Land rights

INDIA: Filling of the Mapithel Dam Reservoir threatens massive displacement in Manipur

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Mapithel Dam Affected Villages Organization, Citizens Concern for Dams and Development, and the Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manipur, regarding the imminent threat of displacement and livelihood insecurity faced by those affected by the Mapithel Dam. The AHRC has learnt that the […]

NEPAL: Let natural disaster not be compounded by State failure

Another earthquake, this one with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale, struck Nepal on 12 May. It has led to 65 deaths and counting, adding to the more than 8,000 lives lost since the first earthquake hit Nepal two weeks ago on 25 April 2015. Tuesday’s earthquake was centred about 76 km (47 […]

INDIA: Stop forced land acquisition in Yaithibi Loukon.

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Affected Land Owners’Association against Forced Land Acquisition for Sports University and the Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manipur, regarding the forced acquisition of prime agricultural land despite protests from farmers and residents. The proposed acquisition to set up the National Sports University […]

PHILIPPINES: Stop demolition against Laguna Lakeshore Community in Taguig

[RE: AHRC-HAC-005-2015: PHILIPPINES: Stop demolition against Laguna Lakeshore Community in Taguig Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from Defend Job Philippines about the ongoing demolition and evictions targeting the urban poor community of the Laguna Lakeshore area of Taguig City. The authorities have already demolished the houses of community […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Activist prosecuted for protesting against confiscated land

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that activist Thant Zin Htet has been charged for taking part in a peaceful protest in 2014 against lands seized by the government. He was arrested when he arranged a welcoming for student protesters marching from Mandalay to Yangon in February 2015. A Township Sub-administrative Officer […]

PHILIPPINES: Stop demolition against Laguna Lakeshore Community in Taguig

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Defend Job Philippines about on-going demolition and evictions targeting the urban poor community of the Laguna Lakeshore area of Taguig city. This drive aims to clear the area to facilitate the Lakeshore Development project. It is the largest Public-Private Partnership Project of the […]

INDIA: Dalit woman burned to death; accused roams free

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Baswadi Meghwal Samaj and Anusuchit Jati and Samasat Jan Sangharsh Samiti, Nagaur, Rajasthan, about a brutal attack on a Dalit family over a land dispute. The alleged perpetrator set the family home on fire; this resulted in the death of an elderly woman […]

INDONESIA: Mr. Indra Pelani, a Land Rights activist brutally murdered in Jambi

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the persecution, kidnapping, and premeditated murder of Mr. Indra Pelani (22), an activist of a local peasant group, in Pelayang Tebat Village, Lubuk Mandrasah Sub-District, Tebo Regency, Jambi Province, Indonesia. The AHRC notes that the murder of Indra constitutes premeditated murder, considering the […]

INDONESIA: National hero’s widow forcibly evicted from home by army, while legal review is pending

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the forced eviction of Mrs. Christina Gurning (85) from her house in Jalan Kusumaatmadja No. 76 of Menteng Sub-District, DKI Jakarta Province, Indonesia. Christina is a widow of Mr. Timotius Markus Gurning, who is a national hero and retired Colonel of the Indonesian Army. […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 68

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 […]

PHILIPPINES: Immediately halt the eviction of an entire community in the Orosa Compound, Taguig

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Defend Job Philippines that notices of eviction, has been repeatedly served on the community living in Phase 5, Orosa Compound, Tanyag, Taguig City, Phillipines. We are also concerned over the threat of using the City Ordinance No. 33, a law devised solely for […]

PHILIPPINES: Authorities plan to forcibly relocate Parola Fire victims to faraway places

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from Defend Job Philippines about the planned relocation of the victims of Parola Compound Fire. The National Housing Authority is planning to relocate 1,000 families to places located faraway from their sources of livelihood in Parola, Tondo. The AHRC has also learned that […]

PHILIPPINES: A land rights activist was killed in front of his wife and cousin, for refusing a bribe to stop helping landless farmers

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that three months after a land rights activist was killed in Negros Occidental, there is no progress in the investigation of his case. He was assisting farm workers to organize their community as they attempted to claim ownership of the land they were cultivating. After […]

PAKISTAN: A land of executions

Following the gruesome incident of the massacre of children at the Army Public School on 16th December 2014, within the military Cantonment, in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtoonkha Province, the government under pressure by the military immediately lifted the moratorium on death sentences which were continued since August 2008. During the period from 22ndDecember 2014 to date, 21 […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Police under army command shot a farmer to death during a peaceful protest

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission is shocked to hear that police shot a 57-year-old woman farmer to death during a peaceful protest over fencing on land taken from the farmers for a mining project. She was looking after her confiscated land on the day she was killed and she hadn’t accept-ed compensation for […]

INDIA: 11 villagers jump in Narmada Canal after 22 year fight over land rights.

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from the Narmada Asargrast Sangharsh Samiti that 11 villagers jumped into the Narmada main canal in Boreli while 3 of them were arrested just before attempting that. The villagers were protesting the lack of compensation for families 25 years after being evicted from their village, […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Private company and government official pursue false charges against farmers after government agency grants them use of their land

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that over 200 farmers from Pantanaw Township, Delta Region, are being prosecuted for using government confiscated lands. Some had permission to use their former land, but are now being prosecuted regardless of their legal rights. Around 60 farmers have already been sentencing to jail […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Twenty-one more farmers falsely convicted for pursuing their land rights

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that twenty-one more farmers from Kanbalu Township have been convicted regarding an attempt to defend their rights to their land, with sentences ranging from 3 months to 4 years. More farmers are being prosecuted this month and others are still facing trials. CASE […]

INDIA: Halt demolition of Dalit and Tribal Hamlets in Chhipiya and Khairaha Nala

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from the Samaj Chetna Manch Dabhaura about the demolition drive against Dalit and tribal settlements in Chhipiya and Khaiaha Nala, In Java block of Rewa District, Madhya Pradesh. The AHRC has been informed that the administration has threatened them with eviction against its own repeated […]

PHILIPPINES: Restore land and livelihood rights of families in Laiya

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from the Defend Job  Philippines about the forced demolition of roughly 277 houses in Sitio Balacabacan, Laiya, Batangas, Philippines. The demolitions were carried out on 3 July 2014. The AHRC has also learnt that the authorities are intimidating the community which is now living in […]