Posts Tagged ‘blogger’

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What’s in a name: journalist, blogger, activist and why not Human Rights Ambassador?

January 26, 2013

 

When I saw that William Gomes was named ‘human rights ambassador‘ back in April 2012 my curiosity was piqued and I wondered how on earth I had never heard of him or his appointment. Which country or international organization had  bestowed upon him this official function and title and why? A bit of internet research revealed that it is the Oregon-based news agency Salem-News.com that had given him the grandiose title because “in this rapidly changing world, we believe this newly-created position and program, are large steps in raising our effectiveness as a news agency“.

At first I was a bit annoyed that the well-known title had been appropriated by a journalist but then reflected that we already have quite a few of ‘Goodwill’ Ambassadors and that Amnesty International has a ‘Ambassador of Conscience Award’, so that the charge of inflation hardly stands. Moreover, the definition coined in 1604 by Sir Henry Wotton that “an ambassador is an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country” does not guarantee better reporting.

What is interesting is that Salem-News.com describes itself “as a tireless band of writers, many of whom constantly explore the stinging issues surrounding human rights violations all over the world. We have long been a voice for the downtrodden, the people who fight for human independence, and resistance movements in the world that battle fascism and state terrorism” and stresses “that human rights reporting is our centerpiece; and in that respect our reporters are all incredible ambassadors for humanity“. William’s qualities and credentials as a “new kind of journalist” are provided in florid detail with his involvement in the Global Independent Media Center, the Italian Asia news agency, and the Asian Human Rights Commission, 

Tim King, News Editor for Salem-News.com, states “We are very excited about the inclusion of this new role for William, he is already seeing progress from his letters to high level officials who are capable of resolving serious issues. There are people in really tough circumstances in need of intervention, this will be an increasingly powerful method in helping draw public attention to the ordeals they face” and he encourage all of us to send a congratulations letter to: williamgomes.org@gmail.com!

 
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Oman: arbitrary arrest of Said Jaddad

January 16, 2013

One does near much about Oman and the impression could be that it is doing relatively well (the position of women is acknowledged to be good; there is a governmental Human Rights Commission and limited democracy) but after reports in 2012 by AI, HRW and Freedom House amongst others, Frontline now, 14 January 2013, reports the arbitrary arrest of human rights defender and blogger Said Jaddad by the Special Division of Muscat Police Station, where he is currently being detained. Said Jaddad’s work includes the documenting of human rights violations as well as writing critical blog posts about human rights violations in Oman.Frontline NEWlogos-1 condensed version - cropped

On 14 January, Said Jaddad received a call from the Special Division of Muscat Police Station, requesting that he present himself to the Station. No legal basis was provided for this request. Upon his arrival, the HRD was detained. He has been denied visitation rights and access to a lawyer, while no formal charges have yet been presented. Furthermore, Said Jaddad, who reportedly suffers from heart problems, has not been provided with medical attention. He has previously been subjected to interrogation by police, on each occasion he was requested to sign an undertaking to cease working in the field of human rights, which he rejected. In February 2011, the human rights defender was threatened if he did not cease his contact with international non-governmental organisations. Said Jaddad has also been officially banned from publishing in the Omani media, including in newspapers, such as Al Zaman and Ru’aya.

Front Line Defenders expresses serious concern at the arbitrary detention of Said Jaddad, and at his physical and psychological integrity, in particular given his reported medical condition. Front Line Defenders believes Said Jaddad’s detention to be solely motivated by his human rights work and views this act as part of an ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders in Oman, including continued acts of judicial harassment. For further information on this situation, please see Front Line Defenders’ appeal dated 15 June 2012 http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/18650 .

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Arbitrary detention of Vietnamese HRDs such as Le Quoc Quan

January 4, 2013

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), reports the arbitrary detention of Mr. Le Quoc Quan, a human rights lawyer and blogger.

On December 27, 2012, Mr. Le Quoc Quan was arrested by the police in Hanoi while dropping off his daughter at school. The police also searched his office and home and confiscated some documents. The police told his family that he would be charged under Article 161 of the Criminal Code, which relates to tax evasion. If condemned, he risks three years in prison and a heavy fine. Mr. Le Quoc Quan, who began a hunger strike on December 28, is currently detained incommunicado in Hoa Lo Prison No. 1. Neither his lawyer nor his family have been able to visit him to date.

Mr. Le Quoc Quan’s arrest follows a recent order by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that authorities renew the fight against anyone using the Internet to “defame and spread propaganda against the State”.Mr. Le Quoc Quan has been harassed constantly since 2007 by the Vietnamese authorities because of his human rights activities. On October 3, 2012, some 50 security police and plain-clothed militia forced entry into the head office of VietNam Credit in Hanoi and its branch office in Saigon. The firm belongs to Mr. Le Quoc Quan and his two brothers. Police seized files and documents belonging to the firm, assaulted the staff and detained the brothers for interrogation. In addition, on August 18, 2012, Mr. Le Quoc Quan was brutally beaten by two unidentified men with iron bars outside his home in Hanoi.

The Observatory recalls that allegations of tax evasion have previously been levelled against human rights defenders. Blogger Nguyen Van Hai, alias Dieu Cay, founding member of the Club of Free Journalists, was initially jailed for tax evasion but then sentenced in September 2012 to 12 years in jail for spreading anti-State propaganda under Article 88 of the Criminal Code, along with two other bloggers and members of the Club of Free Journalists.

via Viet Nam: Arbitrary detention of Mr. Le Quoc Quan / January 4, 2013 / Urgent Interventions / Human rights defenders / OMCT.

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Amir, author of Zahras Paradise, talks about his album on YouTube

October 11, 2012

This dates back to March 2012. I missed it and so may have you. It is a excellent interview by Iran specialist Drewery Dyke of of AI with the author Amir. He is an Iranian-American human rights activist, journalist and documentary filmmaker.

Set in the aftermath of Iran’s fraudulent elections of 2009, Zahra’s Paradise is the fictional story of the search for Mehdi, a young protestor who has disappeared in the Islamic Republic’s gulags. Mehdi has vanished in an extrajudicial twilight zone where habeas corpus is suspended. What stops his memory from being obliterated is not the law. It is the grit and guts of a mother who refuses to surrender her son to fate and the tenacity of a brother—a blogger—who fuses culture and technology to explore and explode absence: the void in which Mehdi has vanished.

In conversation with Amir, author of Zahras Paradise – YouTube.

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Blogger and symbol of Syria uprising, RAZAN GHAZZAWI, wins Front Line human rights award

June 11, 2012

MARY FITZGERALD, Foreign Affairs Correspondent of the Irish Times, did an excellent profile on this courageous woman, who is on trial in a military court for her part in the anti-regime protest. It is worth reading in full: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0609/1224317568749.html

IN HER OWN WORDS: THE POSTINGS OF RAZAN GHAZZAWI:

“Do you understand, that I was scared to protest, but now I am no longer scared? Do you understand that I was scared of detention and now we don’t even think about it? ‘Fuck it all. My people are being killed,’ is what everyone is saying.”

“There is a common feeling that is generally discussed in Syria, well, at least in Damascus where I live. It has to do with the question: ‘What can I do more for the revolution?’”

“I can write about those amazing revolutionaries who left their families and children and [are] living solely for this revolution . . . some were detained and tortured, you stand listening to them speak about their experience with detention, and you know that what you witnessed from detention is nothing compared to theirs, those unknown activists, the unprivileged, who don’t have Facebook nor Twitter, but they are the very ones who inspire you and make you truly believe that there is hope.”

“People who do not live in a country that is living a revolution may not know that time is revolutionaries’ biggest enemy . . .

“I have a 10-to-5 job, after that I go to do some other work till 9, sometimes till 11.

“I get home to check my email and

Facebook to discover new massacres, new statements, and further escalations on many levels.”

“Yesterday, regime army bombed the neighborhood of Karm El- Zeitoun in the city of Homs and destroyed several buildings, two whole streets were evacuated, and 27 civilians killed, many were injured . . . [the] regime’s violence keeps surprising us. Last night when I saw this picture I froze for a moment before I ‘shared’ it on my [Facebook] wall. I didn’t cry, I didn’t have room for more anger, I just felt helpless, I felt time was, is, not on my side . . . After last night’s massacre, Syrians now feel more outraged and will cry for the right to self-defense, even if they didn’t agree with the term the day before.

“That’s precisely how regime violence is pushing the country to more violence, that’s precisely how time moves very rapidly, and leaves you back in history.”

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Blogging Human Rights Defender in Syria Razzan Ghazzawi arrested

December 8, 2011

Amidst the many violations and massive repression reported from Syria, there is the risk that individual cases will go unnoticed. Therefore your attention is drawn to the arrest on 4 December of 31-year old Razan Ghazzawi at the Syrian-Jordanian border. She was arrested  by the Syrian immigration police while she was heading to Amman in order to attend the “Forum of defenders of freedom of expression in the Arab region” in her capacity of media officer of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), a non-recognized Syria-based human rights organization. On her blog <http://razanghazzawi.com/> – note that she courageously uses her real name !– Razzan Ghazzawi has been advocating for freedom of opinion in Syria and in the Arab region. Since the beginning of the unrest in Syria, Razzan has extensively covered violations of freedom of expression, including arbitrary arrests of journalists, bloggers and covered the political situation from a cultural perspective.

The Euro-Mediterrean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) fears that Razzan Ghazzawi may be subjected to ill treatments or acts of torture.

For more information, please contact:
In Brussels, Hayet Zeghiche hze@euromedrights.net <mailto:hze@euromedrights.net>
In Cairo, Shaimaa Abou Elkhir shy@euromedrights.net <mailto:shy@euromedrights.net> 

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Egypt: Human Rights Defenders still at risk when critical of Military

April 21, 2011

Egypt is not there yet. 26-years old Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad, was sentenced under a military commission to three years in prison without the presence of his attorneys. He was detained a few weeks ago by Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces for calling out abuses by the military.  Mikael thus became the first prisoner of conscience after the revolution. Human Rights First is calling on people to sign a petition to the Egyptian Ambassador to the United States, Sameh Shoukry, to help free Maikel immediately and to push for the military to respect peaceful protest. [CTRL and Click]

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