Human Rights Archives | Countercurrents

Human Rights

Hunger Strikes by Two Political Prisoners Draw Attention to Violation of Their Human Rights

In recent days reports of hunger strikes by two political prisoners Sagar Gorkhe and G.N.Saibaba have deeply hurt the conscience of a nation preparing to celebrate its 75th independence day. During the freedom movement several political prisoners had gone on very valiant hunger strikes taken up in very difficult conditions. These included such great freedom fighters as Bhagat Singh, Jatindranath[Read More…]

by Bharat Dogra — 27/05/2022 — 0 comments — Human Rights

Supreme Court upholds fundamental rights of sex workers to be treated with dignity and respect

Police should not abuse Sex Workers, media should not publish their pictures of raid and rescue operations The Supreme Court of India directed that the police should treat sex workers with dignity and should not abuse them, verbally or physically. The State governments have been asked to ensure this through adequate sensitisation of the police. In addition, those sex workers[Read More…]

by Press Release — 27/05/2022 — 0 comments — Human Rights

Immediately resolve the hunger strike Demands of Dr. G.N. Saibaba and save his life in the jail

Dr. G.N. Saibaba, a 90% physical disabled person languishing in Nagpur central Jail started a hunger strike for the second time from Saturday 21st May 2022 seeking immediate resolution of his demands. Dr. G.N. Saibaba, also sat on hunger strike one and half years ago during lockdown in the jail demanding the immediate handover of medicines supplied by his family[Read More…]

by Press Release — 26/05/2022 — 0 comments — Human Rights

Historic Supreme Court decision on sedition law

In the Supreme Court today, a bench headed by the present Chief Justice NV Ramana heard that four former Chief Justices J.S. Against the backdrop of the tenure of Khehar, Deepak Mishra, Ranjan Gogoi and SA Bobade, a historic verdict has been passed that a law of treason should be enacted. Will not be used until reconsidered. Should go The[Read More…]

by Vikas Parashram Meshram — 12/05/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

10 day Ordeal of Jignesh Mewani Exposes Wider Trend to Crush Democratic Dissent

All those committed to protecting democracy, and more specifically to stopping the recent trend of highly undemocratic assaults on political opponents, will feel greatly relieved by the happy ending of the 10 day ordeal of Jignesh Mewani on April 29 by the acceptance of his bail by the Barpeta district and sessions court. As a bonus gain for the democracy[Read More…]

by Bharat Dogra — 01/05/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Appeal to demand to end brutal police repression in Dhinkia

It is a matter of great concern that mindless mining and aggressive industrialization in Odisha, has become the root cause of deprivation of thousands of innocent people who have been depending on natural resources for generations for sustaining their life and livelihood. Absence of collective political will to take up people’s causes has further added to the worries of the[Read More…]

by Press Release — 28/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Re-arrest of Jignesh Mevani is a mockery of law

It is disgusting that the day Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani got bail at the CJM’s court,he was re-arrested on patently trumped-up charges of obstructing police officers from carrying out their duties and ‘outraging the modesty of a woman police officer’ by a police team from a different district of Assam. In both these cases the police are obviously the sole[Read More…]

by Hiren Gohain — 26/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Bernard Collaery’s War Against Secret Trials

In terms of labyrinthine callousness and indifference to justice, the treatment of lawyer Bernard Collaery by the Australian government must be slotted alongside that of another noted Australian currently being held in the maximum-security facility of Belmarsh, London. While Collaery has not suffered the same deprivations of liberty as publisher extraordinaire Julian Assange, both share the target status accorded them[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 22/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Petition asking for Nobel Prize for GN Saibaba launched

A Vancouver-based online magazine has started another campaign for the jailed Indian scholar. Radical Desi had previously initiated a petition for the release of Prof. G.N. Saibaba, who is being incarcerated under brutal conditions in spite of being disabled below the waist. Now it has begun an online petition ( https://www.change.org/p/nobel-prize-for-gn-saibaba) asking for the Nobel prize in recognition of his[Read More…]

by Press Release — 19/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Obscene Outsourcing: The UK-Rwandan Refugee Deal

This month, the government of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined an ignominious collective in announcing a refugee deal with Rwanda, seedily entitled the UK-Rwanda Migration Partnership. The fact that such terms are used – a partnership or deal connotes contract and transaction – suggests how inhumane policies towards those seeking sanctuary and a better life have become. In no[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 19/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Foisting of Fresh Charges on Comrade Batakrushna Swain Is A Grave Travesty of Justice

Jan Adhikar Manch, a coalition of trade unions, democratic rights groups and other progressive forces in Odisha, strongly condemns the manner in which Comrade Batakrushna Swain was arbitrarily foisted with fresh charges by the state police on 12 April 2022 as he was ready to leave the Puri jail. Comrade Batakrushna Swain, the Convenor of Upakuliya Jami o Jangal[Read More…]

by Press Release — 19/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Update on the persecution of Christians in India

In 365 days of 2021 Christians witnessed 502 incidents of violence In first 103 days of 2022 Christians witnessed 127 incidents of violence New Delhi – 15 April 2022: Today, over two thousand years ago Jesus Christ was persecuted or believed to be crucified on this day. Followers of Jesus are even today being persecuted in certain parts of the[Read More…]

by United Christian Forum — 16/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Release All Political Prisoners

A Great Way of Celebrating 75th Anniversary of Independence is to Release All Political Prisoners. Campaign Should Start Now to be Effective by August 1 In the course of India’s long and very courageous freedom movement, India became from time to time the country with perhaps the largest number of political prisoners in the world. These included many highly distinguished[Read More…]

by Bharat Dogra — 14/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

When the Process becomes the Punishment

Tomorrow, 14th April 2022 marks the completion of two years of PUDR activist Gautam Navlakha’s surrender before the NIA. One of sixteen accused in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case, Gautam has been imprisoned in Taloja Central Jail, Navi Mumbai since 25 May 2020. For more than six months now, since 12 October 2021, the nearly 70 years old Gautam, an[Read More…]

by Peoples Union for Democratic Rights — 14/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Protest against the arrest of political prisoners

On April 8th at Sangrur the Kirti Kisan Union, Punjab Students Union, Naujwan Bharat Sabha and Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Commitee raised a protest demanding unconditional release of all the political prisoners who have been framed by the Indian state. A march was staged of around 100 persons to the District Collectors office. It comprised of students, youth, intellectuals farmers dalit[Read More…]

by Harsh Thakor — 11/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The fate of the enforced disappeared and the mass graves in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, the issue of people going missing during the country’s long civil war is an open wound as evinced by the struggle of Tamil mothers seeking news about their loved ones. For the past five years Tamil mothers have been protesting in the North and Eastern Provinces in hot sun dust and rain demanding to know what happened[Read More…]

by Kumarathasan Rasingam — 10/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Arbitrary travel bans on Rana Ayyub and Aakar Patel

PUCL condemns the arbitrary travel bans on Rana Ayyub and Aakar Patel, prominent critics of the Government. On 6th April, 2022, Aakar Patel, well known human rights activist and journalist, was prevented by Immigration authorities in Bengaluru airport from catching a flight to the US and forced to turn back. Aakar Patel was on his way to speak at various[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 07/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Darkness of Daylight

Recent reports on Gautam Navlakha’s appeal to change his jail term when the case just drags on on health grounds once again revive nagging doubts on the fabulous Maoist conspiracy case against a miscellaneous group of lawyers,social activists and human rights workers on the basis of documents allegedly retrieved from the laptop of some of the accused.The case is hanging[Read More…]

by Hiren Gohain — 07/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act 2022 attempts to make India a Police State

The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, intends to link demographic and biometric information with the identification of citizens in an attempt to make all the natural citizens of India to be looked at as ‘suspects.’ The law is draconian and against the principle of civil liberties human right and against the tenets of Indian constitution. It is apparent that with[Read More…]

by Syed Ali Mujtaba — 06/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Shocking Truth of Prison Life

I had been in different jails, first in Sorda Sub-Jail, then in Brahmapur Circle Jail and later in Bhanjanagar Special Sub-Jail of Odisha, from mid-2011 to 2015, approximately three and half years, under false charges of ‘sedition’. I was arrested again in 2019 for the second time in connection to an eight-year-old case that was utterly false and fabricated and[Read More…]

by Nirakar Nayak — 06/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Solidarity with Prof Walden Bello in the face of attack

Dear Colleagues, comrades and friends, We are writing to you on an issue of urgent concern regarding Professor Walden Bello. Recently, a political party founded by Sara Duterte (daughter of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte), incumbent Mayor of Davao City, and now vice-presidential candidate for the 2022 national elections—unfoundedly and maliciously labeled Walden as a “narco-politician.”This attack is clearly intended to silence dissent[Read More…]

by Press Release — 04/04/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

A Nine-Year Obscenity: The Australia-NZ Resettlement Deal

Obscenities occupy the annals of State behaviour, revolting reminders about what governments can do. One of Australia’s most pronounced and undeniable obscenities is its continuing effort to gut and empty international refugee law of its relevant foundations. Instead of being treated as a scandal, populists and governments the world over have expressed admiration, even envy: If they can get away[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 31/03/2022 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Er Rashid: J&K’s Aam Aadmi is Now A Forgotten Hero

Once a popular leader, Er. Rashid has almost disappeared from news, particularly from mainstream media. Rashid comes from Langate area of Kupwara, a border district in Kashmir valley . Rashid was arrested in 2019 at the time of repeal of Article 370 by NIA in a terror funding case for which he had been questioned in 2017 also. When Rashid[Read More…]

by Ravi Nitesh — 25/03/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Rotten Rulings: Julian Assange and the UK Supreme Court

Julian Assange, even as he is being judicially and procedurally tormented, has braved every legal hoop in his effort to avoid extradition to the United States. Kept and caged in Belmarsh throughout this farce of judicial history, he risks being extradited to face 18 charges, 17 based on the US Espionage Act of 1917. District Court Judge Vanessa Baraitser initially[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 15/03/2022 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Pathetic plight of the elderly mothers and relatives of missing persons in Sri Lanka

For the past 1390 days, the elderly mothers and relatives have been engaged in a series of struggles, especially amid the great epidemic threat, “78 parents of the missing relatives have lost their lives in the ongoing series of struggles for justice, “The 78 parents who fought for justice with us in past years are not with us today. The[Read More…]

by Kumarathasan Rasingam — 05/03/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

UN: Protectors of human rights or silent watchers of war crimes?

The United Nations is a global organization that brings together its member states to confront common challenges, manage shared responsibilities and exercise collective action in an enduring “quest for a peaceful world.” One of the main purposes of the United Nations is to maintain world peace and security. At present there are 193 member states in the UN. Of the[Read More…]

by Thambu Kanagasabai — 04/03/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Condemn the Re-arrest of Fahad Shah, Editor Kashmirwallah

The re-arrest of Fahad Shah, Editor of The Kashmir Walla, in politically motivated cases is another sign of the deepening crackdown on media freedom in Kashmir. Fahad Shah, a prominent Kashmiri journalist, was arrested on 4 February under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and other offences including sedition for allegedly “uploading anti-national content, including photographs, videos and posts[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 01/03/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Samyukta Kisan Morcha extends support to Struggling Farmers in West Bengal and Odisha

PROTESTERS AGAINST BIRBHUM COAL PROJECT IN WEST BENGAL MUST BE RELEASED AND CASES WITHDRAWN STOP POLICE AND STATE REPRESSION ON PEASANTS OF DHINKIA IN ODISHA Samyukt Kisan Morcha expresses deep concern at police repression against farmers in Birbhum in West Bengal and Dhinkia in Odisha. These farmers have been protesting against land acquisition for coal mining and industry, respectively, without[Read More…]

by Press Release — 27/02/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Fabricated cases against people defending their right to livelihood in Dhinkia

People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) expresses serious concern over the malafide action of the police in implicating local villagers and human rights defenders with fabricated cases following the incident that happened on 19th February, 2022 in Dhinkia. It needs to be noted that in response to a number of PILs about the police repressions in Dhinkia and requesting the[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 23/02/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

UNHRC is duty bound to find justice to the oppressed Tamils in Sri Lanka

The United Nations, UN Human Rights Council and the International Community will now understand Sri Lanka’s policy of non-compliance of any recommendations of the UN or UNHRC. The following long standing core issues still to be investigated and perpetrators punished, On the evening of January 02, 2006, amid New Year’s celebrations at Trincomalee beach Sri Lankan security forces shot and[Read More…]

by Kumarathasan Rasingam — 20/02/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Forgive Thyself and Others: Reparations Now!

The question of Reparations for the historical crime of slavery is not primarily about money. Rather it is about spiritual cleansing and healing. It is about recognizing the fact that systemic physical and mental torture have long hands that stretch out across time and space. It is about acknowledging the attempted physical and spiritual destruction of a people and the[Read More…]

by Dan Corjescu — 19/02/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Fahad Shah and the Tragic Fate of Journalism in Kashmir

The recent arrest of Fahad Shah, editor of Kashmir Walla, under S 13 of UAPA and S 124 A and 505 of IPC for ‘uploading anti-national content’ raises a debate about the fate of journalism in times of conflict. Shah was arrested as he had uploaded Inayat Ahmad Mir’s family’s protest over the police’s claim that Mir was a “hybrid[Read More…]

by Peoples Union for Democratic Rights — 07/02/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Aafia Siddiqui, Political Prisoner

The media coverage of the hostage-taking at a synagogue in Texas has been predictably hysterical, Islamophobic and inaccurate about Aafia Siddiqui, the apparent political cause of the hostage-taker Malik Faisad Akram. According to his family in England he has “mental health issues.” He was “said to have” weapons and explosives. He was “said to have” threatened[Read More…]

by Linda Ford — 18/01/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

NCHRO condemns the actions of the authoritarian police in Dhinkia village

NCHRO condemns the actions of the authoritarian police in Dhinkia village, Odisha and the government’s attempt to displace its local populace In the Dhinkia village in Odisha, the collusion of corporations and government is being manifested in the routinely egregious manner. The people there have been protesting against the attempts to displace them and hand over the land to the[Read More…]

by Press Release — 18/01/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Hands off peasant land! Hands off Dhinkia!

We the undersigned strongly condemn the brutal police violence by Odisha Police that continued for hours on the villagers of Dhinkia in Jagatsinghpur district on January 14. The villagers of the entire region have been carrying out a protest against land acquisition by the district administration for Jindal Steel Work Utkal Limited. On January 14, as people were gathering for[Read More…]

by Press Release — 17/01/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Copies of unjust Indian laws burnt in Canada on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday

On the night of Sunday, January 16, members of the Indian Diaspora came together to denounce draconian laws of the world’s so-called largest democracy. To mark the 93rd birth anniversary of the towering US civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King Jr., they burnt copies of the contentious Indian laws, such as Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Armed Forces[Read More…]

by Press Release — 17/01/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Julian Assange: A Thousand Days in Belmarsh

Julian Assange has now been in the maximum-security facilities of Belmarsh prison for over 1,000 days. On the occasion of his 1,000th day of imprisonment, campaigners, supporters and kindred spirits gathered to show their support, indignation and solidarity at this political detention most foul. Alison Mason of the Julian Assange Defence Committee reiterated those observations long made about the imprisonment[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 13/01/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

“2021: Year of Fear for Indian Christians” | Dr. John Dayal Interview

PF: Hi, this is Pieter Friedrich, and today I’m speaking with Dr. John Dayal. Dr. John Dayal, who is 74, is a former newspaper editor, a researcher and author, and one of India’s senior human rights and freedom of faith activists. We are going to be discussing the issue of persecuted Christians in India. So, thank you for joining me, Dr.[Read More…]

by Pieter Friedrich — 10/01/2022 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Sharjeel Imam; IIT Bombay, JNU and everything in between

by Vaibhav Sorte & Jayanth Tadinada A frail figure, sporting a beard with a kurta and pyjama hung on him, scuttling with determination and head always held high is how one would have noticed Sharjeel Imam in the hostel 4 of IIT Bombay. It seemed he was unstoppable but if you managed to get his attention and asked something, a[Read More…]

by Vaibhav Sorte — 07/01/2022 — 4 comments — Human Rights

Speaking Out!

How is anyone responsible for being born where he/she has been and the identity attached to his/her personality primarily because of his/her birth? Whatever is any person’s identity, why is any bias being practiced towards him/her primarily because of this? But this is still happening at this very moment. Prospects of this inhumane trend coming to an end in near[Read More…]

by Nilofar Suhrawardy — 31/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Voices of Concern: Aussies for Assange’s Return

With Julian Assange now fighting the next stage of efforts to extradite him to the United States to face 18 charges, 17 of which are based on the brutal, archaic Espionage Act, some Australian politicians have found their voice. It might be said that a few have even found their conscience. Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was sufficiently exercised[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 23/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Tamils all over the world welcome United States action against alleged war criminals

Tamils all over the world [85 million] appreciate and thank the US State Department for their sanctions on two Sri Lankan Military Officials. Those military personnel were: Chandana Hettiarachchi, a Sri Lankan naval intelligence officer, for his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely, the flagrant denial of the right to liberty of at least eight “Trincomalee 11” victims,[Read More…]

by Kumarathasan Rasingam — 19/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Arsenal Report No. 4 Confirms Pegasus Attack on IPhone of Rona Wilson, Key BK Accused

In a detailed report released today, 17th December, 2021, Arsenal Consulting, the Boston-based forensic investigation firm assisting the defense lawyers in the Bhima Koregaon (BK) case, and Amnesty Tech Security Lab, have confirmed that the iPhone of one of the key accused, Mr. Rona Wilson, was attacked multiple times by the Pegasus spyware. This has been simultaneously reported in the[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 17/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Flags mark the spot where the remains of over 750 children were buried at former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan, June 25 © AFP / GEOFF ROBINS

What Does It Mean for the Dispossessor to “Compensate” the Dispossessed?

Settlers enjoyed a seeming free permission: to dispossess natives at will of all the best land, turn them out of traditional fishing locations, disrespect elders, women, children and religion, leave whole communities without political representation and punish men for breaking laws which they could have no means of knowing existed. It was inconceivable that all this change could happen overnight[Read More…]

by Kim Petersen — 17/12/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

American Sanctions on Human Rights Violators in Bangladesh: A Backlash to Bangladesh or China?

The frustration of those who lost hope of any retaliatory action against human rights violators in Bangladesh has finally been eased, at least partially, by the recent US Treasury Department’s action against a few law-enforcers in the country, well-known for gross human rights violations. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury has designated[Read More…]

by Taj Hashmi — 16/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The execution of Julian Assange

He exposed empire as a criminal enterprise. He documented its lies, its callous disregard for human life, its rampant corruption, and its innumerable war crimes. But, as history shows, empires kill those who inflict deep wounds. Let us name Julian Assange’s executioners. Joe Biden. Boris Johnson. Scott Morrison. Theresa May. Lenin Moreno. Donald Trump. Barack Obama. Mike Pompeo. Hillary Clinton.[Read More…]

by Chris Hedges — 14/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Julian Assange suffered stroke during High Court appeal for extradition

Doctors have confirmed that Julian Assange suffered a “mini stroke” inside Belmarsh Prison during a High Court appeal in October, his fiancée Stella Moris revealed over the weekend. She made clear that a pseudo-legal conspiracy by the US and UK governments to secure Assange’s extradition is pushing the WikiLeaks publisher to breaking point. Moris spoke to the Daily Mail on Saturday, just[Read More…]

by Laura Tiernan — 13/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Assange nullifies the “freedom” imperialism propagates

Julian Assange, a standard-bearer of freedom, has effectively nullified the “freedom” imperialist media propagates round the clock. Today, the imperialist “freedom” is on the dock. Voices across continents are calling to defend the freedom Assange stands for – the freedom to information, the freedom to know facts related to thousands of innocent civilian lives in countries, the freedom to present[Read More…]

by Farooque Chowdhury — 11/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Rally for jailed Indian scholars held on International Human Rights Day

In spite of rain and cold weather, South Asian activists gathered outside the Indian Visa and Passport Application Center in Surrey on Friday, December 10 to raise their voices for political prisoners being incarcerated by the world’s so-called largest democracy. Organized by Radical Desi, the rally started with a moment of silence for 14 civilians killed by the Indian army[Read More…]

by Press Release — 11/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Release Dr. G.N. Saibaba

Dr. G N Saibaba, former Professor of English at University of Delhi continues to languish in the Anda cell of Nagpur Central Jail, Maharashtra since more than four and a half years. Dr Saibaba was arrested under fabricated charges and sentenced to life imprisonment by Gadchiroli Session Court under UAPA. He campaigned for the rights of exploited and oppressed sections[Read More…]

by Press Release — 10/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

British Court Rules Assange Can Be Extradited to US

A British court ruled Friday that WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange can be extradited to the United States to face charges of violating the Espionage Act, a decision that rights groups say poses a profound threat to global press freedoms. “This is an utterly shameful development that has alarming implications not only for Assange’s mental health, but also for[Read More…]

by Jake Johnson — 10/12/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Human Rights Day in class context

Today, December 10, is Human Rights Day. The slogan of The Human Rights Day 2021 is All Human, All Equal. The slogan, the message the slogan carries, the spirit the slogan upholds – all are lofty, noble, beautiful. This year’s Human Rights Day theme, according to a UN release (Human Rights Day 10 December, https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day), is related to “Equality” and Article 1[Read More…]

by Farooque Chowdhury — 10/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

CDRO condemns the murder of Naga civilians and demands immediate repeal of AFSPA

On 4th December 2021, the Indian armed forces ambushed and killed 13 daily wage labourers who work in the coal mines of Tiru, bordering the state of Assam. These coal miners from the Mon district were on their usual journey home from the coal mine to spend Sunday with their families before returning for duty on Monday. Besides these 13[Read More…]

by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO) — 09/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

PUCL Welcome Bail for Sudha Bharadwaj

The PUCL welcomes the short order of the Supreme Court yesterday, 07th December, 2021, dismissing the SLP filed by the NIA which challenged the grant of statutory bail to Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, a committed activist lawyer and member of PUCL. The PUCL sees this important order and the order of the Bombay High Court which was under challenge, as a[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 08/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The Mon Massacres in Nagaland!

PUCL DEMANDS from the Government of India: Immediately Prosecute Military Officials for Murder! Publicly Declare: No Immunity from Prosecution u/s 6 of AFSPA, Repeal Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA)!!! PUCL strongly condemns the tragic and brutal killing on Saturday, 4th December, 2021 of 6 unarmed civilians (belonging to the Konyak tribe), in a military ambush in an[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 08/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Beyond English Channel Tragedy!

Death of migrants in the English Channel has hit headlines as “worst disaster on record” with France and United Kingdom’s “war of words” marking a “low point” in their ties, a “humanitarian crisis” and so forth. Who is to be blamed for this tragedy? Little importance has been given to the hard reality that increase in migrants being desperate for[Read More…]

by Nilofar Suhrawardy — 03/12/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Open Letter to the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi

“Selective” advocacy of Rights violations?” “When daily incidents of hate crimes, lynchings, caste atrocities and state violations become common place, Every egregious violation deserves our attention” Dear Sir, You had in your speech on the 28th NHRC foundation programme on 12th October, 2021 made four assertions on human rights to which the PUCL, as one of the oldest civil liberties[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 27/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Grant bail to Atiq-ur-Rehman on health grounds

The PUCL is monitoring with extreme concern the precarious health condition of Atiq Ur Rehman who was unjustly accused and arrested by the UP police in early October, 2020 for daring to go with journalist Siddique Kappan to Hathras (UP) to report on the rape incident of a 19-year old Dalit woman. Atiq, Kappan and 2 others were charged under[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 25/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

CDRO condemns the arrest of Khurram Parvez

Khurram Parvez, a leading human rights defender and President of the Jammu & Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), was arrested yesterday, on the 22nd of November 2021. The arrest was carried out by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after the day-long raid carried out at the JKCCS office in Amira Kadal and Parvez’s house in Sonwar, Srinagar Kashmir. Parvez[Read More…]

by Press Release — 25/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Release Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez

PUCL calls for the immediate release of Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez, who was arrested on 22nd November 2021, by the National Investigating Agency under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Indian Penal Code. PUCL condemns the relentless use of UAPA by the Indian Government to arrest, detain and jail human rights defenders for long periods[Read More…]

by Press Release — 24/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

An open letter from Sahba Husain

Gautam Navlakha, nearly 70, is one of the oldest of the Bhima Koregaon arrestees, who was shifted to the “Anda Circle” (high security) from the barracks on October 12, 2021. Additionally, his telephone calls to me and his lawyers, his lifeline to the outside world, have been discontinued on the pretext that physical mulaquats have resumed in jail. I, his[Read More…]

by Sahba Husain — 22/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Who Decides Whose Rights And Life, Anyway?

Little Muthu was used to her mother returning late and narrating issues and causes that none of her friends mothers are even aware of. She was slowly and steadily understanding the meaning and reason for her mother to be near the oppressed and the needy. This time she closely followed the issue because it involved the rights of a baby[Read More…]

by Anitha S — 19/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

BUJ and DUJ Condemn Arrest of Journalists in Tripura

BUJ and DUJ Condemn Arrest of Journalists in Tripura; Welcome Bail; Demand Withdrawal of all Cases and End to Intimidation of Journalists covering Tripura violence The Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists (BUJ) and the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) have strongly condemned the arrest of Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, two journalists from HW News Network, by Tripura police on Nov[Read More…]

by Press Release — 15/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Nativist Drama

The Assam Human Rights Commission closed on 10.3.2021 the case filed by Hirak Jyoti Bora,former General Secretary,Cotton College Students’ Union and now a member of the Assamese nationalist party AJP ,against the allegedly unprovoked police firing during the night of 12 December 2019 in Assam that had killed Sam Stafford and four other youthful protesters against the passing of CAA.[Read More…]

by Hiren Gohain — 14/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

South Asian media fraternity in Canada raises voice for Gautam Navlakha

The members of Punjabi Press Club of British Columbia (PPCBC) have unanimously condemned the continued incarceration of the journalist and author under inhuman conditions in the Indian jail. Gautam Navlakha was arrested on trumped up charges in April 2020, and is currently lodged in jail near Mumbai. His only crime is daring to question the powerful, and always standing up[Read More…]

by Press Release — 12/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Jai Bhim in Bolpur

In the town of Bolpur, in the land of Tagore’s Shantiniketan, there lived a 28-year-old Raju Thandar from Dalit (Dom) Community at his in-laws’ house at Muchipara/ Darjipara with his wife and a girl child. Raju was a native of Durgapur in Burdwan district, 60 km away from Bolpur. Since 2006, Raju settled in Bolpur and made his living through[Read More…]

by Nisha Biswas — 11/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Condemn the targeting of lawyers exposing anti-Muslim violence in Tripura!

Withdraw the charges against the Fact-Finding team and social media users and prosecute the perpetrators of violence in Tripura! On November 3rd, the Tripura Police sent notices to four Delhi based lawyers charging them under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). These lawyers, Advocate Ansar Indori, secretary of National Confederation[Read More…]

by Campaign Against State Repression — 08/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Sudha Bharadwaj is a true patriot and heir of the Ghadar movement

Currently incarcerated under trumped up charges in the world’s so called largest democracy, Sudha Bharadwaj is one of the dozens of scholars and activists locked up in the Indian jails. Bharadwaj, who turned 60 on November 1, is a lawyer who has been advocating for the rights of the poor and marginalized, especially Adivasis or the Indigenous peoples of India[Read More…]

by Gurpreet Singh — 07/11/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Tripura UAPA Case – Don’t criminalise Fact-Finding Enquiries

The PUCL strongly condemns the Tripura Police for registering a FIR dated 03rd November, 2021 under the UAPA and other draconian provision of the IPC against a team of advocates from Delhi, the “Lawyers for Democracy”, for conducting a Fact Finding Enquiry into communal violence incidents in Tripura in mid-end October, 2021. It is clear that the police have[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 06/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Revoke UAPA And Other Criminal Charges Against Tripura Fact-Finding Team Members

The invocation of UAPA charges against members of a fact-finding team shortly after they released its findings on the communal violence in Tripura, is shocking and condemnable. Besides S. 13 of UAPA (punishment for ‘unlawful activity’), a slew of IPC offences has also been invoked: 153 A and B of IPC (promoting enmity and anti-national activities), 120 B, 503, 504[Read More…]

by Peoples Union for Democratic Rights — 06/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Rally for the release of Gautam Navlakha held in Canada

On the 37th anniversary of the 1984 Sikh Genocide, South Asian activists gathered in Surrey to raise their voices for a jailed Indian scholar, who was behind documenting the tragedy and exposing those involved. Gautam Navlakha was arrested on trumped up charges in April 2020, and is currently lodged in jail near Mumbai. His only crime is daring to question[Read More…]

by Press Release — 01/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Sudha Bharadwaj marks her fourth birthday in prison today

Sudha Bharadwaj marks her fourth birthday in prison today, November 1st, 2021, when she completes 60 years. She has been in jail along with the other BK-16 accused as undertrials, with the state neither commencing the trial nor releasing her on bail. Sudha’s life is a testament to a passionate concern to redressing injustice and redressing injustice is nothing, if[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 01/11/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Human Rights are for Everyone! Including Julian Assange

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people … The General Assembly, Proclaims this Universal[Read More…]

by Kim Petersen — 31/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

System of solitary confinement, ‘Anda Cell’, inside the jail be stopped

How a human rights activist could be a challenge to the jail authority? On what way could solitary confinement of undertrial prisoner help him/her to avail justice? From various press releases, letters and media reports, Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakhya Sangathan, Odisha (GASS) got information that the some of the human rights activists, arrested on Elgar Parishad – Bhima Koregaon case, have[Read More…]

by Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakha Sangathan — 29/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Who is afraid of APDR?

The Association for Protection of Democratic Right, better known as APDR was going to hold its belated (due to pandemic related restrictions) 28th biannual State Convention (রাজ্য সম্মেলন / राज्य सम्मेलन) at Surendranath Vidya Niketan at Sheoraphuli on 23rd & 24th October, 2021. They were forced to suspend the meet under extreme pressure and intimidation by Administration at the last[Read More…]

by Nisha Biswas — 28/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Israel outlaws six Palestinian human rights groups, branding them “terrorist organisations”

On Friday, Israel’s Defence Minister Benny Gantz signed a military order declaring six of the most prominent Palestinian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the occupied Palestinian territories “terrorist organizations.” The decree is an attack on Palestinian human rights activists and the communities they represent, and on the local and international public’s right to information about the situation in the occupied territories.[Read More…]

by Jean Shaoul — 26/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Condemn The Solitary Confinement And Continuing Harassment Of Bhima Koregaon Prisoners

The high handedness of the Taloja Central Jail administration was evident in the events leading to the death of the octogenarian Bhima Koregaon undertrail, Stan Swamy on July 5, 2021. Almost immediately, the remaining BK undertrials protested the arbitrary jail conditions imposed by the then Superintendent, Kaustabh Kurlekar by observing a one-day hunger strike. However, far from bringing such persecution[Read More…]

by Peoples Union for Democratic Rights — 26/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Press freedom groups call for charges against Assange to be dropped ahead of US appeal

A coalition of over two dozen press freedom and human rights organisations has called on the Biden administration to drop all charges against Julian Assange. This is ahead of a US appeal that will be heard next week, challenging a British court decision that blocked the WikiLeaks publisher’s extradition. The statement, delivered last week to Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland,[Read More…]

by Oscar Grenfell — 24/10/2021 — 2 comments — Human Rights

Sacrilege or blasphemy: The dirty attempt to cover up the caste prejudices against Dalits

There is no doubt in the fact that Sikhism actually was a revolt against the Brahmanical system and superstition. Guru Granth Saheb is perhaps the only holy book which contains matters from different religions as well as those of various Sufi Saints including Kabir, Ravidas, Baba Farid and others. The aim of Sikhism was to create an egalitarian society and[Read More…]

by Vidya Bhushan Rawat — 23/10/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Custodial Death Is Not Just A Murder

In a democratic country like India, custodial death, being a regular occurrence, raises question of our system. Custodial Violence is never acceptable in our civilized society. But it is a matter of regret that our educated and civilised masses are not concerned about it in any way. Further, while the allegations of custodial death are rising in the state day[Read More…]

by Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakha Sangathan — 23/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Christians under Attack in India

Joint Fact-Finding Report by: Association for Protection of CivilRights|United Christian Forum | United Against Hate Series Of Attack On Christians The violence against Muslims in India which has now become pan Indian needs to be seen with the violence and vendetta against Christians. Unfortunately the media tends to ignore the violence against Christian. Human rights groups which monitor atrocities against[Read More…]

by Fact-Finding Report — 23/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Fate Of Anti-War Journalism Lies in Upcoming Assange Hearings

Within just a few days, the United States will once again make its case in a UK court that it has a right to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be tried under the Espionage Act, in what remains this century’s most dangerous attack on global press freedom. These hearings, taking place on October 27 and 28, are an attempt[Read More…]

by Sam Carliner — 22/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

“Undertrials” for how long? Guilty till proven innocent?

The plight of the undertrials in the jails: The majority of the undertrials in India belong to the disadvantaged sections of the society. The offences alleged to have been committed by them may be minor ones but they are forced to languish in jails without a trial for years, as the criminal justice system in the country is a slow-moving[Read More…]

by E A S Sarma — 19/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Commemoration to mark 1961 Paris massacre of Algerians

Commemorations were held on Oct 17 to mark the 60th anniversary of a bloody Paris police crackdown on a demonstration by Algerians that occurred during the final year of the struggle for independence from the colonial power France. Human rights and anti-racism groups as well as Algerian associations staged a tribute march in Paris on Sunday and called on authorities[Read More…]

by Abdus Sattar Ghazali — 19/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

19,000 Children Cross the Dangerous Darien Gap this year, says UNICEF

The number of migrant children who cross the Darien Gap on foot has hit an all-time high, UNICEF warned today. The Darien Gap is an extensive and inhospitable strip of tropical forest that divides Panama and Colombia, considered one of the most dangerous places for migrants attempting to reach North America. On their trek north towards the U.S., some 19,000[Read More…]

by Countercurrents Collective — 13/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Heroes or Parasites: Europe’s Self-serving Politics on Refugees

Language is politics and politics is power. This is why the misuse of language is particularly disturbing, especially when the innocent and vulnerable pay the price. The wars in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern, Asian and African countries in recent years have resulted in one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes, arguably unseen since World War II. Instead of[Read More…]

by Dr Ramzy Baroud — 13/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Hundreds come together across India to demand freedom for Gulfisha and all Political Prisoners from UAPA and incarceration

Feminists, jan sangathans, mass organizations, collectives, students, trade unionists, farm workers, fisher people, members of Adivasi, Dalit and Muslim communities, displaced persons, civil liberties activists, journalists, academics, youth, as well persons facing political persecution joined the events held across States and expressed their solidarity with Gulfisha Fatima. Numerous cities and towns across the country were part of this solidarity action,[Read More…]

by Press Release — 09/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Murders passed off as Deaths

We call Gandhi as Father of our nation, who preached non-violence, but police stations remain mothers of custodial violence throughout the country. *** During 17 years till 2018, 1727 persons died in custodial violence in India. Just they were killed. According to data released by National Crime Records Bureau NCRB, 26 policemen were convicted. Some critics described only 26 are[Read More…]

by Dr Madabhushi Sridhar — 07/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Britannia Turns Back The Boats

Pushing people back across borders; turning asylum seekers away from shores. When such tactics were openly adopted and used with impunity by Australia’s navy and border force, it caused outrage and concern in the maritime community and pricked the interest of border protectionists the world over. Disgust and outrage have, in time, been replaced by admiration at the sheer chutzpah[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 03/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Prominent leader’s assassination highlights the plight of Rohingya Muslims

A prominent Rohingya Muslim leader has been shot dead in a refugee camp in southern Bangladesh. Mohibullah, who was in his late 40s, led one of the largest of several community groups to emerge since more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar after a military crackdown in August 2017, Al Jazeera reported. He was talking with other refugee leaders outside[Read More…]

by Abdus Sattar Ghazali — 03/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

CIA plan to poison Assange wasn’t needed. The US found a ‘lawful’ way to disappear him

A Yahoo News’ investigation reveals that, through much of 2017, the CIA weighed up whether to use wholly extrajudicial means to deal with the supposed threat posed by Julian Assange and his whistleblowers’ platform Wikileaks. The agency plotted either to kidnap or assassinate him. Shocking as the revelations are – exposing the entirely lawless approach of the main US intelligence[Read More…]

by Jonathan Cook — 01/10/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Murderous Fantasies: The US Intelligence Effort Against Assange

If there was any reason to halt a farcical train of legal proceedings, then the case against Julian Assange would have to be the standard bearing example. Since last year, the efforts by the US government to pursue his extradition to the vicious purgatory of American justice has seen more than a fair share of obscene revelations. While prosecutors for[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 30/09/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Child Labor: Which Side are Democracies On?

Two years ago, when Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro favorably promoted the idea of labor for children as young as eight or nine, his minister for Human Rights, Family, and Women shot back: “Let us be clear that for children to work is a violation of their rights, something that cannot be allowed.” The Brazilian National Forum for the Prevention and Eradication of[Read More…]

by Timothy Ryan — 29/09/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The Fallout and Lessons Learnt from HRC and UN September 2021 Sessions

The 48th UN Human Rights Council’s sessions has evoked much interest for Sri Lanka’s Human Rights activists and Government coupled with mixed signals from the Human Rights Commissioner. While the Commissioner appreciates Sri Lanka’s moves which are apparently opportunistic and face saving farcical measures, she has also issued a warning to Sri Lanka that it will remain in the watch[Read More…]

by Thambu Kanagasabai — 28/09/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Increasing spread of virus infection in Byculla prison is worrisome: Friends & Family of Sudha Bharadwaj

Friends and Family of Sudha Bharadwaj are extremely worried over the alarming and disturbing news of the rising Covid-19 infection in Byculla women’s jail forcing the authorities to seal the premise. Last week, in a prison supervised phone conversation Koel Sen had with her mother Shoma Sen, former professor of English from Nagpur University, arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case[Read More…]

by Press Release — 26/09/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Arrest of Seven villagers in Mali Hill area of Odisha

We, members of Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakhya Sangathan (Odisha), are deeply shocked and enraged with the vindictive attitude of the government of Odisha towards the tribals of the state. The government of Odisha has started hounding tribal leaders of Mali Hill defying statutory and constitutional provisions as well as time to time verdict of the Apex court. The arrests are happening[Read More…]

by Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakha Sangathan — 25/09/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The Hangman’s Noose

Does the death penalty work ? Or is it an anachronism which is long past its “use by” date ? But still continues to remain in use ? According to Amnesty International, there are 106 countries where use of the death penalty is not allowed by law and 8 countries which permit the death penalty only for serious crimes in[Read More…]

by Shantanu Dutta — 22/09/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

A Questionable ‘Suicide’ In Rule Of Law

Raju’s death and version of suicide, in Telangana on September16 , is questioned by human rights activists, women groups, public spirited lawyers as also by the mother and wife of the killed suspect. It may not be just a coincidence, but dead body was found within a day after a Minister declared that certainly the suspect will be ‘encountered’ following[Read More…]

by Dr Madabhushi Sridhar — 22/09/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

ABVA’s tryst with activists, lawyers & judges before, during and after its anti-sodomy law petition was filed

ABVA members wearing black T-shirts addressing the press at the Ashoka hotel, New Delhi during the Second Asia Pacific AIDS conference, November 1992 In April 1994 ABVA filed a Civil Writ Petition no. 1784 of 1994 titled AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan vs. Union of India and others in the Delhi High Court (DHC) asking for striking down inter alia entire[Read More…]

by P S Sahni — 17/09/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Making Sense of the Eviction Crisis

The Land of the Free, Where So Many of the Brave Are Homeless. Resisting Evictions Amid a Pandemic Over the past weeks, multiple crises have merged: a crisis of democracy with the most significant attack on voting rights since Reconstruction; a climate crisis with lives and livelihoods upended in the Gulf Coast and the Northeast by extreme weather events and in the West by[Read More…]

by Liz Theoharis — 16/09/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

‘Jailed’ Children

Conditions in all spheres of life is going from bad to worse. On September 13, ‘political prisoners’day was observed. On that day, Jatin Das, friend of Bhagat Singh and member of Hindustan Republican Socialist Association, passed away after 63 days of hunger strike. He demanded ‘political prisoners’ status to those who have been jailed by the State. Even 92 years[Read More…]

by Sheshu Babu — 16/09/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Radical Desi honours Sikh temple president for standing up for Indigenous peoples

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was presented with a medal on Sunday, September 12 at Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey. Vancouver-based online magazine Radical Desi, which covers alternative politics, gives out medals to individuals who speak out and stand up against injustice and repression anywhere in the world. Nijjar was honoured for organizing special prayers for the indigenous children whose unmarked[Read More…]

by Press Release — 14/09/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Rethinking Sustainable Solution to Rohingya Crisis: Limits of World Bank’s Proposal

Washington-based global lender the World Bank, through concessional lending arms, has gone to bat for Bangladesh to foster its development initiatives since 1972; committing more than $30 billion by backing priorities in economic, social and infrastructural development. Since 2018, this UN affiliated multilateral body, largest source of financial assistance to developing nations, has committed a total $590 million grant to[Read More…]

by Kazi Mohammad Jamshed — 11/09/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Release Batakrushna Swain

The Hon. Naveen Patnaik Chief Minister, Odisha Sub: Request for the release of Upakuliya Jami o Jangala Surakhya Samiti member Mr. Batakrushna Swain Honorable Sir, We the undersigned people, regret to convey our dissatisfaction regarding the change in the definition of crime in our state. Though the drought situation is not new in the state, however, the increase in the[Read More…]

by Press Release — 04/09/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Devalued Accountability And Justice In Sri Lanka

Minister of Justice Ali Sabry at a Zoom discussion on 30 August 2021 disclosed that the President in Cabinet meetings and outside has again and again stressed to us his following stand on the issue of disappeared persons. ” If anyone disappeared, there is no need to investigate the reasons for his disappearance. Do not try to find out if[Read More…]

by Thambu Kanagasabai — 04/09/2021 — 3 comments — Human Rights

Canadian municipality proclaims Gauri Lankesh Day

The City of Burnaby has declared September 5 as a day to honour a slain Indian journalist. Daring editor Gauri Lankesh was allegedly murdered by right wing extremists in Bengaluru, on the ill-fated date in 2017. She consistently wrote against superstition and growing fanaticism under the current Hindu nationalist BJP government in New Delhi. Attacks on religious minorities and political[Read More…]

by Press Release — 28/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Fleeing Conflict

The distressing images coming from Afghanistan following the call of withdrawal of US forces is yet another poignant reminder of the humanitarian crisis facing millions of people around the world. According to the United Nations refugee agency more than 70 million people worldwide were displaced in 2018. In the past three years more numbers have been added to this tally.[Read More…]

by Anahat Gill — 25/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Save The Life Of Abimael Guzman

A sustained or protracted campaign has to be launched to save the life or Dr.Abimael Guzman or Chairman Gonzalo.He is on the verge of dying with continuous deterioration of health. The reactionary State cites untreated skin cancer which has now metastasized as the cause for Gonzalo’s admission to the hospital. Chairman Gonzalo’s condition is easily diagnosed and treatable at an[Read More…]

by Harsh Thakor — 22/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The ‘Sedition Act’: When it is done by the government, only ‘British Raj’ comes to mind!

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court N.V. Ramana recently asked the Attorney General of the Central Government, “Is there a need for a law of ‘treason’ which reminds us of the remnants of colonialism after 75 years of independence?” According to the court, section 124 (a) of the Act is being grossly misused. The ‘Sedition Act’ was enacted by the[Read More…]

by Vikas Parashram Meshram — 21/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

How will the UK’s Nationality and Borders Bill affect migration across the English Channel?

For various reasons, marginalised people like myself and vulnerable asylum seekers arriving by boat to UK shores are rarely heard from. Nevertheless, we have a lot to say to you. The UK government’s proposed Nationality and Borders Bill is politically expedient, not principled. I attempt to put myself in the shoes of those desperate asylum seekers who put their life[Read More…]

by William Nicholas Gomes — 20/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Hundreds of Palestinian women participated in a rally in besieged Gaza to protest Israel's annexation plan. (Photo: Fawzi Mahmoud, The Palestine Chronicle)

Reformism vs. Radicalism: On the Possibility of (Not) Creating Change within the Settler Colonial State

“Having Palestinians, Africans, Asians, Latinx, Muslims, LGBTQIA folks, etc., in the NYCP Dept. doesn’t make it less brutal, violent or corrupt,” writes Mawusi Ture, sister of the late Kwame Ture/Stokely Carmichael and organizer for Black Alliance for Peace (BAP). Ture’s words refer to the promotion of Palestinian American Filastin Srour to captain, making her the first woman of Arab descent[Read More…]

by Benay Blend — 20/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Are We Out of Options on Myanmar?

In late August of 2017, Rohima Kadu’s idyllic village of Chin Khali, Rakhine was visited by Myanmar’s much dreaded military, the Tatmadaw and its local Buddhist militia associates. A helpless Rohingya widow of 50, Rohima was at a loss. Her eldest daughter, with whom she was living at that time, was bedridden with malaria and too weak to run. So,[Read More…]

by Nayd Riham — 19/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Kandhamal Human Rights Award Instituted

Preamble Every human being is born with intrinsic rights which recognise and protect her or his life and dignity. As civilization progressed, and specially with the formation of the United Nations after World War II, many international charters and covenants were formulated to define and codify these rights, and enjoin on member States to protect them. India with its plural[Read More…]

by Press Release — 19/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Government Of India Must Replace The UAPA With Legislation That Fights Terrorism While Safeguarding Personal Liberties

By Constitutional Conduct Group Dear Citizens of India, We are a group of retired officers of the All India and Central Services who have worked with the Central and State Governments in the course of our careers. As members of the Constitutional Conduct Group, we believe in impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Indian Constitution and in safeguarding its values.[Read More…]

by Press Release — 18/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

A Day in the Death of British Justice

I sat in Court 4 in the Royal Courts of Justice in London yesterday with Stella Moris, Julian Assange’s partner. I have known Stella for as long as I have known Julian. She, too, is a voice of freedom, coming from a family that fought the fascism of Apartheid. Today, her name was uttered in court by a barrister and[Read More…]

by John Pilger — 15/08/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Targeting the Medical Evidence: The US Challenge on Assange’s Health

The desperate attempt by the US imperium to nab Julian Assange was elevated to another level on August 11 in a preliminary hearing before the UK High Court. The central component to this gruesome affair was the continuing libel of the expert witness upon which District Justice Vanessa Baraitser placed so much emphasis in her January 4 decision not to[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 12/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Canada is Waging an All-Front Legal War Against Indigenous People

Canada is developing a new image: one of burning churches, toppling statues, and mass graves. There are thousands more unmarked graves, thousands more Indigenous children killed at residential schools, remaining to be unearthed. There can be no denying that this is Canada, and it has to change. But can Canada transform itself for the better? If the revelation of the[Read More…]

by Justin Podur — 10/08/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

The Rehabilitation Policy for Khori Gaon is not ready, The orders of Supreme Court are not being followed

In Khori Gaon, hundreds of families have been displaced and thousands of houses are being brutally demolished each day. After the completion of the demolition drive, the destitute working-class residents are being forced to live without any shelter. They are also being immediately and forcibly removed from the area and being threatened with police action. Despite the order of the[Read More…]

by Press Release — 08/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Framed to Die: The Case of Stan Swamy

PUDR’s report, Framed to Die: The Case of Stan Swamy, offers an exhaustive account of what lay behind Stan Swamy’s death in judicial custody in a private hospital on 5 July 2021. As is known, he was arrested from his room in Bagaicha ATC campus on 8 October 2020 under S. 120 B, 121 A, 124 A and 34 of[Read More…]

by Peoples Union for Democratic Rights — 06/08/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Fighting Malta’s Rule of the Jungle: The Daphne Caruana Galizia Inquiry

The Public Inquiry into the murder of the resourceful journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia handed down its findings on July 29. Firm aim was taken at the Maltese State, which had “to shoulder responsibility for the assassination because it created an atmosphere of impunity, generated from the highest levels in the heart of the administration of the Office of the Prime[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 04/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

24 Muslim Brotherhood members sentenced to death in Egypt

An Egyptian kangaroo court on Thursday sentenced 24 members of the Muslim Brotherhood to death in two separate cases, the daily Sabah reported. The state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper said the Damanhour Criminal Court ordered the death penalty for 16 defendants affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, including Mohamed Sweidan, a regional leader of the organization, for their involvement in the bombing of a[Read More…]

by Abdus Sattar Ghazali — 01/08/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Julian Assange’s Ecuadorian citizenship revoked

Ecuador has stripped Julian Assange of his citizenship. The move is another outrageous assault on the WikiLeaks founder’s democratic rights, made in preparation for his extradition to the United States on charges under the Espionage Act. He is currently held in the UK’s Belmarsh maximum security prison, pending a case in the High Court. The decision to revoke citizenship was[Read More…]

by Thomas Scripps — 29/07/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

The Political in ‘Political Prisoner’

It has been 500 days since Khalid Saifi’s incarceration, and 300 since Umar Khalid’s, in false UAPA cases; and a week since the custodial demise of Fr. Stan Swamy in the bogus Bhima Koregaon case. Both the Delhi riots and Bhima Koregaon cases are very important instances to explore the category of ‘political prisoner’ in contemporary Indian politics. They illustrate[Read More…]

by Achintya Anita Gurumurthy — 29/07/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Remove unconstitutional sections from statute

“There were 1,307 cases registered by the police, in the last 6 years, under Section 66A of Information Technology Act, 2000, after Supreme Court declared it as unconstitutional… … The police and prosecutors, who are perpetuating this abuse, should be jailed for contempt of court. There should be a severe disciplinary action against the magistrates for framing charges under this[Read More…]

by Dr Madabhushi Sridhar — 29/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Pegasus: On the Trail of a Flying Horse

I have been persuaded by Noam Chomsky’s luminous and lucid insight that the politics we are familiar with simply befogs and obfuscates simple moral questions of right or wrong,just or unjust,good or evil.The questions that the Pegasus controversy raises are also basically moral ones,if you clean up all the usual confusing clutter. This is dismissed by vested and extremely partisan[Read More…]

by Hiren Gohain — 29/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Corruption of Police Devastates Human Lives

by Advocate Mohammad Shoaib and Sandeep Pandey That corruption is rampant in police department is a common experience. However, there is another form of corruption which devastates lives of individuals and their families. It has now emerged as a common phenomenon that police more often than not register false cases because of which individuals have to spend number of years[Read More…]

by Sandeep Pandey — 26/07/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Medical Complicity With Torture In Israel

Introduction This paper concerns torture and medical complicity in its practice. In 2015, Amnesty International noted that 157 states had ratified the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), but 141 states surveyed in the previous 5 years had used torture. Torture is a form of terrorism. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1998 defined torture as a crime[Read More…]

by Derek Summerfield — 26/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Khori Gaon residents: Victims not ‘encroachers’

Since 14th July, the Haryana Government has been brutally demolishing houses built by Khori Gaon residents who have been living on this land for decades. Along with the bulldozers the residents have also been dealing with police violence and harassment simultaneously. The Municipal Corporation of Faridabad framed a draft policy for rehabilitation of Khori Gaon residents 5 weeks after the[Read More…]

by Press Release — 25/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Disturbing Trend on the Rise of Harassment Against Asian-Americans

Trump supporter revealed it was Miles Yu who planned the anti-Asian policy. Recently, a screenshot of Trump supporters discussing Miles Yu’s anti-Asian policy in the Telegram group has been widely disseminated on social media. Such a criminal act of deliberately creating racial tensions and tearing American society apart has been criticized by netizens. In the screenshot of the telegram chat[Read More…]

by Junaid S Ahmad — 25/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Sedition: Antithesis Of Freedom Of Speech And Expression

“…these are fundamental rights from a police constable’s point of view and not from the point of view of a free and fighting nation. Here whatever right is given is taken away by a proviso. Sardar Patel would punish us if we make a speech, but Rajaji would punish us even before we have made the speech…”- Somnath Lahiri, during[Read More…]

by Dr Madabhushi Sridhar — 23/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Pegasus Spyware: Need For Thorough Investigation

To Shri A K Bhalla Union Home Secretary Dear Shri Bhalla, Kindly refer to my letters dated 31-3-2019, 31-10-2019 & 19-7-2021 addressed to you (copies forwarded here) on the possible use/misuse of Pegasus in India. I wish to draw your attention to a press conference held by the Chattisgarh Chief Minister, as indicated in a news report, “Pegasus: Chhattisgarh CM[Read More…]

by E A S Sarma — 22/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Protest held in Canada against the custodial death of Father Stan Swamy and incarceration of scholars

On the birthday of jailed Indian scholar Anand Teltumbde, activists gathered outside the Visa and Passport Application Center of the world’s so called largest democracy in Surrey to raise their voices for his release, as well as others detained under draconian laws. Teltumbde, who turned 71 on July 15, was arrested last year on trumped up charges for merely questioning[Read More…]

by Press Release — 22/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Khori Gaon Demolitions Public Hearing: Panel alarmed at human rights violations

20th July, 2021: This public hearing was organised to hear the affected citizens of Khorigaon and understand the status of implementation of the Supreme Court’s order of 7 June 2021. The Jury members included Environmentalist Ashish Kothari, Environmentalist Claude Alvares, Social Activist Ms. Anjali Bhardwaj, Adv. Tripti Poddar, Housing Right Activist, Prof. Amita Bhide from TISS, Mumbai and Prof. Bittu K.[Read More…]

by Press Release — 20/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Migration Is Not the Crisis: What Washington Could Really Do in Central America

Earlier this month, a Honduran court found David Castillo, a U.S.-trained former Army intelligence officer and the head of an internationally financed hydroelectric company, guilty of the 2016 murder of celebrated Indigenous activist Berta Cáceres. His company was building a dam that threatened the traditional lands and water sources of the Indigenous Lenca people. For years, Cáceres and her organization, the Council[Read More…]

by Aviva Chomsky — 19/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

John Lewis from the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge

The March Is Not Yet Over

Today is the first anniversary of the loss of John Lewis, a civil rights crusader. At the time of his death, Lewis was one of the last Selma-era civil rights leaders. In 1965, Selma, Alabama became a battle ground in an effort to guarantee Blacks the right to vote. During that time, a system of racial apartheid was in the[Read More…]

by Zeenat Khan — 17/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

India must halt mass eviction that threatens to leave 100,000 homeless – UN experts

GENEVA (16 July 2021) – UN human rights experts* today called on India to halt evictions of some 100,000 people – including 20,000 children – that began this week in the midst of monsoon rains. Demolition of homes began on Wednesday, 14 July, in a village in Haryana State built on protected forest land, even though the forest was actually[Read More…]

by Press Release — 16/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Justice minus humanity is injustice

After NIA’s contentions, the special court has rejected the request for sipper. The judge did not ask NIA to prove the genuineness of their claim that nothing was confiscated by them..and without asking why you need 20 days to say yes or no to sipper request? Is it because a sipper in the hands of Parkinson patient is threat to[Read More…]

by Dr Madabhushi Sridhar — 16/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Around 1000 Houses Demolished In Khori Gaon

Delhi and Haryana governments cannot shy away from the responsibility of the Khorigaon people. Without a feasible rehabilitation plan, stop the demolition in the midst of monsoon. Demolition continued in Khori village during the first monsoon rains in Delhi. Sitting in the comfort of her office, Garima Mittal, the commissioner of Faridabad Municipality, carried out the demolition drive. On July[Read More…]

by National Alliance of People’s Movements — 15/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

More than 100 activists write to Deccan Herald regarding vilifying and unethical advertisement

To, Mr. Sitaraman Shankar, Acting CEO, TPML, Editor, Deccan Herald CC: Mr B.S Arun, Deputy Editor 15 July 2021 We would like to draw your attention to the State page (Page 5) of E-Paper/Newspaper, released on 15 July 2021. The Deccan Herald’s (DH) Visual Connect ad on the page is not just factually incorrect, but also in appalling taste. Advertising[Read More…]

by Press Release — 15/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

BK16: Why Is The Judiciary Still Sleeping?

The Bhima Koregaon15 spending a single additional night in jail is a travesty of justice. The third report by Arsenal Consulting on evidence planting became public on July 6, with even more damning evidence corroborating the first two reports in February and April that confirmed extensive evidence planting on Rona Wilson’s hard drive, the first of the arrestees in the[Read More…]

by Sangeeta Kamat — 14/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

No room for Dissent

In the post world war era, when the first wave of decolonisation happened and many countries were given their independence, India was the most prominent of those let go. Most prominent in the sense that India was considered the crown jewel of the British empire and the British King was separately designated too as the emperor of India. India’s independence [Read More…]

by Shantanu Dutta — 13/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

154 Incidents Of Violence Against Christians In India In The First Six Months Of 2021

Perhaps, a new ministry of cooperation may bring in better understanding of others’ faith, especially those who oppose the practice of Christian faith. This year, 2021, hasn’t been any difference to Indian Christians in practicing their faith in their own country except that Indian Christians across globe came together to establish an exclusive day for themselves on July 3rd and[Read More…]

by A C Michael — 12/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Build a nationwide anti-fascist democratic movement as a true tribute to Fr Stan Swamy

The present rulers of the country and state institutions have imprisoned Fr. Stan Swamy for a crime he did not commit, and killed him without being given proper treatment in time and without bail, to prove their allegiance to fascist corporate capitalism. He fought for the democratic rights of thousands of tribal in Jharkhand who were imprisoned under black laws[Read More…]

by Battini Rao — 10/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Akhil Gogoi: A case of abuse of terrorist law

Almost all anti-CAA protestors are terrorists according to the Government of India and Governments of the states ruled by BJP or NDA coalition partner… the police in this state or that state go on registering false cases and make the innocent citizen to suffer the trauma of appeals up to Supreme Court. Specific directions from the Supreme Court that such[Read More…]

by Dr Madabhushi Sridhar — 10/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Arrest of Medha Patkar, Jagdish Khairalia and others

Condemn the arbitrary arrest of workers of the Century Workers Union as well as activists Medha Patkar, Jagdish Khairalia and others : Call Maharashtra Police to Free All Arrested State & Company Management must Dialogue with Workers and Withdraw the forced VRS policy: Uphold Right to Livelihoods of Workers 9th July, 2021: NAPM condemns the arbitrary manner in which protesting[Read More…]

by National Alliance of People’s Movements — 09/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Stan Swamy Murder Has Lit A Spark Turning Into A Prairie Fire In Challenging Proto-Fascism

It is most heartening how the masses of India are not taking the custodial murder of Father Stan Swamy lying down. We must congratulate all the sections be it of the workers, peasants, youth or students who have collectively galvanised forces to crystallise resistance against neo-fascism. A spark is virtually being turned into a Prairie fire. In the last few[Read More…]

by Harsh Thakor — 08/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The US Appeals the Assange Ruling

It took over half a year, but the US government’s case against Julian Assange continues its draining grind. Even the Biden administration, which claims to tolerate a free press and truthful dialogue with the fourth estate, has decided to exhaust its legal options in seeking the publisher’s scalp. On July 7, the UK High Court of Justice agreed to hear[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 08/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Fr. Stan Swamy’s institutional murder must lead to a nation-wide movement

Fr. Stan Swamy’s institutional murder must lead to a nation-wide movement against draconian, anti-people laws and state repression. NAPM joins citizens and democratic groups across the globe remembering the life and struggle of Stan Swamy with pain and pride 7th July, 2021: The news of the cold-blooded killing of Fr. Stan Swamy by all the institutions that held him arbitrarily in[Read More…]

by National Alliance of People’s Movements — 07/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Fr Stan Swamy has expired: But, his questions haven’t

In the death of Fr Stan Swamy on July 5, 2021, who was an “under trial” detainee languishing in the custody of the authorities, India has lost a courageous campaigner for adivasi rights. The manner in which the 84-year old Jesuit priest was forced to die has shaken the conscience of the nation. What hurts the feelings of any one[Read More…]

by E A S Sarma — 07/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

From Bujha Singh to Stan Swamy

From Bujha Singh to Stan Swamy, the Indian state has proved that it doesn’t care for seniors when it comes to suppressing any voice of dissent July 5, 2021 will go down as another black day in the history of the world’s so-called largest democracy. It was then that an 84-year-old Roman Catholic priest, Stan Swamy, died in the custody[Read More…]

by Gurpreet Singh — 07/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Pedestrians in Washington, D.C. walk past an image of Daniel Hale projected on a D.C. building on June 26, 2021 - Photo credit: Nick Mottern

Why Daniel Hale Deserves Gratitude, Not Prison

The whistleblower acted on behalf of the public’s right to know what is being done in its name “Pardon Daniel Hale.” These words hung in the air on a recent Saturday evening, projected onto several Washington, D.C. buildings, above the face of a courageous whistleblower facing ten years in prison. The artists aimed to inform the U.S. public about Daniel[Read More…]

by Kathy Kelly — 07/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

New forensic report on Bhima Koregoan accused finds more evidence of planted files, this time on Surendra Gadling’s hard drive

Planting of files on Bhima Koregaon accused Surendra Gadling’s system follows a similar pattern as that on Rona Wilson’s system, new forensic report finds The already weakened case against the 16 accused in the Bhima Koregaon case was dealt a final blow by a third digital forensic report released earlier this afternoon by NDTV and the Washington Post. The report[Read More…]

by Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy — 06/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Father Stan Was Martyred For Standing Against Proto-Fascism

Without doubt one of the great democrats or crusaders against proto- fascism has perished. Few activists in such a considerable degree voiced the very soul of the opressed masses of Jharkhand as Father Stan Swamy.He was a living illustration that regardless of age the relentless spirit is never lost in the quest for liberation from the clutches of tyranny. Father[Read More…]

by Harsh Thakor — 06/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Fr. Stan Swamy Will Be Remembered Always for His Deep Commitment to Justice and His Courage

The death of Fr. Stan Swamy in extremely tragic circumstances on July 5 will be mourned by all those who believe in the most basic human values. He will be remembered by countless people for his very strong commitment to justice and for standing up for his beliefs and values with great courage. He will be remembered as a champion[Read More…]

by Bharat Dogra — 06/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The Institutional Murder of Fr. Stan Swamy

A statement by the family members and friends of the BK-16 We, the friends and family members of those accused in the Bhima Koregaon Conspiracy case, are deeply pained and shaken to the core by the loss of Father Stan Swamy. This is not a natural death, but the institutional murder of a gentle soul, committed by an inhuman state.[Read More…]

by Press Release — 06/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Stan Swamy: Capital Punishment without trial

The death of Father Stan Swamy in Custody is a reminder of how India’s criminal justice system has collapsed and is being used by the party in power to criminalise the activists, writers, dissenters and political opponents. One need not to think too much of it but a sequence of events since 2014 after Narendra Modi government took power. Right[Read More…]

by Vidya Bhushan Rawat — 06/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Hold All Those Responsible For Stan Swamy’s Death Accountable

Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest, and human rights advocate died in custody Monday at the age of 84 after 270 days of arbitrary confinement. Despite his precarious health condition, advanced age, and positive Covid-19 test, the authorities consistently denied him parole and necessary treatment. I urge an unbiased and transparent investigation into Mr. Swamy’s death in order to hold all[Read More…]

by William Nicholas Gomes — 06/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Stan Swamy: A Murder In Judicial Custody

CDRO salutes Fr. Stan Swamy, an activist and a champion of the rights of the tribal and marginalised people. CDRO believes that his death is nothing but a murder in judicial custody and urges all democratic people to protest against the death Fr. Stan Swamy’s death is nothing but a blatant murder in judicial custody. Modi-government and the Judiciary[Read More…]

by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO) — 06/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Fr. Stan is dead! Salutes to an extraordinary rights fighter!!

PUCL is extremely saddened and anguished by the death of Fr. Stan Swamy today, 5th July, 2021 in the Holy Family Hospital, Bandra, where he was undertaking treatment pursuant to an interim order of the Bombay High Court in his bail petition in the Bhima Koregaon case. What is most tragic is that even as the High Court Division Bench[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 06/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

A Prophet is a Threat to the Powerful: A Tribute to Stan Swamy

No prophet is recognised by the powerful. Prophets are killed because they are a threat to the powerful. That was the message of the Gospel read at masses in Catholic churches on Sunday, 4th July. Stan Swamy was bearing witness to it on the same day by being critical and he left us today, 5th July, a martyr of the[Read More…]

by Dr Walter Fernandes — 05/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

A defaced statue of Queen Elizabeth II lies after being toppled during a rally outside the provincial legislature in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, July 1, 2021. © Reuters / Shannon VanRaes

1,100 Children Graves in Canada found, Queen Elizabeth II and Victoria statues toppled, 7 Churches lighted

Statues of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria were torn down by protesters in Winnipeg, Canada. The latest acts of protests followed a spree of attacks on Catholic churches built on First Nation lands. At least seven churches have caught fire in recent weeks, since the grim discovery of more than 1,100 unmarked graves at sites where Catholic-run residential schools used to[Read More…]

by Countercurrents Collective — 05/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

CCTV could have prevented custodial murder

The rule of law is under a serious challenge since the inception of Constitution of India, as far as killings in police custody are concerned. The Supreme Court recently ordered installation of CCTV cameras in every place of custodial activity under the control of the police. But it appears no state or no police personnel have taken a serious note[Read More…]

by Dr Madabhushi Sridhar — 05/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Stan Swamy’s Health: Open Letter To Chief Justice Of Bombay High Court

Respected Sir, This is to bring to your notice the irreversibly deteriorating condition of 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy, an undertrial prisoner accused in the Elgar Parishad case and lodged at Taloja Central Prison in Maharashtra. He has been under intensive care at the Holy Family Hospital at Bandra, Mumbai, after he was directed to be hospitalized on 28 May. Today,[Read More…]

by Press Release — 05/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Urgent need for bail and specialised medical treatment for critical Stan Swamy

Statement by Jharkhand Jan Adhikar Mahasabha 84-year old Priest Stan Swamy’s health has deteriorated and he has been put on a ventilator at the Holy Family hospital. His situation is said to be critical. The NIA and central government are solely responsible for the sufferings of this elderly person and the current state of affair. The NIA court also played[Read More…]

by Press Release — 04/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

American Slavery and Global Capitalism

Edward Baptiste’s The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism attempts to provide a material analysis of the development of Slavery in the United States leading up to the Civil War. In doing so he reveals the origin of capitalism, and Western Economic Supremacy, to be the Southern Slave Plantations, who provided Northern and English Capitalists with[Read More…]

by Edward Liger Smith — 04/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Police arrest activists and protestors at Khori village

Not too far from the border of Delhi, Haryana’s Khori village has been the site of an unwavering protest movement. After a Supreme Court order on June 07, 2021 mandated the demolition of the slums of Khori village, the residents of the village took to protesting to save their houses. Most of the residents at the village are migrants from[Read More…]

by Press Release — 02/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Chhattisgarh government must restore health and human rights of people in Bastar

by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), Chhattisgarh and Chhattisgarh Right to Food Campaign (RTFC) Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) and Right to Food Campaign (RTFC), Chhattisgarh are writing to the Chhattisgarh government to bring attention to the poor status of human rights and health rights of people living in the Bastar Region. For years the people of Bastar have been denied decent[Read More…]

by Press Release — 01/07/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Rally for jailed Indian scholars held in Canada

Close to the birthday of George Orwell and the 46th anniversary of Emergency in the world’s so called largest democracy, activists came together in Surrey on Sunday, June 27, to raise their voices against the incarceration of thinkers by the Indian authorities. Organized by Radical Desi publications, the rally was held right outside the Indian Visa and Passport Application Center.[Read More…]

by Press Release — 28/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Fire Words for Canada Day

Dear Paleface, Let’s make things right for the longstanding Indigenous inhabitants of this land. Following the late May discovery of 215 concealed burials of First Nations children at a former residential school in Canada there was a post from a Jewish group on Facebook basically saying ‘Yes, this is an example of genocide.’ I am sure there are other Jews[Read More…]

by Mark Kirkwood Callingham — 27/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Killing of Bramhadev Singh of Piri (Latehar) by security forces

On June 12, 2021, many online news portals reported an exchange of fire that took place between security forces and Maoists in Kuku-Piri forest, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Garu police station of Latehar (Jharkhand). According to reports, one Naxalite was killed and guns were found. The next day, many local newspapers highlighted that 24-year-old Bramhadev Singh of[Read More…]

by Press Release — 23/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The UAPA Noose

It is now out in the open.There seems to be quite a lot of dissatisfaction in the higher judiciary about the burden placed on their shoulders by the rising number of UAPA cases.The phrasing of the act is so wide and sweeping that it gives a government powers to practically put under arrest and detain anyone it finds inconvenient or[Read More…]

by Hiren Gohain — 21/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Together A Cry For Justice

Aisha Sultana, a native of Lakshadweep’s Chetlat island, is today one of India’s visible faces in the cry for justice! She is a well-known actor and director and an activist. Lakshadweep, a Union Territory, is an archipelago of 36 islands in the Arabian Sea: a paradise with pristine beauty. Its 70,000-strong population is predominantly Muslim (with smaller percentages of Hindus[Read More…]

by Cedric Prakash — 21/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Protests in Punjab on arrests of intellectuals and social activists

A most encouraging phenomena has emerged in Punjab in the last week with 4most qualitative protests engulfing Punjab in Bathinda , Amritsar ,Sangrur and Nawanshahr against the detention of the intellectuals fabricated as Maoists. The speakers at the very core exposed link between saffron Hindutva politics and the patronage to corporate groups like Ambani or Adani.They portrayed how the trend[Read More…]

by Harsh Thakor — 19/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Stop Unjust Evictions of 10 thousand households in Khori Gaon, Faridabad

NAPM Condemns the unjustifiable order of the Supreme Court to Evict around One Lakh Residents of Khori Gaon, Haryana, without Rehabilitation in the Middle of the Pandemic Right to Housing of Working-Class people Living in Precarious Conditions is inalienable: ‘Environmental Protection’ cannot be an excuse to deprive vulnerable people of shelter 15th June, 2021: National Alliance of People’s Movements denounces[Read More…]

by National Alliance of People’s Movements — 15/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Publicity and Exploitation: Fortress Australia and the Family from Biloela

Australian officials and paper mad types are running out of ideas as to how to be cruel towards refugees. We need to give them some credit: for years they have tried to do what most autocratic and murderous regimes do in a heartbeat: ignore international law, treat it with disdain and use those feeble excuses in the service of sovereignty.[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 15/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Justice to Sanitation Workers Must Move Beyond Verbal Appreciation

Q-Who are the workers who perform the most essential tasks, also earn the highest appreciation but get the least justice? Ans. -Sanitation workers. Since historical times, sanitation workers have suffered the most injustice in India. Perhaps oppressor sections thought that the most effective, even though highly unjust , means to ensure the ready availability of this essential service at a[Read More…]

by Bharat Dogra — 15/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Screening bodies, mobilising consent

Undergoing the process of having to screen our bodies invaded by an external touch also makes us vulnerable to unidentified sexual perversion. But does having to undergo the same if exercised by people of our respective genders make us any less vulnerable? Established heterosexual foundations so far has led to the screening of women and men bodies by their gender[Read More…]

by Daibee Das — 14/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

WANTED: Immediate Justice in the Bhima-Koregaon Conspiracy

It was the virtual ‘midnight knock’! The irony was that the knock took place in broad daylight, and expectedly in a blatantly unjust, uncivilised and unconstitutional manner. On 6 June 2018, Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson were arrested from their residences in various parts of the country. The arrests of others then continued in[Read More…]

by Cedric Prakash — 13/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Prominent international figures urge release of human rights defenders in India

Over 50 eminent international figures including members of several European parliaments academics, lawyers, Nobel laureates, civil society leaders, and diasporic organisations have signed a joint statement urging the Indian government to show compassion and responsibility in the current Covid emergency, and call upon the authorities to release all arrested human rights defenders into safe conditions in the light of the[Read More…]

by Press Release — 11/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Composite photo of dual nationals being held as prisoners in Iran.

“Unbearable”—The Lives of Iran’s Political Prisoners Hang in the Balance, June 13 – A Moment to Act

“Unbearable.” That’s the title of Reza Khandan’s gut-wrenching Ms. Magazine report from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s (IRI) Qarchak prison for women. Khandan is the husband of attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is imprisoned there for the “crime” of representing activists for human and women’s rights. What is so “unbearable”? “Entering these cells is like being transported back to the Middle Ages,” Khandan writes,[Read More…]

by Larry Everest — 09/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

G.N Saibaba: Great Son of Our Land

I am writing this tribute to Jailed Professor G.N.Saibaba, commemorating the third anniversary of the attack on the Urban intellectuals in Mumbai. Professor G.N.Saibaba is in my view today the best son of our land today. It is hard to visualize a physically impaired person face and resist the iron feet of oppression with the same magnitude. Professor G.N.Saibaba is[Read More…]

by Harsh Thakor — 07/06/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Denmark Offshores the Right to Asylum

This has been a fantasy of Danish governments for some time. There have been gazes of admiration towards countries like Australia, where processing refugees and asylum-seekers is a task offloaded, with cash incentives, to third countries (Papua New Guinea and Nauru come to mind). Danish politicians, notably a good number among the Social Democrats, have dreamed about doing the same[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 07/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Appointment of Justice Arun Mishra as Chairperson, NHRC: Another Move to Subvert & Destroy Democratic Institutions

We, the members of various Human Rights Organisations and Concerned individuals, condemn the appointment of former SC Judge, Shri Arun Kumar Mishra, as the next Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India by the selection Committee headed by the Prime Minister. What is troubling is that the decision to appoint Justice Arun Kumar Mishra as NHRC Head[Read More…]

by Press Release — 02/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

India’s Ignorance of its Political Prisoners during Pandemic

The second wave in recent weeks has overwhelmed the healthcare system, leaving hospitals and people both struggling to cope with critical drugs and oxygen in short supply. The situation now seems a little under control with infections slowing down. Pandemic has revealed a lot of mismanagement on the part of the government. Many sections of the society have skipped the[Read More…]

by Naveelah Ishteyaque — 02/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Australian Refugees – Corruption, Profits and Politics

Written by Thomas Klikauer and Catherine Link At the end May 2021, Australian media reported on a multinational company receiving a $121 million contract to keep asylum seekers locked away on a remote island of Papua New Guinea (PNG) for good. Ever since Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and even more so since Karl Marx’s Value, Price and Profits (1865),[Read More…]

by Thomas Klikauer — 02/06/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

A system buried 215 children at a former residential school in Canada

At the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Colombia, Canada, remains of 215 children were found buried. Some of the children were as young as three years old when they died, the First Nation said. Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation hired a specialist in ground-penetrating radar to carry out the work and believes the deaths of the children are undocumented. Chief Rosanne[Read More…]

by Countercurrents Collective — 31/05/2021 — 2 comments — Human Rights

Facts and Fiction of Firing in Silger (Bastar)

Written by Bela Bhatia and Jean Drèze Mass protests against the proliferation of CRPF camps have been happening all over Bastar during the last two years, without attracting much media coverage. It is only because of the death of three protestors in police firing on 17 May 2021 that the Silger protest came to light. Silger is a small adivasi[Read More…]

by Jean Drèze — 27/05/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

PUCL Offers Condolence Message for Prof. Dinesh Mohan

PUCL feels a deep sense of loss over the sad demise of Prof. Dinesh Mohan on 21st May. Prof. Dinesh Mohan’s passing away marks the loss of a multifaceted personality: an outstanding academician, a visionary thinker, pioneer in the field of traffic studies and sustainable infrastructure development and a staunch champion of human rights. Prof. Dinesh Mohan was a member[Read More…]

by Press Release — 27/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

US Extradition of Alex Saab is Illegal & Unfounded: Lawyers & Legal Experts

Written by Saheli Chowdhury and Stephen Lalla Venezuelan businessman and diplomatic envoy Alex Saab, held in the African island nation of Cape Verde and facing extradition to the United States, is a victim of political persecution and his case is comparable to that of Julian Assange or Chelsea Manning. Saab, who had engaged in brokering deals that would evade the[Read More…]

by Saheli Chowdhury — 25/05/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Urgent need to shift Stan Swamy to a good hospital

Stan Swamy, 84-year old Adivasi rights activist from Jharkhand, was arrested by NIA under UAPA in the Bhima Koregaon case on the 8th of October 2020 and has been lodged in Taloja jail, near Mumbai, Maharashtra. He has spent his entire life fighting for Adivasi rights and the rights of the underprivileged. Stan Swamy is a Parkinson’s disease patient with[Read More…]

by Press Release — 20/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Release Political Prisoners

Though India is one of the worst hit covid affected countries in the world, the plight and plea of political prisoners under trial gets no attention from the state or central governments. So many people including students, activists, journalists, academicians, and political leaders are still behind the bars many of whom are tested Covid postive while some others got serious[Read More…]

by Press Release — 20/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Two Crucial Reasons Why Fr. Stan Swamy Should Be Released at the Earliest

It is the duty of all patriotic citizens to protect the international reputation of their country. For the greater part of its post-independence period India has experienced a reasonably good reputation in terms of democracy and human rights. There were always some problems, things were never perfect, there were ups and downs, but on the whole there was a reasonably[Read More…]

by Bharat Dogra — 17/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Increasing Worldwide Demand for Release of Political Prisoners in Covid Times

On May 13 Thailand released data of record increase in Covid cases, but perhaps even more worrying was the fact that over half of the new cases were reported from two prisons located in Bangkok which also house quite a few political prisoners who had been arrested mainly for their protests against the government and the monarchy. This is just[Read More…]

by Bharat Dogra — 16/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

A Daughter Struggles For the Release of Her Distinguished Imprisoned Mother Who Had Earlier Protected Poorest People From Injustice

Till some time back Sudha Bharadwaj was known to many friends and admirers as a public interest lawyer who had protected many vulnerable and poor persons, particularly workers from injustice. She also taught law at prestigious institutions and was a source of inspiration for many of her students. How have conditions changed? Now her only daughter Maaysha has been moving[Read More…]

by Bharat Dogra — 16/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

A Strong Case For Withdrawing All Cases Against Natasha Narwal

Last week the academic community in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and other states was greatly distress by the news of the death of Dr. Mahavir Narwal. Many of his former students, particularly those in Hissar , were reduced to tears. He was remembered by teachers as well as students not only for his learning and teaching but also for the important[Read More…]

by Bharat Dogra — 14/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Hany Babu Tested COVID Positive

Hany Babu, an undertrial prisoner in the Bhima Koregaon case, who has been in custody since July 2020 without trial has now been diagnosed as COVID Positive. Hany had developed an acute eye infection in Taloja Jail. He has little or no vision in his left eye due to the swelling, which has spread to the cheek, ear and forehead[Read More…]

by Press Release — 13/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Plea for release of the Bhima Koregaon (BK) detainees during COVID-19 pandemic

Family and friends of activists arrested in Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case write to Hon’ble Chief Minister, Maharashtra state for immediate release of the Bhima Koregaon under trial detainees in light of the threats posed to their life and health due to the raging Covid 19 pandemic. Letter attached. —————–Letter——————— Date: 11/05/21 To, The Honorable CM, Maharshtra Mr. Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray,[Read More…]

by Press Release — 12/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Hany Babu Suffering From Acute Eye Infection

An Appeal to Chief Minister of Kerala Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan Sir, Please Intervene… To The Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala Dear Sir, We, the family members of Hany Babu M.T., who is the 12th person to be arrested in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case (NIA Case No. RC-02/2020/NIA/MUM), write to you in desperation and to bring to your kind attention[Read More…]

by Press Release — 12/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Cherry – Picking Human Rights Policy

US Condemns China’s Uighur Policy, while Providing Billions in Foreign Aid to Israel Condemned for Apartheid Policies The US has a long-standing double standard when it comes to condemning nations for human rights violations, including state-terrorist acts, if it considers them enemies. At the same time, the US strongly supports and in some cases provides billions in foreign aid, guaranteed[Read More…]

by Jon Kofas — 11/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

BBC, Free Media, and Julian Assange

A video in which Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev is interviewed by Orla Guerin has resurfaced; the interview took place in November 2020. (The BBC version.) Revealing is what is not seen in the BBC version. When Aliyev held up the mirror to Guerin’s “accusation” that there was no free media in Azerbaijan, the BBC responded by censoring Aliyev’s reference to[Read More…]

by Kim Petersen — 09/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Can Guantánamo Ever Be Shut Down?

Dealing with the Forever Prison of America’s Forever Wars The Guantánamo conundrum never seems to end. Twelve years ago, I had other expectations. I envisioned a writing project that I had no doubt would be part of my future: an account of Guantánamo’s last 100 days. I expected to narrate in reverse, the episodes in a book I had just[Read More…]

by Karen J Greenberg — 05/05/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Release Akhil Gogoi Immediately

One of the lesser known aspects of recent Assembly elections which deserves to be known more widely is that the well-known social activist Akhil Gogoi has won the election from Sivasagar constituency from Assam even though he fought the election from behind the bars as he had been arrested following his opposition to Citizens’ Amendment Act ( CAA). Despite being[Read More…]

by Bharat Dogra — 04/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

African Human Rights Vs. Western Human Rights

If you ask those of us living in the Africa, almost all of us will tell you that the “human rights” that matter most are those that are basic to the right to life; food, water, shelter, medical care and education for your children. If you and you family are cold, hungry, sick and illiterate do you think “freedom of[Read More…]

by Thomas C Mountain — 04/05/2021 — 2 comments — Human Rights

Question of Release of All Political Prisoners – Urgent need for another 1977-like PUCLDR National Convention on Political Prisoners

PART I A Poem symptomatic of the Theme of Political Prisoners Let me invert the structure of this article a bit. I have referred to some of the poems in the anthalogy of poems “Dissenting Voices” (1977) which accompanied the 1977 – PUCLDR National Convention of Political Prisoners, at the end of this piece. However, let me begin with one[Read More…]

by Dr Aurobindo Ghose — 01/05/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Anatomy of a Solar Land Grab

Blatant Human Rights violations and forcible takeover of land in Mikir Bamuni Grant village for a 15MW Solar Power Project of Azure Power. State officials, especially form local and district administration, facilitated the illegal and unjust takeover of the land. The Land and Forests of Assam belong to the indigenous and adivasi people of Assam and must be returned back[Read More…]

by Fact-Finding Report — 30/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Protest The Ban Of 16 Democratic Organisations In Telengana

CDRO strongly condemns the declaration of Civil Liberties Committee (CLC) and 15 other organisations by the Telangana state government as unlawful associations under Telangana Public security Act. The Telangana Government, recently through a G. O. Ms.73 dt. 30-3-2021, declared that the following organisations, 1) Telangana Praja Front (TPF), 2.Telangana Asanghatitha Karmika Samkhya (TAKS), 3.Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika (TW), 4.Democratic Students Organisation[Read More…]

by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO) — 28/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Birthday Greetings, Dear Fr. Stan!

Dear Stan, It is rather unusual and certainly not normal to wish someone who is in prison “A Happy Birthday!” One’s birthday cannot be ‘happy’ in prison; however, in wishing you – we celebrate your life: your mission and your message and above all, those whom you have so closely identified with, all these years so “Birthday Greetings to[Read More…]

by Cedric Prakash — 25/04/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Free Hidme Markam

1,000 + activists, academics, concerned citizens from 20+ states in India and across the globe write to Chief Minister Chhattisgarh. Call for immediate release of Hidme Markam and end state excess on adivasis in Bastar Deeply outraged by the arbitrary incarceration of Hidme Markam, an adivasi human rights defender and environmental activist, for over 40 days, more than a thousand[Read More…]

by Press Release — 21/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

UN Special Rapporteur on Sanctions Alena Douhan press conference in Caracas (Photo Telesur)

US sanctions on Venezuela violate the human rights that they claim to protect, says UN Special Rapporteur on Sanctions

Written by Saheli Chowdhury and Stephen Lalla “You cannot claim to protect human rights by violating human rights,” asserted Alena Douhan, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, while detailing the human cost of the unilateral sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the United States and its allies. Prof. Douhan,[Read More…]

by Saheli Chowdhury — 21/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Rally in support of Ambedkar’s grandson-in-law held outside Indian Visa and Passport Application Center

Close to the first anniversary of the arrest of a renowned Indian scholar, members of Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) held a demonstration in Surrey on Sunday, April 18. Anand Teltumbde, a well-known author and columnist, was arrested last year on April 14 under trumped up charges for merely questioning the power and standing up for the poor and[Read More…]

by Press Release — 19/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Pam Africa: As Mumia Awaits Heart Surgery, I am Issuing a Challenge to CNN’s Michael Smerconish and DA Larry Krasner

(PHOTO: Pam Africa presents the first issue of The Jamal Journal outside of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office on March 12, 2021. Pam has repeatedly attempted to meet with DA Krasner but he has always refused to meet with her. Photo by Jamal Journal staff photographer Joe Piette) Ona Move! On Saturday April 17, Mumia called his wife Wadiya and[Read More…]

by Pam Africa — 19/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Mumia Abu-Jamal is Scheduled for Open-Heart Surgery –Racism Remains the Greatest Medical Threat to Mumia’s Health

(A new Medical Professionals for Mumia petition co-written by Dr. Alvarez is reprinted at the bottom of this article. Read “A Christmas Cage,” Mumia Abu-Jamal’s personal account of what happened to him on the morning of Dec. 9, 1981) As this article goes to press today, April 15th, Mumia is now scheduled for open heart surgery tomorrow. We only know that he has severe blockages[Read More…]

by Dr Ricardo Alvarez — 16/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Rohingya Refugees on the move (Image for representational purpose only)

Rohingyas: The tale of an ill-decided fate

Written by Nizamuddin Ahmad Siddiqui & Abu Zar Ali The Supreme Court of India, by way of an order dated 8th April 2021, allowed the deportation of Rohingyas from the Indian territory. The Government of India had argued that these people were illegal migrants who had crossed the borders from the neighbouring state; and though they enjoyed the equal protection[Read More…]

by Nizamuddin Ahmad Siddiqui — 11/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

PUCL condemns the Unprecedented Attack on Rights Activists by the State Government of Andhra Pradesh and the NIA

(The Press release is by way of a chronicle of the NIA Witch-hunt of Rights Defenders and documents the ongoing saga of the State’s Conspiracy to Silence Dissent) In an unprecedented manner, on 31st March & 1st April, 2021, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided the homes of at least 33 human rights and civil liberties activists, members of women’s[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 10/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Telugu community in Canada raises voice for GN Saibaba

Members of the Telugu Church in Vancouver came together on Tuesday, April 6, to denounce the incarceration of the disabled Indian scholar G.N. Saibaba. A former Delhi University Professor, Saibaba continues to face inhuman conditions in an Indian jail after being convicted in 2017. First arrested on trumped-up charges in 2014, for merely speaking out against the repression of religious[Read More…]

by Press Release — 08/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

GASS condemns role of NIA to cover up the Vakapalli rape case

Bhubaneswar: The Ganatantrik Adhikar Suraksha Sangathan (GASS) condemns the witch-hunting of the National Investigation Authority (NIA) officials against the human and democratic rights activists from Andra Pradesh and Telangana in the name of so-called “Maoist links “. It is reported in various National dailies that the NIA officials conducted raids at 31 residential places of the human rights activist and arrested[Read More…]

by Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakha Sangathan — 03/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Activist KV Biju thrashed for campaigning against BJP in Kerala

KV Biju, national coordinator of the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, one of groups under the umbrella of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha that has been leading the farmer protests on the borders of the national capital, was among two people thrashed late night on March 30, 2021, while out pasting posters urging voters in Kerala to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates[Read More…]

by Rosamma Thomas — 02/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

NAPM condemns the fabricated FIRs and arbitrary raids on activists’ homes in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) condemns in the strongest possible terms the high-handed manner of ‘raids’ by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) at the homes of over 16 activists of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, acting on dubious FIRs registered a couple of months back. We express our solidarity with all these activists and advocates who are long standing members[Read More…]

by National Alliance of People’s Movements — 02/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

CDRO Condemns NIA Raids On Rights Activists

Co-ordination of Democratic Rights Organisations (CDRO) is strongly condemning the raids of NIA(National Investigation Agency) on the houses of Rights Activists and activists belongs to various peoples organisations. NIA has raided the houses of nearly 16 Human Rights, Civil liberties, feminist activists and progressive writers in AP and Telangana. The raids began on 31st March evening and continued till the[Read More…]

by Press Release — 02/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The Draconian Sedition Law in Independent India

The Indian Sedition Law owes its origin to The British Sedition Act of 1661, an Act of Parliament of England which was passed as an Act for safety and Preservation of His Majesties Person and Government against Treasonable and Seditious practices and attempts. However Sedition was abolished in Great Britain through the Coroners and Justice Act of 2009. The Sedition Law in India was inserted into IPC[Read More…]

by Prem Verma — 02/04/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

UNHRC Resolution 46/1 – A Welcome Development

A welcome move for the United Nations, Security Council and International Community to uphold accountability and rein in Sri Lanka. At the 46th Session of UNHRC, the final Resolution on Sri Lanka was passed with 22 members voting for it with 11 opposing and 14 abstentions In this article some of the Resolutions’ vital recommendations can be analyzed in the[Read More…]

by Thambu Kanagasabai — 01/04/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

The Only Treatment is Freedom: Mumia Abu-Jamal and COVID

Johanna Fernández, author of The Young Lords: A Radical History and a leading member of the movement to bring Mumia Abu-Jamal and other political prisoners home, reports on Mumia’s COVID-19 diagnosis. History is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that[Read More…]

by Johanna Fernández — 31/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Wrongful detention or conviction: Victims’ compensation

On March 03, 2021, The New Indian Express carried a news headline: ‘Falsely accused of rape, UP man freed after spending 20 years in jail’ – a very good news report indeed; he is free man finally. Then on March 06, 2021, Inquest News carried the following headline: ‘Surat court acquits 122 alleged SIMI members after 19 years of arrest’[Read More…]

by Dr Kaleem Alam — 30/03/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Fr Stan Swamy and the Ides of March

Sometime, just before Monday 22 March (the day the order in response to his bail application was scheduled to be pronounced), Fr. Stan Swamy sent a communication from the confines of the Taloja Prison where he has been incarcerated for near six months now. In that communication he said, “So, we await ‘the ides of March’” From the tone of[Read More…]

by Cedric Prakash — 30/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

How many is too many?

The United States of America is victim of its own propaganda. Since being founded, the USA has always depicted itself as a beacon of democracy and liberty, a land of opportunity and hope where a person can accomplish rags to riches through hard work and initiative. For many the American Dream is viewed as a reality and can we[Read More…]

by Alan Johnstone — 27/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

All India Catholic Union Demands Action On Vigilante Group, Police In Harassing Nuns In Train In Jhansi

The All India Catholic Union, founded 101 years ago, has called upon the Prime Minister and the Home minister of India to take exemplary action against the vigilante group and the police involved in the harassment of two Sacred Heart Nuns and two student Nuns in a moving train near Jhansi. In Uttar Pradesh. The police, instead of warding off[Read More…]

by Press Release — 25/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Injustice Industrial Complex, and the Human Miasma

As his 67th birthday nears, and Pennsylvania political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal faces challenging and potentially fatal health crises, his legal case is still slowly winding its way through the arduous appellate court system. — New court filings for Abu-Jamal’s appeal, Workers World, March 22. Injustice is an industry in the United States of America, just like militarism and prisons. An[Read More…]

by Priti Gulati Cox — 24/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

International Human Rights Organizations write to Rutgers University in support of Dr Audrey Truschke

Over two dozen US and international civil and human rights organizations have expressed solidarity with Dr Audrey Truschke, Associate Professor of South Asian History at Rutgers University against the ongoing systematic campaign of vilification against her including vile threats of extreme violence. In a remarkable build up of broad support for Dr. Truschke, the joint letter thanks Rutgers for unequivocally supporting[Read More…]

by Press Release — 21/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Children of No Land- Rohingya Refugees and Their Persecution in India

Driven out of homeland and in search of a shore to call as one’s own- the story of every refugee fits in this framework. Termed as the most persecuted people of 21st century, life of Rohingya refugees since decades has been all about striking a balance between series of uprooting and stay planted as long as they are on the[Read More…]

by Lekshmi Sujatha — 19/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Not even an iota of evidence to connect Disha to PJF

Besides granting bail to Octogenarian poet Varavara Rao, one of the most important judicial actions that happened recently is grant of bail to Disha Ravi, who should be remembered on International Women’s Day of 2021. Disha and Varavara Rao were incarcerated for opposing the government’s policies, without proper evidence. The serious threat to personal liberty can only be averted with[Read More…]

by Dr Madabhushi Sridhar — 15/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Immediately Release Dr. GN Saibaba!

The Committee for the Defence and Release of Dr. GN Saibaba organised a press conference at the Press Club of India in Delhi which was addressed by writer Arundhati Roy, former Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha D Raja, General Secretary of the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) Muralidharan, former President of DUTA Nandita Narain,[Read More…]

by Press Release — 11/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

JatiIndia Flag of Atrocities Caste, Present and Future: Thangjam Manorama

On this International Women’s Day let’s take a moment to remember one of JatiIndia’s victims, 32-year-old Thangjam Manorama from Manipur, India who was hauled out of her home at night, brutally tortured, raped and then shot dead by Indian paramilitary forces — the 17th Assam Rifles — on July 11, 2004. There were bullet wounds found in her vagina and[Read More…]

by Priti Gulati Cox — 08/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Rally against state violence against women in India held in Surrey

On the eve of International Women’s Day, South Asian activists came together to raise their voices against gendered repression in the world’s so called largest democracy. Organized by the Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) on Sunday, March 7, the rally was held outside the Indian Visa and Passport Application Center in Surrey. The demonstration was mainly focussed on the[Read More…]

by Press Release — 08/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Chhattisgarh SHRC Demands Action Taken Report On Attack On Adivasi Christians

In a complaint that was filed by the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations on December 7, 2020 against the mob violence on Madvi Muka and 27 other victims in Chhattisgarh, the SHRC, Chhattisgarh has ordered the police submission of an action taken report. The case came to light when a Hindutva mob attacked the people during the prayer that[Read More…]

by Press Release — 07/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Free Malik! Save The Bay View Newspaper!

Sometimes a particular fight weaves together so many strands of the oppressive fabric of the USA that it is difficult to figure out what is key and where to begin. Such is the case with the fight to free Bay View Newspaper editor Malik Washington from the clutches of the private, COVID-wracked “halfway-house” prison in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. Systemic[Read More…]

by Marc Norton — 03/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

China challenges UN high commissioner: Come to Xinjiang, but not for ‘investigation based on guilty before proven’

China has said that the door to Xinjiang “is always open” for UN High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, after she claimed Muslim Uighurs are suffering arbitrary detention and ill-treatment in the area. The statement was made on Tuesday by the Chinese delegation to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in response to comments by Bachelet claiming an independent investigation needs[Read More…]

by Countercurrents Collective — 03/03/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Islam And Human Rights

Discussion of Islam in Western languages, and latterly much of it in the languages of the Islamic world as well, is bedeviled by polemic and reductionism. Islam itself always seems to be in the dock. One school of thought wishes to prove that Islam as such is responsible for all the abuses and cruelties to be found in the Islamic[Read More…]

by Basit Nabi — 27/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Nodeep Kaur Gets Bail, Release Shiv Kumar

PUCL is extremely pleased that the Punjab and Haryana High Court, restored the civil liberties of dalit labour activist Nodeep Kaur of Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, by granting her bail on 26th February 2021. PUCL demands that co-activist, Shiv Kumar who is grievously injured and visually challenged also be released right away and till his release, he should be[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 26/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Stop the Witch Hunt! Drop all false & motivated Cases

The PUCL welcomes the order of the Delhi Sessions Court on 23.2.21, granting bail to Disha Ravi, a 21 year old resident of Bengaluru who was unjustly incarcerated for offences under Sections 124A, 153A and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860. Ms. Ravi suffered a series of egregious violations including abduction by the Delhi police from her home[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 25/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Toolkit is not a terror manual

The recent arrest of a young climate activist in India for her association with a guide to passive resistance movements has once again exposed the true colours of the world’s so called largest democracy. Twenty-one-year-old Disha Ravi was arrested by Delhi Police from Bengaluru under conspiracy charges. Her only fault is her link with a toolkit built by the Canada-based[Read More…]

by Gurpreet Singh — 22/02/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Ensure the Constitutional Right to Dignified Housing for Migrant Labourers of Ahmedabad

NAPM Stands with the Migrant Labourers of Ahmedabad Demanding Basic Living Facilities The past year has exposed the dire situation of migrant workers across India, who continue to work in precarious conditions. On 15th February, 2021, almost 1000 migrant labourers, members of the labour union Majur Adhikar Manch, gathered in Ahmedabad in front of the District Collector’s office, to submit a[Read More…]

by National Alliance of People’s Movements — 21/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Assam: Violation of human rights of detainees under The Foreigners Act

To Secretary National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Sir, I refer to my letters dated 4-1-2021 & 16-1-2021 on violation of human rights of the detainees under the the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Foreigners (Tribunals For Assam) Order, 2006 and the other related laws in force in Assam. I have enclosed here copies of the two letters for your ready reference.[Read More…]

by E A S Sarma — 21/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Stop Hounding Young Climate Activists

The 101-year-old All India Catholic Union [AICU] is deeply distressed and extremely worried at the hounding of young climate change and environment activists in the country. What makes it more critical is that this form of persecution comes from both State and non-state actors, and at a time when the nation is struggling to come out of the medical and[Read More…]

by Press Release — 19/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Emergency rally for Professor Saibaba held outside Indian visa and passport application center in Canada

Members of Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) came together on Sunday, February 14, to raise their voices for the jailed Indian scholar who is being incarcerated despite being disabled below the waist, and having been tested positive for COVID 19. A well-known human rights defender, former Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba is currently serving a life term after having[Read More…]

by Press Release — 15/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Release Climate Activist Disha Ravi

News that Disha Ravi, a young woman and climate activist from Bengaluru, has been “picked up” – in what is referred to as a “closely guarded operation” of the Delhi police – is highly disturbing both for what appears to be its illegal nature and for the over-reaction of the State that it represents. Earlier today, Disha has been remanded to[Read More…]

by Press Release — 14/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

JatiIndia Flag of Atrocities Caste, Present and Future: Munawar Faruqui

The intruder [Gaur] was referring not to a joke Faruqui had just made, but one that he’d uploaded on YouTube in April 2020. It referenced Rama, a widely worshipped Hindu deity, and his wife Sita. “O Lord, my beloved, has come home,” Faruqui starts, dropping lyrics from an enormously popular Bollywood song in which a woman celebrates the return of[Read More…]

by Priti Gulati Cox — 13/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Is India’s social justice paradigm under threat? Stories of Fr. Stan Swamy and Sudha Bharadwaj

In a letter written by Fr. Stan Swamy SJ, from the prison, said, “Dear friends: Peace! Though I do not have many details, from what I have heard, I am grateful to all of you for expressing your solidarity support. I am in a cell approximately 13 feet x 8 feet, along with two more inmates. It has a small[Read More…]

by George Abraham — 13/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Bhima Koregaon Case: Evidence planted in accused Rona Wilson’s computer

Activist Rona Wilson’s computer was compromised for over 22 months before the Pune Police raided his home in New Delhi and arrested him as co-accused in Bhima Koregaon violence, claimed the Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm Arsenal Digital. The firm in its report said that the 10 letters used first by Pune Police and later the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as[Read More…]

by Countercurrents Collective — 11/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Continuing Prosecutions: Assange and the Biden Administration

With changes of presidential administrations, radical departures in policy are always exaggerated. Continuity remains, for the most part, a standard feature. It is precisely that continuity being challenged by groups fearful of the continuing prosecution of Julian Assange. The effort by the US Justice Department to extradite Assange from the UK on eighteen charges based on the Espionage Act and[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 11/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Release Nodeep Kaur

The Kisan Andolan has brought many new faces, young and dynamic activists full of ideological commitments as well as active on the ground which is a positive sign. When the movement started, many people asked me the question about the agricultural workers, Dalit, Adivasis. I was very clear that farmers have now realised that corporate culture is anti-farmer which is[Read More…]

by Vidya Bhushan Rawat — 09/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Sri Lanka’s Desperate Damage Control Exercise To Degrade Draft UNHRC Resolution

Recently. President Gotabaya Rajapakshe appointed a three man Commission to study and find out if any human rights violations have been revealed in the Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission [ LLRC] Paranagama and Udalagama Commissions by ignoring and rejecting the several Reports of the UN Special Rapporteurs including United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon’s Report which detailed comprehensive human rights[Read More…]

by Thambu Kanagasabai — 08/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

How alert shopkeeper brought missing child back home

On February 3, 2021, Nitin Negi, who runs an electronics goods repair shop in Uttam Nagar, New Delhi, found a toddler outside his shop, no trace of his parents. The shopkeeper asked the little fellow what his name was, what his mother’s name was, and what his father was called. The toddler said he was Nana, his mother Anju and[Read More…]

by Rosamma Thomas — 06/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Immediately release Nodeep Kaur and Shiv Kumar

Demand the immediate release of Nodeep Kaur and Shiv Kumar and cessation of targeting of workers and peasants by the Haryana Police! WSS strongly condemns the arrest and custodial sexual violence perpetrated by the Haryana Police in Kundli Industrial Area against 24-year-old dalit worker Nodeep Kaur On January 12th 2021, the Haryana Police began firing at a workers’ rally[Read More…]

by Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression — 05/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Condemn the arrest of journalist Mandeep Punia by the Delhi Police!

Campaign Against State Repression demands the immediate release of Mandeep Punia and cessation of targeting of journalists! On January 30th, Mandeep Punia, a freelance journalist who worked for The Caravan magazine and Junputh, was dragged across the police barricades at Singhu Border and arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. While his whereabouts were unknown for a long[Read More…]

by Campaign Against State Repression — 01/02/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Rosa Parks and Equal Rights

Rosa Parks learned to stand her ground for which she was hauled off to jail. This incident wasn’t the first time, nor the last time, that an Afro-American would be incarcerated for an act of civil disobedience. Her arrest was due to this event: A bus driver in Montgomery, Alabama ordered her to give up her seat in the “colored”[Read More…]

by Sally Dugman — 31/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Protest against lapdog media held to mark Gauri Lankesh’s birthday in Canada

Members of Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) came together on Saturday January 30,to mark the birth anniversary of a slain journalist, outside the Indian visa and passport center in Surrey. Gauri Lankesh was a critic of the current right wing Hindu nationalist government. Born on January 29, 1962, she was assassinated in 2017 by suspected Hindu extremists. Her murder[Read More…]

by Press Release — 31/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

PUCL and 100 Organisations demand the repeal of the UAPA

Activists, Advocates and commoners came together virtually to discuss and demand the repeal of the UAPA and underlined the legal, socio-cultural issues around it in a consultation organised by the People’s Union of Civil Liberties. ——– IN a session packed with human stories of abuse and misuse of law where activists and commoners were abused, the People’s Union for Civil[Read More…]

by Parvathi Sajiv — 24/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Widespread Opposition of Arrest Warrant Against Eminent Journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

On January 19, a court in Gujarat issued an arrest warrant against eminent journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta in a defamation suit filed by the Adani Group. Since then several leading media organizations and commentators have voiced strong opposition of this action against a senior journalist with many-sided achievements in print journalism, TV and documentary films. Thakurta has also been working[Read More…]

by Bharat Dogra — 23/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

400 + Days of Unjust Arrest: Free Akhil Gogoi

National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) is deeply anguished at the continued incarceration of Akhil Gogoi, well-known peasant leader of Assam. The past two weeks have been particularly poignant, as one the one hand, it marked over 400 days of Akhil in jail, while on the other, his bail application, which came up for hearing after protracted delay was declined[Read More…]

by National Alliance of People’s Movements — 22/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Condemn Land Grab & State Excesses for ‘Green Energy’ Project in Assam: Release All Arrested Farmers of ‘Mikir Bamuni’

NAPM condemns the police-state atrocities against Karbi and adivasi farmers of ‘Mikir Bamuni Grant’, protesting the ‘questionable purchase’ of their cultivable land in the name of ‘Green Energy’. Stop arrests, police persecution and intimidation, violence against women & villagers: Release all arrested farmers immediately . Govt of Assam must recognize the tenancy rights of farmers under the Assam (Temporarily Settled[Read More…]

by National Alliance of People’s Movements — 19/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Pluralism Does Not Justify The Violation Of Human Rights – India Are You Listening?

On October 2019 Delivering a lecture on the “Indian Economy: Challenges and Prospects” at the Deepak and Neera Raj Centre on Indian Economic Policies , Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman , Finance Minister of the Modi Government , on being asked of the revocation of Article 370 and its economic impact on the state[Read More…]

by Jahnobi Khanna — 17/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Condemn the arrest and custodial sexual violence faced by Nodeep Kaur!

Campaign Against State Repression demands the immediate release of Nodeep Kaur and strict action against the Haryana Police for targeting workers in the Kundli Industrial Area! On January 12th, the Haryana Police barged into the Majdoor Adhikar Sanghatan (MAS) tent erected in solidarity with the protesting farmers and peasants at the Singhu Border and arrested a 24-year-old dalit woman, a[Read More…]

by Campaign Against State Repression — 17/01/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Violation of the human rights of an innocent family in Assam

To Secretary National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) N.Delhi Sir, Kindly refer to my attached letter dated 4-1-2021 on arbitrary detention of Mohammad Nur Hussain, 34, a rickshaw puller in Guwahati who hails from Lawdong village in Assam’s Udalguri district, his wife Sahera Begum, 26, and their two minor children (Ages 7 & 5 years). In June, 2019, on a false charge[Read More…]

by E A S Sarma — 17/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks and Australia’s Complicity

Australia’s Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, said little in the statement from her department, which was a good thing, as it might have been dangerously useful. The finding of a UK court on whether Julian Assange would be extradited to the United States was made “on the grounds of his mental health and consequent suicide risk.” She does not care to[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 13/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

JatiIndia Flag of Atrocities Caste, Present and Future: Masrat Zahra

“Rescue us from the sub-jail – what you call the media ‘facilitation’ centre,” reads a sign held up by a pair of, what you, JatiIndia — my name for this country of jatis/castes — call “anti-national” hands. Who qualifies as a so-called anti-national? Anyone who resists and exposes JatiIndian supremacy within the boundaries of the country, and in occupied Kashmir.[Read More…]

by Priti Gulati Cox — 10/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The US and UK may not will Assange’s death, but everything they are doing makes it more likely

There was a hope in some quarters after Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled on Monday against an application to extradite Julian Assange to the US, where he faced being locked away for the rest of his life, that she might finally be changing tack. Washington has wanted Assange permanently silenced and made an example of – by demonstrating to other journalists[Read More…]

by Jonathan Cook — 08/01/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Proxy Jailor: Denying Assange Bail

History, while not always a telling guide, can be useful. But in moments of flushed confidence, it is not consulted and Cleo is forgotten. A crisp new dawn can negate a glance to the past. Having received the unexpected news that Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States for charges of breaching the Espionage Act of 1917 and computer intrusion[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 07/01/2021 — 1 comment — Human Rights

“It’s not as bad as Iwo Jima, I suppose”: The Julian Assange Extradition Verdict

The barrister-brewed humour of Edward Fitzgerald QC, one of the solid and stout figures defending a certain Julian Assange of WikiLeaks at the Old Bailey in London, was understandable. Time had worn and wearied the parties, none more so than his client. Fitzgerald had asked for water, but then mused that its absence could hardly have been as bad as[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 05/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The Struggle To Free Julian Assange Is Not Finished

On January 4, 2021, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser gave a ruling wherein she blocked Julian Assange’s extradition to the US under Section 91 of UK’s Extradition Act (EA) 2003, citing health reasons. The US government has decided to appeal this decision. Section 91 of EA 2003 prohibits extradition if “the physical or mental condition of the person is such that it would be unjust[Read More…]

by Yanis Iqbal — 05/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Amnesty International: Modi gets stinker from three UN Special Rapporteurs

UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan, and Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2020 expressing grave concern over[Read More…]

by Rosamma Thomas — 05/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Assange wins. The cost: The crushing of press freedom, and the labelling of dissent as mental illness

The unexpected decision by Judge Vanessa Baraitser to deny a US demand to extradite Julian Assange, foiling efforts to send him to a US super-max jail for the rest of his life, is a welcome legal victory, but one swamped by larger lessons that should disturb us deeply. Those who campaigned so vigorously to keep Assange’s case in the spotlight,[Read More…]

by Jonathan Cook — 04/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

British Judge Rejects US Attempt to Extradite Julian Assange

A British judge on Monday rejected the United States’ request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, saying he was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected allegations that Assange is being prosecuted for political reasons or would not receive a fair trial in the United States. But[Read More…]

by Countercurrents Collective — 04/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Violation of the human rights of an innocent family in Assam

To Secretary National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) N.Delhi Sir, I refer to the distressing news report (https://indianexpress.com/article/north-east-india/assam/assam-nrc-detention-centre-7128303/) on how four members of a rickshaw puller’s family in Assam, unable to secure ready legal assistance, suffered gross violation of their basic human rights, when they were erroneously called “foreigners” in Assam under the Foreigners Tribunal Act, 1941, Foreigners Tribunal Order, 1964 and[Read More…]

by E A S Sarma — 04/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

2020 Witnessed the Deliberate Destruction of Democratic Rights Organizations in India

The large scale destruction of lives and livelihoods in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in India and its inept handling by the government has been accompanied by another sort of destruction, much more deliberate and calculated. It is the destruction of the democratic rights organizations (DROs) of India, as part of a vicious plan of the BJP government to[Read More…]

by Partho Sarothi Ray — 02/01/2021 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The Julian Assange Pardon Drive

The odds are stacked against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher who faces the grimmest of prospects come January 4. On that day, the unsympathetic judicial head of District Judge Vanessa Baraitser will reveal her decision on the Old Bailey proceedings that took place between September and October this year. Despite Assange’s team being able to marshal an impressive, even astonishing[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 30/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Habeas-Corpus-Free Bail Resistant Multi-Year Detentions For Activists Like Sudhir Dhawale For No Crime

Written by Surabhi Agarwal, Sandeep Pandey and Kushagra Kumar Sudhir Dhawale, a writer, poet, artist, perennial protestor and a Dalit leader, was arrested and jailed in mid-2018. He remains in jail charged under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and assorted Indian Penal Codes accused of instigating violence at Bhima Koregaon event on 1 Jaunary, 2018. Ironically, the UAPA sections under which[Read More…]

by Sandeep Pandey — 29/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Reminiscences of Ranjan

The outrageous murder of Right to Information (RTI) activist Mr Ranjan Kumar Das signals new waves of authoritarian ruling class onslaught on democratic movements in Odisha. The state government has failed to protect the lives of RTI activists. Ranjan was murdered near his village Beruan in the Kendrapara district of Odisha on 31st January 2020. Like his friends, family, fellow[Read More…]

by Bhabani Shankar Nayak — 29/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

UN’s Failure To Protect Tamil Civilians: Tamil War Victims Demand Remedial Justice

The UNHRC Resolutions 30/1 of 2015 and 40/1 after so much hard work, negotiations and after extension for six years have now produced zero achievement and the endless sufferings of the Tamils and Muslims continues. The Presence of Military at a ratio of one soldier to four civilians [01 : 04 [1 soldier to 4 civilians] Tamils are really under[Read More…]

by Kumarathasan Rasingam — 29/12/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights

UNHRC 46th Session In February/March 2021 – Judgement day for Sri Lanka and its War Victims

The forthcoming 46th UNHRC Sessions in February/March 2021 holds the key to uphold accountability, justice and human rights in Sri Lanka while halting Sri Lanka’s history of evasions and denials of its obligations to comply with and implement the recommendations in the 30/1 of 2015 and 40/1 of 2019 Resolutions. It has so far successfully resorted to devalue and delay[Read More…]

by Thambu Kanagasabai — 28/12/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights

The cost of voicing dissent: UAPA against G.N. Saibaba, Gautam Navlakha, Father Stan Swamy and others

In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor G. N. Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”[Read More…]

by Kunal Pant — 26/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Breaking the cycle of child labor through education and organisational reforms

Children belong in schools, not workplaces. Child labor deprives them of their right to go to school and leads to intergenerational cycles of poverty. According to the 2011 national census of India, there are 10.13 million child laborers in India. Despite the gradual decline in the rates, children are still being used in severe forms of labor. The continuing persistence[Read More…]

by Ahmad Faraz — 25/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

France Should Not Violate Human Rights, But Should Respect And Uphold Them

France has been almost regularly featured in the front pages of newspapers across the world, but for reasons that is unexpected from a liberal country like itself. Under the leadership of President Emanuel Macron, France has been taking various steps in recent times undermining human rights — something which have been gradually spoiling the country’s image as the torchbearer of[Read More…]

by Daniel Raynolds — 24/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Resettled Indian Origin Srilankan Tamils in Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Five Decades of Suffering

Indian origin Srilankan Tamil community, who were repatriated and settled in a remote Katchal Island in Andaman and Nicobar, are on relay hunger strike for the past one month, demanding proper resettlement and basic livelihood facilities, which were denied to them for the past five decades. Around 5.25 Lakh Indian-origin Srilankan Tamils, who were repatriated to India based on Srimavo-Shastri[Read More…]

by Dr Venkatanarayanan S — 24/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The fight against Manual Scavenging

Manual scavenging is the age-old unfortunate practice of cleaning, carrying, and disposing human excreta from dry latrines or sewers into the disposal sites. Despite prohibitive legislations in place, a government survey from 2019, carried out across 170 districts, found that over 54000 people actively engage in the practice. In 2019 alone, 110 people died while cleaning septic tanks and sewers.[Read More…]

by Ashish Joshi — 24/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Manual scavenging and the failure of the social machinery

No person in the world would tout the practice of manual scavenging to be beneficial to society or a desirable outcome to be pursued. Many people would feel nauseated just by thinking about the activity. With an exceedingly low approval amongst the masses, one would think that manual scavenging would have been eradicated from the nation by now. The reality[Read More…]

by Rudril Pandey — 24/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

In Conversation with Father Stan Swamy

None would ever have imagined that an octogenarian Stan Swamy would face such a harsh treatment for his committed work for the Adivasis of Jharkhand. When the governments of the world over honor activists who work in tiring circumstances and devote their time to areas far away from their places than we must realise that it is not for money[Read More…]

by Vidya Bhushan Rawat — 24/12/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Behind Bars: Arrests and Detentions of Journalists in India 2010-2020

An Analysis of a decade of arrests, detentions, summons, interrogations and show-cause notices against journalists in India 2010-20 The year 2020 has been a bad one for journalists in India. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused illness and death, and the lockdown resulted in salary cuts and loss of livelihood due to mass retrenchments effected by media houses. The killing and[Read More…]

by FreeSpeechCollective — 24/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Will SC check CCTVs to police the cops?

On December 10, we celebrated Universal Declaration of Human Rights ‘Who will police the police’ is a big question for which the world could not give any answer till today. But Supreme Court on 2 December 2020 tried to find a solution to this problem in CCTV cameras, which probably can police the police. On December 10, we celebrated Universal[Read More…]

by Dr Madabhushi Sridhar — 24/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Gautam Navlakha’s Dubious Distinction – Comparison With Hafiz Sayeed

Written by Priyanka Preet, Sandeep Pandey, Kushagra Kumar Gautam Navlakha is a famed author, civil rights activists, human rights activist, journalist, an Editorial Consultant at the Economic and Political Weekly, probably the most internationally well known social sciences journal published out of India, the Convenor of the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir and the Secretary[Read More…]

by Sandeep Pandey — 23/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Surendra Gandling, Who used to get people acquitted in false cases has been implicated in one himself

Written by Nilkantha Mandal, Sandeep Pandey and Kushagra Kumar All his life he fought valiantly to defend the rights of the people belonging to marginalized sections of society who were persecuted by the State or people who would stand up for their rights and consequently were targeted by the ruling elite but in the end he paid a price for[Read More…]

by Sandeep Pandey — 21/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Christmas Message for Father Stan Swami

Dear Father Stan Swami, It would be silly for me to start by hoping you are well, for I know about the state of your ill health and the complete disregard of the prison authorities in this respect. However, I have been moved to write to you by the Xmas season that is upon us. I am saddened that due[Read More…]

by Lekh Pall — 21/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Stories of travel ban and ‘Cages’: what will happen to Trump’s Travel Ban?

Donald Trump’s Travel-ban, which was first issued in January 2017, was a blessing in disguise for many, who perhaps would have ended in similar situation to those kids on the southern border. It is written in the Atlantic (June 19, 2018) that when the children are separated from their parents, they’re sent to facilities where they are kept in chain-link[Read More…]

by Dr Nath Aldalala’a — 20/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

In a country run by Chaivala, many street vendors fail to get their rights!

Sudihrbhai (name changed) is a tea vendor in Ahmedabad and since the time first curfew was imposed he has been struggling to survive. Now when the country has opened up, his earnings are no where near the pre-lockdown levels. Earlier he used to make about Rs. 500 on daily basis but now it is less than Rs. 200. People like[Read More…]

by Shreshth Virmani — 19/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Who killed Banarasi Mushahar ?

It was 9 pm when Banarasi Mushahar, 55 was sitting with family friend Rampreet Nat picked up his night meal to go to the agricultural land he was guarding for the last seven years. In the typical village terminology, it is called Seermai which means an arrangement where in lieu of your work for guarding or agricultural work, the owner[Read More…]

by Vidya Bhushan Rawat — 18/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

UK Parliamentarians, the British Press and Julian Assange

The number of figures extolling the merits of Britain’s Westminster system and how it supposedly embodies a glorious model of democracy are too numerous to mention. This is despite exploits by the government of Boris Johnson, marked by the appointment of unelected advisers with enviable, unaccountable powers and a record of assault on Parliament’s scrutineering functions. “As the government blunders[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 18/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Abuse on the Mainland: Australia’s Medevac Hotel Detentions

Governments that issue press releases about the abuse of human rights tend to avoid close gazes at the mirror. Doing so would be telling. In the case of Australia, its record on dealing with refugees is both abysmal and cruel. It tends to be easier to point the finger at national security laws in Hong Kong and concentration camps in[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 16/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Manual Scavenging: a blot on the Indian Society

If you cannot modify something you have to destroy it completely and rebuild. We need to destroy the whole caste system – Mr. Bezwada Manual Scavenging: a heinous practice While scrolling through YouTube, a documentary made by Samdish Bhatia on Manual scavengers in Mumbai stunned me. Immediately, multiple questions were in front of me. What is manual scavenging & why[Read More…]

by Dhruv Pachauri — 15/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Impact of pandemic on Child Labour

Introduction Over the past nine months, the entire news and social media has been flooded with reports of rising cases of Covid-19 and the impact it has had on India’s economy. Millions of people lost their jobs or were forced to take pay cuts. Migrants were forced to walk hundreds of kilometers back home and economic activity in rural areas[Read More…]

by Swapnil Lohani — 13/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

JatiIndia: Atrocities Caste, Present and Future

The jingoist nation and nationalism have got weaponized by the political class to destroy dissent and polarize people. The mass frenzy has accomplished complete derationalization and inversion of meanings where destroyers of the nation become deshbhakts (patriots) and selfless servers of people become deshdrohis (traitors). As I see my India being ruined, it is with a feeble hope that I[Read More…]

by Priti Gulati Cox — 13/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Why the demand for the release of intellectuals?

The intellectuals whose release we are demanding are those who have stood firm against the oppressive and communal attacks waged by the Modi government on Indian society. They have made huge sacrifices, and are now braving a life in prison but they have never shied away from their duty to speak truth to power and communicate this truth to the[Read More…]

by Press Release — 12/12/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Denotified and Nomadic Tribes

A Nomad is a community member who regularly moves from one place to another without any fixed habitat. Known as the wandering community, the members of nomadic tribes were generally entertainers and transporters historically. The Denotified tribes (DNTs), a part of a wandering community, are the tribes that were originally listed under the ‘Criminal Tribes act’ of 1871. Currently, there[Read More…]

by Dhiraj Kulkarni — 12/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Human Rights Day 2020 and Students’ Rights in India An Introspection

Human Rights Day is observed on December 10 every year. It is the day when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adapted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The document is made available therewith in more than 500 languages and is the most translated document in the world. ‘Recover better – stand up for human rights’ is the[Read More…]

by Nawaz Sarif — 12/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Are there any Human Rights of a Missing Soldier?

As we celebrate the International Human Rights Day, it is worthwhile to ask if a missing soldier of the country has any of rights that we commemorate with fanfare. This might sound an insulting query in a country which swears by the breath, life, and death of its soldiers. This is rightly so, for, the soldier is the cream of[Read More…]

by Pushkar Raj — 09/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Rally against state violence held outside Indian Visa and Passport office in Surrey

On the death anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar – the architect of the Indian constitution – South Asian activists came together to raise their voices against growing repression of religious minorities and political dissidents in the world’s so called largest democracy. Organized by the Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) on Sunday, December 6, the rally was called in response[Read More…]

by Press Release — 07/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Rights Organisations Demand Quashing of UAPA, Sedition Charges Against Activists

In November, 67 Adivasi, Dalit and human rights activists were booked by the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana police under UAPA and charged with sedition for alleged “maoist links”. In late-November, police officials in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana booked 67 Adivasi, Dalit and human rights activists under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and under sedition charges for alleged “maoist[Read More…]

by Prudhviraj Rupavath — 04/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

An Open Letter to The Honourable Chief Justice, Andhra Pradesh High Court

We, as a group working towards achieving a safer and more just society for women, are writing this open letter to you in great dismay at some recent developments in Andhra Pradesh state. As you are aware, the alleged gang-rape case of 11 adivasi women of the Kondh tribe by 13 men of AP Special Police personnel during a raid[Read More…]

by Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression — 04/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Over 40 million people captive in modern slavery worldwide: ILO

More than 40 million people worldwide are victims of modern slavery, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). In addition, more than 150 million children are subject to child labor, accounting for almost one in ten children around the world. “Modern slavery is used as an umbrella term covering practices such as forced labor, debt bondage, forced marriage, and human[Read More…]

by Abdus Sattar Ghazali — 03/12/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The Slow-motion Assassination of Julian Assange – People of Conscience Must Stop It

Another Iranian nuclear scientist has been assassinated. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed by an elaborately planned and executed ambush. The complexity of the attack and the resources required to carry it out strongly indicate a state actor. Fingers of blame quickly pointed at a likely assassin: Israel. The United States was probably in some form of collaboration since it is widely[Read More…]

by Kim Petersen — 30/11/2020 — 2 comments — Human Rights

Invoking UAPA against rights activist in AP condemned

Can demand of justice for rape survivors be called ‘anti-national’? Can providing food and shelter to Adivasi women who have come from remote areas to depose in a criminal trial mandated by the law be a crime? The present allegation of ‘anti-national’ against VS Krishna of HRF (AP and Telengana) and other human rights and dalit rights activist by the[Read More…]

by Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakha Sangathan — 29/11/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Crackdown on human rights defenders in India

To Hon’ble Justice (Retd.) H.L. Dattu Chairperson National Human Rights Commission of India New Delhi Email: chairnhrc@nic.in Cc Mr C. S. Mawri Assistant Registrar and Focal Point on Human Rights Defenders National Human Rights Commission of India New Delhi Email: hrd-nhrc@nic.in Re: Request to raise serious concerns over the ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders in India Dear Justice (Retd.) Dattu,[Read More…]

by William Nicholas Gomes — 27/11/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights

China is razing the Uyghurs’ diverse Islamic traditions

With 16,000 mosques damaged in recent years, the autonomous region of Xinjiang now has the lowest number of Muslim houses of worship since the 1960s Cultural Revolution (AFP) To persecute the Uyghur Muslims, the demolition of mosques across China in recent times has drawn an international outcry. It started with the detention of the Muslims in internment camps in Xinjiang[Read More…]

by Zeenat Khan — 20/11/2020 — 2 comments — Human Rights

Anand Teltumbde declared as Person of the Year 2020

The jailed scholar and activist, who is being incarcerated by the world’s so called largest democracy, has been recognized as this year’s person by a Vancouver-based online magazine that covers alternative politics. Radical Desi has declared Anand Teltumbde as Person of the Year 2020 for being in the news after his arrest on trumped up charges. Teltumbde has authored many[Read More…]

by Press Release — 19/11/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Maoist Encounters: Trampling Human Rights in Kerala Forests

Kerala on the 3rd of November has witnessed yet another instance of an alleged encounter between Maoists and the state police force. The incident occurred at the Bappanam Mala forest area that comes under the South Wayanad Forest Division, in the northern district of Wayanad. According to police, they were on regular morning patrol of the area, when the Maoists[Read More…]

by Lekshmi Sujatha — 14/11/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Mahesh Raut Needs To Be Free

Co-Written by Surabhi Agarwal & Sandeep Pandey A compassionate human being, always popular among his friends and colleagues because of his friendly nature and human sensitivity, 33-year-old Mahesh Raut, champion of the democratic rights of the marginalised Adivasi people of Gadchiroli, Maharashtra has been in prison for over 2 years now. He was arrested in connection with the violence on[Read More…]

by Sandeep Pandey — 05/11/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights

CDRO strongly condemns the raid by the NIA at Delhi, Kashmir and Bangalore

When the state-power begins to fear the pen, tongue and lips, it resorts to undemocratic suppression of dissent National Investigation Agency (NIA) is again in the news for its actions! Like earlier times, this time also their targets have been individuals and organisations that are well-known as defenders of human rights. In the last few days, the NIA has[Read More…]

by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO) — 01/11/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Land Rights And Ending Hunger

In Conversation with Michael Taylor, Director, Global Secretariat, International Land Coalition, Rome Michael Taylor is the Director of the global secretariat of the International Land Coalition (ILC). ILC is hosted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a UN Agency in Rome, Italy. Michael is a citizen of Botswana, with a PhD in Social Anthropology. He has worked on[Read More…]

by Vidya Bhushan Rawat — 30/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Bhima Koregaon Case: A Critical Appraisal : Our Call – Free them All

Background to Bhima Koregaon Event The 1818 Battle of Koregaon is of importance for Dalits. On 1st January, 1818, 800 troops of the British Army, with large number of Mahars, Dalit Community of Maharashtra predominant among them, defeated a numerically superior force of the Peshwa Baji Rao II. A victory pillar (Vijay Sthamb) was erected in Koregaon by the British, commemorating[Read More…]

by Dr Prakash Louis — 27/10/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Stand With Stan: Release All Accused In The Bhima Koregaon Case

A webinar was organised with major initiative of Indian Christians for Democracy on 25th October, Sunday, 2020 from 11.00 to 1.00 pm. Dr. Fr. Prakash Louis the founder of the Indian Christians for Democracy forum initiated, planned and executed this webinar. Roselle Solomon and Ranjan Solomon hosted the webinar. Dr. John Dayal moderated the webinar. The objectives of the webinar[Read More…]

by Press Release — 27/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Time to set up a Commission to look into cases of Political Trials

It is good to see Jharkhand chief Minister Hemant Soren speaking so powerfully against the arrest of Father Stan Swamy. Many other voices are speaking against his arrest. The 81 year old Stan has been working in Jharkhand for years and has Center at Bagaicha has been a place for the Adivasis particularly those who have been victim of the[Read More…]

by Vidya Bhushan Rawat — 22/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Opposition Leaders, Civil Society denounce arrest of Stan Swamy and other activists in Bhima Koregaon case

Introduction PUCL organised a virtual Press Conference on 21st October, 2020 to condemn the illegal arrest of Fr. Stan Swamy of Jharkhand and 15 other activists in the Bhima Koregaon case. The Press Conference was to create a platform for different civil society groups and political parties to jointly condemn the brazen abuse of UAPA by the Central Government[Read More…]

by Press Release — 21/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

UNHCHR dismayed at curbs on Rights, NGOs and arrests of activists

NEW DELHI, October 20: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has appealed to the Government of India to safeguard the rights of human rights defenders and NGOs, and their ability to carry out their crucial work on behalf of the many groups they represent.In a statement issued in Geneva on Tuesday, Bachelet expressed regret at the tightening of[Read More…]

by Jose Kalathil — 20/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Punishing the Messengers of Justice

Standing for justice is bad news for the powers that be. That is why the arrest of the 83-year old Jesuit Stan Swamy had to come sometime because he has fought for justice all his life. But when it really came it shocked those who know him. It had to come because shooting the messenger of justice is basic to[Read More…]

by Dr Walter Fernandes — 20/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

CDRO condemns the treatment meted out to Dr. G. N. Saibaba that forces him to go for fast

Dr. G. N. Saibaba, a professor in Delhi University, is incarcerated under the draconian UAPA since 2014 and is in Nagpur Jail. He has 90% disability and this prolonged suffering in jail, under an abysmal condition with inadequate medical treatment, has produced grave physical ailments including gradual paralysis of his arms due to neglect. Repeated denial of parole or[Read More…]

by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO) — 20/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Release Father Stan Swamy

Dear Rachael Maskell MP, I am William Nicholas Gomes; I am your constituent and a human rights activist and freelance journalist. I am writing about the Indian Jesuit priest and human rights defender, Fr Stan Swamy SJ, who has been taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India for alleged Maoist links. Fr Stan is 83 years old[Read More…]

by William Nicholas Gomes — 17/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights and South Asian Women

Abstract Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948 is a basic and most significant document. It is not only about indivisible, inalienable, basic human rights. Several people in South Asia discredit human rights as the foreign, Eurocentric, or Western and the male concept, however, in contradiction, this piece argues that firstly, the human rights as proclaimed in the UDHR is[Read More…]

by Adv Dr Shalu Nigam — 15/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Release of all those arrested in the fabricated Bhima Koregaon case

CDRO is shocked to hear the news of the arrest of Father Stan Swamy in connection with the infamous Bhima-Koregaon (BK) case. We note with disgust that Father Stan Swamy is the latest victim of the witch hunt operation carried out by the BJP-government in the name of BK case. It is a well-known fact today that the NIA,[Read More…]

by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO) — 13/10/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Condemn the arrest of rights activist Fr. Stan Swamy in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgaar Parishad case!

On October 8th, a day before the deadline for filing the charge-sheet in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgaar Parishad case elapsed, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested the 83-year-old Jesuit priest and veteran tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy. He was forcibly taken from Ranchi to Mumbai and produced before the Sessions Court on October 9th. Alongside this, the NIA presented a[Read More…]

by Campaign Against State Repression — 13/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Democracy in Higher Education, Social Justice and the Importance of Hany Babu

We are going through one of the most dismal times in the history of post-independence India. Anyone who resists, anyone who speaks for the greater common good, for truth and justice, is getting hounded. Hate campaigns are unleashed against them or they are implicated under fabricated charges and thrown into prison. At present, it is extremely unfortunate that many academics,[Read More…]

by Dr Ajay S Sekher — 08/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Universal Declaration Of Human Rights And Sri Lanka

The Universal Declaration for Human Rights [UDHR] was adopted on 10th December 1948 by the United Nations at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. The UDHR contains thirty Articles. Articles 1 and 2 outline the philosophical claim of the UDHR and emphasise that human beings are born free in equal dignity and are entitled to all rights and freedoms without[Read More…]

by Kumarathasan Rasingam — 04/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — South Asia, Human Rights

Curtains Down For Amnesty International In India

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL INDIA HALTS ITS WORK ON UPHOLDING HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDIA DUE TO REPRISAL FROM GOVERNMENT OF INDIA The complete freezing of Amnesty International India’s bank accounts by the Government of India which it came to know on 10 September 2020, brings all the work being done by the organization to a grinding halt. The organisation has been compelled[Read More…]

by Press Release — 03/10/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Release Prashant Kanojia

On 18 August 2020, Bahujan journalist Prashant Kanojia was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police. He is being held in custody over a tweet he had forwarded, which he had immediately deleted upon learning that it contained fake news. This is a routine social media behaviour that one observes on the platform almost every day. However, this was used as a[Read More…]

by Press Release — 29/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

“We are academics, not rabble-rousers”

Hany Babu was my M.Phil supervisor from 2017-19 in the Department of English at Delhi University. I was working on conceptions of citizenship, broadly speaking. Whenever my analysis veered off into being too abstract or ahistorical, he invariably reminded me of the concreteness of the term and it’s efficacy. Yes, its efficacy; for him it was always a concept that[Read More…]

by Saumya Sethia — 27/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Who is Arun Ferreira and why is he in Jail?

By Atul and Sandeep Pandey Arun Ferreira is a civil rights activist and human rights lawyer. He has been behind bars since June 6, 2018, when he was arrested in connection to the Bhima Koregaon event held earlier that year. Like many other activists, he was slapped with Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, sedition and other anti-terror related offenses allegedly for[Read More…]

by Sandeep Pandey — 26/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Increasing Incidence of Violence Against Women Forest Dwellers in Uttarakhand

MAHILA KISAN ADHIKAAR MANCH (MAKAAM) or Forum for Women Farmers’ Rights condemns and expresses deep concern over the increasing incidence of violence, harassment and atrocities against adivasi and other traditional forest dwellers especially women forest dwellers in Uttarakhand. The Forest Rights Act 2006 proclaims the responsibility of the state to defend and uphold the rights of Adivasis and Other Traditional[Read More…]

by MAKAAM — 21/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Abuse of preventive detention against criticism

Allahabad High Court pointed out how the detention of Dr Kafeel Khan was bad, not based on material, without reading the complete text of speech against CAA, and ordered his release. The Supreme Court requested the Allahabad High Court on August 11, to decide the question of release of Kafeel Khan, as early as possible. A campaign to release[Read More…]

by Dr Madabhushi Sridhar — 21/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Paramilitaries continue to terrorize Colombia’s rights defenders: says report

Paramilitary groups continued to pose by far the biggest threat to Colombia’s community leaders and human rights defenders last year, says a newly released report. In its annual report, Somos Defensores (SD), a human rights organization, registered a drop in assassinations of social leaders from 155 in 2018 to 124 in 2019, but an increase in death threats that went[Read More…]

by Countercurrents Collective — 18/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Assange’s Sixth Day at the Old Bailey: US Prison Conditions and Politicised Prosecutions

September 15. Central Criminal Court, London. Today, witnesses appearing in the extradition trial of Julian Assange fleshed out some points touched upon the previous day: the fate awaiting the WikiLeaks publisher in the US prison system, and the political nature of process. Before commencing, Judge Vanessa Baraitser was a touch peeved. She noted that one defence witness who took the[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 16/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Imprisoned and Unsafe: Prisoners and the Pandemic

The first of PUCL Maharashtra’s series of discussions on the impact of the lockdown on civil liberties, examined the rights of prisoners and the responsibility of the State to ensure the safety of all its citizens. The speakers for the session were Maja Daruwalla, Board Member and Senior Advisor, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and Mihir Desai, Senior Counsel and Convenor,[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 14/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

How to Really Compensate for Injustice Committed

Someone must have been telling lies about Joseph K, he knew he had done nothing wrong but one morning, he was arrested. These opening lines of Franz Kafka’s classic novel, The Trial, published just over a century ago, in 1925, still ring true. Joseph K, the novel’s protagonist, is cashier at a bank. On his 30th birthday, two unidentified agents arrest[Read More…]

by Subhash Gatade — 14/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Judicial Manoeuvres and Delhi Slums

The recent order by the Supreme Court 3-judge bench that threatens the homes and livelihoods of an estimated 48,000 families living along 70 km of railway tracks because they were “encroachments which are there in the safety zones,” has understandably raised many concerns. To place this order in context it is necessary to understand the trajectory of the courts and[Read More…]

by Dunu Roy — 12/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Sinking Transparency at the Old Bailey: The Assange Extradition Hearing Resumes

The fine circus that is British justice resumed at London’s Central Criminal Court on September 7, with the continued extradition proceedings against Julian Assange. Judge Vanessa Baraitser was concerned that approximately 40 individuals had received remote video access they apparently should not have. “In error, the court sent out orders to others who had sought access. I remain concerned about[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 08/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Online harassment and caste violence against Dr. Murmu

To The Honorable Chairperson National Commission for Scheduled Tribes New Delhi Dear Sir Sub: Online harassment and caste violence against Dr. Murmu Dr. Maroona Murmu is an Associate Professor of the Department of History, Jadavpur University. In the Brahmanical landscape of academia in West Bengal, she is one of the few Adivasi women to have catapulted into success and prominence.[Read More…]

by Press Release — 07/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

In Solidarity With Dr Partho Sarothi Ray

We have come to know that our dear friend and comrade Dr Partho Sarothi Ray, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), has been summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case. He has been asked to present himself before the investigators in Mumbai on 10 September at 11am. Partho[Read More…]

by Press Release — 07/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Australia’s Father’s Day Shame

On this coming Father’s Day I want to salute three fathers whose sons, who have not broken Australian law, were and are betrayed by the Australian government: Terry Hicks the father of David Hicks incarcerated in a cage in Camp X-ray Guantanamo Bay for 5 years; John Shipton the father of Julian Assange who is presently incarcerated by the British[Read More…]

by Dr Vacy Vlazna — 04/09/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Rona Wilson: Who Worked For Release Of Political Prisoners Is Now A Victim

Co-Written by Atul and Sandeep Pandey Rona Wilson is a prison rights activist who has been in jail since April 2018 and denied bail several times. The Pune Police raided his home in Delhi on April 17, 2018, and arrested him subsequently for his alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence in January that year. A few months later, the[Read More…]

by Sandeep Pandey — 29/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

2 Years of Unjust Incarceration | Free 12 activists arrested in ‘Bhima Koregan case’ | Arrest the real criminals ! Repeal UAPA

In India’s dark history of human rights violations, 28th August 2018 has become a very important day. On this day, Sudha Bharadwaj was arrested by Pune police from her home in Faridabad. On the same day, Gautam Navlakha from Delhi, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves from Mumbai and Varavara Rao from Hyderabad were also arrested. Although Gautam Navlakha was granted[Read More…]

by National Alliance of People’s Movements — 28/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Waiting for the Old Bailey: Julian Assange and Britain’s Judicial Establishment

On September 7, Julian Assange will be facing another round of gruelling extradition proceedings, in the Old Bailey, part of a process that has become a form of gradual state-sanctioned torture. The US Department of Justice hungers for their man. The UK prison authorities are doing little to protect his health. The end result, should it result in his death,[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 28/08/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Organizations from All Over India Issue a call for a Protest Week, August 28 – September 5

Over 70 organizations and several individuals from around the country endorsed the call initiated by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties to conduct protest actions from August 28 to September 5, considering the deterioration in Civil Liberties in the recent past. This call was given marking August 28 as the day when two years ago, 5 human rights activists –[Read More…]

by Press Release — 28/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Social Activist and Academic Shoma Sen is In Jail On Flimsy Grounds and Must Be Released

Shoma Sen was arrested on June 6, 2018, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for charges which include inciting violence, being involved in raising funds for the banned CPI (Maoist) party and harbouring its fugitive members. Prof Sen is a highly vocal and committed women’s rights activist who has been involved with a wide range of social and political causes.[Read More…]

by Surabhi Agarwal — 27/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

GEMS Missionaries Severely Beaten in Jharkhand for Praying for the Sick

Sanjeet and Siddharth of PEACE 1 Zone were brutally beaten by Bajrang Dal members near Chatra, when they were invited by a believer to pray for his unwell relative. Mr. Lakhan is a believer of GEMS Church at Garhwa and he took Bro. Sanjeet and Bro. Siddharth on 22nd August 2020, to a village Kharik (which is 7 kms away[Read More…]

by Shibu Thomas — 27/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Friends and family of Sudha Bharadwaj raise serious concerns over her health condition and seek her early release on bail

Keeping under trials in prison for two years deliberately stalling bail opportunities, with no effort for beginning the trial instead exposing them to serious health condition is a gross violation of rights of prisoners. This is further heightened in times of a global pandemic given the crowded situation in prisons. Sudha Bharadwaj has been incarcerated along with eleven others falsely[Read More…]

by Press Release — 25/08/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights

Release Sharjeel Usmani

It has been more than one month since Sharjeel Usmani, National secretary of Fraternity Movement and Anti-CAA Activist imprisoned in Aligarh Jail. He was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police from his house in Azamgarh on 8th July 2020. On that day, 5 people claimed to be from the Crime Branch detained him without an arrest warrant or memo and[Read More…]

by Press Release — 25/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The Prison System Around The World Needs a Reform; It Has No Place in Democratic Nations in Current State

The debate about the prison system is nothing new. There are thousands of articles, studies and papers related to this particular subject. The central aim of this article is to continue the discussion on the questions like social basis of crime, failure of current system in place to deal with crime, and the long standing demand of a reformative prison[Read More…]

by Arka Deep — 25/08/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights

State-Sponsored Pogroms Against The Tamils In Sri Lanka And Need For A UN Supervised Referendum In Tamil Homeland

It is high time and urgent need for the United Nations, UNHRC, ICC and the International Community to find remedial justice to the oppressed Tamils in Sri Lanka. The following facts prove beyond doubt that there was an institutionalized and systematic genocide of Tamils from independence in 1948. Disfranchisement of plantation workers of Indian origin .Within a year of independence, in[Read More…]

by Kumarathasan Rasingam — 23/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Hate Speech On Facebook Leads To Attack On 72 Year Old Christian In Karnataka

An unwarranted attack on a 72-year-old Christian man influenced by a hate speech made on Facebook was reported to Persecution Relief by a source who wishes to stay anonymous. The following is the information we received. *Anand is a faithful leader at our church and conducts weekly cell group meetings at different homes. He is 72 years old and also[Read More…]

by Shibu Thomas — 23/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Our Race Against the Clock to Affirm Water as a Human Right

On the ten year anniversary of the United Nations historic vote to recognize water as a basic human right, Barlow reflects on where we go from here. A demonstrator holds a sign during a Detroit water shutoffs rally in 2014. (Photo: uusc4all/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Ten years ago today, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution affirming that water and sanitation[Read More…]

by Maude Barlow — 18/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Xi Jinping’s ugly double face needs to be unmasked

A “state”, according to Max Weber, is “a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory” (WEBER, M.: “Politics as a Vocation” in GERTH, H.H.; WRIGHT, Mills, C. (eds.): From Marx Weber: essays in sociology, London, Routledge, 1991 [1948], p. 78). A “nation”, on the other hand, according to Montserrat[Read More…]

by Habib Siddiqui — 17/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Condemn NIA summons to Delhi University professors Dr. PK Vijayan and Rakesh Ranjan!

Stop the witch-hunt of academics and activists in the name of Bhima Koregaon! Immediately release all political prisoners! The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) condemns the summons by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to Dr. PK Vijayan and Rakesh Ranjan, faculty members in Delhi University, in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgaar Parishad case yesterday. Following the recent arrest of Delhi[Read More…]

by Campaign Against State Repression — 15/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

BC Punjabi Press Club condemns attack on three journalists in Delhi

The Punjabi Press Club of British Columbia (PPCBC) has come out with a strong statement against assaults on three reporters by the supporters of ruling Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in India. The August 11 incident happened in New Delhi, the national capital of the world’s so-called largest democracy. Three journalists, including one Sikh, one Muslim and an unidentified[Read More…]

by Press Release — 15/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Three Women And A Minor Girl Dragged Out On Street And Stoned In Haryana

Four Christian women including a minor girl were dragged out on the street and mercilessly beaten up by religious fanatics in the Indian state of Haryana. The severity of the attack was such that it left one woman with a broken leg, one with stitches to her forehead and two others unconscious with severe head and body injuries. “I was[Read More…]

by Shibu Thomas — 14/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

It is all in the game: Sports, gender equality and human rights

Undoubtedly, sports and physical activities are essential for our mental and physical wellbeing. But how can a sport help in addressing sexual and reproductive health issues of the youth, and social ills like sexual and other forms of gender-based violence? It looks somewhat incredible. Well Grassroot Soccer, an adolescent health organization, seems to be doing exactly that. It has leveraged[Read More…]

by Shobha Shukla — 13/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Educate the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs!

National Campaign to Educate the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs! Post them the Preamble to the Indian Constitution! Campaign Starts on 15th August 2020! For the last two months the national capital New Delhi has witnessed a very curious phenomenon. Of a steady stream of professors, students, filmmakers, feminists, Gandhians and human rights activists called by the Delhi Police’s Special[Read More…]

by Indian Democracy Matters — 13/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Draconian Laws and Suppression of Dissidents

To the world India is known as the largest democracy in the world. If you considered holding elections at regular interval as the only criteria of being a democracy you can give this tag. But, the dismal condition of freedom of speech and the right to dissent in the country is a real cause of concern for the activists and[Read More…]

by Arka Deep — 12/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

On Community Control of Police: An interview with M Adams

The nationwide uprising against police brutality has completely changed the conversation around policing and safety. The demand to defund police which would have been deemed unthinkable in the mainstream not long ago, but are now being taken up as official policy in towns and cities across the country. At this moment, it is crucial to expand the conversation to include[Read More…]

by Raghav Kaushik — 09/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Human Rights: Feminism Inside The Womb

Fidelity could not just be about sex. I picture to myself as an activist young woman, bright, ambitious. Because, your womb has taken a precious stead in the universe. Sometimes, I think not to come out from this place. But, your love doesn’t let me stay inside your womb. Because, you want to show something that you have already been[Read More…]

by Sufyan Khan — 08/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

India towards a police-state?

(1) “Members of the police shall exercise their functions, powers and duties as impartial servants of the general public and the Government of the day. … No member of the police may be ordered or forced to exercise his other functions or powers or deploy police resources to promote or undermine any political party or interest group, or any member[Read More…]

by Dr Prem Singh — 07/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

NHRC Awards Compensation For Human Rights Defenders Wrongly Booked And Illegally Arrested

PUCL Welcomes the NHRC directions to the Chhattisgarh Government, Ordering one lakh rupees compensation to those wrongly booked and illegally arrested. The PUCL welcomes the decision of the NHRC against the State of Chhattisgarh on its complaint number 667/33/20/2016 filed in 2016, which directs the Government of Chhattisgarh to pay compensation of Rs. one lakh each, to 13 members of[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 07/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

In Defence Of Committees For Defence of Political Prisoners

After Prof. G. N. Saibaba’s arrest a 17-person Committee for the Defence and Release of Saibaba was constituted to expedite his bail and also that all his legal and constitutional rights stay protected. With the arrest of Prof. Hany Babu, member of this Committee on 28 July, 2020 and the subsequent raid on 2 August, 2020 at his house by[Read More…]

by P S Sahni — 07/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Christians Forced To Conduct Non-Christian Funeral And Renounce Faith In Jharkhand

Religious Radicals prevented a bereaved Christian family from burying their dead at a village in Jharkhand. They told the family that they could perform the last rites of 52-year-old *Vilas Singh, if it was done recognizing the religious beliefs of the village. Persecution Relief spoke to the nephew of the deceased, *Ramu Singh. He explained that his late uncle was[Read More…]

by Shibu Thomas — 06/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Jailed Indian scholar denied the opportunity to see his dying mother

If the insensitivity being shown by the Indian state towards a physically challenged former Delhi University Professor is any indication, the government of the world’s so called largest democracy lacks compassion. Wheelchair bound G.N. Saibaba, who is ninety percent disabled below the waist, is incarcerated after being convicted for life after being branded as Maoist sympathizer. He is among several[Read More…]

by Gurpreet Singh — 05/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Families of three Christian brothers brutally attacked and left homeless by mob in Jharkhand

In yet another horrific case of Christian persecution, a Christian family was mercilessly beaten up by a mob of raging religious fanatics in the Indian state of Jharkhand. The mob of over 40 fanatics led by the village headman not only assaulted the family but savagely vandalized their home and belongings, falsely accusing the family of converting villagers to Christianity.[Read More…]

by Shibu Thomas — 05/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

DU Professor Apoorvanand Questioned By Delhi Police, Phone Seized

Delhi University professor Apoorvanand was questioned on Monday by Delhi police in connection with Delhi riots. Apoorvanand said his phone was seized for investigation and he spent five hours with the police. Apoorvanand, who teaches Hindi at Delhi University, urged the police to conduct a thorough, just and fair investigation into the violence. This is the full text of Apoorvanand’s[Read More…]

by Countercurrents Collective — 04/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Condemn the raid on the house of Dr Hany Babu

Press Statement by Committee for the Defence and Release of Dr G N Saibaba The Committee for the Defence and Release of G N Saibaba strongly condemns the unwarranted raid on 2nd August 2020 by officers of the National Intelligence Agency, on the house of Dr Hany Babu, a member of the Committee. Dr Babu was arrested on the 28th[Read More…]

by Press Release — 04/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Crushed by the State

Co-Written by Dr Karen Gabriel and P K Vijayan Gokarakonda Suryavathi died of grief on the afternoon of 01 August 2020, at 1.40 pm. Of course the medical cause of her death – high-grade Non-Hodgkinson’s Lymphoma – will be cited incontrovertibly in all official documents. But those of us who have known the tale from the teller, and from those[Read More…]

by Dr Karen Gabriel — 03/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Release Prof. Hany Babu; Stop Vindictive Raids on his Family members

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) expresses its outrage and condemnation at the recent arrest of renowned linguist, Dr Hany Babu M. T., faculty member in Delhi University, by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). It shows once again the Indian State’s desperate and diabolic endevour to continuously silence intellectuals and criminalise those questioning its actions and holding different views,[Read More…]

by People's Union For Civil Liberties — 03/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Oppose and condemn the arbitrary, vindictive arrest of Prof. Hany Babu

Janhastakshep takes the serious note of, opposes and condemns the arbitrary and vindictive act of the government of India of arresting Prof. Hany Babu a popular teacher of Delhi University, latest in the process of arresting the academicians, litterateurs and intellectuals to stifle the voices of dissent and create an atmosphere of terror in the country. Hany Babu has been[Read More…]

by Press Release — 01/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Statement by students in solidarity with Prof Hany Babu

We, the undersigned former and current students of Prof Hany Babu M.T., condemn his arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday and stand in firm solidarity with him. Prof. Babu is a noted academic, a well known anti-caste activist, and a member of the committee formed for the defence of G.N. Saibaba, a former Delhi University professor who[Read More…]

by Press Release — 01/08/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Christian Preacher Found Dead In Punjab

In a shocking series of unfortunate events, yet another Pastor was found dead in the Zira Tehsil of Ferozepur, a district that is situated in the Indian state of Punjab. The body of Balwinder Bagicha Bhatti was discovered by a few people by the roadside on the 27th of July 2020. Joseph and Alisha, both Persecution Relief Coordinators of Punjab,[Read More…]

by Shibu Thomas — 30/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

CDRO condemns the arrest of Delhi University Prof. Hany Babu

Co-Ordination of Democratic rights Organisations (CDRO) condemns the arrest of Delhi University Prof. HanyBabuand demands his immediate release after dropping the false charges levied against him. His arrest is part of the Modi’s Government attempt in silencing the dissent. Prof. HanyBabuis arrested by NIA on 28thJuly2020 on the allegation that he was propagating Naxal activities and Maoist ideology and was[Read More…]

by Press Release — 30/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Human Rights Organisations Condemn The Arrest of Prof. Hany Babu

The Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakhya Sangatan (GASS, Odisha) and Human Rights Forum (HRF, AP&Telangana) strongly deplore the arrest in Mumbai of Prof Hany Babu Musaliyarveettil Tharayil by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Prof Babu, who teaches at the Department of English, Delhi University was recently summoned to Mumbai by the NIA for questioning in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar[Read More…]

by Press Release — 30/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Julian Assange’s Political Indictment: Old Wine in Older Bottles

The book of hours on Julian Assange is now being written. But the scribes are far from original. Repeated rituals of administrative hearings that have no common purpose other than to string things out before the axe are being enacted. Of late, the man most commonly associated with WikiLeaks’ publication project cannot participate in any meaningful way, largely because of[Read More…]

by Dr Binoy Kampmark — 29/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Hate Crimes against Christians in India Increased by 40.87%

Hate Crimes against Christians in India have risen by an alarming 40.87%, in Spite of the Nation-Wide Lockdown, announces Persecution Relief in its Half Yearly Report of 2020 which was released today. The Report records 293 cases of hate crimes against Christians including 5 rapes and 6 murders. Persecution Relief aims to sound an alarm about the intensifying hostility against[Read More…]

by Press Release — 29/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Condemn the arbitrary arrest of Prof. Hany Babu!

Stop the witch-hunt of human rights defenders by the NIA! Immediately release all political prisoners! The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) condemns the arrest of Professor Hany Babu MT at Mumbai by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgaar Parishad case. Despite the surging cases of COVID-19 in both Delhi and Mumbai, Prof. Babu of the[Read More…]

by Campaign Against State Repression — 28/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Prostitution and the Pandemic: Social Distancing and Stigmatisation during Covid-19

Covid-19 presents a new muddle and risks for sex workers, pandemic of poverty has affected the lives of sex workers; Desperation has kicked in for vulnerable, undocumented workers unable to access help, it has left them with distress, uncertainty, with social distancing rules getting more stringent there is a fear of losing livelihood, health issues troubling, as sex work is[Read More…]

by Dr Nupur Pattanaik — 28/07/2020 — 6 comments — Human Rights

Momin Khawaja – the forgotten Canadian detainee of 9/11

It has been almost 19 years since the USA, joined by its western allies (esp. the UK, Canada and Australia), launched the so-called global war on terror (GWOT) invading first Afghanistan, soon after 9/11 for Taliban government’s sheltering of Al-Qa’ida and its leader OBL, and then Iraq (in 2003) under the false pretext of destroying the weapons of mass destruction,[Read More…]

by Habib Siddiqui — 27/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Eight Christians Brutally Assaulted In Odisha

A group of Christians were brutally attacked by a gang of raging religious goons at midnight on the 21st of July 2020. This attack took place in the Indian state of Odisha in a village named Badaguda which features in the district of Koraput. Speaking to Persecution Relief, Pr. Ayuba Khora, the local Pastor said, “The goons broke into the[Read More…]

by Shibu Thomas — 27/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

From Bujha Singh to Varavara Rao: Indian state’s barbarity has no bounds

July 28 marks 50 years of the extra-judicial killing of an 82-year-old former Indian freedom fighter by none other than the police force of his own nation. Bujha Singh, who deserved state honours for participating in the struggle to rid India of the British occupation, was instead murdered by the police for his association with revolutionary communist movement sparked by[Read More…]

by Gurpreet Singh — 27/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The agony of the Pet dog of Jayaraj and Bennix the two who were done to death in Police Custody

The agony of the Pet dog of Jayaraj and Bennix the two who were done to death in Police Custody , is seeking the spine of Justice. The unbearable tragedy has rendered Tomy, the pet dog reared affectionately by Bennix and Jayaraj. totally drained and exhausted. Jayaraj and Bennix were brutally tortured and killed in Police Custody by the[Read More…]

by S Mohan — 27/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Why Is The Hindustan Times Pimping For An Investigating Agency?

The PIL Watch Group views with serious concern the reporting in the print edition of Hindustan Times (HT) dated 25 July, 2020 (later uploaded on its website) regarding Gautam Navlakha’s interrogation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) about Bhima Koregaon case. Questions arise: Was it a planted story in the HT as no other newspaper or news agency carried[Read More…]

by Press Release — 26/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The arrest and harassment of Sudha Bharadwaj – A People’s Advocate

Co-Written by Atul and Sandeep Pandey Professor Sudha Bharadwaj has been in jail since August 2018. She was taken into police custody on 26 August 2018 on suspicion of being involved in Maoist terror activities after Republic TV claimed that she had allegedly written a letter to Maoists and was conspiring to create public disorder and unrest in India. The[Read More…]

by Sandeep Pandey — 26/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The mistreatment of a political activist fighting COVID 19 reveals doublespeak of Modi

If the insensitivity being shown towards a senior revolutionary poet by the Indian state is any indication, the government of the world’s so-called largest democracy lacks compassion. 81-year-old Varavara Rao, a well-respected political activist and poet, has been recently tested positive for COVID 19, leaving his family and admirers deeply worried. In spite of old age and poor health, he[Read More…]

by Gurpreet Singh — 25/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Condemn atrocities against Rehna Fathima

Political Resolution Proposed by the Democratic Alliance for the Immediate Attention of the Public and the Government against the Atrocities against Rehna Fathima. We, who work in artistic, cultural and socio-political arenas strongly protest against the atrocities perpetrated by the patriarchal values of society and the government against Rehna Fathima who has been working for the democratic rights, gender equality[Read More…]

by Press Release — 24/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

NHRC Must Intervene To Save The Life Of G.N Saibaba

To, Honourable Justice H L Dattu Chairman National Human Rights Commission New Delhi Subject: Plea for your Intervention for Shifting Dr. G N Saibaba to a Medical Facility for Treatment Respected Justice Dattu, The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) is a cross disability rights organisation with state level affiliates working in various states in the country.[Read More…]

by Press Release — 22/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Decrying vilification of social democrats as novel threat preceding to Corona virus

Context “Freedom only for the supporters of the government, only for the members of one party – however numerous they may be – is no freedom at all. Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently. Not because of any fanatical concept of “justice” but because all that is instructive, wholesome and purifying in political freedom[Read More…]

by K Nidhi — 21/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Gulfisha Fatima: 100+ Days of Wrongful Imprisonment

19 July 2020 marked 100 days of the wrongful incarceration of Gulfisha Fatima, a young student and community educator from Seelampur, in North-East Delhi who has been falsely charged under the draconian UAPA law for defending constitutional values and peacefully resisting the anti-people CAA-NRC-NPR project. Thousands took to Twitter to condemn #100DaysofInjustice and demand #FreeGulfisha – sharing pictures, posters, solidarity messages and memories of the exuberant Gulfisha,[Read More…]

by Press Release — 21/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Time to put a complete moratorium on evictions and displacement

The horrific incident of brutalities unleashed by the Madhya Pradesh police on a Dalit farmer’s family in Guna yesterday did not catch the attention of India’s mainstream media initially and got noticed only when a campaign on twitter started trending seeking chief minister Shiv Raj Singh Chauhan’s resignation. Today, the ‘national’ media too reported the story and as per latest[Read More…]

by Vidya Bhushan Rawat — 20/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Chuck Puchmayr honoured for bringing a motion against CAA

Indians Abroad for Pluralist India honoured New Westminster City Councillor Chuck Puchmayr with a medal of courage on Sunday, July 19, for bringing a motion against India’s highly discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The medal was presented to Puchmayr by the IAPI President Parshottam Dosanjh and another member of the group, and prominent poet Amrit Diwana, at an event held[Read More…]

by Press Release — 20/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Female Political Prisoners in West Bengal Jails

The movement to release political prisoners is gaining steam nationwide. There are 75-76 political prisoners in the various districts of West Bengal. Most of them were associated with the historic mass movements of Nandigram and Lalgarh. There are also some Maoist activists who were directly associated with the party who were caught when they entered the state. All of them[Read More…]

by Anonymous — 19/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia Calls for The Release of Varavara Rao

We have watched with growing horror the treatment meted out to the 81 years old Revolutionary Poet, Varavara Rao by the Indian state. Varavara Rao has been incarcerated in Taloja jail in Mumbai for almost two years. According to the latest media reports and press conferences held by his family, Varavara Rao was exhibiting signs of serious illness, with the[Read More…]

by Press Release — 18/07/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights

The Forgotten Child of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan

If you know Dr. Kafeel Khan then chances are, you have read the letter that he allegedly wrote to his family from Mathura district jail where he is currently locked up. He was slapped with the National Security Act after reportedly making an inciting speech during anti-CAA protests at the Aligarh Muslim University. Further, a case was registered against him[Read More…]

by Ramsha Khan — 18/07/2020 — 1 comment — Human Rights