Police violence

SRI LANKA: Torture and Illegal Detention; Police Hit Man with Iron Bars

SRI LANKA: Torture and Illegal Detention; Police Hit Man with Iron Bars ——————————————————————- NAME of the Victim: K.T.Kumarasinghe, alias Sunil. ADDRESS: No. 140, Kadanhena, Gallalla. AGE: 33 years old. OCCUPATION: Sri Lankan Army. DATE ARRESTED: 01/04/2003 at the above address at 20.40 hours. ALLEGED REASON FOR THE ARREST: Theft. OFFICERS WHO ARRESTED: S.I.-C.I.B. Police Station. […]

SRI LANKA: Three-wheeler driver shot to death for alleged traffic offence

The person killed — T. A. Premachandra, 46-years-old, father of two children, driver of the three-wheeler and an electrician by profession attached to the Ceylon Electricity Board, formerly residing at Kajaduwa Watta, Dodangoda The injured — 1. Edward Douglas Peters, 45-years-old, father of one child, driver of a three wheeler, residing at Kajaduwa Watta, Dodangoda […]

BANGLADESH: Troops granted pardon despite gross human rights violations

BANGLADESH: State crime: mass arrests and torture by the army, but impunity ——————————————————————– Fifty thousand Bangladeshi troops may receive immunity from prosecution and thereby be reprieved of responsibility for torture and other human rights abuses, including the deaths of as many as 44 detainees. The means through which the amnesty would take place is the […]

SRI LANKA: Serious injuries caused to a 40-year-old man due to assault by police using a T-56 firearm

SRI LANKA: Widespread practice of torture; another case of brutal assault by the police ——————————————————————– SUMMARY Subasinghe Aarachchilage Nihal Subasinghe (40), suffered serious injuries after been assaulted with a T-56 gun by police officers and was hospitalized. The allegation against Subasinghe is that he has stolen some firewood. In November 200,2 AHRC issued an urgent […]

UPDATE (SRI LANKA): Two people tortured to death, another young man tortured by the police of the same police station

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that a 25-year-old man was tortured by the police at the Kirindiwela police station – the same police station where a 70-year-old man, P. A. Piyadasa, was tortured to death (see our previous appeal at http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2002/379/; please note that his correct age is 70, not 78).  […]

BANGLADESH: OPEARATION CLEAN HEART…? IN BANGLADESH

The Article 11 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh states that; “The Republic shall be a democracy in which fundamental human rights and freedoms and respect for the dignity and worth of the human person shall be guaranteed [and in which effective participation by the people through their elected representatives in administration […]

UPDATE (KASHMIR): Arrest of members of student organisation and maltreatment of academic by police

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) sent an urgent appeal on Oct. 15, 2002, regarding the brutal action of the police in Mirpur in Pakistani-administrated Kashmir on Sept. 30, 2002. The detainees of Sept. 30 are still behind bars. The following report is an update regarding another brutal action of the police in Muzaffarabad, the […]

INDIA: Need support the demand of a young social activist’s hunger strike for 22 months

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) recommends to you to support the campaign launched by Ms. Irom Sharmila on 2 November 2000 when she spontaneously went on a hunger strike after the random killing of 22 innocent by-standers by the armed forces of India in Manipur. She had reached the end of her tolerance of the endemic violence, disappearances, killings of innocent people, which was made possible by the imposition of the draconian AFSPA, and the designation of Manipur as a ‘disturbed area’, where the armed forces have free play. 

KASHMIR: Prominent journalist in Srinagar, Muzamil Jaleel, assaulted by Indian police

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is alarmed to learn that a close associate of AHRC and an associate member of the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), Muzamil Jaleel, has been assaulted by several police officers who were escorting Superintendent of Police (East) Rafiqul Hassan on the night of Aug. 31, 2002.  Mr. Jaleel is […]

UPDATE (SRI LANKA): Vicious cases of torture by police but no action and punishment

Dear Friends,  Regarding our previous urgent appeal on the torture case of Mr. Lalith Rajapakse (Re: UA-18/2002, http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2002/240/), we are forwarding you a copy of a letter written by AHRC to the Minster of Interior of Sri Lanka, Mr. John Amaratunga on the failure to punish law enforcement officers who engage in torture, and other […]

UPDATE (SRI LANKA): Torture by police – No investigation and punishment

Dear Friends,  Regarding the torture case of Mr. Greesha de Silva (Previous appeal has spelled as Grissa) in Sri Lanka, We are sending you the medical report in this case.  No inquiry has yet started under Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel and Inhuman and Degrading Punishment or Treatment Act, (Act No 22 of 1994), […]

UPDATE (SRI LANKA): Court orders Release Of Lalith Rajapakse

Dear Friends  Following is an update with some progress on the case of Mr. Lalith Rajapakse, a torture victim in Sri Lanka. We are not requesting any further action at this stage, but we may request this in the near future is there is no positive action for his state of health and the prosecution […]

SRI LANKA: Exhibition highlights failure to prevent torture

MAJOR COLOMBO EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS FAILURE TO PREVENT TORTURE A major exhibition on ‘elimination of torture’ opened at the Public Library auditorium in Colombo, Sri Lanka on the 16th of April. The exhibits depict individual cases of torture, paintings on the theme of torture, and posters explaining the reasons for torture and laws against torture, highlighting […]

SRI LANKA: Urgent medical help needed for torture victim

Urgent medical help needed for torture victim  SRI LANKA – Torture by police, impunity, denial of proper rehabilitation  ——————————————————————–  Latest update available: Court orders Release Of Lalith Rajapakse  A young torture victim from a poor family is fighting for his life in Sri Lanka. We are asking you to write today to the Sri Lankan authorities […]

INDIA: 10 years impunity for Convent well murder of young nun

10 years impunity for Convent well murder of young nun INDIA – Impunity for murder ——————————————————————– There is an astounding case regarding a decade of justice denied in Kerala state of India. The 21 year-old body of Sr. Abhaya was found at the bottom of a Convent well in 1992. The Church authorities claimed that […]

MAY DAY 2002: State violence and repression in Asia

State violence and repression in Asia INDONESIA/MALAYSIA/SINGAPORE/AUSTRALIA: Repression and violence against human rights defenders on May Day 2002 ——————————————————————– Last Wednesday was International Labour Day – the day to remember and continue the struggle for basic human rights for workers around the world. Far too often the efforts of worker activists for justice end in […]

PAKISTAN: People’s Right to Resist

PAKISTAN: The Referendum to Complete Pakistan’s Journey to the Dark Ages – PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO RESIST Today, Pakistan’s military leader General Pervez Musharraf mocked the nation and the international community by holding a referendum as to whether he could remain as the Head of State for another five years. This is an absolute abuse of […]

UPDATE (PALESTINE): UN Envoy says Jenin devastation ‘horrific beyond belief’ – requires immediate intervention

Richard Cook, Director of UNRWA operations in the West Bank: 
“The reports we are getting are of wholesale destruction of a kind more normally associated with natural disasters such as earthquakes…. We implore the Israeli authorities to open up the camp to allow our relief teams to help its desperate population.” 

MIDDLE EAST: When Will the First Ship or Airplane Carrying Peacekeepers Arrive?

We reproduce below the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) statement calling for the immediate dispatch of peacekeepers and human rights monitors to the Occupied Territories of Palestine to implement a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the escalating violence. This statement is a declaration of support for the proposal put forward by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson. We urge everyone to participate in urging all parties concerned to expedite these missions.

UPDATE (INDONESIA): NGOs condemn latest attack on human rights defenders at Komnas HAM

(RE: UA-11-2002: Attacks on human rights defenders, destruction of property, public use of weapons with impunity)  UPDATE (INDONESIA): Further attacks on human rights defenders, public threats made with impunity  ———————————————————————-  Dear Friends  We are including here a joint statement by 48 Indonesian NGOs in response to another attack by the FBR (Betawi Brotherhood Forum) on […]