Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

On 9 December 2011 the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyung-wha Kang, will moderate an event in Geneva event with the theme, Social Media and Human Rights. The guests will canvass the influence of social media, politically, culturally and socially, at the community, national and international levels. The event, which will be broadcast live on the UN webcastat. Participants include:

Frank La Rue (Guatemala) is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. He is the current Director of the Centro-American Institute for Social Democracy Studies in Guatemala. He holds a degree in law from the University of San Carlos, Guatemala, and a postgraduate degree in U.S. foreign policy from Johns Hopkins University. As founding member and Director of the Centre for Legal Human Rights Action, Mr. La Rue was involved in presenting the first Guatemalan human rights case before the Inter-American Court for Human Rights. He also brought the first case of genocide against the military dictatorship in Guatemala. As a human rights activist, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

Wael Abbas (Egypt) is an internationally renowned Egyptian journalist, blogger and human rights activist who blogs at Misr Digital (Egyptian Awareness). He has used his site over the past few years to promote political and social change. Mr. Abbas has been the recipient of many awards acknowledging his efforts as a human rights activist, including being the first blogger to win the International Journalism Award from the International Centre of Journalists in 2007 and the Human Rights Watch’s Hellman/Hammett Award in 2008.

Maite Azuela (Mexico) is a journalist/blogger and activist in social networks. Besides writing for a number of media outlets, including the well-known Mexican daily El Universal, Ms. Azuela is involved in mobilizing local communities through social networks in areas such as education, political reform, transparency and access to information. She has a MA in Public Policy and Administration from Concordia University, Canada and is the founder of movements such as DHP, “On Education”, and a member of the National Citizens’ Assembly (ANCA).

Bassem Bouguerra (Tunisia) describes himself as a “revolutionary by nature and a software engineer by accident.” The 30 year-old Tunisian blogger works as a software architect at Yahoo. Initially, he campaigned for change in his home country from San Francisco but, for the past year, he has split his time between the United States and Tunisia using his blog to advocate for social and political reform. He continues campaigning and has set up an online news site, “The Bouguerra Post”. Mr. Bouguerra plans to return to Tunisia soon.

Ednah Karamagi (Uganda) is a blogger and human rights activist. With a background in community development, she is convinced of the importance of extending appropriate emerging technologies into rural areas. Ms. Karamagi is the Executive Director of BROSDI, a Ugandan non-governmental organization implementing the “Collecting and Exchange of Local Agricultural Content” project. Despite lack of access to the Internet in remote areas, BROSDI uses a variety of media tools – both new and traditional – to improve farmers’ access to information and enhance development and local participation.

Meg Pickard (United Kingdom) is the Head of Digital Engagement for Guardian News & Media, responsible for developing and supporting existing and new social web strategy and interactive experiences. Ms. Pickard comes from a background in social anthropology and in the mid-nineties conducted ethnographic fieldwork into community participation and cultural identity, first in Bolivia and subsequently online. Her particular areas of interest are community engagement and the emergence of new forms of collaborative and participatory media.

Salil Tripathi (United Kingdom) is Policy Director for the Institute for Human Rights and Business, a global centre of excellence and expertise on business and human rights standards. The Indian-born author was earlier a researcher at Amnesty International where he led the organization’s engagement with the Voluntary Principles for Security and Human Rights and the Global Compact. Mr. Tripathi writes on subjects including free speech, politics, economics, and social trends for various blogs and publications including India Today, the Far Eastern Economic Review, The Wall Street Journal, and the International Herald Tribune.

The True Heroes Foundation (THF) held a similar meeting in April 2010 when the Icelandic ash cloud prevented most participants from attending. These circumstances forced the organizers to really make use of the new media and the result on their website shows it is possible: http://www.trueheroesfilms.org.