By Joe Parkin Daniels On March 16, 2007, a Colombian military general named Henry William Torres Escalante gave the “direct order” to kill an unarmed farmer and his teenage son, dress them with weapons, and declare their bodies enemy combatants…
Category: Human rights
Thailand-Burma: Sea nomads vulnerable to abuse
Bangkok – The governments of Thailand andBurma should immediately end discrimination and other rights abuses against the Moken, sea nomads who are among the few remaining hunter-gatherer populations in Southeast Asia, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today.…
Comforting a baby is violent
Robert J. Burrowes In an article I wrote a year ago, the following words appeared: ‘If a child is crying and you comfort them, you will (presumably unintentionally) scare them out of feeling their sadness when, in fact, their crying…
Democracy on retreat in over 96 of the 193 UN states, Study
UN, Jun (IPS) – Democracy is on the retreat and authoritarianism is on the rise in more than 96 of the U.N.’s 193 member states, according to a new report released here The two regions of “highest concern” for defenders…
US: Drug deportations tearing families apart
Los Angeles – Thousands of families in the United States have been torn apart in recent years by detention and deportation for drug offenses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Disproportionately harsh laws and policies relating to…
Amnesty blames Myanmar for intimidating media
Myanmar’s government is using threats, harassment and imprisonment to intimidate the media ahead of national elections later this year, Amnesty International said Wednesday. The London-based human rights group said efforts to restrict freedom of expression have intensified over the past…
‘Don’t be terrorists yourselves’ – Dr Mizan tries to do his job
Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Dr Mizanur Rahman on Tuesday cautioned law enforcers so that they themselves do not become ‘terrorists’ while fighting against terrorism. “It’s the duty of law enforcers to ensure the security of the…
Adverse impact of free trade, investment agreements on HR
Geneva – A number of free trade and investment agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), are currently being negotiated. A group of UN experts* have issued the following statement to express…
EC to consider electronic voting machines after proofing
Law Minister Anisul Huq told Parliament on Monday that the Election Commission will consider the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) after making those fully flawless. Replying to a scripted question from M Abdul Latif MP (Chittagong-11), the minister, who…
New FIFA President should end abuses
New York – The next president of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) – world football’s governing body – should ensure that future host countries of the World Cup are required to comply with fundamental human rights norms. The FIFA…
“These are people floating around, waiting to die”
Interview with Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch Thousands of minority Rohingya Muslims remain stranded at sea without adequate food and water. On Wednesday, 20 May, Malaysia and Indonesia finally bowed to mounting international pressure, announcing that they would offer…
Branded a troublemaker – Ruth’s story
Birgit Schwarz As a little girl, Ruth Riviera (not her real name) loved to step into her dad’s army boots and strut around the house with pride and self-importance. Her dad, a Non-Commission Officer in the US Army, was her…
Bnp slams Govt for advocating ‘limited democracy’
BNP on Monday voiced deep concern over Awami League-led 14-party spokesman Mohammad Nasim’s assertion that they do not believe in ‘too much of democracy’, BNP on Monday alleged that the government is plotting to annihilate democracy in the name of…
Reconstitute Human Rights Commission: Bnp
BNP on Saturday demanded the government reconstitute the statuary National Human Rights Commission. “The current human rights commission formed by the government is an ineffective institution… human rights is a parameter to consider a democratic country. The HR condition in…
Indonesia military imposing ‘virginity tests’
Jakarta – International military physicians convening in Indonesia should urge President Joko Widodo to abolish discriminatory and invasive “virginity tests” for female recruits and fiancées of military officers in the Indonesian armed forces, Human Rights Watch said today. The International…
Wife urges PM’s intervention to find Salahuddin
Hasina Ahmed, wife of BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed yesterday again urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to interfere to find out her husband–went disappeared on March 11 from a residence at city’s Uttara. Hasina Ahmed made the appeaifel, 53 days off…
‘No more’ Nepal quake survivors, toll crosses 6,621
Nepal’s authorities have ruled out the possibility of finding more survivors of last Saturday’s earthquake, as the death toll has risen to 6,621. “We are trying our best in rescue and relief work but now I don’t think that there…
Egypt: Morsy trial badly flawed
Beirut – The first trial of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy was compromised by due process violations, the appearance of bias and an absence of conclusive evidence. He was convicted on April 21, 2015, and sentenced to 20 years in…
Report slams Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh over Rohingya plight
Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh and Myanmar must do more to protect vulnerable refugees – particularly Myanmar’s stateless Rohingya Muslims – from being victimised by human traffickers, says Fortify Rights, a U.S.-based human rights advocacy group. A year-long investigation by the grop…
Rana Plaza factory collapse still plagues survivors
Emma Daly Roksana and Beauty lingered outside that fateful morning two years ago – neither wanted to go inside to start turning out jeans and shirts in the factories housed in Rana Plaza the day after they had been evacuated…
2 years after Rana Plaza Tragedy, rights abuses still rampant
By Kanya D’Almeida and Naimul Haq DHAKA, Apr 2015 (IPS) – Some say they were beaten with iron bars. Others confess their families have been threatened with death. One pregnant woman was assaulted with metal curtain rods. These are not…
Continue operation, trace Bnp’s Salahuddin: HC
The High Court on Monday ordered the police to continue their regular operation to trace missing BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed and submit their progress report to the Home Ministry over the next six months. An HC bench comprising Justice Quamrul…
CEC asks law enforcers to avoid harassment
Amid the growing demand by all the candidates that the Election Commission must ensure fair polls in the three city corporation elections, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad on Monday reaffirmed that their top priority is to hold credible elections…
India’s police should arrest suspects, not kill them
Meenakshi Ganguly Two new shooting incidents in India where suspects died under fire from the police shows once again the need for urgent reform. During a police operation this week to combat sandalwood smuggling in Andhra Pradesh state, 20 loggers…
Holding US police who kill accountable
Alba Morales The murder charge against Michael Slager, the South Carolina police officer who fatally shot 50-year-old Walter Scott in the back on April 4, is unusual. Between 2005 and 2011 murder or manslaughter charges were brought against just 41officers…
UNHCHR Call to halt execution of Kamaruzzaman
Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Ravina Shamdasani made the following statement on Thursday. We urgently call on the Government of Bangladesh to halt the execution of Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, which is reportedly imminent, following…
Second memo to PM office for Salahuddin, writ hearing Wednesday
Hasina Ahmed, wife of disappeared BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed yesterday submitted another memorandum to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seeking her intervention to trace her husband. She handed over the memorandum to an office assistant of the Prime Minister’s Office. Hasina…
Suspend seath sentence of war crimes accused: HRW
New York – The Bangladesh Supreme Court’s rejection on April 6, 2015, of the death penalty review petition for Muhammed Kamaruzzaman permits his imminent execution despite a seriously flawed trial, Human Rights Watch said today. Kamaruzzaman, a leader of the…
Finding superhighway to peace
The line of demarcation between benevolent and malevolent is increasingly getting murky which is, in my opinion, contributing to social indiscipline and moral degradation. Perhaps shrinking of the mark of delineation between good and evil, right and wrong is destabilising…
Int’l Criminal Court: Newest member Palestine needs support
Brussels – Palestine’s decision to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the face of strong opposition – including from the United States, Israel, and Canada – deserves international support. The ICC treaty officially went into effect for Palestine on…