Full Coverage: Human rights

31.12.2007 United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, set up last year to help countries ravaged by conflicts, will now be available to Nepal. There is an urgent need to consolidate the countryÂ’s peaceful gains after the government and Maoists formally ended the decade-long civil war, which left thousands dead and many more displaced.

31.12.2007 Recruitment of child soldiers in Sri Lanka by rebel forces has long been seen as a serious violation of human rights. A new report by the United Nations says that both factions of LTTE continue to abduct and recruit children to fight their wars.

27.12.2007 The Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a suicide attack. The suicide bomber struck shortly after she addressed a political rally in Rawalpindi, killing at least 20 other people.

27.12.2007 The United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking invites UN agencies, international organisations and other stakeholders to create an active online community to exchange and share knowledge on ways to combat this global crime. UN.GIFT encourages participants to engage in e-discussions, showcase positive projects, practices, and stories of courage, and draw on its various resources.

26.12.2007 The Phulbari coalmine in Bangladesh is set to cause major social and environmental upheavals in the region, displacing between 50,000 to 200,000 residents. World heritage site, Sunderbans mangrove forests, would also face extensive damage.

20.12.2007

19.12.2007 As UN member states voted overwhelmingly for a moratorium on the death penalty, an influential rights watchdog has challenged Nigeria's claim that no one has been executed in its prisons for several years.

19.12.2007 On December 18, the UN General Assembly adopted a historic non-binding resolution in support of a moratorium on death penalty. It is for the first time that the UN has acknowledged capital punishment as a human rights issue.

17.12.2007 Pakistan President Pervez MusharrafÂ’s may have lifted the emergency, on December 15, as promised, but this has failed to satisfy civil rights activists in the country who say this is not sufficient to put the country back on the path of democracy.

14.12.2007 Multinational drug companies and research institutions find places like India a prime destination for holding unethical clinical trials due to lax regulations there. It is estimated that 40% of these trials now are taking place in poorer countries of the world.

12.12.2007 For the Tharu, a group of people native to southwestern Nepal, freedom from years of bonded labor initially meant being kicked out into a completely foreign society, forming small communities on marginal land, and falling deeper into poverty. Now, youth programs that promote education are empowering the Tharu's younger generations to repair the injustices and indignities of the preceding generations.

12.12.2007 A number of developments across South Asia serve to highlight the disturbing trend of increasingly militarised control and policing of human activity, and the stamping out of human rights in the guise of counter-terrorism measures, says a report, titled: Stamping Out Rights: The Impact of Anti-Terrorism Laws on Policing.

11.12.2007 Fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are still a far cry for many, says Ban Ki-moon on Human Rights Day. On this occasion, a year-long campaign: “Dignity and Justice for All of US” was also kicked off.

10.12.2007 The United Nations today launched a worldwide campaign to stop human rights abuses and violations by governments, private businesses and others.

10.12.2007 On December 10, 1948, the Universal Nations General Assembly proclaimed and adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It said: 'Â…recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the worldÂ…'

10.12.2007 Secretary General of Amnesty International, Irene Khan in her message, on International Human Rights Day 2007, while celebrating the successes, expressed her concern on the violation of human rights by governments, big business and armed groups. She calls for renewed commitment by governments and civil society to convert rhetoric into reality, disillusionment and despair into hope and action.

07.12.2007 Women Power Connect president Ranjana Kumari laments that political leadership in India has not taken seriously the recent incidents of violence against women in places like Nandigram and Guwahati. She has suggested a national commission to provide protection to women in conflict situations.

06.12.2007 The right to decent work of persons with disabilities, a new report by ILO calls for renewed efforts to support people with disabilities in the world of work. Many among approximately 470 million disabled persons of employable age often face disproportionate levels of poverty and unemployment.

04.12.2007 A series of cultural events and discussions on MASCULINITIES, organised and coordinated by Aakar, are being held from December 3-10 in Indian capital city of New Delhi. Art exhibition, international film festival, theatre performances, literary evening, music concert are some of the highlights of the programme.

04.12.2007 Women in Nepal villages who hitherto remained confined to the four walls of their houses are breaking the shackles and coming out to take up issues that affect them most. It is community radio, which is helping them in their endeavour to spread awareness about their rights.