Human Rights

New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday said India is now an electoral autocracy in response to media reports on Swedish Institute's democracy report that downgraded India.

Modi-led government in India has used laws on sedition, defamation and counter terrorism to silence critics. India's level of liberal democracy registered a steep decline since its high in 2013. What a shame," he said quoting from the report.

New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Thursday claimed India was "no longer" a democratic country, quoting media reports on Swedish Institute's democracy report that downgraded India.

"India is no longer a democratic country," he said on Twitter, tagging a news report citing Sweden's V-Dem Institute's democracy report that has downgraded India from 'world's largest democracy' to 'electoral democracy'.

11 Mar 2021; MEMO: Lawyer Nick Kaufman has stated in an article published by Hebrew newspaper Haaretz that it is in Israel's best interests to communicate to Fatou Bensouda, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), that she should not send court notification letters regarding the opening of an investigation into war crimes before the formation of a

11 Mar 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia yesterday allowed foreign diplomats to meet human rights activist Loujain Al-Hathloul before she appeared in the appeals court in the capital Riyadh.

Video clips showed the Saudi activist greeting diplomats before entering the court building.

11 Mar 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian Foreign Ministry yesterday called on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) "to protect all Palestinian archaeological and religious sites from Israeli violations, attacks and falsifications."

New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Farmer unions on Wednesday called for a Bharat bandh on March 26, when their protest at Delhi's borders against the Centre's three new farm laws completes four months.

Farmer leader Buta Singh Burjgill said farmers along with trade unions will protest the hike in fuel prices and privatisation of railways on March 15.

09 Mar 2021; MEMO: The Biden administration has revoked a sanctions waiver on Israeli mining magnate Dan Gertler that was issued in the last days of the Trump administration. Reimposing sanctions, the US Treasury said that the exemption was "inconsistent with America's strong foreign policy interests in combating corruption around the world," specifically in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

10 Mar 2021; MEMO: France announced yesterday that researchers and historians will get easier access to classified government documents, especially those related to the controversial Algeria war, Anadolu news agency reported.

The French Presidency said in a statement that President Emmanuel Macron has ordered the French archives services to speed up access to documents that are more than 50 years old, "notable documents relating to the Algerian war".

New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Wednesday gave an interim stay on summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate to former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, her daughter said.

The matter came up for hearing before a division bench of Justices Siddarth Mridul and Hairam Bhambhani. The matter was posted for March 18 with a direction to the ED not to press for her personal appearance on March 15.

New Delhi, Mar 9 (PTI) The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmer unions protesting against the Centre's three agri laws, on Tuesday said it would send a team of leaders to the poll-bound West Bengal and Assam in a bid to appeal to voters not to vote for the "anti-farmer" BJP.

Farmer leader Darshan Pal said in a statement that the visit will be spread over three days starting from March 12.

Pal told PTI that the team will have 4-5 people including him and Yogendra Yadav.