Israel continues to plunder Palestinian land as a result of West Bank colonisation.

Timmy Mabs| 3rd July, 2024.

Palestinians walk along a damaged road following an Israeli operation in Nur Shams refugee camp, near the West Bank town of Tulkarem, July 1, 2024. Photo credit: AP 

As disclosed on Wednesday by an anti-settlement watchdog, Israel has authorised the biggest takeover of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank in more than thirty years. 

According to Peace Now, over five square kilometres of Jordan Valley territory has lately been cleared for appropriation by the authorities. According to data gathered by the group, this is the biggest single expropriation authorised since the Oslo Accords of 1993 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

The West Bank has seen an increase in settler violence against Palestinians during Israel's invasion of Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of over 37,000 people. 

A square mile of land was taken in February and about three square miles of land in the West Bank in March. The land seizure was authorised late last month but was not made public until this Wednesday. Consequently, according to Peace Now, 2024 will be by far the highest year for Israeli land grabs in the occupied West Bank.

The contiguous land pieces are situated northeast of Ramallah, the capital city of the West Bank and home to the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli government has made them state property, meaning that Palestinians cannot own them privately and can only lease them to Israelis. 

According to Palestinians, one of the primary obstacles to any long-term peace deal is the growth of settlements in the occupied West Bank. They are prohibited in the majority of countries.

Throughout the West Bank, Israel has constructed well over a hundred settlements, some of which are miniature towns or fully established suburbs. More over 500,000 Israeli-citizen Jewish settlers reside there, while the three million Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to unrestricted Israeli military authority. 

While 60% of the Israeli-occupied West Bank is off-limits to Palestinian Authority operations, the Authority does oversee some areas of the land where the settlements are situated. Leading human rights groups have accused Israel of the international crime of apartheid, citing its authority over the West Bank as evidence. Israel denies these accusations as an assault on its legitimacy.

Leading human rights organisations have accused Israel of the international crime of apartheid, citing its authority over the West Bank as evidence. Israel denies these accusations as an assault on its legitimacy.

Since assuming greater control over Israel's management of the occupied area under the current ruling coalition—the most politically extremist in Israeli history—far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has accelerated land seizures and settlement development.

Stampede in northern India claims at least 60 lives.

By Timmy Mabs| 2nd July, 2024.

Women mourn next to the body of a relative outside the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh state, India, July 2, 2024. At least 60 people are dead and scores are injured after a stampede Tuesday at a religious gathering in Hathras. Photo credit by AP

A stampede during a religious gathering in a village in the Hathras district of northern India has left at least 60 persons dead, according to police and medical officials. 

The incident happened after a sizable throng gathered in the village, which is roughly 200 km southeast of New Delhi, India's capital, and was hurrying to leave a Hindu event known as a satsang, which was organised by local religious leader Bhole Baba. 

District Magistrate Ashish Kumar informed reporters about this to media. Overcrowding was probably a role, according to police. According to reports, among the dead were a number of women and children.

Video and images posted to social media show bodies on the ground. The injured were ferried to local hospitals.

The chief minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Mahant Yogi Adityanath, announced on his X account that he has assembled a committee to look into the incident.

On Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his profound sadness over the disaster and vowed to "help the injured in every possible way" during a meeting with the legislature. 

During Indian religious festivals, tremendous crowds congregate in confined spaces with no safety measures, often leading to deadly stampedes.

India: Repressive new criminal legislation must be promptly repealed by the authorities.

Timmy Mabs | 1st July, 2024.

Today, three new criminal laws in India—the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhinayam (BSA)—replace three statutes from the British era. Amnesty International India's board chair, Aakar Patel, stated: 

"The effective realisation of the rights to freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, and fair trial would be severely hampered by the provisions of the amendments to and overhaul of India's criminal laws."

"It is incorrect that the Indian government has abolished sedition laws; on the contrary, they have been reinstated following a suspension by the Supreme Court of India in 2022. The BNS incorporates a new clause that reads identically to the previous sedition statute, making "acts endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India" illegal. It also raises the mandatory minimum sentence to seven years under the legislation. 

The laws as they stand will be used as an excuse to violate the rights of anyone who dared to tell the truth to authority. 

Amnesty International India's chair of the board, Aakar Patel

"Instead of just the first two weeks following an arrest, the police may now request 15 days of custody of an accused person at any point before the 40–60 day permitted remand period is up, according to the new Code of Criminal Procedure, or BNSS.

This ambiguity creates an ideal environment for torture and other cruel treatment. The BSA permits the admissibility of electronic records as evidence, much as the Indian Evidence Act. 

The new law allows for abuse since it lacks a strong data protection regulation and because the use of electronic evidence in the Bhima Koregaon and Newsclick cases has been established.

Background 

The BNS, BNSS, and BSA bills were introduced in the Indian Parliament on August 11, 2023, by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, to replace the 1860 Indian Penal Code, 1973 Code of Criminal Procedure, and 1872 Indian Evidence Act, respectively. 

The legislation were based on the suggestions of a national committee that the Ministry of Home Affairs had established in 2020 to review India's criminal laws. The Indian government asserted that a thorough consultation process was carried out, but the committee's lack of representation from civil society and from women was criticised, and its final report was never made available to the public.