AHRC News

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INDIA: Release illegally detained human rights defenders at once

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) demands the immediate release from police detention of a group of human rights defenders in Tamil Nadu, India, who have been detained without charge since this...

SRI LANKA: Jaffna Police assault Human Rights Commission staff and UN Volunteer

The Officer-in-Charge of the Jaffna office of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka and a UN volunteer were assaulted yesterday, September 27, 2004, as they were engaged in inquiring about a ...

ASIA: Centrality of rule of law

On 21 September 2004 Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, addressed the General Assembly emphasising the primacy of the rule of law over all other factors governing global affairs, be ...

SRI LANKA: What is the cost of crime control and torture prevention in Sri Lanka?

In a statement of September 6, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has asked, “What can be done when there are not enough criminal investigators in Sri Lanka?” A concomitant question ...

SRI LANKA: What can be done when there are not enough criminal investigators in Sri Lanka?

The lack of qualified criminal investigators hampers the criminal investigations in Sri Lanka, C.R. de Silva, the Solicitor General of Sri Lanka was quoted as saying in an interview with the BBC Sinha...

THAILAND: Thailand’s obsolete criminal defamation law must be scrapped

On Monday, September 6, Supinya Klangnarong will go to court on a charge of criminal defamation arising from an interview printed in the Thai Post newspaper last year; three of its editors are also su...

MALAYSIA: A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

Court takes historic step towards restoring independence of judiciary in Malaysia  The decision of Malaysia’s highest court to acquit Anwar Ibrahim, the former deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from...

SRI LANKA: Political attacks on the NPC and election violence in Sri Lanka

In recent weeks some senior politicians from the government of Sri Lanka have tried to blame the increase in crime on the National Police Commission (NPC). In fact no link between the NPC and the incr...

NEPAL: Human rights emergency on the brink of further escalation in Nepal

— Peace negotiations, accountability and an end to impunity are required as a matter of urgency   Time is of the essence. The human rights crisis situation in Nepal risks escalating further...

MALDIVES: Government of Maldives must end intolerable rights abuses

Reports from the Maldives in recent weeks indicate increasingly disturbing use of authoritarian powers by its government intended to suppress popular calls for democratic reform. After protests on Aug...

SRI LANKA: Serious measures announced by Sri Lankan NPC to ensure disciplinary control of police a welcome move

This week, the National Police Commission (NPC) of Sri Lanka made the following welcome announcements: That disciplinary control of all police officers except the Inspector General of Police (IGP), in...

NEPAL: Immediate domestic and international intervention needed to protect lives of people and avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Nepal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 22, 2004 AS-26-2004 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission Asian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned regarding the devastating security situation in Nepa...

INDIA: Indian Supreme Court’s decision devoid of merit

In declining to use its powers to review the death sentence of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, the Supreme Court of India has today not only declined to take responsibility for the life that it has condemned, b...

THAILAND: Compensation without criminal liability is no solution to the killings in Southern Thailand

The findings of the Independent Fact-Finding Commission on the Krue Se Mosque massacre in Southern Thailand were made public yesterday. While recommending compensation payments and the preparation of ...

INDIA: Ten years of waiting for justice in West Bengal end with a funeral

The Calcutta High Court last Wednesday took a short time to announce a decision on a matter that had stood before India’s courts for a decade: it granted leave to prosecute police officers alleg...

SRI LANKA: Attempted rape of judge indicative of collapsed rule of law in Sri Lanka

The attempted rape yesterday of a High Court judge in Sri Lanka indicates the extent to which the rule of law has collapsed in the country; a circumstance towards which the Asian Human Rights Commissi...

SRI LANKA: Protection for Persons who make Complaints of Torture against Security Officers

Following letter was handed over to the Attorney General, Inspector General of Police, National Human Rights Commission and National police Commission by a Special Representative, Mr. Ali Saleem sent ...

SRI LANKA : Protection of complainants and the role of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka — Two sad incidents

During the last two weeks there were two occasions in which victims of very serious acts of torture sought protection from the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka claiming that they were facing...

SRI LANKA: NPC’s Power of Disciplinary Control over Officers below the Rank of Inspector

In the Sunday Leader of July 17 under the caption ‘Police Commission Blame IGP for Inaction’ by Shenan Moses, there appear several comments relating to the Constitutional powers of the National Po...

SRI LANKA: Facing up to the dark legacy of state-sponsored riots

July 2004 is the 21st anniversary of the government-sponsored riots against Tamils in Sri Lanka. The month became known as Black July. Similar state-sponsored violence took place in Gujarat, India in ...