The US has pulled out of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), calling it a “cesspool of political bias”. The “hypocritical and self-serving” body “makes a mockery of human rights”, said US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley. Ms…
Category: Basic Rights
Ensure freedom of expression online: Govts, ISPs urged
A landmark report by a UN human rights expert warns that governments and companies risk undermining free speech on the internet.
BNP’s Moudud failed to leave Noakhali home on Eid day
BNP standing committee member Modud Ahmed alleged that policemen barred him from leaving his house in Manikpur village of Companyganj upazila to exchange greeting with supporters on the Eid day Saturday.
Reform freedom of movement to help workers, reduce migration
We now have a glimpse into the hard Tory vision of how a fully Brexited Britain will treat Europeans who want to work here. All during the 20th century after 1945, Britain had to import workers to do the jobs…
Democratic space shrinks – ITUC Global Rights Index 2018
Restrictions on free speech and the right to protest unleash a wave of mass arrests and arbitrary detention of defenders of workers’ rights Brussels, 7 June 2018 (ITUC Online): Shrinking democratic space for working people and unchecked corporate greed are on…
Austria to close down seven ‘political’ mosques, expel imams
Austria has said it will close down seven mosques and expel imams who it says are funded by foreign countries. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the move was a crackdown on political Islam. Some mosques are suspected of having links to…
HR org Ain-O-Salish Kendra for judicial probe of ‘gunfight’
Dhaka, June 3 – Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), a human rights organisation, on Sunday demanded a judicial inquiry into all the “gunfight” incidents including the killing of Teknaf ward councillor Akramul Haque in Cox’s Bazar.
The cost of child marriage
Henrietta H. Fore, Natalia Kanem, and Mabel van Oranje New York – The human costs of child marriage are well known; around the world, child brides are, on average, less educated, poorer, and more prone to sexual violence than women…
323 killed in May across Bangladesh: BHRC
127 killed by law enforcers during anti-narcotics drive Dhaka, May 31– A total of 323 people were killed in different incidents across the country during the month of May, according to a survey prepared by Bangladesh Human Rights Commission (BHRC).…
One suspected dealer killed in Tajgaon: Drug death toll 59
Dhaka, May 25 – Members of security Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) killed a drug dealer in a gun battle wee hours of Friday at Tejgaon in Dhaka after nearly 59 deaths in similar operations in countrywide in a week. The…
Rohingya children world’s responsibility: Priyanka
Dhaka, May 24 – Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra on Thursday called the world’s attention to Rohingya children living in vulnerable condition at refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
Missing JCD leader Sajal found blindfolded at Rampura Bridge
Dhaka, May 24 – BNP’s student affiliate JCD leader Sajal who was reported missing for a couple of days was found left blindfolded near the Rampura Bridge in the Capital at about 8 pm on Thursday.
Anti-drug drive on Narcotics Dept-agencies secret list: Asad
Dhaka, May 24 – The countrywide campaign and ongoing killings in reported gunfights with law enforcers are in accordance with the secret list of narcotics traders formed by the Department of Narcotics Control, including intelligence agencies, said Home Minister yesterday.
Escalated anti-drug campaign draws rights activists’ fire
Kamran Reza Chowdhury Bangladeshi rights activists and opposition politicians are criticizing as heavy-handed this month’s intensified nationwide anti-drug crackdown in which, police agencies say, officers gunned down at least 46 suspects over the past nine days who were allegedly resisting…
Seven more killed in BD anti-narcotics drive
Dhaka, May 24 – Seven suspected drug peddlers were killed in reported gunfights in Feni, Comilla, Narayanganj, and Magura districts early Thursday in the latest anti-narcotics drive undertaken by the law enforcers.
Fake news and the fairness doctrine
Fake news in America’s public square is a failure of its information marketplace. Remediation should occur through enhanced marketplace competition, not government censorship.
‘Gunfight’ kills 27 suspected drug peddlers in 21 days: ASK
Dhaka, May 21 – About 27 people, mostly suspected drug paddlers or drug addicts, were killed in ‘so called gunfight’ with law enforcers across the country in last 21 days as of today (Monday), said human rights body Ain o…
Rights org ASK worried at growing extrajudicial killings
Around 27 people, mostly suspected drug peddlers or drug addicts, were killed in ‘so-called gunfights’ with law enforcers across the country in the last 21 days as of Monday, said human rights body Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK).
Fighting inequality in Asia and the Pacific
By Shamshad Akhtar Bangkok, Thailand, May (IPS) – Inequality is increasing in Asia and the Pacific. Our region’s remarkable economic success story belies a widening gap between rich and poor. A gap that’s trapping people in poverty and, if not…
Green development has to be equal for all
IPS caught up with Dr. Frank Rijsberman, director-general of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), at the end of the flagship side event of the GGGI during the 51st Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila on…
Role of voting in reviving democratic practice
Since the beginning of the year the world has witnessed 24 national elections in which nearly 100 million people cast their votes. All together in 2018, there will be a total of 68 planned electoral processes in 45 countries ranging…
BNP to stage demo on Wednesday in capital
Denied permission to hold a rally, BNP on Monday announced to stage demonstrations in all thanas of the capital on Wednesday.
Govt asked to consult all stakeholders on Digital Security Act
Dhaka, May 5 – Talking to the journalists is not be enough rather, government needs to talk to all stakeholders about the concerns raised over the proposed Digital Security Act, a right activist said on Saturday.
Hatred of journalism threatens democracies: RSF
The 2018 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), reflects growing animosity towards journalists. Hostility towards the media, openly encouraged by political leaders, and the efforts of authoritarian regimes to export their vision of journalism pose a…
Safety clause for journos in Digital Security Bill
Speakers at a roundtable in the city on Thursday urged to introduce a safety clause for journalists in Digital Security Act to safeguard freedom of press in Bangladesh.
Press freedom does not come from lip service
In talks and discussion on the World Press Freedom Day on Thursday some intellectuals have blamed the absence of press freedom in the country on the lack of courage and self-censorship on the part of the journalists. But do their…
Keeping power in check: Media, justice and the rule of law
The theme of the 2018 celebration highlights the importance of an enabling legal environment for press freedom, and gives special attention to the role of an independent judiciary in ensuring legal guarantees for press freedom and the prosecution of crimes…
Schedule of Parliamentary polls in October: EC
Dhaka, April 30 – Election Commission (EC) Monday said the schedule of the 11th parliamentary polls will be announced in October this year.
Guns and liberty
By Chris Hedges Feb 2018 – The proliferation of guns in American society is not only profitable for gun manufacturers, it fools the disempowered into fetishizing weapons as a guarantor of political agency. Guns buttress the myth of a rugged…
Pamplona rape case protests go on
Thousands of people turned out on the streets of the Spanish city Pamplona for the third day of protests after five men were cleared of rape. The men, who called themselves the Wolf Pack, were found guilty of sexual abuse,…