Author Archives: Irfan Sheikh

India Activates Discriminatory Citizenship Law Fast-Track Legislation for Refugees Violates Rights of Muslims

This week, India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government began implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which parliament had enacted in 2019. The law fast-tracks citizenship requests from non-Muslims fleeing religious persecution from India’s Muslim-majority neighbors – Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh – but excludes Muslim refugees from those countries. Before the government enacted the law, Home Minister Amit Shah explained the ...

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Brazil: Comply with Rulings on Police Violence

The Brazilian government should comply with two new rulings by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that found Brazil responsible for serious human rights violations by the police, Human Rights Watch said today. The decisions, published on March 14, 2024, in cases involving police killings in São Paulo and Paraná states, come as São Paulo police are in the midst ...

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Prosecution Seeks Crimes against Humanity Charges in Guinea Massacre Trial

Earlier this month, in the landmark trial of Guinea’s former president and 10 others, including former ministers, who are accused of responsibility for a massacre and rapes in a stadium, the prosecution team requested the reclassification of charges to crimes against humanity. The trial is currently suspended until March 18, 2024, to allow for the defense’s response. The trial examines ...

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Sudan: Urgent Action Needed on Hunger Crisis

Security Council Should Act on Access for Aid Deliveries United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to alert the Security Council in the coming days that Sudan has entered a downward spiral of extreme conflict-induced hunger, Human Rights Watch said today. The council should immediately take action, including by adopting targeted sanctions against individuals responsible for obstructing aid access in ...

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Out of Sight, Afghans Are Going Hungry Taliban Abuses Exacerbate Impact on Women and Girls

“The situation is getting worse every day,” Ahmad, a former journalist in Herat, Afghanistan, told me. “I don’t think anyone can afford to buy enough food anymore.” Afghanistan has been in the throes of an economic crisis for more than two years, after donors cut foreign funding in response to the Taliban takeover in 2021 and suspended Afghanistan’s Central Bank ...

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Confronting the Rising Civilian Toll from Explosive Weapons

In late February, I joined youth from 14 countries for a four-day seminar on the rising civilian toll caused by bombing and shelling with explosive weapons in towns and cities during armed conflict. The event was hosted by Mines Action Canada, a co-founder—along with Human Rights Watch—of the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW). The Political Declaration on the Protection ...

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Ecuador’s Uptick in Violence Heightens Risks for Schoolchildren Investigate Sexual Violence Against Students, Protect School Staff

The escalation of violence and organized crime activity throughout Ecuador is having a dire impact on children’s rights. A temporary switch to online learning, as well as threats by criminal groups, have particularly impacted their right to learn in a safe environment. After President Daniel Noboa declared on January 9 an “armed conflict” against gangs, Ecuador’s education ministry temporarily suspended ...

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Cameroon: Government Bans Opposition Coalitions

A declaration by Cameroon’s territorial administration minister to make two opposition coalitions illegal is part of a government crackdown on opposition and dissent, Human Rights Watch said today. On March 12, 2024, the minister, Paul Atanga Nji, said in a statement that the Political Alliance for Change (Alliance politique pour le changement, APC), led by Jean-Michel Nintcheu, and the Political ...

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Canada: All 10 Provinces To End Immigration Detention in Jails

All 10 of Canada’s provinces have now committed to ending their immigration detention agreements and arrangements with the Canada Border Services Agency, a major victory for migrant and refugee rights, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International Canada said today. Newfoundland and Labrador, the last remaining province, has now confirmed that it will no longer allow the federal government to detain ...

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Drone Attack Collapses Odesa Residential Building

On March 2, Andriy Sidak raced to his sister’s apartment building fearing the worst. Earlier, a Russian drone had struck the building in the north part of Odesa. What he found was rubble and dust, the mangled remains of what had been a nine-story residential building. Witnesses say the drone hit the building at the sixth-floor level, causing concrete slabs ...

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پاکستان میں ووٹ کیوں اور کیسے چوری ہوتا ہے

پاکستان میں ہونے والے الیکشن پر ہیومن رائٹس میڈیا نیٹ ورک کی تہلکہ خیز رپورٹ   ندیم احمد ایڈووکیٹ   یہ ایک ایسا سوال ہے جس کا جواب سب جانتے بھی ہیں اور کھل کر اظہار بھی نہیں کرتے ہیں، اس سوال کے بارے میںمزید گفتگو کرنے سے قبل ہم تاریخ کے اوراق سے ابھی کچھ عرصہ قبل نظر دوڑاتے ...

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انسانیت کا منتظر کشمیر

یہ نہ بھولیں، کشمیر اب بھی ایک متنازعہ علاقہ ہے اور انسانیت کامنتظر ہے۔ بھارتی مقبوضہ جموں و کشمیر کے متنازعہ علاقہ میں جو کچھ ہو رہا ہے اس کی مذمت کرنے کے لیے آپ کو پاکستانی یا مسلمان ہونے کی ضرورت نہیں ہے۔ آپ کو صرف انسان بننے کی ضرورت ہے۔ ضمیر اپنی جگہ، 5 اگست 2019 سے رونما ...

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اداریہ

انتخابات اور جمہوریت کا فروغ جوں جوں پولنگ کی تاریخ قریب آرہی ہے، سیاسی سرگرمیاں بڑھ رہی ہیں۔ عام لوگوں کے جوش و خروش میں اضافہ کے ساتھ کچھ خدشات بھی ہیں جن سے چشم پوشی خیبرپختون خوا اور بلوچستان سمیت ملک کے بعض علاقوں میں دہشت گردی اور سیاسی کارکنوں کو نشانہ بنانے کے واقعات کے تناظر میں ممکن ...

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ایک اور غیر مستحکم حکومت؟

سیاسی بحران کی وجہ سے ملک معاشی لحاظ سے بھی غیر مستحکم ہورہا ہے۔ خدا خدا کرکے ملک میں عام انتخابات کا مرحلہ تکمیل کو پہنچا۔ انتخابات جیسے ہوئے وہ سب کو معلوم ہے، اس پر زیادہ بحث کرنے کی ضرورت نہیں۔ لیکن اتنا ہی کہوں گا کہ نہایت مایوس کن تھے۔ جو کچھ ہونا چاہیے تھا وہ نہیں ہوا ...

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