Full Coverage: Human rights

28.03.2008 South Asians for Human Rights is organising a consultation on the Concerns of the Bhutanese Refugees in South Asia on March 31, 2008, in New Delhi, India. The consultation will provide a forum to deliberate on the present state of the Bhutanese refugees in India and Nepal and the recently held elections to the National Assembly.

28.03.2008 At least 40 civilians have fallen prey to aerial bombings by US-led forces in Afghanistan in last two weeks alone. Aid agencies say more than 12,000 people have been killed since 2001. Anger among the people against NATO forces is mounting and they have begun to equate them with the Russians.

28.03.2008 A handbook released by SANHITA, a womenÂ’s group in eastern India, tries to address the dynamics of sexual harassment at work, an issue that is often hidden and yet present in all kinds of organisations. The book, through its testimonies of womenÂ’s experiences, is a somber attempt to integrate a human rights perspective within the workplace.

24.03.2008 Concerned citizens in India feel that many will not be able to claim their rights in the tribal dominated Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, if a forest rights related Act is implemented under present circumstances. Violence perpetrated by Maoist and Salwa Judum activists have forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.

20.03.2008 Human Rights Watch has condemned NepalÂ’s use of excessive force to silence and detain protesting Tibetan exiles in Kathmandu. Protests mounted in the capital since March 10 in reaction to BeijingÂ’s violent suppression of protesters in Tibet and neighbouring provinces in China.

20.03.2008 Even as Indian national Sarabjit SinghÂ’s execution has been stayed until April 30 by Pakistan, efforts are on to save his life. He was sentenced to death for his involvement in spying and bomb blasts that had claimed several lives. Singh claims that he is the victim of mistaken identity.

19.03.2008 Punarbhava, a new interactive website for the disabled, is a one-stop cyber shop for information, aids, appliances, research and employment. The portal was recently launched at the Indian capital, along with the release of a new screen reader software for the blind.

18.03.2008 A new report by International Labour Organisation says that cases of underage recruitment by the Burmese army are increasing, maintaining that the problem is far more serious than the figures suggest. Human rights groups term military juntaÂ’s claim of trying to end the scourge of forced conscription a blatant lie.

13.03.2008 The Borderless World Foundation, a Pune-based NGO, has a mission to provide shelter for young girls orphaned by violence in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. In these baseras or homes, they find much-needed affection and care, which they have been bereft of.

12.03.2008 Communalism as an ideology in India is surging forward despite the presence of an avowedly secular government at the centre. There may not have been spectacular occurrences of violence since the new government came to power in 2004, but minorities continue to live in an atmosphere of insecurity.

07.03.2008 Development agencies lack funds for successful reintegration, says UN Under-Secretary-General Radhika Coomaraswamy. Rehabilitation of child soldiers goes beyond the act of demobilisation from armies. Faith organisations and education can help communities receive these children back into their fold, says she.

06.03.2008 Forget that judicial system is not accessible to the vast majority of people in India, even worse is the fact that it is increasingly acquiring an elitist and anti-poor character. A recently held convention in New Delhi talked of reclaiming and reinventing the judiciary for the poor.

03.03.2008 Found guilty of espionage, Kashmir Singh, an Indian national was awarded capital punishment by a Pakistan court in 1973. Having remained on death row for 35 long years, he has been recently granted clemency by President Pervez Musharraf. He is now all set to return and reunite with his family.

03.03.2008 Amnesty InternationalÂ’s new report titled: Sri Lanka: Silencing Dissent, says clamping down on media freedom corrodes free speech and strangles debate, and prevents a true assessment of human rights abuses. Journalists, actors, writers, filmmakers have been targeted both by the government and rebels alike.