Thirteen human rights and concern groups from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Hong Kong have renewed their coalition in South Asia to fight against torture and impunity and to better defend the rights of victims. The umbrella group, known as the South Asian Network against Torture and Impunity (SANTI), vows to step up joint effort to put an end to torture, one of the most common forms of rights violation in the region. "Torture is a problem for the poor who are often being ignored and neglected, even by some activists," said Basil Fernando, executive director of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), one of the member groups.

Odhikar, a leading rights group in Bangladesh, said there had been a strong urge among non-governmental organisations in the region for such a network despite a previous failure to work together.

SANTI was originally formed last year on the sideline of a regional meeting on torture and impunity organised by the Dhaka-based Odhikar. The network was aimed at raising its voice against impunity at the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation held in Islamabad in January. But the initiative could not be taken forward due to lack of communications and interests among groups at the time.

The decision to reactivate the coalition was made in October at a regional discussion on criminal responsibility for torture organised by Odhikar in Dhaka. The participating groups agreed to work together to strengthen institutionalisation of human rights in South Asia by making human rights commissions more effective and easily accessible. Where there is no human rights commission, the network will advocate for the setting up of such an institution, they said.

"This network feels that in this region the criminal justice delivery system is more or less dependant upon the police or the executive. To make the judiciary more effective, the network will work for an independent and impartial criminal justice system," they said in a statement after their meeting.

"The network will work for effective monitoring of national security laws so that fight against torture with the help of international conventions can be strengthened," they said, adding that promotion of relevant U.N. conventions would be on their agenda.

It will also focus on non-state actors, protection of victim's rights, fight against repression, victims' rehabilitation and protection of witnesses.

The groups agreed to work for establishing domestic information centres to disseminate first-hand news on torture cases and victims' rights. Other local groups will be involved in the campaign because they are close to the grassroots communities, the network said. "It is expected that working with such small groups in spirit of partnership and ownership will bring effective results," the statement said.

In the coming year, the network will focus on strengthening human rights institutions and monitoring national security laws in the region.

SANTI members include the Hong Kong-based AHRC; Nepal's National Human Rights Commission; the Women Research and Action Group, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha and CARID from India; the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Joint Action Committee for People's Rights in Pakistan. Members from Bangladesh are Odhikar, the RMMRU, UBINIG, Article 39, Neeti Gobeshona Kendro and the Law Reporters Forum.