Page 303 - Social Issues
Italy working to help Pakistani Christian in blasphemy case
Italy has said that it was working to help relocate the family of a Pakistani Christian woman acquitted eight years after being sentenced to death for blasphemy, amid warnings from her husband that the family's life is in danger in Pakistan. The Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it was coordinating with other countries to ensure safety for Asia Bibi and her family. In a statement, the ministry said it was ready to act on whatever the Italian government might decide an indication that an offer of asylum might be in the offing. Also Tuesday, a lawmaker in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party called for Germany to grant Bibi refuge, after her husband Ashiq Masih appealed for help from the West to relocate the family. Bibi was convicted in 2010 of insulting Islam's prophet, but Pakistan's top court acquitted her last week. Protests by hardline Islamists prompted the government to impose a travel ban on Bibi until her case is reviewed. Bibi's case has been closely ...
Facebook admits not doing enough to prevent Myanmar violence
Facebook is admitting that it didn't do enough to prevent its services from being used to incite violence and spread hate in Myanmar. Alex Warofka, a product policy manager, said in a blog post that Facebook "can and should do more" to protect human rights and ensure it isn't used to foment division and spread offline violence in the country. Facebook had commissioned the nonprofit Business for Social Responsibility to study the company's role in Myanmar and released the group's 62-page report late Monday. Facebook has gotten heavy criticism for permitting itself to be used to inflame ethnic and religious conflict in the country, particularly against minority Rohingya Muslims. The report confirms this and offers recommendations, including preparing for "massive chaos and manipulation" in the country's 2020 parliamentary elections. "Facebook has become a means for those seeking to spread hate and cause harm, and posts have been linked to offline violence," the report says. "A minority .
Protest threat forces closed-door Israel-Spain water polo match
The Spanish and Israeli women's water polo teams will compete behind closed doors in Spain on Tuesday after Palestinian activists and a far-left party threatened protests against the match. The change drew protests from Israel's Olympic Committee, which voiced its "displeasure" and slammed the "discrimination" against its delegation in a letter seen by AFP from its CEO Gilad Lustig sent to Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee. The global BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement that promotes boycotts against Israel and the far-left CUP party had called on their Facebook and Twitter feeds to protest against the match. It was due to take place in Molins de Rei near Barcelona as part of the Water Polo World League. On Saturday, the town's swimming club that was hosting the match announced that organisers had decided to change the location "for logistical and security reasons", without specifying a new venue. On Tuesday, just a few hours before the match, ...
Woman attempts suicide at Metro station
A 25-year-old woman allegedly attempted to commit suicide by jumping from the concourse level of the Victoria Memorial Metro Station here Tuesday, officials said. The woman passenger suffered minor injuries in the incident and apparently resorted to the act over some family "issues", the police said based on preliminary investigation. She jumped from concourse level on to the street at the station and wastaken to nearby hospital by other passengers and some local people, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) officials said. The woman is married with a child, according to police.
Koregaon-Bhima case: 3 accused get 14-day judicial custody
A special Court sent three activists -- Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon S. Gonsalves and Arun T. Ferreira -- to judicial custody for 14 days in the Koregaon-Bhima caste riots case.
Protests erupt in poll-bound Mizoram over removal of top official
Normal life was thrown out of gear in poll-bound Mizoram on Tuesday, as a collective of NGOs organised a state-wide protest against the removal of Principal Secretary (Home) Lalnunmawia Chuaungo.
China grilled over internment camps, civil rights at UN review
China faced harsh criticism over its rights record during a review before the UN on Tuesday, with countries voicing alarm at the country's mass detainment of ethnic Uighurs and its crackdown on civil liberties. During the half-day public debate at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, a number of countries raised concerns about China's treatment of ethnic minorities, including Uighur Muslims and Tibetans. As the debate got underway, around 500 people demonstrated outside the UN waving banners with messages like "China, stop genocide of Uighurs" and "Tibet dying, China lies". The so-called Universal Periodic Review -- which all 193 UN countries must undergo approximately every four years -- came amid increasing scrutiny over what rights activists describe as mass political re-education camps in China's fractious far western Xinjiang region. As many as one million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities are being kept in extra-judicial detention in the region, according to an estimate ...
Ghaziabad administration cracks the whip on land mafia
The anti-land mafia task force constituted by the district administration has freed more than 40,000 sq metres of land from encroachment here, officials said. Five of the six accused land grabbers, who have old cases against them under Gunda Act, have been expelled from the district, official sources said. District Magistrate Ritu Maheshwari said 4 hectare in Modi Nagar, 800 metre under Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam and another 280 metre of land was freed from the possession of illegal occupants by Ghaziabad Development Authority. Around 2,600 metre land has been identified in Loni which will be reclaimed from illegal occupants soon. Maheshwari expressed concern over the anti-encroachment drive making little progress in Sadar Tehsil. The anti-bhoo mafia task force was constituted to work under the sub-divisional magistrates to evacuate illegal encroachments with the help of circle police officers. Maheshwari asked the sub-divisional magistrates to send recommendations to book land mafia under
Bhima Koregaon: 3 arrested activists sent to 14-day judicial custody
The Pune Sessions Court on Tuesday sent activists Sudha Bhardwaj, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves, who are accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, to judicial custody for 14 days.Ferreira alleged in the court that he was beaten up during interrogation in police custody. He further alleged that he was slapped about 8 to 10 times by police officials during interrogation on November 4 and he had to be taken to a hospital due to injuries next day.Bhardwaj, Ferreira and Gonsalves were arrested by the Pune police on August 28 and were confined to house arrest since the following day till October 26 for their alleged involvement in the violence. On October 26, all three were sent to police custody till November 6.Vara Vara Rao and Gautam Navlakha were also arrested along with the three activists. Rao is still under house arrest and will continue to be so for another three weeks. Navlakha got interim relief from Bombay High Court till November 21.In the Bhima Koregaon clashes on ...
Delhi Police busts gambling racket, 100 arrested
The Delhi Police has busted a gambling racket in the national capital's Rajouri Garden area, and arrested around 100 people. Cash worth worth Rs. 22 lakhs and tokens tallying up to Rs. 1.87 crore were also seized during the operation.Late night on Monday cops received a tip-off and conducted a raid at the basement of Vishal Enclave in Rajouri Garden. Apart from the cash and tokens, the police also recovered two walkie-talkie sets, 27 bottles of alcohol and four hookahs.Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), West Delhi, Monika Bhardwaj stated that such tip-off are common during Diwali and that most of the people who have been nabbed belong to "upper-middle class profile"."During Diwali, we receive a lot of such tip-offs, this was one of those. We conducted the raid as soon as we got the information. There were around 100 people who were there for gambling. The interrogation in the case is underway. We trying to speak to the main organiser, most people belong to upper-middle class ...
Facebook must act to stop incitement ahead of 2020 Mynamar poll: report
Myanmar's 2020 elections may be fertile ground for "incitement to violence" and Facebook should prepare now, an assessment of the tech giant's presence in the country warned Tuesday, as it detailed how the platform had been used to spread hate. Facebook has for years come under fire from rights groups for its slow response to abusive posts, with the country's Rohingya Muslims bearing the brunt of the invective. Language portraying the Rohingya in sub-human terms or as terrorists on the network helped drum up support for a military crackdown that forced more than 720,000 of the stateless minority to flee the country last year. Facebook has blacklisted several hardline Buddhist monks, and after a UN probe called for the army chief and other top military brass to be prosecuted for genocide, the platform blocked them too. It also commissioned an assessment on its performance by California-based consultants Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), which carried out interviews between May .
15,000 wheelchairs for voters with disabilities in Telangana
: The Election Commission is in the process of keeping about 15,000 wheelchairs ready across Telangana to enable people with disabilities to cast their vote during the Assembly elections on December 7, Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar said here Tuesday. The Election Commission had said the elections should be disabled-friendly and was in the process of arranging upto 15,000 wheelchairs through various channels, Kumar told reporters here Tuesday. Already, the department for the welfare of the disabled has floated a tender to procure 2,000 wheelchairs, he said. Local bodies such as panchayat and urban local bodies have also earmarked funds for getting the aid, he said. Free transport to polling booths would be provided to the disabled voters, Kumar said. There were plans to set up an exclusive helpline for them and also provide ramps at every polling station, he said. Some of the prominent personalities with disabilities have been appointed as brand ambassadors to create .
Uighurs' supporters march as China faces rights review at UN
Supporters of China's Muslim Uighur minority are demonstrating in Geneva as the UN's top human rights body examines the country's rights record in a regular review. Advocacy groups including Human Rights Watch want the Human Rights Council to press Chinese authorities on issues like use of mass detention centers in the western Xinjiang region where many Uighurs live. Some foreign officials and rights groups have criticized China's use of so-called "vocational training centers," which they say aim to strip the Uighurs of their religion and ethnic identity. Tuesday's review of China is part of the Human Rights Council's universal period review process under which each U.N. member state comes up for examination every four to five years. Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng touted Chinese progress on rights issues.
Thailand urged not to extradite Pakistani asylum seekers
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday urged Thailand not to extradite a group of detained asylum seekers from Pakistan's persecuted Christian and Ahmadi minority groups over security fears.
Odisha Cong MLA resigns over Kunduli gangrape incident
Congress MLA Krishna Chandra Sagaria on Tuesday resigned as member of the Odisha Assembly, protesting "injustice" meted out to an alleged gangrape victim of Koraput district, who committed suicide earlier this year. A 14-year-old girl in Kunduli area of Koraput district had alleged that she was gangraped by four men in uniform in October, last year. The police, however, ruled out rape, citing her medical reports. The girl subsequently committed suicide by hanging on January 22, triggering sharp reactions from many quarters. Stating that he had announced his decision to quit as a legislator on October 30, Sagaria, who represented Koraput assembly segment, said he met Assembly Speaker P K Amat on Tuesday morning and submitted his resignation letter. "I have quit the membership of Odisha Assembly, as I feel I have no moral right to continue as an MLA, having failed to ensure justice in Kunduli gangrape and suicide incident," the Congress leader told reporters. Sagaria also ..
UN recorded 64 new allegations of sexual exploitation or abuse in past three months
The UN has received 64 new allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse, involving 77 victims, between July and September across its various offices, agencies, and partner organisations implementing its programmes, its spokesperson said. Of those 64 allegations between July 1 to September 30, 2018, six involved peacekeepers, 33 involved personnel from UN agencies, funds and programmes and another 25 concerned non-UN staff working with organisations implementing UN programmes, Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. Dujarric said during the daily press briefing here Monday that not all the allegations have been fully verified and many are still in the preliminary assessment phase. He added that these quarterly updates are part of the Secretary General Antonio Guterres' initiative to "increasing transparency" on this issue. Most of the reported incidents 30 of them allegedly took place in 2018; another 15 are said to have happened in the years going back to 2015. The date is unknown for .
S Arabia grilled at UN rights review session over Khashoggi killing
Saudi Arabia expressed "regret and pain" over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and asserted its commitment to achieving the "highest possible standards" in human rights in the country as it was grilled by countries at the UN on Monday over the brutal murder. The public debate at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva came just over a month after the royal insider-turned-critic was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Confirming that an investigation is still on-going into the death of Khashoggi, who was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, President of Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Commission Bandar bin Mohammed Al-Aiban during a scheduled review session told member states that King Salman bin Abdulaziz had personally initiated the probe. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has already expressed its regret and pain for the death of Jamil Khashoggi, Al-Aiban said. "King Abdel-Aziz has already instructed the prosecution to proceed with the ...
Farmer commits suicide over debt burden in UP
A 55-year-old farmer allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison, with his family claiming that he was under stress due to debt burden in the district, police said. According to Subdivisional Magistrate Inder Kant Dwivedi, an inquiry has been ordered into the incident that took place Monday. His body has been sent for post-mortem, he said, adding that an investigation is underway.
Spain says 13 migrants killed, 80 rescued at sea
Thirteen sub-Saharan African migrants died and another 80 were rescued at sea after they tried to reach Spain in two boats from the North African coast, Spanish authorities has said. Increasing numbers of migrants are trying to enter Spain by sea or by crossing into the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in Morocco, which are the only European territories in Africa. "The coast guard recovered two vessels heading toward the peninsula, with 93 people, 13 of whom have unfortunately died," the Spanish government delegation in Melilla said in a statement on Monday. It said nine of the dead -- all men -- were recovered at sea and Red Cross efforts to revive four others also failed. The two vessels were recovered 32 km off the coast of Melilla, it said, without giving details on the state of the vessels. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 47,000 migrants have arrived by sea in Spain since the start of the year and another 564 have died or disappeared during .
Russia, China abstain on UN vote to punish Libya rapists
Russia and China on Monday refused to back a UN resolution that will allow the Security Council to slap sanctions on perpetrators of rape and sexual violence in Libya. The British-drafted resolution renewing sanctions on Libya was adopted by a vote of 13 in favour in the 15-member council. Russia and China abstained but did not use their veto power to block the measure that expanded the criteria for applying sanctions to include gender-based violence. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the Netherlands and Sweden, which pushed for the new sanctions criteria, of trying to score political points at home. "This is populism distilled in its purest form," Nebenzia told the council, who noted that preventing sex crimes in Sweden and the Netherlands "is the remit of the national governments." "Sexual and gender-based violence are part of crime in any specific country," said the ambassador, adding that the council should focus on threats to international security. The council has ...
