Military

UPDATE (Burma): Details of more fabricated cases brought against five persons

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) previously issued an appeal on the case of Dr. Wint Thu and eight others who in December 2009 were given long jail terms for alleged offences against the state. They were reportedly tortured into giving confessions that the police used in court. In this update we bring […]

UPDATE (Burma): Human rights defender jailed for second time

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that, as anticipated, a human rights defender in Burma was imprisoned again last week. She was originally jailed because of complaints she made against local officials and has now been imprisoned with her husband under the same charges, after appearing before the same […]

INDIA: A shopkeeper is illegally arrested and executed by Manipur security forces

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about another ‘encounter’ killing by Manipur security personnel that bears all the signs of being an extrajudicial execution. The man was abducted, unarmed, in front of his family, his house was searched and his were valuables stolen, although the incident report claimed that a […]

INDIA: Assam soldiers beat a family and illegally arrest a young man after accepting bribes

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is extremely concerned for the welfare of a young man who was badly beaten along with his family, then abducted illegally by soldiers. A former employer who owes him money was seen directing his abduction. Although police were able to find him, intervene and provide medical treatment, […]

INDIA: Another civilian is abducted and murdered in Manipur; police claim ‘encounter’

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information concerning yet another case of abduction and extrajudicial execution in Manipur. After unidentified persons were seen abducting a man in April, the local police reported having killed him in an armed encounter later that evening. Given the widespread pattern of extrajudicial executions in the […]

PAKISTAN: The High Court is unable to recover a man from illegal military detention after 15 months

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man is still missing fifteen months after his arrest by plain clothed intelligence agents, and despite admissions by officials that he is in custody. Although the Supreme Court has made strong efforts to address the issue of disappearances in Pakistan it remains unable […]

THAILAND: Condemn the use of violence at Muang Pattani Police Station

WGJP no.005/2010, 21 April 2010 Today, 21 April 2010, two bomb explosions occurred at the lawn in front of the Muang Pattani Police Station. First, the grenades were thrown by two unknown parties toward police officials who were attending the morning anthem causing one death and more than 40 injuries among the officials. One police […]

THAILAND: URGENT–Further bloodshed must be avoided at all costs

This evening, April 21, there are many disturbing reports of a possible new attack to disperse anti-government protestors that have continued to assemble in Bangkok, calling for the unelected premier, Abhisit Vejjajiva, to step down and for new elections to be held. There are grave and legitimate fears that further violence is imminent and that […]

PAKISTAN: Frontier Corp Attacks on Baloch Families, killing one woman

Toronto, April 20, 2010 – Baloch Human Rights Council (Canada) condemns in the strongest words the brutal and cowardly pre-dawn paramilitary attack on Baloch families in Quetta, Balochistan. In a press statement, Baloch Human Rights Council (BHRC) expressed deepest sorrow over the loss of life of a brave Baloch woman, Ms. Mehnaz Mengal and arbitrary […]

PAKISTAN: Two Balochis are abducted by plain-clothed agents with the help of police; no FIRs yet lodged

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the illegal arrest, abduction and disappearance of two persons from the Baloch Nationalist Movement on two separate occasions in April. Eyewitnesses in both cases saw the arrests carried out illegally by persons in and out of uniform, and the family of neither man […]

INDIA: An 18-year-old boy is abducted and murdered in Manipur

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information concerning the case of a teenage boy who was abducted by three unknown men and killed later. His corpse was identified in a mortuary by his neighbours when they went to identify the body of another person, killed in identical circumstances. Reports strongly suggest […]

UPDATE (Burma): A woman is denied medical treatment in prison

Dear friends,  In 2009 the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) brought to your attention the case of U Kyaw Min and his family, who were given long jail sentences for supposedly giving false information about their ethnicity in order to get citizenship in Burma. In reality the family was targeted because of Kyaw Min’s political […]

INDIA: Manipur police kill another in extra-judicial circumstances

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information concerning the illegal arrest and alleged murder of another person by state police. It is widely suspected that his killing was part of a combined operation between the Manipur State Police Commando Unit and officers of the 21 Assam Rifles (AR).  CASE DETAILS:  On […]

UPDATE (Burma): New fraudulent criminal case lodged against released human rights defender

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received news that a human rights defender who was released from jail in September is facing a new criminal trial under the same charges. She served more than a year in jail because of complaints she made against local officials, but is facing another trial along […]

UPDATE (Nepal): International campaign demanding prosecution of Maina Sunuwar’s murderers

Dear friends,  Amnesty International, supported by other civil society organisations such as the Advocacy Forum Nepal, is beginning an international campaign today to call for justice in the infamous case of murdered 15-year-old Maina Sunuwar. Four military officers are accused of having illegally arrested, raped and tortured Maina to death on 17 February 2004. Despite the […]

BURMA: Nine people imprisoned on confessions obtained from torture

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has already issued an open letter on the case of Dr. Wint Thu and eight other people who in December 2009 were given long jail terms for alleged offences against the state in Burma after they were tortured into giving confessions that the police used in court. […]

UPDATE (Nepal): Maina Sunuwar’s murderers have still not been prosecuted, six years on

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned about the impunity of those involved in the murder of Maina Sunuwar. Four military officers are accused of having illegally arrested, raped and tortured this 15-year-old girl to death on 17 February 2004. Despite the enormous national and international attention this case has received […]

BURMA: Activist due to be sentenced over alleged bombing plot

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been closely following the case of democracy activist Kyaw Zaw Lwin, whom the military regime in Burma has accused of involvement in a bombing plot. Authorities at the airport arrested him in September 2009 and he has been tried for a number of offences but none […]

PAKISTAN: Military Undermines Government on Human Rights

(New York, January 21, 2010) — Pakistan’s military actively undermined the civilian government’s human rights agenda in 2009, Human Rights Watch said today in its new World Report 2010. The 612-page report, the organization’s 20th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, summarizes major human rights trends in more than 90 nations and territories […]

PAKISTAN: An army colonel has had four men abducted and tortured due to a personal dispute, in Pakistan-held Kashmir

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that four young men have been illegally arrested, detained and tortured by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials because of a minor personal dispute. The first victim was allegedly taken hostage by an ISI colonel so that his uncle would pay a debt, and the other three […]