-The Hindu Blaming ‘the system’ alone for Father Stan Swamy’s death obscures how India’s political economy is linked to deprival When an officer from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) came to interrogate Father Stan Swamy last monsoon, the Jesuit sociologist, then 83, in turn asked him about police integrity, and why a father-son duo (P. Jayaraj and Bennicks) should die of custodial torture in a Tamil Nadu police lock-up. It was quintessential...

-NDTV.com The Editors Guild of India expressed shock at the manner in which the mysterious death of a journalist was treated by the Uttar Pradesh police. New Delhi: Journalists and cartoonists are being targeted in India, contrary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's global stance on free speech and fostering democratic values in cyberspace, the Editors Guild of India said today. The government itself heaps pressure on these professionals if and when their...

-Press release by People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) dated 2nd June, 2021 We, the members of various Human Rights Organisations and Concerned individuals, condemn the appointment of former SC Judge, Shri Arun Kumar Mishra, as the next Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India by the selection Committee headed by the Prime Minister. What is troubling  is that the decision to appoint Justice Arun Kumar Mishra as NHRC...

-Outlook India Justice Madan B Lokur cited a recent incident in UP involving a man who tweeted for help-seeking oxygen for his 88-year-old grandfather and the Amethi police booked him. Former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur on Friday said that sedition cases against people seeking help during the pandemic, and blocking of news and social media channels reporting failure of authorities, is curtailment of freedom of speech and expression. Speaking at...

-The Hindu Notes several instances of govt pressure on media outlets Washington DC: In its 2020 Human Rights Report, the U.S. State Department said the harassment and detention of journalists critical of the (Indian) government in their reporting and on social media, has continued, although the government generally respected the freedom of expression. It also said government’s requests for user data from Internet companies had increased “dramatically.” The report, which is submitted each...