Archive for the 'human rights' Category
February 5, 2013
Having just today reported on the new human rights defenders network created in the Arab world, I would be amiss not to draw attention to the developments of an already existing network in Africa. On 4 February 2013 the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network (PAHRD-Net) officially launched from Kampala, Uganda, a 3-year programme totalling 1.8 million Euros to promote a safe legal and working environment for human rights defenders (HRDs) across Africa.
“The tireless and innovative work done at the sub-regional level to protect human rights defenders will now have a dedicated venue at the Pan-African level for mutual support and reinforcement,” said Hassan Shire Sheikh, Chairperson of PAHRD-Net and Executive Director of the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP). Today’s launch is the result of a process started in 1998 in Johannesburg (All-Africa Human Rights Defenders Conference) and renewed in 2009 at the follow-up meeting in Kampala.
PAHRD-Net brings together the five sub-regional human rights defenders networks in Africa (the Central African HRD Network, the East and Horn of Africa HRD Network, the North Africa HRD Network represented through the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Southern Africa HRD Network hosted by the International Commission for Jurists, and the West African HRD Network) to meet the protection needs of human rights defenders and especially to address the needs of the five groups of most-at-risk: journalists fighting to end impunity and corruption, women human rights defenders, defenders working on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, HRDs working under oppressive regimes or in armed/post-conflict areas, and HRDs engaging with the resource extraction industries.
Human rights defenders are individuals working alone or through organizations under the goal of promoting respect for universal human rights norms. Frequently HRDs come into conflict with the entrenched local power structures of state and non-state actors through their activism. This conflict can put in jeopardy the security of the HRD and their work and family networks. HRDs are often the victims of harassment, threats, assault, injury, and death across Africa, and many are forced into exile, a move which may effectively end their advocacy for human rights. The consolidation and growth of protection mechanisms within the sub-regions will improve the responses available to mitigate these threats and develop HRDs’ ability to manage their own security effectively.
The European Commission supports the new programme under its global fund for Democracy and Human Rights, which is to underpin the implementation of the European Union Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders
For further information please contact:
Hassan Shire Sheikh – Chairperson, Pan African Human Rights Defenders Network executive@defenddefenders.org
Joseph Bikanda – Coordinator, Pan African Human Rights Defenders Network: Tel +256-312-202133, +256-312-265825, or panafrica@defenddefenders.org
Rachel Nicholson – Advocacy Officer, East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project: Tel +256-312-265-824, +256-778-921274, or advocacy@defenddefenders.org
Posted in human rights | 2 Comments »
Tags: Africa, EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, European Commission, Hassan Shire Sheikh, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, impunity, Johannesburg, journalists, Kampala, PAHRD-Net, Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network, protection, resource extraction, women human rights defenders
February 5, 2013
The goal of the
International Centre for supporting Rights and Freedoms (ICSRF) is “
the provision of legal assistance to human rights activists in all countries of the world and its commitment to establish a new generation of cadres working in the field of defense of human rights“, although strangely its website
http://www.icsrf.org/ is at the moment only in Arabic and the scope of its activities seems to be restricted to the Arab-speaking world.
The creation of the new network was announced at the conclusion of a regional training course entitled “supporting skills of the defenders of human rights in the Arab countries”, held from 24 to 25 January 2013 in Kuwait with the participation of 32 participants from Kuwait, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman including human rights organizations, human rights defenders and activists monitoring and documenting human rights violations.
The ‘Freedom – Network of Human Rights Defenders’ is established under the management of the International Centre for supporting Rights and Freedoms (ICSRF) and the members of the network will be selected from the participants who attended one of the training courses of the ICSRF or from those who work closely with the ICSRF. They will be trained on how to use international law and communication skills with media – both at the theoretical and practical level – in addition to the role of each member in monitoring and documenting violations. The ICSRF aims to create “a new generation of human rights defenders who are able to practice human rights work in a professional manner in line with the international law and the latest international developments as well as to establish a network of human rights defenders.”
Although everything points more to a regional than an international network, one can only wish them success as the Middle East is a region where Human Rights Defenders require support and freedom.
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Tags: Advocacy Organizations, Bahrain, freedom, human rights, human rights activists, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, human rights organizations, human rights violations, information technology, International Centre for supporting Rights and Freedoms, Kuwait, legal assistance, media, Middle East, network, Oman, protection, Saudi Arabia
February 5, 2013
The Palestinian News Network on 4 February 2013 reported that in the early hours of Wednesday 23rd January 2013, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested Hassan Yasser Karajeh, a 29 year old youth activist in the Stop the Wall Campaign, violently breaking into his home in the West Bank village of Safa, west of Ramallah. Since then he is in interrogation without access to his lawyer or family. He is part of a new generation of active Human Rights Defenders. ‘Stop the Wall‘ asks solidarity groups, social movements, human rights organizations and concerned citizens to act together to free Hassan Karajah and stop the repression of human rights defenders in Palestine.
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Tags: Hassan Yasser Karajeh, human rights, illegal detention, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Middle East, Palestine, Palestinian people, Ramallah, Stop the Wall, West Bank
February 5, 2013
The Jakarta Post of 4 February reports that a group of scholars and rights activists have raised concerns about the radical and worrying change of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) head’s tenure from the previous 2.5 years to only a year. In the picture on the right you see the Head of Komnas HAM Otto Nur Abdullah (second right) in talks with former Komnas HAM executive director Miriam Nainggolan (right), Setara Institute chief executive Hendardi (second left) and former Komnas HAM commissioner MM Billah (left) at Komnas HAM headquarters on Monday .(JP/Jerry Adiguna)
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Tags: human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights commission, independence, Indonesia, Jakarta Post, Komnas HAM, National Human Rights Commission, Otto Nur Abdullah, politics
February 4, 2013
The pressure on human rights defenders in Zimbabwe is building in the run up to the referendum. Here is in short what happened to the leaders of two civil society organisations:
On 31 January 2013, approximately one hundred persons attended the community meeting organised by ZOYP (Zimbabwe Organization For Youth In Politics) and CCDZ (Centre for Conflict Development in Zimbabwe) in the Mbizo Youth Centre in Kwekwe to discuss developments in the drafting of the country’s new Constitution, including the bill of rights, before the draft is put to a referendum. During the meeting, which had been sanctioned by local police under the Public Order and Security Act, an armed group of hundreds of youths, reportedly affiliated to the ruling party ZANU PF and who identify themselves as “Al Shabab”, violently disrupted the meeting and threatened the participants. [ The youths were reportedly transported to the venue by bus by ZANU PF Chairman of Mbizo, and were dressed in overalls with President Mugabe’s face at the back. The youths carried heavy sticks and sang ZANU PF slogans and songs about President Mugabe, stating that whoever tries to question the President “will die like a dog”.] Human rights newsletters, cameras and other materials were stolen. Police did not intervene to ensure the safety of participants, who fled the meeting in fear of their lives. Organisers of the meeting, Nkosilathi Moyo and Jasper Maposa were targeted and threatened with death by the youths, who told them that their human rights activism was an attempt to “change the regime” and that the ZANU PF-led government will eliminate them if they continued to organise similar meetings in Kwekwe.
Following threats from the youths to follow them home and fearing for their safety, Nkosilathi Moyo and Jasper Maposa (heads of ZOYP and CCDZ respectively) went into hiding and have not been able to return to their regular activities. They subsequently submitted a complaint to police. To date, no investigation has been initiated by police.
On 2 February 2013, Mr Nkosilathi Moyo and Mr Jasper Maposa, were subjected to threats to drop the charges. Around 11am, Nkosilathi Moyo received a phone call from an unidentified number threatening him and Jasper Maposa to drop the charges at the police. Later in the same day, around 3pm, Jasper Maposa received another call from an unidentified number, renewing earlier threats and saying he was “fighting a losing battle.”
By the way, Al Shabab in early January 2013 has already stated that no civil society organisation or human rights defender would be allowed to operate in Kwekwe as they were “agents of regime change”. ZOYP has been subjected to previous acts of intimidation and harassment. One such example is a human rights defenders’ youth meeting, which was organised by ZOYP and held in Kwekwe Theatre on 16 November 2011. Although the meeting had been permitted by police, police and ZANU PF youths reportedly disrupted the meeting and presented ZOYP Director Nkosilathi Moyo with a trumped-up charge of defaming the state. Nkosilathi Moyo was subsequently sentenced to six months in prison. Furthermore, the offices of the organisation were raided in July 2011 and computers stolen. During the incident, Nkosilathi Moyo and Jasper Maposa were beaten and went into hiding. On 11 July 2011, a meeting organised with former US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Charles Ray, and young human rights defenders in Kwekwe was violently disrupted by Al Shabab, with the US envoy and ZOYP members fleeing for their lives.
Front Line Defenders is concerned by the threatening phone calls against Nkosilathi Moyo and Jasper Maposa and expresses grave concern at the failure of police to intervene and fulfil its duties to provide protection to the meeting’s participants.
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Centre for Conflict Development in Zimbabwe, civil society organisations, death threats, elections, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, Front Line (NGO), Human Rights Defenders, Jasper Maposa, Kwekwe, Nkosilathi Moyo, politics, protection, Public Order and Security Act, referendum, violence, ZANU PF, Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Organization For Youth In Politics
February 4, 2013
Ever since the monk Luon Sovath became the Laureate of the Martin Ennals Award 2012, I have following events in Cambodia with more than usual interest. And it is clear that the struggle for land rights there is continuing.
Luon Sovath by Dovona
Two Cambodian women human rights defenders were convicted on baseless charges in separate trials on 26/27 December 2012. Yorm Bopha was sentenced to three years in prison. Tim Sakmony from Borei Keila received a six-month sentence, partially suspended, and has been released.
Both women have been prominent in protesting against the forced eviction of their communities. Yorm Bopha was outspoken during the detention of 13 other women activists from Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak Lake community, who were sentenced for up to two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment in May 2012. Tim Sakmony is one of the representatives of 106 families now living in tents next to the demolished site of the Borei Keila community, also in Phnom Penh. The two women are believed to have been targeted because of their leading roles in peacefully advocating for the right to adequate housing for their communities.
Further information: http://amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA23/020/2012/en
In this context I want to draw attention to the film maker Chris Kelly and his colleagues. They have been filming in Cambodia for more than three and a half years, following the lives of three extraordinary individuals(including the Venerable Luon Sovath) caught up in the chaos and turmoil of Cambodia’s economic development. Now they are finished filming and starting the editing phase. They have launched a crowdfunding campaign to help raise funds towards the completion of the documentary.Please visit this link to see what they need to raise. If you cannot afford to donate, please help spread the word using your social media platforms, blogs, word of mouth or any other means that you can think of. http://www.blog.thecauseofprogress.com
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Tags: AI, Borei Keila, Cambodia, Chris Kelly, documentary, Human rights defender, Khmer Rouge, Land Law, Loun Sovath, Luon Sovath, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA 2012, Phnom Penh, The Cause of Progress, Tim Sakmony, women human rights defenders, Yorm Bopha
February 2, 2013
Under the title “Urgent Appeals, theory and practice“, the NGO ‘Asian Human Rights Commission‘ reflects on the need and increasing practicality (especially thanks to IT) of conducting urgent appeals. The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations and it now concludes that “Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies. The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region”.
for the full text of the reflection go to: http://www.humanrights.asia/news/urgent-appeals
To illustrate the point the AHRC comes at the same time with a call for action against what it calls a “witch hunt” by the Indian authorities against human rights defender Madhuri Krishnaswami of the Jagrat Dalit Adivasi Sangthan. In the most recent attack, the District Magistrate has written a letter to the Divisional Commissioner that found its way to Chief Secretary accusing the organisation to have links with Maoists and have demanded an inquiry into the issue. The attack is not a stray one but comes high on heels of an externment notice served on her by the same district administration in May, 2012 and subsequent attack on a JADS rally by the local goon with the administration looking away. Interestingly, the charge has been refuted by the police with the Inspector General of Police, categorically denying the presence of any Maoists activities in the reason.[The administration, evidently, is working on the behest of deeply entrenched vested interests whose corruption Madhuri and the organisation have continuously been exposing. The current attack, too, is an attempt to divert attention from the massive scam in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in the area tipped to be worth more than 150 crore INR.]
At the same time the AHCR expresses great concern over the abduction of 4 human rights defenders in Pakistan by (probably) members of an outlawed religious organization. The unknown armed persons abducted six workers of a NGO including, two lady workers. However, after some time they threw the two women out of the vehicle. It is feared that the abducted workers would be assassinated as has happened in the past. Many health workers and human rights defenders have been killed after their abduction by such ‘religious groups’. The NGO, ‘HAND’, works under the UN programme. The abducted persons and female workers who were working in the Noor Mohammad Village Goth, Mauripur, Karachi, where they have been distributing medicines and rations to the residents for some time. The male abductees were Engineer Amjad Ali Siyal, Mohammad Ashfaq, dispenser, Khurram Ahmad Abbas, dispenser and driver Humayun Ahmad, driver. The released women, Miss. Shakila and Miss. Rashida told police that the kidnappers had taken the four abducted workers in a car towards Balochistan. The police claim that they were abducted by one of the banned Muslim extremist groups who are opposed to the polio vaccination programme and this incident due to the campaign against NGO volunteers. It is believed that the abductors are convinced that they are working for the interests of America or the West.
Posted in AHRC, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: AHRC, Asian Human Rights Commission, dalits, HAND, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, India, Madhuri Krishnaswami, NGO, Non-governmental organization, Pakistan, United Nations, urgent action, urgent appeals
February 1, 2013
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay. on Thursday 31 January launched an appeal for US$130.4 million in 2013, telling donors that the UN Human Rights Office could respond to more of the many requests for assistance she receives if additional resources were made available. Despite reducing its expenditure by more than 7.5 percent in 2012, the UN Human Rights Office experienced a funding shortfall for the third year in a row. “As a result, 46 posts have been cut or frozen, a decision which will affect our ability to respond to ongoing challenges, such as discrimination, climate change, HIV-related issues, protection of human rights defenders and support for various key human rights bodies”, Mrs Pillay said.
“Clearly, preventing crises costs vastly less than responding to them once they have occurred,” the High Commissioner said. “It is a disturbing paradox that raising funds to respond to crisis situations is so much easier than raising funds to prevent crises from happening in the first place. Imagine all the suffering, destruction and loss of life that could have been avoided if we were able to prevent or mitigate only some of the crises the world is witnessing today……… This prevention role – which is generally less visible than our responsive role – is of crucial importance and deserves strong donor support and attention.”
Twenty years ago, when the Office of the High Commissioner was created, the international community made the decision to invest more in human rights, but this sector remains severely underfunded, especially compared to the high degree of public recognition the UN gets for its human rights work.
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Tags: appeal, budget, funding, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, Navanethem Pillay, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Pillay, staff, UN, United Nations
February 1, 2013
Two NGOs, Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders and Dublin-based Front Line Defenders, have expressed concern for the safety of two human rights defenders in the Transnistria, the internationally unrecognised separatist republic of Moldova. Stepan Popovsky andVladimir Maimust are the subject of judicial harassment and threats by the local administration.
On 9 January 2013, Stepan Popovsky, a private lawyer and chairperson of the Republican Social Movement for the Protection of Property and Social Rights of Peasants, held a meeting where he provided legal support to local peasants. The meeting was interrupted by police officers accusing him of trespassing on a private area, although the Criminal Code of Transnistria does not define trespassing as a criminal offense. One week after the incident, Stepan Popovsky was informed that a criminal case had been initiated against him. He responded with a letter of complaint to the local Minister of Internal Affairs. Since then, Stepan Popovsky has been repeatedly threatened by Transnistrian region’s law enforcement officers while performing his profession as a lawyer. A few months earlier, Stepan Popovsky was the subject of a defamatory media campaign that presented him as a foreign spy earning millions of dollars by buying local real estate.
The human rights lawyer Vladimir Maimust is also under pressure from the Transnistrian authorities. He is the lawyer of a person who was detained by the Transnistrian authorities on 23 June 2012 and who later died from suffocation in jail on 21 November 2012. Vladimir Maimust filed a complaint to the local Investigation Committee and to the Transnistrian leader Yevgeny Shevchuk, in which he accused the investigator of abuse of power and negligence that led to the death of his client. Vladimir Maimust was later threatened by KGB agents “to be included in the list of persons whose activity on the territory of the republic has to be undermined” and that criminal charges can be brought against him. During a working visit to the Investigation Committee on 11 January 2013, the human rights lawyer was beaten and injured by four men in police uniform who also tried to slip an unknown package into his pocket, accusing him of being drunk although medical expertise later confirmed that there was no sign of alcohol consumption. A criminal case has been recently opened against Vladimir Maimust for conspiracy. If found guilty, he may face up to 12 years in prison.
Civil Rights Defenders and Front Line Defenders believe that the threats and the fabricated criminal cases against Stepan Popovsky and Vladimir Maimust are directly related to their human rights work. The organisations urge the representatives of the Transnistrian administration to launch an immediate and impartial investigation into the threats against the human rights defenders, to protect them from any further threats or attacks, and to ensure that all human rights defenders in the region can carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.
http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/21494
http://www.civilrightsdefenders.org/news/statements/threats-against-human-rights-defenders-must-be-condemned-and-investigated/
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Tags: Civil Rights Defenders, Front Line Defenders, harassment, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, KGB, lawyers, Moldova, Stepan Popovsky, threats, Transnistria, Vladimir Maimust
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 