Archive for the 'Human Rights Defenders' Category
August 22, 2013
Although the deadline for nominations (15 August) has passed, I still want to draw your attention to a new series of human rights awards instituted by Pan-African HRDs Network (PAHRD-Net), which in turn is made up of five sub-regional networks i.e. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, West Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network hosted by the International Commission of Jurists and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, and Central African Human Rights Defenders Network.
The new awards aim to honour exceptional individuals who peacefully promote and protect universally recognized rights as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Altogether six awards will be presented, one Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Award and five sub-regional awards:
– East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Award 2013
– West Africa Human Rights Defenders Award 2013
– Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Award 2013
– Central Africa Human Rights Defenders Award 2013
– Northern Africa Human Rights Defenders Award 2013
Both individuals and organizations are eligible. Awards include support to the human rights work of the winning individual or organisation with a total value of 10 000 USD for the Pan-African award winner and 5 000 USD for each sub-regional award winners. The winners will be selected by an independent jury. Nominations should be returned to: hrdaward@defenddefenders.org.
The awards will be presented to the winners at the occasion of the 54th Ordinary Session of the Africa Commission on Human and People’s Rights scheduled to be held in October 2013 in Banjul, The Gambia.
allAfrica.com: Africa: Call for Nominations – Pan African HRD Award 2013.
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Tags: Africa, awards, Banjul, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, International Commission of Jurists, Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network, protection, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
August 20, 2013
Mrinalini Shinde wrote a post in Polymic of 17 August about the human rights situation in Saoudi Arabia in good polemic style under the title: “Starting a Human Rights Association in This Country? Prepare to Face Jail Time”. She is an undergraduate student of law at National Law School of India University, interested in gender and sustainability issues. .. She has volunteered with the Human Right Law Network, and has conducted research in family laws, and gender justice. see: Mrinalini Shinde.
© Climber1 (Wikimedia Commons)
The article is not news but provides an excellent example of how students in human rights can write up information Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Amnesty International, Bajadi, human rights, human rights activists, Human Rights Defenders, human rights groups, india university, Mrinalini Shinde, National Law School of India University, Riyadh, saoudi arabia, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, students
August 20, 2013
On 17 August 2013, it emerged that Guangzhou-based human rights defender Mr Yang Maodong, better known by his pen name Guo Feixiong, had been detained on charges of “assembling a crowd to disrupt order in a public place”. Although in detention since 8 August 2013, Yang Maodong’s family were only notified by the police of his arrest on 17 August [!]. Yang Maodong is a well known figure in China‘s rights defence movement Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: China, detention, Front Line (NGO), Guangdong, Guangzhou, Guo Feixiong, harassment, Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyers, human rights movement, illtreatment, torture, Yang Maodong
August 20, 2013
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), draw attention to the following situation in Malaysia.
According to the information received, on 7 August 2013, at 3.00pm, Cynthia Gabriel, Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Aliran, anti corruption, Companies Commission Malaysia, Cynthia Gabriel, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, International Federation for Human Rights, judicial harassment, Malaysia, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, Petaling Jaya, Scorpène-class submarine, Scorpene, Suaram, threats, woman human rights defender, World Organisation Against Torture
August 19, 2013
Land and environmental issues keep putting pressure on human rights defenders in Burma as reported by Front Line:
On 2 August 2013, human rights defender Mr Ko Htin Kyaw was arrested on charges of insulting the state after participating in a peaceful protest against illegal land seizures on 30 July 2013. Three other peaceful protesters, themselves victims of illegal land seizures, were arrested alongside him. Ko Htin Kyaw is the director of the Movement for Democracy Current Force (MDCF), a community-based organisation working to promote development and democracy in Burma. They were not given any opportunity to contact a lawyer and were refused bail. If Ko Htin Kyaw is found guilty, he may be sentenced to up to 3 years imprisonment. The charges relate to a peaceful protest held on 30 July 2013 to peacefully express frustration at the government which had not forced the man in question to return the land, despite an acknowledgement from the authorities of the land seizure’s illegality and the existence of considerable evidence to support the claim.
On 20 June 2013, human rights defenders Messrs Moe Thway, Wai Lu and Wai Hmuu Thwin published a statement regarding the arrest warrants issued against them on 13 June 2013 . These arrest warrants are reportedly linked to comments the human rights defenders had made about the Letpadaung copper mine project, a joint venture between the Burmese military’s Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (UMEHL) and Wan Bao Company, a subsidiary of a Chinese arms manufacturer.
Moe Thway is a member of Generation Wave Youth Force, a network of human rights defenders that campaigns for civil and political rights, including by putting pressure on the Burmese government to sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. They have also been campaigning against the Letpadaung mine and have brought the campaign to national attention. Wai Lu and Wai Hmuu Thwin are part of the Yangon People Service Network which campaigns for the respect of rule of law and democracy in Burma. The campaign against the Letpadaung project is also part of their work.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Burma, burmese military, environmental issues, Front Line (NGO), Generation Wave, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Ko Htin Kyaw, land disputes, land seizures, Letpadaung, Moe Thway, Myanmar, peaceful protesters, Politics of Burma, Tatmadaw, Wai Hmuu Thwin, Wai Lu, Yangon
August 19, 2013
Joseph DeCaro of
Worthy Christian News reports on 19 August 2013 how human rights defenders could play a role in preventing the escalation of religious conflict in
Pakistan:
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: AsiaNews, blasphemy, Christian, christians and muslims, conflict resolution, early warning system, Faisalabad, freedom of religion, Gojra, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Muslim, Pakistan
August 16, 2013
The statement below was picked up from the Official Government news agency of Sri Lanka on 15 August 2013. I do not know who the professors in question are and therefore we cannot know whether they are human rights defenders, but in view of earlier retaliation by the governmental media in that country against those who testified before the UN mechanisms on human rights and the tone of the message, there is no doubt that those who speak out risk more than disagreement! Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Britain, Colombo, freedom of expression, Human Rights Defenders, Jagath Jayasuriya, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Navanethem Pillay, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, retaliation, Sri Lanka, Tamil Eelam, Tamil National Alliance
August 14, 2013
Many of us have been looking forward to the first expressions of policy and position by the new US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power. Thanks to Mark Leon Goldberg in UN Dispatch of 12 August 2013 there is now a confirmation that she does not intend to drop her earlier interest in Human Rights Defenders. I decided to copy the piece in toto and let you decide for yourselves: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: activist community, diplomacy, Foreign Policy, human rights activists, Human Rights Defenders, International Rescue Committee, Invisible Children, Mark Leon Goldberg, Samantha Power, Susan Rice, UN, UN Ambassador, UN Dispatch, United Nations, United States
August 14, 2013
Special Rapporteur Richard Falk. UN Photo/Jess Hoffman
On 13 August 2013 a group of 5 United Nations independent human rights experts expressed deep concern at the alleged ongoing judicial harassment, intimidation and abusive treatment directed against Issa Amro, a prominent Palestinian human rights defender. Mr. Amro, a founder of the non-governmental organizations Youth Against Settlements and Hebron Defenders, was arrested and detained 20 times in 2012, and six times in 2013, without being charged
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 2 Comments »
Tags: Amro, Frank La Rue, harassment, Hebron Defenders, Human right, Human rights defender, Israel, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Issa Amro, Juan E. Méndez, Maina Kiai, Margaret Sekaggya, Non-governmental organization, Palestine, Richard Falk, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council, Youth Against Settlements
August 14, 2013
On 13 August 2013 the United Nations added its voice to the many to call for his immediate release of Adilur Rahman Khan, the director of Odhikar, a well-known human rights organization in the country. He was arrested at his home in the capital, Dhaka, on 10 August by plainclothes officers reportedly acting without a warrant, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR]. “We are calling on the Government of Bangladesh to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Khan, whose arrest might be linked to his work as human rights defender,” OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell told reporters in Geneva. She said Mr. Khan is reported to have been arrested under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and
section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act, accused of publishing false information about violence by Government forces during demonstrations in May by the Islamist movement, Hefazat-e-Islami. Odhikar reported that 61 people had died during these protests, challenging the Government’s version of events, noted Ms. Throssell.She said that the day after his arrest, Mr. Khan was denied bail and ordered to be held on remand for five days. “He was allegedly denied access to a lawyer before his court hearing,” she added.
via United Nations News Centre – Bangladesh: UN urges immediate release of detained human rights defender.
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Tags: Adilur Rahman Khan, arbitrary arrest, Bangladesh, Dhaka, freedom of information, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, human rights organization, illegal detention, Khan, Liz Throssell, Politics of Bangladesh, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations, united nations news centre
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 