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Firstpost October 21,2020 India on Tuesday strongly reacted to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet's concern over restrictions on NGOs and arrest of activists, saying violations of law cannot be condoned under the pretext of human rights and a more informed view of the matter was expected of the UN body. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava also asserted that India was a democratic polity based on the rule of law and an independent judiciary. "We have seen some comments by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on an issue relating to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). India is a democratic polity based on the rule of law and an independent judiciary. The framing of laws is obviously a sovereign prerogative. Violations of law, however, cannot be condoned under the pretext of human rights. A more informed view of the matter was expected of a UN body," Srivastava said. Earlier, Bachelet expressed concern over the restr...

TIME Dated: June 08, 2020 By: Nury Turkel After years of hard work, Congress  passed  the  Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act  on May 28 by an overwhelming majority. This is the first law in history dedicated to promoting the rights of Uyghurs and other Muslims in China, who have faced systematic persecution as a result of their religious beliefs. It will ensure U.S. policy toward China takes into account the Chinese government’s violations of religious freedom. The new law also directs the U.S. government to impose financial sanctions and visa bans against Chinese government officials responsible for the persecution of Muslims. It requires an FBI report to Congress on efforts to protect Uyghurs from Chinese government intimidation and harassment on American soil. Additionally, it would require the Administration to report on human rights abuses in the Uyghur region, including formal estimates of the number of individuals detained in concentration camps. ...

Indian Express Published By: Express New Service India climbed one spot to take the 129th rank among 189 countries on the 2019 report on Human Development Index (HDI) released by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Monday. India was at the 130th place on this index in last year’s report. India’s HDI value has marginally increased from 0.643 in 2017 to 0.647 in 2018, shows the report, titled ‘Beyond Income, Beyond Averages, Beyond Today: Inequalities in Human Development in the 21st Century’. Globally, Norway, with a HDI value of 0.954, is at the first rank while Burundi (0.423) is at the bottom. As far as India’s neighbouring countries are concerned, China ranked 85 and Bangladesh and Pakistan ranked 135 and 152, respectively. Sri Lanka ranked 71 and Maldives ranked 104. “India’s HDI value has increased by 50 per cent from 0.431 in 1990 to 0.647 in 2018, which places it above average for countries in the medium human development group (0.634) and above...

Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a  hearing  to examine the human rights situation in the former state of Jammu and Kashmir in India in historical and national context. The Indian government’s decision to change the legal status of the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir, announced in August and effective as of October 31, 2019, has attracted intense attention due to persistent reports of human rights violations, including a crackdown on freedom of expression; the arbitrary “preventive” detention of hundreds of politicians, lawyers, journalists, and other civil society figures and related fears of enforced disappearance; and the use of excessive force against protesters. The increased militarization of the security presence in the region and the economic and social consequences of the central government’s actions, including continuing restrictions on internet and phones, have also provoked widespread concern. In addition, militants have targ...

T HE HINDU Special Correspondence October 06, 2019 The Home Ministry does not have information on any orders passed to block telecommunications and Internet, suspend radio and satellite television services, evacuate tourists and detain political leaders and activists in Jammu and Kashmir in August. The Ministry says it has no information on the names and locations of the detainees, and directed any queries to the State administration. In response to a recent Right to Information request to share copies of such orders, directions or advisories, two Central public information officers of the Ministry’s J&K division said the information was not available with them. The Ministry said, “The information might be available with the State government of J&K.” However, the RTI application could not be forwarded to the J&K government as the RTI Act, 2005 is not applicable in the State, said the response. According to it, a separate application could be filed ...

January 26, 2019 The Hindu Emran Feroz The far-right Freedom Party, which is part of the Austrian  government,  triggered a new controversy when party leader and Interior Minister Herbert Kickl recently attacked the European Convention on Human Rights. Freedom Party is known for its controversial views on migration, Islam and policing, among other issues. Mr. Kickl, who used to write the speeches of right-wing politician Jörg Haider, also created the “At home instead of Islam” slogan (‘Daham statt Islam’) of the Freedom Party and used to be one of the main organisers of the right-wing ‘Defenders of Europe’ conference that took place in 2016 and in 2018 in  Austria. Recently, Mr. Kickl called for harsher measures against refugees in an interview with ORF, Austria’s public television broadcaster. “The law has to follow politics, politics doesn’t have to follow the law,” he said. In this context, the Interior Minister, who wants to deport refugees rather quic...

 Bijay Sankar Bora Aug 12, 2018  The publication of the final NRC draft in Assam has once again brought to fore how sensitive the Northeastern states of India are to the problem of illegal migration, and that they consider migration a grave threat to the identity and political rights of the ethnic groups residing in the region. The news of over 40 lakh applicants (out of the total 3.29 crore) being left out of the final draft of NRC spread like wildfire in the region. Contrary to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s high-decibel rhetoric that the NRC update was a ploy of the BJP government in Assam to drive the Bengalis out of the state, indigenous apolitical and political organisations in neighbouring Northeastern states of Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur which share boundaries with Assam, raised the alarm that those left out of the final NRC draft would flock to their states to avoid detection and deportation in Assam. People whose na...

Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty /11/AUG/2018 Manipur/Mizoram: International entry and exit checkpoints in two states bordering Myanmar opened The government of Myanmar officially opened its border in two northeastern states by installing international entry and exit checkpoints on August 8. This action of the neighbouring country has taken India government’s Act East Policy a step closer to reality. R.K. Shivchandra, convener of Act East Policy Committee, soon after the inauguration of the two land border points, reportedly said that they were the last to officially open in entire Southeast Asia, meaning ease of crossing land borders between various countries on that route. As per the new modalities, the special land entry permission, which visitors entering Myanmar via land routes in the Northeast had required to fetch till now, would be replaced by visas, making them official international entry and exit points. While one such entry/exit point was opened at Tamu, the Myanmar...

The Economic Times July 05,2018 ET Bureau The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has now expressed concern over alleged human rights situation in Manipur.  Two experts of the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have urged the Indian authorities to complete thorough investigations into alleged killings by security forces in Manipur, after officials failed to meet a deadline set by the Supreme Court for inquiries into the cases.  “We are extremely concerned that the delay appears to be deliberate, undue and unreasonable, and we condemn this lack of progress. The Supreme Court has since set three deadlines for investigations into a number of cases to be completed, and three times these deadlines have not been met,” the experts said.  Reference :  https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/un-panel-seeks-complete-probe-into-manipur-encounters/articleshow/64861718.cms

Dawn July 01,2018 Maliha Diwan Sujatha Gidla’s debut Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India, is a gripping story of the writer’s family living as Dalits [untouchables] in India, a history of India’s communist movement and a rare insight into one of the most oppressed class of people in the world. Gidla’s book may never have been written had the writer not moved to the United States where she gained the distance to question her identity and the opportunity to publish her work. The author chats with Books&Authors about the caste system, how she was punished for her political affiliations and the #MeToo movement. You’ve made readers think about hierarchy (caste, patriarchy, class system), how it’s a part of daily life and how we’re all complicit in it. People tell me my book opened their eyes to caste oppression. This takes me by surprise. How can anyone living in Pakistan or India fail to be aware of caste? For me and for all Dalits, ...

The Tribune, By Sardar Sikander, June 24, 2018, Islamabad AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Friday reiterated to allow the residents of AJK to enter Indian Occupied Kashmir to “help their brothers and sisters under oppression if unrelenting carnage and tyranny in Indian Occupied Kashmir by India does not end.” “We can weigh the option to allow our people to cross the (Line of Control) LoC and enter into the part of Kashmir under Indian occupation if India continues with its repressive policies in the occupied territory,” said PM Haider in a statement. He is presently on a visit to United Kingdom. “If we decide so, the consequences will be grave and India will responsible of it.” He urged New Delhi to halt military action in IOK and allow the people of IOK to “decide their fate through democratic and peaceful means.” The statement comes at a time when Islamabad has welcomed the recommendation made by the UN high commissioner on human rights to establish a commis...

The Hindu Prabha Kotisawarn February 13, 2018 India should not follow the raid-rescue-rehabilitation model.  Last year, India protested against the release of a report, ‘Global estimates of modern slavery: forced labour and forced marriage’, a collaborative effort of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Walk Free Foundation, and the International Organisation for Migration. The report estimated that there were 40.3 million “modern slaves” worldwide in 2016, with 24.9 million in forced labour and 15.4 million in forced marriages. It did not name countries, but the writing on the wall was clear as 17,000 interviews had been conducted in India, and 61.78% of the “modern slaves” were in Asia and the Pacific. Registering its protest with the ILO, India vowed to undertake its own surveys. The Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, and member of NITI Aayog, Bibek Debroy, was scathing in his critique. He called the estimates on forced marriag...