Prosecution system

By Basil Fernando A constitutional crisis is not just a matter relating to a legal text. It influences all aspects of life and, in particular, the working of public institutions. The Prison Study carried out by the National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) reflects the magnitude of the problems in the criminal justice […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the occasion of Human Rights Day In Sri Lanka, the closest event prior to the human rights day on December 10th, is the killing of 11 prisoners and injuring of over 100 other prisoners in the Mahara prisons. That incident clearly speaks about the massive contradictions […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the occasion of Human Rights Day In commemorating International Human Rights Day, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a regional human rights organization, wishes to convey a strong message to Indonesia concerning pre-trial detention, unfair trial, and torture. The AHRC notes that pre-trial detention under the […]

A Statement from The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission We reproduce below a statement issued by the National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on the Mahara Prison shooting on 29 November 2020. Click hereto see the statement.

By Avinash Pandey A morning knock at the door of one of the most popular and powerful anchors of India. A 40-member strong police team armed to teeth including AK 47 rifles. An Encounter Specialist present with the team. For the uninitiated, encounter specialists are the cops known for extrajudicial executions of criminals, mostly in […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a regional human rights organization in Asia and the Indonesian Court Monitoring Society/MaPPI-FHUI, a civil society organization based in Indonesia, wishes to inform you about a journal (essay) concerning Limitation of the Supreme Court’s Authority in the Criminal Verdict Imposition in the Draft of Indonesian Criminal Procedure Law (RKUHAP), […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a regional human rights organization in Asia and the Indonesian Court Monitoring Society/MaPPI-FHUI, a civil society organization based in Indonesia, wishes to inform you about a journal (essay) concerning Justice Efficiency Improvement Through Special Line Mechanism in the Draft of Indonesian Criminal Procedure Law (RUU KUHAP), written by Mr. […]

The Philippines’ new ‘Anti-Terrorism Act’, which took effect on Saturday, 18 July 2020, is reminiscent of the use of repressive force and human rights violations of the dark history of martial law era, stated the General Secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), Dr Mathews George Chunakara. In a statement released on behalf of […]

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC UAC-002-2020  16 July 2020 ———————————————————————————- SRI LANKA: Case of alleged torture, illegal arrest and detention of Liyanage Pasindu Yasantha Perera by some officers of Kalutara District Crime Division ISSUES: Torture, Illegal arrest and detention  ———————————————————————————- Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) […]

By: Ma. Hazel Joy Faco Out of breath from running around the city with a big placard in one hand and a heavy, borrowed tripod on the other, I stood in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul with eighty other activists demanding for an official apology and reparation from the Japanese government. After that […]

A Written Submission to the 44th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council Jointly Submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (Council), during its 41st Session, adopted Resolution A/HRC/41/L.20, Promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines (Resolution 41/L.20)1, requesting […]

 ආසියානු මානව හිමිකම් කොමිසම – හදිසි අභියාචනා වැඩසටහන ලංකාවේ  මූලික අයිතිවාසිකම් පිළිබද නඩුවක් විභාග කර එහි තීන්දුව දුන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරනයේ ත‍්‍රිපුද්ගල විනිශ්චය මණ්ඩලය ලංකාවේ බලධාරීන්ට පහත සදහන් නියෝගයද කරන ලදී.  ‘මෙම අධිකරණය ඉදිරියේ ගොනුකර ඇති මූලික අයිතිවාසිකම් නඩු ප‍්‍රමාණය අනුව පොලිස් ප‍්‍රචණ්ඩත්වය, අත්තඩංගුවේදී  වදහිංසා පැමිණවීම හා මරණ හෙළිදරව් වී ඇත. මෙයින් පෙනී යන්නේ රජය මෙම ප‍්‍රශ්ණය විසිදීම සදහා හෝ එය අඩු […]

After the murder of George Floyd, the world has seen some of the most powerful protests demanding police reforms. The government of the United States has made some minor reforms, but also responded with force. The larger issue of police reform is now one of the most visible demands, and it calls for much more […]

Arbitrarily detained Journalist, Shafiqul Islam Kajol, is at risk of infection by COVID-19 after a prison guard of the Jashore Central Jail is tested positive for the virus on 17 June 2020, as the Asian Human Rights Commission has learned from its sources. Such risk is apparent in Bangladesh where prisons are overcrowded with more than double […]

By Basil Fernando SINHALA VERSION Sunil Jayawardene was a representative for three-wheele drivers. He who went to make a representation to a finance company on behalf of one of the vehicle owners, whose three-wheeler had been taken by agents of that company. Sunil was assaulted by eight or more people in front of the company […]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is about to appoint six new judges as the 9-years tenure of six of the 18 judges ends in 2021. In the lead up to the appointments of the new judges the Assembly of the State Parties (ASP) has already confirmed the nominations of 22 candidates by 15 May 2020. The appointment of the nominated candidates will be […]

The Bangladesh government has resorted once again to its notorious Digital Security Act-2018to muzzle freedom of expression, suing 11 individuals and arresting four of them following criticism of in the governments’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Four people have been detained since 5 May 2020 under the draconian digital law, including cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, writer Mushtaq […]

30 years ago, Richard de Zoysa was abducted and disappeared. His dead body was later found on a beach. During the same period, literally tens of thousands of persons throughout the country were also disappeared, and none of the cases relating to such disappearances have been resolved through genuine investigations and prosecutions. Indeed, the process […]

By Basil Fernando This article is about the manner in which unscrupulous lawyers could manipulate delays in the law to their personal advantage. This type of behavior is now a permanent feature in Sri Lanka’s legal system. Analysis of the methods used for such manipulation are based on experiences from actual cases. Reflections on the […]

A Written Submission to the 43rd Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) draws attention of the United Nations Human Rights Council and its Special Procedures about the institutionalised practice of torture in Bangladesh, which is an incumbent member of the […]