The new Maoist-led government of Nepal should investigate and prosecute those responsible for thousands of extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances during the country's decade-long armed conflict, Human Rights Watch and Advocacy Forum said in a joint report released on Thursday.
Since major fighting between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam resumed in 2006, Sri Lankan security forces and pro-government armed groups have abducted hundreds of individuals, many of whom are feared dead. Under international law, a State commits an enforced disappearance when it takes a person into custody and denies holding them or disclosing their whereabouts.
The report reveals that the inaction of the West Bengal state government, including tacit acceptance of the violent operations of the armed supporters of the CPI-M, resulted in serious human rights abuses, including unlawful killings, abductions, sexual assault of women and forced eviction and displacement of thousands of people in 2007.
In an audio recording obtained by Human Rights Watch, General Qayyum appeared to be advising an unidentified person on what political party the person should approach to become a candidate in the upcoming parliamentary election, now scheduled for February 18, 2008.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, along with his wife and family, fled his official residence -- Temple Trees -- and took shelter at the naval base in Trincomalee.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should review plans to go ahead with the Tokyo Olympics during the coronavirus pandemic and ensure dialogue with athletes, the Sport and Rights Alliance (SRA) and the World Players Association (WPA) said on Saturday.
Totally 13 global brands were surveyed by NGO on whether they ensured human right protection while sourcing when gold and diamonds
The Human Rights Watch, in a statement, expressed its deep concern for human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law committed by both sides since the renewal of major hostilities this year.
The new president of the International Olympic Committee, who will be elected next month, must ensure future Games' hosts comply with human rights according to the Olympic charter, human rights organisations said on Friday.
FIFA presidential candidate Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has signed an amended version of an Amnesty International pledge to end human rights abuses and corruption in the sport should he win election to soccer's top job later this month.
Over 160 rights groups call on IOC chief to revoke 2022 Beijing Winter Games
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called upon Parliament to reject the ordinance in its present form and urged the Indian cabinet to introduce a revised bill to amend the criminal laws.
Most of the child victims of sexual assault in India face humiliation while undergoing medical tests apart from the police who often do not believe their account, according to a Human Rights Watch report.
Global rights group Human Rights Watch has asked the Commonwealth to shift its meeting, scheduled for November, out of Sri Lanka, unless Colombo makes "prompt, measurable, and meaningful progress on human rights".
A Human Rights Watch report has lambasted the United Progressive Alliance government for falling short, both in protecting children from sexual abuse and treating victims.
India has been accused of "failure" to curb incidents of sexual violence against women and for "restrictions" on right to free speech by global rights group Human Rights Watch, which said the country continues to have "significant human rights problems".
Vicky Nanjppa reports on the demand from human rights organisations to reform laws and practices with regard to sexual assault.
China has smothered most outbreaks within its borders, keeping new case numbers low.
The Human Rights Watch and other organisations claim that the amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, would allow the government broad leeway to increase bans on proscribed organisations to five years and widen the definition of a person to any association of individuals.
A 60-page report by the Human Rights Watch titled 'Between Two Sets of Guns: Attacks on Civil Society Activists in India's Maoist Conflict', documents human rights abuses against activists in India's Orissa, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh states. This is part two of a three-part series
In the wake of the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, global rights groups have asked India to end the use of executions and move towards abolishing the death penalty.
Report by the Human Rights Watch running into 70 pages shows that mining in India is out of control.
Sri Lanka on Tuesday dismissed as "fabricated lies", a report by a leading rights group alleging that its military used rape and other forms of sexual violence to torture suspected Tamil rebels since the end of the island's civil war in 2009.
A 60-page report by the Human Rights Watch titled 'Between Two Sets of Guns: Attacks on Civil Society Activists in India's Maoist Conflict', documents human rights abuses against activists in India's Orissa, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh states. This is the final part of the three-part series
India's human rights record in 2011 got a thumbs down from a global rights group which has criticised the government for its inaction in repealing the controversial armed forces act and for remaining silent on the "gravest abuses" in countries like Syria.
When 17 million Indians seek their fortune abroad it only means people are losing faith in the government's ability to honour its promises, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Pakistani senior journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad, who went missing on Sunday, is in the custody of Inter-Services Intelligence, according to the Human Rights Watch. He invited the wrath of the powerful intelligence agency after he wrote an investigative piece about the recent attack by the Al Qaeda on the PNS Mehran naval base in Karachi.The HRW has learnt through credible sources that Shahzad is in custody of the ISI.
Peiris reiterated, "We don't want Amnesty International telling us what to do.What is the moral authority of Amnesty International?We do not think that they have any coercive moral authority to tell us what to do."
"That such an unscientific method still exists shows total neglect for forensic collection. There is an urgent need for a complete overhaul of the system. And successive Indian governments have failed to understand and implement victims' rights," said Aruna Kashyap, the report's author.
In the report on the functioning of Indian police, the US-based Human Rights Watch claimed that only people with powerful connections can be confident of getting police assistance in the present system.
Civilian and military security forces deployed in Balochistan have done little to investigate attacks on Hazara or take steps to prevent the next attack, says a Human Rights Watch report.
An international human rights group has asked the Indian government to prosecute those involved in the 1984 Sikh riots, following the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Senior police officials in India frequently use low-ranking staff as their "orderlies" and even "personal family servants", an international human rights organisation has alleged in its latest report.
The Interior Ministry issued an order on Saturday asking all provincial governments not to carry out any executions in the Muslim month of fasting.
The report 'No Tally of the Anguish: Accountability in Maternal Health Care in India' documents the repeated failures -- both in providing health care to pregnant women in Uttar Pradesh and in taking steps to identify and address gaps in health care. Uttar Pradesh has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in India, but government surveys show that it is not alone in struggling with these problems, and most state authorities failed to even record the number of dead.
Human Rights Watch said support for such "lawless action" will lead to future lawlessness by security forces and protesters.
Government of India should take steps to overhaul the policing system, which facilitated and at times encouraged human rights violations, a report by the Human Rights Watch, released on Tuesday, said.
Extrajudicial executions, often disguised as encounters with armed criminals, have become the norm and are widely reported in Indian media. Torture and arbitrary detentions continue, not just in insurgency-affected areas, but also in most police stations in the country. Yet, India continues to provide effective immunity from prosecution to its security forces and other public officials, HRW laments.
Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tigers are subjecting ethnic Tamils in their northern stronghold, Vanni, to forced recruitment, abusive forced labor, and restrictions on movement that place their lives at risk, the Human Rights Watch said in a report.