The newly elected Jammu and Kashmir government should hold security forces to account for human rights violations as an important confidence-building measure to promote lasting peace.
David Miliband was right when he wrote on these pages that the use of the term "war on terror" has been a mistake. But the main problem with the war on terror has not been language, but conduct. This week the joint committee on human rights held a hearing on allegations of British complicity in torture in Pakistan, to which Jacqui Smith has been asked to respond. They suggest a policy of condoning torture in the interests of national security.
While condemning the attacks that killed at least 175 people in Mumbai, the governments of India and Pakistan should cooperate in a prompt and thorough investigation to identify the perpetrators and planners of the attacks and hold them accountable.
As UN member states begin three days of debate on the rights of the child, more than 300 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from 82 countries called on the UN General Assembly to take urgent action to end executions for crimes committed by children.
Ending executions for crimes committed by children in just five countries would result in universal implementation of the prohibition on the juvenile death penalty, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Governments should use next week’s United Nations General Assembly session opening to commit to urgently needed reforms to protect the rights of children in conflict with the law.
The newly elected government in Pakistan should abolish the death penalty, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani.
For now, the army appears to have opted for a strategic retreat from the political arena. Its former leader, President Pervez Musharraf, though characteristically unrepentant and unashamed, nevertheless stands humiliated and diminished.
Sep 11, 2008Press release