Violence against women

PAKISTAN: Sessions judge and his wife must be prosecuted for employing and torturing minor

A 10-year-old child working as a household help was tortured by her employers, an Additional Sessions judge and his wife; the girl has been severely injured. The judge has used his influence and position to settle the case outside the court with the father of the maid. The Chief Justice of Pakistan took suo motto […]

PAKISTAN: Urgent action required against the forced conversion of minority girls

Dear Prime Minister, We, human rights and women rights advocates, write to you to express our profound concern regarding the proposed amendments set to be applied to a recently passed legislation, “Sindh Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill, 2015”. This legislation, the Protection of Minorities Bill, passed unanimously in the Sindh Provincial Assembly, as it […]

INDIA: Trying misogyny welcome, but how about curbing all crime against women?

Article | India | 18-12-2016

by Avinash Pandey It is fourth anniversary of 16 December 2012, the brutal gang rape and murder of a student in Delhi that shook the conscience of the nation and led to unprecedented protests against sexual violence across India. Crime against women has been common in India, as has been the support for such crime […]

AHRC TV: Pakistan’s Ahmadis facing state sponsored violence and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 152

This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where two persons from the Ahmadiyya community were killed when a Muslim mob attacked the community’s mosque on December 12, the day Muslims were celebrating the birthday of Prophet Mohammed. Although the Ahmadi community had written to the Chakwal district commissioner, Punjab, about threats to burn their worship […]

PHILIPPINES: Stop Surveillance and Harassment of human rights defender and community organizer Glacy Macabale

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Defend Job Philippines (DJP), a social movement working to promote the human rights of the urban poor in Manila, about surveillance and harassment of Ms. Glacy Macabale. Ms. Macabale is human rights defender and community organizer, who has been resisting the forcible displacement […]

AHRC TV: Hong Kong lawyers march in black and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 147

This week Just Asia begins with Hong Kong, where more than 2000 lawyers marched silently in black on Tuesday, protesting against Beijing’s interpretation of the Basic Law, to prevent two elected activists from taking up their seats in parliament. Prominent advertisements in Tuesday morning papers read ‘Beijing destroys rule of law—Hong Kong world city no […]

SRI LANKA: A 29 weeks pregnant woman tortured by Saliya Wewa Police

Dear friends, Mrs. Hashika Shashi Kanthi of Palugasdamana, Saliya Wewa in Puttalam District, was tortured by four policemen attached to the Saliya Wewa Police Station. At 10 pm on the night of 23 July 2016, they forcibly entered her home while her husband was away. At that time, she was 29 weeks pregnant, expecting her […]

PAKISTAN: Life of lady teacher in danger as police release perpetrators without producing them in court

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the death threats against a lady teacher and her husband after a senior police officer initiated an inquiry on the Urgent Appeal and proceeded to exonerate all the perpetrators. One member of the National Assembly from Sindh provincial ruling party allegedly used […]

PAKISTAN: Police release four abducted women and two men after taking ransom

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the abduction of four women and two men amidst fighting between two influential armed tribes, the Thaheem and Qambrani. Police from RD 44 Police Station, Jacobabad, kept the women illegally, holding them for ransom for 11 days at a private location, releasing […]

AHRC TV: Madhesi activists arrested from workshop in Nepal and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 145

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where 22 Madhesi activists were arrested on October 23 while participating in a Leadership Development workshop. Affiliated with Dr. C.K. Raut and his campaign, the activists from Nawalparasi District were meeting at a local hotel. A group of around 40 police officers abruptly closed the workshop, hit the […]

PAKISTAN: Teacher declared Kari for running girls’ school; threat of ‘honour’ killing

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a girls schoolteacher has been declared Kari (liable to be killed in the name of “honour”) for establishing a primary girls’ school in a feudal area. She was earlier kidnapped by her maternal uncle and detained there for two months, where she was […]

AHRC TV: Pakistani Shias killed in military controlled areas and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 142

This week Just Asia begins with the killing of six Pakistani Shias in two cities under military control. In Quetta city, the capital of Balochistan, four women were shot dead in a bus on their way home on October 4. On the same evening, two Shias were killed returning from their mosque in the military […]

PAKISTAN: Eighteen-year-old murdered in ‘honour’ killing for choosing whom to marry

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that an 18-year-old woman has been murdered in the name of honour by her own uncles and cousins. The father of the girl has filed a case of murder against the murderers in the hope of settling the case out of court, through the Diyyat […]

AHRC TV: Mother’s health deteriorating on hunger strike in Nepal and other stories in JUST ASIA, Episode 137

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where Ganga Maya Adhikari, an icon of justice, has resumed her hunger strike on August 11, calling for justice for her son Krishna Prasad. Krishna was brutally murdered by Maoists in 2004. Since 2013, Ganga Maya and her husband were on hunger strike. Instead of justice, 22 September […]

NEPAL: Government must serve justice to Ganga Maya Adhikari and prevent a senseless death

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is worried for Ganga Maya Adhikari, an icon of justice, who has resumed her hunger strike on August 11. Ganga Maya has asked Nepal’s Minister for Health, Gagan Thapa, to convey her demands seeking punishment for her son Krishna Prasad Adhikari’s murderers to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. […]

INDIA: Mewat rapes and murders expose the total failure that is the police

Article | India | 01-09-2016

Avinash Pandey Shri M.L. Khattar, Chief Minister of Haryana, finally announced the constitution of a Special Investigation team (SIT) to probe the armed robbery, double murder, and gang rapes in Dingerheri Village of Mewat that occurred on 25 August 2016. In the incident, armed robbers broke into a house, gang-raped two women of the family, […]

PAKISTAN: Culture and honor killings in patriarchal societies

Nida Paras Societies and cultures are man-made. Cultures play a vital role in national identities and their development. Rich cultures treat men and women More equally than ours with positive impact on the nation. Other cultures are terrible and full of fear with negative impact on the nation. In patriarchal societies, bad cultures are very […]

INDIA: Save yourselves, women of India, as the Republic will not

Article | India | 02-08-2016

Avinash Pandey Delhi, the national capital of India, has witnessed another gory incident involving the rape-murder of a minor. This time, a 16-year-old was allegedly raped, strangled, and then set on fire in her own house in East Delhi. The police reportedly tried to pass off the crime as suicide, filing a case of rape and […]

INDIA: Gang rape survivor gang raped by the same accused again

Statement | India | 19-07-2016

In a rule of law jurisdiction, the story of a victim of gang rape being raped by the same accused against whom court proceedings continue, might be outlandish. But, in India today, these are the common stories that confront anyone willing to see reality: A Dalit gang rape survivor has allegedly been gang raped again […]

INDIA: Schoolgirl commits suicide following alleged sexual assault by BSF Personnel in West Bengal

Dear Friends, The AHRC has received the following information from its partner organisation MASUM in West Bengal. In West Bengal, a Border Security Force (BSF) Guard allegedly sexually assaulted a 12-year-old schoolgirl who was returning home from her classes. Later, the same day, the young girl was found to have committed suicide. CASE NARRATIVE: On […]