By Guest Writer Tatiana Gnuva
Image: "Ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh evacuated from their homes" by Mil.ru is licensed under CC BY 4.0 DEED.
Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as “Artsakh,” was home to 120,000 people, most of whom were ethnic Armenians. Artsakh is isolated from the Republic of Armenia and is only connected to the country through the Lachin corridor. The independent republic of Artsakh functioned as a de-facto breakaway Armenian state yet was long claimed by Azerbaijan. For centuries, Artsakh was a primarily Armenian region, but in the early 1920s, it was incorporated into the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic under the decision of the USSR’s Joseph Stalin. Starting in December of 2022 and lasting over ten months, Azerbaijan slowly implemented its strategy to claim the territory. The country’s actions plunged the region into poverty and insecurity, dramatically lowering human rights standards. In December of 2022, Azerbaijani protestors blocked the corridor, effectively limiting movement to Artsakh. The protestors masqueraded as an environmental demonstration to...
By Guest Writer Nishka Kapoor
Recently, the government of Sri Lanka published the new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), a new legislation intended to replace the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979. This is the second attempt to introduce a replacement bill, following the initial 2018 effort that was met with widespread criticism and subsequently rejected. The latest ATA has also drawn significant criticism nationally and internationally due to concerns regarding its non-compliance with human rights principles.
In early 2022, Sri Lanka faced a severe economic crisis which had a devastating impact on the Sri Lankan people. There is a shortage of essential goods and unprecedented levels of inflation. Millions of people were pushed into poverty, and there have been numerous anti-government demonstrations. In an attempt to quell dissent, the Sri Lankan government has proposed a new ATA Bill. This is because the country’s economic problems have triggered widespread protests against the government, and the administration has responded by detaining and arresting...
By Guest Writer Prabhu Gupta
The small Indian state of Manipur has been engulfed in intense civil conflict due to ethnic tensions. The primary Meitei population, along with the smaller Kuki minority, are engaged in a struggle for control and territorial dominance, leading to violent clashes. Recently, a video went viral showing two naked women being paraded naked, molested, and raped by a mob in the violence-inflicted areas resulting in a huge uproar from both within and outside the nation.
Factual Backdrop and issues leading to the crisis
The northeastern Indian state of Manipur, situated to the east of Bangladesh and sharing a border with Myanmar, has a population of approximately 3.3 million people. The majority population belongs to the Meiteis, while around 43% belong to the Kuki and Naga tribes, which make up the predominant minority groups.
In Manipur a situation of ongoing violence began in May, resulting in the death of at least 130 people and injuries to 400 more. The conflict...
By Guest Writer Rafsi Albar
Image by Arkananta Dhimas Naufal
For 31 of its 78 years, Indonesia was ruled by the iron fist of the “smiling general,” Suharto. His leadership, known as the “New Order,” originally focused on economic development in order to make up for the losses suffered as a result of President Sukarno’s political manoeuvres. Despite being arguably successful in improving the welfare of its more than 100 million people across three decades, his military background eventually found a way to intervene in the young nation’s supposed democracy.
The dual function of the armed forces, more commonly known locally as Dwifungsi ABRI, is a doctrine developed around the same time as Suharto’s rise to power following the political upheaval caused by the Indonesian Communist Party’s insurgency in 1965. The armed forces—or ABRI—then encompassing both the military and police, saw civil administration as ineffective. As such, they believed that former and active ABRI personnel should be able to assume strategic positions in...
By Guest Writers Jayam Jha and Pooja Rajawat
In the ongoing session of the Rajya Sabha, the seat of the former Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh was shifted from the first row to the last row, due to his inability to walk to the first row because of health-related issues. This has sparked a debate regarding the accessibility of public buildings for persons with disabilities. It asks a pertinent question: what do we do when the parliament of a country is not accessible for persons with disabilities? Out of all other institutions, the need to revamp educational institutions—be it public or private—is more important than ever before, especially when we observe the 30 years of Unni Krishnan vs. The State of Andhra Pradesh, wherein the Right to Education was included within the ambit of Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. This right to education was later explicitly inserted under Article 21A of the Constitution by...
By Guest Writer Surjit Raiguru
In a seminal statement, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud shines a spotlight on the intricate tapestry of gender identity and expression, deconstructing long-held misconceptions. Departing from reductionist notions, this article explores the profound interplay between biology, psychology, and society in shaping an individual's gender identity. By elucidating the nuanced nature of gender, CJI Chandrachud calls for an inclusive society that respects and validates diverse experiences, unravelling the complexities of gender, heralding a new era of acceptance and understanding.
Gender identity and expression are complex and multifaceted concepts that cannot be reduced to simplistic notions based on reproductive organs. In a recent statement by CJI DY Chandrachud, he rightly acknowledged that there is no absolute concept of man or woman based on reproductive organs. However, his statement has been misunderstood by some, leading to misguided criticisms.
CJI Chandrachud's statement highlights the fact that gender is not solely determined by biological sex. It goes beyond the physical characteristics...
By Guest Writer Shaharyaar Shahardar
The right to life and the corollary right to be free from the arbitrary deprivation of life constitutes an essential human right that was formally codified in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1976. Article 6(1) of the ICCPR states that “every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.” This principle now has attained the jus cogens status as a peremptory norm in international law. Nevertheless, States continue to engage in this practice, justifying such killings as necessary to maintain law and order, combat terrorism, or suppress dissent. Similarly in India, neither extrajudicial killings nor the indifference of authorities towards them is new. What is worrisome this time, however, is authorities’ explicit support for extrajudicial killings.
Recently, Asad, son of Atiq Ahmed (a former Parliamentarian) and his aide, Ghulam, were killed in an ‘encounter’ in Jhansi,...
By Guest Writer Prasun Nabiyal
The Hindu Succession Act (Amendment) of 2005 placed Hindu daughters on an equal footing with sons by giving them coparcenary rights over their father’s ancestral property. Coparcenary rights are a bundle of property rights shared among joint-heirs. According to N.R. Raghavchariar’s “Hindu Law Principles and Precedents”, this includes rights such as right to joint-possession and right to demand partition. Prior to the 2005 amendment, these rights were the exclusive domain of Hindu sons. The amendment thus marked a watershed moment, moving away from the gender-discriminating Hindu Succession Act of 1956. Last year, the Supreme Court of India, in the same tradition, held that Hindu daughters can inherit both self-acquired-property and coparcenary property.
However, despite these progressive developments in the legal realm, the societal perception towards the issue of Hindu women possessing property rights persists. The mainstream view continues to believe that only sons, not daughters, have coparcenary rights. Thus, the exercise of these rights by daughters is...
By Guest Writer Ketan Aggarwal
“My parents were sleeping inside the house. They demolished the house without informing us and set it on fire. I somehow managed to come out of the house. The policemen caught me and beat me up. They were trying to push me inside the burning house. My father was severely burnt, while my mother and sister died in the fire.”
These were the words of Shivam, whose house was demolished during an anti-encroachment drive in the Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh this month.
This disturbing incident is not an isolated case of what has been termed "Bulldozer Justice." Similar incidents of forced evictions and demolitions have occurred in other parts of India, including Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. Many political parties, NGO & human rights groups like Al Jazeera have criticized these actions, which disproportionately target marginalized and minority communities, as a form of extrajudicial punishment.
The use of bulldozers to demolish homes and businesses has become increasingly prevalent...
By Guest Writers Desi Yunitasari and Devi Yusvitasari
Introduction
With a population totaling around 260 million individuals, Indonesia is the fourth-largest country in terms of population size. This has contributed to the surplus of workers in Indonesia. Domestic workers are a fundamental part of the movement of the activities of millions of households in line with the increasing demand for the needs of families in urban and rural areas to do household work such as care and maintenance-and household services. Indonesia not only employs millions of domestic workers but supplies them in large numbers to Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Middle Eastern countries. Domestic workers indirectly affect national economic growth, as the wages they send home contribute to the country's foreign exchange earnings.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that 80 percent of all domestic workers are women, while underage female workers make up 30% of the workforce. Most of these women and girls are breadwinners for their families. Moreover,...
