Pierre-Claver Akolly Amégnikpo Dekpoh works at the West African Human Rights Defenders Network (WAHRDN) in Lome, Togo. He spoke to ISHR about what drove him to become a human rights defender and about the challenges that he and his colleagues in Togo and West Africa face in working towards the realisation of human rights.
On 17 April 2023, ISHR sent its annual submission to the report of the UN Secretary-General on reprisals and intimidation against defenders engaging or seeking to engage with the UN and its human rights mechanisms. The submission presents a disturbing pattern of intimidation and reprisals in 23 countries.
ISHR’s annual submission to the report of the UN Secretary-General on reprisals demonstrates the need for the UN and States to do more to prevent and ensure accountability for intimidation and reprisals against human rights defenders and others cooperating or seeking to cooperate with the UN and its human rights mechanisms. ISHR’s submission outlines developments in the international human rights system, and documents a number of new cases, as well as follow-up on previously submitted cases.
“In order for the international human rights system to function to its fullest potential, human rights defenders must be able to share crucial information and perspectives, safely and unhindered. However, many defenders still face unacceptable risks and are unable to cooperate safely with the UN.” Madeleine Sinclair, New York Office Co-Director and Legal Counsel. “The vast majority of cases remain unresolved year after year. More must be done to ensure the efforts to document and address reprisals cases also include sustained and consistent follow up. Otherwise, the cost of carrying out reprisals remains too low, impunity reigns and perpetrators are further emboldened“.
The submission presents a disturbing pattern of intimidation and reprisals in 23 countries, with the addition this year of Algeria and France. Cases of reprisals featured in the submission range from States defaming and stigmatising defenders, to criminalising their work, but also to arbitrarily detaining, arresting and killing them.
In Israel, Palestinian defenders face ongoing intimidation and repression as reprisals for their cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms.
In Bahrain, the situation still shows no signs of improving, with human rights defenders continuing to be arbitrarily detained and denied timely and adequate medical treatment by the government.
In Algeria, Andorra, Cameroon and India defenders continue to be criminalised.
In China defenders are still facing online surveillance, harassment and enforced disappearance.
In Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and Yemen many more defenders face arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and criminalisation.
Other cases of reprisals include threats, harassment, hate speech, surveillance, property damage, disbarment, death threats, travel bans, enforced disappearances, unjustified raids, dissolution of associations, judicial harassment, smear campaigns, forced deportations, confiscation of travel documents, red tagging, denial of healthcare and family visits as well as accusations of terrorism, among others. Other countries cited in the report include cases in the Andorra, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Burundi, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, The Maldives, Morocco, Nicaragua, The Philippines, Russia, and Thailand.
ISHR also submitted follow-up information on a large number of cases, demonstrating that incidents of reprisals and intimidation are very rarely, if ever, adequately resolved.
This year, ISHR is running again its #EndReprisals campaign. The campaign will raise the profile of 6 cases (all included in the submission) and seek to achieve a more sustained attention on the issue of reprisals and follow-up of the cases throughout the UN system. In particular, we want the UN Secretary General to include all the reprisal and intimidation cases in his upcoming report and UN member States to use the opportunity of the interactive dialogue at the Human Rights Council on the Secretary-General’s report in September, as well as Item 5 debates at all sessions, to raise specific cases and hold their peers accountable.
Santiago Cantón, secretary general of the International Commission of Jurists. (Geneva Solutions/Michelle Langrand)
On 11 May 2023 Geneva Solutions carried an interview with the incoming Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists:
The new head of the International Commission of Jurists warns of the challenges human rights face as democracies across the world falter and calls on human rights groups to rally behind a new purpose. After spending the last few years in the United States, Santiago Cantón, the Argentinian jurist who recently became the new secretary general of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), will call Geneva his home for the next five years.
The discreet organisation of well-respected judges and lawyers, located in the Paquis neighbourhood and now celebrating its 70th anniversary, is almost as old as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Born from the ashes of World War II initially to investigate abuses committed in the Soviet part of post-war Germany, the group has made vital contributions over the decades to the human rights architecture. Most notably, they helped push for the creation of an international criminal court and several UN human rights instruments, including the Convention on Enforced Disappearances, first proposed by its then-president Niall MacDermot.
Cantón, 60, also brings with him some heavy baggage of experience in human rights. He was the executive secretary from 2001 to 2012 of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, one of the arms of the Organization of American States tasked with reviewing rights abuses. Before that, Cantón served as the commission’s first special rapporteur on freedom of expression from 1998 to 2001. More recently, Cantón was part of the UN Human Rights Council’s commission of inquiry on abuses committed in the occupied Palestinian territories during the 2018 protests.
As a young student, Cantón saw his country fall into the clutches of a military junta that would rule ruthlessly for ten years. While initially drawn to diplomacy and foreign relations, Cantón knew it wasn’t an option to place his skills at the service of a dictatorship. He opted instead to study international law and human rights.
One of his first experiences, and the one to inspire him the most, was advising former US president Jimmy Carter in his democracy programmes in Latin America, most notably supporting elections in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic in 1990 at a time when the two countries were emerging from bloody conflicts and transitioning into democracies. He saw the region break away from the chains of military regimes and usher in a new era of democracy and rule of law. “1948, with the universal declaration of human rights, was the big bang of human rights,” he told Geneva Solutions. “Since then, the architecture of human rights created throughout the world has been extraordinary.”
But the tides have turned. “Human rights are in decline and have been since the beginning of the century,” he regretted.
For Cantón, part of it is due to a lack of leadership. “We don’t have the same leaders in the world, and the governments that support human rights today, do not have the leadership they need to have for political reasons.” He said long gone are the Raúl Alfonsín of Argentina, Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil and Patricio Aylwin of Chile, leaders who stood up for democratic values following their countries’ exit from military rule.
“You do have leadership on the wrong side. And they’re winning,” he added. He cited the leaders of El Salvador and Mexico, as well as Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and the US’s Donald Trump, as examples of how populist leaders have successfully appealed to disillusioned populations.
“Take El Salvador. Here we have someone that has 70 to 80 per cent of popularity. People (feel) that democracy did not deliver. They are tired and want to change everything completely,” he said. President Nayib Bukele’s recent sweeping crackdown that saw over 60,000 suspected gang members arrested has been praised by many Salvadorians fed up with the violence and insecurity that has gangrened the country for years. And despite the harsh criticism his methods have drawn from human rights campaigners, political figures across the region are flaunting it as a successful model that can be replicated in their own countries.
Cantón cautions against the temptation of wanting to scrap everything. “We cannot just change everything! There are things we need to keep, and human rights is one of those,” he said.
On Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, the usual trio singled out for their authoritarian regimes, Cantón prefers to avoid tired narratives. “it’s not a question of left and right, it’s a question of the strength of the rule of law, and the rule of law is declining,” he observed.
Beyond that, human rights that touch upon issues associated with deeply entrenched cultural values have also been met by a wall of resistance. Cantón hasn’t finished unpacking he has already faced a first crisis. A report published by the ICJ in early March on how to apply human rights standards to criminal law was falsely accused across the internet of condoning sex between adults and minors. For Cantón, the world is increasingly polarised, and he views social media as a significant contributing factor. “It’s hard to find the middle ground, and when things are so polarised, they keep getting pushed harder towards two crazy extremes.”
But governments are not the only ones that need to do some soul-searching. Civil society is also struggling to maintain morale, according to Cantón. “It’s very frustrating when you take one step forward, and you have to go back like ten steps,” he said. For the past years, human rights groups have been on the defence, trying to protect hard-won advances. “We need to mobilise the human rights community again, strongly behind something,” he said.
One of the initiatives the ICJ is working on is the creation of a standing independent mechanism to investigate rights violations. UN-backed probe mechanisms are usually set up on a case-by-case basis and have been accused of being selective and politically motivated. The group of lawyers suggests that such a permanent expert body, created through the Human Rights Council or the General Assembly, could help by making it easier to trigger investigations.
The 52nd regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC52) was held from Monday 27th February to Tuesday 4th April 2023.
On 7 March, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Volker Türk presented an oral update on the human rights situation around the world. In his intervention, the High Commissioner referred to several situations around the world that raise human rights concerns and highlighted several developments. During the session, the High Commissioner also provided oral updates on Nicaragua and on Sudan on March 3, on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on March 21, on the Democratic Republic of the Congo on March 30, and on Ukraine on March 31. These oral updates given by the High Commissioner provided the basis for the general debate under Item 2 on 7th and 8th March.
Ten new Special Procedures mandate-holders were appointed to the following mandates: the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, the Special Rapporteur on the right to development, one member to the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (from Asia-Pacific States), four members to the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development (one member from African States, one from Asia-Pacific States, one from Eastern European States and one from Western European and other States), two members to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (one from Asia and one from the Arctic), and one member to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (one member from Latin American and Caribbean States).
43 texts (all resolutions) were considered by the Council. This represents a 23% increase in the number of adopted texts compared to one-year prior (HRC49). Of the 43 adopted texts, 28 were adopted by consensus (65%) and 15 by a recorded vote (35%).
After adopting 43 resolutions, the Council extended the mandates of ninethematic mandate-holders (i.e., adequate housing, foreign debt, freedom of opinion and expression, human rights defenders, migrants, minority issues, racism, sale and sexual exploitation of children, and torture), and ninecountry mandate-holders (i.e., Belarus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mali, Myanmar, Nicaragua, South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, and Ukraine).
16 NGOs made a joint analysis:
That this Council has chosen to blatantly ignore the findings of the Fact Finding Mission (FFM) on Libya and end its mandate at a time when crimes against humanity are being perpetrated, with no sign of abating, is shocking. That it is set to replace it with a capacity-building resolution, with no ongoing monitoring and investigative component, is shameful. It sends a to message to abusive militias and armed groups that they can continue to perpetrate crimes under international law without fear of consequences. These crimes include arbitrary detention, murder, rape, enslavement, sexual enslavement, extrajudicial killing and enforced disappearance in detentions, and increasingly, repressive measures against civic groups. David Yambio, a co-founder and speaker of the self-organized protest movement Refugees in Libya and a refugee in Libya who was forcibly conscripted by the RADA militias, and sent to war fronts, asked UN Member States in his statement before the Council, if the mandate of the FFM on Libya is discontinued who will document the violations in Libya, including against migrants, and how will the victims find justice and accountability. Instead of appeasing unaccountable warlords and officials, the Council should let victims of violations in Libya and their loved ones know that they matter, and that committing a crime comes at a cost because no one is above the law. As a matter of priority, as per the FFM’s recommendations, the Council should establish an independent international investigative mechanism and an OHCHR established autonomous mechanism to monitor and report on gross human rights violations. See also: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/07/weak-un-resolution-libya-exposes-eu-bias
We are deeply concerned by the push to undermine language on gender based discrimination and violence evidenced by the amendments tabled to replace gender with sex, or gender responsive with gender sensitive, across resolutions. This is a continuation of the trend at HRC sessions to deliberately use disinformation to attack gender equality and measures to address gender based discrimination. We remind States of their obligation to prevent and eliminate gender based discrimination and violence, it is not optional and should not be reduced in its scope. We are also deeply concerned by the attempts by some States to question the fact that a clean, healthy and sustainableenvironment is a universal human right, despite the recognition of this right by both the HRC and the UNGA, and in the context of the triple planetary crisis and the strong demands for environmental justice across the world. We are equally concerned about growing and coordinated efforts to undermine or outright delete standard language on the need for a ‘human rights based approach’ to development and other rights agendas, offering as a subpar substitute undefined and duplicative concepts such as a ‘people-centered approach.’
We welcome the adoption of the resolution on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The fact that all tabled amendments were massively rejected and that no State eventually called for a vote shows how much this right is important for the work of the HRC and for the international community as a whole.
We welcome the resolution on the contribution of the Human Rights Council with regard to the human rights implications of drug policy, which comes at a critical time, as States prepare for next year’s mid-term review of the 2019 political declaration. It underlines the role of the Human Rights Council, as the UN’s premier human rights body, in contributing to human rights strengthening throughout the UN system. We welcome that the resolution promotes an approach centered on human rights and public health, including harm reduction, and that some of the amendments tabled to weaken this approach were rejected, but we regret that other amendments aimed at continuing a harmful and punitive approach to drugs were adopted. We now call on States to ensure that they comply with their human rights obligations in the design and implementation of drug policies.
Civil society participation is a cornerstone of the HRC. It brings voices from local communities and organisations who can effectively inform the HRC of human rights priorities and needs on the ground. Yet the special emergency measures and ongoing budget constraints adopted by the HRC in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, coupled with measures adopted to respond to the Covid-19 crisis, and the ongoing Strategic Heritage Plan, have heavily restricted civil society participation at the HRC. We appreciate the reinstatement of side events and request that the Council continues to work with UNOG and New York to ensure that side events are kept in place amidst the implementation of the Strategic Heritage Plan. We reiterate our calls on the HRC to maintain hybrid modalities (remote participation in all debates and informal consultations) for all Observers of the HRC (States and civil society organisations with ECOSOC status), as complementary to in-person participation; to reinstate General Debates in June sessions and maintain them unrestricted; and to ensure that efficiency is not prioritised over effectiveness, expertise and inclusiveness, including by addressing the chronic underfunding of the UN’s human rights pillar. Furthermore, civil society must be able to access and communicate with the HRC freely and safely. They should not be intimidated nor suffer reprisals related to that engagement.
We welcome the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the Declaration on HRDs and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this reflects that the unhindered work of defenders is integral to the realisation of all human rights for all people, particularly those who have suffered discrimination or repression.
We welcome the renewal of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, on the thirty-year anniversary of the creation of the mandate. Over 30 years, the mandate has played an essential role in creating a robust set of international standards and shaping how we understand the right to freedom of expression in the digital age, as well as responding to violations and helping ensure accountability and justice.
We welcome the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children. We welcome the change in the title of the mandate in line with the Luxembourg Guidelines and the inclusion of children among the stakeholders the mandate should consult with.
We welcome the resolution on the situation of human rights in Belarus in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election and in its aftermath, given the strong report of the High Commissioner following the OHCHR examination of the human rights situation in Belarus, and the need to renew the mandate of the mechanism. However, we express disappointment that the call of Belarusian and international organisations to establish an independent investigative mechanism went unheeded.
We welcome the adoption by consensus of the resolution on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) which renews the mandates of the Special Rapporteur and the OHCHR Seoul office, which are key avenues for accountability for victims and survivors. The consensus adoption demonstrates the isolation of the North Korean government and the universal condemnation of its grave violations of the human rights of its people. States should support efforts to document and preserve evidence of crimes for future prosecutions, and explore other pathways to bring to account those responsible for serious international crimes committed in North Korea.
We welcome the resolution on cooperation with Georgia, however we strongly urge Georgia to remain focused on addressing the human rights challenges in the territory within its control, not just in the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia.
While we welcome the resolution on technical assistance in Haiti, we regret that the Human Rights Council took years before putting Haiti back on its agenda. Since the discontinuation of the independent expert in March 2017, the human rights situation in Haiti has deteriorated rapidly. The security crisis has exacerbated inequalities and has pushed thousands of Haitians to be forcibly displaced. This situation has been noted by the report of the OHCHR of February 2023 and by the High Commissioner himself after his official visit earlier this year. We also welcome that the resolution envisages the creation of an Office of the High Commissioner in the future.
We welcome the adoption of the resolution on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the change of approach from a purely procedural resolution merely renewing the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran to a more substantial resolution addressing some of the key issues of concern, including violations committed in the context of the repression of recent protests, violations of the rights of women and girls and of minorities, illegal use of the death penalty and persistent impunity for violations of human rights. For the first time ever, the HRC has adopted a resolution, through which it collectively expresses alarm at these “widespread, repeated and persistent” violations and urges Iranian authorities to take action on them. We also welcome the increased support from States from all regions to this resolution, and we note with appreciation that opposition to the renewal of the mandate has significantly decreased at this session, reflecting growing concerns with the situation of human rights in Iran since the repression of the protests started in September 2022 following the custodial death of Jina Mahsa Amini.
We welcome the resolution on the situation of human rights in Myanmar maintaining the situation high on the agenda of the HRC and reaffirming the Council’s collective condemnation of the grave violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law in the country. However, we regret that despite clear, repeated calls by the Special Rapporteur and civil society, the Council once again failed to call for a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar to prevent the ongoing violations, especially indiscriminate airstrikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
We welcome the resolution on the promotion and protection of human rights in Nicaragua that consolidates and extends for two years the mandates of the Group of Human Rights Experts and the OHCHR, with a new emphasis on violence against Indigenous Peoples and Afrodescendants, those forcibly displaced and striped of nationality, and reprisals, including against EMRIP member Anexa Cuningham. The exceptional two-year extension is a sheer reflection of the sustained worsening and gravity of the country’s human rights crisis – where the Group of Experts found crimes against humanity -, fueled by the government’s unprecedented lack of engagement with the UN system. The Group of Experts will be able to deepen its investigation, further identify perpetrators, and preserve evidence for justice processes.
We welcome the resolution on the situation of human rights in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression. The report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) was clear: war crimes are being committed in Ukraine and the patterns of serious violations suggest other crimes are likely being committed as well, including crimes against humanity. Given the need for further investigation, the HRC is right to mandate the COI for a further year.
We welcome the renewal of the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria and call on the Council to continue to support scrutiny and accountability for gross human rights violations committed in Syria. We welcome the language in the resolution in support of the establishment of an international mechanism for the missing in Syria, and we call on UN Member States to support the creation of such an institution at the General Assembly.
We welcome the adoption of a resolution that further extends the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan. Such a mechanism remains vital as the conditions that prompted the Council to establish the Commission, in 2016, have not significantly changed to warrant less scrutiny. Regarding this and other country situations, the Council should stand steadfast in support of accountability for grave violations. We stress that a purely technical assistance and capacity-building focus would be unsuitable to tackle South Sudan’s serious human rights challenges and would risk further emboldening those who perpetrate the most serious crimes.
We regret that the Council failed to respond adequately to several human rights situations including Algeria, China, Egypt, India, and Saudi Arabia.
We regret that the Council failed to respond to the situation in Algeria. Since the beginning of the Hirak pro-democracy movement in Algeria, more than 5500 Algerians have been prosecuted for exercising their fundamental rights and freedoms. According to the documentation of activists in the country, more than 70% of the people detained are in pre-trial detention. In the context of heightening repression against activists and closure of civic space, more than 500 individuals are prosecuted on the basis of so-called terrorism charges pursuant to the 2021 amended article 87 bis of the penal code. Between 2022 and 2023, four Algerians were condemned to lengthy prison sentences ranging between 10 and 15 years on the basis of this article. UN Special Procedures have continued to address the situation in Algeria, regarding the increased use by the authorities of ‘national security laws to prosecute people who exercise their rights to freedoms of opinion and expression, and peaceful assembly and association’ and raise ‘alarm at the extent of crackdown on dissent in Algeria’. In her statement on 22 February 2023, Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders addressed the dissolution of two leading human rights associations, and said “acts of intimidation, silencing and repression against the human rights movement must end”. Algeria, a member of the Council, is failing to cooperate with the Council and its mechanisms, including in the context of the UPR review where Algeria did not accept several important recommendations, especially with regards to amending the counter-terrorism law to meet international law requirements, to guarantee the protection of human rights defenders, and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of assembly and expression.
We regret the ongoing failure of the Council to respond meaningfully to the OHCHR Xinjiang report through a resolution on China. The Council’s ‘China exceptionalism’, facilitated by but by no means solely attributable to the OIC’s shameful double-standards, not only weakens its credibility but also undermines the confidence of victims and human rights defenders everywhere in its ability to respond to international crimes orchestrated by the most powerful governments. With a historic Urgent Action ruling by the CERD in November, countless Treaty Bodies recommendations, an OHCHR report, and three joint statements by over 40 Special Procedures experts, the UN system cannot be clearer: the crisis is severe, and so should be the Council’s response to it.
We regret that the Council failed to respond to the situation in Egypt. Egyptian and international civil society organisations have been calling on the Council to adopt a resolution on the human rights situation in Egypt. The human rights situation in Egypt merits the Council’s attention according to the objective criteria which States from all regions have committed to apply on whether a situation merits the HRC’s attention. Yet, civil society’s request for HRC action at the 52nd session was declined. WHRD Sanaa Seif, sister of arbitrarily detained British-Egyptian human rights defender Alaa Abdel Fattah, came to the HRC to advocate for her brother’s release and the thousands others arbitrarily detained in Egypt. She told the Council “you can’t keep turning a blind eye on Egypt”, and urged the Council to address the human rights crisis in Egypt.
We regret that the Council once again failed to respond to the situation in India, despite the systematic rollback of fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and independent institutions as well as the ongoing harassment, intimidation and criminalisation of human rights defenders, journalists, and dissidents, and targeting of civil society organisations using national security and counter-terrorism infrastructure. The Council also has responsibility to take appropriate action to prevent potential atrocity crimes against minorities, especially Muslims, as a result of the increasing discrimination and incitement to violence often by Hindu nationalist leaders.
We regret that the Council failed to respond to the situation in Saudi Arabia, where the situation meets the objective criteria. According to ALQST’s 2022 annual report, the Saudi authorities continue patterns of abuse, including arbitrary arrests, severe jail sentences for peaceful, legitimate activity on social media, enforced disappearances, systemic gender discrimination, and harsh restrictions on prisoners of conscience released from prison, including travel bans, thus further deepening the climate of fear. We reiterate our call on the HRC to create a monitoring and reporting mechanism on the ever-deteriorating human rights situation in Saudi Arabia.
Signatories:
ARTICLE 19
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
Child Rights Connect
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)
DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)
Franciscans International
Gulf Centre for Human Rights
Impact Iran
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
Julian Borger in the Guardian of 4 May 2023 tells how an NGO teams up with Hollywood to sharpen human rights focus.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has decided to take on Hollywood to improve the visibility and awareness of humanitarian issues in popular culture. As part of the move, the advocacy group has signed up with a talent agent firm, Activist Artists Management (AAM), to provide “scripted and unscripted content in film and television”, an HRW statement said…
The group has set up a department of three staff and additional consultants, to deal with Hollywood full-time – advising writers and directors on incorporating realistic treatment of human rights issues into their work.
“We’re excited to work with Hollywood to spread that message and equip committed activists, advocates and artists standing up for justice through the stories they tell,” said Tirana Hassan, HRW’s new executive director.
Amanda Alampi, the organisation’s director of campaigns and public engagement, argued it was a logical step towards deepening the impact of HRW’s investigative work. “We have consistently done human rights investigations and told real-life stories to try to put a human face on it. But increasingly, we think that scripted storytelling is going to be really important in this area,” Alampi said. “So what we’re trying to do is think about – how do we insert a positive human rights message into popular culture? And Hollywood seems like a great place to start.”
She said one way HRW would try to wield influence is to work with producers and writers “to encourage them to think about human rights to choose to tell stories more responsibly” in movie projects already in the pipeline.
“Then a second area is really about whether we can pitch story ideas that would actually tell effective human rights stories,” Alampi added. “We already use our meticulous fact-finding to sway policymakers and put perpetrators in the dock. This is about reaching a broader public with stories that illustrate human rights issues – especially through unexpected storytellers and platforms, like space or superheroes.”..
Alampi argued that allowing Hollywood to script and fictionalise true stories would not impinge on HRW’s reputation for factual accuracy, because the group would not be central to creating the fiction, but would simply pass on ideas that could be a starting point for movies with a human rights message.
“This is not about getting attention for HRW or getting us into a story, it’s about seeding human rights through effective storytelling, so I don’t think that’s a concern,” Alampi said. “Often our work in entertainment advocacy is focused on being a connector between our partners, impacted people and storytellers who could help share those stories with wider audiences.”
Bernie Cahill, an AAM founding partner, said: “Activist is honored to partner with Human Rights Watch to amplify the important stories of its decades-long fight for justice, dignity, compassion and equality for people everywhere.”
From June 13-15, 2023 the 15th edition of the Oslo Freedom Forum will take place at the Oslo Konserthus in Oslo, Norway. You can learn about the struggle for freedom directly from dissidents and human rights defenders on the frontlines. The theme of this year’s Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) is: Celebrating Solidarity. This theme honors the unity, mentorship, and community that HRF and our global community — from frontline dissidents to journalists, philanthropists, and technologists — have fostered in the last 15 years. It recognizes that only together can we defeat tyranny.
Human rights defenders around the world are coming together in powerful coalitions and turning to international human rights laws and systems to achieve justice and accountability. And while the threats and challenges remain enormous, we’re starting to win! says ISHR in its latest annual report, outlining key impacts during the last year and its vision for 2023 and the years ahead.
See more achievements by visiting the website! In a recent conversation with Björk, environmental activist Greta Thunberg reflected that hope is not something you feel, but something you do. ‘When people act,’ she said, ‘they create hope’. In 2023, fuelled by indignation and sustained by hope, ISHR’s commitment is to provide solidarity to defenders, contribute to positive momentum and, with your support, achieve even more significant human rights wins!
On Thursday 20 April, the Lebanese lawyer, human rights defender and director of the NGO Legal Agenda Nizar Saghiyé was summoned to appear before the Beirut Bar Council. The summons followed Mr Saghiyé’s criticism of an amendment to the Code of Ethics of the Beirut Bar Association which prevents lawyers from speaking publicly in the media without prior authorisation from the President of the Bar Association.
EuroMed Rights, Front Line Defenders, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), both within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, express their support for Mr Nizar Saghiyé and strongly condemns this summons. Requiring lawyers to obtain prior authorisation from the President of their Bar Association before making any media statements curtails their freedom of expression.
The modification of the Code of Ethics published by the Beirut Bar Association on 3 March 2023, interferes with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was ratified by Lebanon in 1972. In addition to the ICCPR, the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers makes clear that whilst states bear the primary obligation to protect lawyers, they share this with the bar associations (Principle 25). In addition, Principle 23 states that “Lawyers like other citizens are entitled to freedom of expression, belief, association and assembly. In particular, they shall have the right to take part in public discussion of matters concerning the law, the administration of justice and the promotion and protection of human rights and to join or form local, national or international organizations and attend their meetings, without suffering professional restrictions by reason of their lawful action or their membership in a lawful organization. In exercising these rights, lawyers shall always conduct themselves in accordance with the law and the recognized standards and ethics of the legal profession.“
Currently, the Lebanese government is debating a new media law behind closed doors and there has been an increase in the number of arrests of journalists. Recently the President of the Lebanese Bar Association recently denounced the “chaos and confusion” allegedly created by the proliferation of websites and social networking platforms. This latest summons is a worrying development in an already troubling trend towards limiting freedom of expression of Nizar Saghiyé, the Bar’s lawyers, amongst others.
On 11 April 2023 10 NGOs demanded the dropping of charges against journalist Nguyen Lan Thang and a fair trial by admitting observation.
Dear President Võ Văn Thưởng,
We are writing to express our concern about the ongoing persecution of Mr Nguyen Lan Thang, a journalist, and we demand that he be released immediately, and all charges dropped against him. Mr Nguyen Lan Thang is a victim of persecution by the Vietnamese government and has been criminally charged due to his work as a journalist. Mr Nguyen Lan Thang is one of many journalists and activists throughout the country who is facing ongoing persecution for reporting of the government of Viet Nam in a critical manner.
On 5 July 2022, Mr. Thang was arrested for “making, storing, distributing, or disseminating information, documents, and items against the State” under article 117 of the 2015 Criminal Code. He has been held in incommunicado detention in Hanoi’s Detention Centre No. 1 for more than seven months, during which time he was prohibited from meeting with his family members and legal counsel. After being arrested in July 2022, he did not meet his lawyer for the first time until 16 February 2023.
According to his lawyers, Mr. Thang will be tried on 12 April 2023 at a closed hearing at Hanoi’s People’s Court. Failing the dropping of charges and release of Mr Nguyen Lan Thang before the trial commences, we demand that his right to a fair trial be upheld, at least in part, by ensuring that media and the public may observe it, as is the obligation of the state of Viet Nam under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The right to a public trial is guaranteed under Article 14 of the ICCPR with few exceptions. We understand that Mr Nguyen Lan Thang has been denied this human right. According to Article 14 of the ICCPR:
“the press and the public may be excluded from all or part of a trial for reasons of morals, public order (order public) or national security in a democratic society, or when the interest of the private lives of the parties so requires, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice; but any judgment rendered in a criminal case or in a suit at law shall be made public except where the interest of juvenile persons otherwise requires or the proceedings concern matrimonial disputes or the guardianship of children.”
Paragraph 28 of General Comment No 32 of the Human Rights Committee clarifies that the importance of public hearings “ensures the transparency of proceedings and thus provides an important safeguard for the interest of the individual and of society at large”. The Committee has made clear in paragraph 29 that the special circumstances that allow exclusion of the press and public from a trial are “exceptional circumstances”, and otherwise a trial must be open to ensure transparency and assist in guaranteeing the human right to a fair trial.
Despite efforts to obtain further information on the charges and the rationale the court has adopted in excluding the press and public from the trial of Mr Nguyen Lan Thang, there is no information that we possess that indicates any exceptional circumstances exist that would allow the closed nature of this trial under international human rights law.
Accordingly, we demand that the right to fair trial is respected and that members of the public, the press, the United Nations, and the diplomatic community be allowed to monitor the proceedings. We call on the government of Viet Nam, including its courts, to uphold their international obligations and ensure the human rights of those within the justice system.
Yours sincerely,
Access Now
Amnesty International
ARTICLE 19
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
On 12 April 2023 Human Rights Watch reported that United Arab Emirates are continuing to incarcerate at least 51 Emirati prisoners who completed their sentences between one month and nearly four years ago.
The prisoners are all part of the grossly unfair “UAE94” mass trial of 69 critics of the government, whose convictions violated their rights to free expression, association, and assembly. UAE authorities are using baseless counterterrorism justifications for continuing to hold them past their completed sentences.
“Prisoners in the UAE94 case have already suffered tremendously after years in prison following a grossly unfair trail,” said Joey Shea, United Arab Emirates researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Emirati authorities should free them immediately and finally put an end to this decade-long ordeal. Prominent UAE partners, including the United States and COP28 organizers, should press UAE authorities for their immediate release.”
The prisoners were among 94 people detained beginning in March 2012 in a wave of arbitrary arrests amid an unprecedented crackdown on dissent. The case had a chilling effect on freedom of expression, assembly, and association.
In July 2013, Abu Dhabi’s Federal Supreme Court convicted 69 of the defendants, sentencing 5 to 7 years in prison, 56 to 10 years, and 8 in absentia to 15 years, with 25 acquitted. The verdict could not be appealed, in violation of international law, because it was issued by the UAE’s highest court. As of March 2023, 51 had completed their sentences but remain imprisoned with no clear legal basis, according to Emirati activists and court documents. Some prisoners completed their sentences as early as July 2019.
At least four of the 51 received a Public Prosecution letter saying that they were on Munasaha during what was supposed to be their last three months in detention, activists and family members told Human Rights Watch. After three months, these detainees were taken in front of a judge, who determined they still held “terrorist thoughts” and ruled that they needed further “rehabilitation.”
Under article 48 of the counterterrorism law, the public prosecutor may place someone convicted of a terrorist offense in a counselling or Munasaha program in the prison where they were serving their sentence, under counselling center supervision.
The counterterrorism law sets no time limit for continued incarceration and instead requires the state security public prosecution to report to the court every three months. The court may order a person’s release if it finds that “his or her condition so allows.” It is not clear if the defendant has any right to attend the hearing or see or challenge the evidence used to justify their detention.
The decade of unjust imprisonment has had devastating consequences for the prisoners’ families. A family member said that the young child of one of the prisoners still does not understand why her father was in prison. “She asks me, we love our country and our leaders, why are they are doing this to my father?” the family member said.
Many prisoners are being held in the notorious al-Razeen prison, and many are alleged to be in solitary confinement. A family member said, “All the prisoners are suffering there, they don’t have their rights and it is very hard to visit them.” Another family member said: “Throughout the years, the conditions are getting worse.”
Visits are irregular and difficult to procure, the family members said. Families often drive for hours to the prison in the middle of the desert, only to be denied a visit with no explanation. Family members also said that phone conversations are often cut off mid-call with no explanation. Some prisoners have not been able to speak with their family members by phone for years.
Other family members said there have been months-long periods in which a prisoner, as one family member said, “totally disappeared” with “no calls, no nothing,” leading the family to believe that “maybe he is dead.” Prisoners are also often denied books and pictures.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in article 15 prohibits retroactive criminal punishment. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, in its general comment on article 9 of the ICCPR, said, “if, under the most exceptional circumstances, a present, direct and imperative threat is invoked to justify the detention of persons considered to present such a threat, the burden of proof lies on States parties to show that the individual poses such a threat and that it cannot be addressed by alternative measures, and that burden increases with the length of the detention.”
“By arbitrarily extending the unjust sentences of peaceful critics using bogus counterterrorism justifications without due process, the UAE again shows its total disregard for the rule of law,” Shea said.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 