Right to food

By Basil Fernando April and May 2022 will be remembered as the most important months in the post-independence era. During this short period the much hoped for people’s awakening expressed itself powerfully. People who wielded authority failed to see the writing on the wall although the wall was just next to the Presidential Secretariat and […]

By Basil Fernando One of the most popular phrases that is being talked about in Sri Lanka is the need for a system change. Often in media interviews, various people are asked about what they mean by a system change. Varying answers are given by persons depending on their ideologies, perspectives and above all, on […]

By Basil Fernando Within a few days after the Rambukkana Police shooting, a large body of information has become available to the public about this incident. The attempt by the Government and also a section of the Police to give their own version about the incident has revealed a very routine pattern that exists in […]

Can Sri Lanka rise from its constitutional limbo? When Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe accepted to take over as the Head of the Central Bank, in one of his early statements, he said that he would be able to do the expected job if there is no interference from outside. The demand for non-interference is today one […]

A Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the UN Secretary-General about the situation in Sri Lanka Download the PDF Version of the Letter Mr. António Guterres Secretary General of the United Nations Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General United Nations, S-233 New York NY 10017 USA A letter to inform about the […]

By Basil Fernando A man of about 50 years, walks to a vegetable shop in Savithripura, Anuradhapura, and in front of a few others who also have come to buy some vegetables, he asked the small shop owner whether he could borrow two raw papaya fruits from the shop owner’s garden, in order to feed […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the occasion of the 73rd International Human Rights Day Nepal underwent its third cycle of the UN Human Rights Council’s Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva in January 2021. Nepal has ratified over 24 various human rights conventions and declarations but has been weak in its implementation. […]

An article from Chandra Jayaratne forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission By Chandra Jayaratne If I was the Minister of Finance, I will seek the concurrence of the President, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Colleague to structure the 2022 National budget on the undernoted Core Change Management Principles , Key Action Strategies and […]

An article from ubinig.org forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Introduction Conventional narratives, mostly nationalist, statist and GDP centered neo-liberal statistical accounts of development, outright miss or intentionally exclude certain salient facts about the stylized story of Bangladesh development. Bangladesh has been born through a bloody liberation struggle, but nationalist narrative exclude the fact that it […]

by Basil Fernando The freedom of association In the past few months, the Sri Lankan Government intensified its pressure against associations who are contributing to defend the rights of people against a series of serious attacks by the Government. Government attacks centre round the passing of several laws that affect the right to education, the […]

By Basil Fernando While Sri Lanka is faced with many crises, the President has acquired the powers to act under the National Security Law by taking emergency powers into his hands. Will that contribute to Sri Lanka’s ever deepening crises or will the situation aggravate, as all power is taken away from everyone else except […]

Mystery fevers are no strangers to many states in India. They keep returning, almost annually, leaving a death toll behind. They make news with their onset, media follows the trails, deaths subside and then the trails go cold. Other than this almost orchestrated performance of all the stakeholders barring victims and their families, the only […]

Nepal on 13 May 2021 reported 8,842 new Coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide infection tally to 431,191. Nepal on 12 May reported 9,238 new cases and 168 Covid-19 related fatalities. Similarly, 9,317 new cases and 225 Covid-19 related deaths were recorded on 11 May and 9,127 new cases and 139 […]

A Statement from ANFREL forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Download the Full Statement Here The pro-democracy protests continued across the country in different townships despite the continuing lethal attacks by the junta forces and arrets of protests and the youth. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) figures showed that as of 9 May, […]

The link to the newsletter is as follows. Neglect and loss is a newsletter containing reports and commentaries on current problems in several Asian countries. The purpose of the newsletter is to highlight many forms of unnecessary human suffering imposed on ordinary people in these countries due to the neglect of authorities to carry out their […]

Under the Soeharto regime, which is known as the New Order Era, Indonesia issued Criminal Procedure Code Number 8 of 1981 (known as KUHAP). This Law was issued to replace the old Criminal Procedure legacy of the Dutch Colonial era, known as the Update Indonesia Regulation (RIB) or also called Het Herziene Indonesisch Reglement. After […]

A Statement from Arundhati Roy & Barkha Dutt forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission The world is watching the highly disturbing situation the second wave of Covid pandemic has caused in India. It is not just an Indian crisis but a major humanitarian crisis that requires the attention of the whole world. We provide […]

Democracies across the world are defined by the virtue of the right to protest. Yet, in India, that fancies itself as the largest democracy of the world, the governments are seen to be chipping off that very right by raising the bogey of public inconvenience. They have mobilised people, mostly their party members, to even […]

Enraged Indian farmers are camping at the borders of national Capital Delhi for months in freezing cold after the Central Government passed three new farm bills ushering major agricultural reforms on 27th September 2020. Agrarian Community’s insecurities are aptly reflected in phased demonstrations to show collective disapproval by sloganeering such as,’Kisan Bacchao, Mandi Bacchao’ (Save the […]

In November 2020, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka published a report on their prison studies. This study conducted over a long period of time of two years was based on interviews with relevant persons. This included prisoners, prison guards, and all officers and persons connected with the work of prisons. This Study is excellent documentation […]