Archive for the 'human rights' Category
February 26, 2013
With apologies to the early viewers of my post of today regarding the Geneva film festival and the showing of a documentary in the UN building on alleged war crimes committed by both sides in the conflict, the link to the Sri Lankan Ambassador’s letter was faulty. This is now repaired with: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/465065/Letter-to-the-President-Human-Rights-Council-2.pdf.
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Tags: AI, Channel 4, FFIDH, Geneva, HRW, Human right, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Ambassador, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council
February 26, 2013
(UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré)
If you are looking for good quotes from top UN officials on human rights, you will find some in the panel discussion that took place on 25 February to mark the 20th anniversary of an indeed benchmark meeting, the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna in 1993. The resulting Vienna Declaration, which led to the creation of the post of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, strengthened human rights work, and reinforced the universality of human rights and the duty of States to uphold them. “Human rights and fundamental freedoms are the lifeblood of the United Nations,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a video message to panel discussion in Geneva to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.“Since the Organization was founded, Member States and civil society partners have worked to build a body of human rights instruments that can uphold the principles of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” he noted. The declaration – adopted at the World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in June 1993, and later endorsed by the General Assembly – led to the creation of the post of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. As a member of a women’s rights organization who participated in a side event at the 1993 Conference, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay recalled that the event took place amid a “time of transformation” with the end of the Cold War and as progress had been made in dismantling apartheid in South Africa. In remarks read out on her behalf by Bacre Ndiaye, Director of the Human Rights Council and Special Procedures Division in the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR, Ms. Pillay said the Conference was also the first time that representatives of governments and civil society spoke about women’s rights at a conference dedicated to human issues and not specially women’s issues. “This shift in human rights thinking paved the way for key advances,” she noted, including the adoption of the UN Declaration on violence against women, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It also contributed to how the gender perspective was integrated into human rights work and the Organization as a whole. “However, much remains to be done. As was the case 20 years ago, women and girls continue to be sexually and physically abused, and their abusers go unpunished,” Ms. Pillay said, adding that women’s political participation and full empowerment are a “work in progress.” The High Commissioner also urged civil society to continue its strong engagement with the UN, noting the vital role non-governmental organizations played in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action “The United Nations cannot attain its lofty objectives without the participation of those it is supposed to serve. It is only by listening to their concerns that we can we ensure that our action is grounded in the real lives of real people,” she said.
via United Nations News Centre – Top UN officials mark 20th anniversary of declaration strengthening human rights.
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Tags: Ban Ki-moon, Human right, Navanethem Pillay, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Vienna, World Conference on Human Rights
February 26, 2013
Since 2003, the Geneva Human Rights Film Festival (with the more complicated French name and abbreviation: le Festival du film et forum international sur les droits humains – FIFDH) takes place in parallel to the UN Human Rights Council. Based on the concept “A film, a subject, a debate”, the FIFDH features documentary as well fiction, on themes linked to human rights such as: violence against women, poverty, torture, international justice and even climate change. During 10 days the public is invited to watch the films, meet film makers, actors, experts and victims of human rights violations. There are special screenings for students, and teachers are issued with thematic material. This year a total of 40 films will be screened. New this year is the competition for international fiction. The Jury includes filmmakers and human rights defenders such as: Ai Weiwei, Patrick Chapatte, Romain Goupil and Fadwa Suleiman, Syrian actress in exile. The longstanding festival director is Leo Kaneman: for the programme see: http://www.fifdh.org/
In the meantime, a big controversy has erupted about the showing of the documentary “No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka” in what is called in UN terminology a ‘side event’, organised by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the above-mentioned FIFDH, on the premises of the UN. As reported by AP on 25 February, the Sri Lankan Ambassador has sent a letter to the whole Human Rights Council denouncing the film as “discredited, uncorroborated and unsubstantiated” and warning that the Council would be violating its own rules if the film is screened March 1 in Geneva as planned.
The 90-minute documentary alleges government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels engaged in war crimes during the final stages of the conflict in 2009. The film shows interviews with eyewitnesses and original footage of alleged atrocities against civilians including summary execution, sexual violence and torture. The film director Callum Macrae denied that it distorted the facts: “We believe that our film contains very important evidence about the terrible events in the last few months of this war and we believe we have a duty to make that evidence available to the diplomats and country missions at the U.N. Human Rights Council who must make important decisions about how to ensure accountability and justice in Sri Lanka“. See: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/sri-lanka-opposes-screening-critical-film-18590958. The Sri Lankan Ambassador’s letter which certainly will help to attract a larger audience is to be found on: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/465065/Letter-to-the-President-Human-Rights-Council-2.pdf.
Posted in AI, films, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Ai Weiwei, Amnesty International, documentary, ECOSOC, Fadwa Suleiman, film festival, fims, Geneva, Geneva Human Rights Film Festival, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Watch, impunity, International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, international justice, Kaneman, media, No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka, reconciliation, Sri Lanka, Tamil Tigers, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council, war crimes
February 25, 2013
(High Commissioner for Human Rights Navy Pillay addresses the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré)
As the United Nations Human Rights Council began its work today, 25 February 2013. the High Commissioner Navi Pillay stressed the importance of strengthening international processes that will monitor and prevent rights violations around the world as well as hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.Addressing the opening of the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that despite significant progress over the past two decades on issues such as the elimination of violence against women and tackling impunity for international crimes, there continue to be systematic human rights violations around the world. In her address to the Council, Ms. Pillay also noted that while the increased involvement of civil society in defending human rights is a welcome development, there have been an alarming number of reports of governments persecuting human rights defenders because of the nature of their work.“I continue to hear of brave human rights defenders, journalists or bloggers who have been threatened, harassed, arrested or killed because of their work on behalf of the human rights of others,” Ms. Pillay said. “Such intimidation has sometimes even occurred during the proceedings of this Council. We must never tolerate such pressure, or reprisals against those who rightly seek to engage the international human rights system.”
via United Nations News Centre – UN Human Rights Council opens with call to strengthen international justice system.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 6 Comments »
Tags: Geneva, human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, impunity, Navanethem Pillay, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Pillay, protection, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council
February 25, 2013
This interesting story starts in February 2011 with a peaceful demonstration against deaths of pregnant women at the Huruma Nursing Home, a hospital serving Huruma, one of the major slums in Nairobi. Two human rights defenders, Ruth Mumbi and Ms Victoria Atieno, were accused of incitement to violence. Their case has dragged on for 2 years with at least 5 adjournments triggered by the absence at the trial of the administrator of Huruma Nursing Home, both a key witness and complainant. During the latest hearing on 21 February 2013, the administrator of Huruma Nursing Home turned up at the Court. However, this was a new administrator who replaced the person who managed the establishment at the time when the protest took place. As the judge raised questions about this change of witness, the administrator responded that the sole purpose of his presence at Makadara Law Courts was to present Huruma Nursing Home’s desire that the case be dismissed! The judge interestingly decided to allow the accused human rights defenders to express their opinion on it. On 26 February 2013 (tomorrow), Ruth Mumbi and Victoria Atieno hope to tell how they were victims of malicious prosecution and file a lawsuit to claim damages. And on top of this a great occasion to alert the public about poor health services!
The case against Ruth Mumbi and Victoria Atieno was referred to in an urgent appeal http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/20473 on 30 October 2012. 
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Advocacy Organizations, Africa, court, demonstration, freedom of assembly, Front Line Defenders, Human right, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, malicious prosecution, Nairobi, Nursing home, right to health, slum, women human rights defenders
February 25, 2013
The HURIDOCS network publishes a Newsletter with many items that are of importance to Human Rights Defenders. The latest issue carries e.g. interesting news on access to human rights case law from the Asian and American scene. In the future it should be possible to have on-line access to the case load of these regional systems which until now are very difficult to find. Connecting these two databases in the future will be possible, but only if they are built on common standards. Developing these is a core function of HURIDOCS as illustrated by an interview with Judith Dueck who has been involved in standard formats for almost 25 years (Judith Dueck looks back upon how it was done).
One reason to refer to this article of course the youth picture of me (from 1988) they added!
To get the HURIDOCS newsletter free every 15 days subscribe via the homepage: http://www.huridocs.org/
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Tags: Advocacy Organizations, Africa, Americas, case law, documentation, documenting, Hans Thoolen, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, HURIDOCS, information technology, internet, Judith Dueck, jurisprudence, Latin America, newsletter, Standard formats, technology
February 25, 2013
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, has been informed of the arrest and detention of human rights defender Abdi Osman, vice-president of the Ligue djiboutienne des droits humains (LDDH). On 21 February 2013 it seems that Osman has been arrested and brought to the police station. At the time of writing he seems not to be at this station anymore but his place of detention is worryingly unkown. Osman had on 20 February addressed publicly in the framework of an opposition meeting the torture and bad detention conditions of political prisoners. Action suggestions are in:
via Djibouti: Arrestation et détention au secret de M. Abdi Osman / 22 février 2013 / Interventions urgentes / Défenseurs des droits… / OMCT.
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Tags: Abdi Osman, arbitrary arrest, disappearances, Djibouti, FIDH, Human right, Human rights defender, illegal detention, International Federation for Human Rights, Observatory, OMCT, political prisoner, World Organisation Against Torture
February 25, 2013
Protection International (PI) is published on 23 February 2013 its first FOCUS report. To commemorate the 15th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (HRDs), the report presents the results from PI’s research on public government policies to protect human rights defenders internationally. It analyzes the development of public policy meant to protect human rights defenders. While acknowledging advances that have clearly enhanced existing regional and international mechanisms, the report adopts a critical approach since States are ultimately responsible for protecting Human Rights Defenders, starting with governments.PI hopes this report will contribute to the discussion on how to improve existing public policies and spur discussion between civil society organizations and governments of countries where protection of human rights defenders is far from being ensured.
The full report can be downloaded in several languages via: FOCUS Report 2013 : “Public Policies for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders: The State of the Art” | | ProtectionlineProtectionline.
Posted in books, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: 2013, Advocacy Organizations, annual report, Civil society, Focus 2013, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, PI, policies, politics, protection, Protection International, UN Declaration, United Nations
February 24, 2013
A move by Egyptian authorities to prohibit national NGOs’ contact with foreign organizations without prior permission from security bodies represents a new low for freedom of association, said Amnesty International. In a letter to an NGO (Egyptian Organization for Human Rights) Egypt’s Ministry of Social Affairs stated that no “local entity” is permitted to engage with “international entities” in any way without the permission of the “security bodies”, referring to instructions issued by the Prime Minister.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in AI, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: AI, Amnesty International, Arab spring, Egypt, Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, freedom of association, Human right, human rights, Middle East, Non-governmental organization, Politics of Egypt, restrictions
February 23, 2013
The InQuirer from Monrovia reports on 21 February 2013 that Search For Common Ground (SFCG) has launched a new project in Liberia. According to Oscar Bloh, Country Director of SFCG, the project is being launched in Lofa and Bong Counties, two of Liberia’s most populated counties, with the aim of encouraging the authorities to protect and promote human rights in the country. According to Bloh, now that the 14-year war has ended with a democratically elected government, the protection of human rights and access to justice should be key factors in promoting good governance in the country. The organization is working in partnership with the Independent National Human Rights Commission of Liberia, the United Nations Mission In Liberia UNMIL, the Government of Liberia (through the Ministry of Justice) and the European Union in implementing the project which targets about 80,000 citizens. He said the SFCG will work with county authorities, including the police, to engage society and stakeholders by explaining the rule of law. Giving an overview of the project, Mr. James Yarsiah, Executive Director of the partner NGO ‘Rights and Rice’ said the protection of human rights is cardinal to the national transformation in Liberia explained that the activities under the project include the training of local rights activists, providing skills for selected civil society organizations and empowerment of the citizens. The Executive Secretary of the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, Daniel H. Allison, said over the past fifteen years Liberia has become a violator of human rights despite the election of a democratically elected government. He called on the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf led administration to exert every effort to stop human rights violation in the country. This may not be earth-shaking news but is a nice example of the myriad of local projects that are going on.
via allAfrica.com: Liberia: SFCG Launches Human Rights Project in Lofa, Bong.
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Tags: Africa, Civil society, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, European Union, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, Liberia, Monrovia, NGOs, projects, Search For Common Ground
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 