March is Women’s History Month: 31 days to celebrate the contributions of women throughout the ages. Unfortunately, the stories of too many influential women have been lost to time. In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8 and Women’s History Month, PHR is profiling extraordinary women who have made an impact in the movement […]

A nurse in the city of Kolkata in West Bengal recently learned first-hand the price that Indian health workers are paying for being first responders in the Covid-19 pandemic: an eviction notice. The nurse’s landlord attempted to justify the 48-hour eviction order by claiming that health workers during the Covid-19 pandemic posed a significant risk of […]

Originally published in Asia Times The tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to India to escape widespread and systematic violence and discrimination in Myanmar face an existential threat from a new source: India’s government. Early this month, a senior government minister announced that Indian authorities would move expeditiously to deport the country’s sizable Rohingya […]

Since the early 1990s, the valley of Kashmir in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has been the site of a violent conflict between Indian security forces and Muslim insurgents demanding independence or accession to Pakistan. In October 1992, Asia Watch (now Human Rights Watch) and PHR sent an investigation team to Kashmir […]

In July 2016, the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir erupted in protests against the killing of prominent militant leader Burhan Wani by security forces. In the violent clashes that ensued between Indian authorities and protesters, at least 87 people were killed and thousands injured. In this report, Physicians for Human Rights describes the excessive […]

This is the third of three posts by PHR's Burma Project Director, Bill Davis, on his recent trip to visit Burmese refugees in Delhi, India. Over the course of a four-day visit to Delhi, I met with about three dozen refugees from Kachin, Chin, and Arakan States in Burma. We met in the bare cement […]

This is the second of three posts by PHR's Burma Project Director, Bill Davis, on his recent trip to visit Burmese refugees in Delhi, India. The Yamuna Clinic occupies the second floor of a faded building in a dusty Burmese neighborhood in west Delhi. A dark cement staircase opens onto a balcony and a waiting […]

A Delhi neighborhood where many Burmese Chin refugees live. Two weeks ago I visited Delhi as part of PHR’s ongoing efforts to document human rights violations against Burma’s ethnic minorities and the situation of urban refugees. India is home to more than 100,000 displaced persons from Burma, of which only a few are officially recognized […]

All Boston-based PHR members are invited to participate in a Global Day of Protest on January 30, 2011 which will call for the Release of Dr. Binayak Sen and other human rights defenders and journalists. In December, The Chattisgarh Court in India handed down a life sentence to Dr. Sen, finding him guilty on charges […]

Prominent individuals, including Nobel laureate Amartya Sen as well as human rights and medical organizations across the globe have responded in protest to the life-sentence imposed on Dr. Binayak Sen last week. Ram Jethmalani, an M.P. from India’s conservative BJP party, told the press on Tuesday that he would argue Dr. Sen’s case on appeal […]

The Chattisgarh Court in India handed down a life sentence to celebrated pediatrician Dr. Binayak Sen, finding him guilty on charges of treason and sedition for alleged support of Maoist rebels. The sentence has shocked family and supporters of this physician who has spent years devoted to public health and the poorest of India's poor. […]

PHR salutes his work and calls for his freedom; Dr. Jonathan Fine observes trial The trial of celebrated Indian pediatrician Binayak Sen, a tireless advocate for the poor and marginalized in India’s Chattisgarh State, ends on Friday, December 24. A judge is expected to deliver a verdict in this widely-watched case that is marked by […]

PHR received this letter of thanks from Binayak Sen and his wife Ilina following his release from detention: Our heartfelt?thanks?to all those who associated themselves with the nationwide?and international?campaign for the release of Dr. Binayak Sen. ?The outcome of?the campaign has vindicated?our stand?and is a glowing affirmation to?the voice of the people.We?thank especially all who […]

Yesterday, Richard Sollom posted the happy news that Binayak Sen, MD, has been released on bail after more than two years in jail on false charges of supporting a Maoist insurgency in India. The following is a TV interview with Dr. Sen very shortly after his release.

The Indian Supreme Court yesterday granted bail to Binayak Sen, MD, a leading health and human rights advocate. Dr. Sen languished in jail for more than two years on bogus charges of supporting a Maoist insurgency in India. The Court granted Dr. Sen bail on a personal bond in a hearing that lasted just one […]

An unprecedented surge of citizen activism demanding the release of famed Indian pediatrician, Binayak Sen, culminated last Thursday when people from around the world held vigils in his honor. Physicians for Human Rights has worked for Dr. Sen’s release ever since government authorities arrested him on bogus charges of sedition on May 14, 2007.? PHR […]

The ailing pediatrician and human rights defender, Dr. Binayak Sen, has languished for two years in the central jail in Raipur, the capital of the state of Chhattisgarh in central India.? The government accuses him of aiding and abetting terrorists – a charge Dr. Sen has consistently denied and one that Amnesty International deems baseless […]

PHR reveals how Indian police in the state of Punjab deliberately executed, “disappeared,” and tortured detainees to stamp out Sikh militant groups. Dead Silence documents incidents of torture, extrajudicial executions, and disappearances committed by the police between 1991 and 1993, after the end of the bloody conflict in Punjab and the restoration of an elected […]

In 1993, the bloody conflict in Indian-controlled Kashmir was in its fourth year. Indian troops had embarked on a “catch and kill” campaign against Muslim militants, resulting in a sharp escalation of human rights abuses. PHR and Human Rights Watch provided comprehensive documentation of the consequences of India’s abusive policy in Kashmir in this report.

While fighting with Muslim insurgents in Kashmir who demand independence or accession to Pakistan, Indian troops are increasingly targeting civilians. PHR and Asia Watch investigated these efforts to crush support for the guerrilla forces, especially the military’s torture of detainees and the government’s targeting of health professionals. Learn more about violations of medical neutrality by […]