Urgent Appeal Case : The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from Human Rights Alert (HRA) regarding the illegal arrest of a human rights defender and a musician from Manipur for they dared to complain against an incident of torture of villagers and members of their troupe. The arrest, allegedly on fabricated charges, is believed to be an act of vengeance by the police. The police had on a previous occasion, tortured members of a music troupe, to which the two persons arrested belong and had tortured them a few days before. The two victims had filed complaints about the incident and had led a joint action committee formed by the villagers that demanded actions against the police officers. Of the two persons arrested now, Mr. Mandir Laishram and Mr. Ningthoujam Hemo, Mandir is active in Manipur, against the state government arming villagers, in the pretext of fighting ant-state activities by militant groups. Read More...

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Urgent Appeal Case : The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received very disturbing information regarding the assault on five women human rights defenders working with Sahjani Shiksha Kendra (SSK) in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh. The women, belonging to the Dalit and backward communities, were physically and verbally assaulted while inaugurating an adult literacy centre for Dalit women. The project is supported by Nirantar, a prominent voluntary organization working in the field of education. They were assaulted in the village by a locally powerful man named Sahib Singh Yadav. Even more disturbing is the fact that the perpetrator threatened them with sexual assault and abused them on the basis of caste, a practice declared illegal by the Indian constitution. SSK and Nirantar have been working in Lalitpur since 2002, for the empowerment of Dalit and Adivasi women and girls through literacy and educational interventions. SSK is the only women-headed organization in the district, staffed primarily with Dalit and BC women in Lalitpur, working with nearly 3000 Dalit and Adivasi women. Read More...

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