Archive for the 'human rights' Category

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Pakistan: Human Rights Defenders in the Ministry; perhaps well-meant but still a bad idea

December 4, 2012

Several Pakistani newspapers reported on Monday 3 December that “Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accepted in principle a proposal made by the Ministry of Human Rights to appoint Human Rights Defenders in the ministry”.

It all came from a presentation made by the Ministry of Human Rights. There were several welcome announcements (such as including human rights as a subject in educational institutions and plans to effectively implement its international  obligations) but the idea to appoint Human Rights Defenders in the Ministry (as civil servants one has to assume) is baffling. It would completely do away with the idea that HRDs ought to be independent and capable of monitoring authorities. If accepted under this title it would surely confuse the current understanding of what are HRDs. The Minister for Human Rights would soon be called Human Rights Defender in Chief.

The Pakistani newspaper Dawn adds:  “The basic idea to have human rights defenders in the country was to help those poor victims who could not afford to plead their cases in courts or seek other remedial measures against oppressors. “The number of human rights defenders and their service structure will be worked out by the ministry in collaboration with other ministries,” the official said. However, critics of the government say as elections were just a few months away, new positions are being created to accommodate pro-PPP voters.”

Let’s hope that the Ministry will revert to the more neutral and clarifying title of ‘human rights officers”.

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Premier of Bahrain receives delegation from Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

December 3, 2012
Most posts in this blog are of a serious nature, but this one is close to comical if anyone has bothered to read previous posts on Bahrain. Just some excerpts:

Manama, Dec. 3.  – His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman asserted that the Kingdom of Bahrain and the High Commissioner for Human Rights share the same goal and mission of protecting human rights and respecting human dignity.

“Bahrain is a democracy, reform and popular participation hub where rights are protected and liberties are respected,” HRH Premier said as he met here today a delegation from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), led by Frej Fennich, Middle East and North Africa Section Chief.

HRH Premier pointed out that “Bahrain is a one-family society and we do not accept that one of our compatriots’ basic rights are abused or dignity undermined,” noting that the government’s main interest is to protect the Bahraini citizens’ rights, including the right to live in security and stability, without intimidation or terrorism.

The Premier emphasized that freedoms are guaranteed in Bahrain by the force of the Constitution, but, he added, when they are used as a pretext to undermine the security of individuals and destabilize countries, jeopardize their economies and pose a threat to their cohesion and civic peace, the matter goes beyond the natural exercise of freedom and becomes “terrorism”, and therefore should be confronted decisively.
………
HRH Prime Minister added that there has been injustice inflicted on the kingdom because of the misleading and incoherent information disseminated by some sides, explaining that Bahrain has invited international organisations in order to allow them to be informed on reality within total transparency.

Perhaps not totally unexpected: the source is the Bahrain New Agency

 

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10 Portraits of Human Rights Defenders in the next 10 Days at OMCT

December 1, 2012

As Human Rights Defenders are the voice of those who are deprived of it because they are victims of torture, ill-treatment or summary execution, OMCT (one of the 10 NGOs on the Jury of the MEA) has started a series of portraits of those who excel in the fight against torture and impunity.  From 1 to the 10 of December, the organisation will every day put a different HRD in the limelight. They tell about the challenges and the obstacles they face and the hopes and disappointments they encounter in their everyday life. It s`tarts today with Edeliza Hernandez from the Philippines:

I may not refer to each case in this blog but invite you to visit the OMCT website:  http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/events/2012/11/d22051/

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Is US aid Endangering Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico and Colombia?

November 30, 2012

In the FPIF edition of 29 November 2012 (Foreign Policy in Focus, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies) Christine Ahn and Erika Guevara-Rosas have published a provocative piece that takes US policy – especially its aid policy – to task for contributing to the process of militarization that adds to the woes of (women) HRDs. A long but well-argued piece worth reading:

“While a significant chunk of USAID spending goes to education and health programs, pockets of aid enlarge the already bloated military budgets of recipient governments. The result: less security and more violence against women, particularly women human rights defenders. ………..we take a look into Colombia and Mexico, the two countries with the largest number of documented instances of death threats against women human rights defenders—and coincidently two major recipients of U.S. aid.”

Endangering Women Human Rights Defenders | FPIF.

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HURIDOCS exists 30 years: my interview now on line

November 30, 2012

HURIDOCS

Hans Thoolen talks about the excitement of founding HURIDOCS, why the human rights community nowadays resembles a church with too many priests (and too few believers) and what made Latin American human rights defenders embrace technology before everyone else. Looking back at decades of involvement in human rights work, he also sketches out his idea of a multimedia platform that gives human rights defenders the space to inspire others. 

What was the most exciting idea about founding HURIDOCS?
It started for me and the others at this conference in 1979 near Paris. During this conference we sensed there was space for better cooperation among NGOs, especially with new technology. Mind you: this was 1979, well before the internet, and information technology was hardly used. Our idea was to somewhere, somehow seek some level of agreement among NGOs – or at least to create the tools with which working together would be possible in the future.

in 1982 Quito with Jose Antonio Viera de Gallo from Chile

Hans Thoolen (second from right) at the Quito conference in Spring 1982, the most important conference before HURIDOCS was officially founded a few months later.

How did you move on from there?
That idea survived the meeting and there was some money left over from the Ford Foundation and that was used to have informal consultations. So for a few years, Martin Ennals, who had just stepped down as secretary-general of Amnesty International, Friederike Knabe, Laurie Wiseberg, Bjorn Stormorken and myself (working for the International Commission of Jurists) were the people who worked on the follow-up. We had meetings in London, Brussels, Oslo and Geneva and we were asking NGOs what they thought of the potential of information technology and testing out ideas on information exchange.

That slowly lead to the first big conference, in Quito, Ecuador, in 1982, partly because the Latinos had taken to the use of technology well before the West – in the NGO world, not in the business world, of course. This maybe was surprising, but when you thought about it, not that strange.

Why not? And how did this lead to the founding of HURIDOCS?

…….

………

and the rest you have to read yourself on:

http://www.huridocs.org/2012/11/we-were-breaking-new-ground/

 

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Applications for grants from the UN Trust Fund Violence against Women can now be submitted

November 29, 2012

With in mind that today is Women Human Rights Defenders Day, one more post related to women:

The United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women is accepting applications from government authorities, civil society organizations and networks — including non-governmental, women’s and community-based organizations and coalitions, and operational research institutions.

The 2012 UN Trust Fund Call invites proposals in the following areas of action:
i.              Closing the Gap on the Implementation of National and Local Laws, Policies and Action Plans that Address Violence against Women
ii.             Addressing Violence against Adolescent and Young Girls

Applicants are invited to submit grant proposals for a minimum of US$100,000 up to a maximum of US$1 million for a period of two to three years. The application deadline is 21 January 2013.

The complete Call for Proposals detailing criteria, eligibility requirements and application guidelines is available at: http://grants.unwomen.org/ <http://grants.unwomen.org/>  or via the UN Women homepage.

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Questionnaire for women human rights defenders in Africa

November 29, 2012
The International Service for Human Rights in Geneva calls on all activists working on HRD and women’s issues in Africa, to mark International Women Human Rights Defenders Day – today 29 November – by providing feedback to the Special
Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa, who is seeking input for a report on the challenges faced by women defenders in Africa and their protection needs by using the
questionnaire (English). It is also available in French, Arabic andPortuguese. It is open to those working at the national, regional or international levels.The deadline for submitting responses is 31 December 2012.

see: International Service for Human Rights | Mark International Women Human Rights Defenders’ Day by sharing your experience.

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Statement on Women Human Rights Defenders Day

November 29, 2012

On the occasion of November 29th, Women Human Rights Defenders Day, the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition stands in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of women activists around the world who – with exemplary courage, determination, and strength, uphold women’s human rights, the rights of communities, and of the environment. For the full text go to: http://www.defendingwomen-defendingrights.org/WHRD_WHRDDay2012.php.

The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition is a resource and advocacy network for the protection and support of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) worldwide. An international initiative created out of the international campaign on WHRDs launched in 2005, the Coalition calls attention to the recognition of WHRDs. Their gender or the nature of their work has made them the subject of attacks, requiring gender‐sensitive mechanisms for their protection and support. The Coalition involves women activists as well as all people who defend women’s rights and lesbian, gay, bi‐sexual, and transgender (LGBT) defenders and groups committed to the advancement of women’s human rights and sexual rights.

The Coalition calls on all stakeholders and duty bearers to uphold their national, regional and international human rights commitments to ensure the promotion and protection of the rights of WHRDs regardless of their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, status, age, caste, political opinion, sexual orientation and gender identity as well as on other grounds or contexts.

For more information about the WHRD International Coalition, our work and coalition members please visit: http://defendingwomen‐defendingrights.org.

 

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Human Rights First to hold Human Rights Summit: 4-5 December

November 29, 2012

 

On December 4-5, 2012, Human Rights First will convene the inaugural Human Rights Summit: American ideals. Universal values, marking the 64th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Summit is designed to bring international civil society activists, U.S. policymakers, military and business leaders together to look at U.S. global leadership on human rights. Human Rights First believes that American leadership is necessary to secure human rights around the world. We hope you will join us as we celebrate progress and address the challenges ahead. Sessions during the two-day Summit will cover human rights issues including the Arab Spring, emerging technologies, immigration reform, and more. Senators Richard Durbin (D – IL) and John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the United Civil Front Garry Kasparov, President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Dr. Richard Land, and Vice President of Communications and Public Policy at Facebook Elliot Schrage will join us as guest speakers.

Human Rights First also invites you to the screening of the award-winning film THE HOUSE I LIVE IN on Tuesday, December 4, at 7 p.m. The screening will be followed by a discussion with acclaimed filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, who received the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival for this film. This event is free and open to the public

 

Space is limited. Reserve <http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=kHQZD8AfBaT%2FEULL8Hi1yi%2BQnID0Npd%2F>  your spot today!

Register for sessions now! <http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=3twClNNnpynWcNjK3OOtRy%2BQnID0Npd%2F>

 

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On-Line Video contest also in Turkey

November 28, 2012

On 23 November I referred to the video contest on human rights in Armenia and wondered where the others were. Here is one more, in Turkey as reported by BIANET on 27 November:

With its slogan “Make a film. Be Viral. Create a Change”, Human Rights Online Video Contest selected five young directors who recorded stories about how they see and interpret human rights issues in the environment. Finalists were selected by a jury including Ece Temelkuran, Melek Özman and Fatih Keskin.

The winner video will be selected following a public voting ending on December 3. Anyone can vote for the contest through http://www.youtube.com/humanrightsturkey.  The delegation also urged social media users to share the video through Twitter and Facebook. The winner–the most viral video on social media–will be announced on the delegation website.

A closing ceremony will be held in Ankara to award the winner on December 12.

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