Via Protection on Line I got this fairly detailed report by Katherine Ronderos done for AWID on the situation of women human rights defenders in Sudan. It tells how the Sudanese people, inspired by the Arab spring and led by women and youth, took the streets of Sudan demanding regime change in 2011. Authorities violently cracked down on these demonstrations, detaining more than 150 women, who were sexually abused or tortured, injured and beaten in the protests. Since June 2012, new protests against the Sudanese regime have intensified violence against women human rights defenders.
AI Canada informs that a report released on May 28 2013 in Canada by the federal Privacy Commissioner highlights a troubling pattern of invasive and unwarranted government surveillance of Canadian human rights defender Cindy Blackstock. Dr. Blackstock is the Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, a prominent non-governmental organization promoting equitable access to education, health care and other services for First Nations children. Government documents obtained by Dr. Blackstock show that two federal departments monitored her personal Facebook page, tracked people who posted to her page, and sent staff to take notes on her public presentations, all in an attempt to find information that might help the government fight a discrimination complaint that Dr. Blackstock’s organization is pursuing before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. The Privacy Commissioner concluded that the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and the Department of Justice went too far in their online monitoring of Dr. Blackstock. Read the rest of this entry »
A peaceful demonstration in Tbilisi, Georgia, on 17 May 2013, to celebrate International Day Against Homophobiawas attacked by thousands of counter-protesters and human rights defenders were injured as you will have seen from the widely disseminated television images. The LGBTI rights rally had been scheduled to begin at 1pm on 17 May 2013, outside the former Parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue. However, an hour earlier, counter-protesters Read the rest of this entry »
Today an interesting meeting took place in Geneva as a side event to the UN Human Rights Council on the topic: “Human rights defenders working on corporate accountability: How can the Human Rights Council contribute to their protection?”
In the context of restrictive legislation to hinder the work of human rights defenders, the Egyptian case deserves urgent attention now. The law on NGOs is being rewritten in this important country and others in the region may follow the example. Despite recent amendments Read the rest of this entry »
The National Union of Banking Employees NUBE in Malaysia will be filling cases against former Maybank Chief Executive Officer Abdul Wahid Omar at the Jalan Duta Court. Wahid has been appointed as a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Economic Planning. What is interesting is that the trade union takes a proactive stand by saying that someone who has shown blatant disregard for workers rights should not be a minister in the government! Read the rest of this entry »
The Grupo Interdisciplinario por los Derechos Humanos GIDH (Interdisciplinary Group for Human Rights), based in Medellín, Colombia, has announced that it has been forced to close its offices based on information that threats received by the organisation in the last months would be realised within the next hours. GIDH is a not-for-profit organisation working with victims of state violence. Front Line Defenders Read the rest of this entry »
Amnesty International’s 2013 report comes with an introductory video which shows governments are using the excuse of ‘internal affairs’ in shameful attempts to block concerted international action to resolve human rights emergencies.
On 18 May 2013, a meeting of the Komi Human Rights Commission Memorial (KHRC Memorial) was aggressively interrupted by members of the radical nationalist group “Rubezh Severa” (Northern Border). Members of KHRC Memorial had gathered in a local cafeteria in Syktyvkar, the capital of the Komi Republic, Russia, to report on their work and financial situation for the period 2011-13. The meeting was public, and several journalists had been invited. As soon as the meeting began, members of the radical right group entered the room, calling the group foreign agents and waving banners, one of which read “Motherland for Sale, Reasonable Price”. Members of the human rights group managed to force the intruders out of the café and called the police, but not before two leaders, Igor Sazhin and Pavel Andreyev had ketchup thrown at their heads. The police detained the intruders and released them after administrative protocol had been completed. The incident comes just a few weeks after the KHRC Memorial received a warning from the Prosecutor’s Office on 27 April 2013, stating that some of its activities, such as its participation in protest actions were ‘political activity’. As such, the organisation is required to register as a ‘foreign agent‘ under the controversial ‘Foreign Agents’ Law, as it also receives funds from abroad. Front Line Defenders believes the attack is a possible effect of the new ‘Foreign Agents’ Law.
(Karim Lahidji, President of the International Federation of Human Rights(c) FRANCE 24)
Today Karim Lahidji was elected as new President of FIDH. He succeeds to Souhayr Belhassen who headed the Federation for six years. The vote was held during the 38th FIDH Congress in Istanbul where the FIDH member organisations were meeting to elect the new International Board and define the main FIDH orientations for the next three years. “It is an immense honour Read the rest of this entry »
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 