Labour rights

[RE: UA-112-2004: BURMA: Complaints against forced labour blocked and victims punished issued on 3 September 2004; UP-11-2005: Four officials sentenced to prison for forced labour in Kawmhu Township, Yangon Division; UP-63-2005: Local officials seek revenge against villager who obtained first successful forced labour prosecution; UP-68-2005: Preliminary hearing against villager who obtained first successful forced labour […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that 317 workers of the Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd (PTCL), opposed to the government’s decision to privatize the company, have been arrested and detained on mass. The police and military forces have also raided the houses of labor union leaders and arrested their relatives, […]

Dear friends, According to new information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), villagers in Taunggut Township, Arakan state, Burma have lodged a new complaint with the International Labour Office (ILO) liaison in Rangoon about the detention of some local government officials in a case of alleged forced labour there. As the AHRC reported […]

[RE: UA-112-2004: BURMA: Complaints against forced labour blocked and victims punished issued on 3 September 2004; UP-11-2005: BURMA: Four officials sentenced to prison for forced labour in Kawmhu Township, Yangon Division; UP-63-2005: BURMA: Local officials seek revenge against villager who obtained first successful forced labour prosecution] Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has […]

Dear _________, Re: INDIA: Murdered adivasi’s family lives in starvation while no action taken regarding his death Name of the victim: Manishbhai Motibhai Vasava, age 30, resident of Katiskuva village, near Tokarvav, Taluka Uchchhal, Surat District, Gujarat, India Place of incident: On the State Highway No. 53, about 1½ kms from Tokarvav village, Taluka Uchchhal, Surat District, […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the chief organiser of the branch of the Progressive Union in G.P. Garments (Pvt) Ltd in the Export Processing Zone, Biyagama, Sri Lanka, was threatened with his life to withdraw his union activities by the Personnel from the Special Task Force of the […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a number of sources that three local government officials in Taunggut township, Arakan state, western Burma, have been arrested for ordering forced labour that was in fact ordered by senior military officers. The arrests follow some important recent developments regarding forced labour in […]

[RE: UA-112-2004: BURMA: Complaints against forced labour blocked and victims punished issued on 3 September 2004] Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is happy to inform you that on 31 January 2005 the Kawmhu Township court sentenced four local officials to prison terms of 8–16 months for using forced labour in public development projects. […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) shares the concerns expressed by the Secretary General of the United Nations in his statement on the human rights situation in Nepal. Time and again the AHRC has stressed that regional governments such as India, international governments and bodies such as European Union, national political parties and the King […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to inform you that the International Labor Organization (ILO) has expressed its concern regarding the imprisonment of two Burmese men who filed forced labour complaints against local officials. The AHRC has issued several urgent appeals on this matter. (UA-112-2004, UP-50-2004, UP-51-2004 and UP-55-2004) In response to the AHRC’s last […]

The journey from section 374 to section 500 of the Burmese Penal Code doesn’t take very long. Under section 374, state officials ordering forced labour–which was finally prohibited in 1999–can be subject to complaints in the courts. In principle, an impartial and independent investigation and judicial inquiry should follow. In reality, no impartial and independent […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received news from the Yoma-3 news service that on 7 October 2004 the Henzada Township Court convicted U Ohn Myint and Ko Khin Zaw for criminal defamation after they had attempted to take complaints of forced labour to the courts. The same court threw out the […]

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 […]

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received new documentation from the Burma Lawyers’ Council, Thailand showing that another villager in Henzada Township, Ayeyawaddy Division, Burma has lodged a complaint of forced labour against the local authorities. The complaint follows an earlier complaint by two villagers, which relates to the same incident, in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received detailed documentary evidence and additional information from the Burma Lawyers’ Council indicating that persons in Burma attempting to take complaints of forced labour to the courts, in accordance with national law, are being obstructed and themselves accused of defaming the authorities. In this Urgent Appeal, […]

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. […]

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 […]

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned about the situation of 73 workers of the Jewelarts International in Maithree Mawatha, Ekala, Sri Lanka. According to the information we have received, the managing director closed the factory with the support of the police on 6 May 2002 without any prior approval of […]

THAILAND: Labour slavery; Inhumane working conditions ———————————————————————————————————- Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Siriwat Garment Factory employer abused at least 75 Burmese migrant workers in Mae Sot, Thailand, who were forced to work under inhumane conditions. Half of the workers have been fired and the employer underpaid all […]

Dear Friends BACKGROUND INFORMATION: On 23 June 2003 more than 300 security guards at the Nestle plant in Cabuyao, Laguna, the Philippines, together with 200 personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and hired assistants, attacked the Nestle workers who have been on strike since 14 January 2001. Under the banner of the United Filipro […]