Human Rights

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) A plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday challenging the constitutional validity of the amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on the ground that these infringed upon the fundamental rights of citizens.

The bill for amendments to the UAPA was passed by Parliament on August 2 and it received the President's ascent on August 9. The amended Act allows the Centre to designate individuals as terrorists and seize their properties.

22 Aug 2019; MEMO: An Israeli conscientious objector has been released by the military after spending 82 days in solitary confinement, reported +972 Magazine.

Roman Levin was freed by the Israeli army last week, having been first jailed in February, “when he declared his refusal to continue his service after spending a year and a half as a driver in the army.”

22 Aug 2019; MEMO: The family of the Egyptian-Palestinian politician Ramy Shaath who has previously worked as a political and strategic advisor to Yasser Arafat has released a statement on his arrest by Egyptian authorities last month in which they call for his prompt release.

22 Aug 2019; MEMO: The Israeli occupation’s court in Ofer Prison has ordered Palestinian children to pay fines worth $100,000 since the start of this year, Palestinian Prisoners’ Centre for Studies reported yesterday.

The centre said in a statement that most of the Palestinian children detained by Israel are fined in addition to spending time in prisons.

22 Aug 2019; MEMO: The worst humanitarian crises since the Second World War would not have been possible without the complicity of the UK say campaign groups in a report highlighting the Conservative government’s licencing of billions of pounds worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia since the start of the Yemen war.

New Delhi, Aug 22; GANASHAKTI: The Congress on Thursday lashed out at the government over the arrest of former finance minister P Chidambaram, accusing it of using the CBI and ED as a personal "revenge-seeking departments" and termed it as a broad daylight "murder" of democracy.

The senior Congress leader was arrested on Wednesday night by the CBI in the INX Media money laundering case and he spent the night in the agency's custody.

New Delhi, Aug 22; GANASHAKTI: Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the DMK, staged a protest at Jantar Mantar here on Thursday, demanding the release of the political leaders under detention in Jammu and Kashmir.

Congress leader P Chidambaram's son Karti also joined the protest. Chidambaram, a former Union finance minister, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday night in connection with a money-laundering case related to INX Media.

Mumbai, Aug 22 (PTI) NCP leader Dhananjay Munde on Thursday alleged that an "undeclared Emergency" has become more apparent in the country now with the summoning of MNS chief Raj Thackeray by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering probe.

He further alleged that the ED summoned Thackeray, a bitter critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, to "silence him" ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls, due in September-October.

Washington, Aug 21 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has said that he would discuss with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the situation in Kashmir and help ease the Indo-Pak tensions when they meet at the G7 Summit in France this weekend.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday while welcoming visiting Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, Trump said he was happy to try and help calm the situation in Kashmir amidst fresh Indo-Pak tensions after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Washington, Aug 22 (PTI) The US is seeking a balancing act in South Asia after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two Union Territories, according to a congressional report which said President Donald Trump's offer to "mediate" on the issue may have contributed to the timing of New Delhi's moves.

According to the latest Congressional Research Service (CRS) report which runs into over 15 pages the longstanding US position on Kashmir is that