Archive for the 'Front Line' Category
February 9, 2014
Front Line Defenders launched an online and social media campaign to focus attention on the plight of 12 human rights defenders (HRDs) from Eastern Europe and Central Asia coinciding with the launch of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The ‘Rights. Risks. Change!’ campaign (www.sportshrd.org) calls on the public to take solidarity action to support these 12 defenders and to pressure local officials to respect the work of HRDs.
All 12 of the HRDs highlighted in the campaign have displayed great courage and integrity in their work on a range of human rights issues. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: 2014 winter olympics, Ales Bialiatski, Azimjan Askarov, Belarus, campaign, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Evgeny Vitishko, Front Line (NGO), Front Line Defenders, human rights campaign, Human Rights Defenders, Kyrgyzstan, Olympics, Russia, Sochi, solidarity action, Stephania Koulaeva
January 28, 2014
reports that on 25 January 2014 the office of LGBTI rights organisation Alternative in Côte d’Ivoire was attacked for the fourth time, and a security guard was hospitalised. The attack is the fourth such attack in one week, and follows previous threats. During the attack on the offices, laptops and desktop PCs were stolen and everything else in the office destroyed, including the electricity supply lines and emergency food supplies for people living with AIDS. It is reported that although members of the organisation called on the nearby police to help, the police did not come.
[On 20 January 2013, a mob attacked the home of human rights defender Mr Claver Touré, executive director of Alternative. For more information http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/24748]
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Alternative (NGO), attacks, Côte d'Ivoire, Claver Touré, Front Line (NGO), gay rights, intimidation, Ivory Coast, LGBT social movements, LGBTI, NGO, threats
January 24, 2014
On 21 January 2014, the indigenous Lenca leader and human rights defender, Mr Justo Sorto, was found dead in Jesús de Otoro, Western Honduras. Justo Sorto was an active member for twenty years of the Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Indígenas Populares – COPINH (Civic Council of Popular Indigenous Organisations). The human rights defender was killed by several gunshots from a high-calibre weapon. [ COPINH is an organisation that works for the defence of the land and the environment, and for improving the living conditions of communities and indigenous peoples in Honduras.] The indigenous Lenca community works for the defence of its forests and against the execution of mining projects in the region. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: assassination, Civic Council of Popular Indigenous Organisations, COPINH, environmental issues, Extrajudicial killing, forrest, Front Line (NGO), Honduras, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Indigenous People, intimidation, Justo Sorto, land disputes, Lenca, Lenca Indigenous People, Mining, Tigre dam, Western Honduras
January 24, 2014
On 21 January 2014, a group of unidentified armed men attempted to break in to the house of human rights defender Ms Amina Mohamed. She was recently warned that a gang, hired by a young man involved in a lawsuit she is working on, was planning to “punish” her and her family for her activism on gender-based violence. Amina Mohamed is a community activist, and member of Bunge la Wamama Mashinani (The Women’s Parliament at the Grassroots), the women’s branch of the Bunge la Mwananchi movement (The People’s Parliament). Amina Mohamed has particularly been vocal on issues of gender-based violence in Kenya. 
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Amina Mohamed, attack, Bunge la Wamama Mashinani, Coalition on Violence Against Women, Front Line (NGO), gender issues, Human Rights Defenders, intimidation, Kenya, The People's Parliament, threats, Violence against women, woman human rights defender
January 20, 2014
For those who think that large international human rights meetings tend to take place in the ‘western’, you should check out the programme and website of the WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM which was held in Brasilia from 10 – 13 December 2013: http://www.fmdh.sdh.gov.br/index.php/en/program [representatives from 74 countries, more than 500 different activities and over 9.000 participants].
One such activity was the seminar “Comparative experiences for the protection of human rights defenders at the international level” chaired by Luciana García, director of the Department of Defence of Human Rights, from the Brazilian Human Rights Secretariat. Luis Enrique Eguren, President of Protection International, shared the table (picture above) with experts from other organisations, such as: Andrea Rocca of Front Line Defenders, Laura Tresca of Article 19, and Michelle Morais de sa Silva, General Coordinator for Accompaniment in Projects of International Cooperation.
The WFHR is an initiative of the Human Rights Secretariat of the Presidency of the Brazilian Republic, whose main objective is to promote a space for the public debate on Human Rights in which the progress and challenges are addressed with respect for the differences and social participation, with the aims of reducing inequalities and fighting against human rights violations…The Minister Maria do Rosário, from the Human Rights Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil: “We organise this forum in Brazil because we think governments must always be opened to dialogue with civil society, precisely because this strengthens democracy …..We learn with Mandela that it is ourselves who must be the actors for the promotion of peace”.
At the closing ceremony of the World Human Rights Forum it was announced which countries will host the next events: Morocco in 2014 and Argentina in 2015.
via PI INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM CELEBRATED IN BRASILIA | | Protection InternationalProtection International.
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Protection International | 1 Comment »
Tags: argentina, Article 19, Brasil, Brasilia, Brazil, Brazilian Human Rights Secretariat, conference, Dialogue on Human Rights, Front Line (NGO), human rights, Human Rights Defenders, international human rights, international protection, Morocco, NGO 'Protection International, Protection International, social participation, WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM
January 17, 2014
As reported by Front Line Defenders, on 9 January 2014, the Appeals Court of Comayagua provisionally suspended the case against Honduran human rights defenders Ms Berta Cáceres and Messrs Tomás Gómez and Aureliano Molina. They had been facing charges of usurpation of land, coercion, and causing more than $3 million in damages to DESA, a hydroelectric dam company. The Court further reversed a decision to displace the indigenous Lenca community from their ancestral lands, and revoked the arrest warrant which had been in place against the human rights defenders. No court date has been set for the final decision in the case. Berta Cáceres is the general co-ordinator of Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Indígenas Populares – COPINH (Civic Council of Popular Indigenous Organisations). Tomás Gómez Membreño and Aureliano Molina are also members of COPINH which is working on land, environmental and indigenous rights, particularly in relation to large-scale development projects.
Front Line Defenders welcomes the provisional suspension but remains concerned that the case has not been permanently suspended. It notes that the case comes in the context large-scale development projects impinging on environmental rights and the rights of indigenous people, and that the principle of free, prior and informed consent is not being fully respected. [for earlier info: http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/22872]
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Appeals Court of Comayagua, arbitrary arrest, Aureliano Molina, Berta Cáceres, COPINH, corporate accountability, DESA, displacement, environmental issues, Front Line (NGO), Front Line Defenders, Honduras, Human Rights Defenders, Indigenous rights, judicial harassment, land disputes, Tomás Gómez, woman human rights defender
January 11, 2014
(Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tomás Ojea Quintana. UN Photo/JC McIlwaine)
On 11 December 2013 Tomás Ojea Quintana, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, welcomed the release of 44 prisoners of conscience in Myanmar, hailing it as an important step towards fulfilling President Thein Sein’s pledge of freedom for all political prisoners by the end of this year. “When I look back to the start of my mandate in 2008, I was referring to figures of over 1,900 persons detained on political grounds. It is important to acknowledge the significance of the progress that has been made: today we are referring to figures of less than 50”. The expert said the practice of arresting those who express views that are different to those of the Government became embedded during 50 years of military rule. “Moving to a culture of democracy, where people are free to express their views, will take time,” he stated. “The releases today are a step towards this, but need to be accompanied by legislative reforms.” However on 17 December the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, welcoming the latest release of prisoners of opinion in Burma/Myanmar, deplored the re-arrests of human rights defenders Ko Htin Kyaw and Aye Thein within hours of their “release”. Front Line reported that on 3 December 2013, Tin Htut Pai was arrested for his involvement in commemorating the one-year anniversary of the protests against the Letpadaung mining project. Tin Htut Pai is currently detained but has not been permitted to see his lawyer. Tin Htut Pai is the founder of Generation Youth, an organisation that advocates for youth empowerment and campaigns against land confiscation.
On 10 January 2014 this was followed by praise from the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, for President Thein Sein’s announcement on 2 January that he would commute death sentences to life imprisonment and reduce some sentences on humanitarian grounds and to mark the 66th anniversary of independence of the country. The move is “very significant” for Myanmar, which has not carried out the death penalty since 1989, the spokesperson noted, as the country assumed the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
https://www.un.org/apps/news//story.asp?NewsID=46718&Cr=myanmar&Cr1=#.UtEULijKzZQ
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=46904&Cr=myanmar&Cr1=#.UtEThCjKzZQ
http://www.fidh.org/en/asia/burma/14406-burma-it-is-time-to-free-all-human-rights-defenders-and-stop-ongoing
http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/24414#sthash.HRV7IJe0.dpuf
Posted in FIDH, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OHCHR, OMCT, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: abolition, arrest, ASEAN, Burma, death penalty, detention, FIDH, Front Line (NGO), Human Rights Defenders, human rights situation, Letpadaung, Mining, Myanmar, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, President Thein Sein, release, Rupert Colville, Special Rapporteur, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Tin Htut Pai, Tomas Ojea Quintana, UN Special Rapporteur
January 9, 2014
“Defenders issued Card to local HRA” was the proud headline when Abdul Qadeer Dar, Executive Director of Voice of Victims and Chairman of the Peoples Rights Movement in Srinagar, Kashmir, received his card labeling him as a human rights defender. This announcement, dating back to April 2013, is just to illustrate how certain tools for human rights defenders work in practice. The Dublin-based NGO Frontline Defenders has been issuing ‘identity cards’ to local human rights defenders for years. The cards do not have legal status and do not empower the holders to represent Front Line defenders. The card is intended to demonstrate that its holder is human rights defender with whom front Line Defenders has a working relationship. 
Defenders issued I Card to local HRA | Authint Mail Archive.
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Abdul Qadeer Dar, Front Line (NGO), Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, identity card, international protection, Kashmir, Peoples Rights Movement, Srinagar, Voice of Victims
December 23, 2013
On 18 December 2013, human rights defenders, Mr Alan Morrison and Ms Chutima Sidasathian, appeared at the police station in Phuket province. The two human rights defenders are accused of libel and violating the Computer Crime Act for publishing an article entitled “Thai Military Profiting from Trade and Boat people, Says Special Report”, which was published on Phuketwan website on 17 July 2013. The human rights defenders are due to appear at the police station again on 24 December 2013. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Alan Morrison, Australia, Burma, Chutima Sidasathian, freedom of expression, freedom of information, Front Line (NGO), Human rights defender, human trafficking, journalists, Phuket Province, Reuter, Rohingya people, Royal Thai Navy, South China Morning Post, Thailand
December 20, 2013
On 9 December 2013, Ihlam Amiraslanov was granted early release from prison after serving two-thirds of his sentence. He had been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for illegal possession of weapons on 12 September 2012 in Sabirabad District Court. Ilham Amiraslanov is an active member of Kura Civil Union and a prominent figure in the movement for justice for the victims of the flooding of the Kura River in May 2010. On 8 June 2012, Ilham Amiraslanov was arrested by police officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On 12 September 2012, he received a two-year prison sentence under the Azerbaijan Criminal Code. This conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal. Ilham Amiraslanov’s trial was marked by serious irregularities, including the refusal by the judge to hear the defense witnesses. Ilham Amiraslanov’s lawyer stated that the charges were politically motivated and that neither the investigation nor the trial were conducted objectively.
For more information on this case, see Ilham Amiraslanov’s page on the Front Line Defenders website.
Azerbaijan: Update – Human rights defender, Mr Ilham Amiraslanov, released from prison | Front Line.
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Azerbaijan, Baku, Front Line Defenders, Human rights defender, Ihlam Amiraslanov, Ilham, Ilham Aliyev, Ilham Amiraslanov, illegal detention, Kura Civil Union, Kura River, Ministry of Internal Affairs, President of Azerbaijan, prison sentence, release
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 