Monthly Archives: September 2012

There is widespread outrage at the weekend arrest of Kanpur-based cartoonist, Aseem Trivedi, on charges of sedition, with his supporters alleging that it is politically motivated and that he is being punished for backing Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign.
The Mumbai police arrested Mr Trivedi, a member of the India Against Corruption or IAC, on Saturday based on a private complaint filed by a lawyer in December last year that he had put up banners mocking the Indian Constitution during an Anna Hazare rally in Mumbai. He has also been charged with posting seditious and obscene content on his website, which has been blocked. Cartoons like one where the activist has altered the three-lion national emblem in a satirical depiction to highlight corruption have attracted the sedition charge. Mr Trivedi has been remanded in police custody till September 16.

In the wake of the detention of 12-year old Faizan Sofi by Jammu and Kashmir Police, the civil society on Saturday staged a candle light sit-in here seeking upgradation of juvenile justice law and an end to juvenile detentions in Kashmir.

Speaking on the occasion, noted Supreme Court lawyer and founder Director of Human Rights Law Network, Colin Gonsalvez said that Jammu and Kashmir Government has failed to comply with the Apex Court directions on the child rights.

India should accept the recommendations by United Nations member states at the UN’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to address the country’s most serious human rights problems. During the September 2012 session of the UN Human Rights Council, India will submit its responses to the 169 recommendations made at its second review on May 24, 2012.
The wide-ranging recommendations call upon India to ratify multinational treaties against torture and enforced disappearances, repeal the much-abused Armed Forces Special Powers Act, impose a moratorium on the death penalty, introduce an anti-discrimination law, and protect the rights of women, children, Dalits, tribal groups, religious minorities, and other groups at risk. The Indian government has promised a “comprehensive response” to these recommendations.