On 16 October Scoop News reports on a consultation, held on 25 September 2013 in Geneva, entitled Isolating Papua which highlighted the increasing practice of limiting access to the Papuan provinces of Indonesia. Read the rest of this entry »
Posts Tagged ‘Asian Human Rights Commission’
Pakistan and rights of women: unbearable
September 28, 2013This short write-up on violence against women and against women human rights defenders in particular in Pakistan is interesting in itself but equally interesting is to note that the Oman Tribune is carrying it. This kind of south-south spreading of human rights news is encouraging: Read the rest of this entry »
Asian Parliamentarians and Human Rights Defenders meet again on the issue of Torture – 11-13 November
August 27, 2013The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in collaboration with DIGNITY, has made the practice of custodial torture and ill-treatment a core area of engagement. With a view to counteract the widespread practice of torture, the AHRC and DIGNITY have formed an Asian Alliance against Torture and Ill-treatment (AAATI) in 2012. The first conference of Asian Parliamentarians and Human Rights Defenders was held in Hong Kong in 2012 [ see report Torture – Asian and Global Perspectives Vol. 1, No. 3 ].
The focus for the second meeting [scheduled for 11-13 November 2013] will be to identify the reluctance of governments to achieve a substantial change in the nature of policing in their countries to bring these institutions at par with the policing systems of advanced democracies.
The link below refers to the announcement which in fact is a CONCEPT PAPER:
For details please contact: Bijo Francis, Executive Director, Email: ahrc at ahrc.asia
New Pakistani Government wants to do away with Ministry of Human Rights
August 5, 2013Several newspapers and NGOs, including the Asian Human Rights Commission, have criticized the new government of Pakistan for deciding to do away with the Ministry of Human Rights and merge it with the Ministry of Justice. Read the rest of this entry »
Bangladesh: the sad story of the attack on Shahed Kayes
August 2, 2013The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHCR) tells the story of what happened recently in Bangladesh to human rights defender and philanthropic educator Shahed
Kayes well. I suggest you read the full story provided in the link below but the essence is that Shahed Kayes knew that his attempt to educate impoverished children from the low castes was unacceptable to the deeply entrenched local power structure and those at the top of it, as schooling can lessen the abundant supply of uneducated labour at their disposal. He was also trying to stop illegal sand-mining, a crime that threatens the very survival of the Meghna river communities. The sand mafia was bound to be irked. Read the rest of this entry »
State media in Sri Lanka lead attacks on Human Rights Defenders
June 4, 2013According to a statement from the Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on 4 June there is an ongoing attack in Sri Lanka on Human Rights Defenders, NGOs & opposition politicians through the Independent Television Network (ITN). The statement give concrete and detailed indications to show that ITN – in spite of its name – has continued to follow the government line and started a fresh round of attacks in May this year. Read the rest of this entry »
NEPAL: Asian Legal Resource Centre addresses plight of human rights defenders
May 24, 2013On 23 May 2013, the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) submitted a detailed statement to the UN concerning the increased pressure on HRDs in Nepal. Here are some highlights:
1. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) wishes to highlight the continuing need for closer monitoring by the Human Rights Council and the international community of the renewed threats and attacks that human rights defenders working in Nepal have had to face since the beginning of the year. Worries about potential reprisals from the former belligerents have arisen following progress in the investigation and prosecution of cases of human rights violations committed during the conflict. Read the rest of this entry »
Criminalization of rights defenders and impunity for police in Burma
May 20, 2013
Sagaing Region in Burma (credit: Wikipedia)
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns in the strongest terms the announcement of the commander of the Sagaing Region Police Force, Myanmar, that the police will arrest and charge eight human rights defenders whom it blames for inciting protests against the army-backed copper mine project in Monywa. The Commission also condemns the latest round of needless police violence against demonstrators there. According to an undated announcement just issued by the regional commander of the Myanmar Police Force, a copy of which the AHRC has obtained, the police will lodge charges against eight persons for allegedly provoking demonstrations and other supposedly illegal actions. The persons named include six members of the Yangon Peoples Support Network. The other two persons are Han Win Aung of the Political Prisoners Families Beneficial Network and Thaung Taik Oo of the Yangon Institute of Technology Students Union (18 charges!). The announcement goes on to warn that failure to provide information leading to the apprehension of these persons or harbouring of them constitute criminal offenses. Read the rest of this entry »
Indonesian activists detained for investigating lack of medical treatment in Tambrauw, Papua
April 18, 2013The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the detention of two activists by the Sausapor Sub-District Police in Papua, Indonesia. The activists were taken from their house to the police station and were being interrogated in relation to an investigation they conducted regarding the death of villagers in Tambrauw Regency due to the lack of medical treatment. It was reported that the two activists as well as others who were engaged in the investigation were previously followed by police officers.
According to the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Desk of Protestant Church in Tanah Papua GKI-TP, Yohanis Mambrasar and his father, Hans Mambrasar, were taken from their house at Werur Village on 8 April 2013 at 12.20pm by two police officers wearing civilian clothes. The two officers who were identified as Darius Burdam and Sucipto from Sausapor Sub-District Police took the two activists on a black pickup truck to Sausapor Sub-District police where they were interrogated in two separate rooms. He was questioned on the investigation he conducted with his father and other activists regarding the death of Papuans in Tambrauw regency during November 2012 to March 2013, due to the lack of medical treatment. According to Yohanis and information gathered by other activists, the villagers were suffering from various sicknesses including diarrhoea and malnutrition and the lack of medical treatment resulted in the death of the villagers. The two police officers asked Yohanis regarding organisations in Papua which are against the Indonesian government as well as the name of organisations he is working with. Yohanis was later released without any charge on the same day.
Yohanis’ father, Hans Mambrasar, was interrogated separately by four officers wearing civilian clothes, along the same lines as his son. Hans, who is also a priest, was further asked by the police on the source of the funding. Hans was also released by the police without any charge on the same day.
Teaching political science in Burma is still risky
April 16, 2013The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about charges brought against a community educator in Burma for teaching political science. Min Min, a human rights defender based in the country’s lowland, is being prosecuted because he refused to heed warnings that he not teaches a course on political science at his community-based education centre. He is currently on bail with the trial underway. The details of the story are below: Read the rest of this entry »
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 