AHRC News

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SRI LANKA : Amnesty Sri Lanka report incorrect and counterproductive

The statement by Amnesty International in its annual report for 2004 to the effect that Sri Lanka is experiencing “an improved human rights situation” is deeply disturbing and patently inc...

BURMA : Jailing a child rape victim in Burma, masquerading in Geneva

On 6 March 2003, 15-year-old Ma San San Aye signed a letter to senior Burmese government officials alleging that she and another young woman had been raped by U San Net Kyaw, the chairman of the Dedal...

THAILAND: Judicial enquiry must follow mass killing in Southern Thailand

Exactly what happened in Songkhla, Pattani and Yala provinces of Southern Thailand this April 28 is yet to become clear, however, under no circumstances can the killing of at least 107 civilians be ju...

NEPAL: Without a parliament, whence human rights in Nepal?

Democratic groups in Nepal are now demonstrating in the capital daily, putting lives and limbs at risk demanding an end to ‘regression’–the abolition of parliament by the king, who h...

INDIA: A human body preserved like a fish and a rotten criminal justice system in West Bengal

In October 2003, 17-year-old Mousumi Ari was murdered by her in-laws. Whereas the role of the state personnel should have been to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators, in fact they did exactly t...

INDIA: The Horrendous Practices during Forensic Examinations in India

To Mr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam President of India New Delhi Dear Sir The Asian Human Rights Commission is concerned about the horrendous practices during forensic examinations at the government hospitals...

SRI LANKA: Casual Killings: Seven People Shot Dead by Police within 70 Days

Within the first 70 days of the year 2004, the number of people shot dead by the police in Sri Lanka came to seven ¡V an average of one person every 10 days. All of these shootings have taken place d...

THAILAND: Disappearance of Thai human rights defender cause for grave concern

Disappearance of Thai human rights defender cause for grave concern What has happened to Somchai Neelaphaijit, and why hasn’t the government of Thailand so far been able to reveal the circumstan...

PAKISTAN: Who is celebrating International Women’s Day in Pakistan?

A Statement by Asian Human Rights Commission Who is celebrating International Women’s Day in Pakistan? On 5 February 2004, Mr Bhooro Subzoai together with an accomplice first shot dead his aunt,...

INDIA: Custodial deaths in West Bengal and India’s refusal to ratify the Convention against Torture

This February, the families of Nemai Ghosh and Anesh Das were compensated 100,000 Rupees (US$2200) each by the government of West Bengal for their deaths while under police custody at the Malda Magist...

SRI LANKA: ATTACK ON TONY FERNANDO – Sri Lanka Seriously Embarrassed Internationally

The United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) on 9 January 2004 informed the Sri Lankan government that, in pursuant of Rule 86 of the committee’s rules of procedure, the state party (Sri Lanka) ...

SRI LANKA: Forensic science, mortuaries and the rights of victims of crime

As people read obituaries and find out about the death of someone they know, the first thing many think to do is visit the person and pay their last respects to the dead body. The body becomes a sacre...

AHRC HUMAN RIGHTS DAY STATEMENT 2003

Protecting victims requires defence of principles and effective institutions Asian Human Rights Commission December 10, 2003   Today the very foundation upon which human rights stand is under att...

Sri Lanka: Impeachment against a Judicial Officer should be beyond Political Bargaining

The impeachment motion against the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka is now before the Parliament with the signatures of a hundred members of Parliament in support.  Meanwhile a proposal by President Chand...

Close contact with victims makes human rights work meaningful and effective

Thirty-eight persons from ten Asian countries gathered together at Wattala, Sri Lanka, from November 14 to 24, 2003, for the annual Human Rights School Session jointly organised by the Religious Group...

Slighting the democratic process to undermine the rule of law in Sri Lanka

By suspending parliament and calling the police and military onto the streets this November 4, the President of Sri Lanka has undermined ongoing efforts to restore the rule of law to the country by wa...

Judicial accountability and the cases of Irene Fernandez (Malaysia) and Michael Anthony Fernando (Sri Lanka)

The former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy, expressed serious concerns over judicial integrity in Asia during a speech delivered i...

SRI LANKA: Asian Human Rights Commission presents inaugural Human Rights Defenders Award to Michael Anthony Fernando

This 5 October 2003, the Board of Directors of the Asian Human Rights Commission decided to present its inaugural Human Rights Defenders Award to Mr Michael Anthony Fernando, in recognition of his str...

Human Rights Defender punished

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) draws the attention of the international community, particularly human rights and civil society organisations, to an act of grave injustice done by the Malaysi...

Changing the talk on World Food Day

That deep poverty affects the majority of people in the world is a widely accepted fact. Poverty is essentially about food. It is about hunger and thirst. If the world admits the existence of large-sc...