ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports on a conference held in Australia on a topic that sounds like it comes straight from the middle ages: sorcery. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for the 'Human Rights Defenders' Category
Egypt and its laws on NGOs: concrete example of abuse
June 6, 2013In a recent post I discussed problems surrounding the new law on NGOs in Egypt. In case there was any doubt on the need for a new and IMPROVED legal regime, see here what Front Line Defenders reported yesterday, 5 June:
43 NGO staff members were condemned to prison terms
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Impressive coalition of NGOs urges action for arbitrarily detained human rights lawyer Khalil Ma’touq in Syria
June 5, 2013
New information obtained by human rights organizations has heightened concerns about the secret detention and failing health of a prominent Syrian human rights lawyer who has not been heard from since his arrest eight months ago! Read the rest of this entry »
Leading international human rights advocates appointed to ISHR Board
June 5, 2013This blog tries not to keep track of all the personal appointments in the human rights movement – that would be impossible – but the additions to the Board of the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) in Geneva announced on 30 May 2013 are too impressive to leave unmentioned: Read the rest of this entry »
Tiananmen remembrance doesn’t stop in spite of Government’s efforts
June 5, 2013Twenty-four years after the bloodshed of Tiananmen, China’s Communist Party is exercising its traditional response to the unwelcome anniversary: detaining and silencing dissidents and blocking bereaved families who hope to observe the day with mourning from the graveyards; mobilizing extra police officers to ensure that no protests break out around Tiananmen Square; and scrubbing Chinese Internet sites of any references and images that refer to or even hint at the upheavals of 1989.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On 4 June the police in China blocked the gate of a cemetery housing victims of the Tiananmen crackdown on its 24th anniversary. More than a dozen security officials deployed outside the stone gate at the Wanan graveyard near the hills of western Beijing, which mothers of the victims visit each year, and told AFP journalists to leave the area. Read the rest of this entry »
Bradley Manning not a Prisoner of Conscience for Amnesty International ?
June 4, 2013
(Bradley Manning – (c) US Army)
With the trial of Bradley Manning coming up, there is a wide-ranging and not always educating discussion raging on LinkedIn and other fora about why he is not a ‘prisoner of conscience’ for AI. Two of the few more substantive but not very flattering statements – in the absence of a formal reply by AI of course – are reported here, but I should point out that the authors are even more scathing about HRW or other large NGOs: Read the rest of this entry »
Job Opportunity: Manual on Documenting Violations against Women Human Rights Defenders
June 4, 2013The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD IC) is looking to recruit an editor for the Manual on Documenting Violations against Women Human Rights Defenders. The editor will work closely with members of the WHRD IC’s Documentation Manual Working Group to complete the manual. Read the rest of this entry »
State media in Sri Lanka lead attacks on Human Rights Defenders
June 4, 2013According to a statement from the Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on 4 June there is an ongoing attack in Sri Lanka on Human Rights Defenders, NGOs & opposition politicians through the Independent Television Network (ITN). The statement give concrete and detailed indications to show that ITN – in spite of its name – has continued to follow the government line and started a fresh round of attacks in May this year. Read the rest of this entry »
Statement by Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition on equality in public life
June 4, 2013
The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition submitted the following statement to the UN Human Rights Council whose Working Group on women’s equal, full and effective participation in Read the rest of this entry »
Outcome of ISHR side-event on business and human rights defenders
June 3, 2013
Last week I informed you that the Geneva-based NGO, International Service for Human Rights Finally, organised a side-event on business and human rights defenders (co-sponsored by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and promised to keep you informed of the outcome. Thanks to the quick reply from Phil Lynch, Read the rest of this entry »
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 