Expressing 'serious concern' over recent violence in Myanmar, Britain on Tuesday offered assistance to the trouble-torn country's government to help end the unrest and to support an 'inclusive political settlement'.
At least 14 members of the Eritrea soccer squad have disappeared in Uganda while playing in a regional tournament and may eventually claim asylum, Ugandan officials said.
The United States has welcomed the passage of a resolution on Sri Lanka sponsored by it at the United Nations Human Rights Commission, saying the vote sent a clear signal to Colombo that the international community is committed to promote peace and stability in the country.
India on Thursday said its amendments to make the United States-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka in United Nations Human Rights Council tougher could not be incorporated for lack of consensus among member-countries.
With India voting against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the government and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham should spell out the steps they had taken to prevent attacks on ethnic Tamils during the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was on Wednesday briefed by top officials on the United States-sponsored resolution on human rights violations in Sri Lanka, within hours of government announcing that it will move amendments to the final draft text at Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council to send a 'resolute message' on the issue.
After the resignation of all Dravida Munetra Kazhagam ministers from the government, the party on Wednesday said pulling down the United Progressive Alliance dispensation by bringing no-trust motion in the house is not the issue, but welfare of Tamils is their focus.
With emotions running high in Tamil Nadu on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday asked India to take 'historic' and 'courageous' steps to move amendments to the US-backed resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council to 'assuage the deeply hurt sentiments' of people.
India on Thursday continued to be evasive on its stand to be adopted on the resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Commission, triggering an angry walk out in Lok Sabha by United Progressive Alliance constituent Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which was joined by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal-United.
A US based rights body and an Indian American Muslim advocacy group have expressed disappointment over India's decision of not accepting all the UN body recommendations on human rights, in particular not ratifying the convention against torture and cruelty.
The Dravida Munetra Kazhagam on Tuesday demanded that India should bring a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Human Rights Council for bestowing rights to Sri Lankan Tamils to decide a political solution by themselves, contending that the government there has failed on this account.
With the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar continues to rage, forcing the victims to flee, more displaced families from the country have reached Hyderabad taking the number of such migrants to more than 300.
India's highly problematic move in backing an anti-Lankan resolution at the UNHCR will now make India even more marginal in the island nation with some grave long-term damage to its vital interests, says Harsh V Pant.
India is likely to bring an amendment to the resolution sponsored by the United States on the alleged human rights violations by the Sri Lankan authorities during the end of the civil war -- at the ongoing session United Nations Human Rights Commission meet in Geneva, according to a source in the central government.
Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council will be taken only after a discussion with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi.
The decision on the vote in United Nations Human Rights Council on the resolution against Sri Lanka will be taken after consulting DMK and other allies, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.
Dissatisfied with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's response over alleged war-time human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday said the All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam will continue to press for India supporting the US backed resolution against Colombo at United Nations Human Rights Council.
A British channel has come out with a documentary featuring the pictures of the alleged cold-blooded killing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's 12-year-old son, which was on Tuesday dismissed by Sri Lanka as "lies, half truths and numerous forms of speculation".
Maintaining that India's decision to revoke Article 370 of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in August year does not have any external ramifications, Kumar said that the people have marched ahead despite Pakistan's "nefarious attempt" to derail peace and prosperity.
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to Centre on Kargil hero Saurabh Kalia's father's plea to take up his son's torture case at International Court of Justice.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited foreign money and entities, including the Koodankulam plant, into India like no other PM and most of it is hurting the interests of local communities, says Sandeep Pandey
China on Thursday firmly backed Sri Lanka against the US-sponsored resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council on alleged war crimes, saying it is against any country putting pressure on others in the name of rights violations.
With India under pressure from Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu to support a United States-sponsored resolution in the United Nations Human Rights Commission against Sri Lanka for alleged war crimes, United Progressive Alliance's key constituent Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Saturday announced the convening of its high-level committee on March 20 to discuss the issue. Party chief M Karunanidhi will chair the meeting on Tuesday morning at its headquarters in Chennai.
Sri Lanka's main Tamil party Tamil National Alliance has backed a United States-sponsored resolution to censure Colombo at the ongoing session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
With Tamil Nadu's Members of Parliament insisting that India make its stand clear on the United States-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka in United Nations Human Rights Commission, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said efforts are on to achieve a "forward-looking" outcome which would avoid "deepening confrontation and mistrust."
Adopting an evasive approach, India on Friday abstained from a United Nations Human Rights Council vote to appoint, for a period of three years, an Independent Expert to help protect the rights of homosexuals and transgenders worldwide.
Leaders of Sri Lanka's main Tamil party TNA on Friday told officials from the United Nations human rights body that the Tamils displaced in the LTTE war were facing problems with resettlement and discrimination at the hands of authorities
The decision was approved by Prime Minister Imran Khan in view of the tense situation in Kashmir, the minister told state broadcaster PTV.
Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga does not share the view that India's vote against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council was a "letdown" as she feels that there must have been "justifiable reasons" for the decision.
Three years ago, Delhi had backed Colombo against the United States. What has changed now? Jyoti Malhotra finds out
"Sri Lanka is our next door neighbour. Geography bounds us. We have overwhelming trade ties with them. India is their biggest trade partner and the largest investor in Sri Lanka. Every fifth tourist in Sri Lanka arrives from India. Both countries' bilateral relation are so intertwined that both of us will soon take India's vote against them in the United Nations Human Rights Council in their stride."
The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday adopted a resolution against Sri Lanka's rights record, in a setback to Colombo, which made determined efforts to garner international support ahead of the voting.
Sri Lanka on Monday made it clear that it will not abide by the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution that censured it over its human rights record and said it would only implement "feasible" recommendations of its own panel that probed the three-decade-long bloody civil war.
Seeking to mollify Sri Lanka after the vote against it in United Nations Human Rights Council, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday wrote to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, telling him that India made all efforts and succeeded in introducing an "element of balance" in the United States-sponsored resolution.
Welcoming the government's decision to back the United States sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka at United Nations Human Rights Council, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Monday said his party had even decided to pull out its ministers from the United Progressive Alliance and extend issue based support to it in the event of its demand not being met.
The Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam is all set to withdraw its five Union ministers from the United Progressive Alliance-2 by the weekend to express solidarity with the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. The step is expected to be taken to put UPA-2 on notice if India voted in favour of Sri Lanka in Geneva where the United Nations Human Rights Council is currently in session.
The Lankan media claimed that New Delhi had failed to carry other South Asian nations with it on the issue.
Sri Lankan media on Tuesday said the country has been delivered a body blow by India which has said it is "inclined to" vote in favour of a United States moved resolution against it at the on-going United Nations Human Rights Council session.
United Nations Human Rights chief on Tuesday said she has information that that security forces in southern Kyrgyzstan are using torture against young Uzbek men, who are also being subjected to beatings, arbitrary detentions and forced confessions.
The United Nations' rights body has concluded that France had violated the religious freedom of a 76-year-old Sikh man when he was asked to remove his turban for his ID photograph, a US-based Sikh group has said.
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