Over 50 persons, mainly Christians, have been killed since the Hindu fundamentalists launched an attack on the Christians following the murder of four members of the VHP including 90 year old Laxmananda Saraswati by unidentified gunmen on 23 August 2008 in Kandhamal district of Orissa. Thousands of Christians have fled their villages and some 30,000 people have been displaced out of which about 15,000 reportedly sought shelter. As the entry to the effected areas were blocked with logs, both the State and National Human Rights Commission were missing.

Where is the State? 29 August 2008

Where is NHRC? 3 September 2008

50 Years of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958

On 18 August 1958, the parliament of India enacted the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The Act was brought ostensibly to deal with the insurgency in the then Naga Hills. Fifty years have passed; the AFSPA has become the symbol of oppression and repression. The insurgencies are far from being resolved. The government of India has shown little political will to implement the recommendations of the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee on the Review of the AFSPA. On 18 August 2008, Asian Centre for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, North East Dialogue Forum, Other Media & Reachout will organize a Panel Discussion on “Democratic State and AFSPA: Reflections on National Security, Military and Extraordinary Law”.

Invitation

Programme

South Asia Human Rights Index 2008, 1 August 2008

Asian Centre for Human Rights today released its South Asia Human Rights Index 2008. Under the ACHR’s index scoring system Sri Lanka (with 52 points) is the worst human rights violator in South Asia followed by Bangladesh (45), Bhutan (43), Pakistan (41), Maldives (23), Nepal (24) and India (24). Afghanistan has not been included for indexing purpose. Afghanistan’s security is ensured by international forces over which the government of Afghanistan has no mechanism to establish accountability - a necessary condition for indexing. Read more

Press Release: Sri Lanka No. 1 Human Rights Violator in South Asia: SAARC urged to draft regional human rights mechanism

Torture in India 2008: A State of Denial, 25 June 2008

The first ever nation-wide assessment of the use of torture, the report analyses patterns and practices of torture in police custody with special focus on custodial torture of women and children, torture in the custody of the armed forces, torture by armed opposition groups, torture in judicial custody, torture by other public officials and non-state actors, judicial interventions against torture, NHRC’s failure to address torture, scrutiny by United Nations bodies and the response of the Indian government. It also makes specific recommendations.

Death in custody: A blot on the criminal justice system, 30 June 2008

The Tribune, one of the prominent national dailies in India, in its editorial on "Torture in India 2008: A State of Denial" states, " The increasing cases of torture, assault and deaths in custody raise disturbing questions about the credibility of the rule of law and the administration of the criminal justice system". Read more

Pakistan bans ACHR's report, 9 April 2008

ACHR has recently learnt that on 25 January 2008, the Secretary to the Home Department of the Provincial Government of Punjab of Pakistan banned ACHR’s report, “Pakistan: The Land of Religious Apartheid and Jackboot Justice: A report to the UN Committee Against Racial Discrimination” of 8 August 2007 under Section 99-A of Pakistan Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) which criminalises offenses which are allegedly “treasonable, a seditious, prejudicial to national integration (of Pakistan), abets riots, which is deliberately and maliciously intended to outrage the religious feelings of such class by insulting the religion or the religious beliefs”. ACHR urged Pakistan to lift the ban.

The trial of Sheikh Hasina: International community fails to ensure due process, 27 March 2008

Across South Asia, the Supreme Courts bend and vow to supremacy of the executive especially during state of emergency. In contrast, the High Courts of Bangladesh under the current State of emergency have shown remarkable courage to uphold human rights, fundamental freedoms and most importantly, the due process of law as reflected in the judgment on 17 February 2008 on the trial of Sheikh Hasina under the Emergency Power Rules, 2007. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has once again bowed to the supremacy of the quasi-military dictatorship. But international community too has failed to voice its concerns against the denial of the due process of law to the detainees.

The trial of Sheikh Hasina: A case of intervention by IPU, 06 October 2007

UPR and Asia

The United Nations Human Rights Council is scheduled to start its Universal Periodic Review in April 2008. Asian Centre for Human Rights has been making stakeholders' submission on a number of countries as given below.

Pakistan: Pakistan: Army as the Judge, Jury and Executioner, 8 February 2008
Sri Lanka: A test for the UPR mechanism, 6 February 2008
India: Stakeholders’ Report under the UPR, 20 November 2007 (pdf / html )
Bahrain: Stakeholders’ Report, 20 November 2007 (pdf / html )

The Naxals get lethal, 03 October 2007

At least 384 persons including 129 civilians, 162 security forces and 93 alleged Naxalites have been killed in the Naxal conflict during January to September 2007. The highest number of killings were reported from Chhattisgarh (208), followed by Andhra Pradesh (59), Jharkhand (44) and Bihar (28). The Naxal conflict has serious implications on the enjoyment of human rights.

Chhattisgarh government clarifies on the MSF's expulsion, 11 August 2007

In response to the news reports and press release of Asian Centre for Human Rights of 11 August 2007 on the reported expulsion of "Medicins Sans Frontiers" from Dantewada district, the State Government of Chhattisgarh clarified that "the State government has not even contemplated on barring the NGO from working in any part of the State. The Government is sensitive to the humanitarian medical aid that has been provided by the Medicins Sans Frontiers across the Globe and in India". ACHR welcomes the clarification. >>> Read the clarification....

Need for a National Law for Prevention of Torture, 25 June 2007

The National Conference on Prevention of Torture in India organised by ACHR was among others addressed by representatives of National Human Rights Commission (Mr P C Sharma, Member of NHRC), Delegation of the European Commission to India (Mr Parimal Bardan, Senior Advisor), International Committee of the Red Cross (Mr Larry Maybee, Regional Legal Advisor and Dr Christopher Daniel, Medical Delegate). >>> read more

India Human Rights Report 2007

30 May 2007

During 2006, the armed opposition groups were responsible for more violations while the police were responsible for widespread, indiscriminate and disproportionate use of fire-arms. The government authorities failed to bring down violation by the AOGs or take appropriate actions against the security forces.Human rights defenders continued face atrocities from the security forces and the armed opposition groups.

US clarifications on the Bhutanese refugees:

23 May 2007

Following the ACHR WEEKLY REVIEW titled “Communists in Bhutan? The contribution of the US, UNHCR, India and et all” of 16 May 2007, the United States has clarified to the Asian Centre for Human Rights that the “Core Working Group on Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal ” is committed to find “a comprehensive and sustainable resolution” for each and every Bhutanese refugee sheltered in Nepal. The process of resolution of the Bhutanese refugee crisis must start with Bhutan complying with its commitments made in 2003 to take back certain number of refugees >>> read more

Maldives: Judiciary under the President's thumb

28 February 2007

A submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro Despouy who visited Maldives from 25 February to 1 March 2007 “to assist the authorities in implementing judicial reforms” as part of the "Roadmap for the Reform Agenda". >>> read more

Naxal Conflict in 2006

10 January 2007

The Naxal Conflict in 2006, the first such report prepared by any organisation in India that documents human rights violations and analyses the main trends of the Naxal conflict. A total of 749 persons were killed in 2006 which included 285 civilians, 135 security personnel and 329 alleged Naxalites and Chhattisgarh accounted for 48.5% of the total killings as a direct consequence of the anti-Naxalite Salwa Judum campaign. >>> read more

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Kandhamal Massacres in Orissa

- Where is the State and National Human Rights Commission?