2018 is the year of the Human Rights Defenders! The Norwegian Human Rights Fund (NHRF) celebrates its 30th anniversary by showcasing some of the brave human rights defenders it supports through out the year. Iván Madero is a human rights defender from Colombia. Iván Madero Vergel is the director of CREDHOS, an organization that documents violations and accompanies human rights defenders. For him becoming a human rights defender was a natural response to the difficult circumstances in his hometown Barrancabermjea. For more than three decades he has been a leader that stands up for the rights of others. In this video, he tells how it is to work in a country where people who stand up for human rights are risking their lives:
Archive for the 'films' Category
Human Rights Defender Profile: Iván Madero from Colombia
June 30, 2018Azadi about migration defenders
June 26, 2018
“Migration is not a crime. Defending the rights of migrant people should not be criminalised,” said Azadi (pseudonym) in her interview with ISHR. Today, more than 68 million people around the world are refugees or internally displaced as a result of conflict or persecution. They seek a safer life and better future. “Migrant rights defenders want to show people on the move that another Europe exists: it’s the Europe of the civil society that tries to welcome them. The Europe of solidarity”, Azadi concluded.
ECCHR launches new Institute for Legal Intervention
June 15, 2018
The European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights, ECCHR, uses the emancipatory potential of law in order to unmask unjust power relations and enforce social justice. Its goal is to change or re-create legal norms in the spirit of global justice. As part of its 10-year anniversary it created a new ECCHR department: the Institute for Legal Intervention. The Institute will complement ECCHR’s litigation and will encompass the Education Program, professional exchanges in transnational networks, cooperation with universities and dialogue with artists as well as cultural and social movements. The aim of the Institute is to initiate important legal debates, to foster young human rights lawyers and to deepen collaboration between disciplines.
All this thanks to the generous support of the Bertha Foundation. The Video clip above gives the details.
see also my: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/03/31/universal-jurisdiction-gathers-momentum-says-group-of-ngos/
Danny Glover uses his image to brush up venal Venezuela
March 30, 2018
The way celebrities involve themselves in human rights (positively or negatively) has been a topic in this blog several times [see e.g. https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2014/02/28/and-the-nominees-are-oscars-for-human-rights/ and recently https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/11/10/helen-hunt-joins-list-of-celebrities-that-show-insensitivity-on-human-rights/]. Venezuela has played the game getting star power on its side, but the president of the New York based Human Rights Foundation, Thor Halvorssen, is quite right that when it concerns a UNICEF goodwill ambassador matters become more serious: “…the moment Danny Glover travels to Venezuela using the seal of the United Nations’ highest office that deals with children, then Glover’s statements deserve higher scrutiny,” Thus HRF’s demand that UNICEF should strip Danny Glover from its honorary Ambassadorship.
This Saturday in Caracas, Glover praised Maduro’s government for “advancing humanity through education, health, and other aspects that honor humankind.” Meanwhile, the dictatorship’s economic policies have brought over 30 million Venezuelans into the worst humanitarian crisis in the 200-year history of the country. In 2017, Venezuelans lost 24 pounds in average due to hunger and undernourishment and, according to NGO Caritas, 33% of Venezuela’s 10 million child population has stunted growth.
[HRF adds: “Danny Glover has behaved unspeakably in his support for the Venezuelan regime and his motivation is unbridled greed. Eleven years ago, Glover received close to 20 million dollars from the Venezuelan regime to produce a film that was never made, and the funds have yet to be returned to the Venezuelan people. The payment was a crude payoff, masked as a production budget, in order to ensure that Glover was a permanent public relations agent for the Venezuelan government. In doing so, Glover violated American laws regarding registration as a foreign agent. But most of all, he lost all credibility as a spokesperson for human rights,”]
(Early this year, the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC), Netherlands, opened an investigation against the Venezuelan regime for crimes against humanity, while the Organization of American States (OAS) has created a commission to investigate gross human rights violations committed by the regime and refer their results to the ICC.)
https://mailchi.mp/e97c4e3f959c/hrf-to-un-fire-danny-glover-from-unicef-ambassadorship?e=f80cec329e
Indian Human Rights Commission calls for entrees into film competition
March 20, 2018Having just raised in this blog the question of the power of images [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2018/03/20/human-rights-films-call-for-action-or-entertainment/] it was interesting to note that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India has opened the entries for its fourth annual competition for short films on human rights. ”The aim of the award scheme is to encourage and acknowledge cinematic and creative efforts of the Indian citizens, irrespective of their age, towards the promotion and protection of human rights,’‘ the Commission said in an official statement on Monday.
The award carries a certificate along with prize money of Rs one lakh, Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000 for the best first,second and third film respectively. Deadline 2 July 2018. The short films may be in any Indian languages with either sub-titles in English or in English language.
Read more at:
Awards given at the 16th Human Rights Film Festival in Geneva
March 19, 2018The FIFDH just announced the OFFICIAL AWARDS of its 16th festival (2018) in Geneva. [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2018/02/27/16th-international-film-festival-and-forum-on-human-rights-starts-on-9-march/]. Here a summary: Read the rest of this entry »
Profile of Sonia Acabal, woman human rights defender from Guatemala
March 7, 2018
published on 24 November 2017 this video interview Sonia Acabal from Guatemala about the situation in her country, the women’s network Rednovi and what it means to be a women’s rights defender.
Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival with help of Canada train film makers in human rights
March 1, 2018
Trailer for Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2018 in London
February 15, 2018
Trailer for Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London. From 7-16 March, 2018, in London.
For information and tickets: https://ff.hrw.org/
Call for proposals to organize human rights film festivals 2018/19
February 14, 2018
To promote the screenings of human rights cinema worldwide, Movies that Matter offers grants to human rights film events in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, especially in countries with limited resources and freedom of press. These events can take various forms, such as human rights film festivals, LGBT film festivals and mobile cinema projects. Please note that Movies that Matter does not support film production. You can apply on-line. The deadline is 15 April 201§8
see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/11/19/supporting-film-festivals-on-human-rights-in-2018/
https://www.moviesthatmatter.nl/english_index/international/support_programme
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 