Human Rights

20 Feb 2020; MEMO: On Tuesday, members of the US Senate called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to work on liberating the US citizen of Saudi origin, Dr Walid Fitaihi, who is being tried by the Saudi authorities on “politicized” charges.

“It is very important for the US Democratic and Republican administrations to free United States citizens abroad,” said a statement sent by Democratic Senators: Bob Menendez, Patrick Leahy, Chris Murphy, Chris Van Houlin, and Ron Wyden.

20 Feb 2020; MEMO: The Israeli housing ministry filed a request on 9 February for the construction of 9,000 houses in occupied East Jerusalem, on land marked as Palestinian in US President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century”, watchdog Peace Now reported.

Islamabad, Feb 19 (PTI) Amid concerns over India's Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), UN chief Antonio Guterres has said it is necessary to do everything to prevent "statelessness" when when a nationality law is changed.

Guterres, who was on a three-day visit to Pakistan, when asked whether he was concerned about new laws in India during an interview, said, "Of course (I am concerned). Because this is an area in which the relevant UN body is quite active."

Bengaluru, Feb 19 (PTI) A poet and a journalist have been arrested in connection with recital of a poem against CAA and NRC at a government sponsored function in Koppal district of Karnataka last month, police said on Wednesday.

The arrests were made based on a complaint from a BJP functionary alleging that Siraj Bisaralli, a poet had recited an anti-CAA poem at 'Anegundi Utsava' in Gangavathi town of Koppal district in January and Rajabaxi, editor of an online news portal uploaded it on social media.

Noida (UP), Feb 20 (PTI) A trader has been arrested in Greater Noida for allegedly sharing a Facebook post deemed "offensive" against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, officials said on Thursday.

The accused, identified as Chand Quraishi, is a resident of Jewar town and was arrested on Wednesday evening, they said.

When contacted, Quraishi said he shared the post by "mistake".

BERLIN, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The German government passed a law on Wednesday to combat serious cases of right-wing extremism and hate crime on the internet.

Social networks in Germany now have to report certain postings to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), according to the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV).

Under the new law, social networks should report postings that disseminate propaganda material of unconstitutional organizations.

19 Feb 2020; MEMO: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed on Tuesday that Russian jet fighters have carried out more than 120 air strikes against Aleppo in just one week, Egypt’s Youm 7 newspaper has reported.

The rights group also said that Syrian regime forces have widened their operations in the rural areas surrounding the city. The regime forces, the group explained, fired rockets towards several areas targeted by the Russian jets.

19 Feb 2020; MEMO: Turkey’s foreign minister on Sunday said China should not label all Muslim ethnic Uyghurs as terrorists, following talks with his Chinese counterpart in Germany, AFP reported.

19 Feb 2020; MEMO: Italian dock workers have refused to load electricity generators onto a notorious Saudi cargo ship suspected of carrying arms to be used in the war in Yemen.

19 Feb 2020; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is confident he can block the International Criminal Court (ICC) from launching an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by his country against the Palestinians in the occupied territories.

While Israel is not a signatory to the ICC, it has sought to undermine the efforts of the international body by lobbying governments friendly to the Zionist state to support its campaign to disrupt the court’s investigation.