36 killed in suspicious encounters during anti-Veerappan operations: panel   It is nine years since a fact-finding commission constituted by the National Human Rights Commission and headed by a retired High Court judge found that at least 36 people were killed in suspicious encounters by the Special Task Force (STF) during the anti-Veerappan operations. Yet, the nhrc has not passed final orders on the complaints of atrocities against the STF. The commission, in...

The National Human Rights Commission (nhrc), which went through 2,097 cases of killing of youth and mass cremation of their bodies by the Punjab police during the peak of militancy in the State, has ordered a relief of Rs.27.94 crore to the families of 1,513 victims of such extra-judicial killings. The remaining bodies were not identified. When the terrorism was at its peak during 1984-1996 in the State, police personnel, whether...

A report sent to the National Human Rights Commission (nhrc) by the NGO, Navsarjan, has revealed that dalits in Gujarat are frequently forced to leave their native villages because of clashes with members of forward castes. Denial of entry into temples is another reason for dalit migration in the state, the report states. The nhrc has taken serious note of the allegations made in the report. Earlier this month, it issued...

Says respond else face action Annoyed by the non-submission of reports regarding illegal clinical trials of breast cancer drug, the National Human Rights Commission (nhrc) has issued notices to the Union health ministry and the Andhra Pradesh government. It has asked the Centre and the state government to respond within six weeks or face action. The commission had in June last year sent notices to the Union health secretary, secretary of the...

Based on the orders of the National Human Rights Commission (nhrc), the Puducherry government has paid Rs. 3 lakh to the wife of an undertrial prisoner – Silvaraj alias Siva – who died on August 15, 2009 in the Central prison at Kalapet (Puducherry) when he was assaulted by five inmates. The nhrc, after considering various reports, including the post-mortem and conclusions of magisterial inquiry, found that Silvaraj was admitted to...