Human Rights

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Friday a plea challenging the setting up of a commission of inquiry by the West Bengal government to probe into the Pegasus snooping allegations.

The matter was mentioned on Thursday before a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana by the lawyer appearing for the petitioner NGO who submitted that the commission was going ahead with the probe despite the fact that the top court has constituted an expert committee in the case.

16 Dec 2021; MEMO: Turkey rescued 115 asylum seekers, Wednesday, from the Aegean Sea off the coast of the Izmir, Aydin and Mugla provinces, according to the Turkish Coast Guard Command, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The asylum seekers included 77 irregular migrants who were illegally pushed back by Greece into Turkish waters, and 38 others in two separate boats which were detected by mobile radar, said statements.

All of the asylum seekers were taken to provincial migration offices.

15 Dec 2021; MEMO: Ten human rights organisations have demanded Egypt immediately release blogger and activist Ahmed Douma, one of the founders of the Revolutionary Youth Coalition, as he has no judicial avenues to take to end his detention.

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Jamia Masjid, the grand mosque of Srinagar, dominates its neighborhood with an imposing main gate and massive turrets. It can hold 33,000 worshippers, and on special occasions over the years hundreds of thousands of Muslims have filled nearby lanes and roads to offer prayers led from the mosque.

But Indian authorities see the mosque as a trouble spot — a nerve center for protests and clashes that challenge India’s sovereignty over the disputed Kashmir region.

15 Dec 2021; MEMO: Several Israeli officials have claimed that the Biden administration in Washington is "obsessed" about illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank on a par with Iran's nuclear programme, the Jerusalem Post reported on Tuesday. "The Americans bring up 'settler violence' all the time, obsessively," said one diplomat.

15 Dec 2021; MEMO: Israel's Knesset yesterday passed a bill that would allow the occupation police to storm and search Palesinian homes and confiscate cameras without court orders.

Haaretz reported that the law's objective was "to combat crimes in the Arab community," explaining that the bill would allow the police "to search Arab buildings without a warrant."

Chennai, Dec 14 (PTI) Holding that adjournments are enemies to the justice delivery system, the Madras High Court has directed the District and Sessions Court, Thiruvannamalai, to advance the date of hearing of the murder case of a social activist, in the first week of January.

On that date, the process of serving the charge sheet shall be completed and thereafter, the trial should be commenced without causing any further delay. The judge shall proceed with the trial and dispose of the case within six months, Justice S M Subramaniam has said.

Ghaziabad, Dec 14 (PTI) The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) on Tuesday demanded that Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra 'Teni' be sacked and arrested over the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

The BKU, which is a part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) that spearheaded the anti-farm laws campaign against the Centre, said the farmers' struggle would continue till the minister's arrest.

Hyderabad, Dec 14 (PTI): As many as 16 children from West Bengal, who were allegedly trafficked and engaged for labour work at a company near here, were on Tuesday rescued and three persons arrested, police said.

On receipt of credible information that children between the age of 13 to 16 years were detained and exploited for labour work in a packaging material firm in Nacharam, police teams raided the company and rescued 16 minor boys, a release from Rachakonda Police Commissionerate said.

13 Dec 2021; MEMO: The UN Human Rights Council (HRC), this Friday, will hold a special session to address "the grave human rights situation in Ethiopia" after a request by the European Union and following a warning last week from the US, it announced, and reported by Anadolu News Agency.