Archive for the 'UN' Category

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Cao Shunli, her legacy should not be silenced

February 16, 2024

‘Our impact may be large, may be small, and may be nothing. But we must try. It is our duty to the dispossessed and it is the right of civil society.’ – Cao Shunli

Ten years ago, Chinese woman human rights defender Cao Shunli was a victim of deadly reprisals for engaging with the United Nations.

The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) and partners invite you to attend a photo exhibition on 14 March 2024, at Place des Nations to honour her memory.

The photo exhibition will also display cases of Chinese, Tibetan, Uyghur, and Hong Kong human rights defenders who have been targeted for upholding the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. See: https://mailchi.mp/ishr/side-event-situation-guatemala-hrc55-7mar-34177?e=d1945ebb90

Who was Cao Shunli? 

Cao Shunli was a brave Chinese woman human rights defender and lawyer. She campaigned for the meaningful consultation and contribution of independent civil society to the Chinese government’s national reports for its first and second Universal Periodic Reviews (UPR). On 14 September 2013, one month before this review, while on her way to Geneva to attend a human rights training organised by ISHR and CHRD, she was detained and forcibly disappeared by Chinese authorities for five weeks. When she resurfaced in custody in October 2013, she had been charged with ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’, and  it was evident that she was experiencing serious medical issues in detention. Despite repeated international calls for her urgent release over months of being denied adequate medical treatment, Cao Shunli died of multiple organ failure on 14 March 2014, having been granted bail for medical reasons just days before her death. Cao Shunli was one of the finalists of the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2014. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/cao-shunli/ as well as https://www.martinennalsaward.org/hrd/cao-shunli/]

To this day, Chinese authorities have ignored appeals seeking accountability for Cao’s death, including repeated calls by UN Special Procedures experts in 2014 and 2019 for a full investigation into this ‘deadly reprisal’. Her case remains the longest-standing unresolved case in the UN Secretary-General’s annual reports on reprisals. March 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of Cao Shunli’s death. A decade ago, when ISHR and many other human rights groups sought to observe a moment of silence at the Human Rights Council in her memory, the Chinese delegation, together with other delegations, disrupted the session for an hour and a half. China is consistently one of the most frequent perpetrators of reprisals against individuals or groups engaging with the United Nations. Frequently mentioned alongside Saudi Arabia, it has the second highest number of reprisals cases and situations reported by the UN Secretary-General since 2010.

Cao Shunli’s story is a paradigmatic case of reprisals, not only because of her belief in the importance of civil society participation in UN mechanisms, but also due to the array of severe human rights abuses she endured because of this belief, ranging from being barred from exiting her own country, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, lack of due process, torture, ill-treatment, and denial of adequate medical care, to subsequent death in custody without any accountability for these abuses. 

https://ishr.ch/events/but-we-must-try-cao-shunli-the-unsilenceable-legacy

Posted in Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, MEA, UN | Leave a Comment »
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Venezuela closes UN human rights office

February 16, 2024

On 15 February 2024 AP carried the story that Venezuela’s government has ordered the local UN office on human rights to suspend operations, giving its staff 72 hours to leave, after accusing the office of promoting opposition to the South American country. The UN office was established in Caracas in September 2019.

The foreign affairs minister, Yván Gil, announced the decision at a news conference in Caracas on Thursday. Gil’s announcement came on the heels of the detention of the human rights attorney Rocío San Miguel, which set off a wave of criticism inside and outside Venezuela.

The South American country’s government said it had made a decision “to suspend the activities of the technical advisory office of the UN high commissioner for human rights and carry out a holistic revision of the technical cooperation terms”.

The government said the UN human rights office must rectify its “colonialist, abusive and violating attitude”, accusing it of playing an “inappropriate role” in the country and supporting impunity for people involved in attempts at assassination, coups, conspiracies and other plots.

The Venezuelan government regularly accuses members of the political opposition of plotting takeovers or the assassination of President Nicolas Maduro, all accusations vehemently denied by opposing parties and their members.

“We regret this announcement and are evaluating the next steps. We continue to engage with the authorities and other stakeholders,” said UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani. “Our guiding principle has been and remains the promotion and protection of the human rights of the people of Venezuela.”

Venezuelan state television on Wednesday harshly criticized comments by the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, who just concluded a visit to Venezuela. Fakhri had said in a statement the government food program does not tackle the root causes of hunger and is susceptible to political influences.

San Miguel was taken into custody on Friday at the airport near Caracas while she and her daughter awaited a flight to Miami. Authorities did not acknowledge her detention until Sunday, and as of Wednesday her attorney had not been allowed to meet with her.

The attorney general, Tarek William Saab, earlier in the week said she was being held at the Helicoide prison, an infamous institution for political prisoners.

San Miguel’s daughter, ex-husband, two brothers and former partner were also detained following her arrest. Of them, only her former partner remains in custody.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/15/venezuela-closes-un-human-rights-office

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Investigative journalism in Arab states: the threats to journalists

February 12, 2024

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) is working with journalists in the Middle East and Northern Africa to investigate various violations affecting the safety of journalists and their ability to do their work.

Investigative journalism: Unveiling the threats to journalists in Arab States

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“I find myself wishing there was more protection [for investigative journalists], a sense of safety and even simply just hope. I watch in awe as they investigate crimes that they unfortunately know they could well be victims of in the future, or in some cases already have been.“ Zaynab Al-Khawaja, GCHR’s Journalists Protection Coordinator, working with journalists conducting the investigations

Supported by the Global Media Defence Fund, GCHR’s project Investigating impunity for crimes against journalists in the Arab States, while providing protection has identified a range of threats journalists face, such as arbitrary detentions and gendered threats.

With a strong gender focus, the GCHR ensures that the majority of the investigations are carried out by women, empowering them and shedding light on cases involving women.

One investigation highlights the story of an anonymous woman journalist who quit her job and relocated due to sexual harassment. She writes:

A large proportion of society is aware of widespread harassment in the streets, resulting from an exacerbated hypermasculinity. However, statements by several Iraqi women journalists confirm that this phenomenon did not spare women in press and media outlets, forcing a considerable number of them to quit journalism for good.

The investigation also reported that 41% of women journalists in Iraq have been victims of harassment, forcing 15% to leave their jobs and 5% to quit their profession for good.

This data aligns with UNESCO’s Chilling report, revealing increasing offline and online attacks against women journalists, including stigmatization, sexist hate speech, trolling, physical assault, rape and murder.

Another investigation looked into the imprisonment and silencing of journalists, some facing fabricated allegations of sexual harassment. GCHR collaborates with the NGO Vigilance and 40 partners on a joint appeal to end the persecution and detention of journalists and human rights defenders exercising their right to freedom of expression. GCHR also supported a journalist in the Middle East investigating the case of a disappeared journalist in Syria. 

Since 2022, GCHR and UNESCO have joined forces to support investigative journalism, reducing impunity for crimes against journalists and enhancing their safety through the Global Media Defence Fund. Established in 2019, this fund has supported over 120 projects globally, directly benefiting over 5,000 journalists, 1,200 lawyers and 200 non-governmental organizations.

In 2022, UNESCO published recommendations on addressing violence against women journalists, based on The Chilling, a global research project by UNESCO and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). All reports related to this project are available here on UNESCO’s website.

see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/journalist/

https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/investigative-journalism-unveiling-threats-journalists-arab-states

Posted in Human Rights Defenders, UN | 1 Comment »
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UN Human Rights Council urges China to Repeal RSDL

February 6, 2024
Last week, on 23 January 2024, the UN Human Rights Council reviewed the human rights record of China during its fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The International Service for Human Rights reporst back on its successful campaign: Following ISHR campaign and your messages to UN member States, six countries, including France, Luxembourg, the UK, the US, Sweden, and Australia urged Beijing to put an end to the practice of ‘Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location’ (RSDL) – which UN experts have branded a form of enforced disappearance. This would not have been possible without you! 

See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/residential-surveillance-at-a-designated-location-rsdl/

Following this session, the Chinese government must review the recommendations and decide whether to accept or simply note them, and report back to the Human Rights Council at its 56th session (June 2024). ISHR will closely monitor this and keep you informed.  Our call to raise the case of Cao Shunli got unanswered. Cao was detained by Chinese police in September 2013 in retaliation for her work to seek meaningful civil society participation in China’s second UPR cycle. Ten years ago, on 14 March 2014, Cao died of multiple organ failure following continued denial of medical treatment in custody. Despite the emblematic nature of her case Cao’s name was not once cited by UN member States. Nevertheless, at least four States recommended to China to end reprisals against human rights defenders seeking to engage with the United Nations.  We’re ramping up efforts for honouring the memory of Cao Shunli and calling for accountability in her case. We are preparing a small event on 14 March 2024 in Geneva. Stay tuned for more very soon!   
https://crm.ishr.ch/civicrm/mailing/view?reset=1&id=1219&cid=8618&cs=1b3dd88d8d3398616cd384ee81f56ee4_1706793603_168

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Nominations open for UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award

February 1, 2024

Nominations are now open for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Nansen Refugee Award 2024. For more on this award and its previous laureates, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/CC584D13-474F-4BB3-A585-B448A42BB673

Eligibility Criteria
  • Anyone may nominate a candidate for the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award. If you nominated someone in the past but they did not win, you may nominate them again.
  • The strongest nominations will provide a detailed account of the candidate’s work and results for displaced or stateless people, as well as three solid references to vouch for their character and impact. References should not all come from the same organization or group.
  • Please note that self-nominations are strongly discouraged. Current or former UNHCR employees are not eligible.
Criteria
  • Candidates may be individuals, groups or organizations.
  • Their work must have a direct and positive impact on the lives of forcibly displaced or stateless people.
  • Their work relates to a major displacement situation or issue.
  • This year they especially encourage nominations that relate to statelessness, climate, sports, solutions and inclusions but they are open to other themes.
  • They devote substantial time and effort to support forcibly displaced or stateless people, going above and beyond the call of duty and outside their expected role.
  • They have the capacity to successfully implement a suitable project with the prize money (US$100,000 for the global laureate, US$25,000 for regional winners).
  • They have three strong references.

For more information, visit UNHCR.

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UN experts urge reforms in Bangladesh

January 31, 2024

AFP on 25 January, 2024 reported that UN experts urge Bangladesh to carry out major human rights reforms to reverse “repressive trends” following controversial elections that were boycotted by the opposition.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sworn in for a fifth term on January 11. Her ruling Awami League party won nearly three-quarters of elected seats in parliament, with allied parties and friendly independent candidates making up nearly all the remainder.

Hasina has presided over breakneck economic growth in a country once beset by grinding poverty, but her government has been accused of rampant human rights abuses and a ruthless crackdown on dissent.

The UN experts said they were “alarmed” at reports of “widespread attacks, harassment and intimidation of civil society, human rights defenders, journalists and political activists, which marred the recent elections”. See also my earlier posts on Bangladesh: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/bangladesh/.

The experts called on the Government to:

  1. Immediately and unconditionally release all civil society and political activists detained without charge or on charges inconsistent with international human rights law; and ensure fair public trials in accordance with international human rights standards for those charged with criminal offences.
  2. Institute urgent and substantial reforms to guarantee the integrity and independence of the judicial system.
  3. Guarantee the free and unobstructed exercise of freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, refrain from imposing undue restrictions on protests and political rallies, and ensure effective accountability for serious violations of these fundamental freedoms.
  4. Respect the independence, freedom, diversity, and pluralism of the media, and ensure the safety of journalists from threats, physical and online violence, or judicial harassment and criminal prosecution for investigative and critical reporting.

The experts included the special rapporteurs on freedom of assembly, on the independence of judges, on human rights defenders and on freedom of opinion: Mr. Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Ms. Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Ms Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Ms Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the protection and promotion of freedom of opinion and expression, Ms. Priya Gopalan (Chair-Rapporteur), Mr. Matthew Gillett (Vice-Chair on Communications), Ms. Ganna Yudkivska (Vice-Chair on Follow-Up), Ms. Miriam Estrada-Castillo, and Mr. Mumba Malila – Working Group on arbitrary detention.

https://www.brecorder.com/news/40285577

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/01/bangladesh-government-must-prioritise-human-rights-its-fourth-term

https://www.omct.org/en/resources/statements/bangladesh-arbitrary-detention-and-impunity-for-torture-continues-after-elections

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Day of the Endangered Lawyer (24 January 2024)

January 30, 2024

To mark the Day of the Endangered Lawyer, the Law Society of England and Wales issued a press release on 24 January honouring legal professionals who are targeted for upholding the rule of law and defending a strong justice system.

The Law Society has published its annual intervention tracker which shows that the Society took 40 actions relating to 17 countries in 2023. Most of these actions were initiated by concerns relating to arbitrary arrest or detention (58%) followed by harassment, threats and violence (27%).

Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: “Across the world, lawyers continue to face harassment, surveillance, detention, torture, enforced disappearance and arbitrary arrest and conviction...

We use this day to draw attention to the plight faced by countless lawyers across the globe, as they fight for their right to freely exercise their profession and uphold the rule of law.

“Our intervention tracker reflects where the Law Society has acted on behalf of lawyers and human rights defenders in 2023. The intervention tracker is part of our Lawyers at Risk programme to support those who are prevented from carrying out their professional duties. See: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/campaigns/international-rule-of-law/whats-changing/lawyers-at-risk.

A recent example comes from Amnesty International on 25 January 2024: On 31 October 2023, human rights lawyer, Hoda Abdelmoniem, was due to be released after serving her unjust five-year prison sentence stemming solely from the exercise of her human rights. Instead, the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) ordered her pretrial detention pending investigations into similar bogus terrorism-related charges in a separate case No. 730 of 2020. During a rare visit to 10th of Ramadan prison on 4 January, her family learned that her health continues to deteriorate and that she developed an ear infection, affecting her balance and sight. She must be immediately and unconditionally released. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2020/11/29/2020-award-of-european-bars-associations-ccbe-goes-to-seven-egyptian-lawyers-who-are-in-prison/]

The Geneva newspaper le Temps [https://www.letemps.ch/monde/moyenorient/chaque-minuscule-resultat-est-une-victoire-immense-en-iran-les-avocats-face-au-simulacre-de-justice] carries the story of Leila Alikarami, “avocate iranienne et défenseuse des droits humains, a représenté plus de 50 femmes devant les juges religieux des tribunaux révolutionnaires”.

See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2020/01/28/law-society-of-ontario-reflects-on-how-to-support-human-rights-lawyers-abroad/

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/contact-or-visit-us/press-office/press-releases/honour-those-who-defend-our-human-rights

Posted in Amnesty international, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 1 Comment »
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Call for nominations for UNESCO’s Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize

January 20, 2024

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is accepting applications for the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2024 to honour a person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and, or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, and especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger. Deadline: 15 February 2024

For more on the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/8F8DB978-CD89-4CFB-1C26-D5FEE5D54855

For more information, visit UNESCO.

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Torture victim Damian Gallardo from Mexico speaks out

January 19, 2024

More than 10 years ago, in May 2013, Damian Gallardo from Oaxaca, Mexico, was arbitrarily detained, disappeared, and tortured. He was eventually released but lodged a complaint with the UN Committee against Torture, who reviewed Gallardo’s case and adopted an unprecedented decision stating that, in fact, Gallardo had been tortured.

In a decision published on 14 December 2021 the UN anti-torture body found that Damián Gallardo Martínez, a teacher and campaigner for education and indigenous people’s rights, was a victim of torture in Mexico, in violation of Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The Committee also requested that Mexico provide Gallardo Martínez with full compensation, make a public apology to the complainants, and widely disseminate the Committee’s decision through a daily newspaper with a large circulation in the state of Oaxaca.

On 18 January 2024, UN Human Rights published the above video clip.

https://www.ohchr.org/en/2022/01/mexico-detention-and-torture-human-rights-defender-highlights-criminalization-legitimate

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-damian-gallardo-martinez

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Repository of United Nations recommendations on human rights in China

January 4, 2024

Illustration: Charlotte Giang Beuret for ISHR.

On 4 January 2024 ISHR published a massive, complete compilation of all recommendations issued by UN human rights bodies – including the UN Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups, the UN Treaty Bodies, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – on the human rights situation in China since 2018. Recommendations are sorted by topic and community affected.

This repository compiles all recommendations issued by UN human rights bodies to the Government of the People’s Republic of China since 2018, the year of its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

This includes recommendations in: Concluding Observations issued by UN Treaty Bodies following reviews of China in 2022 (Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)) and 2023 (Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)), as well as in Decision 1 (108) on the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) under its Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure; communications and press releases by UN Special Procedures (Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups), including Opinions by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; press releases by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as well as the OHCHR’s assessment of human rights in the XUAR.

These UN bodies are composed of independent, impartial experts, from all geographic regions.

The recommendations are categorised by key topic or community affected. Yet, this repository does not cover all topics, nor does it include all recommendations issued by the above-mentioned UN bodies.

This repository maintains the original language of the recommendation issued by a given UN body, with minor formatting changes. For the appropriate links please go to the original document.

This repository does not include recommendations to the Governments of Hong Kong and of Macao. Please click here for the repository of recommendations on Hong Kong, and here for the repository of recommendations on Macao.

The topics include very useful ones such as:

Chinese human rights defenders, lawyers and civil society organisations in mainland China

Uyghur region

Tibet

National security legal framework, judicial independence and due process

Surveillance, censorship and free expression

Reprisals, meaningful cooperation with the UN, and  unrestricted access to the country for UN experts

Transnational repression

LGBTI rights

Business and human rights, including business activities overseas

Environment and climate change

North Korean (DPRK) refugees

https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/repository-of-united-nations-recommendations-on-human-rights-in-china/

Posted in Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, OHCHR, UN | Leave a Comment »
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