The failure of successive Indian governments to bring to justice those responsible for mass revenge attacks on Sikhs after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi 25 years ago is a severe blot on India's legal system and democracy.

The Indian government should support the suspension of Zimbabwe from the international "conflict diamonds" body that will be meeting in Namibia next week.

Human Rights Watch writes to Indian Minister for External Affairs S. M. Krishna and Ambassador to Zimbabwe Venkatesan Ashok to encourage India to support Zimbabwe's suspension from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

Hundreds of thousands of patients in India unnecessarily experience excruciating pain. Restrictive drug regulations, lack of training for health care workers, and poorly integrated care result in needless suffering for patients because they cannot get inexpensive and effective pain medications.

I gave birth in the developing world, in South Africa, to be precise. South Africa was in the spotlight recently when a government-commissioned report showed a 20 per cent increase in the number of deaths from pregnancy-related causes between 2005 and 2007 over the previous three-year period. The report said that nearly 40 per cent of these deaths were avoidable.

India's global leadership on human rights is increasingly necessary to counteract the negative role played by other powerful states.

Governments in countries with caste systems should respond to the call from a top UN official to end this form of discrimination.

Tens of thousands of Indian women and girls are dying during pregnancy, in childbirth, and in the weeks after giving birth, despite government programs guaranteeing free obstetric health care.