H.E. Laura Dupuy Lasserre President of the United Nations Human Rights Council Email: hrcpresidency@ohchr.org Fax: +41-(0)22-917-0490 CC: Member States of the Human Rights Council Geneva, 16 September 2011 Your Excellency, The undersigned non-governmental human rights organisations write this letter to you in your capacity as President of the Human Rights Council to appeal for your [ Read more ]

Tuesday, 13 September 2011 – Thank you, Madam President. FORUM‐ASIA welcomes the holding of this important panel discussion which reaffirms the rights of individuals and peoples to publicly express their grievances and aspirations for change. It is our deep concern, however, that many States including those in Asia have often responded to such assemblies through [ Read more ]

Monday, 12 September 2011 – Thank you, Madam President. FORUM-ASIA appreciates the sustained emphasis by the High Commissioner on ending impunity and ensuring accountability. As the High Commissioner noted, it is our lesson that the counter-terrorism measures undertaken by many States have too often led to the erosion of human rights and vicious cycles of violence and [ Read more ]

Subject: The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2013 We are gravely concerned about the ongoing discussions on holding the 2013 CHOGM in Sri Lanka. At the 2009 CHOGM, Sri Lanka’s candidature for hosting the meeting was deferred from 2011 to 2013  because  of  concerns  about  human  rights  abuses  by  the  Sri  Lankan  government.  While [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 29 July 2011) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is deeply saddened by the news of the discovery yesterday of a body believed to be that of disappeared Sri Lankan human rights defender, Mr Pattani Razeek. Police found the body in Kavathamunai, Oddamavadi, Valaichenai province after being led to the [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 16 July 2011) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a membership-based regional human rights organization, welcomes the arrest on 8 July 2011 of the chief suspect in relation to the disappearance of Sri Lankan human rights defender, Pattani Razeek. Razeek was Executive Committee member of FORUM-ASIA and Managing Trustee of [ Read more ]

H.E. President Mahinda Rajapakse President of Sri Lanka Fax: +94 11 243 0590 Email: gosl@presidentsl.org 28 June 2011 Your Excellency, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a membership-based regional human rights organization, is gravely concerned with the failure of Your Excellency’s Government on the investigation into the disappearance of Sri Lankan human rights [ Read more ]

17th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 2: Updates by the High Commissioner for Human Rights – General Debate Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Oral Statement Delivered by Ms. Giyoun Kim Monday, 30 May 2011 Thank you Mr. President. FORUM-ASIA appreciates the opening statement of the High Commissioner which [ Read more ]

16th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council On the Human Rights Situations in Sri Lanka (Item 4: Human Rights Situations that Require the Council’s Attention – General Debate) Tuesday, 15 March 2011 Thank you Mr. President. FORUM-ASIA urges the seized attention of the Council to the situation in Sri Lanka, in which the [ Read more ]

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) condemns the arrest of Mr. Jayampathy Bulathsinhala, and eleven other persons related to the printing trade in Sri Lanka. They were all arrested under the broad powers of the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1982 for printing a poster related to an opposition party’s campaign against [ Read more ]