Stories of Human Abuse and Human being in wretched plight all around the World

Ciudad Juarez's drug war death toll hits 3,000 This year's death toll from drug-related violence in the north Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez has reached 3,000 - 10 times the figure recorded in 2007. A total of 7,386 people have been killed in Ciudad Juarez in the The grim milestone was reached after two murders on Tuesday, the Chihuahua state attorney-general's office said. Last year, 2,763 people were killed in Ciudad Juarez, 1,140 more than in 2008. More than 30,000 people have died across Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against the drug cartels in 2006. Northern states have seen much of the violence, with cartels fighting each other for control of the lucrative drug smuggling routes to the US. Exodus Arturo Sandoval, a spokesman for Chihuahua's attorney-general, announced on Tuesday that, with two weeks left in 2010, 3,000 murders had been recorded in Ciudad Juarez, a city of 1.3 million ...

Blasphemy trials in Pakistan reveal a broken justice system By Karin Brulliard and Shaiq Hussain Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, December 10 KULLUWAL, PAKISTAN - With its single dirt road, friendly residents and abundance of drowsing donkeys, this village hardly seems a hotbed of religious radicalism. Nevertheless, four years ago, dozens of angry townspeople marched and chanted, "Death to the blasphemer!" Their demands were answered. Two years later, court records show, a teenaged Muslim named Muhammad Shafique was sentenced to hang for cursing the Prophet Muhammad and tossing pages of the Koran onto "cow dung and urine." Today, an air of regret permeates Kulluwal. Shafique's accusers fled town, and their relatives now say the allegations were lies. Many residents call the case a setup fueled by political and personal rivalries. But as Shafique waits on death row, his appeal stuck in Pakistan's glacial courts, no one is quite sure what...

9 December 2010 Afghan law has done little for women - UN report By Bilal Sarwary BBC News, Kabul Things have improved little for many women, the report says Millions of Afghan women continue to suffer from violence and harmful practices despite a new law aimed at curbing such abuse, the UN says. In a new report , the UN spoke to women and men across the country, including officials and religious leaders. The report paints a bleak picture of life for Afghan women in urban and rural areas among all ethnic groups. Women still face "honour killings" and forced marriages nine years after the Taliban were ousted, it said. The report blames insecurity and poverty caused by three decades of war, but it also says the government is not doing enough to protect women's rights. A law was introduced last year to eliminate violence against women...

December 2010: Take Action Source : Amnesty International A 38-year old labour activist, Su Su Nway , is serving a sentence of eight and a half years in a remote prison in Myanmar because she put up an anti-government banner in Yangon. In Mexico, Father Alejandro Solalinde Guerra , is being intimidated by gangs and officials for providing a safe refuge to migrants who are exploited by criminals. A woman in Senegal, Khady Bassène , is still waiting for justice and to find out what happened to her husband who disappeared in 1999. These are ordinary people involved in extraordinary struggles and we don’t want to forget them. Write for Rights That’s why we participate in Write for Rights . Every year around Internatio...

TRIPURA HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANISATION ( THRO) A few days ago (from 20 Nov to 2 Dec.2010), I had visited a North Eastern State Tripura, in India. I looked for any news regarding Human Rights Violation or involving Human Rights activities. I talked to many people, but no one can shed light on this topics. I asked even a Sub-divisional Magistrate. There was no clue to be mentioned about human rights violation. People seemed peaceful and happy. My search was not finished and finally I came to know an organization through some of my close friends. The name of the Organisation is TRIPURA HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANISATION ( THRO). I went to the office and met with general secretary, Mr. Purusuttam Roy Burman. An influential, powerful and intellectual man. A lawyer in profession. He provided me some reports and told me in brief the present state of human Rights in Tripura. I have been pleased by the action the organization took earlier. Thank you. The organisation has some upcoming p...

Source : BBC 14 November 2010 Haiti cholera death toll tops 900 More than 14,000 people have been hospitalised since the outbreak The number of people in Haiti who have died from cholera has reached 917, the country's health ministry says. The disease is present in six out of 10 provinces and 14,642 people have been hospitalised since the outbreak of the waterborne disease began last month. Aid agencies are battling to contain cholera in the capital Port-au-Prince, amid fears it will spread through camps housing 1.1m earthquake survivors. The UN is appealing for $164m (£101m) to treat the disease in the next year. The death toll has risen by 121 since Friday. Elections due The worst affected area remains the central province of Artibonite, where 595 people have died, said an update on the health ministry's website . In Port-au-Prince - which was badly damaged by the earthquake in January - 27 deaths have been rec...

Pakistani Christians in church Rights groups say the blasphemy law is often exploited by Islamist extremists or people harbouring personal grudges. Pakistani Christian woman appeals over death sentence Relatives of a Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death for insulting the Prophet Muhammad say they will appeal against her conviction. Asia Bibi is believed to be the first woman sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy law. Her husband told the BBC her conviction was based on "false accusations". Although no-one has ever been executed under the law, about 10 accused have been murdered before the completion of their trials. The 45-year-old mother was sentenced to death on Monday by a court in the town of Nankana, around 75km (45 miles) from the city of Lahore in Punjab province. Altercation over water Her husband, Ashiq Masih, who is a field labourer, said: "We have never ever insulted the Prophet Muhammad or Islamic scripture, and we will contest the charges...

Read in this blog relating story, click In India, greed creeps into microlending, critics say By Rama Lakshmi Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, October 29, 2010 NEW DELHI - The microcredit revolution has been celebrated for helping poor women in developing countries start small businesses. By lending them money for purchases such as a buffalo or sewing machine, the women were able to help lift their families out of poverty. But critics say the microcredit model has been perverted by commercial greed in India , with reports of abusive collection methods and sky-high interest rates. "What began as a simple, innovative model of providing credit for the poor women who were excluded from mainstream banks underwent a paradigm shift in India," said R. Subramaniam, principal secretary for rural development in Andhra Pradesh. "Many of these microfinance lenders morphed into for-profit companies six years ago." In the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, whi...

Indonesia tsunami kills By JOHN NEDI The Associated Press Wednesday, October 27, 2010 Source : The Washington Post PADANG, Indonesia -- Navy ships packed with medicine and food and rescuers in helicopters headed Tuesday to remote Indonesian islands that were pounded by a 10-foot (3-meter) tsunami, sweeping away villages and killing at least 113 people Rough seas and bad weather have hampered relief operations, leaving villagers to fend for themselves for nearly two days. With not enough people to dig graves, corpses littered beaches and roads, according to district chief, Edison Salelo Baja. Fisherman were scouring waters in search of survivors. The fault line that ruptured Monday on Sumatra island's coast also caused the 2004 quake and monster Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. Disaster officials have been unable so far to reach many of the villages on the hardest hit Mentawai islands - a popular surfer's destination that is ...

Pic. credit :BBC Haiti cholera outbreak causes not clear, experts say By Sigrun Rottmann . BBC News . 25 October 2010. Until the current outbreak, cholera had not been documented in Haiti since 1960 The cholera outbreak in central Haiti that so far has killed more than 250 people and infected more than 3,000 is the worst health challenge the country faces since the earthquake in January. There had been no documented outbreak of the disease in Haiti since 1960. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said after the earthquake that while cholera testing should be carried out, the disease was "extremely unlikely to occur". So why has the epidemic struck now? It is not clear if the cause of the outbreak will ever be identified, but health experts agree that for cholera to occur, bad sanitation and hygiene have to coincide with people carryi...