Author page: SAHR

Parliament Watch – 2009 Report

Following national elections in Bangladesh held on 28th December 2008, the first session of the Ninth Parliament was convened on 25th January 2009. The objectives of SAHR’s Parliament Watch are to examine the legislations enacted for the implications for human rights…

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INDIA: National and state authorities failing to protect IDPs

Tens of thousands newly displaced in Assam and Meghalaya; displaced Bru groups reach agreement on return to Mizoram

In early January, ethnic violence broke out between Rabha (or Rava) and Garo people in Assam state’s Goalpara district and the adjoining East Garo Hills district of Meghalaya state. By 11 January, ten people had been killed and more than 50,000 from both communities displaced. More than 34,000 people were in 37 camps in Assam and over 19,000 in 18 camps in Meghalaya. In Meghalaya, the state government promised compensation of Rs. 10,000 ($220) and three bundles of corrugated iron sheets to each displaced family.

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India: Repeal Sedition Law – HRW

The Indian parliament should immediately repeal the colonial-era sedition law, which local authorities are using to silence peaceful political dissent, Human Rights Watch said today. The Indian government should drop sedition cases against prominent activists such as Dr. Binayak Sen, Arundhati Roy, and others, Human Rights Watch said.

In two recent cases, in New Delhi and Chhattisgarh, the authorities have pursued sedition charges against peaceful activists, despite a longstanding Supreme Court ruling that prosecution under the sedition law requires incitement to violence, which was not alleged in either case.

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India: Drop Charges Against Maternal Death Protesters – HRW

Indian authorities should drop criminal proceedings against peaceful protesters who sought accountability for maternal deaths in a public hospital in Madhya Pradesh state, Human Rights Watch said today. District officials cracked down on protesters on December 28, 2010, even as the Indian government was celebrating its recent appointment to the new United Nations Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health.

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The Regional Consultation which was  held from 27 – 29 November 2010 in Kathmandu, Nepal served as a  forum for a wide cross section of human rights defenders, academics, professionals and cultural activists from all South Asian countries to…

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Nepal: NHRC, OHCHR urge changes in bill

KATHMANDU, Jan 24: The National Human Rights Commission of Nepal (NHRC) and the United Nations Human Rights Office in Nepal (OHCHR) on Monday released an analysis on NHRC Bill urging government to improve some provisions.

The analysis emphasizes that the law with respect to the NHRC should guarantee the NHRC’s independence and autonomy including operational independence and provide it with broad human rights mandate, the organizations said in a release

The Nepal Government had tabled the NHRC Bill following the provision of constitutional status to the NHRC as stipulated by the Interim Constitution 2007, but it has remained pending since August, 2009.

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Nepal’s human rights examination

DR DINESH BHATTARAI

The United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/60/251 also known as the founding resolution of the Human Rights Council (HRC) mandated it to ‘undertake a universal periodic review (UPR) based on objective and reliable information, of the fulfillment by each state of its human rights obligations and commitments in a manner which ensures universality of coverage and equal treatment with respect to all States.’ The HRC was established in 2006 in place of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) which in words of the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reached ‘a point at which the Commission’s declining credibility has cast a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations system.’

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Nepal: Caste discrimination haunts lower caste people

Despite declaring caste discrimination an unlawful act in Nepal, cases of such discrimination have continued to haunt the people from the lower caste.

Manju Rasaili who had tied inter-caste nuptial knot around 14 years ago has now become hapless after her husband left her and married with another woman.

Rasaili of Chainpur VDC-1 of Bajhang who tied nuptial knot with Dhan Prakash Giri of Lamatola VDC-6 of her own district in 2054 B.S is now passing her life in a miserable condition.

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