Archive for the 'awards' Category
April 12, 2016
Posted in awards, films, HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR | 2 Comments »
Tags: armed conflict, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denis Mukwege, DRC, human rights of women, ISHR, medical profession, natural resources, Pansy Foundation, profiles, rape, Sakharov Prize, sexual violence, The Man Who Mends Women (film)
April 8, 2016
reports that on 8 April 2016 that human rights defender He Xiaobo (not to be confused with Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo) was released on bail after over four months in custody in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. The workers’ rights campaigner had been detained on 3 December 2015 along with a number of colleagues and on 8 January he was formally charged with ’embezzlement’. Two other human rights defenders detained at that time, Zeng Feiyang and Meng Han remain in detention and are facing charges of “gathering a crowd to disrupt social order”. He Xiaobo runs Nanfeiyan Social Work Service Centre, an NGO campaigning for compensation on behalf of workers who have been injured during the course of their work. The centre’s registration was rescinded in 2015. https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-he-xiaobo.
It is not a breakthrough in the treatment of human rights defenders in China (https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/the-plight-of-chinas-human-rights-lawyers-worsened/) but even small good news is welcome. On the other hand, also today Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD人权捍卫者@CHRDnet) reports that 6 human rights defenders collectively received 20.5 years in prison for exercising their rights to free speech, assembly and association
Posted in awards, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: China, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, freedom of association, Front Line (NGO), He Xiaobo, Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyers, labour activists, Liu Xiaobo, Meng Han, Nanfeiyan Social Work Service Centre, release on bail, Zeng Feiyang
April 8, 2016
Photo U.S. Department of State/Flickr
Human rights lawyer and activist Ni Yulan became one of the 2016 recipients of the International Women of Courage Awards conferred by the U.S. Department of State on 29 March. The wheelchair-bound human rights lawyer Ni Yulan from China was not present; she he told the BBC that her passport was withheld. Yulan Ni won the Dutch Human Rights Tulip in 2011.[https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/10/06/chinese-human-rights-defender-ni-yulan-freed/]
She shares the 2016 recognition from the USA with 13 other women: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: awards, China, Fatimata M’baye, Foreign Policy of the USA, human rights awards, International Women of Courage Award, John Kerry, Latifa Ibn Ziaten, Ni Yulan, Nisha Ayub, US State Department, women human rights defenders, Zuzana Stevulová
April 8, 2016
Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court has commuted a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence against prominent human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev, paving the way for his release after nearly a year in prison
On 7 April 2016 Azerbaijan human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev was awarded the Civil Rights Defender of the Year Award in Stockholm by the NGO Civil Rights Defender. Released in March (see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/human-rights-defender-intigam-aliyev-freed-in-azerbaijan-today/) his son Najmin Kamil came to accept the award and said, “My father dedicated his tireless and selfless work to the promotion and protection of human rights, and sacrificed his freedom for the freedom of others – just because it is important for him to stand strong for what he believes in, no matter the circumstances”.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, Civil Rights Defenders (NGO), human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Azerbaijan, Civil Rights Defender of the Year award, Civil Rights Defenders, human rights award, Human rights defender, human rights lawyer, Intigam Aliyev
March 29, 2016
When writing about human rights awards, I often talk about better-known international awards [https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/human-rights-awards-for-the-protection-of-human-rights-defenders-qqq8FI0qeN]. However, there are quite a few local ones that can play an important role in shaping the work of human rights defenders. Here the case of Moldova where the “Promoting Human Rights in Moldova” competition was established by the United Nations in 2004. The prizes are awarded annually to journalists or human rights defenders who have made a genuine contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights in Moldova. The prizes were awarded by the Association for Independent Press in Moldova, with the financial support of Civil Rights Defenders in Sweden.
Radio Free Europe reported proudly on 23 March 2016 that their journalists working with RFE/RL’s Moldova Service were recognized for excellence in audio and video reporting on local community and human rights issues. Reporters Mihaela Gherasim and Eugenia Pogor took first and third place in the television program category, with programs on HIV and LGBTI questions.
Source: RFERL Moldova Service Reporters Win Accolades
Posted in awards, Civil Rights Defenders (NGO), human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Association for Independent Press in Moldova, Civil Rights Defenders, freedom of expression, hiv aids, human rights awards, human rights education, journalists, LGBTI, Moldova, national award, Radio Free Europe
March 3, 2016
A sad day for Honduras and all human rights defenders: today, 3 March 2016, Berta Cáceres was murdered by as yet unknown assailants who broke into her home in the city of La Esperanza in the early hours of the morning. One week prior to her assassination, the defender had denounced the killing of 4 leaders of her community as well as threats against her and other human rights defenders, at a press conference.
Berta Cáceres was one of the most prominent human rights defenders in Honduras and a Lenca indigenous woman who, for the past 20 years, had been defending the territory and rights of the Lenca people. In 1993, she co-founded the Consejo Civico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras – COPINH (http://www.copinh.org/) (Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras), which led fierce campaigns against illegal logging and mega-projects for their detrimental effects on the rights of indigenous peoples in the country. She faced off – and often won – against illegal loggers, plantation owners, multinational corporations, and dam projects that would cut off food and water supplies to indigenous communities. (e.g. https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/berta-caceres-in-honduras-continues-to-be-harassed-in-spite-of-court-order).
The human rights defender was a finalist for the 2014 Front Line Defenders Award [https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/es/programme/fld-award] and in 2015 she received the Goldman Environmental Prize. She had been a beneficiary of precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) since 2009. Her harassment was followed closely by Front Line and others.
Other human rights defenders (including members of COPINH) have been targeted in the past. The killing of human rights defenders and impunity for the perpetrators have been documented by many organizations. In this blog alone:
https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/assassination-of-human-rights-defenders-proceed-in-honduras-venezuela-peru-colombia-and-the-philippines/
https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/alarming-criminalisation-of-human-rights-defenders-in-latin-america/
“the most dangerous place to be an environmental activist was actually Honduras, according to Global Witness” [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/killings-of-environmental-human-rights-defenders-up-again-compared-to-last-year/]
Honduras: Berta Caceres, human rights defender & indigenous leader who opposed Agua Zarca dam, assassinated | Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
Posted in awards, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 3 Comments »
Tags: assassination, Berta Cáceres, COPINH, Front Line (NGO), Global Witness, Goldman Environmental Prize, Honduras, indigenous groups, judicial harassment, killing, land rights defender, woman human rights defender
March 3, 2016
False modesty should not prevent one from announcing a truly excellent piece written by Janneke Allers. She is the winer of the bi-annual Thoolen NJCM Dissertation Prize 2015 (sixth edition) with her dissertation ‘Cuts in the light of fundamental social rights. To what extent do treaties constrain the space for regressive measures?’
Three dissertations made the final cut and were assessed on the following criteria: the originality of the chosen human-rights based theme, the development thereof; the academic level; the degree of innovative insight; and accessibility.
The results were: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards | 1 Comment »
Tags: dissertation, Hans Thoolen, human rights award, Janneke Allers, legal restrictions, NJCM, social rights, Thoolen NJCM prijs, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, university level education
February 12, 2016
On 7 February 2016, Big News Network carried a profile of Cao Shunli, the Chinese human rights defender who died in custody on 14 March 2014. It starts with a beautiful quote of Cao Shunli (in an article on the China Change website on The Life and Death of Cao Shunli: “I was so saddened. I thought: you [China] are such a big government, but you do this to one individual. I don’t understand it.”
I have blogged enough on Cao Shunli [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/cao-shunli/] skip her life story here but the profile is worth reading for those who want to know more about this remarkable woman. Cao was a final nominee for the Martin Ennals Award 2014, for which True Heroes Films (THF) produced a moving video about her work that includes footage of the Chinese quashing of the motion of silence at the UN. [see: http://www.martinennalsaward.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=248&Itemid=161&lang=en]
The article does not refer to the establishment of the annual Cao Shunli Memorial Award for Human Rights Defenders. On 9 March 2015 Three rights groups launched the award in honor of Cao Shunli: Human Rights Campaign in China, Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch, and Rights Defense Network. The award is handed out on March 14, to mark the day Cao Shunli passed away. The recipient will be awarded funding to conduct human rights initiatives, especially “to push for civil society participation in international human rights activities” and to monitor the Chinese government’s implementation of its human rights obligations. In a joint announcement, the three NGOs said that the award will “commemorate Ms. Cao Shunli, so her life’s story will inspire generations to come.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA, THF | 5 Comments »
Tags: Cao Shunli, Cao Shunli Memorial Award for Human Rights Defenders, China, China Change website, human rights award, Human Rights Defenders, MEA final nominee 2014, profiles, THF, UPR, woman human rights defender, Zhou Weilin
February 9, 2016
Only a few days ago I referred to the widening impact of the ‘foreign agent’ law in Russia [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/russian-foreign-agents-law-starts-to-affect-monitoring-in-detention-centers/]. Now it seems that even organizations that do NOT accept foreign funding, may actually fall under it.
reports that on 28 January 2016, the Orenburg regional department of the Ministry of Justice accused the Committee for Prevention of Torture (CPT) and its chairman Mr Igor Kalyapin of violating the ‘Foreign Agents’ law. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | 2 Comments »
Tags: Committee for Prevention of Torture (CPT), foreign agent law, foreign agents, Front Line (NGO), Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, Igor Kalyapin, Inter-regional Committee against Torture, judicial harassment, MEA 2013, NGOs, Russia
February 2, 2016
Indian lawyer and human rights defender Henri Tiphagne has been awarded the 8th Human Rights Award by Amnesty International Germany. The award is a recognition of Henri Tiphagne’s exceptional commitment to human rights. “For many decades now, Henri Tiphagne has been tirelessly and bravely standing up for human rights. His organisation’s invaluable work includes campaigning against discrimination and the use of torture in India,” Amnesty International said in a statement on 25 January 2016.
Henri Tiphagne is the founder of the organisation People’s Watch, one of the most notable human rights organisations in India. People’s Watch has been researching and documenting human rights violations, as well as providing legal representation to those affected, for over 20 years. The organisation also actively supports human rights education: In 1997, Henri Tiphagne founded an institute offering training for teachers as well as mentoring around school human rights education programmes. So far, they have managed to reach out to around 500,000 children in 18 Indian states.
In recent years, many organisations have come under intense pressure by the Indian government, and People’s Watch is no exception. The organisation’s bank accounts have been frozen repeatedly since 2012. This meant that some employees had to be dismissed and many programmes needed to be abandoned. The Delhi government in power at the time used the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act to justify this kind of harassment. A complaint filed by People’s Watch against these government actions is still pending. The same legal framework is being instrumentalised for political ends by the current government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Those targeted by the authorities include non-governmental organisations as well as activists and local protest groups campaigning, for example, against forced evictions to make way for new coal mining projects. [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/india-should-end-funding-restraints-on-human-rights-defenders-says-hrw/]
“Henri Tiphagne and his organisation People’s Watch, while fighting to ensure the rights of others, are themselves being harassed and hampered in their work by the authorities. And there are other civil society organisations in India that are in a similar position. The award is therefore meant to send a strong signal of support to the whole of the Indian human rights movement,” adds Selmin Çalışkan, Director of Amnesty International Germany.
Award ceremony to be held on April 25 at the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin, Germany. For more information about Henri Tiphagne’s personal background and the situation in India please contact the Press Office mailto:presse@amnesty.de of Amnesty Germany.
Posted in AI, awards, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: AI Germany, caste, dalits, foreign funding, freedom of association, Germany, Henri Tiphagne, human rights education, India, minority rights, People’s Watch (India), restrictions, Selmin Çalışkan
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 