Prison conditions

UPDATE (Philippines): Two more inmates died at the General Santos City Reformatory Centre in Mindanao

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from a reliable source that two more inmates, namely Vicente Abella and Mary Jane Mancera (33), have died at the General Santos City Reformatory Centre (GSCRC) in Barangay (village) Lanton, General Santos City, Mindanao in December 2005. Abella and Mancera’s death are yet another case […]

PHILIPPINES: Suspicious death of an 18-year-old inmate in General Santos City, Mindanao

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from a reliable source regarding the suspicious death of an 18-year-old inmate, Arthur Esquelona at the General Santos City Reformatory Center (GSCRC) in General Santos City, Mindanao in early of December. According to the report, Esquelona died on his way to the General Santos City […]

UPDATE (Saudi Arabia/Sri Lanka): Renewed plea for commuting the death sentence of Sri Lankan men to the new King of Saudi Arabia

[RE: UP-43-2005: SAUDI ARABIA/SRI LANKA: Questions remain in Sri Lanka’s willingness to save three of its citizens; UP-39-2005: Three Sri Lankans face imminent execution in Saudi Arabia; UP-38-2005: SAUDI ARABIA/SRI LANKA: Please send a letter to the King of Saudi Arabia urging his intervention to commute the death sentence of three Sri Lankans; UP-34-2005: Death […]

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Police’s deliberate inaction in a labour case is in violation of court orders

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding 73 workers from the Orex Factory in Ekala, Jaela, Sri Lanka, who were unlawfully dismissed after the owner arbitrarily closed down the factory in 2002. The AHRC previously reported that the owner, Mohamed Mohamed Izzath deprived his workers of the Employees Trust […]

INDIA: Human rights defender physically assaulted, threatened and detained by government officials

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information through its local partner MASUM in West Bengal that Mr. Gopen Sharma, a human rights activist was illegally detained, threatened and assaulted by the officers at the Block Development Office in Jalangi, Murshidabad District, West Bengal. Mr. Sharma was, at the time of the […]

UPDATE (India): No compensation to family of adivasi, murdered by forest official, despite a four year wait

[Re: UA- 50 -2005: INDIA: Three and a half year wait for justice for the brutal murder of an Adivasi (tribal person) by a forest official in Gujarat] Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information on the case of Manishbhai Motibhai Vasava (30), an adivasi who was murdered by an Indian […]

SRI LANKA: A man tortured and prosecuted with false charges by the Samanalaweva Police Post

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 […]

PAKISTAN: A young woman killed by her husband on the pretext of honour killing

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 […]

INDIA: Prisoners in Maharashtra on hunger strike protesting diet changes

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that in an arbitrary act by the government of Maharashtra, the diet for foreign prisoners has been changed, and they are now forced to eat Indian food, which they cannot digest. Foreign prisoners in the Yervada central prison resorted to a hunger strike, resulting in the […]

THAILAND/CAMBODIA: A 67 year old political prisoner, Sok Yoeun faces extradition to Cambodia

Dear friends The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned that the Appellate Court in Thailand ordered the extradition of Mr. Sok Yoeun to Cambodia on 28 November 2003. Mr. Sok Yoeun is a 67-year-old Cambodian national, who is a political prisoner and prisoner of conscience. This is the final decision regarding his case […]

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 […]

AUSTRALIA: ‘Last resort’ for asylum seeker Stephen Khan

Last resort’ for asylum seeker Stephen Khan AUSTRALIA: Mandatory detention and denial of the right to asylum, denial of independent fair trial, serious risk of ill-treatment if expatriated ——————————————————————— AHRC has previously issued urgent appeals drawing attention to the brutal treatment of asylum-seekers and the appalling conditions in detention centres in Australia. Since last year […]

Cambodia: Two Prisoners Suffering from AIDS

Prom Mean Rith, 34 years old, male – HIV test on 19 November 1997 Sar Ka Sem, 29 years old, male – HIV test on 19 November 1997 Prom Mean Rith and Sar Ka Sem are two prisoners in PJ Prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, who are facing death due to AIDS and are unable […]

FORWARDED APPEAL (Malaysia): Assault of detainees by prison wardens; provide further medical treatment

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward an appeal update from SUARA RAKYAT MALAYSIA (SUARAM) regarding the assault and medical neglect of detainees by prison wardens in the Sungai Buloh prison. The AHRC joins the call for the prisons department to provide immediate and comprehensive medical treatment to the prisoners, and […]