Human Rights

24 Dec 2019; MEMO: The Palestinian Authority (PA)’s Foreign Ministry yesterday condemned recent attacks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its decision to investigate “war crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territories”.

24 Dec 2019; MEMO: The Head of the Sebastia Diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem Archbishop Atallah Hanna yesterday accused Israel of attempting to poison him.

Archbishop Hanna made the remarks during an interview with the official Jordanian TV channel from a hospital in the Jordanian capital, Amman, where he was transferred for treatment.

24 Dec 2019; MEMO: Women Against the Coup has strongly condemned the “intentional killing” of the female prisoner in Egyptian jails Maryam Salem, who passed away in detention on Sunday, Arabi21 reported.

In a statement the women’s movement said that Salem “passed away in one of the cells of Qanater Prison for women on Sunday due to intentional medical negligence.”

24 Dec 2019; MEMO: Israel is considering preventing the entry of officials from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to the chief prosecutor’s decision to investigate its possible war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, local media reported.

Israel Hayom reported yesterday that representatives from the Israeli ministries of foreign affairs, justice and national security council have discussed practical ways to respond to the ICC chief prosecutor’s decision.

New Delhi, Dec 24 (PTI) Over 70 student and youth organisations across the country joined hands on Tuesday under an umbrella body to intensify the ongoing protest against the contentious citizenship law and the proposed nationwide NRC and updating of the National Population Register (NPR).

On New Year's Day, members of the National Young India Co-ordination and Campaign and those supporting the movement will take a pledge to save the Constitution and have also coined a slogan: "New Year's Resolution -- Defend Constitution".

New Delhi, Dec 23 (PTI) A Delhi court on Monday dismissed bail pleas of 15 people arrested in connection with the violence in Delhi's Daryaganj area and extended their judicial custody by two weeks.

Metropolitan Magistrate Kapil Kumar dismissed the bail applications, saying there was no sufficient ground to grant them the relief.

The court passed the order after they were produced before it on expiry of their two-day judicial custody (JC).

Srinagar, Dec 23 (PTI) The National Conference (NC) held its provincial-level meeting here on Monday and passed two resolutions condemning the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and demanding immediate release of the detained political leaders and civil society members in Kashmir.

The meeting was held at the NC headquarters, Nawa-i-Subah, and the party's provincial body of Kashmir and the youth and women's wing attended it, NC spokesperson Imran Dar told PTI.

He said the meeting was chaired by NC provincial secretary, Kashmir, Showkat Ahmad.

Hyderabad, Dec 23 (PTI) Various organisations in Nizamabad district of Telangana on Monday staged protest meetings against the CAA and the proposed NRC, even as police foiled an attempt to hold a protest near Charminar in the city by taking 12 people into preventive custody.

In Nizamabad, a protest meeting was organised under the aegis of different organisations and later a rally was conducted, police said.

Over 5,000 protesters took part, a police official told PTI.

Guwahati, Dec 23 (PTI) Protests against the contentious citizenship law continued in Assam with agitators staging sit-ins across the state on Monday.

However, no violence from anywhere in the state was reported.

Former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who was the founder of the Asom Gana Parishad which is an alliance partner of the ruling BJP in the state, joined a sit-in at the Gandhi Mandap, a memorial for Mahatma Gandhi atop the Sarania Hill in Guwahati with his party colleagues to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Latur, Dec 23 (PTI) Social activists, political workers and people from different walks of life on Monday took out a peaceful march demanding scrapping of the amended citizenship law and boycott of the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) here in central Maharashtra.

The march, with the theme 'Sanvidhan Bachao, Desh Bachao' (Save the Constitution, Save the country), was organised under the banner Amhi Laturkar (we, residents of Latur) and comes amid nationwide protests against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the NRC.