Archive for the 'Human Rights Foundation' Category
March 19, 2015
Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani speaking at the Oslo Forum in 2010
Prominent Yemeni journalist, press freedom advocate, and whistleblower Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani was assassinated on 18 March by unknown gunmen outside of his home in Sanaa. Al-Khaiwani was one of Yemen’s most effective journalists. He endured years of harassment, kidnappings, and death threats in retaliation for his outspoken criticism of Yemen’s 30-year dictatorship and his exposés on government corruption. His son, the writer Mohammed al-Khaiwani, witnessed the attack, in which several men on motorcycles opened fire on his father and then fled the scene.
“The murder of Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani is a cowardly and abhorrent display of the evil that so much of the world faces on a daily basis,” said Human Rights Foundation president Thor Halvorssen. “Al-Khaiwani bravely put his life on the line year after year to expose the reality of tyranny and corruption. He will always be remembered for his heroic devotion to use truth and justice.”
Al-Khaiwani is the former editor-in-chief of the pro-democracy online newspaper Al-Shoura. After years of threats and harassment, he was arrested, subjected to a mock trial, and sentenced in 2008 to six years in prison on fabricated charges of conspiring with the leader of an anti-government terrorism cell. and of being a coup-plotter After being tortured during his incarceration, al-Khaiwani received a presidential pardon and was released in 2009.
In June 2008, a week after being sentenced to six years in jail, Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani received the Special Award for Human Rights Journalism under Threat from AI UK.
Oslo Freedom Forum Speaker Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani Assassinated in Yemen | News | The Human Rights Foundation.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani, AI UK, assassination, award, freedom of expression, Human rights defender, Human Rights Foundation, in memoriam, Journalist, Mohammed al-Khaiwani, murder, Oslo Freedom Forum, Thor Halvorssen, Yemen
February 17, 2015
Mchangama is one of the leaders of the “Madji Na Mwendje” (power and water) movement, formed by the FCC and other civil society organizations to protest the government’s inability to resolve the frequent power blackouts and water shortages plaguing the island. The movement called on all Comorian civil society groups to engage in a three-day general strike scheduled for February 9-11. The Sunday before the strike was set to start, Mchangama was summoned to appear at the police station of Moroni where he was immediately arrested and is currently being held.
“Civil society leaders like Mchangama are a threat to competitive authoritarian regimes because of their ability to channel people’s frustration at corrupt and incompetent governments. By arresting him, the government seeks to quash a legitimate demand from hundreds of thousands of Comorians living below the poverty line. He must be released immediately,” said Thor Halvorssen, president of the Human Rights Foundation. “We have seen similar instances of repressing freedom of expression in the region. In Burundi, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa was arrested for criticizing the ruling party during a radio interview; and in Swaziland Thulani Maseko and Bhaki Makubu were both arrested for questioning the independence of the judicial system. These are all legitimate concerns in any democratic society. It is these abusive governments that are at fault here, not the people,” said Halvorssen.
For more information contact: Jamie Hancock at jamie[at]thehrf.org or see the original piece:
HRF to the Comoros: Release Activist Mohamed Mchangama and Drop Incitement Charges Against Him | News | The Human Rights Foundation.
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Tags: arbitrary arrest, civil society activists, Comoros, Federation of Comorian Consumers (FCC), freedom of expression, freedom to demonstrate, Human Rights Foundation, illegal detention, Mohamed Said Abdallah Mchangama, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, release
October 20, 2014
As from tomorrow, 21 October, you can follow the 2014 Oslo Freedom Forum [OFF] in real time at www.oslofreedomforum.com. This year’s theme—“Defeating Dictators”—will explore nonviolent ways to challenge these regimes and stop other countries from falling under the rule of a strongman. Panel discussions are on “Tyrants and Technology” and “Dangerous Words”
OFF speakers include Egyptian comedian and TV host Bassem Youssef; Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez; Ukrainian pro-democracy activist Yulia Marushevska; North Korean refugee and rights activist Hyeonseo Lee; Mexican journalist Marcela Turati Muñoz; and Jordanian comic book artist Suleiman Bakhit. The forum will conclude on Wednesday, October 22, with the presentation of the Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent to Turkish performance artist and “Standing Man” Erdem Gunduz, Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen (represented by his wife Lhamo Tso), and Nadezdha Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, members of the Russian feminist punk rock collective Pussy Riot [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/vaclav-havel-prize-for-creative-dissent/]
Interesting novelty (to get more people to follow the forum on-line) is a s
ocial media contest on how the speakers inspire the audience. One winner will join the 2015 Oslo Freedom Forum in person.
The full program can be viewed here: 2014 Oslo Freedom Forum | Events | Oslo Freedom Forum.
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Bassem Youssef, bloggers, cartoons, Dhondup Wangchen, Erdem Gunduz, human rights award, Human Rights Foundation, Hyeonseo Lee, Marcela Turati Muñoz, meeting, Oslo Freedom Forum, Pussy Riot, social media, streaming, Suleiman Bakhit, Vaclav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent, Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent, Yoani Sánchez, Yulia Marushevska
September 6, 2014
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | Leave a Comment »
Tags: APRODH, Bahrain, Burundi, Gulf Center for Human Rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation, illegal detention, Maryam Al-Khawaja, MEA Laureate, Oslo Freedom Forum, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, Pierre-Clavier Mbonimpa
May 5, 2014
On 2 May 2014 the Human Rights Foundation announced as the recipients of its 2014 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent the Turkish performance artist Erdem Gunduz, Russian punk protest group Pussy Riot, and imprisoned Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen. They will be honored at a ceremony during the Oslo Freedom Forum on Wednesday, May 14. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | 1 Comment »
Tags: awards, China, Dhondup Wangchen, digest of human rights awards, Erdem Gunduz, human rights awards, Leaving Fear Behind, on-line, Oslo, Pussy Riot, Russia, Standing Man, Tibet, Turkey, Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent
May 2, 2014
(Erykah Badu performs onstage 15 March 2014 in Austin; Roger Kisby—Getty Images)
The misuse of star power by Erykah Badu referred to in an earlier post got a nice follow up according to the opinion piece posted by Thor Halvorssen and Alex Gladstein in TIME of 2 May 2014. After recalling in detail her singing for the Swazi absolute monarch [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/another-case-of-misused-star-power-erykah-badu-performs-for-swaziland-dictator/], the authors describe Badu’s defensive and sometimes offensive comments in the social media: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | 5 Comments »
Tags: Alex Gladstein, dictatorship, Erykah Badu, human rights, Jennifer Lopez, King Mswati, Mariah Carey, music, social media, star power, Swaziland, the Gambia, Thor Halvorssen, Time, twitter, Yahya Jammeh
April 25, 2014
RIFT RECON announced on 16 April that it will join forces with the Human Rights Foundation to present a comprehensive security workshop at the 2014 Oslo Freedom Forum ‘OFF’ from 12-14 May 2014. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | Leave a Comment »
Tags: communication, digital security, electronic surveillance, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation, OFF, RIFT RECON, safety, security, Thor Halvorssen, training course
February 28, 2014
Regular readers of this blog know that I like the idea of holding celebrities accountable (most recently: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/star-power-and-human-rights-a-difficult-but-doable-mix/). The reason is that there is a mutually reinforcing (and for many profitable) interaction between the stars and the media (which in turn feed on the interest of the public). Celebrities’ views on all kind of issues – including human rights – can hardly be called private. Their social media are virtual industries and influence millions globally. So it seems a good idea to have an annual look at which celebrities have advanced and which have harmed the cause of human rights around the world. Halvorssen and Leigh Hancock ( of the Human Rights Foundation) have done exactly that in the Atlantic on 27 February 2004 and linked it to the upcoming Oscars night on Sunday.
(Gary Hershorn/Reuters)
The list of celebrities deserving recognition for their accomplishments in the field of human rights or those who should be ashamed for supporting human-rights violators, is long and contains many video links. Like the real Oscars, the list is slanted in terms of geopolitical interest and I think that if all major international human rights organisations would get together to agree on a list if would be more balanced, but that is probably wishful thinking. Still, the Human Rights Foundation deserves credit for this creative initiative. and here is the summary:
The Nominees for Outstanding Work in the Field of Human Rights Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | 5 Comments »
Tags: Africa, Angola, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bahrain, Bassem Youssef, Ben Kingsley, Bono, celebrities, China, Colin Firth, Cui Jian, democratic republic of the congo, Dennis Rodman, Egypt, Emma Thompson, Equatorial Guinea, Fat Joe, Gabriela Montero, George Clooney, Gustavo Dudamel, Halvorssen, hollywood, human rights, Human Rights Foundation, human trafficking, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Stewart, Julio Iglesias, Kanye West, Kazakhstan, Khalid Abdalla, Kim Kardashian, Leigh Hancock, LGBT rights, Libya, Madonna, major star power, Mariah Carey, Muammar Gaddafi, North Korea, oscar night, Oscars, Russia, Susan Sarandon, the Atlantic, The Square, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Venezuela
February 26, 2014
On the heels of my post yesterday on Cao Shunli‘s health (https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/serious-concern-for-health-of-detained-human-rights-defender-cao-shunli/), exiled, blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng laments that China is cracking down harder than ever on human rights defenders, but says (somewhat unrealistically I should add) that the leadership should brace for a Ukraine-style uprising. “It is possible for the Chinese to have a similar revolution to the one in Ukraine. It could happen any time,” Chen told Nina Larson of AFP on 25 February in Geneva. “There are many, so very man arrests“, mentioning just as an example the arrest late last month of the parents of human rights activist Xue Mingkai, who had spent four years in prison for joining a banned party. While in custody, the father, Xue Fushun, plunged to his death from a window several stories up, in what police said was a suicide.
Frontline Defenders informed us a bit earlier that on 29 January 2014, the verdicts were released in the trials of human rights defenders, Mr Yuan Dong and Ms Hou Xin, both of whom are affiliated with the New Citizens’ Movement and had been facing charges of “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order”. Yuan Dong was sentenced to 18 months in prison, whilst Hou Xin was found guilty but did not receive a sentence. Yuan Dong and Hou Xin were originally detained, along with Zhang Baocheng and Ma Xinli, on charges of “illegal assembly” on 31 March 2013 [http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/22993] after banners with slogans such as “require officials to publicly disclose public assets” were allegedly unfurled during a rally in Xidan Cultural Plaza in Beijing’s Xicheng district. Hou Xin had only been photographically documenting the rally.
Besides the recent sentencing to four years imprisonment of one of the founders of the New Citizens’ Movement, Mr Xu Zhiyong, many more human rights defenders affiliated with the movement remain in detention (https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/xu-zhiyongs-closing-statement-to-the-court-a-remarkable-document/)
On the other hand, on 25 February 2014 it was confirmed that Ilham Tohti (feared disappeared) has now been formally arrested on charges of “splitting the country” and is being held in a detention centre in Xinjiang province. (https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/has-uyghur-professor-ilham-tohti-disappeared-in-china/
For the full interview with Chen: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jLVlcgDJvTALGKEGE8kNJd3E43cA?docId=baf85933-271a-42b9-8e34-8210a195cbee
By the way China’s extraordinary sensitivity to ‘interference’ of any level into what it considers its domestic affairs is well-known. I touched upon this ‘hot’ topic’ in my own 2011 article “The international human rights movement: not perfect, but a lot better than many governments think” in the book ‘NGOs in China and Europe’ (exceptionally also published in Chinese!): Yuwen Li (ed), Ashgate, 2011, pp 287-304 (ISBN: 978-1-4094-1959-4).
Posted in books, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | Leave a Comment »
Tags: arbitrary arrest, Ashgate, Chen Guangcheng, China, freedom of expression, Front Line (NGO), Hou Xin, Human Rights Defenders, Ilham Tohti, illegal detention, interference in internal affairs, NGOs in China and Europe, repression, Thoolen, Ukraine, Uyghur, Xu Zhiyong, Xue Mingkai, Yuan Dong, Yuwen Li
February 12, 2014
The family of Uyghur professor Ilham Tohti has had no news of his whereabouts since he was arrested at his home in Beijing on January 15, 2014. Tohti is a leading academic and one of the most prominent commentators on basic rights issues affecting the Uyghur people. The Uyghurs are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority—in a country that is 91.6% Han Chinese—that live primarily in the Xinjiang region of China and have been repressed by the government. The Chinese authorities raided Tohti’s home on January 15, arresting him and confiscating his computer. The public security bureau in the capital of Xinjiang released a statement accusing Tohti of inciting separatism, but refused to inform his family where he is being held.
On 21 March 2013 Tohti had been put already under house arrest: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/ilham-tohti/
via:
http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/24684
China: HRF Condemns the Arrest and Disappearance of Uyghur Professor Ilham Tohti | News | The Human Rights Foundation.
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | 1 Comment »
Tags: arrest, China, Forced disappearance, freedom of expression, Front Line (NGO), Human rights defender, Human Rights Foundation, Ilham Tohti, illegal detention, minorities, minority rights, Uyghur
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 