Judicial system

SRI LANKA: Victim suffers from the inaction of the Panadura Police about his complaint

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Halwitapaththinige Mahinda Perera (39) is suffering from the inaction of the Panadura police about his complaint which was made on 22 April 2004. The victim also alleges that the police attempted to hush up the case by withdrawing his complaint without his agreement. […]

SRI LANKA: A man tortured and prosecuted with false charges by the Samanalaweva Police Post

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man named Heeralu Mohottalalage Punchi Banda (39) was illegally arrested and tortured by the Sub Inspector (S.I.) Dhammika Bandara of Samanalaweva Police Post in Balangoda on 26 August 2004. Due to brutal torture, the victim still suffers from severe pain on his […]

ASIA: Centrality of rule of law

On 21 September 2004 Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, addressed the General Assembly emphasising the primacy of the rule of law over all other factors governing global affairs, be they international or domestic in scope. In particular, he observed that: “We must start from the principle that no one is above the […]

INDIA: A young boy died and the other two boys severely injured by brutal torture

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that an 11-year-old boy named Khokan Hembram died due to severe assault by Mr. Ujjal Laha and his hired goons who suspected him as a theft without any evidence in Dohali village, Sagardighi Police Station, Murshidabad District, West Bengal on 5 September 2004. It […]

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Inaction of the Bar Association to find redress for the victim

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that despite the earlier appeal of Mr. R.K.L.G. Dingiri Banda to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, nothing has yet been done to correct the matter. Mr. Dingiri Banda had complained to the Bar Association that he had filed a fundamental rights application before […]

INDIA: Woman raped by Railway Protection constable in vacant train compartment

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the rape of a 30-year-old woman in a vacant train compartment at the Hasanabad Railway station, West Bengal on 18 August 2004. The woman was raped by a Railway Police Force constable while a fellow constable held a rifle pointed at the woman’s […]

SRI LANKA: Brutal force used to disperse unarmed and peaceful workers

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mount Lavinia police severely assaulted numerous Bata Shoe Company workers in Colombo on 12 August 2004, to break up a 52-day long protest. Male and female workers were seriously injured in the police assault, after which the police arbitrarily arrested 13 of them. […]

INDIA: Father dies after ten years of waiting for justice for his son

  Dear friends, It has come to the attention of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that while the Calcutta High Court granted leave on 28 July 2004 to prosecute police officers allegedly responsible for the forced disappearance of Bhikari Paswan in 1993, Bhikari’s father, a chief witness in the case, who had struggled for […]

UPDATE (Pakistan): Jirgas and feudal lords continue undermining rule of law in Pakistan

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the murder of two teenage girls in Pakistan, Aabida and Tahmeena for visiting their grandparents without permission. (Refer to FA-12-2004 and UP-23-2004.) The victims’ families have been given about Rs. 20 0000 and ten acres of cultivation land as compensation, and are being pressured to […]

NEPAL: Army denies release of detainee despite court order

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Advocacy Forum, a local human rights NGO in Nepal about another attempt by the army to weaken the judiciary by ignoring court orders. For the last several months, the army and the police in Nepal have been repeatedly re-arresting people immediately after […]

UPDATE (Malaysia): Authorities continue to refuse victim’s family access to post-mortem report in case of suspicious death

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the case of G. Francis Udayapan, whose body was found in the Klang river on 23 May 2004, more than a month after he was arrested by the police. Brickfields police officers claim that Udayapan jumped out of the police station window […]

SRI LANKA: Police control of magistrate courts

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission has been informed of a letter sent by the Bar Association to the Wattala police station, in which the lawyers complained that police officers have been interfering in their work to the extent that they are unable to conduct their professional duties towards their clients in the proper […]

SRI LANKA: Provide fax machines in all courts to reduce delay in court communications

Dear friends The justice dispensation system in Sri Lanka suffers from the petty mindedness of the Government, which often fails to recognize the necessity for infrastructure for its proper functioning. Lack of proper and adequate infrastructure is one need that is to be addressed immediately. In this context the Asian Human Rights Commission draws the […]

UPDATE (Nepal): Seven people who faced returned home safely

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is happy to inform you that seven persons who faced re-arrest by the police after their release from Banke Prison Nepalgunj on 23 June 2004, went back to their home safely on June 24. AHRC has previously issued an urgent appeal on this case on June 23 […]

PAKISTAN: Teen tortured in madrassa

Dear friends, A number of human rights groups have informed the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that 19-year-old student Javaid Anjum was abducted on17 April 2004 and then severely tortured for five days at the Jamia Hassan Bin Murtaza madrassa (Islamic religious school) in Toba Tek Singh, Punjab Province. The perpetrators accused him of theft and refusal to denounce […]

UPDATE (India): Post mortem procedures in West Bengal and the case of Mousumi Ari

Dear friends Further to the letter by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on defective post mortem procedures in West Bengal (see http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2004/639/) and Urgent Appeal on the case of a young woman whose murder was covered up by the judicial and government authorities (see http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2004/647/), the Executive Director AHRC has today sent a second letter on […]

INDIA: Police, magistrate and doctor cover-up murder of 17-year-old girl

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information on the attempt to cover up the murder of 17-year-old girl Mousumi Ari by the police, magistrate and the doctor.  Mousumi Ari, of Narayanpur Village, West Bengal, was murdered by her in-laws in October 2003. However, as her father-in-law is connected with the police, […]

PAKISTAN: A young woman killed by her husband on the pretext of honour killing

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 30-year-old woman named Ms. Hidayat was allegedly killed by her husband, Mr. Momin Ali Mahar in Dal village, Lakhi Ghulam Shah Town, Shikarpur District, Sindh Province, Pakistan on 29 February 2004. The case was registered at the Chak Police Station. However, a human […]

NEPAL: Four men arbitrarily detained and suspected of being seriously tortured

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that four individuals were arbitrarily arrested on 1 February 2004 by the security forces in Bajura (west part), Nepal, and are suspected of being seriously tortured while in custody. The four individuals, Messrs. Tula Thapa, Rajendra Adhikary, Ram Bhadur Rana and Man Bahadur Shah […]

SRI LANKA: Man tortured by drunk policemen from the Mahiyanganaya Police Station

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture of Mr. Tennakoon Mudiyanselage Gunesekera by six policemen from the Mahiyanganaya Police Station on 31 December 2003. The victim was severely assaulted by the perpetrators with wooden bats solely because he did not see one policeman’s bicycle parked near the hotel. […]