To disseminate the information produced by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) as widely as possible, the organisation has consistently used web sites and the power of the internet to promote and protect human rights in the region. We wish to highlight here several web sites that focus on a specific ongoing theme of AHRC's work or an issue that we feel warrants special attention as well as new web sites that have been recently constructed.

Nepal: < http://www.nepal.ahrchk.net>
Disappearances in Nepal: < http://nepal.disappearances.org>
article 2: < http://www.article2.org>

The first web site above was constructed to respond to King Gyanendra's coup on Feb. 1, 2005. It collects the responses of the international community to the coup, including the United Nations, as well as the urgent appeals, statements and press releases issued by AHRC.

The second web site, as its name indicates, focuses on disappearances in the country and includes an online petition that invites people's signatures as well as a cyber memorial to Nepal's disappeared. In addition to this web site, the entire issue of article 2 for December 2004 contains a report about the issue.

No Torture: < http://notorture.ahrchk.net>

AHRC has campaigned against the widespread use of torture in Asia for many years. This web site contains AHRC's urgent appeals, statements and press releases related to torture in the region as well as a variety of other materials and resources on the issue - books, reports, posters, etc.

Sri Lanka Human Rights: <http://srilanka.ahrchk.net> in English and <http://srilanka.ahrchk.net/sin> in Singhalese

The fatal shooting of Sri Lankan torture victim Gerald Perera on Nov. 21, 2004, is currently highlighted on this web page. Perera, who was tortured in the Wattala police station in June 2002, was killed about a week before the criminal trial of the seven police officers accused of torturing him was to begin on Dec. 2. Updated information about the case, including the arrest of the persons allegedly responsible for his death, is also included on the web page. Other urgent appeals, statements and press releases produced by AHRC about Sri Lanka are provided on this site as well.

Protection & Participation: < http://www.southasiahr.net>

AHRC's newest publication, Protection & Participation, is now available on the internet. The magazine seeks to offer a platform to discuss the common problems of protecting human rights in South Asia, a subregion characterised by weak democracies, impunity and citizens living in fear and silence. Analyses of the cause of these problems and strategies to confront them are also part of the content of the publication.