Author Archive
May 20, 2013
Sagaing Region in Burma (credit: Wikipedia)
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns in the strongest terms the announcement of the commander of the Sagaing Region Police Force, Myanmar, that the police will arrest and charge eight human rights defenders whom it blames for inciting protests against the army-backed copper mine project in Monywa. The Commission also condemns the latest round of needless police violence against demonstrators there. According to an undated announcement just issued by the regional commander of the Myanmar Police Force, a copy of which the AHRC has obtained, the police will lodge charges against eight persons for allegedly provoking demonstrations and other supposedly illegal actions. The persons named include six members of the Yangon Peoples Support Network. The other two persons are Han Win Aung of the Political Prisoners Families Beneficial Network and Thaung Taik Oo of the Yangon Institute of Technology Students Union (18 charges!). The announcement goes on to warn that failure to provide information leading to the apprehension of these persons or harbouring of them constitute criminal offenses. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in AHRC, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: activists, AHRC, asian human rights, Asian Human Rights Commission, Burma, copper mine, criminalization, Han Win Aung, Human Rights Defenders, impunity, Myanmar, Myanmar Police Force, police brutality, police violence, protection, Sagaing Region, Yangon
May 20, 2013
According to the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the work of human rights defenders is little known and recognized in Mexico. In many cases, the authorities themselves are guilty of defaming those who defend human rights. In recent years, human rights defenders have been threatened, monitored, harassed, slandered, and physically assaulted as a result of their work in support of victims and various causes. Defamation and under-appreciation of the work of human rights defenders have allowed these violations to continue. In 2012, the Mexican Congress approved the Law for the Protection of Defenders and Journalists, which requires the federal government to implement measures that are intended to prevent attacks against defenders. In this context, the Red TDT has launched “Defend Hope: A National Campaign in Support of Human Rights Defenders.” The campaign will disseminate information on various organizations’ efforts to defend and promote human rights. Each organization will be able to showcase its history and the voices of those that tirelessly defend human rights. Through these stories, the campaign will highlight not only the organizations’ work, but also the efforts of victims and their family members, as well as the fact that each case featured in the campaign remains in impunity. The campaign will last for one year and will boost public awareness through activities throughout the country. http://www.redtdt.org.mx/
via Defend Hope: National Campaign in Support of Human Rights Defenders | Washington Office on Latin America.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Advocacy Organizations, campaign, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Mexico, protection, Special Rapporteur, Washington Office on Latin America, WOLA
May 20, 2013
After an absence for a few days for a fascinating meeting of and on HRDs in York university, UK, on which I will report more on another occasion, I return to my regular blog with a case that involves two kinds of hearing: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: acoustic devices, Bangkok, freedom of demonstration, Front Line, Frontline Defenders, Human right, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, labour activists, labour rights, Long Range Acoustic Device, LRAD, peaceful assembly, peaceful demonstration, peaceful protest, Thailand, trade unionists, trial observation, women human rights defenders
May 13, 2013
The New York based Human Rights Foundation today announced the recipients of the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent 2013 laureates Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat, North Korean democracy activist Park Sang Hak, and Cuban civil society group the Ladies in White. They will be honored at a ceremony during the 2013 Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway on 15 May (broadcast live online at www.oslofreedomforum.com beginning at 4:00pm Central European Time).
The Havel Prize for Creative Dissent was founded with the endorsement of Dagmar Havlová, widow of the late poet, playwright, and statesman Václav Havel. The inaugural laureates in 2012 were Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, Saudi women’s rights advocate Manal al-Sharif, and Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The laureates will share a prize of 350,000 Norwegian Kroner.
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Ai Weiwei, Ali Ferzat, awards, Cuba, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, human rights, Human Rights Foundation, Ladies in White, Manal al-Sharif, North Korea, Oslo Freedom Forum, Park Sang Hak, Syria, Vaclav Havel, Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent
May 13, 2013
The prize, which is awarded to individuals or organizations every five years was first given out 45 years ago on the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: awards, deadline, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, New York, Non-governmental organization, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Human Rights Prize, United Nations, Universal Declaration, Universal Declaration Human Rights
May 13, 2013
The Heads of State from Mexico, Central America and the United States met for the Summit of the Central American Integration System (SICA) in Costa Rica on May 4 and 5. The Fellowship of Reconciliation, collaborating with Just Associates, the Americas Program, the Guatemala Human Rights Commission-USA and the Latin America Working Group, presented a letter to the meeting signed by more than 145 international, regional and local organizations from ten countries in the Americas. The letter addresses inter alia civil society concerns about security issues, human rights violations, violence against men and women human rights defenders. It is time to refocus regional dialogue and resource investment to address the root causes of violence, understanding that for many citizens and communities, drug trafficking is not the principal cause of insecurity. Harmful “development” policies have similarly caused increased conflict and abuses, while forced migration and criminalization of migrants and human rights activists continues to divide families. Most importantly, the region’s challenges must be addressed without violating fundamental rights and human dignity. The groups said that “the lack of effective gun control in the U.S. has led to the massive and nearly unrestricted transfer of arms to criminal networks throughout the region” and called on the presidents to “take executive action in the United States to stop the flow of assault weapons and other firearms across the U.S.-Mexico border.” The letter also provides analysis and recommendations related to: Militarization in the name of addressing the drug war which has caused unprecedented levels of violence while failing to provide citizen security. The imposition of large-scale extractive projects on marginalized communities do not constitute “development. ”Violations of migrants’ rights and the lack of consideration of root cause of migration in policies. Read the full text of the letter in pdf. on John Lindsay-Polands blog
via 145 Organizations Urge Obama and Mesoamerican Presidents to Change Course | Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Advocacy Organizations, Central America, Central American Integration System, Costa Rica, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Foreign Policy, gun control, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, John Lindsay-Polands, Latin America Working Group, Mexico, politics, SICA, United States, war on drugs
May 13, 2013
Back from a short (Orthodox) holiday I resume my efforts to keep you abreast of developments relevant to Human Rights Defenders. The first item is that the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has finally come into force. It enables people to seek justice through individual complaints when their rights to, for example, food, adequate housing, education or health are violated. “Egregious violations of economic, social and cultural rights are occurring, often unnoticed, on a daily basis, which in the area of civil and political rights would have been immediately condemned. This Protocol will help to address this imbalance,” High Commissioner Navi Pillay said. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, complaint procedure, human rights, Navi Pillay, Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, treaty bodies, UN
May 4, 2013
A bit more on awards: here is an indirect way to announce the 2013 Front Line Defenders award: with the letter of congratulations published by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), which shows how recognizing a single individual HRD can lift a wider movement:
Brussels, 3 May 2013 – On behalf of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, I would like to warmly congratulate Mr. Biram Dah Abeid for receiving the prestigious Human Rights Defenders at Risk Award, presented by Front Line Defenders, in Dublin. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Abeid, awards, Dublin, Frontline Defenders, human rights, Human rights defender, IRA, Mauritania, slavery, UNPO
May 4, 2013
Mona Seif – on of the 2013 MEA nominees – calls on people to campaign for the liberation of Hassan Mustafa, a leading human rights defender in Alexandria, Egypt, who was sentenced 2 years in prison.
Hassan was arrested on 21 January 2013 as he was filing a complaint inside Mansheyya Courts Complex, at the prosecutor general’s office, against the random detention of protesters & children from a protest outside the same Court on the previous day. The protest was taking place during the trial of police officers accused of killing protesters in the 25 January Revolution. He was then falsely accused of attacking a prosecutor causing prosecutors cheeks to turn red (“the prosecutor actually supplied a medical report claiming so !”). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Alexandria, Arab spring, Egypt, Front to Defend Egypt Protesters, Hassan Mustafa, human rights, illegal detention, judicial harassment, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA nominees 2013, Mohamed Morsi, Mona Seif, MonaSeif
May 3, 2013
Human rights lawyer Mario Joseph, MEA Nominee 2013, will give the commencement address at the IU McKinney School of Law on Saturday 11 May in Indianapolis.
Mario Joseph, Haiti – Final Nominee MEA 2013
The announcement by the University describes him as “A finalist for one of the world’s most prestigious human rights awards“, who has been called “Haiti’s most prominent human rights lawyer” by The New York Times.
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Posted in human rights, MEA, nominees | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, Final Nominees for the Martin Ennals Award 2013, Haiti, Human right, Human Rights Defenders, Indiana University, Indianapolis, law school, lawyer, Mario Joseph, McKinney School of Law, MEA, New York Times
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 