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The Asian Human Rights Commission has received the very sad news that a young student set himself on fire for want of a new school uniform in Shabquadar, Pakhunkha province. The tragic story is a reminder of the woeful lives of Pakistan's many impoverished citizens. It highlights the challenges facing those that cling to the hope that education could be the means to escape from the grinding poverty that so many of them face.

By Qurat Mirza

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream"

The situation in Pakistan grows worse for the religious minority groups on a daily basis. The security and law and order situation has become so chaotic that the authorities seem to have no control over providing protection to these minorities. The fundamentalist Muslim leaders (Mullahs) have a free rein and relentlessly exploit the blasphemy laws for their personal interests and these laws were legislated to debilitate and undermine universal human rights. Members of all faiths have been victims of these merciless violations of human rights including Christians, Hindus and even Shiites.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-035-2012
February 24, 2012

A Statement from the Asian Human Rights Commission

The Hong Kong-based Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) and Nepalese human rights organisation Advocacy Forum wish to highlight the lack of progress being made in addressing enforced disappearances in Nepal, which is engendering growing frustration and suffering by victims' families.

In 2011, a special taskforce established by the government to ascertain the loss of life and property found that the country’s 1996-2006 conflict resulted in at least 17,265 deaths and 1,302 disappearances1; including a significant number of members of minorities and students.

AHRC-ART-007-2012

JC Weliamuna

This is the question of the day. This is raised nationally and internationally and answers contrast for different reasons. In this article, I endeavor to briefly answer this question from a governance perspective, keeping in mind the present socio-political realities in Sri Lanka.

As has been widely reported worldwide, in January the government of Burma released from prison over 600 detainees, around half of who were political prisoners. Many of these people the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) had issued appeals for in the last few years. Although we are very happy to see the release of these detainees, many others remain in custody. In this update we provide some details of released and still detained persons.

UPDATED INFORMATION:

On January 25, 2011, Nepal's human rights record was reviewed for the first time under the Universal Periodic Review mechanism. That mechanism was established by the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006 through resolution 60/251 to "review the fulfilment by each State of its human rights obligations and commitments." On that occasion, peer countries raised concerns about ongoing human rights challenges and formulated recommendations to improve Nepal's human rights framework.

The incident of abductions of persons followed by secret killings in Bangladesh has been a matter of serious concern for everyone. People having different backgrounds, including lawyers, university students, small businessmen and pro-opposition political activists, are being abducted by plain-clothed armed men from the streets, market places and even from their respective offices or homes. In almost all cases the abductors claim to be the agents of the country's law-enforcement agencies and security forces although their identification is always impossible in the given context.