SOCIAL AWARENESS

INDIA 2020 Freedom of expression was guaranteed selectively, and dissent was repressed through unlawful restrictions on peaceful protests and by silencing critics. Human rights defenders, including students, academics, journalists, and artists, were arbitrarily arrested, often without charge or trial. Despite a Supreme Court ruling to reduce prison overcrowding to curb the spread of COVID-19, the authorities continued to incarcerate many who were critical of the government. The authorities failed to adequately investigate or punish perpetrators of violence based on caste, sex, and gender and carried out reprisals against those who reported rape and caste-based crimes. There was widespread impunity and lack of accountability for murders and attacks carried out by vigilante mobs and police officers against religious minorities. Swift and extreme restrictions were placed on freedom of movement in response to the pandemic, leaving thousands of migrant workers stranded without adequate food...

In Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India, there is a very famous phrase: “Kaaval thurai ungal nanban”, which means; “The police department is your friend”.  However, the custodial deaths of Jeyaraj and Bennix in the Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu in 2020 contradict this phrase. This incident in 2020 sparked significant public outrage and subsequently highlighted the worrying increase in custodial deaths that are happening in India. It has also brought attention to the issues of caste, class, and religious factors in relation to the disproportionate incarceration, torture, and deaths of individuals from marginalized communities. CUSTODIAL DEATHS In 2020, Jeyaraj (his last name is undisclosed, which is likely due to the cultural norm of only using mononyms in Tamil Nadu) was arrested by the police on 19 June in Tuticorin district. This was done under the pretense of an “inquiry,” following an altercation near Jeyaraj’s woodwork shop. Later that day, his son, Bennix was eventually a...

  Literacy deeply and persistently impacts access to education, economic development, and life outcomes. Even in our modern world, the numbers are startling. Millions — around the world and in our own country — remain functionally illiterate, reading below the basic level. The  International Literacy Association  views “literacy as the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, compute, and communicate using visual, audible, and digital materials across disciplines and in any context,” says  Dr. Bernadette Dwyer , President of the  International Literacy Association . “The right to literacy is a basic fundamental human right. However, 750 million people around the world cannot read and write. Two-thirds of these are female. Despite some progress, gender disparity remains.” The perpetuation of illiteracy leads to “heavy and often tragic consequences, via lower earnings, poorer health and higher rates of incarceration,” according to  McKinsey & C...

What are human rights? Human rights are rights we have simply because we exist as human beings - they are not granted by any state. These universal rights are  inherent  to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. They range from the most fundamental - the right to life - to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work, health, and liberty. The  Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),  adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, was the first legal document to set out the fundamental human rights to be universally protected. The UDHR, which  turned 70  in 2018, continues to be the foundation of all international human rights law. Its  30 articles  provide the principles and building blocks of current and future human rights conventions, treaties, and other legal instruments. The UDHR, together with the 2 covenants - the International C...