Author Archive
May 6, 2014
While not directly about Human Rights Defenders, this workshop organised by the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN and others (see below) is of great importance to HRDs as they are the ones who provide most of the information to the Treaty Bodies, and are often the victims of the violations reported, including reprisals against them for having cooperated. Thus, this meeting on “The outcome of the treaty body strengthening process: Lessons learnt, implications and implementation” should be of interest to all. It takes place on 9 May 2014, 9.30am to 1pm in Room XXII, Palais des Nations, Geneva. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 1 Comment »
Tags: Andrew Clapham, Geneva, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, international human rights law, international human rights treaties, meeting, Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN, reprisals, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, treaty bodies, UN
May 5, 2014
On 2 May 2014 the Human Rights Foundation announced as the recipients of its 2014 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent the Turkish performance artist Erdem Gunduz, Russian punk protest group Pussy Riot, and imprisoned Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen. They will be honored at a ceremony during the Oslo Freedom Forum on Wednesday, May 14. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | 1 Comment »
Tags: awards, China, Dhondup Wangchen, digest of human rights awards, Erdem Gunduz, human rights awards, Leaving Fear Behind, on-line, Oslo, Pussy Riot, Russia, Standing Man, Tibet, Turkey, Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent
May 5, 2014
Via the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD IC) I received the information that women’s rights organization, Society Without Violence, in Armenia was attacked by extremist groups. The Society Without Violence works on women’s empowerment, peace building, raising public awareness on gender stereotypes and gender based violence, and the protection for women human rights defenders. On 15 April 2014, a roundtable (due to recent threats the event was a closed session) was interrupted by neo-nationalist extremist group members protesting the event. As the extremist groups tried to enter the conference room, some verbally attacked members of Society Without Violence, while others used physical force on human rights defenders and hotel security guards. Members of local and official media who arrived with the extremist protestors filmed the incident, but later falsely claimed that the Society Without Violence initiated the violent attack. This attack seems to be part of an increasing pattern and women human rights defenders in Armenia are targeted with threats and violence for carrying on their human rights works.
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Armenia, attack, Human Rights Defenders, intimidation, protection, Society Without Violence, threats, violence, WHRD IC, women human rights defenders, Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition
May 5, 2014
3 May 2014 Cartooning for Peace award, Geneva (c) THF
In case you noticed, my post of yesterday about the Cartooning for Peace Award came a day late; sorry. The award ceremony took place on Saturday 3 May, International Day for Press Freedom. To make up for the error here are the winners (Palestinian-Syrian Hani Abbasi, and Egyptian Doaa Eladl), in company of inter alia Kofi Annan and municipal councillor Guillaume Barazzone. The exhibit remains to be visited along the Quai Wilson in Geneva until 3 July 2014. Also present were the well-known cartoonists Chappatte, Plantu et Liza Donnelly. More information and links in my post of yesterday:
https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/cartooning-for-peace-international-award-and-exhibit-in-geneva-as-from-today/
Posted in awards, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: art, awards, Cartooning for Peace, Cartooning for Peace Award, cartoons, Chappatte, City of Geneva, Doaa Eladl, Egypt, Guillaume Barazzone, Hani Abbasi, human rights awards, Kofi Annan, Liza Donnelly, Palestinian, peace, Plantu, Press Freedom
May 4, 2014
Today, 3 May 2014, the Foundation Cartooning for Peace in Geneva hands out the 2nd International Prize for the best press cartoon (le Prix international du dessin de presse à Genève), followed by the exhibit “La guerre dans tous ses états”
This recent bi-annual award, given by Foundation in cooperation with the City of Geneva, will handed over by Kofi Annan, Honorary President of Cartooning for Peace. It rewards the creator for his or her courage, talent and engagement in favour of peace and human rights.
The work of the laureates form part of an exhibit of some hundred cartoons which are displayed in big format on the Quai Wilson for one month: from 3 May to 3 June.
via: Cartooning for Peace – Exposition « La Guerre dans tous ses états » Genève, Suisse.
the catalogue on line: Catalogue d’exposition en ligne
Posted in human rights | 2 Comments »
Tags: art, award, Cartooning for Peace, cartoons, City of Geneva, exhibit, Geneve, human rights, human rights awards, images, Kofi Annan, peace, Prix international du dessin de presse
May 2, 2014
(Erykah Badu performs onstage 15 March 2014 in Austin; Roger Kisby—Getty Images)
The misuse of star power by Erykah Badu referred to in an earlier post got a nice follow up according to the opinion piece posted by Thor Halvorssen and Alex Gladstein in TIME of 2 May 2014. After recalling in detail her singing for the Swazi absolute monarch [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/another-case-of-misused-star-power-erykah-badu-performs-for-swaziland-dictator/], the authors describe Badu’s defensive and sometimes offensive comments in the social media: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | 5 Comments »
Tags: Alex Gladstein, dictatorship, Erykah Badu, human rights, Jennifer Lopez, King Mswati, Mariah Carey, music, social media, star power, Swaziland, the Gambia, Thor Halvorssen, Time, twitter, Yahya Jammeh
May 2, 2014
The Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation, in collaboration with the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, is organising its annual conference on Thursday 15 May 2014 at 18:30. The main speaker is Mr. José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Guinea Bissau, and Patron of the MEA on the theme of “Preventing conflicts, ending wars, building desirable peace.” The lecture is free and open to everyone at the Maison de la paix, Auditorium Ivan Pictet, Chemin Eugène-Rigot 2, 1202 Geneva.
via 2014 Annual Lecture.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: conflict resolution, Geneva, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, human rights, lecture, peace, Sergio Vieira de Mello
May 2, 2014
As this blog testifies, across the globe, individuals suspected of posing a threat to state authority are routinely kidnapped, arrested and forcibly disappeared, often without any warning.Amnesty international launches today the easy-to-use app launched by Amnesty International. “Panic Button”, a mobile app for Android, transforms a user’s smart phone into a secret alarm which can be activated rapidly in the event of an emergency, alerting fellow activists and enabling them to respond faster.
“Defending human rights is an incredibly dangerous job in large parts of the world, with activists facing anything from threats to imprisonment and even torture as punishment for their legitimate work,” said Tanya O’Carroll, Technology and Human Rights Officer for Amnesty International. “By introducing technology to the fight for human rights ‘Panic Button’ is bringing them a new tool to alert others about the danger they may be facing with a simple click.”
AI is are currently working with HRDs in 16 countries on how to use the tool and on the growing and omnipresent threat of surveillance so they are clear on the risks they take when using a mobile phone in their work,but the official website for the “Panic Button” app is up and running.
[Amnesty International hopes that activists and members of the public will help to improve the tool by downloading and testing Panic Button in their country as part of the beta – or testing – phase. Authorities know that campaigners coordinate meetings, protests and other activities using mobile phones and have ramped up their surveillance capabilities to monitor and track activists, journalists and campaigners. In a bid to mitigate some of these dangers, the “Panic Button” tool uses a screen disguise feature and requires users to enter a pin number before accessing the application. The alarm itself is triggered by rapidly pressing the phone’s power button, after which an SMS message is sent to three pre-entered contacts chosen by the user, alerting them of the distress call. When a GPS function is enabled, this message includes a map link showing the user’s coordinates and the user can pre-set regular location updates so their network is updated every few minutes when active.]
via New ‘Panic Button’ app provides safety net to human rights activists | Amnesty International.
see also: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/technology-to-protect-human-rights-defenders-great-but-should-there-not-be-more-cooperation/
Posted in AI, Amnesty international, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: AI, alarm, Amnesty International, applications, digital security, human rights activists, Human Rights Defenders, information technology, mobile phone, mobile phones, Panic Button, protection, SMS, Solidarity
May 1, 2014
Human Rights Defenders do not only suffer repression but campaign to get things improved. Success is not always as widely reported as drama, so I draw your attention to the AP story (as it appeared in the Washington Post of 1 May 2014) that Mexico’s parliamentarians have unanimously agreed to change Mexico’s military justice code that will allow members of the armed forces who commit crimes against civilians to be tried in civilian courts. This is a historic change that human rights defenders have been demanding for years.
[The changes come after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in five cases filed by Mexicans who suffered abuse at the hands of soldiers. It ordered that those cases be tried in civilian courts and told Mexico to change its military code of justice.]
Mario Patron, deputy director of Mexico’s Human Rights Centre Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez, said the military code “was subjecting civilian victims to a jurisdiction that is neither independent nor impartial.” He said the reform is a clear step forward, but suggested that cases of soldiers whose human rights have been violated by other soldiers should also go to civilian court
Mexico lawmakers OK civilian courts for soldiers – The Washington Post.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: civilian courts, Criminal justice, Human Rights Defenders, impunity, Law, Mexico, military courts, military justice code, Parliament, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
May 1, 2014
“Civil society loses as repressive States win election to regulate NGO access to UN” is the headline of a rightly alarming report on 23 April 2014 by the New York desk of the International Service for Human Rights [ISHR]. It calls on States that value and respect a vibrant civil society should do more to support non-governmental organisations to have their voices heard at the United Nations. The call comes after very few such States stood for election to an important UN committee that regulates civil society access to the UN, leaving the field to repressive States whose intolerance for civil society at home looks set to further restrict NGO access to the UN.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Civil society, ECOSOC, Greece, Human Rights Defenders, India, International Service for Human Rights, Iran, ISHR, Michelle Evans, NGOs, reprisals, Russia, South Africa, UN Committee on NGOs, United Nations
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 