Tag: Freedom from Torture
Myanmar: Burma slammed for refusing to sign declaration on sexual violence
Human rights groups have condemned Burma for refusing to sign a new international declaration condemning sexual violence in conflict, which they say highlights its indifference to abuses perpetrated by the military.
Burma’s army has been accused of using rape as a systematic weapon of war targeting ethnic minority groups –...
INDONESIA: A Tortured Inmate and His Family in West Sumatra are Under Threat for Seeking Justice
According to the information obtained from LBH Padang, a 28-year-old inmate named Riko Yeyandra, was receiving the visit of a friend on 8 September 2013 at Class IIB Solok Correctional Facility (Lapas Solok) where he was being detained. Only a few minutes after he started talking to his friend,...
Detained Filipinos in Sabah doing well
MANILA -- President Benigno Aquino III believes the Filipinos detained in Sabah are doing well amid reports of human rights violations allegedly perpetrated by Malaysian forces.
Aquino told members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) Wednesday there seemed to be a “wide” disparity between official reports and...
Myanmar: Rights Commission says use of torture in prison riot breached human rights
The use of torture during last month’s prison riot in southern Myanmar was a violation of human rights, according to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The NHRC statement comes after commission officials last month made an inspection tour of Kawthaung Prison in Taninthayi Region, where the riot occurred on...
Cambodia: Human rights defender Tep Vanny, assaulted by security forces during peaceful protest
During a peaceful protest on 18 October 2013, in Phnom Penh, human rights defender, Ms Tep Vanny, was assaulted by security forces from Khan Daun Penh while they attempted to confiscate demonstrators' possessions. Three other demonstrators and a foreign journalist were also left with minor injuries.
Tep Vanny is a...
PHILIPPINES: Torture of a 16-year-old boy caught in a fight between soldiers and rebels
Mr. XX (name withheld), 16 years of age, was arrested along with seven other men suspected to have taken part in the siege in Zamboanga City, Philippines by the Moro National Liberation Front.
According to Mr. XX, they were all wounded when they were forced to surrender. He said that...
PHILIPPINES: A man was tortured and falsely charged with extortion and possession of illegal drugs after returning a missing mobile phone
On August 22, 2013 at 9 am, Saldy Sultan Pangsayan, of Katoli, Sultan Kudarat and his wife, Saguera, found a mobile phone and took it home. In Saldy's testimony provided to the AHRC, he related what occurred after finding the phone:
"There are many calls (on the phone) but I...
Vietnam becomes 81st party to UNCAT
Vietnamese Ambassador Le Hoai Trung signed the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) on Friday, making the country the latest to join the convention.
On behalf of the Vietnamese Government, the Ambassador signed the UNCAT at the United Nations headquarters on...
U.N. criticizes alleged brutality by Cambodian authorities
Recent labor clashes in Cambodia, involving alleged police brutality, must be investigated, a United Nations spokesman said Friday.
Rupert Colville, spokesman for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, voiced concern over the violent clashes between police and striking garment workers Nov. 12 in the Stung...
Philippines: Three tortured and falsely charged activists freed
Dear Friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that the three community organizers whom were reported to have been illegally arrested, tortured, detained and falsely charged in November 2009, have been released after they were exonerated from the charges against them.
UPDATED INFORMATION:
In our appeal in...
