On 11 November the Prosecutor’s Office brought a civil lawsuit against Memorial before the Leninsky District Court of St Petersburg after administrative charges against the same organisation ‘ for failing to register as a ‘foreign agent‘ were dismissed by the same court. The Prosecutor’s Office initiated the civil suit on the basis that its failure to register as a ‘foreign agent’ would violate the interests ‘of an undefined group of persons’. Frontline Defenders follows this and other cases in which the ‘foreign agent’ harassment of NGOs in Russia continues. The details of the case are illuminating, including the involvement of a preposterous ‘expert“: Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for the 'Human Rights Defenders' Category
Tribute to women human rights defenders who died, were killed or disappeared since 2008
November 17, 2013This presentation produced by Breakthrough on 11 May 2012 had escaped me and may have escaped others. It is part of the Tribute to Feminist and Women Human Rights Defenders who are no longer with us, which took place at the AWID Forum in Istanbul Turkey, 19-22 April, 2012. The exhibit featured Women Human Rights Defenders who died, were killed, or were disappeared since the last AWID Forum in 2008.
And a lot more about Werner Lottje: the great German human rights defender
November 16, 2013In the presence of the UN Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, the MEA Laureates of 2013: the Joint Mobile Group, the family of Werner Lottje (his wife Margit and the children) and some 90 other participants we had on 13 November 2013 the first WERNER LOTTJE LECTURE in Berlin. It was an impressive affair and the organisers, Bread for the World and the German Institute for Human Rights, can look back on a successful launch of this annual event. There were many good tributes to Werner’s life and contribution. Igor Kalyapin of the JMG explained the terrible conditions under which his team has to operate in Russia and Margaret Sekaggya concluded with a wide-ranging overview of obstacles that HRDs all over the world face. A short, impressive film brought the person of Werner to life.
Here I am providing you the full text my own speech on this occasion, not only because I have it handy but because it concerns mostly the international part of his work:
“Thinking outside the box – Werner Lottje as an international networker”
The double face of technology for Human Rights Defenders
November 13, 2013
Technology is becoming increasingly important in documenting and preventing human rights abuses. But emerging technologies can also pose a threat to human rights defenders. Two pieces on AI’s blog demonstrate that:
On 11 November Tanya O’Carroll, Technology & Human Rights Project Officer, and Danna Ingleton, Individuals & Communities at Risk Research & Policy Advisor, blogged under the title: “An Invisible Threat: How Technology Can Hurt Human Rights Defenders“while Sami Goswami used the headline: “How Technology Is Helping Us Better Protect Human Rights”.
The piece focusing on the negative aspects says inter alia Read the rest of this entry »
Reminder: online conversation on Visualizing Information for Advocacy starts today
November 11, 2013Tactical 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 »
Amnesty criticizes Vietnam with regard to HRDs, especially those using the internet
November 11, 2013Authoritarian Vietnam has stepped up an alarming crackdown on domestic dissent even as it seeks a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International says on 7 November. Vietnam is using a raft of draconian legislation to clamp down on a growing number of citizens who seek to question the party’s stranglehold on power. “Vietnam is fast turning into one of Southeast Asias largest prisons for human rights defenders and other activists” said Amnesty researcher Rupert Abbott to AFP.
Read the rest of this entry »
Example of how local and international pressure interact (Assam, India)
November 10, 2013The Assam Tribune Online of 9 November provides us with an interesting illustration of how a combination of: (a) local activism, (b) introduction by an international NGO, and (c) invitation to an EU meeting can have result: Read the rest of this entry »
Young Hong Kong artists awarded inaugural Human Rights Art Prizes
November 9, 2013The Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre launched the Human Rights Arts prizes in an effort to show the work of young artists, while recognising the role of art in raising awareness of and defending human rights. The Emerging and the Community winners were chosen by judges working in the human rights field, while the staff from the centre chose two further winners, dubbed the Choice awards.
Works depicting the hardships of mainland immigrants and African refugees won two top awards (Elva Lai Ming-Chu won in the Emerging Artist category and photograper Alvin Fung Tsz Chung won the Community Artist prize). Artist Lo Chi-kit won a Choice award for his piece Under the Shadow, which he dedicated to detained, imprisoned and exiled human rights activists on the mainland. “Chi-kits work highlights the persecution and oppression that human rights defenders face around the world – sometimes to the point of being forced to flee their countries” Miller said.
via Crusading Hong Kong artists awarded inaugural Human Rights Art Prizes | South China Morning Post.
BANGLADESH: Human Rights Defender Elan of Odhikar now also arrested
November 7, 2013
The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns the detention of ASM Nasiruddin Elan and demands his immediate release. Mr. ASM Nasiruddin Elan, Director of Bangladeshi human rights organization, Odhikar, has been detained in prison by the Cyber Crimes Tribunal of Dhaka, today, November 6, 2013. This detention is part of the continued repression against the whistle-blowers exposing the ongoing State-sponsored gross violations of human rights in Bangladesh. Elan has been charged by the country’s police under the Information and Communications Technology (Amendment) Act, 2013, a draconian law, for publishing fact-finding report on governmental crackdown on the pro-Islamist demonstrators in the early morning of 6 May 2013 in Dhaka. Read the rest of this entry »
Situation of human rights defenders in Africa – overview by Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
November 6, 2013The OMCT and the FIDH, in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, made an intervention under agenda item 9: “Situation of human rights defenders” at the at the 54th session of African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights [ACHPR] on 5 November.
Human rights defenders were attacked, received threats or were slandered in the DRC, Senegal and Tunisia. In some cases they were even killed, as in the DRC and in Cameroon, in a climate of impunity. Defenders, and in particular defenders of economic, social and cultural rights, also continued to be subjected to arbitrary arrests and judicial harassment in Angola, Cameroon, the DRC, Egypt, Mauritania and Tunisia. Obstacles to freedom of association were also recorded, as for instance in Angola, Egypt and Rwanda. A summary is as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 