Robert J. Burrowes Human beings are now waging war against life itself as we continue to destroy not just individual lives, local populations and entire species in vast numbers but also destroy the ecological systems that make life on Earth…
Category: Human rights
The unnoticed demise of democracy
By Roberto Savio Rome, Jul 24 (IPS) – Politicians are so busy fighting for their jobs, they hardly seem to notice that they risk going out of business. Democracy is on the wane, yet the problem is nowhere in Parliaments.…
No compromise on fair polls says BD chief election officer
Reiterating that there will be no compromise with anyone when it comes to the fair election, Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda on Tuesday hoped all the political parties will participate in the next parliamentary polls. “We won’t compromise when…
Thailand: Trafficking Convictions Important Step Forward
A Thai criminal court’s sentencing of 62 people, including a military general, too long prison terms for their mistreatment of Rohingya migrants is a major step in combatting human trafficking in Thailand, Human Rights Watch said today. Thai authorities should…
Harmful surgery on intersex children unnecessary
Doctors in the United States continue to perform medically unnecessary surgeries that can inflict permanent harm on intersex children, Human Rights Watch and interACT said in a report released today. Despite decades of controversy over the procedures, doctors operate on…
Ruling AL party violating Human Rights – alleged BD opposition BNP
BNP on Monday alleged that though the government often talks about a constitution, it has long been violating it by snatching political parties’ right to holding public rallies.“The constitution has enshrined equal rights of all parties to hold public rallies,…
The EU’s mafia state
Following the collapse of communism, many of us in Central and Eastern Europe had hoped that the region would steadily move toward liberal democracy and that any obstacles en route to that goal could be overcome. But in many former…
Polish President Andrzej Duda to veto controversial court laws
Polish President Andrzej Duda said Monday he will veto a controversial legislative package that would have given the government more control over the judiciary, in a surprise move that appears to have caught his own allies in the ruling Law…
AL trying to create anarchy over next polls: BNP
Dhaka, July 23– BNP senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Sunday alleged that Awami League is trying to create anarchy in the country with its plan to hold the 11th parliamentary elections under a partisan government making an excuse for…
Newspaper owners of BD against law hidering free speech and press
The Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) has urged the government not to go for any law that appears as barriers to freedom of expression and freedom of the press. NOAB also demanded immediate annulment of the ‘controversial’ section 57…
Moudud finds neither road nor map in EC’s scheme
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said facilities like open veranda, emergency exits and fire alarms must be there in the buildings of educational institutions.The Prime Minister also said the alarm system has to be there in the toilets to…
BNP calls acting EC secretary ‘pro-AL’ bureaucrat
Dhaka, July 21 – Describing newly appointed Election Commission (EC) Secretariat’s acting secretary Helal Uddin as a pro-ruling party bureaucrat, BNP on Friday voiced doubt whether the government and the Commission are jointly heading towards holding a ‘unilateral and staged-managed…
Concern rises over press freedom in Myanmar
In the old, military-ruled Myanmar, it would not have been a surprising scene: three journalists, bound together in chains, raising shackled hands in unison and speaking out against their repressive government. But this moment, captured on video by a local…
UK varsity event Thursday on how climate change taught in BD
A major international event aimed at transforming how environmental and conservation issues are tackled in Bangladesh will be held in the UK Thursday, July 20.
Zakir Naik turns stateless as passport revoked
The government has revoked the passport of fugitive Islamic preacher Zakir Naik following a recommendation from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which has already booked him under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for his terror links. The revocation of the passport…
Election under current EC difficult: BNP
BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Wednesday alleged that a fair election under Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda is very difficult as he is a ‘partisan’ person. “You (Huda) are not the Chief Election Commissioner of…
Angolan Constitutional Court upholds freedom of association
Angola’s Constitutional Court has ruled that a presidential decree that imposed severe restrictions on civil society groups violates the constitution. The ruling provides a big boost to nongovernmental organizations that operate in a politically contentious environment in which the courts…
Childhood should be time of innocence
Childhood should be a time of innocence, play, and learning. But 15-year-old Subekti spent his shackled to the floor of his family’s house in Serang, a city about a three-hour drive from Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta.For the past six years, since…
EC roadmap is AL blueprint to retain power: BNP
BNP on Tuesday alleged that the Election Commission’s (EC’s) roadmap for the 11t parliamentary elections is part of the government’s blueprint to secure its path to stay in power again in its ‘old style’.“The Election Commission has announced a roadmap…
‘Nearly all military court cases in West Bank end in conviction’
Report shows the military appeals courts decidedly favor the prosecution, with judges accepting 67 percent of prosecution appeals, as opposed to only 33 percent of appeals filed by the defense.
We think Khaleda will be back to country with courage
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Monday said Awami League will make comment on the Election Commission’s roadmap after seeing the progress of its implementation.“We’ll talk about it after observing the progress of its implementation after taking some…
BNP demands of EC to create election environment
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday said the Election Commission must create a proper election environment in the country to make its election roadmap a success.“We would like to call upon the Election Commission you please first…
Confronting Africa’s water challenge
Akinwumi Adesina Abidjan – Water is essential for life, and yet it is scarce in many parts of the world. Owing to the effects of climate change, Africa is experiencing its worst drought since 1945, especially in Southern Sudan, Somalia,…
Khaleda slams Government for interference in JSD (Rob) meeting
Strongly denouncing law enforcers’ reported intervention in a meeting at Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Rab) President ASM Abdur Rab’s Uttara residence, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Saturday alleged it has manifested the state’s current ‘atrocious and extremely anti-people nature’.
Khaleda to place polls-time govt framework after return home
BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Saturday said their Chairperson Khaleda Zia will present a framework on the election-time supportive government soon after she returns home from the UK.“Our chairperson is going to London for her treatment. Hope,…
Strong opposition must in democracy: Raushan Ershad told
Dhaka, Jul 15 – Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has said there should be a strong Opposition in a democratic country and through which the path of the government could be corrected.
2 billion people don’t have access to clean water
By Roshni Majumdar UN, Jul 13 (IPS) – More than two billion people lack access to clean and safe drinking water, according to a new report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Gay men sentenced to flogging in Indonesia
A Sharia court in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province sentenced two gay men to a public caning Wednesday. The men, ages 20 and 23, were arrested in March by vigilantes within their community in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province.
Restricting women’s clothing and freedom in Belgium
The European Court of Human Rights has struck another blow to women’s autonomy, ruling in favor of bans on full-face veils enacted in 2011 in Belgium.Echoing a 2014 ruling in S.A.S v. France, the court cited the vague idea of…
Chinese dissident Liu Ziabao dies
Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo died on Thursday from multiple organ failure, the authorities said, having not been allowed to leave the country for treatment for late-stage liver cancer as he wished. Liu, 61, was jailed…