‘The most violent place in Asia’
Extra-judicial killings are a major source of human rights violation in Asia, according to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), and, of eleven countries reviewed in the Commission’s 2006 Report on human rights in the region, Sri Lanka is the worst. On this second anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, reconstruction in the north-east of Sri Lanka is hampered by a resurgence of the long-running civil war.
Policing in Bangladesh is characterised by arbitrary arrests. Those detained without charge are often victim of assault, extortion and torture as well.
The AHRC claims human rights and the rule of law in Thailand have been seriously undermined by the military coup in September 2006.
Governments are obliged by international law to take action to protect the right to life. The Philippines and Sri Lankan governments are two that have failed to take serious action to curb extra-judicial killings by agents of the state and non-state actors. The report describes Burmese state officials at all levels as "wanton criminals."
Caste violence remains a major problem in India. The detailed report also profiles the human rights record of Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan.
