A. Summary of the Annual Report 2012

The PPP-led government under President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Ministers Yousaf Raza Gillani and Raja Pervez Ashraf has made some effort to improve the protection of human rights. The lifting of the State of Emergency, the end of the judicial crisis, and the attempts to improve the country’s normative and legal framework has been welcome.

On the occasion of the International Human Rights Day, 10 December 2012, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) publishes its annual report on the State of Human Rights in Indonesia in 2012. The full report is now available for download at http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2012/ahrc-spr-006-2012.pdf

A Statement from Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC) forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

The Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC), on the occasion of Universal Children's Day, urges for the "Implementation of UNCRC and ratification of Optional protocol on involvement of children in armed conflict." The SPARK has also started a campaign of activities for the implementation of optional protocol along with other civil society organizations, Child Rights Clubs, and Child Rights Movement in Sindh province.

Much has been made in recent times of the continued use in Burma of antiquated and anti-human rights laws from the country's decades of military rule, as well as from the colonial era. While legislators discuss the amendment or revocation of some laws, and the issue is debated in the public domain, much less is said of the superstructure of military-introduced administrative orders that officials around the country continue to employ in their day-to-day activities, invariably in order to circumscribe or deny human rights.

Amir Murtaza

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child. The occasion aims to highlight the difficulties and barriers faced by young girls in their social and economic development.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has followed closely reports in recent weeks of an uprising by farmers against a takeover of a large area of agricultural land in upper Burma by an army-owned company and a private partner. The land grab, in the Letpadan Mountain Range of Sarlingyi Township, Sagaing Region, is of some 7800 acres of fertile land, to make way for copper mining. Currently farmers of around 26 villages cultivate the land. The residents of four villages--Siti, Wehmay, Zidaw and Kandaw--have already been forced out of their homes.

A group of human rights lawyers and activists gathered for a two-day seminar on the Rule of Law and Criminal Justice in Dhulikhel, Nepal. This seminar was organized by Advocacy Forum and the Asian Human Rights Commission.

(Geneva, Hong Kong, Kathmandu, July 9, 2012) Advocacy Forum and the Asian Legal Resource Centre held a special event at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on July 4, 2012, to discuss the need to develop the Council's ability to address chronic human rights situations in a way that enables tangible and sustainable improvements. Providing a platform for this discussion was supported by Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists and the International Service for Human Rights.

date: June 26, 2012
document id: ALRC-COS-20-11-2012
HRC section: Item 3, General Debate
Speaker: Ms. Juliette Thibaud

An Oral Statement to the 20th Session of the UN Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organization in general consultative status

Thank you Madam President,