The impeachment of the first women Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayke and the appointment of Mohan Peiris as the new Chief Justice is a serious blow to the independence of the judiciary and the functioning of democracy in Sri Lanka, said Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights organization representing 47 [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 6 November 2012) – Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights organization representing 49 non-governmental organizations across Asia, expressed its grave concern at the pending impeachment motion filed against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayke, in the Parliament of Sri Lanka. The move to impeach the Chief Justice was made on [ Read more ]

Dear Secretary-General, When Commonwealth countries announced at the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting(CHOGM) in Australia that Sri Lanka could host CHOGM 2013, they agreed to actively promote and uphold the fundamental values and principles of the Commonwealth, including human rights and the rule of law. We therefore urge you to press for adequate and [ Read more ]

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is deeply concerned over the news of the release of Nawshaad, one of the key suspects of the abduction and killing of human rights defender Mr. Pattani Razeek in Sri Lanka. “We fear that the release of the key suspect may lead to interference of the evidence [ Read more ]

Oral Statement Delivered by Ms. Pooja Patel on Behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Thursday, 28 June 2012 Thank you, Madame President. FORUM-ASIA expresses its concern at the lack of any substantial progress made by the Sri Lankan government in implementing the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations. The government [ Read more ]

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) received information regarding threats, harassment, intimidation, vilification and incitement to violence against Sri Lankan human rights defenders in connection with their views on accountability issues in Sri Lanka. These threats are part of a hate campaign directed against human rights defenders who have engaged with the 19th regular session of [ Read more ]

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights group with 49 member organisations in 17 countries across Asia, has welcomed the resolution on “promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka”, which was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council (Council) today with 24 States voting in favor, 8 abstentions and [ Read more ]

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), in association with three Sri Lankan non-governmental organisations[1], draws the attention of the United Nations Human Rights Council to the alarming trend violations of the rights to adequate housing, land and property in post-war Sri Lanka. The government of Sri Lanka‟s push for “development” is playing [ Read more ]

FORUM-ASIA would like to draw the Council’s attention to the emerging trends of land grabbing and development-induced displacement in post-war Sri Lanka. Contrary to Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe’s portrayal during the High-level Segment about the progress in the “removal of military from facilitation of civil administration in the north making land previously used for security purposes [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 13 February 2012) The Sri Lankan government must make available the post-mortem report and the DNA test report of human rights defender, P. Razeek to the court, the family and the lawyer of Razeek’s family soonest possible, said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) that marked the second anniversary of the [ Read more ]