Homosexuality is already illegal in the country and punishable by up to 14 years in prison, but the so-called Kill the Gays bill, sponsored by MP David Bahati and first introduced in 2009, would penalize “aggravated homosexuality”— consensual same-sex acts committed by “repeat offenders,” anyone who is in a position of power, is HIV-positive, or uses intoxicating agents in the process — with capital punishment. The lesser “offense of homosexuality,” also criminalized in the bill, encompasses anyone who engages in a same-sex sexual relationship, enters into a same-sex marriage, or conspires to commit “aggravated homosexuality”. And almost the most shocking, the bill also calls for three-year prison sentences for friends, family members and neighbors who do not turn in “known homosexuals” to the police!
From Monday 14 – Friday 18 January 2013 Tactical Dialogue and New Tactics in Human Rights are organizing again an on-line conversation on Using Humor to Expose the Ridiculous.
All over the world, human rights activists use humour, irony, satire, parody and lampooning to express dissent and challenge the absurdities of institutional power.
They expose the lies, deceptions and sheer absurdities in their speech.
However, this is not without risks, which are particularly high in times of political turmoil.
So how exactly do activists in different parts of the world use humor to take on institutional power? How do they choose their tactics? What are the challenges they face in their work? And how do they overcome them? This online conversation will be an opportunity to exchange experiences, lessons-learned and ideas among practitioners using humor to challenge regimes and societies, and provoke citizens to reevaluate the way they think, and sometimes even push them to join them in their campaigns.
A few years ago, the same organizations hosted a conversation on a topic similar to this month’s conversation. It was called “Tactical that Tickle: Laughing all the way to the win”. Lessons from that exercise are available on-line via:
Last minute announcement: ‘Lives on the Line’, narrated by Martin Sheen, is to be aired tomorrow on Tuesday, 8th of January on Irish channel RTE1. Written and directed by Nuala Cunningham and narrated by Martin Sheen, this documentary, ‘Lives on the Line’, follows Mary Lawlor, founder of Front Line Defenders, an Irish-based international organisation dedicated to offering practical support to human rights defenders at risk throughout the world, as she goes to Guatemala to visit a number of human rights defenders who are risking their lives every day for their work. One such individual, Dr Yuri Melini, survived an assassination attempt on his life in 2008 but continues to fight for the protection of the environment and the rights of indigenous Mayan communities in Guatemala.
“The Cause of Progress” tells the story of the lives of three Cambodians caught up in the country’s chaotic and often violent economic progress, set against the backdrop of the shifting political, religious and familial landscapes of modern-day Cambodia. Shot over the course of three years, the film is a unique and intimate portrait of modern Cambodia. At times poignant and emotional, at others violent and chaotic, the film explores the impact of progress on modern society – from the corruption of the national religion, to the disintegration of the family, to the abusive power and kleptocracy of the ruling political elite.
What is happening in Cambodia is happening all over the developing world, from South America to Africa to Eastern Europe – land is being colonised by the developed world and the local elites, while the rightful owners are being displaced. This film addresses one of the most pressing issues of our time.
Each of the three personal narratives focuses on a different aspect of the story but forced evictions and land grabbing recur across all three. The Venerable Loun Sovath is a Human Rights Defender who uses video as part of his activist campaigning, all the while fighting against the corruption within his religious order. He is the 2012 Laureate of the MEA. Sopheap, facing eviction and waiting for a new home, is struggling to start a new business while she tries to cope with her slowly disintegrating family. And Srey Pov – at the front lines of a high profile forced eviction – comes face to face with a corrupt political elite and the sometimes difficult relationship between global institutions and the developing world.
This film will offer a unique insight into a country at a pivotal time in its development, finally shaking off the legacy of the past and the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia’s future direction is uncertain.
Those who want to keep up to date on future developments of this project should sign up to the film’s blog, join its facebook group, and mailing list and follow on twitter @chriskellyfilm
The Jury for the Dutch Human Rights Defenders Tulip has awarded the 2012 Tulip to Marimuthu Barathan (note that the spelling is sometimes Bharatan) from India. It will be presented in The Hague on 9 January 2013. True Heroes is making a filmed portrait on his work.
The jury praised Mr Barathan as a ‘tireless campaigner for better living and working conditions for the Dalits in India’.The Human Rights Defenders Tulip, which is being awarded for the fifth time, comprises a statuette and €100,000 for a project to be decided on in consultation with the recipient.
On December 9, Front Line Defenders held a one-off production called Voices from the Front Line. The event, which took place at Vicar Street Theatre in Dublin, celebrated the inspirational courage of 11 human rights defenders from around the world through an evening of stories and song. Among the performers were leading actors and musicians Martin Sheen, Andrea Corr, Robert Sheehan, Amy Huberman, Paul Brady, Hazel O’Connor, Cara O’ Sullivan, Liam Ó’ Maonlaí and Finbar Furey.
The show was attended by over 800 people and streamed live on Irish broadcaster RTE’s youtube channel. Through telling the stories of human rights defenders in their own words, the evening sought to raise public awareness of who human rights defenders are and the many risks they face. The selected human rights defenders provided an illustrative sample of the thousands more that Front Line Defenders works to protect and support on a daily basis.
The photojournalist Fernando Moreles has been awarded the second Tim Hetherington Grant, an annual visual journalism award focusing on human rights, Human Rights Watch and World Press Photo announced 0n 11 December 2012. Human Rights Watch and World Press Photo established the grant to honor the legacy of Hetherington, a photojournalist and filmmaker who was killed during fighting in Libya in April 2011. The €20,000 grant was given to Moleres for his project “Waiting for an Opportunity,” in which he is documenting the harsh realities of juvenile justice in Sierra Leone. For more than two decades Moleres, who was born and lives in Spain, has been committed to documenting the plight of the most vulnerable populations and covering issues relating to children and labor, juvenile justice, and refugees. “Fernando Moleres’ moral and emotional commitment to his photographic subjects is clear,” said Carroll Bogert, deputy executive director at Human Rights Watch. “Tim Hetherington would have loved this work and Human Rights Watch is thrilled to support it.”
This is third and last chapter in the series of animated videos to which I referred earlier. This is the chapter dealing with collective rights and the issue of enforcement. Unfortunately I see a major error with regard to the latter as the clip does not make clear that the Treaty Bodies complaint procedures are only open to those who reside in countries that have (1) ratified the treaty in question (b) recognised the right of individual complaint. For everybody there are the co-called ‘charter-based’ procedures (mechanisms) which are even less legally binding. These together constitute the global level of complaint procedures, against which one can then place the regional systems.
For the rest a solid and neutral explanation of the history and cohesion of the international system.
The Ceremony of the Alkarama Award will be held on Friday 7 December 2012 at 18h30 in Geneva at Centre International Conférences, Genève
This year, the laureates are two human rights defenders from the Gulf region:
– Dr Mohamed Abdullah Al Roken, United Arab Emirates
– Dr Saud Mukhtar Al Hashimi, Saudi Arabia.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 