Full Coverage: Justice and Crime

08/31/2007 The Supreme Court of India dismissed review petitions by a number of state governments as having no merit. In doing this, the Court has upheld its directives handed down in the judgment delivered in a case last year (2006) where the Court ordered governments to comply with a set of 7 directives laying down practical mechanisms to kick-start reform.

08/31/2007 August 30 marks the International Day of the Disappeared; it an annual commemoration to draw attention for those who have been subjected to forced disappearances. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has shown concern for the rising number of missing people in the country.

08/30/2007 The killing of two Indonesian domestic workers by their employers in Saudi Arabia highlights the Saudi government’s ongoing failure to hold employers accountable for serious abuses. The brutal beatings by these employers also left two other Indonesian domestic workers critically injured.

08/29/2007 NEW YORK, Aug 29 (OneWorld) - The White House is coming under increasing pressure from a number of Congressional leaders and rights watchdog groups to replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales with someone who can restore faith in the U.S. justice system.

08/29/2007 Pakistan's Supreme Court has demanded the government to explain its decision to send troops into the controversial Red Mosque in Islamabad last month where more than 100 people were killed when security forces stormed the mosque to flush out Islamic militants.

08/29/2007 Pengakuan Direktur Utama Garuda Indonesia Indra Setiawan tentang keterlibatan Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN) dalam konspirasi pembunuhan Munir patut dipuji. Untuk itu Kepada BIN Syamsir Siregar didesak agar secara aktif mengungkap sekaligus menindak anggota BIN yang terlibat dalam pembunuhan Munir.

08/28/2007 Ikatan Keluarga Orang Hilang (IKOHI) menggelar rangkaian kegiatan untuk mengenang keluarga mereka yang telah menjadi korban penghilangan paksa. Hal itu dilakukan sebagai upaya korban melawan ‘lupa’ seperti yang diinginkan para pelanggar HAM.

08/23/2007 BUENOS AIRES, Aug 23 (IPS) - Shocked by the release on parole of former Chilean secret police agent Enrique Arancibia, who was sentenced to life in prison for the 1974 murders of Chilean General Carlos Prats and his wife, the attorney representing the Chilean state in that trial told IPS he was considering legal action to get the measure overturned.

08/22/2007 Tigers have become few and far between in India’s specially designated national parks and sanctuaries. A flourishing illegal trade in tiger parts mainly in China and East Asia has led to indiscriminate poaching in India’s protected tiger reserves.

08/22/2007 NEW YORK, Aug 21 (OneWorld) - An American scholar jailed in Iran for over three months has been released, following weeks of protests by international human rights groups.

08/15/2007 Ugandalainen teleyritys on lahjoittanut viisi tietokonetta maan suurimmalle vankilalle käytettäväksi vankien koulutukseen. Vankien koulutukseen panostaminen kannattaa, sillä tilastojen mukaan vankeusaikana koulutusta saaneista 70 prosenttia sopeutuu yhteiskuntaan vapauduttuaan.

08/09/2007 An Indian NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) has rescued 129 child labourers from New Delhi in 2005 and filed the case in The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to register the children under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976. After 2 years the commission grants the issue of release certificates and asks for their rehabilitation.

08/08/2007 The Limbuwan Mukti Morcha, Nepal has called an indefinite general strike in five eastern districts demanding guarantee of federalism based on ethnicity with autonomy.

08/08/2007 Pakistan has a bilateral trade of two billion US dollars with
Afghanistan. But the volume of clandestine business between the two countries is estimated to be more than ten billion dollars every year. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan profit from huge bribes paid out to ensure that the illegal trade continues.

08/06/2007 The 'Stop Child Labour - School is the best place to work' campaign has prepared a draft report 'Proposed Action Plan to Combat Child Labour - 15 Recommendations for Companies'. The campaign is inviting comments from companies as well as from stakeholders to assist them in combating child labour effectively.

08/03/2007 In the years following the ratification of the extremely controversial USA PATRIOT Act, other countries across the world, including the Philippines and El Salvador, have introduced equally contentious counter-terrorism statutes that have had serious implications on civil rights, say advocates.