share information on human rights defenders, with special focus on human rights awards and laureates
Yesterday we received the good news that Emad Baghi (Iran), MEA Laureate 2009, has been released from prison. He had started a hunger strike again which may have contributed to him having been released ‘normally’ at the end of his one-year term.
With the liberation of Muhannad Al-Hassani (Syria) on 3 June, this is most encouraging news and the postcard campaign for them is suspended for the time being.
According to a press release issued by Amnesty International on 19 June 2011 Papuan human rights activist Yones Douw, in the Indonesian province of Papua, was beaten by military officers on 15 June and has been denied medical treatment. He fears for his health and safety, as he has previously been detained and assaulted as a result of his human rights activities. A protest took place at the 1705 District Military Command (Kodim) base in Nabire, Papua province, on the morning of 15 June, to call for accountability for the stabbing and killing of Papuan Derek Adii on 14 May 2011, reportedly by military officers from the 1705 District Military Command. At about 9am on 15 June, Yones Douw , a 42-year-old human rights activist, heard that a protest, which included family members of Derek Adii, was about to take place, and he went to the base to monitor it. Thirty minutes after he arrived, a group of protesters turned up in three trucks, broke into the front entrance of the base and started to shatter the windows and throw objects. Yones Douw immediately rushed into the base to calm the protesters. In response, the military fired shots into the air and started hitting the protesters. Yones Douw was struck on the head with pieces of wood many times. He also sustained injuries on his shoulder and wrists from the beatings. As he was beaten he heard the military threaten to shoot the protesters saying “these animals should be taught a lesson”. A military officer also hit the father of Derek Adii, Damas Adii, with a piece of wood. After the beatings, Yones Douw travelled to the Siriwini hospital for treatment and to obtain a medical report, but was told by medical staff that he required a letter from the police before they could treat him. He then decided to go home and is still suffering from the injuries. He fears for his health and safety. Yones Douw is a respected human rights activist in Papua and has been documenting human rights violations by the police and military over the last decade. For the more information and suggestions on whom to write to please go to: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1106/S00429/papuan-activist-at-risk-following-beating.htm
E-learning course: Security and protection for human rights defenders and social organisations is designed for NGOs, social organisations and individuals. It lasts for 60 hours over 3 months approximately 5 hours per week and is hosted by Protection International training staff protection experts with extensive training experience in many countries. The first course, in Spanish, is to due to start in mid 2011, English and French courses will follow.
Education and training for Human Rights Defenders is a broad subject with different needs. One such crucial need is security. The present course aims for human rights defenders to develop various skills, capacities and strategies to allow them to improve the level of security and protection, both for themselves and also for the people they work with.
Proof of experience working in these fields is required, along with the existence, or possible existence, of a risk to their security, because of their work activities. Armed conflict or political repression, due to their activities as human rights defenders, could be examples of suitability. The admission criteria will give priority to those people having the largest potential impact on human rights defenders’ security. The enrolment fee will depend on various factors – such as country of origin or residence, the institution the participant is involved with, the course duration, etc. For more information visit: http://www.protectionline.org or write to: e-learning@protectioninternational.org
I received this via E-learning course: Security and protection for human rights defenders and social organisations | HURIDOCS.
It is now official: MEA Laureate Muhannad Al-Hassani (or al-Hasani), who spent the last 22 months in jail, was released today 3 June. He was among a large number of other ‘political prisoners’ which the Syrian regime has been releasing over the last days. He thanks all of you who have continued to support him while he was in detention.
There is good reason to think that Muhannad Al-Hassani will finally be out of jail soon!. Let’s see what the morning brings…
The details of his abduction and interrogation are to be found in the press statement of the Asian Human Rights Commission: http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-STM-066-2011. Let’s keep an eye on developments in Bangladesh…
Human Rights defenders are often in a weak position standing up against powerful interests (as this and other blogs often illustrate). Still they are not without their own resources and support as shown by e.g. New Tactics. This organisation, with the help of Jane Barry and other practitioners, is offering an online dialogue on Being Well and Staying Safe from June 22 to 28, 2011: http://www.newtactics.org/en/dialogue/being-well-and-staying-safe-resources-human-rights-defenders.
The nature of their work exposes human rights defenders to distressing and threatening situations. The need to take care of one’s self is extremely important, as is the need to take care of, protect and support each other. Human rights defenders cannot be well without being safe. Likewise, they cannot truly be safe without being well. Often, security is thought of as a stand-alone concept, rooted in the set, militaristic concepts of war and conflict. Human rights defenders are defining a new concept of security – one that comes from a feminist and anti-militarist standpoint. Women in Black have defined security as including: freedom from constant threats, economic security, political security, environmental security, and health security. How would a new, more integrated and holistic definition of security impact the human rights community?
This online dialogue is an opportunity to further explore the ways in which well-being and security are mutually inclusive for human rights defenders. This is a space to discuss how these issues and concepts relate to gender, identity, human rights work, budgeting and fundraising.
Anwar Al-Bunni
Anwar Al-Bunni winner of the 2008 Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk has been released today. He finished serving his sentence on the 17th of May 2011 but was taken initially to a branch of the security apparatus before being finally released today. Anwar Al-Bunni was originally sentenced to a five year prison sentence because of his courageous work defending human rights defenders and opposition activists facing charges before the State Security Court, now slated to be abolished by a regime under pressure from the protests. He had also set up a human rights centre in Damascus to support the work of human rights defenders and publicly denounced the use of torture in Syrian prisons. This is very similar to the work and condemnation of Muhannad Al-Hassani the 2010 MEA Laureate which is still in prison.
The good news re Al-Bunni is tempered by the consideration that he was not released before he had served his time and that the Syrian regime still holds hundreds of human rights defenders in detention or under threat.
Human Rights Watch announced last Friday a bit of good news: – Uzbek authorities released the dissident Yusuf Jumaev from prison on May 19, 2011. Jumaev, a civic activist, poet, and prominent government critic, was arrested in 2008 and ill-treated in prison. Jumaev was arrested in the weeks before the December 2007 presidential election after he called for President Islam Karimov to resign. Jumaev had also written poems and staged protests about the Andijan massacre, as well as about government oppression, and the arrest of his son. Jumaev’s release follows an apology he addressed to Karimov in connection with the 20th anniversary of Uzbekistan’s independence. Although Jumaev was released, the conviction was not quashed and the government has not given any indication that it intends to ease its campaign to crush its critics, Human Rights Watch said.
“Jumaev’s release is a positive development but it serves as a stark reminder of the many other activists who remain unjustly behind bars and the urgency of securing their release,” Swerdlow of HRW said. “Jumaev’s imprisonment and the ill-treatment he suffered underscore the danger of dissent in Uzbekistan.” At least 13 human rights defenders and numerous political activists and independent journalists remain in prison in Uzbekistan in retaliation for their work or criticism of the government, Human Rights Defenders in prison include: Solijon Abdurakhmanov, Azam Formonov, Nosim Isakov, Gaibullo Jalilov, Alisher Karamatov, Jamshid Karimov, Norboi Kholjigitov, Rasul Khudainasarov, Ganihon Mamatkhanov, Habibulla Okpulatov, Yuldash Rasulov, Dilmurod Saidov, and Akzam Turgunov. Several of them are in serious ill-health and at least seven have suffered torture or ill-treatment in prison.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 