Prosecution system

SRI LANKA: AHRC calls for adequate financial allocation in the Budget 2016, to end corruption, fraud and waste

In response to the calls for proposals from the public for the 2016 Budget, by the Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) submitted proposals calling for adequate financial allocation towards the modernisation of the policing institutions, the judicial institutions, the creation of an effective agency to control bribery and corruption, […]

INTERVIEW – A Confession of a Lawyer

An interview conducted by ‘MayZine’, The May 18 Memorial Foundation, Gwangju, South Korea, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission 1. You have been active in human rights and social action issues continuously since you were young, did you have any personal experience since you were childhood that makes you devoted your life and time […]

INDONESIA: Government must ensure justice for victims of mudflows

A joint statement by the Commission for the Disappearances and Victims of Violence (KontraS) and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) The Indonesian government is planning to provide an Rp 781 Billion (USD 62 Million) loan to PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya (MLJ), a national company, to complete the compensation to victims of the mudflow disaster […]

INDIA: Republic of revenge rapes and the Narcotics Act

Statement | India | 02-09-2015

A khap panchayat (sub-caste council) in Baghpat District of Uttar Pradesh has allegedly ordered that two dalit sisters be raped and paraded naked as retribution for their brother having eloped with a married woman from another, so called, higher caste. There is nothing much unique in the case. Khap panchayats have been known to issue […]

NEPAL: Protest, revenge, death spreads across Nepal’s Terai

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that gives cause for alarm. It appears what happened at Kailali is set to happen in other regions of Terai as well. If lessons are not learned and a pathway for a just and unified Nepal is not opened, the tinderbox could ignite. A keen observer […]

PAKISTAN: Despite all of their contributions minorities remain marginalised

An article from The Nation forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission R Umaima Ahmed In August 2009, following the efforts of Clement Shahbaz Bhatti Federal Minister for Minorities who had earlier founded the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance in 1985, Mr Asif Ali Zardari the then President and Yousaf Raza Gilani the Prime Minster declared […]

PAKISTAN: Enforced disappearances show upward trend

August 30 marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances. Many families of the disappeared await the return of their loved ones; many have waiting for a decade or more. Unfortunately, for families that have had loved ones picked up by security agencies, the ordeal begins when they register a complaint; […]

SRI LANKA : Accountability is not limited to a majority-minority dynamicc

The weekly Times column, “Focus on Rights” by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena, in the Sunday Times, Sri Lanka, on 30 August 2015, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Kishali Pinto Jayawardena With the September 2015 report of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) referencing war-time accountability of Sri Lanka’s political and military command looming […]

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. […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 87

This week’s Roundup features a panel discussion in two parts to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, which falls on Sunday, August 30. Participating in the panel discussion are M.D. Ashrafuzaman from Bangladesh, Baseer Naweed from Pakistan and AHRC’s Executive Director Bijo Francis from India. AHRC’s editor Karan Singh has moderated […]

NEPAL: Situational update from Bhardah, Saptari District

Article | Nepal | 25-08-2015

This report has been prepared on the basis of THRD Alliance Chairperson Dipendra Jha’s field visit to Bhardah, Saptari District. On August 17, a day before the Bhardah police fired shots at the protesters, tensions ran high between the police and the protestors. In the evening, the superintendents of police of the Nepal Police and […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Former political prisoner sees hope in Myanmar

An article from Hong Kong Free Press forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission In the past year I have met him a few times, both in Yangon, Myanmar, as well as in Hong Kong. In these meetings and in my long discussions with him, I found him a very jovial man. He is bursting […]

NEPAL: Shootout at Samakhusi

An editorial from the Kathmandu Post forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The killing of the gangster Kumar Shrestha ‘Ghainte’ by the police has aroused a great many passions. Nepali Congress (NC) leaders, to whom Ghainte was close, reject the official version of the event as provided by the police, according to which police […]

HONG KONG/PHILIPPINES: Guilty Prosecutors run free but innocent victims are jailed

(Note: this article was first published in the August 16, 2015 issue of the Sunday Examiner) Temogen (Cocoy) Tulawie, a rights advocate from Sulu, walked out of prison on July 20 after a court in Manila acquitted him of charges of murder and possessing explosives. His acquittal ended nearly four years of imprisonment. But the remaining […]

PAKISTAN: Supreme Court directive for police reform-the first step towards overhauling criminal justice system

Could it be that the relentless endeavour of civil society, NGOs, and human rights defenders has finally begun to bear fruit? On, 20 August 2015, the Supreme Court has directed the federal and provincial governments to submit recommendations on police reforms. Reports in The News International and The Frontier Post on August 20, have quoted Supreme Court Chief Justice […]

ASIA: Weekly Roundup, Episode 86

This week’s Roundup begins in Sri Lanka where the most peaceful elections since independence have thwarted former President Rajapaksa’s attempts to return to power. Hopes are now strong for a fundamental shift in the country towards a stable and solid democracy and rule of law. AHRC TV speaks with AHRC’s Basil Fernando, Janasansadaya’s Chitral Perera, […]

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: Viscious police, childish protestors

Statement | Nepal | 20-08-2015

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the continuing police violence in Nepal, which has escalated in recent weeks, following the proposed demarcation of Nepal into 6 states. Many ethnic and other groups have taken to the streets against the proposed demarcation. Due to constant strikes, people’s lives and livelihoods have been thrown into chaos. […]

PAKISTAN: State response to counter insurgency is failing

By Javeria Younes The ongoing fight against militancy and terrorism has seen many a fallen soldiers, the latest being Punjab Home Minister Col. (retd.) Shuja Khanzada, who was killed along with 16 others in a suicide blast at his political office in Shadi Khan near Attock on 16 August 2015. In another incident, political worker […]

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 […]