Indian social activist Medha Patkar, Dalit rights activist Ruth Manorama, and Asian […]

Amila Sampath, founder of the Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup presenting its’ 64 episode ( AHRC Photo) This week’s episode of Weekly Roundup covers recent event involving human rights groups in Asia. The show begins with an announcement about the Asian Human Rights Commission. The AHRC is moving to a new office in Hong Kong. In Mumbai, India, the […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the arrest of reputed human rights defenders and advocates Thushar Nirmal Sarathy and Jaison C. Cooper under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in Kerala. They, like many others in the state, have been labeled “Maoist sympathizer” and are in jail since 30 January 2015. Jaison, […]

An article from Kathmandu Post forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The government has finally formed a Commission on Enforced Disappearances (CED) and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), as committed to in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2006. On February 9, a Recommendation Committee recommended names for the respective commissions with political consensus, […]

“The idea that after the fall of the USSR we would have this liberal democracy spreading around the world was of course naive but, in many cases, these are issues of power. We have a Western elite that isn’t really interested in democracy unless its friends win. Otherwise, they are happier with a dictator whom […]

This week’s special episode on Sri Lanka brings you an exclusive interview with Basil Fernando, Director for Policy and Programme Development at the Asian Human Rights Commission. Mr Fernando has just returned from a visit to Sri Lanka, a country in the midst of dramatic changes after the surprise electoral victory of opposition leader Maithripala […]

Today, (6th February 2015) the Rupavahini, TV channel in Sri Lanka, telecast a one hour interview with Basil Fernando of the Asian Human Rights Commission in its early morning programme ‘Ayubowan Suba Dawasak”- the morning talk show. The Rupavahini morning show host, Gimananda Rajapaksa interviewed Basil Fernando on many of the current issues such as the proposed constitutional reforms and […]

මාධ්‍ය වාර්තා සඳහන්කර තිබුණේ නව අධිකරණ ඇමති විජේදාස රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා විසින් සිදුකර තිබු ප‍්‍රකාශයක් වන අපරාධ මැඩලීම සඳහා කළ හැකි සියළුම  ක‍්‍රියාමාර්ග ගන්නා බවත් එහිදී අවශ්‍ය නම් මරණ දඬුමව නැවත ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කරණ බවත්ය. අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ ප‍්‍රකාශනය ආසියානු මානව හිමිකම් කොමිෂම විසින් පිළිගන්නා අතරේ, මරණ දඬුවම ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම අපරාධ මැඩලීම සඳහා වන අරමුණ ඉෂ්ඨ කරගැනීම සඳහා වන විකල්පය […]

The media has reported a speech made by the new Minister of Justice Wijedasa Rajapaksa wherein the Minister has stated that everything will be done to curb the increase in crime including, if necessary, the re-imposition of the death sentence. While welcoming the Minister’s announcement that all measures will be taken to curb crime, the […]