Category: World

ASIA: Movie screening ‘Silence in the Courts’ in ALRC’s Geneva office

Announcements, Asia February 23, 2017February 23, 2017 Admin 0 Comments

Two women from a farming village, about 100 kilometres from Colombo, were raped within one year by a judge presiding over cases which involved their husbands as accused parties. Seeking justice, the women approached the National Judicial Services Commission, the BAR Association, and the President of the country. The authorities, instead of helping the victims, converge to silence them. An editor of a leading alternative newspaper publishes the story of one of the women. He continues to follow up the incident and publishes a series of articles exposing the judge’s misdeed. Despite repeated public exposure and complaints, the Magistrate is neither charged for the crime nor investigated. The film portrays […]

ASIA: Are Asia’s criminal justice institutions capable of addressing torture?

Announcements, Asia February 22, 2017March 1, 2017 Admin 0 Comments

Since the promulgation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, out of 48 Asian states, 40 states have ratified/acceded to the CAT, whereas 8 states, including countries like India, have refused to ratify the convention. Despite large number of states having ratified the CAT, the practice of torture continues in Asia. In fact, there is an increase in the number of cases reported from the region, particularly within the states where the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) and its partners work.

ASIA: Role of criminal justice institutions in protecting HRDs in Asia

Announcements, Asia February 21, 2017February 21, 2017 Admin 0 Comments

Human rights defenders across the world today have to overcome restrictive and challenging circumstances to undertake their mandate. These challenges could be broadly classified into three categories. They are: (i) restrictions imposed through statutes or regulatory processes; (ii) false accusations and fabricated cases registered by the state against HRDs and their organisations; and (iii) threats presented against HRDs by non-state actors, including fundamentalist religious forces.

ASIA: Council needs to make itself effective in protecting rights

33rd Session - 2016 September, ALRC AT THE UN, Asia, Commission on Human Rights, Oral Statements September 21, 2016January 16, 2017 Admin 0 Comments

An Oral Statement to the 33rd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) Mr. Vice President. The ALRC wishes to bring to the attention of this Council that the situation of human rights has become alarming in most Asian States. The institutionalised coercive methods of law-enforcement coupled with dysfunctional judicial systems and the violent political culture are contributing to the process of gross violations of human rights. Bangladesh is an ideal example where protection of rights is pretty much a joke. 296 persons have disappeared since January 2009, of which 61 are between January and August this year. This is continuing without […]

ASIA: Criminal Justice Process needs fundamental reforms to address gross human rights abuses

33rd Session - 2016 September, ALRC AT THE UN, Asia, Commission on Human Rights, Oral Statements September 17, 2016January 16, 2017 Admin 0 Comments

An Oral Statement to the 33rd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) Mr. Vice President. The ALRC wishes to bring to the attention of this Council that with the exceptions of Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan, arbitrary arrest is the norm and by state design in Asia, and the judiciary in these countries are ineffective to prevent it. Crime investigation in Asia begins and ends with statements of the person in custody and not on the basis of evidence of guilt. To facilitate this process, the practice of arbitrary arrest is widely exercised in the region. This is because Asian […]

ASIA: OHCHR must invest in justice institution reengineering to improve human rights situations

33rd Session - 2016 September, ALRC AT THE UN, Asia, Commission on Human Rights, Oral Statements September 15, 2016January 16, 2017 Admin 0 Comments

An Oral Statement to the 33rd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) Mr. Vice President. We thank the High Commissioner for Human Rights, for the update on the global human rights scenario, drawing upon the realities from the countries. As we meet, human rights defenders are prevented by some countries to travel to attend this august meeting, of which Mr. Khurram Parvez from India is one of the latest victims. The High Commissioner has reflected in his speech about the abuse of the process of law. In all countries in Asia, perhaps with the exception of Hong Kong, South Korea and […]

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 […]