'We hope that the situation in Afghanistan does not pose a challenge to its neighbours and its territory is not used by terrorist groups'
Adding yet another feather to its cap, India has been re-elected to a key United Nations committee on the elimination of racial discrimination, more than a week after securing membership of the powerful Joint Inspection Unit, the only external oversight body of the United Nations.
Amidst mounting pressure from ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and other parties, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said India was "inclined to" vote in favour of a resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN which meets "our objectives" with regard to the future of ethnic Tamils.
The circumstances surrounding the former Libyan leader's death in his hometown of Sirte are unclear, with four or five different versions surfacing of how he died, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.
Sri Lanka on Monday said the global community cannot raise issues of rights violations against it unless guided by "political reasons," as a top United States official arrived in Colombo coinciding with the United Nations rights council meeting to discuss alleged war crimes during the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam conflict.
If Sri Lanka continues to follow the path of evasion and tries to impose a dictated solution on the Tamils, India has to act tough, says B Raman
This is a question that is being debated not only in the UN Human Rights Council meeting at Geneva or Sri Lanka, but in India as well. This came about, typically the way Parliament responds to issues these days, after members from Tamil Nadu stalled the crucial pre-budget parliamentary session, says Colonel R Hariharan
United Nation's top rights body on Wednesday asked Syria to stop attacking pro-democracy protesters and allow a fact finding team to assess the humanitarian situation in the country.
Both Khan and Modi are scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on September 27.
"We're aware that the lower and upper houses of the Indian Parliament have passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill, and we're also aware of the concerns that have been publicly expressed. The United Nations is closely analysing the possible consequences of the law," Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq said on Thursday during the daily press briefing.
"We urge the High Commissioner to go to Oslo, attend the award ceremony, and convene a press conference that will spotlight the plight of the 1.3 billion Chinese citizens who are systematically denied the basic guarantees of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," they said in a statement.
In a tough message hours after the United Nations slapped 'biting' sanctions on the Libyan regime, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told a bellicose Muammar Gaddafi to leave the country and end his regime as soon as possible.
The UNHRC agreed to defer the report on Sri Lanka's alleged human rights violations.
A United Nations human rights expert has claimed that gruesome footage from the final days of Sri Lanka's civil war is authentic and proves war crimes took place there.
Pakistan has criticised India over alleged human rights violation in Kashmir and threatened to expose the country in the world over the "abysmal rights situation" in other parts if it continued to talk about Balochistan.
The UN human rights office has called on Colombo to allow a full independent inquiry into a controversial video tape depicting alleged "extra-judicial killings" of Tamils by Lankan troops and said that such an investigation would be in the country's "best interests".
"They cry victim when they actually are the perpetrators," she said, rejected Pakistan's charges against India on the issue at the 42nd session of the UNHRC.
The Times accessed confidential United Nations documents that record nearly 7000 civilian deaths in the no-fire zone up till the end of April. UN sources told the paper that the toll surged from this point onwards, and an average of 1000 civilians were killed each day till May 19, the day after the LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran himself was killed by the armed forces
The United Nations has expressed regret that noted human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin will not be able to serve on an independent inquiry commission that will investigate possible human rights violations and war crimes committed, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
Elated after India's abstention at the UN Human Rights Council vote on Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday ordered the release of all Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan custody for poaching.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed the leaders on the latest situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban captured power there last week.
The United Nations is closely studying the statement of Nepalese King Gyanendra in which he has reportedly vowed to return power to the people in face of mounting international pressure.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador T S Tirumurti, said on Tuesday that India condemns all forms of anti-semitism and all forms of discrimination on religious grounds anywhere in the world.
India, which abstained during the vote on a strong resolution against Sri Lanka's human rights practices at the UNHRC, on Tuesday urged Colombo to fulfill its commitments on the devolution of political authority, to carry forward the process of reconciliation and address the aspirations of the Tamil community in the island nation.
The Rohingyas were illegal immigrants and not refugees who had applied for asylum in India, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday.
India and Indians can ignore Pakistan, but that cannot be said of other nations in the neighbourhood, where New Delhi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy constantly reverberates. Four of the eight SAARC member-nations are Muslim -- Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. The rulers decide the nation's India or anti-India policy in the first two, and street-opinion contributes to the same in the latter two, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bibhu Prasad Routray explains why the US is supporting Japan's resolve to release 'treated' radioactive waste water into the Pacific Ocean. And what role China plays in the US decision.
Sri Lanka has refused to cooperate with a United Nations investigation into alleged war crimes during the final phase of the country's civil war, saying it will not subject itself to the jurisdiction of the top rights body.
Scotland Yard's War Crimes Team, which is part of its Counter-Terrorism Command, has launched an investigation into the role of British mercenaries in fighting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels in Sri Lanka during the 1980s.
Silva's name was mentioned in the resolution passed by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in 2013, alleging rights abuses by the Sri Lankan Army.
The advance of the Al-Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and its allies towards Baghdad appears to have been "stalled" but the "grave" situation in Iraq needs to be dealt with militarily as well as politically, a top UN official has said.
The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and NATO have expressed concern on the new law and warned of retaliatory measures.
Xi Jinping is winning the war without firing a shot in Sri Lanka, observes Colonel R Hariharan (retd).
"India not supporting it in UN shows you are homophobic and a biphobic. I demand the prime minister to break his silence to speak about an inclusive society. Any kind of fundamentalism and criminalism is unacceptable."
The Sri Lankan police have arrested two rights activists under an anti-terrorism law to prevent them from spreading "communal disharmony" in the country's war-torn northern region, ahead of voting on a resolution against the country at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The UN on Friday called on Bangladesh to initiate steps for preventing violence against writers and activists, including providing physical protection to potential targets, in the wake of the killing of a secular blogger in the country.
The swearing in ceremony was held inside the premises of the Presidential Secretariat at 9:30 am. President Sirisena administered the oath of office to 66-year-old Wickremesinghe, who has already served three times as the prime minister.
'The feeling is growing that if India slips in the realms of liberal tenets, it will be a tragedy not only for the country, but also for the world because it will lose a remarkable role model,' notes Amulya Ganguli.
According to a new report from the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, an estimated 2,275 individuals drowned or went missing in the Mediterranean in 2018.
Israeli troops backed by tanks and drones on Thursday continued to pound Gaza in its operation against Hamas, defying mounting calls for restraint and a United Nations vote to investigate the deadly offensive that has killed 720 Palestinians and 34 Israelis.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances