Rule of law

SRI LANKA: Case of alleged torture, illegal arrest and detention of Liyanage Pasindu Yasantha Perera by some officers of Kalutara District Crime Division

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) […]

PHILIPPINES/WORLD: Her Story Lives: Honoring the Predecessors of the #HijaAko Movement

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 […]

BANGLADESH: Surge of Arbitrary Detention under Digital Security Act Leads to Deepening Crisis

It is well-known that systemic abuse of draconian Laws is an established practice in Bangladesh. The incumbent Government has weaponised a number laws, including the Digital Security Act-2018, to intensify its campaign of curbing freedom of expression and opinion. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has compiled publicly available information obtained from the mainstream media. The data shows […]

BANGLADESH: Unhindered Access to Justice is Key to Sustainable Development

Access to Justice is coupled with multiple hindrances in Bangladesh’s Justice Mechanism. The filter of politicisation, corruption, and ineptness of professionals at all times supersedes the juridical norms in the country’s Judicial System. The COVID-19 pandemic situation has subtly exposed the problems, as reflections came from participants of a Webinar hosted by the Asian Human […]

PHILIPPINES: Acceleration of extra-judicial killings of jurists in the Philippines

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 […]

BANGLADESH: Access to justice amidst COVID-19 for pro-opposition litigants are dealt with draconian laws and discrimination

A Written Submission to the 44th 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 to the realities regarding access to justice in Bangladesh, an incumbent member of the Human […]

ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව: පොලීසියට වධහිංසාවට එරෙහි නීතිය උගන්වන ලෙසට ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය විධාන කරයි

 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 […]

WORLD: Global protests demanding police reforms

Statement | World | 25-06-2020

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 […]

BANGLADESH: Government must end torture and fully implement recommendations made by the UN Committee against Torture

Manila/Hong Kong/Paris/Dhaka/Washington, D.C./Geneva, 25 June 2020: On the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (26 June), the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Odhikar, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) remember […]

BANGLADESH: Arbitrarily detained Journalist is at risk of infection with COVID-19 after returning from an enforced disappearance

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 […]

SRI LANKA: What Is The Value Of The Life Of Sunil Jayawardene?

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 […]

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව: ලෝකයේ දිගම වදහිංසා නඩුව

 මේ දින වල ලොව පුරා ප්‍රචලිත පුවත වන්නේ ඇමරිකාවේ සුදු ජාතික පොලිස් නිලධාරියෙකු විසින් කළු ජාතික සාමන්‍ය පුරවැසියකුගේ බෙල්ල මත දණහිස තබා මරණයට පත් කිරීමේ සිදු වීමයි. එම මරණය සිදු කල ආකාරය ඡායාරූප ගත කර ඇති හෙයින් එය කාටත් දැක ගැනීමට අවස්ථාව උදාවී ඇත. මෙම සිද්ධියත් සමඟ ඇමරිකාව පුරා බලවත් විරෝධතා ඇති වීමත්, එම විරෝධතාවයන්ට […]

विश्वः मे १८, सैन्यवाद र अधिनायकवाद विरूद्द ग्वाङजू विद्रोहलाई अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय दिवसका रूपमा मान्यता दिनु आवश्यक छ ।

Statement | Nepal | 11-06-2020

सन् १९८०, १८ मे कोरीयाका लागिमात्र नभएर संसारका लागि एउटा गौरवपूर्ण दिन हो, जुन दिन सिँगैं सहरहरू र दक्षिण केरियाली नागरिकहरू सैन्य कुका विरूद्द उभिएका थिए । यो यस्तो किसिमको दुर्लभ एक्यवद्दता थियो कि धेरै दिनसम्म नागरिकहरू एकाकार भएर सहरकब्जा गर्न हिँडेको शैन्य बटालियनलाई सहरभित्र पस्नबाट रोक्न सफल भएका थिए । धेरै दिनपछि, सैन्य बटालियनहरू […]

বিশ্ব: ১৮ মে – গোয়াংজু গণঅভ্যুত্থানের স্মৃতি – সামরিকতন্ত্র ও কর্তৃত্ববাদ প্রতিরোধে সার্বজনীন দিবস হিসেবে স্বীকৃতির দাবী রাখে।

১৯৮০ সালের ১৮ই মে কেবলমাত্র দক্ষিণ কোরিয়া নয়, বরং গোটা বিশ্বের জন্য একটি অতি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ দিন। এই দিনে এক ব্যাপক গণঅভ্যুত্থান সংঘটিত হয়। গোটা কোরীয় সমাজ সামরিক অভ্যুত্থানর বিরুগ্ধে জেগে উঠেছিলো সেদিন। অনেক দিন যাবত জনগণ ঐক্যবদ্ধভাবে রুঁখে দাঁড়িয়ে ছিলো সশস্ত্র ব্যাটালিয়নগুলোর নগরীতে প্রবেশ ও নিয়ন্ত্রণ প্রতিরোধ করতে। সংহতির সে এক অভূতপূর্ব মুহুর্ত! কয়েকদিন পরে, […]

PHILIPPINES/WORLD: “In the absence of clear and measurable outcomes from domestic mechanisms, consider options for international accountability measures”. UNHR Commissioner for Human Rights tells the Philippines government

 The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights submitted report to the UN Human Rights Council on 4th of June. It is a very comprehensive report on serious violations of Human Rights that have been taking place in the last few years. In her concluding remarks, the High Commissioner’s report says… “The legal, constitutional and […]

WORLD: May 18th, the commemoration of the Gwangju uprising, needs to be recognized as the Universal Day for the Prevention of Militarism and Authoritarianism

The Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong, the May 18 Memorial Foundation and three May 18 related organizations in South Korea, and International Bridges of Justice(IBJ) call for your participation to end militarism and authoritarianism. Please join us to designate May 18 as the “Universal Day for Prevention of Militarism and Authoritarianism” so that […]

BANGLADESH: Government must stop enforced disappearances and provide special care to families of the disappeared during COVID-19

Dhaka/Manila/Hong Kong/Paris, 25 May 2020: To commemorate International Week of the Disappeared (the last week of May), the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and Odhikar remember and pay tribute to victims of enforced disappearance and stand in solidarity with the families of […]

BANGLADESH/WORLD: The nomination of A B M Khairul Haque as a judge of ICC must be opposed for the interest of justice and its integrity

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 […]

ශ්‍රී ලංකා: “අපේකම යනු කුමක්ද”?

බැසිල් ප‍්‍රනාන්දු මේ දිනවල අපේකම පිළිබදව වැදගත් සාකච්ඡාවක් නිර්මාණය වෙමින් පවතී. මෙයට එක් ප‍්‍රධාන හේතුවක් වන්නේ දැනට ලංකාෙව් සමස්ථ ජනතාව තුලම ලංකාෙව් ප‍්‍රාග් ඉතිහාසය පිළිබද ගෙව්ශණ වල සොයා ගැනීම් පැතිරීමට පටන්ගෙන තිබෙන නිසාය. මෙය අතිශයින් වැදගත් වන සාකච්ඡාවක මුල් අවධියකි. මේ නිසා අපේකම යන්න පිළිබද අදහස ලංකාෙව් විකාශනය වී ඇති ආකාරය පිළිබදව කල්පනා කිරීම වටී. […]

CAMBODIA: Civil Society Organizations call for the Royal Government of Cambodia to Amend the State of Emergency Law to Protect Human Rights

Phnom Penh, 13 May 2020 – Without urgent and substantial amendment, the new Law on the Management of the Nation in State of Emergency (“State of Emergency Law”) grants the Royal Government of Cambodia (“RGC”) powers to restrict the fundamental freedoms of the Cambodian people without limit. The recently promulgated State of Emergency Law was impulsively […]