Page 2 - Human Rights

Int'l bodies must take note of human rights violations in PoK: Rajnath

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that international bodies should take cognisance of human rights violations in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Addressing an election rally in Odisha's Khurda, he said, "Human rights are being violated in PoK... international human rights agencies should take cognisance of the happenings in PoK." He claimed that the people of PoK now desire to join India instead of remaining under the Pakistani administration. "I had earlier said we need not attack anyone, they will come on their own. Two days ago, I saw a video in which people of PoK were seen uprooting a Pakistani flag-post," he said. "PoK is and will remain an integral part of India," he asserted. He said that barring a few stray incidents in Jammu and Kashmir, terrorism has been reduced to zero under the NDA rule, while several terror attacks took place under the previous UPA regime. "In 2008, our IPS officers fell to bullets in Mumbai (26/11 attack)... what was the then Congress gover

Saudi 'ordered to kill' those who resisted eviction for futuristic city

A former intelligence officer says Saudi government asked officers to 'kill those who protested land eviction notices

Iraqi govt requests UN to end its political mission in country by 2025

The Iraqi government has requested that the United Nations end a mission set up to promote governance and human rights reforms in the country by the end of 2025, the latest in a series of international bodies operating in the nation that Iraq has sought to wind down. The letter sent Wednesday by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared that there is no need for the continuation of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). Sudani said Iraq's government has been able to achieve a number of important steps in areas that fall under the body's mandate. rendering it redundant. Typically, the mission is extended annually by the UN Security Council, with the current term expiring at the end of this month. Sudani's letter did not oppose a one-year extension but said the mission should focus on wrapping up its tasks to ensure a permanent closure and transfer of its responsibilities by the end of 2025. Established in 2003 in the w

India slams US human rights report, says 'reflects poor understanding'

The '2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: India', released by the US State Department, highlighted an ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur

India, US regularly consult on democracy, human rights issues: Official

India and the United States regularly consult at the highest levels on democracy and human rights issues, a senior US State Department official said on Monday, after an official report claimed that there were significant human rights abuses in Manipur last year. "The US and India regularly consult at the highest levels on democracy and human rights issues," Robert S Gilchrist, senior official from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, told reporters after the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices was release by Secretary of State Tony Blinken. "We strongly encourage, urge India to uphold its human rights obligations and commitments. We also regularly meet with civil society representatives both in the US and India to hear their perspectives, and those sorts of perspectives inform the human rights report, and we encourage the government of India to consult and meet regularly with civil society organisations representing a diversity of people," Gilchrist ...

Beijing taking punitive measures against families of activists: Report

Focused on the year 2023, the report highlights Chinese authorities' punitive measures against human rights defenders' families, including young children

Swiss women win landmark climate case at top Europe human rights court

The Swiss women, known as KlimaSeniorinnen and aged over 64, said their government's climate inaction put them at risk of dying during heatwaves

Humanitarian appeal for Ukraine is only 10% funded for 2024, says UN envoy

The UN's humanitarian appeal to meet needs in Ukraine is only 10% funded for 2024, the country's resident coordinator said Wednesday, putting in jeopardy crucial assistance needed to reach those in need across frontline areas. Denise Brown, the UN's top representative in Ukraine, said an estimated 8.5 million Ukrainians living in dire conditions near combat zones risk going without basic humanitarian deliveries, including food and water. The UN's annual appeal for Ukraine is $3.1 billion. If we don't receive that money, I don't know where that money is going to come from, Brown told The Associated Press in an interview. Without the funds, we won't be able to sustain the high number of colleagues that we have here who are absolutely dedicated to humanitarian support." As the future of military aid to Ukraine hangs in the balance, Brown is lobbying the international community and private sector to remember that humanitarian needs are also high. Ukraine's economy is still suffering th

Foreign journalists, people detained in Moscow amid crackdown on protests

Independent Russian media group Mediazona reported on Saturday that among those held are journalists working for Kommersant, France Press and Spiegel, as well as human rights activists

ICJ set to decide if it can hear Ukraine's genocide case against Russia

The International Court of Justice is ruling Friday on whether it has jurisdiction to hear a case filed by Ukraine in the days after Russia's invasion accusing Moscow of breaching the genocide convention. In the highly-charged case, Kyiv claims that Russia breached the landmark 1948 convention by using trumped-up claims of genocide in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as a pretext for attacking Ukraine nearly two years ago. Ukraine also accuses Moscow of planning acts of genocide. Moscow rejects the allegations and argued last year that the court should throw out the case before even considering the merits of Kyiv's claims. At hearings in September, the leader of Moscow's legal team, Gennady Kuzmin, called Ukraine's case hopelessly flawed and at odds with the longstanding jurisprudence of this court. In order for the court to have jurisdiction, Ukraine has to establish that it has a dispute with Russia over the genocide convention. A member of Moscow's legal team, Sienho

CBI searches premises of Harsh Mander's NGO for financial irregularities

The CBI has registered a case of alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act against an NGO established by writer and human rights activist Harsh Mander and conducted searches at its premises on Friday, officials said. Mander, a former member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council during the erstwhile UPA government, is the founder of the NGO Aman Biradari. The FIR has been registered against Aman Biradari for alleged violation of various provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act following a complaint by the Union Home Ministry.

More arrests reported as Belarus intensifies crackdown on dissent

A rights group on Thursday reported dozens more home raids and arrests across Belarus in the latest intensification of a years-long crackdown on dissent in the country of 9.5 million people. The Viasna human rights centre said it knew of at least 159 people targeted by searches and detentions in multiple Belarusian cities, including the capital, Minsk. Those targeted by authorities included relatives of jailed dissidents, journalists and others, it said. Leaders of Belarusian opposition have called the new wave of arrests, which is the biggest in recent months, "a blow to the solidarity within the country". According to Viasna, there are 1,419 political prisoners now held in Belarus. Many of those detained Thursday and earlier in the week had been helping families of those jailed for political reasons. Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko unleashed an unrelenting crackdown on dissent in August 2020, after an election the opposition and the West denounced as a sham gave him

Human rights situation rapidly deteriorating in West bank: UN report

The report calls for an immediate end to the use of military weapons and means during law enforcement operations, an end to arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Palestinians

China sanctions US research firm over reports on human rights in Xinjiang

China says it is banning a United States research company and two analysts who have reported extensively on claims of human rights abuses committed against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups native to the country's far northwestern region of Xinjiang. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was quoted as announcing late Tuesday night that Los Angeles-based research and data analytics firm Kharon, its director of investigations, Edmund Xu, and Nicole Morgret, a human rights analyst affiliated with the Centre for Advanced Defence Studies, would be barred from travelling to China. Also, any assets or property they have in China will be frozen and organisations and individuals in China are prohibited from making transactions or otherwise cooperating with them. In a statement on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Mao said the sanctions against the company, Xu and Morgret were retaliation for a yearly US government report on human rights in Xinjiang. Uyghurs and other natives

NHRC issues notice to K'taka over incident of stripping, beating of woman

The commission also sought a report from the Karnataka government within four weeks and decided to send its team for a spot inquiry

SC recommends setting up commission to probe human rights violations in J&K

Article 370 case verdict: In a ruling, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul recommended setting up a commission on the lines of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

75 years of Universal Declaration of Human Rights: What has it achieved?

The declaration isn't a treaty and isn't legally binding in itself, but the principles it sets out have been incorporated into many countries' laws

India is a role model in human rights, says Vice President Dhankhar

He further observed that "our civilizational ethos and constitutional commitment reflect our deep dedication to respecting, safeguarding, and nurturing human rights which is in our DNA"

Volkswagen shareholders demand more scrutiny after China plant audit

Volkswagen said on Tuesday that the much-anticipated audit of its China car plant had found no evidence of forced labour

Volkswagen-sanctioned audit finds no signs of forced labour at China plant

An audit commissioned by Volkswagen has found no indication of forced labour at its plant in China's Xinjiang region, where Western governments have accused the Chinese government of human rights violations against the Uyghur ethnic minority. The German automaker has come under fire for operating in Xinjiang, a remote western region that borders Central Asia. The US government has blocked imports from Xinjiang unless it can be proven that the products were not made with forced labour. The auditor, Loening Human Rights and Responsible Business, conducted 40 interviews and was able to inspect the factory freely, said Markus Loening, a former German human rights commissioner who founded the consultancy. We could not find any indications or evidence of forced labour among the employees, he said in remarks provided by Volkswagen from a media briefing in Germany on Tuesday. China launched a harsh crackdown in Xinjiang around 2017 in response to a series of bombings, knifings and other .