Human Rights

Bangladesh ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday alleged that the country is witnessing "mass arrests, mass searches and torture," accusing the government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman of suppressing political opponents. "Today's Bangladesh is a country of mass arrests, mass searches, torture, false cases, extrajudicial killings and human rights violations. There is no law, no rights and no public security in the country," Sheikh Hasina said in a statement posted by Bangladesh Awami League on social media. Hasina, who was ousted following the anti-government protests in 2024, alleged that law enforcement agencies were "conducting block raids and mass searches in various areas across the country, including Gopalganj." "Between 5,000 and 7,000 people are being arrested every day," she said. Hasina said the people of Bangladesh need to be "guaranteed their basic rights and legal protection." "The government that came to power through a rigged election has clearly emba

India has asserted that human rights should not be used as an instrument of political pressure or selective targeting of countries, as it opposed attempts to turn allegations and incomplete statistics into a "negative characterisation" of the world's largest democracy. "India engages with international human rights mechanisms, but such engagement must be based on dialogue, consultation, cooperation with non-selectivity and transparency as guiding principles," Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs Barkha Tamrakar said. Tamrakar delivered India's statement at the UN General Assembly's Third Committee on the agenda item concerning the 'Working Group on Enforced Disappearances' here on Tuesday. She underlined that human rights should not be used as an instrument of political pressure or selective targeting of countries. "We call on delegations to cite the report faithfully, not to inflate a humanitarian communication into a verdict," Tamrakar said. India remains prepare

Navi Pillay is a deserving Nobel Peace Prize winner

Gunmen opened fire in two separate attacks Thursday on the Honduran coast, killing at least 25 people, including six police officers, authorities said. The first incident took place at a plantation in the municipality of Trujillo in northern Honduras, where at least 19 workers were shot and killed, according to Public Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Yuri Mora. The resource-rich region has been the site of a decades-long agrarian conflict. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has previously issued precautionary measures to some activists in the region who have been threatened, surveilled and intimidated for their work defending the environment and land rights. The 2024 killing of environmental leader Juan Lopez highlighted the dangers of defending natural resources in this highly militarised area of Honduras. The Central American nation regularly ranks as one of the most dangerous for environmentalists, with five killed in 2024 and 18 the year before, according to ...

At its core, the case against it exposes the tension between protecting business interests and upholding basic human rights

Supreme Court quashes humiliating bail conditions in Odisha, flags caste bias, and directs all courts nationwide to avoid imposing such degrading requirements

The demonstration was held at the National Press Club premises, where several organisations that have long campaigned against attacks on minority communities gathered

The world's largest sovereign wealth fund owned a 1.35% stake worth $50 billion in Microsoft as of June 30, according to fund data, its second-largest equity holding overall, after Nvidia

A Victorian prisoner has taken the state to court over a long-standing Vegemite ban, arguing that stopping inmates from having the spread violates his cultural rights

Colombia's human rights ombudswoman called on President Gustavo Petro Monday to suspend airstrikes against rebel groups in the South American country, after revealing that at least five teenagers had been killed in strikes conducted by Colombia's military in October and November. In a video published Monday, human rights ombudswoman Iris Marn said that at least one teenager, a female, was killed in a strike against the FARC-EMC rebel group in Arauca province last week, while four teenagers who had been forcibly recruited by the group were killed in another strike in the first week of October. On Saturday, Marn had revealed that seven minors were killed in another strike against the FARC-EMC in the southern province of Guaviare, where the government has launched an offensive against Nestor Gregorio Vera, a powerful rebel leader known also as Ivn Mordisco. That means that at least 12 minors have been killed this year in airstrikes conducted by Colombia's government. Military prosecut

India slammed Pakistan at the UN Human Rights Council, saying a country with one of the world's worst human rights records should confront the rampant State-sponsored persecution and systemic discrimination of religious minorities in its own society. We find it deeply ironic that a country with one of the world's worst human rights records seeks to lecture others, Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of India, Geneva, K S Mohammed Hussain said while speaking during a General Debate at the 60th Session of Human Rights Council at Geneva. Their attempts to misuse this august forum with fabricated allegations against India only expose their hypocrisy. Instead of making baseless propaganda, they should confront the rampant State-sponsored persecution and systemic discrimination (of religious and ethnic minorities) that plague their own society, Hussain said Tuesday without mentioning any country. But it was a clear reference to Pakistan, whose representative, speaking before India, raked

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would pass order on September 26 in a suo motu matter concerning lack of functional CCTVs in police stations. "The issue is of oversight," a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta observed while hearing the matter. On September 4, the apex court had taken suo motu cognisance of a media report which stated there were 11 deaths in police custody in Rajasthan in the past eight months. It had noted that as per the report, seven of these incidents happened in Udaipur division itself. The apex court had in 2018 ordered installation of CCTV cameras in police stations to check human rights abuses. In December 2020, the top court had directed the Centre to install CCTV cameras and recording equipment at the offices of investigating agencies, including the CBI, the ED and the National Investigation Agency (NIA). It had said that states and Union Territories should ensure that CCTV cameras were installed at each and every police station, at all e

A gripping account of two decades in Afghanistan, tracing the Taliban's fall, America's missteps, and the enduring human cost in Jon Lee Anderson's To Lose a War

The Trump administration on Tuesday released human rights reports for countries worldwide, which eliminate mentions of discrimination faced by LGBTQ people, reduce a previous focus on reproductive rights and criticise restrictions on political speech by US allies in Europe that American officials believe target right-wing politicians. The reports, which cover 2024 before President Donald Trump took office, reflect his administration's focus on free speech and protecting the lives of the unborn. However, the reports also offer a glimpse into the administration's view of dire human rights conditions in some countries that have agreed to accept migrants deported from the United States under Trump's immigration crackdown. This year's reports were streamlined for better utility and accessibility in the field and by partners, the State Department said. The congressionally mandated reports in the past have been frequently used for reference and cited by lawmakers, policymakers, academic ..

Hong Kong tightened prison rules, allowing authorities to restrict visits, including those by certain lawyers and religious personnel, on national security grounds, in the latest expansion of its stringent control. Under the new rules, effective Friday, magistrates can issue warrants on application by correctional service officers to bar exchanges between specific legal representatives and persons in custody if the judges believe such connections could harm national security or cause bodily harm to any person, among other reasons. The department can also restrict certain visits, including those made by specific chaplains, for purposes such as maintaining national security, preventing crime and facilitating inmate rehabilitation. Critics worry the changes could undermine inmate rights in a city where many democracy advocates were arrested for their political activism following massive anti-government protests in 2019. The city now has two national security laws that Beijing deemed ..

Europe's top human rights court is set to rule Wednesday on Russia's actions in the conflict in Ukraine, including human rights violations during the full-scale invasion and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. Judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will rule on four cases, brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia, marking the first time an international court will adjudicate Russian culpability for the wider conflict in Ukraine dating from 2014. Any decision will be largely symbolic. The complaints were brought before the court's governing body expelled Moscow in 2022, following the full-scale invasion. Families of the victims of the MH17 disaster see the decision as an important milestone in their 11-year quest for justice. It's a real step in understanding who was really responsible, Thomas Schansman, who lost his 18-year-old son Quinn in the tragedy, told The Associated Press. The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was sh

Crackdown started on July 9, 2015, when more than 300 lawyers and legal advocates were targeted by police, marking largest organised suppression of legal professionals in the China's's recent history

Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad was arrested earlier this week for his social media post over India's 'Operation Sindoor'

Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch, said the new Pope should push for fresh negotiations with Beijing to protect the religious freedom of Catholics in China

As a general amnesty law takes effect in Iraq, the country's prisons are facing a crisis of overcrowding, housing more than double their intended capacity, the country's justice minister said in an interview. Justice Minister Khaled Shwani told The Associated Press on Saturday that Iraq's 31 prisons currently hold approximately 65,000 inmates, despite the system being built to accommodate only half that number. He acknowledged that the overcrowding has put a severe strain on prison healthcare and human rights standards. When we took office, overcrowding stood at 300%," he said. "After two years of reform, we've reduced it to 200%. Our goal is to bring that down to 100% by next year in line with international standards. Thousands more detainees remain in the custody of security agencies but have not yet been transferred to the Ministry of Justice due to lack of prison capacity. Four new prisons are under construction, Shwani said, while three have been closed in recent years. Two ..