Archive for the 'human rights' Category
April 24, 2013
Rule of law, freedom of the press, women’s rights – these were just a few of the issues recently discussed at a conference which brought together human rights defenders from Central America and the Caribbean. Twenty human rights defenders from 13 countries and representatives from the German embassies attended the event, which took place from 17 to 18 April in Panama and was organized by the Federal Foreign Office. Also participating were the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office, Markus Löning, and the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Thomas Karl Neisinger.
The discussions were dominated by the key issues affecting the region, such as the rule of law and women’s rights. Special attention was given to the subject of coöperation between embassies and human rights defenders as well as building networks and strengthening regional civil society. Despite the different situations in countries such as Honduras, Costa Rica and Jamaica, many states in the region face similar challenges. Consequently it is especially important to improve civil society networks so that human rights defenders can learn from one another’s experiences and coöperate more closely in the future.
This event was the fourth regional human rights seminar organized by the Federal Foreign Office. This format is to be retained for future events, for example in Southern Africa in June 2013.
Auswärtiges Amt – Latin America – Better networks for human rights.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Central America, civil society organisations, conference, Germany, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, human rights policy, Latin America, Markus Löning, networking, Non-governmental organization, Panama, southern africa, training
April 23, 2013
I have on earlier occasions tried to point out that there is a (big) difference between peace awards and human rights awards. This time it is Dan Murphy in the Christian Science Monitor, who points to another example. While it could be argued that Myanmar President U Thein Sein deserves to be praised for having made bold steps to move his country away from repression and conflict, he human rights record in the past and [as Human Rights Watch argues in a recent report) in the present would not be considered by many as a likely candidate for a human rights award.
The International Crisis Group’s plan to give its “In Pursuit of Peace” award to Myanmar President U Thein Sein later today and a new Human Rights Watch report on ethnic cleansing against ethnic Rohingya form such striking contrast, that Murphy wonders if Human Rights Watch timed the report to coincide with the gala party that the International Crisis Group (ICG) is planning to host for President Thein Sein later today at the swanky Pierre Hotel in New York City, and with a scheduled lifting of all but arms sanctions against Myanmar (also known as Burma) from the European Union.
Myanmars ruler to get peace prize, despite ethnic cleansing charge – CSMonitor.com.
Posted in HRW, human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: awards, Burma, Christian Science Monitor, Dan Murphy, ethnic cleansing, human rights, Human Rights Watch, In Pursuit of Peace, International Crisis Group, international crisis group icg, Myanmar, New York City, Rohingya, Thein Sein
April 23, 2013
You can now apply for ISHR‘s Geneva Training Course 2013. This advanced level training course will be held in Geneva from 26 May to 7 June, in parallel to the 23rd session of the UN Human Rights Council. The course offers an opportunity for participants with existing advocacy experience at domestic or regional level to expand their knowledge and skills, and over the 2-week period in Geneva directly engage in lobbying and advocacy activities at the UN level. This new programme blends ISHR extensive training experience, with its unique access to the UN mechanisms in Geneva and its close collaboration with leading human rights organisations. It will combine a common intensive training course with supported lobbying and advocacy activities adapted to the areas of interest of participants, as well as peer education among different groups of defenders. The programme will consist of the following elements:
a) A short online learning component, which takes place prior to Human Rights Council sessions, and supports participants in consolidating existing knowledge and developing advocacy objectives;
b) An intensive course in Geneva during the beginning of the June 2013 session of the Human Rights Council, focusing on ways to use international human rights mechanisms and to influence outcomes at the Human Rights Council;
c) Specific advocacy at the Human Rights Council session, with regular feedback and peer education to learn from the experiences;
b) Where appropriate, common follow-up at national level.
It is directed at experienced human rights defenders at the national level who have already some prior knowledge of the international human rights system.
The 23rd session of the Human Rights Council, which runs in parallel, will among other things focus on the following key areas:
- A resolution to follow-up to the Council’s work combating discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity (the SOGI resolution).
- Thematic reports by the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women; Special Rap on Cultural Rights; Working Group on Discrimination Against Women
- Thematic Reports by Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression.
- Annual Full Day Discussion on Women’s Rights
- Report of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, the Forum on Business and Human Rights and a panel discussion on human rights and business
The draft programme of work of the Human Rights Council is expected to be published shortly, and will be available at http://bit.ly/pow-hrc23.
A description of the course, what is expected of participants and instructions on how to apply are available at http://bit.ly/gtc2013-tor.
Posted in human rights | 2 Comments »
Tags: Geneva, Human right, human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, human rights of women, International Service for Human Rights, intervention, lobbying, Special Rapporteur, training course, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council, Working Group
April 23, 2013
Tomorrow, 24 April, at 11hoo Geneva time, the three Final Nominees of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders 2013 will be announced. You can find the result here on this blog, of course, or on the site of the Martin Ennals Award: http://www.martinennalsaward.org. The following 10 NGOs on the Jury will also carry the news:
Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders
– Amnesty International,
– Human Rights Watch,
– Human Rights First,
– Int’l Federation for Human Rights,
– World Organisation Against Torture,
– Front Line Defenders
– International Commission of Jurists,
– German Diakonie,
– International Service for Human Rights
– HURIDOCS.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Amnesty International, Diakonie, FIDH, Final Nominees for the Martin Ennals Award 2013, Frontline Defenders, Geneva, human rights, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, HURIDOCS, International Commission of Jurists, International Service for Human Rights, Martin Ennals Award, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Non-governmental organization, OMCT, World Organisation Against Torture
April 23, 2013
Karl Ombion, writing for Bulatlat.com, reports that in a court hearing on 18 April 2013 at RTC Branch 55, in Himamaylan City, Adjutant General Alexis Gopico and Lt. Col Ricardo B Bayhon positively identified the two suspects in the brutal murder of Philippine human rights defender Benjamin Bayles as military enlisted men. Edre Olalia, legal counsel of the victim’s family, and Secretary General of National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), confirmed this report. Bayles was murdered 14 June 2010 by two suspects who claimed to be Roger Bajon and Ronnie Caurino when they were captured by Himamaylan police operatives hours after the incident. Olalia said “the confirmation, positive identification and specific personal pinpointing of the killers of activist Benjamen Bayles by top army officials as enlisted personnel under their command is a welcome development and a high point in making perpetrators of extra judicial killings accountable.” This is ultimately a product of public vigilance and pressure by human rights defenders aided also by conscientious legal work, Olalia stressed, but it remains to be seen if this leads to a deeper investigation, determination of other guilty parties, including possibly, superior officers. The accused who are lowly private first class personnel maybe sacrificial dispensable small fry to stop the investigation and let masterminds escape identification and prosecution.”“As in other cases, like that of Jonas Burgos, extra judicial killings and enforced disappearances and other rights violations, there is no closure until there is full justice for the victims,” Olalia concluded.
via Military admits Bayles killers as their own « Bulatlat.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Benjamin Bayles, Civil society, Enlisted rank, extra judicial killings, Extrajudicial killing, Filipino, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, impunity, justice, killing, lawyer, military, Olalia, Philippine, Philippines
April 22, 2013
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan’s highly repressive policies are coming up for rare international scrutiny as from today (22 and 24 April 2013), Human Rights Watch said today. United Nations member countries gathering at the Human Rights Council in Geneva under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) procedure should seize the opportunity to expose and denounce the ongoing repression in both countries and press for concrete steps to end abuses.
The governments of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan stand out as among the most repressive in the world, Human Rights Watch said. Both also stand out for their failure to heed recommendations made during their previous Human Rights Council reviews, in December 2008. “The extraordinarily high levels of repression in both Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, coupled with their governments’ refusal to acknowledge problems, let alone to address them, underscores the need for a strong, unified message,” said Veronika Szente Goldston, Europe and Central Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
In submissions on Turkmenistan and on Uzbekistan Human Rights Watch highlighted key concerns with respect to both countries, and the steps needed to address them. One immediate step – and crucial if crime should not pay ! – is that both governments should be urged to end their longstanding denial of access for the UN’s own rights monitors. Ten UN rapporteurs have requested such access to Turkmenistan, while the number of UN rapporteurs barred from Uzbekistan has reached 11! Cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC is another pressing issue [On April 12, the ICRC took the unusual step of announcing publicly its decision to end prison visits to detainees in Uzbekistan].
Other key concerns in Turkmenistan include: The government’s longstanding use of imprisonment as a tool for political retaliation and draconian restrictions on freedom of expression and association, which authorities enforce by threatening, harassing, or imprisoning those who dare to question its policies, however modestly. The severe repression of civil society activism makes it impossible for independent human rights defenders and journalists to work openly.
via Turkmenistan/Uzbekistan: Abuses in International Spotlight | Human Rights Watch.
Posted in HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Central Asia, Freedom of speech, Geneva, Human right, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch, political prisoners, political retaliation, Turkmenistan, UN, UN Rapporteurs, United Nations, Universal Periodic Review, Uzbekistan
April 22, 2013
On 17 April 2013, human rights defender Jean Pierre Muteba reported to the Katanga provincial office of the ANR (National Intelligence Agency), a day after receiving a written notice signed by the new director of that agency in Katanga, DRC. The notice followed incidents in which the human rights defender noted being followed by members of the same agency and complained to colleagues of receiving several threatening telephone messages from anonymous callers. However, on this occasion he was not questioned and left after two hours.
Jean Pierre Muteba is the spokesperson for the “Cadre de Concertation de la Société Civile du Katanga” (Coalition of Civil Society Groups of Katanga), a network of civil society organisations active on issues related to human rights and justice as well as social accountability for extractive industries in the DRC’s copper-rich Katanga region.
On several different occasions after 23 March 2013, the day on which a group of Maï Maï fighters known as “Bakata Katanga” invaded Lubumbashi (Katanga’s regional capital), Muteba reported receiving anonymous intimidatory messages on his mobile phone. Three days after this invasion, which caused up to thirty-five deaths according to UN sources, ten organisations affiliated with Muteba’s coalition issued a report on the incident in which they accused certain personalities within Katanga’s security, business and political spheres of being behind the violent incident. It is believed that the threats and intimidatory acts that Muteba has faced since are closely related to the role his organisation played in denouncing those who are suspected of being behind the attack on Lubumbashi and in demanding an independent investigation of the violence.
Front Line Defenders believes that the threats against Jean Pierre Muteba are directly related to his human rights work with the Coalition of Civil Society Groups of Katanga.
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Civil society, congo drc, death threats, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, Frontline Defenders, Human right, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Jean Pierre Muteba, Lubumbashi, lubumbashi katanga, National Intelligence Agency, sectarian violence, social accountability
April 22, 2013
NGOs as well as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemn the murder of Ever Cordero, chairman a participatory dialogue process for victims of displacement in the department Córdoba, Colombia.
Ever Cordero was a community leader who worked to bring about the restitution of lands for victims of the armed conflict. On April 9, 2013, Ever Cordero was traveling toward the urban area of Valencia, in Córdoba, when two individuals on a motorcycle intercepted him and shot him to death. Ever Cordero was going to Valencia to attend ceremonies and marches commemorating the National Day of Memory and Solidarity with Victims.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders issues a text in Spanish:
via Colombia: Assassination of Mr. Elver Cordero Oviedo, well-known human rights defender in Córdoba / April 16, 2013 / Urgent Interventions / Human rights defenders / OMCT.
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Tags: Colombia, Cordero, Evert Cordero, Human rights defender, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, killing, land rights, local communities, murder, Non-governmental organization, Solidarity, World Organisation Against Torture
April 20, 2013
You can join the ‘engine room’ and the New Tactics online community for an online conversation on “Incorporating Social Media into Your Human Rights Campaigning“. This will take place from 13 to 17 May 2013.
Social media are increasingly being used by human rights organizations around the world, but the question remains how do organizations use these tools strategically and creatively to reach their goals? The online conversation will explore topics such as:
- How to define your social media goals and targets;
- Strategizing about how to reach your stakeholders with social media;
- Making decisions about the resources you should devote to building and maintaining a social media presence;
- How to use social media without putting your staff and your constituents at risk.
This online conversation will be an opportunity to exchange experiences, lessons-learned and best practices among practitioners using social media strategically in human rights work.
To learn more and sign up: Incorporating Social Media into Your Human Rights Campaigning | New Tactics in Human Rights.
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Tags: Advocacy Organizations, exchange experiences, facebook, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, human rights organizations, media presence, New Tactics in Human Rights, on line conversation, social media, twitter
April 19, 2013
(Cambodian human rights defender and journalist Mam Sonando a prisoner of conscience © TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP/Getty Images)
On 12 April 2013 Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International’s Researcher on Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam posted on Amnesty‘s Livewire an interesting account of his meeting with the just liberated Cambodian Human Rights Defender Mam Sonando. It is a impressive testimony to the resilience of human rights defenders and how campaigning can help them and therefore I reproduce it below:
It was hot – very hot – as I arrived last week at Mam Sonando’s home and radio station on a dusty street in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh. He welcomed me at the front door. “Thank you,” he said. With a broad smile, he flashed his signature ‘V for victory’ sign with his right hand. After over eight months in prison, he was free and no longer facing 20 years behind bars.
Mam Sonando, 72, is a well-known and popular journalist. He owns Beehive Radio, one of Cambodia’s few independent radio stations. And he heads the Association of Democrats, which promotes human rights and democracy and helps poor communities. On 11 September 2012, his trial began at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. He had been arrested two months earlier after Cambodia’s Prime Minister accused him publicly of being behind a plot for a village in eastern Cambodia to secede – to break away from the country. In fact, the villagers there had been involved in a long-running land conflict with a powerful company, and the so-called secession plot was used as a pretext to forcibly evict them. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in AI, Amnesty international, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: AI, Amnesty International, Amnesty Livewire, Beehive Radio, Born Samnang, Cambodia, campaign, Chea Vichea, Civil society, Democracy, diplomatic pressure, freedom of expression, human rights, Journalist, judicial harassment, land disputes, Mam Sonando, Phnom Penh, radio, Rupert Abbott, Sok Sam Oeun, testimony, Yorm Bopha
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 