Human Rights

TUNISIA: Growing frustration in Choucha transit camp

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People who fled violence in Libya lining up for food at Choucha camp, at the Libya-Tunisia border

COTE D'IVOIRE: Aid conundrum in fragile west

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Families wonder how they'll feed their children, and how safe they'll be

SOMALIA: Mogadishu’s “lost generation”

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A lifetime of war

PAKISTAN: Another Azad Kashmiri becomes the victim of ISI butchery

Dr Rizwan son of Mohammed Sarwar resident of Muzaffarabad was kidnapped by officials of ISI on 7th May 2011 from his house; and today on 23 May, he was killed.

US State Department Concern Over Human Rights Abuses in Iran

The United States is deeply concerned that Iran continues to deny its citizens and other persons within Iran their human rights. Judicial cases, trials, and sentences continue to proceed without transparency and the due process rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Iran’s own constitution. Just this week, two Iranian citizens – Abdollah and Mohammad Fathi – were executed amid serious questions about whether these prisoners were granted their rights. We are also troubled by reports that Kurdish activist Habibollah Latifi might soon be executed despite serious questions about the motives of the Iranian government and the charges against him.

NATIONAL BODIES KEY TO SAFEGUARDING OF BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS – UN OFFICIAL

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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay

HOMOPHOBIC HATE CRIMES ON THE RISE, UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF WARNS

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PAKISTAN: Military threatens food security of farmers by illegal land grabbing in Punjab

The peasants have been cultivating the land from their forefathers who were asked to settle and cultivate the land in 1913. However, the military-run corporations and family members of retired military officers have gradually occupied the land illegally. The peasants are struggling for their right to land and facing serious human rights violations including murder and false charges being laid against them whereas the Punjab government has consistently failed to protect their rights. In addition, many villagers are forced to pay money to the military under threat. It is also alleged that the military corporations have leased the land to the UAE countries. The Punjab government in associated with the military allotted some land to the villages of Okara area as a compromise instead of taking the total land back to the peasants. In 2010, the government pledged to provide the funding for housing construction as well as a school and hospital in the villages which is yet substantiated.

The peasants living in Okara, Punjab have been confronting serious food insecurity by military-run corporations and family members of retired military officers who have illegally occupied the land the peasants have been cultivating for generations.

Former City of Newark Employee Sentenced to Prison for Attempted Extortion

A former City of Newark, N.J., official was sentenced today to six months in prison and six months of home confinement for attempted extortion, after admitting that he accepted a $10,000 corrupt payment in order to assist a contractor in obtaining demolition contracts with the city, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Former Kershaw County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Department Officer Sentenced for Assaulting a Handcuffed Arrestee

The Justice Department announced today that Oddie Tribble, 51, a former deputy sheriff with the Kershaw County, S.C., Sheriff’s Office, was sentenced to 63 months in prison and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie for using excessive force on a man in his custody on Aug. 5, 2010. Tribble was also ordered to pay restitution of $5,109.25 to the victim.