Minorities

PAKISTAN: Judicial inquiry demanded in rape and murder of Hindu girl and police botch the investigation

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the gang rape and alleged murder of a Hindu girl from the Meghwar caste by influential people belonging to the ruling party of Sindh Province. The police of District Umer Kot (formerly Amar Kot) have botched up the whole investigation in an effort […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 90

This week’s Roundup will focus on initiatives for police reform in South Asia. The episode begins in Nepal where on-going instability in the Terai in the last 2 months has provided ample examples for the urgent need of police reform. Nepal’s dysfunctional, incompetent, violent, and corrupt police institution reflects the norm in the South Asian […]

INDIA: Forests need PPP with Tribes, not with for profit companies’

Statement | India | 16-09-2015

The rights of tribal people and other forest dwelling communities are set to be assaulted again, as the Indian government is warming up to the to the idea of public private partnerships in forest management. Though the details of the proposal are still unclear, a report in the Hindustan Times suggest that the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate […]

SRI LANKA: The Government recognises the mistakes of the past and the weaknesses of its institutions

The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, abandoned the practices of the previous government delegations to the UN Human Rights Council in the recent years, has frankly admitted before the Council the mistakes of the past and the weaknesses of the Sri Lankan institutions. Previous delegations came with the sole purpose of denying all allegations […]

PHILIPPINES: Stop the killing of lumads in Mindanao! Let justice and peace reign!

A Statement from Hong Kong Campaign for the Advancement of Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (HKCAHRPP) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission As human rights and peace advocates in Hong Kong, we are outraged by the spate of killings perpetrated against the lumads (indigenous people) in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. The heightened militarisation […]

NEPAL: हाते पुस्तिका जातीय भेदभाव तथा छुवाछूत न्यायका लागि पहल प्रकाशन

Statement | Nepal | 08-09-2015

दक्षिण एसियामै जातीय भेदभाव तथा छुवाछूत मुख्य समस्याको रुपमा रहेको छ । विगतदेखि जातीय भेदभाव तथा छुवाछूत अन्त्यका लागि यस क्षेत्रमा भएका पहलहरु अझै प्रभावकारी हुन सकेका छैनन् । नेपालका सबै नागरिकहरूलाई समानता, स्वतन्त्रता र आत्मसम्मान जस्ता मानवअधिकारका मूलभूत विषयहरू नेपालको अन्तरिम संविधान, २०६३, राष्ट्रिय कानुनहरू तथा नेपालपक्ष भएका मानवअधिकारसम्बन्धी अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय दस्तावेजहरूले प्रत्याभूत गरेका छन् […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Joint Statement on Disenfranchisement and ‘policy of exclusion’ of the Rohingya

The undersigned Rohingya Organizations in Europe have strongly denounced the undemocratic actions of the Election Commission against Rohingya parliamentary candidates under the government’s ‘policy of exclusion’ of the Rohingya, debarring them from contesting in the upcoming crucial election scheduled on November 8, 2015, on a false and fabricated charge that their parents were not citizens. […]

PAKISTAN: Christians arrested for describing preacher as prophet

A Press Release from British Pakistani Christian Association forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Image of Gujrat Hate spilled onto the streets after a large evangelical conference was organised in the city of Gujrat for August 15th. The conference had been organised by Pastor Aftab Gill, son of Pastor Fazal Gill (RIP). The […]

NEPAL: Dreams deferred

An article from the Kathmandu Post forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The Far-West, the Karnali region and the Madhes have begun to burn again, and the conflagration seems to be spreading all over the country. The leaders of the ruling coalition and their opinion makers blame the marginalized – especially the Madhesi leaders […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 85

This week’s Roundup reports on the encouraging re-opening of a three-year-old crime investigation relating to the death of Sri Lankan rugby player Wasim Thajudeen. While it was initially determined to be an accidental death, allegations of it being a murder committed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son have long circulated. The body has now been […]

NEPAL: Trends in Nepal

An editorial from The Statesman forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The road to a new Constitution in democratic Nepal has been paved with good intentions, but the ride may yet be bumpy. This week’s curtain raiser doesn’t readily inspire optimism, if Monday’s firing at Surkhet is any indication. The political consensus to divide […]

INDIA: Laureates Appeal to the Government and the UN for Review of the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project

A Press Release from the Right Livelihood Award Foundation forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Friday, 14 August 2015 Hong Kong The Asia Press Office, Right Livelihood Award Foundation, would like to forward you an appeal on behalf of over 40 Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award, also known as ‘The Alternative Nobel Prize’. Laureates […]

PAKISTAN: Not the country the founding father envisaged

By Javeria Younes August 11 is a historic day that marks the celebration of Minorities’ Day in Pakistan. It was on this date that the father of the nation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, in a speech at the first Legislative Assembly of the country on 11 August 1947, i.e. three days before the official announcement of […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 82

This Week’s Roundup begins in the Indian state of Kerala where AHRC follows up on the unique police modernisation process underway. Featured in the programme is footage of Member of the State Legislative Assembly V.T. Balram, debating this critical reform process in the Kerala Legislative Assembly. The programme then revisits events in China where more […]

INDONESIA: Ahmadiyya group threatened and prevented from holding Friday prayers

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rigth Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding an Ahmadiyya congregation being prevented from holding Friday prayers. Vigilante groups, namely Islamic Defender Front (FPI) in Bukit Duri Tebet, Jakarta, Indonesia, have threatened the Ahmadiyya congregation that if they continue the worship they will be attacked and forcibly dispersed. Threat, intimidation, and violence against […]

PAKISTAN: Ahmadis targeted increasingly for observing their faith

Image Courtesy:www.rabwah.net Religious persecution has engulfed Pakistan. The orthodox clergy that took root in late 1970s has now brainwashed the current generation, promising heavenly rewards for following fanatical interpretations of Islam. Barring few Sunni sects, all religious groups suffer discrimination in Pakistan. Of these, the Ahmadis are amongst the most persecuted; the Pakistan Constitution and […]

INDIA: Minor tortured in police custody in Madhya Pradesh

The AHRC has received information about the torture of a minor in custody at Kotwali Police Station, Katni, Madhya Pradesh. A video has been recently broadcasted in different national news networks in India displaying actions of the police, who were seeking to extract a confession from Ravi, a minor, by visciously torturing him in the […]

PAKISTAN: Persecution of Ahmadis-April 2015

A Press Release from Nazarat Umoor Ama forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Six Ahmadis arrested in religion-based case: Chak 109 GB, District Faisalabad; April 20, 2015: The construction work of local Ahmadiyya mosque remained interrupted for the last two years due to police intervention. There was no boundary wall on one side […]

PAKISTAN: A young Ahmadi was killed in faith based hate campaign

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a young man belonging with Ahamadi religious minority group was killed by the unknown men amid the military operation against the terrorists and target killings. Before his cold blooded murder he was warned and threatened that being an Ahmadi he will not be […]

PAKISTAN: Lawless state fails to protect its religious minorities

In recent months more than hundred people lost their lives for professing different religious beliefs.  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly condemns the attacks on two Churches and mourns the murder in cold blood of innocent Christians. The incidents took place on March 15, at Yuhana Abad, Lahore Punjab province outside two churches, St. […]