Victims assistance & protection

PHILIPPINES: An appeal to the Supreme Court on plot to kill an activist

Dear friends, Further to our earlier appeal about the plot to kill human rights defender Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges you to write to the Supreme Court of the Philippines requesting that they urgently act on Tulawie’s petition to reconsider its decision to transfer him from Davao City jail to […]

BANGLADESH: Businessman remains missing for ten years while police deny credible investigation – family struggles to survive despite attacks from thugs

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a businessman named Mr. Md. Karamat Ali of Satkhira district town has been missing for ten years. Md. Hossain Ali, the prime suspect in the disappearance of the victim, has run a business right in front of the police station for the past ten […]

BANGLADESH: Female human rights defender molested, sexually harassed, and suspended from her position as school teacher for standing up for a victim of gang-rape

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a female human rights defender, Mrs. Shampa Goswami, is facing suspension from her job as teacher for standing up for a victim of gang rape. The alleged perpetrators, well connected to influential political leaders, have been directly attacking her person, by circulating doctored […]

INDIA: 23 tribal children die of malnutrition in Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Sahyog, Support in Development about the death of 23 children belonging to Sahariya community, a scheduled tribe, of malnutrition and diseases caused by it within a short span of time. The AHRC has also learnt that the local administration was made well aware […]

SRI LANKA: The murder of an innocent man by the Hungama police must be independently and promptly investigated

Dear friends, Mr. Koggala Marakkalage Thushara Samanthilake (37) of No.66, Cheythiya Pura, Ranna/ East, Ranna in Hambantota District was a Security Officer attached to a private security firm and stationed at the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery at Colombo. On 16 August 2012, at about 5.00pm, Thusharawent to Hungama Town to buy some vegetables and as he […]

BANGLADESH: 11 year old Indigenous girl raped by police in Chittagong Hill Tracts

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding an incident of rape. An 11-year-old girl has been raped by a policeman in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The minor girl has suffered serious physical, psychological, and social trauma due to the sexual assault for which the local police initially refused to register […]

SRI LANKA: An innocent woman was physically and verbally abused by the Pamunugama Police who sided with the culprit of her complaint

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that when Ms. Warnakulasuriya Tresa Dorin Marcus tried to make a complaint to the officers of the Pamunugama Police Station that her son-in-law was in possession of an illegal weapon the officers sided with the culprit and verbally and physically abused her. Working under […]

INDIA: Victims protest, while the government threatens to drown them

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received a report from the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) that a large group of villagers who have been evicted from their land without compensation for the construction of the Omkareshwar Dam are protesting against the illegal increase in the water level, beyond that is allowed by the Supreme […]

NEPAL: Women human rights defenders are facing threats and harassment for protecting a victim of domestic violence

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that human rights defenders working with WOREC Nepal, a leading women’s rights organization, and Mitini Nepal, an organization working for the rights of LGBTI women, have come under threat after supporting a victim of domestic violence. Anita (name changed) filed for divorce after living […]

BANGLADESH: Magistrate violates law, while the government’s goons attempt to brand college student as a criminal after the Rapid Action Battalion took his leg away

[RE: AHRC-UAC-075-2011: BANGLADESH: Rapid Action Battalion shoots innocent college student, causing permanent disability, and now threatens sympathizers with extra-judicial killing Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding repeated attempts by the state machinery to brand a college student named Limon Hossain as a criminal, after he was shot point-blank and […]

SRI LANKA: A prisoner is in critical condition in hospital after being subjected to severe torture by prison officers

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Sundaram Sathies Kumar was a detainee under the prison authorities of Sri Lanka. As a result of severe torture suffered during his incarceration Sundaram is now in critical condition at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in Colombo (NHSL). He is presently […]

CAMBODIA: Independent radio director and Democrats Association president, Mam Sonando, is illegally arrested on charges of secession

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that Mr. Mam Sonando (70) was arrested from his home on 15 July 2012 by the police and was formally charged on the following day by Phnom Penh Municipal Court. The main charges against Mr. Mam Sonando include plotting secessionist movements in Kratie province, inciting […]

SRI LANKA: An innocent man has been in custody without being charged for three years

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Mahalingam Sasikumar (34) of Maratha Madhu, Chettikulam in Mannar District has been in jail for more than three years without being charged. He was arrested by the Sri Lankan Army who accused him of aiding and abetting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil […]

SRI LANKA: DIG of Police threatens to kill Municipal Councilor in Negombo

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Mihindukulasuriya Anthony Vinisious Fernando is an elected Municipal Councilor of the Negombo Municipality and a businessman by profession. In July he witnessed lease holders in the area he is responsible for taking names of vendors and asked what they were doing. The […]

THAILAND: Urgent need for witness protection following conviction of five police for murder

Dear friends, On 30 July 2012 a court in Bangkok convicted five police officers of murder for the extrajudicial killing of Kiettisak Thitboonkrong during the “war on drugs” in 2004. The success of the case was due in large part to the determination of the family and willingness of eyewitnesses to testify against the police. […]

[Korean] 아시아: 경찰고문 근절을 위한 기본 논의

아시아인권위원회 성명서 아시아: 경찰고문 근절을 위한 기본 논의   영문원본 아래는 홍콩에 있는 아시아인권위원회에서 정책 및 프로그램 개발 이사를 맡고 있는  바실 페르난도씨의 연설문입니다. 이 연설문은 고문 및 가혹행위 근절을 위한 아시아 연합이 주최한 아시아 의원회의 기간 중 2012년 7월 22일에 발표된 내용입니다. 경찰 고문 근절을 위한 기본 논의 경찰 고문은 무엇을 의미하는가? 만약 우리가 […]

SRI LANKA: A young woman is sexually assaulted; police refuse to take action against the perpetrator

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 16-year old girl was sexually assaulted but because police officers have a connection to the perpetrator, they are refusing to investigate the case and secure protection for the victim and her family. On 12 April 2012, Mr. Gunatunga cut down and stole a […]

PHILIPPINES: Not only witnesses, but complainants needs protection, too

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to Sr. Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr., spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Sr. Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr. Spokesperson Philippine National Police (PNP) Camp General Rafael Crame Quezon City PHILIPPINES Tel: +63 2 726 4361/ 4366/ 8763 Fax: + +63 2724 8763 Dear Sr. Supt. Cerbo: […]

THAILAND: Call for observers in the case of a torture victim being prosecuted for exercising basic rights

[RE: AHRC-FPR-026-2012: THAILAND: Forwarded appeal — Call for observers–torture victim sued by Pol. Gen. Bhanupong Singhara for a complaint made in good faith] Dear friends, On 25 June 2012, at 9 am, the second of two pre-trial hearings in the case of Mr. Suderueman Maleh will take place at the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road […]

SRI LANKA: A 14-years-old student is tortured by a Buddhist monk for refusing to learn Buddhism

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that PG Amila Tharanga Thilakaratne (14) a Year 9 student of Mahanama College Geatambe in the Kandy District was severely tortured by his teacher, a Buddhist monk. Amila was persecuted on a religious basis and is thus a victim of religious intolerance. Amila has […]