Judicial system

PAKISTAN: Who is responsible for the mockery of booking journalists on charges of terrorism?

The Balochistan government has registered a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act against the chief executive and three other employees of a television channel, ARY Digital, for releasing a documentary about the attack on the former residency of the father of the nation. The three other employees are the Executive Director, Owais Tohid, the Quetta bureau […]

ASIA: Second Regional Conference of Asian Parliamentarians & Human Rights Defenders on Elimination of Custodial Torture and Ill-treatment in Asia (November 2013, Hong Kong)

CONCEPT PAPER: This conference is jointly organised by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and DIGNITY. Scheduled Date: 11-13 November, 2013 States across the world deny that custodial torture and ill-treatment exist within their jurisdictions. Yet, in reality, not only does such practice exist, it is often promoted within states, as a policy, whether clandestine […]

INDONESIA: Groups Condemn Sale of Deadly Attack Helicopters to Indonesia

Contact: Contact: John M. Miller, +1-917-690-4391 Ed McWilliams, +1-575-648-2078 The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) today condemned the U.S. government’s decision to approve the sale of deadly Apache attack helicopters to Indonesia. The sale demonstrates that U.S. concern for greater respect for human rights and justice in Indonesia are nothing […]

LAOS: Press briefing on the findings of the 3rd Parliamentary Delegation to the Lao PDR on the enforced disappearance of Sombath Somphone

Sombath Somphone, a widely-respected leader in education and sustainable development in the Lao PDR, and recipient of the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, disappeared on the evening of December 15th, 2012 in the Lao capital Vientiane (see http://www.sombath.org). CCTV footage which became available 2 days later showed Sombath being stopped by traffic police, […]

SRI LANKA: Focus on civilian policing

by Basil Fernando Within just a few days of the announcement of the new ministry, the Ministry of Law and Order, a rather unusual level of interest has emerged, judging by the many articles that have appeared in response to the government’s move. Though such quick responses are unusual, they are not surprising. If anyone […]

HONG KONG: Democracy movement in Bahrain, a dialogue with Dr. Jasim Hussain, former MP of Bahrain

An Announcement by the Asian Human Rights Commission We are writing to invite you for a session on the ‘Democracy Movement in Bahrain’ with Dr. Jasim Hussain, former MP, Bahrain. The session will be for 90 minutes at the AHRC’s office, starting at 10:00 a.m.; 28 August 2013. Dr. Hussain is a spokesperson for the […]

SRI LANKA: A Suggestion – To Change the Name of the “Law and Order Ministry” to the “Rule of Law” Ministry

By Basil Fernando There is nothing in a name, of course. A thing cannot be made sweet-smelling or foul-smelling merely by changing its name. However, sometimes a name can indicate a new direction, a new policy. As far as responding to the present state of nationwide unhappiness and frustration on the law enforcement, if there […]

INDIA: Chutka — Power games in pitch dark alleys

Article | India | 22-08-2013

Chutka has reminded the political masters once again that the tribal and marginalized communities have stopped bowing down to their whims and fancies. The confidence of the communities fighting the nuclear power plant in Chutka (Mandla district, Madhya Pradesh) was bolstered by immense public support for the struggle. The government’s optimism about nuclear power is […]

SRI LANKA: Lawyers for the 12th respondent, Hon. Vijitha Herath, replies to the Attorney General’s petition relating to the impeachment case

The lawyers for the 12th Respondent, a members of the Select Committee of Parliament appointed with regard to the charges against the Chief Justice, the Hon. Vijitha Herath, have filed their written submissions opposing the Attorney General’s appeal relating to the Court of Appeal judgement which ordered the quashing of the findings of the Parliamentary Select […]

SRI LANKA: Torture and Trauma (A Book Review)

Review of Narrative of Justice: told through stories of torture victims, 400 cases of torture from Sri Lanka, By Basil Fernando, published in 2013 by the Asian Human Rights Commission. My first impression was that I was overwhelmed because of the sheer number of cases and the diversity of the ways in which people were […]

ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව : ඔප්පු කිරීමේ භාරය ජනතාවට මාරු කිරීම

වැලිවේරිය, රතුපස්වල ඝාතන විසින් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ නීතියේ ආධිපත්‍යය තියුණු නාභිගත වීමකට ලක් කර තිබේ. හමුදාවේ කි‍්‍රයාවන් මගින් ඝාතනයට ලක්වීම හෝ සෙසු ආකාරයකින් බරපතළ ලෙස තුවාල ලැබීම පිළිබඳ චෝදනා ඔප්පු කිරීමේ භාරය දැන් ජනතාව මතට මාරු කර තිබේ. මේ අතර හමුදාව විසින් සිදුකළ මේ හිංසාවන්ගේ ඇසින් දුටු සාක්ෂිකරුවන් වීම හේතුවෙන් ජනතාව භීතියෙන් ජීවත් වෙති. සියලූ අපරාධ […]

SRI LANKA: Torture and Trauma (A Book Review)

Review of Narrative of Justice: told through stories of torture victims, 400 cases of torture from Sri Lanka, By Basil Fernando, published in 2013 by the Asian Human Rights Commission. My first impression was that I was overwhelmed because of the sheer number of cases and the diversity of the ways in which people were […]

SRI LANKA: Lawyers for the 12th respondent, Hon. Vijitha Herath, replies to the Attorney General’s petition relating to the impeachment case

The lawyers for the 12th Respondent, a members of the Select Committee of Parliament appointed with regard to the charges against the Chief Justice, the Hon. Vijitha Herath, have filed their written submissions opposing the Attorney General’s appeal relating to the Court of Appeal judgement which ordered the quashing of the findings of the Parliamentary Select […]

ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව : ඔප්පු කිරීමේ භාරය ජනතාවට මාරු කිරීම — Asian Human Rights Commission

ආසියානු මානව හිමිකම් කොමිසමෙන් ප‍්‍රකාශයක් English වැලිවේරිය, රතුපස්වල ඝාතන විසින් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ නීතියේ ආධිපත්‍යය තියුණු නාභිගත වීමකට ලක් කර තිබේ. හමුදාවේ කි‍්‍රයාවන් මගින් ඝාතනයට ලක්වීම හෝ සෙසු ආකාරයකින් බරපතළ ලෙස තුවාල ලැබීම පිළිබඳ චෝදනා ඔප්පු කිරීමේ භාරය දැන් ජනතාව මතට මාරු කර තිබේ. මේ අතර හමුදාව විසින් සිදුකළ මේ හිංසාවන්ගේ ඇසින් දුටු සාක්ෂිකරුවන් වීම හේතුවෙන් […]

ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව : ඔප්පු කිරීමේ භාරය ජනතාවට මාරු කිරීම

ආසියානු මානව හිමිකම් කොමිසමෙන් ප‍්‍රකාශයක් English වැලිවේරිය, රතුපස්වල ඝාතන විසින් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ නීතියේ ආධිපත්‍යය තියුණු නාභිගත වීමකට ලක් කර තිබේ. හමුදාවේ කි‍්‍රයාවන් මගින් ඝාතනයට ලක්වීම හෝ සෙසු ආකාරයකින් බරපතළ ලෙස තුවාල ලැබීම පිළිබඳ චෝදනා ඔප්පු කිරීමේ භාරය දැන් ජනතාව මතට මාරු කර තිබේ. මේ අතර හමුදාව විසින් සිදුකළ මේ හිංසාවන්ගේ ඇසින් දුටු සාක්ෂිකරුවන් වීම හේතුවෙන් […]

PAKISTAN: Casualties of violence remained as high as 572 died and 642 were injured during the month of July

During the month of July, casualties of violence remained as high as 1214 (deaths 572 and injuries 642). Some new trends in military operations and drone attacks also surfaced. Acts of violence kept demoralizing the population at large, and humiliating the state security apparatus (Dera Ismail Khan jail break or attack on the ISI office […]

SRI LANKA: Shifting the burden of proof on the people

The killings at Rathupaswela, Weliweriya have brought into sharp focus the crisis of the rule of law in Sri Lanka. The burden of proving the allegation of being killed or otherwise seriously injured by the actions of the military has now been shifted to the people. Meanwhile the people live in fear of reprisals due […]

PAKISTAN: The AHRC welcomes the stay on executions

The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes the postponement of the scheduled executions of condemned prisoners in Pakistan which were to take place from August 20, 2013. A temporary stay on the hangings was announced on Sunday, August 18 in response to protests from outgoing President Asif Ali Zardari and various international human rights organizations. This […]

SRI LANKA: Shifting the burden of proof on the people — Asian Human Rights Commission

Sinhalese The killings at Rathupaswela, Weliweriya have brought into sharp focus the crisis of the rule of law in Sri Lanka. The burden of proving the allegation of being killed or otherwise seriously injured by the actions of the military has now been shifted to the people. Meanwhile the people live in fear of reprisals […]

SOUTH KOREA: The authorities’ conducts to take DNA samples from those Yongsan displaced persons and SSangyong workers and to establish and use a database containing said samples are constituted the serious violation of the constitutionally protected human

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following joint statement from Catholic Human rights Committee, Jinbonet: Korean Progressive Network, Korean Metal Workers’ Union’s Ssangyong Motors Branch, MINBYUN: Lawyers for a Democratic Society and Truth-finding Commission on Yongsan Disaster in South Korea. (Please click here for Korean) For further questions or media inquiries, please contact: MINBYUN: […]