I have often wondered why there is not a proper human rights (digital) TV channel. Technically is should be possible but it would require the true coöperation from the whole human rights movement to create a global channel. Glad to see that the Asian Human Rights Commission has started at least with a weekly programme. Here is episode 9 on Human Rights Day. Bravo!
To create awareness among the masses, the Flashpoint Human Rights Film Festival was held from 12-14 December 2013 in Mumbai, India. The three-day film festival was organised by Solaris Pictures in association with ACEE – The Third Eye and Movies That Matter and Alliance Francaise de Bombay. The third edition of the film festival was held at Alliance Francaise and entry was Entry free. The films screened included
Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega is serving an 18-year prison sentence for “terrorism”. He was charged in 2011 after giving speeches and writing articles criticizing the government and supporting free speech. He is a Amnesty prisoner of conscience. Eskinder has long been a thorn in the side of the Ethiopian authorities. He has previously been harassed, arrested and prosecuted a number of times for his writing. Between 2006 and 2007, Eskinder and his wife Serkalem Fasil were detained and tried on treason and other charges along with 129 other journalists, opposition politicians and activists. Serkalem gave birth to their son Nafkot while in prison. In May 2013, Eskinder wrote from prison: “I will live to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It may or may not be a long wait. Whichever way events may go, I shall persevere!”
Tactical Technology Collective and the New Tactics community start their on-line conversation on Visualizing Information for Advocacy as from today November 11, until 15 November. People around the world are using digital tools and visualization techniques to expose injustice and abuse, creating narratives to challenge the status quo and mobilizing for action. In the words of the organisers: Read the rest of this entry »
The Martin Ennals Foundation and the City of Geneva announce the 20th ceremony of Martin Ennals Award for human rights defenders. This event is integrated within Human Rights Week, a four-day event organized at the University of Geneva. This ceremony is open to the public. All who are interested in human rights are welcome to come and pay tribute to these men and women who are engaged in the defense of human rights, often risking their lives. It is crucial that the public knows the work of these individuals, not only in Geneva but also at the international level, in order to ensure that they can benefit from a certain degree of protection.
The following 3 nominees were carefully selected by the Jury of the Martin Ennals Award, made up of ten of the world’s leading human rights organisations:
Ms Mona Seif (Egypt) who is one of the core founders of the ”No To Military Trials for Civilians”, a grassroots initiative that aims to stop military trials for civilians in Egypt.
The Joint Mobile Group (Russia) seeks accountability for human rights abuses in Chechnya, notably enforced disappearances, torture in custody, and extra-judicial executions.
Mr Mario Joseph (Haïti) has been referred to as Haiti’s most prominent human rights lawyer, and has worked on some of the most important cases including the one against former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier.
Ms Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will present the award to one of these nominees. The ceremony will be held in French and in English at Uni-Dufour, Jean-Piaget auditorium, U-600 at 6 pm. A live broadcast will be given in the Charles-Rouiller auditorium, U-300, located in the same building and it should also be streamed on the internet.
Priscila Neri, WITNESS Senior Program Manager, discusses digital media, freedom of speech and advocacy at the Nordic Creative Commons Film Festival Thursday 5 September at 10:40am ET. She will present two short videos – you can watch them anytime online: People Before Profit and How to Film Protests: A WITNESS Guide to Video for Change) and discuss the use of Creative Commons and why it’s an important resource for activists. You can watch the live discussion on Google Hangout On Air and send Priscila your questions on Twitter using #WITNESSlive or @witnessorg.
(Golden Dawn election candidate Alekos Plomaratis)
The 37-minute film The Cleaners, exposing the racist views and politics of hatred shared by Golden Dawn members, has picked up the special jury prize for documentary films at the 19th Sarajevo Film Festival. The award comes with a €2,500 prize, sponsored by Al Jazeera Balkans. The Cleaners, an extract of which was shown in a news report in March on Britain’s Channel 4, follows Golden Dawn members in Athens during last year’s parliamentary elections. In the film, candidate Alekos Plomaratis says: “We are ready to turn on the ovens“, adding that immigrants will be turned into soap for washing cars. Last month, it was confirmed that Plomaratis will stand trial for his remarks under the 1979 antiracism law. Georgousis, a graduate of the UK’s National Film and Television School, filmed the documentary over the period of a month. He said: “It is a great honour for me to find myself in a city that has suffered so much from nationalism, and it is a double honour to win the prize considering that the [Thessaloniki Film Festival] did not want to screen it.“
Reuters reports that China has arrested an activist on a charge of subversion and the latest sign that the authorities are hardening their stance toward dissent. Yang Lin, 45, Read the rest of this entry »
Today, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and FIFA President Sepp Blatter will officially mark the one-year countdown to the opening of the 2014 World Cup. Read the rest of this entry »
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 