Right to life

PAKISTAN: The Supreme Court must ensure that Ahmadis should not be disfranchised

A Golden Opportunity to abolish self-contradictory Franchise System and Restore true Justice and Democracy in Pakistan The world has strongly and repeatedly drawn the attention of Pakistan to its self-contradictory franchise system which denies the Ahmadi Muslims the fundamental right to vote.( Click here to read our previous statement on the issue) The Supreme Court of […]

INDIA: Ensure safety of Human Rights Defenders and punish those threatening them

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received disturbing information from Samaj Chetna Adhikar Manch, Rewa, Madhya Pradesh regarding local goons threatening to kill its activists. The organisation, working in Java block of the district, has been in the forefront of the struggle against malnutrition and the widespread corruption in welfare schemes that […]

SRI LANKA: Letter to the UNHRC in support of North and East Christian Clergy

The Office of UN Human Rights Council, Civil Society Section, Geneva. Switzerland Letter to the UNHRC in Support of North and East Christian Clergy Sri Lanka Dear Sir / Madam, We the undersigned individuals and groups vehemently support and endorse the views and demands, contained in the letter sent on 18th Feb. 2013 by 133 […]

PAKISTAN: More than ten thousand flood victim families have been denied compensation since 2007

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that more than ten thousand flood victim families have been denied approved compensation by the authorities since 2007 and are displaced without having a proper source of income. The floods of June 2007 destroyed thousands of fruit trees, acres of agriculture land and hundreds […]

INDIA: An invitation, murder, and democracy

Article | India | 05-03-2013

When a business school invites persons to attend one of its functions, that too expecting the person to deliver nothing less than the keynote address, it must be taking into account many factors. Elementary is the invitee’s credentials, and in the background of the sponsors, who contribute to organise the event. It appears that the […]

INDIA/PAKISTAN: Democracy’s Noose kept Afzal Guru hanging, till death

He had to die. Die, because a nation wanted him to, or so were we told by the Supreme Court of the nation. He had to die to satisfy the collective conscience of the nation, the court added for a good measure. So, he did die, nay, hanged till death. His body was left hanging […]

PAKISTAN: Polio, Taliban, and media

Resistance to polio vaccination has been going through a constant phase of evolution in Pakistan, and with every passing day, it goes one notch up from its previous level involving people from conservative camps to enlightened ones as well. About six months ago, Maulvi Ibrahim Chishti of Muzaffargarh’s rural Khan Pur Bagga Sher area declared […]

PAKISTAN: Shia genocide — What exactly is preventing the military and the judiciary from performing their duties against militancy?

After hearing the accusations of covert and overt support for sectarian terrorism and the terrorists the state institutions, like the judiciary and the army are trying to clarify their positions. There is of course, the involvement of the civilian set up that, after a total of 32 years of collision between the army and the […]

INDIA: The great thamasha

Bijo Francis* Overcoming initial reluctance, the Maharashtra state police have finally registered a case in the infamous Bhandara rape and murder incident. This is a case, not much discussed in India, other than for sparse reporting in a few Indian dailies, of the rape murder of three sisters, all minors. Missing of three miserable village […]

PHILIPPINES: Vendors face forced eviction and food insecurity

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Defend Job Philippines about an eviction notice served on the vendors of Luneta Park (also called Rizal Park) in Manila. The proposed eviction will not merely leave the vendors jobless but also jeopardize their food security. It would also render many of them […]

SRI LANKA: Lawyers reject the candidate promoted by the government

At the Bar Association election this year, Mr. Upul Jayasooriya was elected with an overwhelming majority. He won by a margin of over 1,471 votes while the persons who came in second and third received 330 and 77 votes. It was well known that one of the candidates was openly promoted by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. […]

SRI LANKA: The Constitution stands between the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Sri Lankan government

A comment on the report for promoting reconciliation and accountability in the country Basil Fernando The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Navanethem Pillay, on February 11, 2013 issued the Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on advice and technical assistance for the Government of Sri Lanka […]

WORLD: The final call for assistance in the case Wengadasalam Sudeshkar — US$ 6,000 is still needed for the payment of blood money

Statement | World | 14-02-2013

The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned from the mother of Wengadasalam Sudeshkar that so far, the family has been able to raise Rs. 2,800.000-/= (Rs. 2.8 Million) out of the total requested amount of Rs. 3.5 Million. This amount has been raised by the family selling whatever they could from their already extremely meager […]

PAKISTAN: Prominent human rights defenders are targets of assassination

Two prominent lawyers and a well known human rights defender have been assassinated in target killings on February 2, 2013. Mr. Malik Jarrar 47, a Supreme Court lawyer, was shot dead in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Paktoonkha province by unknown persons, riding a motorcycle. He was on his way to pick up his two […]

INDONESIA: Punishment handed down to police officers who tortured minors to death in Padang does not reflect the gravity of the crime

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the information regarding the judgement of the Muaro Sijunjung District Court which was delivered on 29 January 2013 on a torture case of two minors by four police officers. The two minors were found hanging dead in the bathroom of Sijunjung Sub-District Police Station in […]

PAKISTAN: A police officer killed one young man, shot and injured his brother and attacked their father with the intention to kill for not paying the extortion money

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a conceited police officer killed a young man and shot and injured his younger brother, when father was trying to get help from the courts and the judiciary the police officer along with his junior policemen attacked and tortured him with the intention […]

PAKISTAN: Government must ensure the safe recovery of four abducted human rights defenders

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the abduction of four human rights defenders in broad daylight by persons said to be from an outlawed religious organization. The unknown armed persons abducted six workers of a NGO including, two lady workers. However, after some time they threw the two women out of the vehicle and […]

Pakistan: International exporter renders 1,000 workers jobless

Joe’s Fashion’ is likely to render another 4,000 more workers jobless by closing anither factory  i A garment factory, Joe’s Fashion Export situated in Korangi Industrial Area (KIA) has shut down business and rendered around 1,000 employees jobless without taking labour department functionaries on board which was mandatory formality to be fulfilled. Most of the […]

INDIA: Ensure punishment to the rapists of a minor girl in Manipur

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from North East Support Centre and Helpline that a 17-year-old girl belonging to the scheduled caste was abducted, drugged and raped in Manipur. We have also learnt that, though a police First Information Report is registered in the case, there has been no further […]

PAKISTAN: Endangered life and livelihood of indigenous fisherfolk in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding atrocities by fisheries contractors against fishermen who are raising their voice to defend their basic rights in the district of Dera Ismail Khan (DIK), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is alleged that the local police officials at Paroya Police Station and Cantonment Police Station […]