AHRC News

Signs of recent days are that the government-appointed inquiry into the October 25 mass killing in southern Thailand is about to end with a whitewash. Worrying reports suggest it is likely to conclude...

On the 21 November 2004, Gerald Mervin Perera, victim of a well-known torture case was shot as he was travelling to work in a bus in the early hours of the morning.  In his pocket was the summons iss...

Around two hundred Nepalese are now have been witnessed to be crossing the border into India every hour, escaping the atrocities of both government and Maoist troops. Clearly, the violence in Nepal is...

It emerged over the weekend that there had been some kind of deal to keep a former Sri Lankan government minister out of jail on contempt of court charges, but it fell through. Reaction to the jailing...

As we commemorate International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2004, the state of human rights in most countries of Asia is very bleak. Without serious efforts to defend these principles, life in a ...

It has now been eighteen days since the shooting of Gerald Perera in broad daylight, while he was travelling to work on a bus. Gerald died three days later, on November 24th, from the injuries that he...

There is much evidence that shows that in Sri Lanka, which already suffers from the endemic use of torture, the authorities are failing to take steps to eliminate this abhorrent practice, in line with...

The proposal now being discussed within the government of Thailand to introduce a national security law allowing prolonged detention without judicial recourse is an invitation for national disaster. S...

The assassination of the High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya took place on the 19th of November. To date, no one has owned up to the responsibility for the failure to provide security to the Judge, who...

Several newspapers reported on 29 November 2004 that the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has taken a stand to instruct lawyers not to appear for those persons accused of the murder of a Colombo High Cour...

In romantic notions where they world is divided between good guys and bad guys, the underworld is responsible for crimes, and the police are responsible for fighting back. A black world of criminals i...

It is now five days since the shooting of Gerald Mervin Perera, who died yesterday, November 24. However, as yet there have been no arrests. Nor have there been any reports of progress in investigatio...

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) announces with great shock and sadness that Gerald Mervin Perera, who was due to give evidence in court against seven police officers accused of torture, passe...

Since the attempted murder on last Sunday, November 21 of Gerald Perera, a victim of police torture in Sri Lanka, no protection has been provided to either him or his family. Gerald, who was shot in a...

Hopefully the Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, will change his position on a proposed visit to the country by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, arbitrary or summary executio...

Unidentified assailants shot dead a High Court judge in Colombo on Friday, 12 November 2004. This is the first such instance in recent times, despite the fact that High Courts in Sri Lanka hear the mo...

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) today extends its deepest sympathies to the families of Colombo High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya and his bodyguard Inspector Upali Bandara, as well as the pe...

Many key questions remain to be answered after the mass killing in the south of Thailand on October 25. Above them all, what is the public prosecutor doing about this case? Under section 148 of the Cr...

Numerous torture victims, their families and other witnesses have reported being threatened with death or other violence due to persisting with their complaints against initial injuries. In most insta...

A new trade union comprised of staff of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka has organised a strike on today, November 1, to oppose the transfer of the Kandy Area Coordinator, Mr Niranjan Su...