Ramisha Ali  with AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters Thousands of Afghans have crossed the border from Pakistan, as the UN and Pakistani officials report that Islamabad is increasing pressure for their return. Pakistan started the large push to expel Afghans in 2023, but some concessions were made last year. Source: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images Pakistan has expelled thousands of Afghan nationals in the past week in a fresh repatriation drive after a March 31 deadline to leave expired. Afghans holding Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC), issued by Pakistani authorities and held by 800,000 people, according to the United Nations, were told to leave or face deportation to Afghanistan after the deadline. On Tuesday, the UNHCR , the UN's Refugee Agency, reported that at least 8,906 Afghan nationals have been deported since April 1. A Pakistani government official confirmed the move and stated, "our campaign is gaining momentum, and the crackdown against illegal immigrants has been intensified." The Taliban  government in neighboring Afghanistan  condemned the "violence" used by Pakistan to expel Afghans from the country. Human rights groups have raised concerns Pakistan started the mass deportation of Afghan refugees in 2023 . Islamabad said the drive is part of a campaign aimed at clamping down on migrants who are in the country illegally. About 845,000 Afghans have left Pakistan over the past 18 months, figures from the International Organization for Migration show. Pakistan says three million Afghans remain. Afghans crossing the border have told French news agency AFP that they left their homes without taking all their belongings or money, with some rounded up and taken directly to the border. "Pakistan is abandoning its international commitment to not send people back to where their rights are at risk," Fereshta Abbasi of Afghanistan Human Rights Watch said.  Kabul has termed the repatriation as forced deportation. ''The mistreatment inflicted by neighboring countries is unacceptable and intolerable,'' said the Taliban's Ministry of Refugees  and Repatriation wrote on X.  "All refugees should be able to take their money, belongings and property with them," it added. The Taliban  government also accused Islamabad for using Afghan migrants for "political goals." Kabul, Islamabad row amid rising crackdown Over the last three years, Pakistan's relationship with neighboring Afghanistan has deteriorated. Islamabad holds the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan responsible for their inability to control the operations of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that formed in 2007 and has conducted numerous attacks on Pakistani security forces . As cross-border tensions with the Taliban regime escalated, concerns were also raised about the well-being of Afghans in Pakistan amid reports of purported intimidation and arrests.  The UN special rapporteur has expressed his worries, stating that Afghans in the area deserve more humane treatment. Pakistan said it plans to accelerate the drive to repatriate millions of Afghans who crossed the border during decades of armed conflict  in their home country and after the Taliban seized power in 2021. Edited by: Louis Oelofse Ramisha Ali  Multimedia journalist reporting on stories from around the world. © 2025 Deutsche Welle

It's only a matter of days': Palestinians bid farewell as Israel rains bombs on Gaza Palestinians posting on social media say they don't think they will survive Israel's bloody bombardment across the strip A Palestinian woman sits amid the devastation in the yard of a school, a day after it was hit by an Israeli strike, in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City on 4 April 2025 (Omar al-Qattaa/AFP) Palestinians are posting final messages and letters of farewell on social media, expressing their fear they will not survive amid the intensity of Israel 's carpet bombing of the Gaza Strip . Many Palestinians in Gaza have turned to social media since the start of Israel's onslaught in October 2023 to communicate with one another, document Israeli attacks and their daily experiences, and share their thoughts, hopes and lives with international audiences in a period when media outlets , social media platforms and arts and education institutions stand accused of censoring information and muzzling freedom of expression related to the war. Over the past 24 hours however, posts expressing hopelessness amid the severity and destructiveness of the attacks and fear that people in Gaza might not survive this time, have soared.  On Thursday, Israel killed at least 112 Palestinians, in what has become the deadliest day since Israel resumed its war on the besieged enclave on 18 March. A video posted by Nour, a woman from Gaza, shows an Israeli strike on a building nearby amidst an entirely destroyed neighbourhood as a woman sobs in the background. "It seems we won’t survive this time .." the caption reads. Journalist Abdallah Alattar from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, shared : "it seems that we won't make it this time" on Friday morning, which has been widely circulated and reshared. Abubaker Amed, a football journalist from Deir al-Balah, expressed in a post that the people of Gaza "know the world has let them down and thus feel their killing is a matter of time". Several users have also called on the people and global powers to pay attention and speak up for the people in Gaza, facing not only bombing, but also  starvation  due to Israel’s blockade on food and essentials. "Bombs above, hunger below—Gaza is suffering. How much longer can we endure this?" wrote one Palestinian. "The world must act NOW!" Israel's war on Gaza continues to be supported and funded by its allies, most notably the US .   In March, the Donald Trump administration bypassed a normal congressional review to  approve a nearly $3bn arms sale to Israel. On Thursday, independent US Senator Bernie Sanders attempted to bring forward two joint resolutions of disapproval to block $8.8bn worth of offensive weapons sales to Israel that were already approved by the Trump administration. Only 15 senators, including Tim Kaine and former presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren, voted to move forward and the vote to block the weapons transfers failed. Prayers and self-eulogies Several users have also used their social media accounts to post a farewell messages and prayers in case they should die.   Writer and pharmacist from Gaza Omar Hamad, on Thursday night posted a farewell message on X, saying that he felt his posts did not make a difference. "At first, I was eager, sharing everything my hands could write," he said. "But I do not know what you need to see or read to finally rise against all that is happening - not for our sake, but for your conscience, for your faith, so that you do not struggle with your conscience when you go to sleep." "I have never felt death drawing this close to me throughout the entire genocide as I do these days," Hamad wrote in a separate post on 3 April. Hamza Alsharif, a medical doctor at the European Hospital and the Al-Aqsa Hospital posted on X that bombings "are intensifying across all areas of the Strip", and that "blood is everywhere". "If I die, I am not a number, I am a planet in itself, I have dreams and ambitions that I wanted to achieve. Don't forget me in your prayers and keep talking about me," Dr Alsharif wrote in a post pinned to his profile since 18 March. Last month, an Israeli missile targeted and killed 23-year-old Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat in Beit Lahiya just hours after Mohammad Mansour, a correspondent for Palestine Today, was killed in an Israeli air strike which targeted his home. His wife and son were killed alongside him. Hours after Hossam's death, his colleagues posted a message written by Hossam himself, indicating that he had a sense that he would be likely targeted. "If you’re reading this, it means I have been killed - most likely targeted - by the Israeli occupation forces," said the 23-year-old. Hossam's self-written eulogy was reminiscent of renowned Palestinian poet and academic Refaat Alareer, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in December last year and whose widely circulated poem ' If I must die ' became a symbol of hope and resistance amid Israel's war. Copyright © 2014 - 2025. Middle East Eye. All rights reserved.

Representative Image © Provided by Asian News International (ANI) Islamabad [ Pakistan ], April 7 (ANI): Taliban  officials on Sunday urged Pakistan  to prepare a joint mechanism for the gradual repatriation of refugees. Taliban  officials further said that forced deportation  is in the interests of neither Pakistan  nor Afghanistan , Dawn reported. In a statement on March 7, Pakistan 's Interior Ministry had stated, "All illegal foreigners and ACC holders are advised to leave the country voluntarily before 31 March 2025; thereafter, deportation  will commence wef 1 April 2025." Taliban -led Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation spokesperson, Mufti Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, said that bringing the refugees back is the official policy of Afghanistan , Dawn reported. However, it should be conducted under a joint mechanism with Pakistan  so that refugees are returned gradually and with "honour". Speaking to Taliban 's Hurriyat Radio, the spokesperson said, "But if Pakistan  unilaterally sends refugees, we are fully prepared to receive them." He further said, "We have held meetings with Pakistan i officials on the issue and are still in contact with them." Haqqani said that Afghanistan 's only demand is that Afghan refugees  should not be forcibly deported as deportation  is not only against international laws but also contrary to Islamic values and an act against good, neighbourly norms. He said, "Their forced deportation  is also not in the interests of Pakistan  and Afghanistan . We have always demanded that there should be a joint mechanism for the repatriation of Afghan refugees  and they should return in fewer numbers so they can be accommodated with dignity." According to spokesperson, Afghans are being sent back by force and Iran has expressed willingness to prepare a joint mechanism through an understanding. Haqqani further said that a commission was created to protect and assist refugees. They would be given land in various parts of Afghanistan  while skilled refugees would be provided with jobs. He said, "Those who want to invest, no tax will be imposed for five years and no tax on whatever they brought to the country." Meanwhile, Afghan officials have stated that refugees from Pakistan  are welcomed at camps in Torkham and receive assistance.    Speaking to Afghan state news agency Bakhtar, Nangarhar  provincial information department head Siddiqullah Qureshi said that 325 refugees arrived via Torkham on Friday. He said, "The returnees include 249 members of 62 families and 31 other individuals were deported on April 13." He stated that repatriation through Torkham intensified recently, and returnees were being facilitated with registration and other facilities. A high-ranking provincial delegation led by Nangarhar  Deputy Governor Maulvi Azizullah Mustafa visited the Torkham border  to closely monitor the process of the second wave of Afghan refugees  heading back from Pakistan  and to improve coordination and steps to address their initial problems and needs, Dawn reported, citing Bakhtar. A camp set up to facilitate the repatriation of Afghan Citizenship Card  (ACC) holders is now operational on the Pakistan i side. Employees at the camp at Landi Kotal are now clearing refugees for repatriation, the report said further. On Sunday, officials in the Khyber district said that the cases of 850 Afghans were processed at Landi Kotal camp and Torkham for repatriation. As many as 777 Afghans were deported via Torkham on Saturday. Speaking to Dawn, a senior official in the Khyber  district said that 11,272 Afghans have been repatriated since April 1. Pakistan  has not agreed to the requests made by Taliban  leaders and started repatriation and deportation  from November 1 under a previous announcement. Pakistan 's interior ministry announced that the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP) was enforced on November 1, 2023. Under the IFRP, more than 700,000 undocumented Afghans have already left Pakistan  since the process started. In a statement, it said, "In continuation to the government's decision to repatriate all illegal foreigners, national leadership has now decided to also repatriate ACC holders." According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ) Pakistan  representative Philippa Candler, Pakistan  hosts 1.52 million registered Afghan refugees  and asylum-seekers, 800,000 Afghan citizenship holders, and others living in the country without official recognition. (ANI) Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. ( Syndigate.info ). Copyrights © aninews.in

Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers says the army has executing civilians suspected of supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Copyright AP Photo The UN has condemned reports of extrajudicial killings of civilians in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, after it was recaptured by the Sudanese military last month. The Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers said in a statement earlier this week that the army had carried out field executions of civilians suspected of supporting the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the country's two-year-old civil war. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk said he was "appalled" by the reports and urged the Sudanese army to end "arbitrary deprivation of life". A video shared by Emergency Lawyers shows multiple instances of individuals, some blindfolded, being fatally shot by men in uniform and others in civilian clothing. The footage has not been independently verified. However, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) cited similar videos reportedly showing armed men "executing civilians in cold blood" and perpetrators stating that they are punishing RSF supporters. "Extrajudicial killings are serious violations and their perpetrators, as well as those with command responsibility, must be held accountable," said Thameen al-Kheetan, an OHCHR spokesperson. The Sudanese army has not commented on the reports or the UN's remarks. OHCHR also raised alarm over a surge in online hate speech and calls for violence, including the circulation of lists accusing individuals of collaborating with the RSF. War broke out in Sudan in April 2023 between the military and the RSF. Although the military has reclaimed control of strategic locations including el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, clashes continue across the country. At least 20,000 people have been killed in the war, although experts believe the true death toll is significantly higher. Over 14 million people have been displaced, and parts of Sudan are now facing famine. Copyright © euronews 2025

Waqf Bill a Dangerous Step Toward Dispossessing Indian Muslims, say Indian Americans Getty images via BBC Washington, D.C. (April 2, 2025) – The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) has expressed deep concern over the introduction of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, by India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The proposed legislation, which is currently being debated in the Indian Parliament,  seeks to fundamentally alter the governance of waqf properties, threatening the rights and autonomy of India’s Muslim communities under the pretext of transparency and reform. Rasheed Ahmed, Executive Director of IAMC, issued the following statement: “The Waqf amendment bill is a blatant attempt to strip the Muslim community of its control over waqf properties and place these institutions under state control. The intention here is to dilute the authority of the Muslim community and weaken its ability to safeguard religious endowments. This move undermines not only the religious autonomy of Muslims but also threatens the very purpose of waqf, which is to serve the socio-economic needs of marginalized communities. These properties support countless educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and social welfare programs that serve Muslim communities across the country. Increased state control and potential encroachment will deprive vulnerable populations of crucial support. This will also weaken the community’s ability to address socio-economic inequalities.  The proposed amendments are a thinly veiled pretext to justify state intervention and create legal mechanisms to dispossess the Muslim community of control over its assets. If transparency were genuinely the goal, the government would engage with community leaders and reform waqf management through consultation, not coercion. This bill is not an isolated development but part of a calculated and dangerous pattern of systematic erosion of minority rights under the Modi government. It’s yet another attempt at persecuting Muslims in the country and keeping them in the constant state of second-class citizenry. The Hindu nationalist government’s ultimate goal is to weaken the economic foundations of the Muslim community by seizing control of its institutions. This aligns perfectly with the BJP’s ideological mission to marginalize Muslims and limit their socio-economic mobility. We are actively engaging with international human rights bodies and civil society organizations to highlight the dangers posed by the bill because it represents a systematic attack on the religious and economic autonomy of India’s Muslim community. IAMC is committed to mobilizing the Indian diaspora and building international pressure to protect waqf institutions from the Hindu nationalist overreach. We call on all Members of Parliament and the Indian civil society to oppose this bill in its current form and to stand in defense of minority rights, constitutional safeguards, and the secular fabric of Indian democracy.” © 2024 Indian American Muslim Council

After devastating Israeli attack on refugee camp, relatives return to dig up many victims who are under the rubble. Residents of Maghazi refugee camp have called for an urgent ceasefire [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip – It has been four days since Gaza’s smallest refugee camp was pounded in yet another series of Israeli air strikes, but Palestinians there are still digging up the bodies of their loved ones from under the rubble. The onslaught in central Gaza’s Maghazi late on Sunday killed at least 90 people, including children and many who were internally displaced. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Gaza Strip since Israel launched a war on the enclave on October 7, residents including Ashraf al-Haj Ahmed said the assault happened “suddenly” and without prior warning. “At around 11:30pm that night, we witnessed a series of large explosions that shook the entire camp,” al-Haj Ahmed told Al Jazeera. His relative’s home was among those that were flattened to the ground . Al-Haj Ahmed recalled running towards it as soon as the bombardment woke him up, just a few blocks down. At the scene of the attack, he found a four-storey building destroyed “on top of those who were living in it”. “There must have been around 40 people, among them are the owners of the house, as well as displaced families who were taken in,” he said. At least three houses in the overcrowded camp were hit by Israeli air strikes. Officials in Gaza said seven families were among the casualties. While the official number of those who were killed stands at 90, residents of the camp near Deir el-Balah say in reality, the figure is much higher as entire residential blocks were wiped out. “In each home, there’s a minimum of 50 people,” Ahmed Maghari, another Maghazi resident, told Al Jazeera. “A lot of them are displaced Palestinians from other parts of Gaza who were forced to flee their homes.” The camp normally houses 30,000 people, according to the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA). But with the displacement of Palestinians fleeing Israel’s relentless bombardment in other parts of the enclave, the number of people there has risen to an estimated 100,000. “We pulled out so many body parts that we can’t even estimate the total number of deaths yet,” Maghari said. “They’re all in pieces, and we’re pulling them out with our bare hands,” he added. “We’ve now gathered at least two piles of body parts.” ‘Dark and painful night’ Israel’s attacks have not spared homes and shelters that people have fled to. Despite being on the southern side of the Strip, an area that Israeli forces deemed “safe” and ordered civilians from the north to flee ahead of their ground offensive, Maghazi has been subjected to intense artillery and air raids . It was also attacked last month  when at least 50 Palestinians were killed. The vicinity of the camp was also subjected to intense Israeli shelling over the last week. Abu Rami Abu al-Ais is among those who have been sheltering in Maghazi ever since he left his home in the al-Zahra neighbourhood. He said Sunday’s attack was not the first time he and his family members had been hit. “We had a home in al-Zahra, which came under attack. After coming here, the house we were staying in was bombed again,” al-Ais, whose daughter is badly injured, told Al Jazeera. He echoed al-Haj Ahmed’s experience and said there had been “no warnings whatsoever” prior to the strikes. Al-Ais said in previous assaults on the enclave, Israeli forces would sometimes warn residents of a building to evacuate a few minutes before an attack, either by throwing leaflets or via speakerphones. But during this offensive, there had been no such warnings. “The rockets fall on the heads of innocent people sleeping in their homes,” he said. “They [Israel] want to commit a complete genocide.” Al-Ais said people are still collecting the remains of their friends, neighbours and relatives with their bare hands. “We found the remains of women and children who were blown up. Their body parts have been scattered over a span of about three blocks,” due to the intensity of the strikes, al-Ais said. “It was a very dark and painful night for Maghazi,” he recalled. “The widespread and sheer destruction is indescribable.” Infrastructure, such as roads leading to the camp, were also destroyed. Al-Ais said there are no excavators that can help speed up the process of recovering people from under the blocks of concrete. The lack of much-needed fuel to operate bulldozers and vehicles means that – just like civil defence teams in Gaza – residents are digging with only their bare hands to try and pull out as many victims from under the rubble as they can. Israel has blocked the entry of fuel since it imposed a total siege on the already blockaded Strip at the start of the war, and has only allowed a very small amount of aid in through the Rafah border crossing. “We don’t need food, we don’t need water, we don’t need coffins,” al-Ais said. “What we need is a ceasefire and for this war to end.” Al-Haj Ahmed, agreed. “Shame on the Arab world. We don’t just need aid, we need you here personally. Come and stand with your brothers,” he said. Attacks on refugee camps and civilian infrastructure have become common since October 7. The Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza has been targeted several times, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians. Civilian infrastructure – including schools, hospitals, ambulance vehicles, and places of worship – has also been subjected to bombardment. More than 21,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, while nearly 1.9 million – more than 80 percent of the 2.3 million people who live in Gaza – have been displaced. © 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network

For the Human Rights Committee Geneva, Switzerland Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee For the 50th Session Universal Periodic Review (4th Cycle), United States of America November 3-14, 2025   Universal Periodic Review: The United States of America Submission by Genocide Watch, Inc. April 4, 2025   Forced deportations of refugees violate U.S. and international law. They are also crimes against humanity.   President Trump’s order to arrest and deport millions of undocumented immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of refugees, violates US obligations under the 1967 Protocol on the Status of Refugees. The US Senate ratified that treaty unanimously in 1968. 147 nations are States Parties to the treaty.   The US adopted the Refugee Protocol into US law in the United States Refugee Act of 1980 , passed unanimously by the Senate and signed by President Jimmy Carter, who noted, “The Refugee Act reflects our long tradition as a haven for people uprooted by persecution and political turmoil.”   The 1967 Protocol and the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees   Article 1  defines “refugee” as any person who is outside the country of his or her nationality owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and who is unable or, owing to such fear is unwilling to return to his or her country.   Refugees seeking asylum who cross borders illegally are not to be considered criminals. Article 31  says states shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees coming from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened. They must promptly present themselves to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence.   Article 33 , the heart of the Refugee Convention, says: “No Contracting State shall expel or return ( “refouler” ) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.”   Convicted criminals are not eligible to be protected as refugees. Article 1 F  denies refugee status to anyone against whom there is evidence of a war crime, crime against humanity, or a serious non-political crime.   However, Article 32  holds that States Parties shall not expel a refugee from their territory except in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with due process of law. Massive ICE roundups and forced deportations without trials fall far short of that standard.   Refugees who have sought asylum are lawfully present in the US under both US and international law. They are not criminals for entering without visas. So, too, are persons granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) by Presidential Order. Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, Salvadorans, and others fleeing dictatorships or countries controlled by criminal gangs were granted protected status by President Biden. President Trump’s withdrawal of their Temporary Protected Status violates legal duties of the USA under the 1967 Protocol and the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, as well as the United States Refugee Act of 1980. The US might invoke Article 9  and claim that the smuggling of fentanyl by undocumented migrants is a grave and exceptional circumstance that threatens US national security and requires their expulsion.   The fatal flaw in this rationale is that many of the people being deported are already in the US and pose no more threat to national security than ordinary American citizens. Two-thirds of undocumented immigrants in the US have lived in the US for ten years or more.   Countries expected to resettle deportees are not legally obligated to accept the return of their citizens. They may invoke Article 4 of the Refugee Protocol and dispute any US “national security” claim in the International Court of Justice.   Refugee Protocol Article 9  requires a State Party to give one year’s notice to the UN Secretary-General to withdraw from (denounce) the Protocol before the denunciation takes effect.   Mass forced deportations are crimes against humanity.   At Nuremberg, Nazi leaders were tried for crimes against humanity that included forced deportations of Jews. Today, forced deportations are outlawed by many decisions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.   In 2002, the International Criminal Court became a permanent world tribunal to try such crimes.   The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Article (7(1)(d))  makes deportation or forcible transfer of a population a crime against humanity.   The Rome Statute defines deportation as “forced displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area where they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law.”   The US is not a State Party to the Rome Statute. The ICC cannot try US citizens unless they commit a crime against a citizen of a State-Party, or on the territory of a country that is a State Party to the ICC.   125 nations are States Parties to the ICC Statute. If the US deports a citizen of El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Afghanistan, Brazil, Bosnia, DR Congo, Nigeria, Ukraine or 114 other ICC States Parties, those countries could ask the ICC Prosecutor to bring charges against a US official who participated in the deportation of their citizens.   There is no immunity in the ICC for crimes against humanity committed by heads of state or government officials. Though it is politically unlikely, even President Trump himself could be charged for these mass deportations and put on trial.   President Trump has now rescinded Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans and wants to deport 600,000 Venezuelans back into the tyranny run by the Marxist dictator Maduro of Venezuela. President Trump’s Proclamation revoking their Temporary Protected Status was arbitrary and capricious. The ACLU filed a lawsuit February 3 to vacate Trump’s Proclamation. The US Supreme Court should block these deportations because they violate both US and international law. Universal Jurisdiction Crimes against humanity, like genocide, torture, and war crimes, are crimes of universal jurisdiction. Like piracy, they can be prosecuted no matter where the crime was committed and regardless of the defendant’s nationality. Such crimes constitute peremptory norms ( jus cogens ) and violate duties owed to all of humanity ( erga omnes .)   Fifteen countries enforce universal jurisdiction in their courts: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The US has universal jurisdiction for torture and genocide.   US officials who order or carry out mass deportations are committing crimes against humanity. In the future, they may travel for business or vacation. If they travel to a country with universal jurisdiction, their identities are verified, and evidence is prepared against them, they could be arrested and charged as soon as they step off their flights in Paris, Barcelona, Mexico City, or Copenhagen. They could be put on trial there for crimes against humanity. It would not be an auspicious way to begin a vacation.

The Washington Post April 3, 2025 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu review a military honor guard on Thursday in Budapest. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images) By  Kate Brady  and  Adam Taylor     Hungary  announced  plans Thursday to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, hours after Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu — who is sought under an ICC arrest warrant that accuses him of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza — arrived there for a state visit.    Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a right-wing leader who has   promoted a style of government he calls  “illiberal democracy,”  has  long  had  warm ties  with Netanyahu. A day after the ICC issued the warrant in November,   Orban invited Netanyahu to Budapest, promising that Hungary would not enforce the warrant.    The ICC, based in The Hague in the Netherlands,   is a court of last resort to prosecute people for crimes under international law, including genocide, crimes against  humanity  and war crimes, when other courts are not able to. Though the ICC itself has no means of arresting someone, the warrant requires the 125 countries that are party to the Rome Statute to carry out arrests if possible.    Israel is not party to the Rome Statute that  founded the ICC , but the Palestinian territories joined the ICC in 2015, which the court asserts gives it jurisdiction over any crimes committed there, including in Gaza.    Speaking Thursday during a joint news conference with Netanyahu in Budapest, Orban said Hungary would leave the ICC because “we are convinced that this has become a political court.”    “ I’d like to confirm that Israel can count on Hungary in the future as the impenetrable European bastion of the Judeo-Christian culture,” he said, while Netanyahu thanked Orban for his “bold and principled” decision to withdraw from the court, saying that he had done “remarkable things for Israel and the Jewish people.”    Orban has been repeatedly accused of using hateful  antisemitic tropes , particularly during election campaigning. In 2022, he  faced backlash  after giving a speech in which he argued that Europeans should not  “become peoples of mixed race”  and appeared to joke about Nazi gas chambers.    Netanyahu’s visit to the Hungarian capital Thursday was the Israeli leader’s second foreign trip since the ICC issued the warrant against him   last year.   In February, Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump in Washington.    When issuing the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last year,  the ICC said  there was reason to believe that the two used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas.     Israeli officials denied the charges as “false and absurd.” The ICC also issued a warrant for a Hamas military leader, Mohammed Deif, who Israel says was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July.    Israel launched the war in Gaza in response to Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and took roughly 250 hostage. Since then,  more than 50,000 Palestinians  have been killed in Israel’s military campaign, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.    Hungary signed the Rome Statute in 1999 and ratified it in 2001, both during Orban’s first term as prime minister. However, Orban, who returned to the premiership in 2010, indicated last year he would not honor an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, telling state radio last year that the court was “interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes.”    Formally withdrawing from the ICC takes  at least a year , according to the  Rome Statute . Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp told reporters   Thursday that Hungary was still required to “meet the obligations” of being part of the ICC until then, adding: “We are living now in a world full of turmoil, war and uncertainty, in which international institutions are not always appreciated by every government.”    Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement earlier this week that “allowing Netanyahu’s visit in breach of Hungary’s ICC obligations would be Orban’s latest assault on the rule of law, adding to the country’s dismal record on rights.”    Orban’s decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute   could, once again, put him at odds with other members of the European Union. All 27 members of the bloc, including Hungary, are signatories to the Rome Statute. However, numerous governments, including France and Germany, have indicated they would not arrest Netanyahu if he entered their country.    Exiting the ICC would align Hungary with the United States, which never officially joined the court. The Clinton administration signed the Rome Statute in 2000, but did not submit it for Senate ratification. Former President George W. Bush, then withdrew the U.S. signature in 2002, the year the ICC was founded.    In an executive order issued on Feb. 7, President Donald Trump said he would impose sanctions on the court for its investigations into Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, suggesting it had “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”    Only two countries have previously withdrawn from the ICC: Burundi in 2017 and the Philippines in 2019.    Copyright 2025 The Washington Post

The four slated for deportation have not been convicted of any crime but are alleged to have participated in protests against Israel's assault on Gaza. A pro-Palestine demonstration in the Kreuzberg area of Berlin, October 28, 2023. In partnership with The Intercept Berlin’s immigration authorities are moving to deport four young foreign residents on allegations related to participation in protests against Israel’s war on Gaza, an unprecedented move that raises serious concerns over civil liberties in Germany. The deportation orders, issued under German migration law, were made amid political pressure and over internal objections from the head of the state of Berlin’s immigration agency. The internal strife arose because three of those targeted for deportation are citizens of European Union member states who normally enjoy freedom of movement between E.U. countries. The orders — issued by the state of Berlin, whose Senate administration oversees immigration enforcement — are set to take effect in less than a month. None of the four has been convicted of any crimes. The cases are drawing comparisons to the United States’ use of deportation orders to suppress social movements. “What we’re seeing here is straight out of the far right’s playbook,” said Alexander Gorski, a lawyer representing two of the protesters. “You can see it in the U.S. and Germany, too: political dissent is silenced by targeting the migration status of protesters. “From a legal perspective, we were alarmed by the reasoning, which reminded us of the case of Mahmoud Khalil ,” Gorski continued, referring to the Palestinian Columbia University graduate and U.S. permanent resident who was seized from his apartment building on allegations related to campus pro-Palestine activities. The four people slated for deportation — Cooper Longbottom, Kasia Wlaszczyk, Shane O’Brien, and Roberta Murray — are citizens of, respectively, the United States, Poland, and in the latter two cases Ireland. Under German migration law, authorities don’t need a criminal conviction to issue a deportation order, explained Thomas Oberhäuser, a lawyer and chair of the executive committee on migration law at the German Bar Association. The reasons cited, however, must be proportional to severity of deportation, meaning that factors like whether someone will be separated from their family or lose their business come into play. “The key question is: How severe is the threat and how proportionate the response?” said Oberhäuser, who is not involved in the case. “If someone is being expelled simply for their political beliefs, that’s a massive overreach.” Police suppress a pro-Palestine demonstration in the Neukolln area of Berlin, October 18, 2023 ‘Vague and unfounded accusations’ Each of the four protesters faces separate allegations from the authorities, all of which are sourced from police files and tied to pro-Palestine actions in Berlin. Some, but not all, of the allegations would correspond to criminal charges in Germany; almost none of them have been brought before a criminal court. The protests in question include a mass sit-in at the Berlin central train station, a road blockade, and the late-2024 occupation of a building at the Free University Berlin. The only event that tied the four cases together was the allegation that the protesters participated in the university occupation, which involved property damage, and alleged obstruction of an arrest — a so-called de-arrest aimed at blocking a fellow protesters’ detention. None of the protesters are accused of any particular acts of vandalism or the de-arrest at the university. Instead, the deportation order cites the suspicion that they took part in a coordinated group action. (The Free University told The Intercept it had no knowledge of the deportation orders.) Some of the allegations are minor. Two, for example, are accused of calling a police officer “fascist” — insulting an officer, which is a crime. Three are accused of demonstrating with groups chanting slogans like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — which was outlawed last year in Germany — and “free Palestine.” Authorities also claim all four shouted antisemitic or anti-Israel slogans, though none are specified. Two are accused of grabbing an officers’ or another protesters’ arm in an attempt to stop arrests at the train station sit-in. O’Brien, one of the Irish citizens, is the only one of the four whose deportation order included a charge — the accusation that he called a police officer a “fascist” — that has been brought before a criminal court in Berlin, where he was acquitted. All four are accused, without evidence, of supporting Hamas, a group Germany has designated as a terrorist organization. Three of the four deportation orders explicitly invoke alleged public safety threats and support for Hamas to argue that the protesters are not entitled to their constitutional rights to free expression and assembly in deportation proceedings. “What we’re seeing are the harshest possible measures available, based on accusations that are extremely vague and in part completely unfounded,” said Gorski, the lawyer for two of the protesters. In an unprecedented move, said Gorski, three of the four deportation orders cite Germany’s national pledge to defend Israel – the country’s Staatsräson, German for reason of state –  as justification. Oberhäuser, of the Bar Association’s immigration committee, said Staatsräson is a principle rather than a meaningful legal category. And a parliamentary body recently argued that there are no legally binding effects of the provision. The distinction, said Oberhäuser, makes the use of Staatsräson in deportation proceedings legally dubious: “That’s impermissible under constitutional law.” A Palestine solidarity demonstration in the Potsdamer Platz area, Berlin, October 15, 2023. The police suppressed the demonstration shortly after authorizing it. Internal objections Internal emails obtained by The Intercept show political pressure behind the scenes to issue the deportation orders, despite objections from Berlin immigration officials. The battle played out between bureaucrats from the branches of the Senate of Berlin, the state’s executive governing body under the authority of Mayor Kai Wegner, who is in turn elected by the city’s parliamentary body. After the Berlin Senate’s Interior Department asked for a signed deportation order, Silke Buhlmann, head of crime prevention and repatriation at the immigration agency, raised objections. In an email, Buhlmann noted her concerns were shared by the immigration agency’s top official Engelhard Mazanke. Buhlmann explicitly warned that the legal basis for revoking the three EU citizens’ freedom of movement was insufficient — and that deporting them would be unlawful. “In coordination with Mr. Mazanke, I inform you that I cannot comply with your directive of Dec. 20, 2024 — to conduct hearings for the individuals listed under a) to c) and subsequently determine loss of freedom of movement — for legal reasons,” Buhlmann wrote, referring to the three citizens of EU states as cases A to C. Buhlmann wrote that, though the police reports “suggest a potential threat to public order from the individuals concerned, there are no final criminal convictions to substantiate a sufficiently serious and actual threat.” The internal objection, known as a remonstration, was quickly overruled by Berlin Senate Department official Christian Oestmann, who dismissed the concerns and ordered to proceed with the expulsion orders anyway. “[F]or these individuals, continued freedom of movement cannot be justified on grounds of public order and safety, regardless of any criminal convictions,” he wrote. “I therefore request that the hearings be conducted immediately as instructed.” In a statement to The Intercept, a spokesperson for the Senate Department said that the Interior department had authority over the immigration office. “The Senate Department for the Interior and Sport exercises technical and administrative supervision over the State Office for Immigration,” the spokesperson said. “As part of this role, it holds the authority to issue directives.” The Senate declined to comment on the specifics of the cases, citing privacy protections. The immigration agency did not respond to The Intercept’s request for comment. In the end, Mazanke, the top immigration justice official, complied with the directive and signed the order. A Palestine solidarity demonstration in Berlin’s municipal square in the museum district, November 4, 2023. ‘They’re being used as guinea pigs’ In Interviews with The Intercept, the four protesters on the receiving end of the deportation orders declined to discuss the specific allegations levelled against them. All four have, for the meantime, been ordered to leave Germany by April 21, 2025, or face forcible deportation. The most severe consequences would be faced by Longbottom, a 27-year-old American student from Seattle, Washington, who would be barred by the order from entering any of the 29 Schengen Zone countries for two years after leaving Germany. Longbottom, who denied any antisemitism, told The Intercept they have only six months left to complete their master’s degree at Berlin’s Alice Salomon University studying human rights work. “Will I be able to finish my Master’s program here? Where am I going to live?” Longbottom said. “All of these questions are very unclear.” Longbottom, who is trans, lives in Berlin with their partner, an Italian citizen. The prospect of being separated weighs heavily on them. “I don’t have anything to start over with,” they said. “As a trans person, the idea of going back to the U.S. right now feels really scary.” Kasia Wlaszczyk, 35, a cultural worker and Polish citizen, said he never imagined this could happen. He emphasized that allegations of antisemitism are predominantly a racist tactic levelled against Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims in Germany and the deportation orders reflected an increase in the use of the allegation against anyone standing in solidarity with them. “Germany weaponizes these accusations,” he said. Wlaszczyk, who is also trans, hasn’t lived in Poland since the age of ten. “If this goes through, it would uproot me from the community I’ve built here.” he said. The sense of an impending loss of community was common among the protesters. “My illusion of Berlin has been shattered by the lack of response to the genocide,” said Shane O’Brien, 29, an Irish citizen. The violent repression of Arab communities in Berlin, he said, has left him shaken. After three years in Berlin, the threat of removal now feels like a rupture to Roberta Murray, 31, who is also Irish. “My life is here,” they said. “I’m not making any plans for Ireland. I believe that we will win — and that we’ll stay. I don’t believe this will hold up in a court.” Gorski and other attorneys now filed an urgent motion for interim relief alongside a formal appeal challenging the legality of the deportation orders. He noted that he has worked on similar cases where migration law was used to target pro-Palestinian activists for their speech, but what sets the current four cases apart, he said, is the openness with which Germany’s so-called Staatsräson is used to justify expulsions. “These people’s criminal records are clean,” Gorski said. Yet the Berlin government appears to be constructing a narrative of “imminent danger” to sidestep due process. Gorski warned that the cases are a test run for broader repression against immigrants and activists in Germany, not just about four protesters. “They’re being used as guinea pigs.” © 972 Magazine

BBC finds fear, loss and hope in Sudan's ruined capital after army victory By Barbara Plett Usher The battered heart of Khartoum lies eerily quiet now, after weeks of intense urban combat in the Sudanese capital. We entered the city just days after Sudan's army recaptured it from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the culmination of a six-month offensive through the central part of the country. Once the commercial heart and seat of Sudan's government, Khartoum is now a burnt-out shell. Taking back the capital was a turning point in the two-year civil war, which erupted out of a power struggle between the army and the RSF, and is estimated to have claimed at least 150,000 lives. But - as celebrations for Eid spill out into the capital's streets and people here consider the war to be over - it is not clear what direction the conflict will take now. We drove first to the presidential palace, which the RSF seized early in the war. It was an important base for the paramilitary fighters. The floors are covered with debris and broken glass. Cushioned chairs once used for official functions stand covered with dust, a few paintings still hang on the walls, ragged chandeliers dangle from the ceilings. But almost everything else had been looted - even the electrical cables were yanked out of the walls. The presidential palace, which was occupied by the RSF, was completely looted. The worst damage is at the front of the building, which was struck by RSF drones shortly after the army seized the palace. The main entrance is wrecked, dried blood still visible on the stairs, the windows now gaping holes looking out over the River Nile. "I was really very excited to be in the Republican palace," one soldier told me as we walked down the grimy red carpet. "It's my first time in this place and I waited for this place [like] the Sudanese in general. They wanted it to be free. It is symbol of our dignity." It is also an important symbol of power for the army. A restaurant delivered an Eid feast to celebrating soldiers at the presidential palace, who are being hailed as heroes by many. Soldiers sang and danced, their jubilation erupting as the Muslim Eid holiday began. A local restaurant delivered a feast for them, hailed as heroes by many in the capital. But their victory was won at enormous cost. The level of destruction in central Khartoum is stunning: government ministries, banks and towering office blocks stand blackened and burned. The tarmac at the international airport is a graveyard of smashed planes, its passport and check-in counters covered in ash. Khartoum's airport is right in the centre of the city and planes and terminal buildings have been badly damaged At one intersection body parts were in a heap, two skulls clearly visible. About 100m (328ft) down the road, a body lay in front of a damaged car. A stop at St Matthew's Cathedral, built by the British in 1908 and a place of worship for the country's minority Christian population, was a welcome reprieve. The beautifully painted ceiling is intact. A hole high in one wall showed where a shell had crashed through, a cross had fallen down. But it looked much better than many of the buildings we had seen. A soldier cleaning up rubble on the floor told us that most of the damage was caused by shrapnel from shelling around the church. No-one destroyed the "house of God", he said, but the RSF fighters desecrated the building by defecating in it. He said his son was born on the first day of the war, but because of the non-stop fighting he had still not had a chance to go home and see the child. The paramilitaries also took over the areas where diplomatic missions are located. When the fighting began, countries and companies scrambled to evacuate staff. At the entrance of the British embassy, an RSF slogan is scrawled on the wall. The bullet-proof glass of the building largely held, but it is pockmarked with many signs of impact. In the car park at the back, a fleet of vehicles stands destroyed. Across the street, a UK flag hung over the staircase of a battered building, crumpled and dirty. This is Sudan's third civil war in 70 years, and in some ways, it is worse than any of the others - as previous conflicts were fought in other parts of the country. But this one has torn through the core of Sudan, hardening divisions and threatening to split the nation. Further away from the combat zone, scattered celebrations for Eid spilled into the street. For people here the war is over, even though it continues elsewhere. The army has been accused of atrocities, and reports say tens of thousands fled the fighting in recent days. But in Khartoum, people celebrated the end of the brutal RSF control. The mood was also buoyant at a communal kitchen in the neighbourhood of al-Jeraif West. "I feel like I've been re-created," said Osman al-Bashir, his eyes lighting up with the new reality after citing a list of the war's hardships. He told me he had learned his English from the BBC World Service. Duaa Tariq is a pro-democracy activist, part of the movement that in 2019 toppled military leader Omar al-Bashir, whose authoritarian rule had lasted nearly three decades. She has been focusing on helping her neighbourhood survive the war. "We're celebrating Eid for the first time in two years," she said. "Everybody's dressing up, including myself! I'm overwhelmed with a lot of emotions, just like trying to learn how to live again. We feel free, we feel light, even the air smells different." Ms Tariq struggled to keep the kitchens running during the war as food ran out, the city looted by the RSF, under siege by the army and US aid cut. Food is still scarce, but there is hope now. "I'm feeling wonderful. I feel safe. I feel great, even though I'm hungry," said an elderly man, Kasim Agra. "You know, it doesn't matter. Freedom is what's important. "As you see, I carry a mobile," he said, pointing to a phone in his pocket. "You couldn't carry a mobile about two weeks ago." That is something many people in different parts of Khartoum have said to me - mobile telephones were a lifeline to the outside world, and a prime target for theft by RSF fighters. Mr Agra was optimistic that Khartoum, and the country, could recover. "I think the government is going to bring investors: Americans, Saudis, Canadians, Chinese, they're going to rebuild this country, I believe." Even if such massive reconstruction takes place, it is hard to imagine Khartoum retaining its distinct cultural and architectural features. Several of the women also echoed something I have repeatedly heard elsewhere - they can finally sleep again, after lying awake nights afraid that RSF looters would break in. The weight of fear and loss is heavy: so many stories of abuse, of life endangered and disrupted. "Our children are traumatised," says Najwa Ibrahim. "They need psychiatrists to help them. My sister's a teacher and tried to work with the children, but it's not enough." Ms Tariq also has questions about the impact of the war: "When will the city be accessible again, open again? "And another personal question as an activist, what will happen to all the freedoms and rights that we gained over the past five years of revolution?" she asked, referring to the years that followed the ousting of Bashir when a joint civilian-military government had been working towards a return to civilian rule. "How will it be again for civil society, actors, for activists, for freedom fighters? I'm not sure of our future now." No-one is sure of Sudan's future. "We pray for the people of Darfur," 16-year-old Hawaa Abdulshafiea said, referring to the western stronghold of the RSF, where the humanitarian crisis has been worst, and where the focus of the war is expected to shift. "May God protect them." Copyright © 2025 BBC.

Amid ongoing attacks by Hindu nationalists, the message is clear: stay quiet and invisible, or be punished Muslim devotees gather at Jama Masjid in Delhi on 21 March 2025 (Arun Sankar/AFP) Ramadan is meant to be a time of peace for Muslims around the world. But in India , the “world’s largest democracy”, it comes with a different reality.  The call to prayer is heard alongside the outcries of mobs, and the sounds of bulldozers and funeral processions. Somewhere, another Muslim is being arrested, beaten or killed . A mosque’s gate is being rammed . A home is being bulldozed. Somewhere, another news report will emerge of Muslims being forced to chant Hindu nationalist slogans , or of a politician with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) making derogatory remarks against followers of Islam, or of an iftar gathering being attacked . Our existence is treated as a crime. You do not have to search for proof or spend hours scrolling on your phone. The examples find you quickly: an Instagram reel, a viral clip, a headline that barely trends, a provocation disguised as political speech.  There was a time when these incidents were shocking - when they would spark outrage, debates, or at least some level of reaction from the state and civil society. Now, they barely register.  The violence is so routine, so expected, that it has become background noise; a fact of life. It comes with a clear warning: stay quiet, stay invisible, or be punished. This year, Ramadan collided with the Hindu festival of Holi. And in multiple cities, Hindu nationalist groups used Holi processions as an excuse to harass Muslims . We’ve seen this pattern before: what starts as a “celebration” quickly turns into coordinated mob violence. Victims criminalised In the city of Nagpur , Maharashtra, this month, demands by Hindu nationalists to demolish the tomb of a Mughal ruler sparked violence, leading to dozens of injuries, including police.  In the end, more than 50 people were booked, all of them Muslim - a punishment disguised as governance. The ones who incited the violence escaped any penalty. That’s how it works now: violence breaks out, and the victims are criminalised. During Holi, videos surfaced of mobs hurling coloured powder at mosques, and chanting anti-Muslim slogans. In the city of Aligarh, authorities covered mosques with tarpaulins - essentially a state-mandated “stay inside” order. The same occurred in other parts of Uttar Pradesh , as if Muslim spaces existing in public was an open invitation for attacks.  In Sambhal, police made it even clearer : if Muslims didn’t want to be smeared with coloured powder, part of the Holi tradition, they should just stay inside. When the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh defended this statement , the message was evident: stay inside. Be invisible. Make yourself smaller. Do not exist. But even invisibility isn’t enough. A Muslim man was arrested earlier this month simply for speaking to the media about an attack that occurred after Taraweeh prayers in Gujarat. That is the rule in India now: Muslims must endure, but never protest; suffer, but never complain. These aren’t isolated incidents. BJP leaders openly mock and humiliate Muslims with impunity. Raghuraj Singh, a BJP leader in Uttar Pradesh, suggested that Muslim men wear tarpaulin body coverings to avoid discomfort during Holi.  The mockery is intentional, the dehumanisation deliberate. This is not just about religious tensions; it is about power, control, and a relentless attempt to erase Muslims from public life. The world shrugs Whether it’s in Sambhal, Nagpur or any other place, it’s always the same pattern. When violence erupts, the blame falls on the victims. When Muslims protest, they are punished. When they stay silent, it is taken as consent.  And when they die? The world shrugs and scrolls past.  All the while, those in power continue to stoke the fires of Islamophobia , making it clear that there will be no consequences for those who harass, attack or kill Muslims. Only rewards. It is exhausting to wake up every morning in a country that treats your existence as a provocation; to wake up knowing that at any moment, your places of worship can be attacked , your businesses shut down, your prayers criminalised . Even fasting for Ramadan has become an act of quiet resistance - not because it was meant to be, but because the state has made it so. The normalisation of all this is the worst part. It barely sparks outrage anymore, as each incident melts into the next. There was a time when a mob storming a mosque would have been shocking, when police arresting Muslims who were victimised would have been debated. Now, it is just another day. We get a small headline, perhaps a viral video, and then silence - because there’s always going to be a next time. Even the idea of justice has changed. It is not just about the state refusing to hold Hindu nationalist mobs accountable. It is also about the system actively punishing those who speak out.  Muslims suffer twice: first at the hands of mobs, then at the hands of police, courts and government. When a Muslim man is lynched , police target his family. When a Muslim woman speaks out, she’s harassed, doxxed, and threatened with rape.  Suffocating cruelty This is our everyday reality. It’s not even about big moments of violence anymore. Muslim students are harassed for wearing hijabs; Muslim street vendors are beaten for selling their wares in a “Hindu area”; Muslims are refused jobs, denied homes, kicked out of neighbourhoods.  This is not just about hate speech and riots. It is about making life unliveable in small, constant ways. It is a suffocating cruelty, one that seeps into our existence, whether during Ramadan or any other time of the year. The public watches, scrolls past, and moves on - until the next attack, the next riot, the next dead Muslim body in the street The public apathy is staggering. India has been conditioned to see Muslim suffering as normal, expected, even deserved. The media plays its role well, hyping up communal tensions, spreading disinformation, and justifying every act of state violence.  Justice now serves power, and those meant to shield the vulnerable turn their backs, or worse, join the oppressors. The public watches, scrolls past, and moves on - until the next attack, the next riot, the next dead Muslim body in the street. So we fast. We wake up before dawn and eat, knowing that somewhere, someone resents the fact that we are still here. We pray, knowing that even the act of gathering in a mosque can now be treated as a crime. We break our fast, knowing that outside our home, someone might be planning the next humiliation, the next attack - the next way to make sure that Muslims in India never forget their place. But we do not forget. And we do not disappear, no matter how much they want us to. We are not asking for permission to exist. We are not waiting for justice to be granted. We are here - fasting, praying, living. And that, in itself, is defiance. Copyright © 2014 - 2025. Middle East Eye. All rights reserved. Only England and Wales jurisdiction apply in all legal matters.

Mahrang Baloch, 32, a rights campaigner speaking up against forced disappearances in Balochistan, was arrested on March 22. Dr Mahrang Baloch. Photo: Veengas Karachi: Nadia Baloch was a child when her father, Abdul Ghaffar Langove, was abducted and imprisoned and, later, his bullet-riddled body was found. Now she finds herself waiting outside the same Quetta jail where he was once held, pleading with the police for permission to meet her elder sister Mahrang. Mahrang Baloch, 32, a rights campaigner speaking up against forced disappearances in Balochistan, was  arrested  on March 22 during a peaceful protest against the killing of civilians and a crackdown on the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). “My mother said in a heavy voice, ‘First, they imprisoned your father, and I stood here with all of you when you were just children. Now years have passed, but the injustice remains the same. We are once again standing outside the jail, for eight hours, asking to meet your sister, my daughter, Mahrang,’” Nadia recounted. ‘Mahrang was manhandled by the police during her arrest’ In 2009, Mahleb Deen Baloch had stood with her elder sister Sammi Deen Baloch, holding up their father’s photograph, demanding to know his whereabouts after he was abducted. Dr Deen Mohammad Baloch remains untraced. This past week, accompanied by their adopted four-year-old sister Mahtab, Mahleb was protesting Sammi’s arrest. Sammi Deen Baloch is a powerful voice against enforced disappearances. Like Mahrang, she had begun speaking out as a teenager to fight for the release of her father. On March 24, the Karachi chapter of the BYC and civil society members had organised a peaceful demonstration against the arrest of Mahrang and other activists. The police responded with force. Among those arrested was Sammi, who had neither given a speech nor chanted any slogans. She had simply stood silently, holding a picture of Mahrang. “When Sammi was being taken to jail, I told myself, maybe she will meet Baba there – even though I knew it was impossible,” said Mahleb. “Still, I kept repeating it to console myself.” Sammi’s mother, Bibi Nazkhatoon, who has spent a decade and a half seeking her husband’s return, stood at the gate of Karachi Central Jail waiting to see her. “If other mothers’ children are behind bars for asking for justice, and now my daughter is too, it makes no difference,” she said, trying to appear strong. Yet her trembling voice and tear-filled eyes gave away a mother’s pain. Sammi, who received the Front Line Defenders Award in 2024, is her family’s pillar. Since her arrest, Mahleb has had to shoulder the entire burden – managing the household and fighting the case for her sister’s release. On the evening of April 1, Sammi’s name was dropped from the case and orders issued for her release. Also Read: As Abductions of Baloch and Sindhis Continue, A Protest to Seek a Fundamental Right Nadia is braced for a tough battle. She trained as a lawyer in the hope of securing justice for her Baloch people, and her first case is for Mahrang’s release. “It is my first case – and the first case is of my own sister. But I feel shattered knowing I cannot do anything for her,” she says. Mahrang was manhandled by the police during her arrest, Nadia says. Her  chaddar  was forcefully removed. In prison, she has been vomiting repeatedly and Nadia is afraid her food might have been contaminated. When she asked why Mahrang had not received medical care, she says, the police officer casually replied that the doctor had gone to offer Friday prayers. Featured by Time magazine in its list of 100 emerging leaders in 2024, Mahrang is among the those nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2025. Nadia says that every time she tries to meet her sister, the police make her wait more than five hours –even when she has court permission. “Everything inside the jail is controlled by security agencies – not just the prison system, but the so-called democratic government and judiciary too,” she said. As a lawyer, Nadia had hoped for a prompt hearing but she was bitterly disappointed. “Even the judiciary seems to be under control,” she said. After studying law for five years, Nadia says her faith in justice – Insaaf – is shaken as she finds herself powerless in the face of her sister’s ordeal. Struggling to find the right words, her voice faltering, she says quietly, “It makes me devastated.” Nadia and her siblings had initially withheld the news of Mahrang’s arrest from their mother, hoping she would be released before Eid. But when the hearing date was postponed till after Eid, they were forced to tell her. She heard in silence. When she finally met Mahrang, the visit was heartbreaking. The jail authorities refused a private meeting, allowing only a conversation over the intercom. Nadia said even the washroom area was under surveillance, leaving no sense of privacy. “My sister is being treated like a most-wanted criminal. But she is a political prisoner,” says Nadia, adding that sources told her police officers had been pressured not to cooperate with her, and those who did were transferred. “Twenty days before Mahrang’s arrest, a jail cell was cleaned. Now she is being held in that same room,” Nadia says, suggesting the arrest was premeditated. Brutal crackdown At the Karachi protest on March 24, police claimed that prohibitory orders under Section 144 had been imposed, and all roads leading to the Karachi Press Club were blocked. The BYC activists and civil society members had gathered peacefully, but the police used violence to disperse them even after Sammi Deen Baloch and other activists repeatedly told them the protest had already ended. The police, it appeared, were intent on arresting Sammi. Just a few steps away from the BYC gathering, a counter-protest was being held. This group openly chanted anti-Baloch slogans, accusing them of being “Indian agents.” No action was taken against them. When this journalist asked police officers whether Section 144 applied only to the Baloch protest and not the counter-protest, one officer remained silent while another smirked. Men in civilian clothes were seen openly carrying guns. Mahleb observed this and alerted the human rights activists, warning that security agencies might attempt to harm the protesters. “When I saw men in civilian clothes with guns, I feared for Sammi’s safety,” Mahleb said. “During a previous protest at Hub Chowki, a man was caught with instructions to target Sammi. I was terrified the same might happen again.” Standing firm The state’s crackdown on the BYC and its members has gone on for a long time. After the Jaffar Express train hijack, Dr Sabiha Baloch, an organising member of the BYC, spoke to The Wire , calling out the military for targeting BYC activists in an attempt to mask its failures in Balochistan. “The state,” she said bluntly, “means the military.” Sabiha remains a target of the crackdown. She explained that she had covered her face with a veil, which helped her evade the police. “The police tried to arrest a veiled girl, thinking she was me. Once they realised it wasn’t me, they let her go,” Sabiha said. Despite the wave of arrests, Sabiha insists the crackdown will not weaken the movement. “The state cannot defeat BYC,” she said. “We are a peaceful movement, deeply rooted in our people.” When asked why the state is intensifying its crackdown, Sabiha pointed to BYC’s growing influence. “We’ve brought Balochistan’s issues to the international stage. The state doesn’t want our message to reach the world,” she said. Her voice rising with anger, she added, “The state’s lies won’t shield it forever. They abduct, kill, and dump our people, and then expect us to stay silent. That will never happen. Every generation of Baloch will continue to speak out against this brutal violence.” A suicide bomber’s attempt to target BNP leader Akhtar Mengal, leader of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and former Chief Minister of Balochistan, led a long march towards Quetta, demanding the immediate release of. Mahrang Baloch, Sammi Deen Baloch, Beberg Baloch, Beebow Baloch, Sibghtullah Shah, and other detained activists. During the march on March 29, a suicide bomber attempted to target Akhtar Mengal. Party workers spotted the attacker, who fled and ultimately detonated the explosive device, killing himself. Akhtar was unharmed. Responding to the attack, Sabiha said, “This reveals the intent of the state – it wants Balochistan and its natural resources, but not the Baloch people.” Despite the threat, Akhtar Mengal remained defiant. He said such attacks would not deter their movement and vowed to continue the march until the detained Baloch women are released. ‘A zaalim state’ Imran Baloch, an advocate and lead lawyer in Mahrang Baloch’s case, explained that the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law, specifically Section 3, is a draconian law with colonial roots. First introduced by the British in 1924 to suppress political dissent, it was amended in 1940 and formally adopted in Pakistan in 1960. The law was last amended in 2011. “Originally, this law was meant for drug traffickers, warlords, and land grabbers – not political activists,” Imran said. “But in Pakistan, it has long been misused to silence dissenting voices.” According to Imran, the arrest of Mahrang Baloch and other members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) did not follow due legal process. “Their arrests are illegal and unconstitutional,” he stated, adding that he fears the state might now file additional fabricated charges against them to prolong their detention. Also Read: Pakistan: Mahrang Baloch Faces Threats, Media Trial for Her Political Activism in Balochistan He also raised serious concerns about Mahrang’s treatment in custody. “She is being harassed, subjected to psychological torture, and her privacy has been violated – surveillance cameras have even been installed in areas that should be private,” he said. Mahleb echoed those concerns. “If we ask for basic human rights, we are charged under the MPO,” she said, speaking before Sammi was released. She shared how devastated she felt when Sammi was arrested. “Everyone knows she broke no law. When I saw the police take Sammi from the courtroom, it felt as if something had fallen from my hands – and I couldn’t pick it up again.” At a protest in Karachi, an elderly Baloch woman summed up the sentiment on the ground. “This state is not  Pak – not holy,” she said. “It is  Zaalim – a cruel state.” ©2023 All rights reserved. Foundation for Independent Journalism (FIJ)