Category: 32nd Session- 2016 June

PAKISTAN: Council should help developing judicial infrastructures

32nd Session- 2016 June, ALRC AT THE UN, Commission on Human Rights, Oral Statements, Pakistan June 23, 2016January 16, 2017 Admin 0 Comments

An Oral Statement to the 32nd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) Mr. President. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) draws attention to Pakistan, where the writ of the State is unraveling and even the façade of the rule of law is vanishing. Decaying political and justice institutions are perpetuating gross abuse of human rights. Where even a whiff of justice is a distant memory, intolerant mob justice rules the streets, while a crumbling court system delivers only to those with deep pockets. Since the start of Zarb-e-Azb, the Military operation against the terrorism, extrajudicial killings have ballooned. In virtually all […]

WORLD: Judicial institutions which act as checks on executive power are being dismantled

32nd Session- 2016 June, ALRC AT THE UN, Commission on Human Rights, statements, World June 14, 2016January 15, 2017 Admin 0 Comments

Opening Statement by Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, made at the Human Rights Council 32nd Session on 13th June 2016 forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Distinguished President of the Council, Excellencies Colleagues and friends When the Inter-American Commission announces it has to cut its personnel by forty percent – and when States have already withdrawn from it and the Inter-American Court; When States Parties now threaten to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court – and, even more recently, others threaten to leave the United Nations, or the European Court of Human Rights and the European Union; When those […]

SRILANKA: Proposed Office of Missing persons is no substitute for immediate investigations into murders

32nd Session- 2016 June, ALRC AT THE UN, Commission on Human Rights, Sri Lanka, Written Submissions June 7, 2016January 16, 2017 Admin 0 Comments

It seems no progress can be made in Sri Lanka on the attitude to murder. Murder is now regarded as normal and therefore not something to worry much about. And, this is exactly what should worry everyone. But hardly anyone seems to worry about it. We see the same thing in the proposed Office of Missing Persons (OMP). The simple fact about a missing person in Sri Lanka is that he or she is dead. Very rarely, does a missing person re-appear. As in the case of the dead, missing persons normally never appear again. At least that is case in Sri Lanka, whatever the case may be elsewhere off […]

PAKISTAN: Call to curb rise in violence against women

32nd Session- 2016 June, ALRC AT THE UN, Commission on Human Rights, Pakistan, Written Submissions June 7, 2016June 7, 2016 Admin 0 Comments

1. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) would like to draw the UN Human Rights Council’s attention to the rise in violence against women in Pakistan. According to a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll, Pakistan is the third most dangerous country for women after Afghanistan and Congo. The poll report has cited cultural, tribal, and religious practices that are harmful to women in Pakistan, as well as acid attacks, child and forced marriage, and punishment or retribution by stoning or other physical abuse as reasons for the ranking. The Report also states that 90% of women in Pakistan face domestic violence. Though the country is witnessing a surge in legislation meant […]

INDONESIA: No protection for freedom of movement and residence

32nd Session- 2016 June, ALRC AT THE UN, Commission on Human Rights, Indonesia, Written Submissions June 6, 2016January 16, 2017 Admin 0 Comments

1. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) wishes to draw the attention of the UN Human Rights Council to the problem of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) within the territory of the Republic of Indonesia. As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the government has failed to protect the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose residence, as stated in the Covenant’s Article 12. 2. The main factor causing IDPs in Indonesia is continuing conflict and the government’s lack of protection for minority groups. While the government has failed to establish peaceful conflict resolution, its security forces along with vigilante groups are involved […]

INDIA: Gates of Justice Being Closed for the People of Narmada Valley

32nd Session- 2016 June, ALRC AT THE UN, Commission on Human Rights, India, Written Submissions June 6, 2016January 16, 2017 Admin 0 Comments

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) draws the attention of the Human Rights Council to the imminent decision of Government of India to close the gates of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River. The decision of constructing the dam to its full height of 139 meters has violated various orders of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award, state rehabilitation policies, as well as Supreme Court judgments delivered in 1991, 2000, 2002, 2005, and 2011. The Supreme Court has repeatedly disallowed construction of the dam before complete rehabilitation of the project affected people, who are spread over three states in western India, i.e. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. The […]