Tag: human rights violations

  • Police arrest suspect behind rape at Islamabad’s Margalla hill hiking trail 

    Police arrest suspect behind rape at Islamabad’s Margalla hill hiking trail 

    Islamabad police have on Sunday arrested the suspect involved in the alleged rape of a woman that took place on trail 3 of the capital’s Margalla Hills.

    Last week Friday, the Islamabad police registered a first information report (FIR) after a woman complained that a man had lured her with a job prospect before raping her at gunpoint on Thursday afternoon. 

    According to the FIR, the complainant had been looking for a job and received a message via WhatsApp from a person around two months ago, Dawn reports.

    “He told me he was an accountant in the education department, where some vacancies were available,” the victim is quoted as saying in the FIR. In return for a job, the man asked for Rs50,000. 

    After some correspondence, where the victim met the suspect and provided him with her curriculum vitae and Rs30,000, saying she would pay the remaining 20,000 once she received a written order of employment.

    Under the guise of picking up the victim for a job interview, the suspect drove her to Margalla Hills’ trail 3, where the victim said she was taken to the jungle and raped at gunpoint around 3pm. 

    In a statement issued on Sunday, the Islamabad Police said it was successful in arresting the suspect after a three-day effort, adding that they arrested the man on ‘technical bases’, claiming the victim was not assisting the police in the investigation. 

    Statement issued by Islamabad Police via Twitter.

    Moreover, they said that the investigation is taking place ‘on merit’, citing the victim’s medical report in which apparently no evidence of abuse was found. 

    Furthermore, the statement reveals the complainant and the accused knew each other. However, Islamabad Police asserted that all aspects of the case will be investigated.

  • EU parliament urges Indian PM Modi to protect minorities

    EU parliament urges Indian PM Modi to protect minorities

    On Thursday, the European Parliament urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to end ethnic violence in Manipur, and to do more to protect ethnic and religious minorities in India. Modi is currently on an official visit to France, having been invited to attend the country’s annual Bastille Day national festival as a guest of honour. 

    However, between the ceremony and the diplomatic courting, EU parliamentarians in Strasbourg approved a motion that urged India to end violence in the country’s northeastern Manipur state, and to protect the minorities there. 

    The motion also criticised the ‘national rhetoric’ of the local state government, run by Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). EU parliamentarian Pierre Larrouturou released a statement on his Twitter, with an accompanying video.

    In his tweet, Larrouturou stated that Modi and Macron can “pretend that everything is going well in India”,however, the EU parliament is recalling facts, and strongly condemns the human rights violations that take place in India.

    “Every day in India, thousands of Muslims, Christians, and members of ethnic minorities see their rights repressed,” the statement read. “To remain silent on the situation would have been a humiliation for all those who fight for their fights and suffer every day from the Hindu nationalism imposed by the Modi government.”

    In May, CNN reported how residents of Manipur say there has been a breakdown of law and order. This was after a spell of violence that left at least 58 dead and tens of thousands more homeless.

    In a speech to the public, Larrouturou went on to point out, “In Manipur, for the past two months, we have seen monstrous violence. Over 120 people have died and 1700 homes have been devastated, 250 churches have been destroyed, 40,000 people have fled for their lives.”

    Despite differences over the war in Ukraine, namely India’s continued support to Russia, as well as tensions over human rights violations in the country, Western democracies are courting Modi and what is currently the world’s most populous country, as a counterweight to China’s influence in Asia.

    India is also one of the largest global buyers of French arms. On Thursday, India approved in principle the purchase of 26 French marine Rafale jets and three Scorpene-class submarines, news agency ANI reported. 

    During Modi’s last visit to Paris in 2015, he announced a landmark deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets worth around €4 billion ($4.48 billion).

  • Modi to celebrate International Yoga Day on UN’s Lawn during U.S. visit

    Modi to celebrate International Yoga Day on UN’s Lawn during U.S. visit

    In celebration of the ninth annual observance of International Day of Yoga, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi will be leading a yoga session on the north lawn of the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday morning.

    Modi, a practicing Hindu, often presents himself as devoutly religious. Considering yoga has its origins in ancient Hindu religious practices, the exercise seems a fitting ode to both his faith and culture.

    But there are other, more important concerns surrounding his crucial visit to Washington.

    Congresswoman boycotts speech

    Earlier today, United States’ Congresswoman Ilhan Omar published a tweet ahead of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s speech to Congress. She stated she will not be attending the address, holding a briefing with human rights groups instead to discuss ‘Modi’s record of repression and violence.’ 

    She accused his government of repression of religious minorities, emboldening Hindu nationalist groups, and targeting journalists/human rights advocates ‘with impunity’.

    At the beginning of June, top lawmakers in the U.S. had invited Modi to address Congress on the 22nd of June, during his visit to Washington, DC. Addressing Congress is a rare opportunity that is granted only to the country’s closest allies.

    Biden asked to raise concerns

    A letter was sent to U.S. President Joe Biden on the eve of Modi’s visit to Washington, asking him to raise concerns around democratic norms and human rights in India with its prime minister. 

    A total of 75 American Senators and Representatives have signed the letter. The U.S. lawmakers that drafted it said they were concerned about religious intolerance, press freedoms, internet access and the targeting of civil society groups. 

    They cited “a series of independent, credible reports” reflecting “troubling signs” in India, as reported by Reuters. 

    “We do not endorse any particular Indian leader or political party — that is the decision of the people of India — but we do stand in support of the important principles that should be a core part of American foreign policy,” said the letter.

    A strategic ceremony

    According to BBC, the discussions between the two states not only have potential to infuse new energy into India-U.S. relations, but also have an impact on the global order.

    As China’s influence continues to grow in the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. needs India’s influence more than ever, viewing it as a counterbalance to China’s. While India is reluctant to claim this tag, China is one of the main catalysts driving India-U.S. relations.

    Human rights advocates worry that geopolitics might overshadow humanitarian issues. U.S. rights groups have planned protests against Modi’s state visit to Washington, citing India’s deteriorating human rights record, as reported by Reuters.

  • Pakistan engaged in severe violations of religious freedom: US

    Pakistan engaged in severe violations of religious freedom: US

    The United States (US) has placed Pakistan on a list of countries that are “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom” during 2022.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced this on Friday and said, “Around the world, governments and non-state actors harass, threaten, jail, and even kill individuals on account of their beliefs.”

    He noted that the US will not stand by in the face of these abuses.

    Apart from Pakistan, the US has placed China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and others. However, Algeria, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam are on the Special Watch List for engaging in, or tolerating, severe violations of religious freedom.

    This is not the first time that Pakistan is on the list of religious freedom violators.

    The Trump administration first placed Pakistan on this list in December 2018 and retained it in 2020 as well. The Biden administration, which came to office in January last year, retained the old list with some changes, but kept Pakistan on it.

  • Pakistan asks UN to take notice of rights violations in occupied Kashmir, fulfill plebiscite promise

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked the United Nations and its member states to take notice of atrocities in occupied Kashmir while reminding the world body of its promise of holding an impartial plebiscite in the region.

    The PM said Pakistan would stand with the Kashmiri people till the realisation of their right to self-determination, adding that on Jan 5, 1949, the UN “guaranteed the right to self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir through an impartial plebiscite”.

    “We observe this day as a reminder to the UN and its member state of their unfulfilled commitment to the Kashmiri people.”

    In a statement shared by the APP, the PM said: “Being a direct party to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, Pakistan will continue to underscore the imperative of holding a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions.”

    According to the PM, the importance of the right to self-determination has been acknowledged in various human rights conventions and decisions of the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. However, due to the “Indian intransigence, the Security Council has failed to fulfill its pledge to the Kashmiri people”.

    The PM said that Pakistan calls on the international community to take against the well-documented human rights violations being committed by the Indian occupation forces against Kashmiris and ensure that they get their right to self-determination.