Terrorism & human rights

INDIA/PAKISTAN: Stop shelling the Dharamsal village and other areas on the Line of Control in Jammu Kashmir

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that around 500 residents in Dharamsal village, a small village on the Line of Control (dividing the State of Jammu Kashmir into Pakistani and Indian administered parts) have been living in equivocal situation since August 13, 2017. The Indian Army is unremittingly targeting […]

PAKISTAN: Jails, breeding places and recruiting grounds for hard-core militants

With the collapse of the overall system of governance in Pakistan, the jail system followed suit and collapsed. As the last resort in the system of criminal justice, jails were meant to reform an individual who has gone astray and resorted to crime. Due to pervasive corruption and incompetence the prison system has been reduced […]

PHILIPPINES: Call for support for the people of Mindanao

Dear Friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward an appeal from the Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples Rights (KARAPATAN), a human rights organization in the Philippines.  For more information, please contact:  Ms. Deejay Acierto at +63 2 4354146, +63917 6224761 (Globe) or +63 999 974 8718 (Smart). Thank you.  Urgent Appeals […]

INDONESIA: Anti-terror unit should be evaluated in wake of suicide bombing

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the suicide bombing and explosion in Kampung Melayu, Jakarta, Indonesia, which killed five persons and injured 10. Three police officers and two alleged perpetrators died in the blast. In the last one year, the suicide bombing in Kampung Melayu is the second such incident. Earlier, there was a […]

PAKISTAN: Glamourizing ‘good’ terrorists-new way to serve state interests

Glamorizing terrorists as born again saviours of humanity is the new tactic adopted by the state to abet home grown terrorism. Those who dare demand their rights are shunned as separatists while the radicals who commit barbarity are released on the pretext of being innocent. The recent news of the release of ISIS operative Naureen […]

PAKISTAN: Crops and forests in Mohmand Agency destroyed to combat terrorism

The security establishment has found a new way to control terrorism. They stop people in the northern parts of the country, bordering Afghanistan, from growing maize and abandoning trees. In their view, the best way to control terrorism is to impoverish the affected population by plundering their sources of livelihood. This theory was applied in […]

PAKISTAN: Militants again victorious against world’s sixth largest army

Barely one and a half months into this year, eight terrorist attacks in different parts of Pakistan have claimed at least 50 lives, including of 24 security officials. The tall claims of the government and military establishment of breaking the back of terrorism are a shambles. Pakistan, with the world’s sixth largest army and more […]

PAKISTAN: Caught between the military and the terrorists

The people of tribal areas bordering Afghanistan are caught between the Pakistan army on one hand, and the Taliban and ISIS on the other. The terrorists attack and kill tribal leaders for not allowing them to set up their training centers and move freely in the mountains, while the Pakistan army arrests, tortures, and extrajudicially […]

AHRC TV: Terrorist attacks continue in Pakistan and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 148

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where terrorist attacks continue despite the Pakistan army’s various anti-terror operations. In the latest attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the crowded courtyard of Sufi Saint Shah Noorani’s shrine on November 12, killing some 60 persons and injuring 156. The Shah Noorani shrine in Balochistan’s Hub […]

PAKISTAN: Military men demolish business centre after trader refuses to supply arms to the Taliban

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that in retaliation to locals refusing to supply arms to the international terrorist organisations Taliban and Al-Qaida, Army officers have blown up a two-storey business centre, which had more than 150 shops and four commercial halls. This incident has occurred in Wana City, the headquarters of […]

PAKISTAN: Suo motu action on massacre of lawyers must be independent and effective

The dust has barely settled on the Quetta carnage and killing of lawyers that another attack has taken place against the Judiciary. On 2 September 2016, terror once again visited District Court Mardan, Peshawar, KPK Province. The modus operandi was similar: a suicide attacker lobbed a hand grenade before exploding himself at the main gate […]

THAILAND: Condemning Bomb Attacks in Southern Thailand, Demanding Fair Trials after transparent Investigations

From 11-14 August 2016, 17 explosions took place in seven provinces in Southern Thailand causing a number of deaths and property damages. On 13 August 2016, the Thai authorities responded. They invoked Section 44 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim), B.E. 2557 (2014). It allows them to hold several suspects in custody, […]

AHRC TV: Lawyers targeted in Quetta and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 134

This week Just Asia begins with the senseless and brutal attack on lawyers in Quetta, Balochistan on August 8. The blast killed 97 persons, including 63 lawyers, and more than 120 persons including women and children were injured. The attack occurred amidst a gathering to pay respects to the assassinated President of the Bar Association. […]

PAKISTAN: The UN must probe the massacre and the continued killings of lawyers in Balochistan

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) joins everyone who is shocked and dismayed by the senseless and brutal attack on civilians in Quetta, Balochistan on Aug 8, 2016. According to the leaders of the Balochistan Bar Association, the attack has killed 97 persons which includes 63 lawyers, and two journalists, the photographer of Dawn and […]

PAKISTAN: Use of anti-terror laws against peasants’ movement

By Farooq Tariq The Pakistani state’s black brush is being used to paint any dissenting voices as terrorists under the National Action Plan. It is now been directed towards the ongoing peasants’ movement in the heart of Punjab province. Enabling conditions in the security framework has allowed the state to create an atmosphere of repression […]

BANGLADESH: Militant attacks are the result of failed institutions

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns the terrorist attack in Bangladesh’s capital city, Dhaka. The country experienced bloodshed on July 1 and 2. A group of militants attacked a Spanish restaurant in the diplomatic zone at Gulshan in Dhaka, at around 9 p.m. on Friday. Around 8 gunmen captured the Holey Artisan Bakery at gunpoint […]

INDIA: It’s Yakub only now, justice was hung a while back

Article | India | 23-07-2015

Yakub Memon, a terror convict, will be hanged to death, most probably on 30 July 2015. He will be killed by the State because the Supreme Court of India rejected his curative plea, the final appeal, and cleared the way for hanging. He will hang after being convicted under the much reviled Terrorist and Disruptive […]

NEPAL: Police torture two juveniles to extract confession

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 17-year-old Bijay Khadka and 16-year-old Govinda Malla, residents of Sonashree VDC 05 and 06 respectively, were arrested for theft by the police. The two were then tortured by various physical means. They have complained of being forced to confess to the crime and […]

INDIA : An open letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following open letter from Irom Sharmila Chanu. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ——- AHRC-FOL-005-2014 May 29, 2014 An Open Letter from Irom Sharmila Chanu forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji,  South Block, […]

PHILIPPINES: Memories of war and an historic peace

(Note: this article was first published in the April 6, 2014 issue of the Sunday Examiner) Eleven years ago, I was in a small store with a friend in Pikit, North Cotabato, in central Mindanao. We were exhausted after an all day field work of interviewing people about how and why they were evacuated due to […]