Author Archive
March 20, 2014
Dublin-based Front Line Defenders seeks to recruit staff and volunteers in an open and transparent manner and to increase cultural diversity within the Front Line Defenders staff. Therefore, all positions are advertised via its website. Due to the volume of requests, it is not possible to keep general applications or CVs on file but it will respond to all applications by email. Two posts are open at the moment:
- Digital Security Consultant Southeast Asia region
- Digital Security Consultant MENA region
Front Line is also looking for:
- Regional internship: Middle East & North Africa, Arabic-speaking
- Regional internship: Europe, Central Asia & Asia, Russian-speaking
- Admin & Publications Internship
- Regional Internship: Africa & Americas Internship, Portuguese speaking
- Frank Jennings Internship 2014/2015 (in Dublin and Geneva)
- Front Line Defenders Internship for postgraduate students of Peking University China (in Dublin)
via https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/about/recruitment
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Arab region, cultural diversity, digital security, Dublin, Front Line (NGO), Front Line Defenders, internships, job opportunity, posts, Regional Internship, South-east asia, vacancy, volunteer
March 20, 2014
On 17 March 2014 UAE human rights defender Mr Osama Al-Najjar was arrested as he returned home from visiting his father in prison. Front Line Defenders states that he was held at his home for approximately three hours before being brought to an unknown location by state security forces. No charges have been brought against the human rights defender thus far. Osama Al-Najjar is the son of one of the so-called UAE94 – 94 individuals including human rights defenders sentenced to 7 to 15 years imprisonment on charges of attempting to overthrow the government. Osama Al-Najjar’s father is serving eleven years in prison. The son lobbies for detainees’ rights and disseminates information regarding conditions and ill-treatment particularly via social media websites. He has also appeared on television and given talks on the case of the UAE94. It is alleged that this arrest is directly related to his online activism.
[On 16 March 2014 Osama Al-Najjar responded, on Twitter, to remarks made by the Ruler of Sharjah during a radio interview that families of the UAE94 should not fill their children with hate and malice against the country. The human rights defender tweeted, “your highness, the doctor, we do not hate our country and we do not forget injustice we faced even if our mothers forgot it. Those who were unjust to my father carry 20 months of unfair jail and harassment on their conscience”]
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Al-Najjar, arbitrary arrest, Emirates, Front Line (NGO), Front Line Defenders, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, ill treatment, illegal detention, on-line, Osama Al-Najjar, twitter, UAE, UAE94
March 19, 2014
Swaziland should immediately release Mr. Thulani Maseko and Mr. Bheki Makhubu, the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network said today. The human rights defenders (the first a lawyer and the second a journalist) were arrested on Monday 17 March 2014, reportedly in response to articles published in a national magazine. Maseko is a prominent human rights lawyer working at the national and regional levels, a senior member of Lawyers for Human Rights Swaziland and the Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, which is part of the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network. Makhubu is the Editor-in-Chief of the Nation. The two men were arrested under the same warrant, issued by Chief Justice Ramodibedi, on charges of “scandalizing the judiciary” and contempt of court. Their lawyer was not permitted to represent the pair when they were jointly charged on 18 March 2014. They have been remanded pending a bail hearing on 24 March 2014. The charges are apparently in relation to articles published in the Nation Magazine questioning the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Chief Government Vehicle Inspector, Bhantshana Gwebu. Mr. Gwebu had been arrested and charged with contempt of court after he arrested the driver of a High Court judge. As an absolute monarchy, the King of Swaziland has the discretionary power to suspend constitutional rights such as freedom of expression and in practice these rights are frequently curtailed. Mr. Maseko has previously been charged with sedition for public statements made.“Human rights defenders must be able to speak out on issues of public interest,” said Hassan Shire, Chairperson of the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network. “We call on the Swaziland authorities to drop the charges against Mr Maseko and Mr Makhubu and allow them to continue with their important work.”
via Swaziland: Release Human Rights Defender and Journalist – East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: arbitrary arrest, Bheki Makhubu, Chief Justice Ramodibedi, Hassan Shire Sheikh, Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyer, illegal detention, Journalist, Lawyers for Human Rights Swaziland, Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network, Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, Swaziland, Thulani Maseko
March 19, 2014
On Monday 17 March, I reported on a clampdown on human rights defenders in Sri Lanka which looked very much like reprisals (https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/sri-lanka-champion-retaliator-against-human-rights-defenders/). Fortunately, Front Line Defenders reports today that the human rights defenders Ruki Fernando and Reverend Praveen Mahesan were released from detention. They had been detained on 16 March 2014 when visiting the Killinochchi district after the arrest of human rights defender Ms Balendran Jayakumari. She remains in detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/25400).
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: AHRC, anti-terrorist laws, Balendran Jayakumari, Forced disappearance, Front Line (NGO), Front Line Defenders, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, illegal detention, reprisals, Reverend Praveen Mahesan, Ruki Fernando, Sri Lanka, UN Human Rights Council
March 18, 2014
The Association for Progressive Communications [APC] is partnering with a number of member organisations to build a culture of online human rights and digital security through capacity building and networking of human rights defenders in the Maghreb-Machrek region. The project aims to make regulatory frameworks governing the internet in the region more rights-oriented and to empower human rights defenders, women’s rights groups and others in civil society to use the internet effectively, safely and securely. 
As part of this project, APC is hiring an Internet rights outreach and capacity-building coordinator. Information on the job is available at:
https://www.apc.org/en/news/job-opportunity-internet-rights-outreach-and-capac
The deadline for application is 24 March 2014!
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: APC, Association for Progressive Communications, capacity building, digital security, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, internet, Internet rights, job opportunity, Maghreb, north africa, The Association for Progressive Communications, vacancy
March 17, 2014
Today, 17 March 2014, the Asian Human Rights Commission, comes out with a statement that makes Sri Lanka look like one the worst offenders when it comes to retaliation and reprisals against human rights defenders. My feelings about reprisals are well-known and were recently expressed in: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/zero-tolerance-for-states-that-take-reprisals-against-hrds-lets-up-the-ante/
A draft resolution promoting reconciliation, accountability, and human rights in Sri Lanka is being discussed at the United Nations Human Rights Council. The proposed resolution calls for, among other things, the Office of the High Commissioner, “To lead a comprehensive investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka and establish the facts and circumstances of such violations and of the crimes committed with the view to avoiding impunity and ensuring accountability with assistance from relevant experts”.
The statement of the AHRC reads: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in AHRC, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 4 Comments »
Tags: AHRC, anti-reprisals focal point, arbitrary arrest, Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando, detention, Forced disappearance, investigation, large scale violations, reprisals, retaliation, Sri Lanka, UN, UN Human Rights Council
March 16, 2014
While the whole of the Syrian population suffers terribly, it is important to recognize that human rights defenders, activists, media and humanitarian workers have been particularly targeted for their work since the beginning of the Syrian uprising three years ago. Many have been arrested or abducted by either government forces and pro-government militias or by non-state armed groups. The channels for obtaining reliable information are drying up and that is certainly not a coincidence.
Now several international NGOs such as Amnesty International, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, FIDH, Frontline Defenders, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders have come together to work jointly, with other international, regional and Syrian organizations, to campaign for the release of these Silenced Voices of Syria. The campaign is starting with the documentation of 37 emblematic cases.
This campaign will use a three-pronged strategy of 1. Research and Documentation, 2. Information/Sensitisation and 3/ Mobilization.
via FREE SILENCED VOICES OF SYRIA | Civil society activists, media and medical workers targeted for their work.
https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/one-more-disappearance-in-syria-roshdy-el-sheikh-rasheed/
Posted in AI, Amnesty international, EMHRN, FIDH, films, Front Line, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: AI, Amnesty International, campaign, civil society organisations, coalition, disappearance, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, FIDH, Front Line (NGO), Frontline Defenders, HRW, human rights campaign, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch, humanitarian workers, illegal detention, journalists, lawyers, media, Reporters without Borders, RSF, Silenced Voices of Syria, Syria, Syrian Civil War, Syrian population, Syrian uprising
March 15, 2014
“Voices of LGBTI Human Rights Defenders” on 19 March, from 10h00 – 12h00 in Room XXIV of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Human Rights Defenders from Nigeria and Malaysia will be among those presenting.
Contact: adam.hennings[at]graduateinstitute.ch
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Geneva, Human Rights Defenders, ILGA, LGBT rights, LGBTI, LGBTI Human Rights Defenders, Malaysia, Nigeria, side event, UN Human Rights Council
March 15, 2014
On 6 March 2014, in Tashkent the trial of two members of the Mazlum Human Rights Center took place: Fakhriddin Tillaev and Nuriddin Jumaniyazov. They were charged under Art. 135 of the Criminal Code (“trafficking in persons”). The prosecutor asked for 12 years of imprisonment. The court sentenced both the human rights advocates to 10 years and 8 months of imprisonment and applied the amnesty act passed by the Senate of Uzbekistan. The final term of punishment was thus still 8 years and 3 months of imprisonment.
 |
| Fakhriddin Tillaev |
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: fair trial, Fakhriddin Tillaev, false accusation, Human Rights Defenders, human trafficking, labour rights, lawyers, Maslum Human Rights Center, Mazlum Human Rights Center (Uzbek), Nadejda Atayeva, Nuriddin Jumaniyazov, Union of Independent Trade Unions, Uzbekistan
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 