Full Coverage: Civil rights

27.02.2008 It’s been more than a year now since the State of Emergency was imposed in Bangladesh. More than 250,000 people have faced arrests during this period. The Asian Legal Resource Centre has documented numerous cases of arbitrary arrests, often carried out at a scale that is difficult to fathom in many other countries.

26.02.2008 The Indian Association for Women’s Studies (IAWS) has appealed for the release of Dr Binayak Sen, a human rights activist and a pediatrician, who has been in jail for the past nine months. In its resolution the IAWS has also demanded the repeal of Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act.

25.02.2008 UNITED NATIONS, Feb 25 (IPS) - The contentious debate on the death penalty -- which split the 192-member UN General Assembly last December -- is refusing to die.

22.02.2008

20.02.2008 NEW YORK, Feb 19 (IPS) - As the United States moves towards holding death-sentence trials for six Guantanamo Bay detainees alleged to have plotted the Sep. 11 attacks, legal scholars and human rights advocates are questioning not only the six-year-long process and timing of the charges, but also whether the accused could ever receive fair trials.

14.02.2008 Tasneem Khalil, a journalist working for Daily Star and CNN, was picked up by military intelligence in Bangladesh in a midnight raid and was badly beaten up. His case is just the tip of the iceberg, as tens of thousands are arbitrarily detained and tortured by security forces, says Human Rights Watch.

13.02.2008 Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Judicial Reforms is organising its Second National Convention on Judiciary and the Poor on February 23-24 in Indian capital New Delhi. The convention is targeting grassroots organisations to gain a better understanding of judiciary’s approach towards the poor.

08.02.2008 NEW YORK, Feb 8 (OneWorld) - A much-delayed U.S. government report has been obtained by journalists, raising allegations that officials may be suppressing politically inconvenient data that, if released, could help protect the health of millions living in the Great Lakes region of the country.