Category: Countries

INDONESIA: New Regulation on Special Autonomy for Papua must ensure protection for Indigenous Papuans

48th - Session - September 2021, ALRC AT THE UN, Indonesia, Written Submissions September 13, 2021 admin 0 Comments

A Written Statement to the 48th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC) wishes to draw the attention of the UN Human Rights Council to the problem of amendment of Law on Special Autonomy for Papua. The House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia has officially ratified the second amendment to Law Number 21 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy for the Papua Province to become a law. The decision was made at the Plenary Meeting of the Closing of Session Period V for the 2020-2021 Session Year. In total, 18 Articles underwent changes and two […]

BANGLADESH: Enforced Disappearances Must Warrant Consequences

48th - Session - September 2021, ALRC AT THE UN, Bangladesh, Written Submissions September 13, 2021September 13, 2021 admin 0 Comments

A Written Statement to the 48th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) raises the issue of Bangladesh’s rabid enforced disappearances to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s 48th Regular Session. Bangladesh’s incumbent government began using enforced disappearances as one of the tools to silence the dissidents since assuming to the office in January 2009. Independent human rights defenders’ documentation suggests that the law-enforcement agencies had abducted 603 people resulting their disappearance under the incumbent government till June 2021. The actual number of enforced disappearances are few times higher than this figure. Many families of […]

INDONESIA: Pretrial detention under the Criminal Law Procedure needs serious reform, having caused torture and ill-treatment

46th Session - February 2021, ALRC AT THE UN, Indonesia, Written Submissions February 24, 2021 admin 0 Comments

A Written Statement to the 46th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC) wishes to draw the attention of the UN Human Rights Council to the problem in the existing Criminal Law Procedure which at present still regulates pretrial detention in Indonesia. Pretrial detention is still a serious problem for Law Enforcement in Indonesia. This is primarily because it is one of the main problems causing the practice of torture and other inhuman acts. It is certainly not in accordance with the standards of international Human Rights Law. Moreover, pretrial detention for a long period of […]

BANGLADESH: Torture being used to block access to justice

46th Session - February 2021, ALRC AT THE UN, Bangladesh, Written Submissions February 24, 2021 admin 0 Comments

A Written Statement to the 46th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) brings the issue of torture to the United Nations Human Rights Council the way the Member State has institutionalised it in Bangladesh. The matters on the institutionalised practice of torture in Bangladesh deserves adequate attention and effective actions from the international community. Actions are required not only for the reason that Bangladesh disregards the Human Rights Mechanisms of the United Nations, and the State abuses the multilateral institutions for displaying its untrue cooperations with the international bodies. Rather, the accountability of the State is urgently […]

BANGLADESH: Arbitrary Detention used as a complementary tool for the unelected government and a coercive law-enforcement system

45th Session - September 2020, ALRC AT THE UN, Bangladesh, Written Submissions September 11, 2020 admin 0 Comments

A Written Submission to the 45th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre BANGLADESH: Arbitrary Detention used as a complementary tool for the unelected government and a coercive law-enforcement system The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) once again draws attention of the United Nations Human Rights Council and independent experts of its Special Procedures about systemic use of arbitrary arrests and detention as a tool for silencing the citizens, coerce the state power, and enjoy corruption. Bangladesh is a State where legality or rational reason is not required for arresting a person. A coercive law-enforcement system and an illegitimate government, which consecutively […]

INDONESIA: Twenty two years of unresolved enforced disappearances while the offender enjoys impunity

45th Session - September 2020, ALRC AT THE UN, Indonesia, Written Submissions September 11, 2020 admin 0 Comments

A Written Submission to the 45th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC) wishes to draw the attention of the UN Human Rights Council to the problem of enforced disappearances in Indonesia. After twenty-two years in office, the former dictator, President Suharto, stepped down in 1998. The cases of enforced disappearances against student activists occurred in 1997-1998. They remain unresolved. Ironically, the person who allegedly became the most responsible person remains free and enjoys impunity. Mr. Prabowo Subianto, former commander of the Special Armed Forces and former Presidential Candidate in the last election, currently becomes the […]

BANGLADESH: Victims of Enforced Disappearances Denied Access to Justice

45th Session - September 2020, ALRC AT THE UN, Bangladesh, Written Submissions September 11, 2020September 11, 2020 admin 0 Comments

A Written Submission to the 45th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre BANGLADESH: Victims of Enforced Disappearances Denied Access to Justice The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) is set to hold its 45th Regular Session. Enforced Disappearance is one of the thematic issues on which the independent experts of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) is scheduled to present their annual report in this Session. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) draws the attention of the UN Independent Experts and the Human Rights Council. Questions should be asked regarding what improvements have been achieved in terms […]

PHILIPPINES: Acceleration of extra-judicial killings of jurists in the Philippines

44th Session - June2020, Philippines, Written Submissions June 30, 2020 admin 0 Comments

A Written Submission to the 44th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council Jointly Submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (Council), during its 41st Session, adopted Resolution A/HRC/41/L.20, Promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines (Resolution 41/L.20)1, requesting the High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) to present a comprehensive report on human rights in the Philippines to the Council at its 44th Session. Resolution 41/L.20 urged the Philippines “to take all necessary measures to prevent extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, to carry out impartial investigations and to hold perpetrators accountable.” At the 42nd […]

BANGLADESH: Access to justice amidst COVID-19 for pro-opposition litigants are dealt with draconian laws and discrimination

44th Session - June2020, Bangladesh, Written Submissions June 30, 2020 admin 0 Comments

A Written Submission to the 44th Regular Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) draws attention of the United Nations Human Rights Council and its Special Procedures to the realities regarding access to justice in Bangladesh, an incumbent member of the Human Rights Council. The President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, on 9 May 2020, promulgated “Information Technology Usage Ordinance by the Court, 2020” (Ordinance Number 1 of 2020) to introduce virtual judicial proceedings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ordinance is promulgated for encouraging ‘physical distancing’ in the judiciary of the country. The Supreme Court of […]

BANGLADESH: Torturous law-enforcement system with impunity and rewards to perpetrators impede protection of rights

43rd Session - February 2020, ALRC AT THE UN, Bangladesh, Written Submissions February 24, 2020 admin 0 Comments

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) draws attention of the United Nations Human Rights Council and its Special Procedures about the institutionalised practice of torture in Bangladesh, which is an incumbent member of the Human Rights Council. Bangladesh, being a State Party to 10 major Treaties including the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, poorly cooperates with the Special Procedures and the Treaty Bodies of the UN Human Rights mechanism. Its government always claims that the state “plays a constructive role in the international arena through the promotion of cooperation and dialogue, particularly at the United Nations” and that it “cooperates regularly with the […]