share information on human rights defenders, with special focus on human rights awards and laureates
For those who understand French, please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DaIV3XFS8s.
Jacqueline Moudeina just received the Right Livelihood Award and gave an excellent speech at the award ceremony explaining the situation with regard to Hissene Habre and the issue of impunity.
Take a minute to listen to the fine words and lovely Scottish accent of Andrew Anderson on behalf of Front Line, one of the 10 NGOs on the Jury of the MEA. He summarizes very well the progress made and problems remaining in the implementation of the UN Declaration on HRDs.
Front Line Defenders Statement on Anniversary of UN Declaration on HRDs – YouTube.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, through its Civil Society Section, has made available a new series of animated videos.
What is a human right? – http://goo.gl/ewPHP
What is the Human Rights Council? – http://goo.gl/Q6u6x
On the eve of Human Rights Day, they may come in handy especially for those who plan public events of an educational nature.
Image via Wikipedia
Image via Wikipedia
PBI Colombia, which was the Laureate of the MEA in 2001, celebrated 15 years of accompanying human rights defenders with a special edition of its Bulletin and a
documentary about its work with filmmaker Oliver Merchant; the documentary ’15 years of PBI Colombia” is available to view – chapter by chapter – on YouTube.
This short video from 2010 is worth viewing. It is an excellent collection of tiny portraits of individuals from a variety of countries who explain what they do to defend the rights of others and in that way demonstrate what Human Rights Defenders are. An amazingly lively UN product, helped by Bob Marley’s “Stand up for your rights” in the background.
Back in 1983 the Yugoslav-born filmmaker Stacha Stanojevic made a human rights film under the title ‘Illustres Inconnus’ (Notorious Nobodies as the English language version would be called much later). One of the personalities in this multi-story film is a human rights activist, the inspiration for whom came from Martin Ennals who had then just left his post as Secretary General of Amnesty International and met Stacha several times. Now the filmmaker has drawn from his full-length film a short version focusing on the international human rights defender for whom, unknowingly, Martin Ennals stood as model. The scenes are mostly shot in Geneva and have the feel of this diplomatic city in the early 80s. The end is a bit of a surprise but highlights the essential human element in the unending quest for human rights. Unfortunately only in French for now, but english-speakers can still get the gist of it. See http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xlt5bv_indignation-revolte-1983_shortfilms?start=0#from=embed
Last Thursday, 13 October, the ceremony for Kasha, the Ugandan 2011 laureate of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, took place in Geneva, again in the beautiful Victoria Hall. There was a large audience of 600 people. Moreover, the 2010 MEA laureate, Muhannad al-Hassani from Syria, also made a surprise appearance. The True Heroes Foundation made a 8-minute summary of highlights of the ceremony and this overview gives an excellent impression of the whole evening. Please go to our newly designed website: http://www.martinennalsaward.org.
With my predilection for the use of images in the protection of human rights I can only applaud the initiative of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and New York State United Teachers, who on 5 October launched a student video contest based on the Speak Truth To Power human rights curriculum. The contest invites New York State students to create a 3-6 minute video about a human rights violation and the defender(s) fighting to stop it. The project is aimed at demonstrating the capacity of each individual to create change. “This video contest will engage students in what it means to be a defender against human rights violations.” said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi
Prior film-making experience or expertise is not required. Details about the contest can be found at http://www.speaktruthvideo.com. All winning videos will be featured on the Speak Truth to Power web site, http://www.rfkcenter.org/sttp. The grand prize video will be shown at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. The deadline for entries is January 31, 2012.
interesting video of (part of the) session of the European Parliament
Conditions for Chinas Rights Defenders Worsens: Hearing – YouTube.
New Tang Dynasty Television
Suciwati’s husband, Indonesian human rights lawyer Munir, was poisoned on a Garuda Airlines flight in 2004 while travelling from Indonesia to study abroad. A former pilot and former head of the airline were implicated in the murder, and the pilot given a 20-year jail sentence. However, the trail of connections to his killing has led back to the Indonesian secret services, and the masterminds have never been identified. A five-minute video profile of Suciwati is available on the website: http://www.moviesthatmatterfestival.nl/english_index/nieuws_en/news/169
Thai police abducted Angkhana’s husband, Somchai, from his car on a street in Bangkok. Although five police went on trial, only one was convicted of a minor offence. He has himself disappeared, and an appeal court recently overturned his conviction. All the police are still serving. Angkhana has since set up an organization to work for the victims of enforced disappearances in Thailand, and is now among the country’s best known human rights defenders. In 2006 she was a joint recipient of the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights.
Padma’s husband Gerard was a victim of police torture in Sri Lanka who became an outspoken and fearless advocate of human rights. Gunmen connected to the police shot him as he travelled on a public bus, shortly before he was going to depose in court against the officers who were accused of torturing him. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has honoured Padma with an award for the struggle that she has undertaken since to get justice for her husband and to promote human rights in her country.
Persons wishing to obtain copies of “UNJUST” may contact the filmmaker, Josefina Bergsten, at josefina.bergsten@gmail.com.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 