09 May, 2008
When Lawyers Masquerade As Judges
By Subhash GatadeIsmail Jalagir, a senior counsel from Hubli (Karnataka) and Mohammad Shoaib, a senior advocate from Lucknow (U.P.) might not have heard about each other. But even their strongest critics would admit that they are made of the same mettle.If there are rewards meant for lawyers who are ready to go the extra mile to defend rigths granted to citizens under the constitution then both these worthy citizens of the country would be the first on the list
30 April, 2008
Governing Human Rights Violation
And Dr. Binayak Sen
By Arpita BanerjeeThe unethical detention of Dr. Binayak Sen is one of the many glaring examples of state repression. On May 14th 2008, it will be one year since Dr. Sen was arrested under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act and the Crimes Against the State Chapter of the Indian Penal Code. The Supreme Court of India has denied the bail petition, ironically on the International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2007
18 April, 2008
Updating Sami Al-Arian - His Ordeal Continues
By Stephen LendmanThe Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice supports Al-Arian proudly, it's backed him from the start, and it urges everyone of conscience to contact their elected officials, DOJ and DHS to demand that justice delayed him no longer be denied. His imprisonment term ended April 11, yet he remains confined. His plea bargain stipulated that his long ordeal end and that he be deported expeditiously
India: Rot In The prisons
By Colin GonsalvesApplying even the most retrogressive standards, Indian prisoners are the pits — a level of perversity matched only by our pious, moralistic and sanctimonious preachings abroad. In the land of Gandhiji and non-violence, prisons remain depraved and brutish. Internally the prisoners rot
Who Would Wipe Professor Sanaullah Radoo's Tears?
By Subhash GatadePerhaps it is high time that the honourable Prime Minister is told that 'Dr Haneef' is not just the name of doctor who was wrongly apprehended in Australia rather it is another name for a phenomenon which is quite rampant in this part of the earth. And the case of Pervez Ahmad Radoo is one such important case which demands his immediate intervention. Such a move only can bring back the smile on Professor Sanaullah's face !
15 April, 2008
Tibet Exposes Genocidal
Australian Human Rights Abuses
By Dr Gideon PolyaAustralia and other Western nations have been properly chiding China for human rights abuses in Tibet. However Australia has an appalling human rights record as assessed by the horrendous avoidable deaths of its domestic and overseas Indigenous subjects. Indeed White Australia’s appalling and genocidal human rights record has prompted formal complaint to the ICC over Australia’s involvement in ongoing Aboriginal, Iraqi, Afghan and Climate Genocides
29 March, 2008
Armed Together Against Civil Liberties
And Human Rights
By Wali LaskarAlthough there is no indigenous Armed Opposition Group operating in Barak Valley, the southern part of the North Eastern state of Assam in India comprising of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts with a population of about four million, has been notified as 'disturbed area' under the infamous Armed Forces (Special Power) Act, 1958
26 March, 2008
Sami Al-Arian's Long Ordeal
By Stephen LendmanSami Al-Arian is a political prisoner in Police State America. This article reviews his case briefly and updates it to the present
25 March, 2008
UN Scolds Washington For War On Migrants
By Cyril MychalejkoThe United Nations released a report this month scolding the United States for disregarding international law and violating the human rights of migrants
19 March, 2008
Human Rights Situation In Barak Valley In Assam
By Waliullah Ahmed LaskarSome recent grave cases of violation of human rights perpetrated in the valley, which are documented by BHRPC, would drive home the points made above. So some of them are given below as samples
Uprooted, Abandoned
By Gladson DungdungEverything has changed in the last 60 years of independence in India but the unending pain of "displacement" has become as part and partial of the life of 50 years old Satish Kishku of Takkipur village, situated near Canada Dam widely known as Mayurakshi Dam of Dumka district in Jharkhand
04 March, 2008
Two African American Students Under Suspension
Over Chewing Gum!
By Kendra PerryA teacher overheard Marcus speaking with another student, Stacy Guess (also a Black student), and him mentioning that he made money selling candy and that teacher notified the Principal, resulting in both students’ suspension. Neither of the two students was caught selling anything on school grounds, nor were they found to be in possession of any candy or gum. Because of the implication of said action, the school felt it was necessary in suspending both children for 5 days off hearsay and speculation, and not the result of a particular action or inaction
27 February, 2008
To Hang Or Not To Hang?
By Bal PatilIn India death penalty is awarded in the rarest of the rare cases. As a protagonish of the abolition of capital punishment I would like to reproduce my comments in my article “To Hang or Not To Hang” published in The Illustrated Weekly of India, dated. 18.02.1979 which I venture to think are still relevant originally published about three decades back because judicial perspective or the lack of it has not changed over the course of three decades
21 February, 2008
Juno: Fact And Fiction
By Mirah RibenThe comedic fictional movie Juno has garnered praise, awards and nominations. It also created uproar among those of us for whom adoption is not a comedy, but our life
19 February, 2008
Australian Aboriginal Genocide Continues
Despite Historic Apology
By Dr Gideon PolyaPM Rudd’s speech and Apology was largely confined to the Stolen Generations – indeed the word “Aboriginal Genocide” was NOT used even though what happened to the Indigenous Australians has been recognized as an Aboriginal Genocide
An Invisible Refuge
By Vinod K. JoseMilitary excesses in Myanmar are forcing thousands of ethnic Chins to flee to Mizoram, but India won't accept them
12 February, 2008
How Neo-Liberalism Has Created
The World's Immigration Crisis
By Jerry D. RoseWe like to think, of course, that we are more "enlightened" than the religious fanatics who carried out the Salem witch trials. That remains to be seen, as he have yet to see whether an "enlightened" path can be found from witch-persecution to the recognition of the common humanity of the earth's peoples
15 January, 2008
Afghan Prison Looks Like Another Guantanamo
By William FisherIt is a prison located on the U.S. military base at base in the ancient city of Bagram near Charikar in Parvan, Afghanistan. The detention centre was set up by the U.S. military as a temporary screening site after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan overthrew the Taliban. It currently houses some 630 prisoners -- close to three times as many as are still held at Guantanamo
14 January, 2008
Face To Face With Munir Malik
By Baber AyazWe are publishing an interview with Munir Malik, the former president of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association who was imprisoned and given drugs under the pretext of painkillers which caused him renal failure and liver damage, but who continues to be an inspiration for the movement for the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Pakistan
03 January, 2008
Advertisements Need To Respect Human Rights
By Anil GulatiA TV advertisement concerning Happydent teeth whitening gum represented the worst case of human rights violation; the advertisement is still being run. May be it is a call to act
Right To Education At Crossroads In Jharkhand
By Gladson DungdungMore than 4 lakh children are still engaged as child labourers in the state
20 December, 2007
Citizens Of Twelve Hours
By Wali LaskarThousands of Indian citizens living in Indian soil have been deprived of their citizenship for twelve hours daily for decades. The victims are resident of villages situated in fringe area of about four thousand kilometres long India-Bangladesh International Boundary Lines
05 December, 2007
Ambedkar As A Human Rights Defender
By Vidya Bhushan RawatAmbedkar championed the cause of the down trodden. But to confine him to mere as a leader of Dalits will do him great injustice. He was the most accompalished political leader and philosopher among his contemporaries.No human rights discourse in India could be complete with out detailed discussion on the outstanding work of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar
India’s Forgotten Children Of War
By Meha DixitAlthough, International agencies like the United Nations do claim the existence of child soldiers in several parts of India, there are hardly any government documents and reports accessible to the public on the recruitment of children as soldiers in India. Now, to begin with, its time for a public discourse on the plight of child soldiers in India, particularly in certain Naxal strongholds and the Northeast of India
03 December, 2007
When Rights And Rules Collide
By Mary ShawIn my work as a human rights advocate, I am frequently asked about what we should do in cases where human rights conflict with religious or civil laws.Two cases have come to light in recent weeks that exemplify this kind of dilemma. The first is the case of a rape victim in Saudi Arabia. She had gotten into a car with a former boyfriend in order to get a photo that he had promised to return to her. Then the two were jumped and raped. And so she now faces 200 lashes and six months in prison, because she entered a car, unsupervised, with a man who wasn't her relative
07 November, 2007
U.S. Gets Tough With Undocumented Immigrants
By David RosenA recent series of raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) service, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, signals a new era of anti-immigrant hysteria in America
01 November, 2007
Silicosis: A Death Trap For Agate Workers In Gujarat
By PUCL GujaratWorkers working in the agate industries are dying of silicosis in regular interval for last 40 years in Khambhat. Families are wiped out totally. But there is no respite from the death trap of economically impoverished people of this area
Cases Of Gross Violation Of Human Rights
In Barak Valley Of Assam
By Wali LaskarThe Assam Police and CRPF personnel have been violating human rights systematically in Barak Valley killing serially innocent persons, denying justice, framing fake charges, arresting and detaining people in trumped-up cases, and raiding, harassing, abusing and humiliating in false charges
31 October, 2007
Custodial Murder Of Mutahir Ali Tapader And
Subsequent Police Atrocity In Barak Valley Of Assam
By Wali LaskarIt was reported in local media that an innocent citizen was killed by police on 21st September, 2007 at Kalain in the district of Cachar, Assam. The police tortured the victim to death in full public view, allegedly for refusing by the victim and his relatives to pay a gratification of rupees ten thousand to sub-inspector Narain Tamuli, in-charge-officer of Kalain Police Patrol Post under Katigorah Police Station
13 October, 2007
Gitmo At Home: DV Courts In America
By David HeleniakOctober is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence is a very real and significant problem in America. This month would be a good time to address the attempt of state governments to combat domestic violence through the issuance of temporary and permanent restraining orders
Tortured State
By Gladson DungdungA study on custodial torture is revealing of what is wrong with Bihar's governance
12 October, 2007
The Pain Of Instant Justice
By Gladson DungdungThough Kerala state in India is known for total literacy, it was a horrible experience of the ‘instant justice' for 40-year-old pregnant woman Jyoti and her two kids, who were stripped and beaten up by a mob accusing them of stealing a golden anklet of a child in the vicinity
13 September, 2007
Free The Jena 6
By Peter RothbergSign a national petition asking the Louisiana governor to intervene in the case
09 September, 2007
Children:The Silent Victims
By Ziaur RehmanA new report throws light on the dismal state of children and lays bare some hidden facts
02 September, 2007
Colonial Ideology And Aboriginal Australians
By Ghali HassanAs the majority of Aboriginal Australians and experts proposed, the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill is a racially and ideologically motivated take-over of Aboriginal land and should be vigorously opposed by all concerned Australians
31 August, 2007
Punish The Criminals In Khaki
By Harsh DobhalBhagalpur is back in news again. Same Bhagalpur where in a barbaric act, policemen had poured acid in the eyes of 31 undertrials in 1980, blinding them tortuously. The incident had shaken the nation's conscience then. Twenty-seven years later, television sets grabbed our eyeballs with shocking images of a 20-year-old man being dragged by a policeman riding a motorcycle, with his hand and legs tied
12 August, 2007
La Trobe University, “Bundoora Arabesque”
And Australian Aboriginal Genocide
By Gideon PolyaThe World should be watching. Tell everyone you know about the horrendous, continuing Aboriginal Genocide and the resurgent, bi-partisan-backed, politically correct racist (PC racist) New Racist White Australia
Beijing Olympics: To boycott Or Not
By Mary ShawOne year from now, the 2008 Summer Olympics will be taking place in Beijing, China. The media have already started covering the preparations and glamorizing the whole affair. But, hidden away from the eyes of the world, far away from the glitz and the pageantry, is a much uglier side of China - its long and horrible record of human rights abuses
09 August, 2007
Nandigram Violence A 'State Sponsored Massacre'
By People's Tribunal On NandigramIn its final report the People's Tribunal on Nandigram has called the violence of 14 March 2007 a 'pre-planned, state-sponsored massacre' carried out 'to teach a lesson' to people opposing the SEZ project on their land. It has strongly recommended continuation of the CBI investigation, initiated by the Calcutta High Court on 15th March but wound up in just a week
03 August, 2007
Migrant Workers: Slaves Of The Twenty-First Century
By Abdol Moghset Bani KamalAs soon as Murad Bux arrived, his 13-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter were introduced to him. He hugged them and wept. He was a servant of an Arab Shaikh in Qatar and his master had allowed him to visit his family after 12 years for a duration of two months. When he was asked how his life had gone in Qatar. His reply was: “For me, each day has been as long as a year. As if the time was hanged and the globe had stopped revolving around the sun”.This is the story of thousands of Pakistani migrant workers in the Arab Sheikhdoms
26 June, 2007
Yesterday Iftiqar Gilani,Today Binayak Sen
By Subhash GatadeOne just wishes that much like their Australian counterpart, the civil society in this part of the globe also wakes up to the innocence of Dr Binayak Sen and tell the powers that be that 'We want him out' ! If the Australians can fight for the human rights of an Indian, should the Indians maintain a conspiracy of silence when one of their own is being brutalised by the state
20 June, 2007
Living Under Fear
By Aftab Alexander MughalThe murder of a Christian in Landi Kotal, North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, in a very recent incident, once again endangered Christians of Charsadda, who received two different messages in May to be converted to Islam
13 June, 2007
Phony Terror And Black America
By Margaret KimberleyBlack Americans, Muslims and immigrants are being targeted as terror suspects without terror plots
12 June, 2007
A Bridge Too Far
By Satya SagarA communist stronghold for ages, Nandigram, along with Singur, is going through hell in a state where the Left Front has never been dethroned in the last three decades. All this because West Bengal has been bitten by the latest brainchild of India’s economic liberalisers for attracting global capital. Weeks after unimaginable State-sponsored brutalities on farmers, Satya Sagar travels through the restless districts and discovers intense fury amidst the wounds that will take a long time to heal
08 June, 2007
Exiles In Their Homeland
By K.A.ShajiIlliterate migrant workers from north Kerala who were stuck in Pakistan after Partition have waged a fruitless lifelong struggle to regain their Indian citizenship
06 June, 2007
Counterfeit Encounters And The 'Nation'
By Harsh ManderThe current wave of outrage in the country over the horrific murders by the men in khaki in Gujarat is likely to be transient, a passing squall. The dust that it raises will rapidly settle, and we will forget, in the same way as we have expelled from memory so many similar inequities of the recent past
05 June, 2007
Pakistan Parliament Rejects
Changes In Blasphemy Laws
By Aftab MughalThe National Assembly (NA), lower house of the parliament, crushed a bill on May 8, which was moved by a Parsi member MP Bhandara, seeking amendments to the controversial blasphemy laws
03 June, 2007
Uncovering The Myth Of “Fair Go” Australia
By Ghali HassanWhile Anglo-Australians can be proud of a long-time forgotten truth of “Fair Go” Australia for the privileged, today’s Australia is an unequal and unfair society. The myth of “Fair Go” Australia is just a shield, protecting Australia against criticism of Australia’s unfair treatments of Indigenous Australians and Australians from other minority groups
01 June, 2007
Lessons Learned By Grassroots Katrina
And Tsunami Social Justice Activists
By Bill QuigleyThe Christmas Tsunami that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives along the coasts of the Indian Ocean did not destroy the people's will to rebuild on land that was their birthright. But "disaster capitalism" has apparently triumphed in the United States, where rights can be washed away with no trace
31 May, 2007
Reflections On The Psychopathology
Of Racist Thinking
By Tim WiseThe mind of the racist is an intricate web of delusions, in which white majorities are always under siege, preyed upon by dark hordes intent on destruction. Anti-racist activist Tim Wise explores the tortuous mental pathways that lead millions of whites to conclude they are victims - and turn tragedies like the Virginia Tech murders into calls for racial revenge and redemption. Despite all the data to the contrary, a significant body of white opinion insists that Black-on-white crime is down-played by the media - an absurdity that is designed to justify the reality of racial oppression
School For Refugee Kids Tells The Tale Of Neglect
By K.A. ShajiThe `international' school, conceived originally by Rajiv Gandhi and established by NGO Bright Society years back in memory of his mother Indira Gandhi at Yelahnaka in Bangalore, holds no promise for the children of Sri Lankan Tamils who left their own land on different occasions unable to withstand the escalation of ethnic violence
27 May, 2007
Black Leadership: Unable Or Willing
To Address Black Mass Incarceration
By Bruce DixonAmerica’s undeclared but universal policies of racially selective policing, prosecution and mass incarceration of its Black citizens have imposed unprecedented strains on the social and economic viability of Black families and communities – of the entire African American polity
Marriage Mirage In Kerala
By K A ShajiMarried and cast away shortly after honeymoon by their Arab husbands, hundreds of poor Muslim women in Kerala's northern coastal districts are cursing their fate
26 May, 2007
J' accuse: A Children's Doctor
And A Mighty State
By Subhash GatadeIt has been more than ten days that Dr Binayak Sen, a paediatrician by training and profession and a human rights activist by choice has received a new identity. - A menace to public safety - The Chattisgarh police whose own record of human rights violations would shame even the KPS Gills, has used the provisions of the draconian Public Safety Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act ( a substitute for POTA ) to detain Dr Binayak Sen in the wee hours of 14 th May
15 May, 2007
Public Terror: Escalating The War On Migrants
By Juan Santos & Leslie RadfordThe white power elite views migrants as a dangerous force for political instability and for undermining the white cultural dominance of the US. It means that migrants and the pro migrant movement are the targets of America, no matter how many US flags are waved, how much English is spoken, or how much profit is provided for the exploiters
10 May, 2007
Fighting A Losing Battle
By K A ShajiThe Xinjiang province of China was actually shot to fame after Hollywood movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was filmed there. Now, Beijing's crackdown on political dissent by Uighur activists has dragged the region into a big human rights debate
08 May, 2007
The Hate Equation: Targeting Migrant Children
By Juan SantosBrown children are expendable in Los Angeles, and migrants are the new scapegoats for a nation steeped in a deep tradition of white racism
01 May, 2007
Fake Killing(s): People As Trophies
By Subhash GatadePeople who had a faint glimmer of hope about Kausar Bi's whereabouts finally know that she is no more. As the counsel for the Gujarat government himself admitted before the Supreme Court, she was killed, burnt and her ashes were thrown in some field. But it does not throw light on the person(s) who killed her ?
In The Philippines Bush's War On Terror
Has Become A War Of Terror
By Brian McafeeThe War Of Terror the U.S. is inflicting on the Philippine people through its blanket support for Arroyo and the Philippine Military and National Police is also a War On The Poor as the targets are generally those concerned with the poverty issue and the beneficiaries of the killings would seem to be those that don't want change, the rich and foreign capital or corporate interests
28 April, 2007
Aliens Everywhere
By K A ShajiHalf a million Tamil repatriates whose forefathers had been uprooted from the native land to work in Sri Lankan tea plantations around two hundred years back find that they are Indians only in name
Madhany: Victim Of State Terror
By B.F FirosThis is the story of Abdul Nasar Madhany, a man who continues to be hunted like a hardcore criminal by a ruthless system. And the mainstream media continues its criminal silence
25 April, 2007
Nandigram: Fact And CPI(M)'s Fiction
By Kavita KrishnanKavita Krishnan from Liberation takes a look at facts about the Nandigram massacre and CPI(M)-sponsored fiction
Big Business In Babies: Adoption,
The Child Commodities Market
By Mirah RibenAdoption needs to be far more transparent, open, honest and regulated to ensure it serves the best interest of those it is intended to serve
18 April, 2007
54 Indian POWs Versus Sarabjit Singh
By Farzana VerseyRahul Gandhi may have made a politically rash comment, but even if he had not intended to reveal the truth, it hurts. Too much has happened since and Bangladesh is dealing with its own problems. But one major problem is ours. The state of our prisoners of war
14 April, 2007
Militarizing The Border
By Frida BerriganAs with so many other pressing issues -- from terrorism to oil dependency -- the White House is turning to the military industrial complex for a solution. SBI is the plan of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to erect a "virtual fence" of monitors, sensors, unmanned planes, and communications to help border agents catch illegal immigrants crossing the southern border
12 April, 2007
Hunger Strike Expanding Despite
Repression At Guantánamo Prison Camp
By Tom CarterDespite the threat of retaliation by prison guards, several more Guantánamo prisoners recently joined an ongoing hunger strike, according to an April 8 article in the New York Times. US authorities acknowledge that 13 prisoners are now on hunger strike, though lawyers who have recently visited the prison put the number as high as 40
10 April, 2007
The True Story Of Free Speech In America
By Robert FiskSami al-Arian is 49 but he stayed on hunger strike for 60 days to protest the government outrage committed against him, a burlesque of justice which has, of course, largely failed to rouse the sleeping dogs of American journalism in New York, Washington and Los Angeles
Conditions For Guantánamo Prisoners Worsening
By Tom CarterA report released Thursday by Amnesty International (AI) describes “deteriorating” conditions at the infamous Guantánamo Bay, Cuba prison camp, citing an increase in the use of physical isolation to break prisoners, and an accompanying rise in mental health problems
05 April, 2007
The Long Ordeal Of Sami Al-Arian - Civil
And Human Rights Advocate And Political Prisoner
By Stephen LendmanSami Al-Arian is one of many dozens, likely hundreds, of political prisoners in the US today but is noteworthy because of his high-profile status and as an especially egregious example of persecution and injustice in post-9/11 America with its climate of state-induced fear and resulting repression with special targeting of Latino immigrants and all Muslims characterized as "Islamofascists" because of their faith and ethnicity. One of them is Dr. Sami Al-Arian
04 April, 2007
From Socialism To Barbarism?
By Akhila RamanThe Ugly Might of the State has descended in an unholy manner on the farmers in Singur and Nandigram. How can CPIM reconcile its conflicting history of admirable land reforms in West Bengal with the recent brutal repression of farmers in its desperate bid of industrialization?
30 March, 2007
The Racist War On Immigrants
By Stephen LendmanImmigrants of color, the wrong faith or from the wrong parts of the world are never greeted warmly in "America the Beautiful" that's only for the privileged and no one else. They're not wanted except to harvest our crops or do the hard, low-pay, no-benefit labor few others will do
29 March, 2007
David Hicks Bullied Into Guilty Plea
At Guantánamo Kangaroo Court
By Richard PhillipsAfter more than five years of imprisonment in Guantánamo Bay where he endured torture and protracted periods of solitary confinement, Australian citizen David Hicks finally pleaded guilty to one charge of “providing material support for terrorism” as part of a plea bargain to get out of the US hell-hole
28 March, 2007
America's Forgotten City
By Max KantarIn New Orleans People live without electricity, plumbing, and any kind of economic stability; Black, White and Hispanic people, all multi generationally indigenous to New Orleans. Virtually all businesses, corporate and mom and pops stores alike, remain vacant ruins. Throughout America, people suffer serious ailments from the lack of job availability, but this gave unemployment a new meaning. Many good people, law abiding by nature, have turned to the only market available; drugs, to either psychologically escape their despair or to earn even the littlest of funds to secure food for themselves and their loved ones
23 March, 2007
Nandigram: Horror Stories Emerge
Fact finding report of the delegation deputed by the Calcutta High Court
More Horror Stories From Nandigram
CPI(ML) Team In Nandigram: Summary Of Findings
20 March, 2007
Too Guilty To Fly, Too Innocent To Charge?
By Faisal KuttyThe system envisaged by Passenger Protect is wholly inadequate, as it will be over inclusive, with high likelihood of false positives, pose a serious potential for racial profiling, and completely lack any meaningful redress mechanism or process
28 February, 2007
The Growth Engine Of The American Prison Gulag
By Glen FordThe U.S. prison system is projected to suck up 200,000 additional bodies between now and 2011, half of them African American. The burden of the Gulag, which has grown eightfold since 1970, is unbearable for Black America, whose institutions and dreams have for two generations been ravaged by a public policy of mass Black incarceration. The very existence of the American Gulag - the largest and most pervasive prison system in the history of mankind - presents a clear and present threat to U.S. society at-large
19 February, 2007
Mulakat Afzal
By Vinod K. JoseAn interview with Mohd Afzal Guru, the man on deathrow in connection with India's Parliament attack
Any Apologies For Paddars!
By Subhash GatadeIt remains to be seen who will seek apologies from Paddar's near and dear ones ? Who would gather the courage to stand before Paddar's widow and children with folded hands and say 'On behalf of the Government of India, I wish to apologize to you ..?
08 December, 2006
The Communist State As A “Developmental Terrorist”
By Aseem ShrivastavaThe sorrows of Singur are typical of India’s feudal globalization
It’s Your Nigger Problem Not Hip-Hop’s
By March Anthony Neal"Debates over the use of the word ‘nigger’ in popular culture which highlight a philosophical divide within 'blackness.'"
Right To Information Emasculated
By Prashant BhushanEffectively unconstitutional when it comes to accountability of public servants, the proposed amendments in the Right to Information Act will take the life out of it
07 December, 2006
The Judiciary: Cutting Edge Of A Predator State
By Prashant BhushanThere was a time, not so long ago, when the Supreme Court of India waxed eloquent about the Fundamental right to life and liberty guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution to include all that it takes to lead a decent and dignified life.Alas, all that seems a distant dream now, given the recent role of the courts in not just failing to protect the rights of the poor that they had themselves declared not long ago, but in fact spearheading the massive assault on the poor since the era of economic liberalization. This is happening in case after case
29 November, 2006
Irom's Iron In The Soul
By Kavita JoshiA rare interview with Irom Sharmila, the iron lady of Manipur, who is on a fast-to-death for over six years now. Six years without food, without a drop of water touching her lips. Six years of being held under arrest repeatedly on charges of “attempted suicide” by the government, and being forcibly nose-fed
27 November, 2006
Is Jain Minority Right In India
Receiving A Fair Deal?
By Bal PatilIn view of the unimpeacheable constitutional, judicial evidence and the views of the most illustrious leaders and the sitting members of the Government of India I submit that the Government of India should take an expeditious decision on issuing a Notification declaring Jains as a national minority on par with Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians
24 November, 2006
India's Roads Becoming Killing
Fields For The Homeless
By Vidyadhar DateThe media is full of reports of promotion of new car brands glorifying speed, how a car picks up speed of over a hundred km in just a few seconds and so on. But the elite is totally unconcerned with the immobility of the vast majority of people who are crammed like sardines in overcrowded trains
17 November, 2006
Irom Sharmila Chanu's Epic Satyagraha
By Harsh DobhalSix years of satyagraha. Sharmila continues her fast, in custody, confined to a room in AIIMS,New Dehli writing poetry, reading books, doing yoga. The struggle against AFSPA continues. In Manipur and in Delhi
Will India-Pak Peace Process Bring
Peace To Indian Muslims?
By Aleem FaizeeTired of the harassment, trauma and shock, the Muslims in India are now banking on Indo-Pak peace initiatives. But the question that remains to be answered is, will India-Pak peace process bring peace to the Indian Muslims as well?
16 November, 2006
The Death Sentence ForMohammed Afzal Guru
And The Future Of Barbarism
By Aseem ShrivastavaEven if Afzal’s guilt is established, the Indian state must find the maturity to learn from countries like South Africa – which abolished capital punishment 11 years ago – rather than the US, where so many states, including Texas, send criminals to the gallows every year
05 November, 2006
Positively Neglected
By Preetu NairWomen in commercial sex work are seen as agents of HIV and their clients unwitting victims. But in the absence of any economic rehabilitation or community based services, the HIV positive trafficked victim, the marginalized section of the society, continues to be commercially sexually exploited
31 October, 2006
'And His Life Should Become Extinct'
By Arundhati RoyThere ought to be a Parliamentary Inquiry into the December 13 attack on Parliament. While the inquiry is pending, Afzal's family in Sopore must be protected because they are vulnerable hostages in this bizarre story. To hang Mohammed Afzal without knowing what really happened is a misdeed that will not easily be forgotten. Or forgiven. Nor should it be
30 October, 2006
Books As Crime
By Subhash GatadeSunita Narayan, owner of Daanish Books, Delhi stands accused under the section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Ordinance, 2004 for committing the ‘offence’ of selling legally available literature
Child Abuse: As American As Apple Pie
By Lucinda MarshallIn the context of the real enormity of child abuse both in the US and in the world as a whole, it is hardly surprising that we allow the moral of the Foley story to be mis-framed as the sexual proclivities of one man, rather than a symptom of a much larger crime. If we truly valued families and the lives of children, these are the issues we would address
25 October, 2006
Little Fingers Which Used To Pick Rags
From Dustbins Are Learning To Write
By Anil GulatiIn the state of Madhya Pradesh in India more than two lakhs girls are either out of school or have dropped out at elementary level. Though state is doing their bit which when complemented by the efforts of non governmental organizations can help many like Divya and Madhu to go to school which helps add some colour on to the canvass of their lives
21 October, 2006
In Defence Of Afzal
By Colin GonsalvesAfzal's case before the President must be made on the basis of truth. It needs no embellishments. It certainly needs no falsehoods. The record of the trial court shows undoubtedly that he did not receive a fair trial. The arguments before the President should proceed on the basis of the evidence on record that would shock anyone's conscience
Divide And Rule, But For How Long?
By Jawed NaqviIn Delhi, Kashmiri Mohammed Afzal Guru, was falsely informed by someone that his lawyer instead of defending him at the High Court had in fact pleaded for him to be put to death by a lethal injection. We do not know how Guru came to that conclusion since he was not present during the proceedings at the high court
20 October, 2006
Attack On India's Parliament:Last Chance
To Know What Really Happened
By Nirmalangshu MukherjiThe attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001 was a major event in contemporary India. As the judicial procedure into this case nears its end, with Mohammed Afzal to be hanged on October 20, our effort to get at the truth as to what really happened is about to be scuttled. Who attacked Parliament and what was the conspiracy? On what basis did the NDA government take the country close to a nuclear war? What was the role of the State Task Force (J and K) on surrendered militants? What was the role of the Special Cell of Delhi Police in conducting the case?
Retributive Violence By The State
By Prashant BhushanThere are many reasons therefore for commuting Afzal's death penalty. But given the charged opinions on this issue and with the BJP threatening to make this a national issue, I doubt that this government would have the courage to decide this matter on rational and relevant considerations
The Unheard Voices Of"Orang Bangla" In Malaysia
By Md. Saidul Islam, Mazharul Hoque,
Delwar Hossain & Kazi Shahadat KabirBangladeshi labor migrants, locally known as "Orang Bangla" albeit in a derogatory sense, continue to serve Malaysia to perpetuate its status as an "economic tiger" in Asia
19 October, 2006
Afzal Must Not Be Executed
By Praful BidwaiAfzal is by no means beyond the pale of reform. President Kalam should act sagaciously and commute his sentence. It's his constitutional and moral duty to prevent miscarriage of justice and apply a humane touch
17 October, 2006
Irom Sharmila: 'Iron Lady' Of Manipur
By Subhash GatadeIt is difficult to believe the saga of struggle of Irom Sharmila Thanu In fact it will be nearly six years that she would be on her hunger strike.She has remained without solid food since then, demanding withdrawal from her state, of one of the most draconian laws in the statue books called Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA)
14 October, 2006
Colin Gonsalves On Afzal Case
A Letter"I was taken aback to hear that certain persons are spreading a rumour that I did not defend Afzal in the High Court and instead asked for him to be put to death by lethal injection"
13 October, 2006
Belabouring Over Child Labour
By Farzana VerseyThe Indian government's recent announcement banning the employment of children as domestic servants and workers in roadside eateries, restaurants, teashops starts with a problem. The age limit is below 14 years. And its figures are 80 per cent off the mark – the verdict talks about 20 million children whereas the number is close to a 100 million
17 August, 2006
A People’s Freedom
By Anthony RavlichThe introduction of the ‘unspoken’ economic, social and cultural rights in New Zealand
10 April, 2006
The 'Andhra Way' Of Countering
The Naxalite ‘Menace’
By Subhash GatadeOne does not know whether all those people who have been singing euologies to the Andhra model in curbing the ‘menace’ have ever bothered to look for themselves how ferocious it looks at the ground level. One does not know whether they comprehend that the mechanisms to be put in place would just be another name for instituting death squad regime under the canopy of democracy
27 February, 2006
"U.S. Administration Sees Itself As Being
Outside The Rule Of Law"
By Siddharth Narrain & Irene KhanAmnesty International Secretary GeneralIrene Khan is the first woman, the first Asian, and the first Muslim to head the world's largest human rights organisation. In an interview in New Delhi recently, she spoke of the dangers of American policies, the need to reform the U.N. system, and India's human rights record
23 February, 2006
The Business Of Encounter Killing
By Sorit GuptoEncounter killing is again a hot topic nowadays. This time it is for the arrest of Daya Nayak the sub inspector from Mumbai on corruption charges,who is better known as a Encounter specialist. According to an unconfirmed 'estimate' he has gunned down some 80-90 persons till date, amassing huge wealth in the process
05 December, 2005
Cobra's (or call them tigers) Are Back
By subhash gatadeThe state police department of Andhra Pradesh has engaged a criminal mafia gang called ‘Black Cobra’ . This gang has been issuing ‘death lists’ in media and brutally hacking those on the lists.' And this gang has already killed two intellectuals
26 August, 2005
Fifty-four Years In Jail Without Trial:
The Plight Of Prison Inmates In India
By Parwini ZoraThe state of India’s penal and justice systems speaks volumes about the true nature of human rights and social equality in a country routinely held up by the Western media as the “world’s largest democracy.”
13 August, 2005
Caste Discrimination Root Cause Of Conflict in Nepal
By Center for Human Rights and Global JusticeCaste discrimination is a root cause and an insidious consequence of the civil war in Nepal, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice charged in a new report
12 August, 2005
The Vanished Of Punjab
By Rajesh RamachandranFrom 1984 to 1994, the Punjab Police was at its brutal best. A decade later, NHRC is still to administer justice
11 August, 2005
The Ugly Case: NHRC Of Nepal
By ACHR ReviewThe National Human Rights Commission of Nepal which played a crucial role to monitor human rights violations both by the security forces and the Maoists since its inception today stands as the most discredited National Human Rights Institution in the Asia Pacific region
20 July, 2005
For A Free Press
By NuimanNew Delhi based Malayalam magazine Free Press has been forced to stop its publication for having written against state-sponsored terrorism. The journalists at Free Press have been under constant attack from the establishment ever since the magazine boldly covered the wrongs done to Abdurahman Geelani who was falsely implicated in the Parliament attack case
01 June, 2005
White Australia Abusing Asian Mothers And Children
By Gideon PolyaHave you got your passport?" is set to become a standard semi-serious comment within the "visible minorities" in racist White Australia
22 May, 2005
Joint Letter to Prachanda
By Human Rights OrganisationsA joint letter by international humanrights organisations to CPN (Maoist) to establish mechanisms for cooperation with the UN human rights monitoring mission, including mechanisms to allow transparent and independent investigations by the UN teams in areas under (CPN) Maoist control
Australian Academics Advocate Legalized Torture
By Gideon PolyaTwo Australian law academics have caused a storm in Australia by their advocacy of legalised torture
17 March, 2005
The Dark Side Of Australia's Palm Island
By Andrew BoeTensions between police and locals continue to run high on the troubled indigenous settlement of Palm Islan, Queensland, Australia following last November's death in custody of Cameron (Mulrunji) Doomadgee. It also raises questions about Australia's racial prejudices
09 March, 2005
Reign Of Terror In Kasipur
By Statesman News Service
The People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) which went on a fact finding mission to the Kasipur area of Raygada district in the Indian state of Orissa where the Utkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL) plans to establish an alumina plant reports of a "reign of terror"02 March, 2005
Australia: Palm Island’s Dark History
Of Aboriginal Repression
By Erika ZimmerConditions on Palm Island have steadily worsened. The disaster that has been created by a succession of governments, state and federal, is now being used to justify further inroads into the social position of Aborigines
20 February, 2005
Who Pulled The Trigger... Didn't We All?
By Arundhati RoyMust we in our hypernationalism take a man who has already suffered enough and reduce him to fish bait? Can we-and our media-stop judging S.A.R. Geelani
16 February, 2005
White Australia Imprisons Refugees
By Gideon PolyaWhite Australia has been imprisoning thousands of innocent, non-European refugee men, women and children behind razor wire in privately-run detention camps in remote deserts and on remote Pacific islands
18 November, 2004
Africa's Children Of War
By Meera SelvaMore than 100,000 children have been abducted, tortured and sexually abused before being recruited to fight in Africa's long-running civil wars in the past three years
28 October, 2004
Confronting Honour Killings
ACHR ReportThe Pakistan government bulldozed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2004 against “honour killings” in the National Assembly and adopted it on 26 October 2004 without any debate amidst opposition walkout
24 October, 2004
Indian Army And The Legacy Of Rape In Manipur
By Shivali TukdeoMasculine military privilege and its visible aggression in Manipur can only be understood in terms of an ancient war tactic which uses rape as a tool to control and dehumanize the ‘enemy’. As Manipuri women take their struggle to streets, they have become an inspiration to everyone suffering and fighting patriarchy. In struggle, together!
15 September, 2004
Student Loans And Suicide
By Ajit KanitkarEngineering student Rajani's suicide is a wake-up for India's banking system, and is also a clear signal that we need to urgently address issues of equity in our educational system
24 August, 2004
India's Intifada
By Satya SagarThe rest of India should oppose what is happening to their brethren in the north-east as the Indian State is perpetrating atrocities in their name
19 August, 2004
As ‘Help The Needy’ Charity Trial Nears,
Case Further Politicizes
By Madeleine BaranIn the eighteen months since Central New York oncologist Rafil Dhafir was arrested and charged with violating the US embargo against Iraq, he has been sitting in a Syracuse jail, ignored by most of the national media, as prosecutors continue to add charges threatening him with a maximum sentence of almost 300 years in prison
09 August, 2004
Manipur Burns
By Biswajyoti DasManipur, a remote northeastern state of India, has been simmering for nearly a month with hundreds of people demanding the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which gives sweeping powers to security forces
25July, 2004
Manipuri Women's Dramatic protest
By Kalpana SharmaThe photograph was riveting. Manipuri women holding up a banner that read: "Indian Army: Rape us". The women, all middle-aged, were naked, masking their state of undress behind the banner
24 July, 2004
In The Name Of Modi
By CPDR, MumbaiA report of All India Fact Finding Team on the 'encounter' of four alleged terrorists by Gujarat Police on June 15, 2004 at Ahmedabad
17 July, 2004
Saudi Arabian Bad Dreams
By Human Rights WatchA new 135-page report, "Bad Dreams: Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia", released recently by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) provides the first comprehensive look at the pervasive abuses foreign workers endure in Saudi Arabia
Muslims Portrayed
By Ghali HassanMedia images of Islam are omnipresent and are part of Western culture of racism and imperial design
16 July, 2004
Encounters Of A Fascist Kind
By J. Sri Raman"Encounter killings" in India refers to mystery-shrouded police killings of targets, especially "extremists" of various kinds, to killings for which lawless law-keepers see no need to provide elaborate explanations
15 July, 2004
Encounter Truth : Gujarat Police
As Investigator, Prosecutor And Judge
By Mukundan C MenonEven after three weeks of making all that orchestrated loud claims, charges and accusations against the four alleged Lashkar terrorists killed in the June 15 encounter at Ahmedabad outskirts, the Gujarat police fails to produce evidence to their claims
09 July, 2004
Stigma Of Criminality
By Human Rights FeaturesThe discrimination, abuse, and social and economic marginalisation faced by millions of Indians belonging to 'denotified and nomadic tribes' have their roots in 19th century British colonialism but this historical pattern of marginalisation and abuse continues even today
08 July, 2004
Every Moment For Me Is Fear
ByKamwaura NygothiAs an asylum seeker, I discovered what racism really means when I was 'dispersed' to Middlesbrough
26 June, 2004
I Am A Terrorit: Come shoot Me
By Shabnam HashmiA powerful article written in the context of the Gujarat encounter killings in which four persons including a young girl lost their lives
24 June, 2004
Torture In Custody
By ACHRThe government of India legitimises torture by encouraging its use in the administration of justice and by providing impunity to the law enforcement personnel
21 June, 2004
Some Mother's Son
By Beena SarwarThere is strength and inspiration to be drawn from those who use their pain, not to cause further destruction, but to heal and move ahead. One such woman is Visaka Dharmadasa, whose young son Achinte went missing in September, 1998 when the LTTE attacked his unit of the Sri Lankan army
05 June, 2004
I Have Been In Torture Photos, Too
By Gerry AdamsThe Abu Ghraib images are all too familiar to Irish republicans.Gerry Adams , president of Sinn Féin and MP for Belfast West recounts how he was treated in jail
17 May, 2004
'They Tied Me Up Like A Beast
And Began Kicking Me'
By David RoseAs America struggles to come to terms with military abuse in Iraq, similar stories are emerging from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Tarek Dergoul, a Briton released from the camp in March, talks here for the first time about his two-year ordeal.
09 May, 2004
Six Pakistanis And One Indian Were
Gunned Down to Impress America
By Greg BearupSix Pakistanis and one Indian migrant workers who were trying to get to Greece to find work on the Olympic sites were picked up Macedonian officials and they were shot in a stage managed encounter
08 May, 2004
Panic In Bangkok
By Satya SagarThe massacre at Pattani's Krue Se Mosque could be a turning point in the history of Thailand with the heightened possibility of retaliation and real (as opposed to the hitherto imagined) terrorism in different parts of Thailand including the capital city Bangkok
07 May, 2004
The Right To Conversion
By Nivedita MenonWhy is religious conversion any different from other conversions?
06 May, 2004
Tharu Autonomy: When The Slaves
Rise Up On The Nepal Plains
By A World to Win News ServiceThe Tharus, an aboriginal people who inhabit the western plains of Nepal are asserting themselves and winning back their lost under the programme of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
Killings At Pattani's Krue Se Mosque
And A Cover Up EnquiryThe commission of inquiry inquiring into the killings at Pattani's Krue Se mosque is restrictive, unrepresentative and inconsistent with international standards on independence and impartiality for holding such inquiries
29 April, 2004
Demolishing Lives And Livelihoods In Delhi
By Nagraj AdveEven as India goes to the polls, over 50,000 people have been effectively disenfranchised in the heart of the nation's capital, Delhi. This has happened following the destruction of over 15,000 jhuggis (slum dwellings) since mid-February
25 April, 2004
Caste In Yemen
By Marguerite AbadjianIn Yemen, lowest of the low Caste are the Akhdam, street sweepers and beggars, held down by prejudice and despair
17 April, 2004
For A Dignified Death
By Lila RajivaThere is a sanctity to death as surely there is to its counterpart, life and that sanctity is violated when the body is forced to live in painful, humiliating weakness and dependency
05 April, 2004
Protect The Life Of Sreeni Pattathanam
A National Defense Committee was formed by PUCL, Kerala to further the actions against the Kerala Government's inhuman Order of prosecution against the Malayalam writer and eminent rationalist leader Mr. Sreeni Pattathanam
02 April, 2004
Aliens In Their Own Country
By Massoud ShadjarehForget about the latest arrests around London. Forget about police profiling of Muslims - the general public now categorises all things Muslim as terror-orientated. Why?
28 February, 2004
Mining To Destruction And Hijacking
Their Rights To Submission
By Goldy M. GeorgeMining industry is an industry where large scale environmental degradation and humanrights violation takes place in full view of the public eye. But the persons involved in these crimes get away quite easily
24 February, 2004
For The Right To Strike!
By Tapan SenToday India is witnessing the 9th all India general strike since the onset of the disastrous liberalised economic policy regime. It's for the worker's right to strike made illegal after a court ruling
23 February, 2004
Is It Safe To Play Cricket In India?"
By Raja SwamyWith the Indian cricket team's tour of Pakistan just days away, Indian's are fruriously discussing whether it is safe to play cricket in Pakistan, but they forget to ask the question," Is it safe to play cricket in India?"
19 February, 2004
One Third Of The World’s Urban Population
Lives In A Slum
By Simon WhelanUnited Nations reported that one billion people—approximately one third of the world’s urban dwellers and a sixth of all humanity, live in slums
27 January, 2004
A Gun as Tall as Me'
By Jo BeckerBurma has more child soldiers than any other country in the world. They account for approximately one-fourth of the 300,000 children currently believed to be participating in armed conflicts around the globe
21 January, 2004
One of the dangers of Nepal's TADA is the inclusion of disruptive activities within the broad definition of terrorist acts. This allows for the application of TADA to political acts also
28 December, 2003
The Politics Of Land And The Besieged Lot
By Goldy M. Georgeland reforms is an unfinished task and land struggle is an ongoing phenomena. A lot of serious effort needs to be put into this
10 December, 2003
Satyendra Dubey-Death Of A Whistleblower
By Sucheta DalalThe anger against the murder of IIT engineer Satyendra Dubey is growing. But the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), which is guilty of leaking Dubey’s name to the very crooked contractors that he had complained against seems unaware about the groundswell of public anger
29 November, 2003
Extra Judicial Killing Of Women Naxalites in Uduppi
People's Democratic Forum Fact Finding ReportPeople's Democratic Forum, a human rights group from Karnatak reports that the so called encounter death of two women Naxalites on the 17th November at Bollottu in Karkala taluk of Udupi district was actually a cold blooded extra judicial killing by the police
Presumed Guilty
By Pratap Bhanu MehtaAlthough the Malimath committee report on reform of the criminal justice system contains some useful suggestions, the overall thrust of the report is dangerous for the health of the criminal justice system in India
19 November, 2003
Elitism In Higher Education
By P L Vishweshwer RaoThe proposed Private Universities Bill will put ‘emerging areas of study’ beyond the reach of poorer sections of society
29 October, 2003
Human Rights Defenders:Fighting An Uphill Battle
Human rights defenders form the backbone of what might be an energetic and vibrant democratic polity. But the Indian State however does not look upon such activists as partners in the democratic process
25 October, 2003
Trafficking Human Misery
By Richard TylerEach year, some 1.2 million children are trafficked worldwide. 200,000 individuals are trafficked annually from eastern Europe, a significant proportion being children
22 October, 2003
And Then They Carved His Eyes Out
By Priya GanapatiStory of Dhanvir Yadav, 14 , who had his eyes gouged out with a sickle by a group of boys on the reported orders of a sarpanch of a nearby village
08 October, 2003
Right To Education: China Fails
To Make The GradeUN Special Rapporteur Katarina Tomasevski's two week visit of china destroyed every myth about China's upholding of the right to education. It was failing to provide education to children of migrant workers, barred children from receiving religious education, and covered only 53 percent of school funding
29 September, 2003
Village Of Endless Night
By J DeyIn the tiny village of Mahej in Maharashtra state of India, little girls are trapped into prostitution by their families where they end up doing the job the whole life
21 September, 2003
The Global Hierarchy Of Race
By Martin JacquesAs the only racial group that never suffers systemic racism, whites are in denial about its impact
10 September, 2003
Moments Of Privacy
By V. GangadharAt frequent intervals, members of the "moral police" swoop down on lovers relaxing at public parks and gardens in Indian cities.This violation of human rights should be considered as a crime
24 August, 2003
A New Emergency
By Githa HariharanHow does this obsessive harking back to the two-child norm impinge on human rights? Large numbers of women, Dalits, adivasis, and the poor cannot contest elections to panchayati raj institutions
22 August, 2003
The Right To Strike
By Rajeev DhavanStrikes and demonstrations are a democracy's hard-fought weapons against oppression. They cannot be wished away by a Supreme Court
Judiciary -Messiah In Residence
By Ashok MitraThe much discussed judgment of Indian Supreme Court is
comprehensively asinine: it is awfully lacking in symmetry09 August, 2003
Supreme Court In Liberalised Times
By Prakash KaratThe Supreme Court of India judgement regarding the dismissal of 170,000 state government employees in Tamilnadu constitutes a severe assault on the rights of the working class
Judiciary Least Honest And Least Accountable
By Udit RajThere is no law to govern judiciary in this country. In the appointment of judges, no objective procedure can be followed in the present situation to judge the character, capacity and ability of a judge and sycophancy, nepotism and favoritism are the order of the day
07 August, 2003
Remembering Hiroshima & Nagasaki
By David Krieger"I suggest that every community throughout the globe commemorate the period August 6th through August 9th as Hiroshima and Nagasaki Days. By looking back we can also look forward and remain cognizant of the risks that are before us"
03 August, 2003
Repression In Afghanistan
By James ConachyThe report on Afghanistan issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW) catalogs the systematic violation of human rights by the militias of the Northern Alliance who were placed in power following the US invasion
03 July, 2003
11 Million Forgotten Children
By Peggy PeckWhile the world's daily news headlines track the troubles in the Middle East and the latest emerging diseases -- SARS, monkey pox and West Nile virus -- nearly 11 million children are dying quietly, victims of the ancient villains: diarrhea, malaria and measles.
01 July, 2003
The Internet Under Surveilance
By Vinton G. CerfPublication of second annual report on cyberspace : "The Internet under Surveillance - Obstacles to the free flow of information online" This report is about attitudes to the Internet by the powerful in 60 countries, between spring 2001 and spring 2003. The preface is by Vinton G. Cerf, who is often called the "father" of the Internet.
29 June, 2003
Human Wrongs
By Ram Narayan Kumar And Tanu Thomas KThe Committee for Coordination on Disappearances in Punjab (CCDP) released a report, titled " Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab." The report analyses alleged cases of torture and extra-judicial killings in Punjab in the 1980s and early 1990s. An interview with one of its authors
29 May, 2003
Unsafe World
By Gideon LongAmnesty International Anual report says that US 'War on Terror' Has Made World An Unsafe Place
26 May, 2003
Death Of Criminal Justice System?
Asian Human Rights CommissionReforms Committee recommendations will throw the Indian criminal justice system back into the dark ages
18 May,2003
Surviving The Streets
By Harsh ManderFor the homeless on the streets of Delhi who battle against poverty, police highhandedness and perverse intrusions, the kinships they forge among themselves and the helping hand some organisations extend offer solace
09 May,2003
The Nowhere People
By Ranabir SamaddarOn the historical pattern of migration,South Asia have added another factor: that of communal politics predicating the movements of populations
08 May,2003
The Beacon Of Hypocrisy
By Ra RavishankarAnti-Muslim, anti-immigrant hysteria has skyrocketed in America since September 11
Thailand Human Rights Commission-
A Promise Not KeptTwo years into its existence, theThe National Human Rights Commission of Thailand has yet to develop the capacity to address the human rights situation in Thailand
28 April, 2003
Honoring Peace And Justice
By Susan SontagTo Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero. To Rachel Corrie. And to Ishai Menuchin and his comrades.
25 April, 2003
Judgement Day
By Anand PatwardhanThe judgement on the WAR AND PEACE (JANG AUR AMAN) Vs Censorship case is a shot in the arm for the fight for freedom of expression
POTA: Handy Weapon to Settle Political Scores in TN
The draconian law POTA is being used in Tamil Nadu to settle political scores. Even juveniles are arrested under POTA
Children's rights infringed at Muthanga
By Roy MathewPolice hit children on the head with lathis during the operation to evict the tribals from the Muthanga forests.
Muthanga Police Firing:
The Unthinkable Is Happening In Kerala
By V. Muhammad Sharif"Police surrounded the camp and started to fire at the unsupecting Adivasis without warning." Eye witness account of the police firing in the Muthanga forest on striking adivasis.
Road To Muthanga - Sabotaging The Tribal Act
By G. PrabhakaranWhat happened in Muthanga on February 19, 2003 was the culmination of the continuous sabotaging of The Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Restriction on Transfer of Land and Restoration of Alienated Lands) Act, 1975 by the successive governments and political parties.
The Tribal Blood - Muthanga: A Struggle for Survival
By Mukundan C. MenonMukundan C. Menon gives a historical perspective of the adivasi land struggle in Kerala which led to the Muthanga police atrocity
You have blood on your hands, sir.
You need to make amends
Arundhati Roy's letter to the Chief Minister of Kerala, after visiting Muthanga where police opened fire on hundreds of adivasis in which one adivasi died, and the death of many more feared and the brutal reprisal of the whole adivasi community is still going on.
Child Slaves In India’s Silk Industry
Human Rights Watch report reveals that the Indian government is failing to protect the rights of hundreds of thousands of children who toil as virtual slaves in the country’s silk industry
Plastic Identity: Dividing line between
Chosen People and Illegal Aliens
By John DayalThe NDA governments move to give dual citizenship to non resident Indians of selected countries raises questions of public morality and human rights. While the rich NRIs of the western countries are given a redcarpeted welcome, millions of Bangladeshis who are living in India for years are given deportation orders
Kerala High Courts Order to the Criminal Courts to Treat The Accused/Witness/Complainant Humanely
Human Rights Week 2002
By Noam ChomskyProf. Noam Chomsky reviews Human Rights Week 2002 in the light of the war on Iraq
U.S. Cluster Bombs Killed Civilians in Afghanistan
Human Rights Watch Report
United States used cluster bombs in or near populated areas. U.S. cluster bombs also left an estimated 12,400 explosive duds—de facto antipersonnel landmines—that continue to take civilian lives to this day.
Afghanistan: Women Still Not “Liberated”
Human Rights Watch Report - Police Abuse, Forced Chastity Tests, and Taliban-Era Restrictions in Herat
Celebrating Human Rights Day, West Bengal Way
The West Bengal left front government celebrates human rights day and its silver jubilee by evicting more than 25000 bustee dwellers, lathicharging them and burning down their shanties. Association of Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) leaders and others arrested for organising protests.
The T.N. anti-conversion ordinance and Article 25
By Valson ThampuWith the anti-conversion ordinance the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, is doing her best to espouse the Hindutva cause.
Tamil Nadu Ordinance on Religious Conversions
is a Hindu Fatwa
By Rajeev DhavanThe Tamil Nadu Ordinance is not a simple statute for "truth, justice and the Hindu way of life". It is a kind of Hindu fatwa exhorting Hindus not to convert to any faith on pain of imprisonment.
Curb on personal freedom
By Anita Joshua.The Catholic Church is itself against forced conversion. But the fear is that the Tamil Nadu Ordinance could lend itself to abuse in an environment that is hostile to minorities
When their gods failed them
By Neena Vyas.Social justice has provided the strongest impulse for religious conversion among the most oppressed, the Dalits
Stifling dissent
By Radha VenkatesanTamil Nadu has a history of conversion as form of protest.
Epidemic of Abuse:Police Harassment of HIV/AIDS Outreach Workers in India
Human Rights Watch Report