As the world marked Human Rights Day, Canada reiterated the importance of the protection and promotion of human rights defenders and their critical work. Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced $1.85 million in funding for two projects that support child human rights defenders and a free and independent media worldwide.
Canada is contributing $850,000 to a three-year project led by Child Rights Connect to empower, to protect and promote the rights of child human rights defenders, who are increasingly engaged in global human rights challenges, without the same legal protections as adults. This funding will help Child Rights Connect promote safe and sustainable human rights advocacy by child human rights defenders in Togo, Thailand, Moldova and Brazil.
Canada will also contribute an additional $1 million to the Global Media Defence Fund, bringing Canada’s total contribution to the fund to $4 million. Administered by UNESCO, the Global Media Defence Fund works to enhance the protection of journalists and media organizations so they can carry out their critical work without fear of violence, censorship or intimidation. The fund will also ensure public access to diverse and reliable sources of news and information. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/02/12/investigative-journalism-in-arab-states-the-threats-to-journalists/]
“In the face of growing challenges to human rights globally, the work of human rights defenders and the protection of media freedom are more important than ever. Canada stands unwavering in its commitment to working with partners to safeguard and expand the protection and promotion of human rights defenders and journalists around the world.” – Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Are you an artist passionate about human rights and social justice? We’re looking for talented creators to develop original art pieces for our 2024 Write for Rights campaign. This is your chance to use your creative skills to fight injustice and show your solidarity with people who are advocating for change.
What We’re Looking For
We are looking for a wide range of artistic expressions, including but not limited to:
Graphic design artwork
Videos of spoken-word art
Musical pieces (vocal, instrumental…etc.)
Videos of dances, skits
Animations
Paintings
Comic Illustrations
Project Details
Objective: Create an original art piece representing a specific Write for Rights case. Compensation: TBD Timeline: September 15, 2024 – October 15, 2024 Submission Deadline: August 30th, 2024
How to Apply
Submit your application including:
A brief introduction of yourself, your artistic background and your interest in social justice
A short proposal outlining:
Two Write for Rights cases you are interested in working on and why
A short description of your artistic vision for the piece
Don’t miss this chance to make a global impact with your art. Join us in advocating for human rights through powerful, creative expression.
Write for Rights Cases
Manahel al-Otaibi (Saudi Arabia)
Manahel al-Otaibi is a fitness instructor and a brave outspoken advocate for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. In November 2022, she was arrested after posting to Snapchat photos of herself at a shopping mall. In the photos, she was not wearing the traditional long-sleeved loose robe known as an abaya. Manahel has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Wet’suwet’en Nation Land Defenders (Canada)
The Wetʼsuwetʼen Nation are deeply connected to their ancestral lands, but this is threatened by the construction of a fossil fuel pipeline through their territory. Their Hereditary Chiefs did not consent to this construction. Land defenders have been charged for blocking pipeline construction sites, even though these sites are on their ancestral lands. They could face prison and a criminal record.
Maryia Kalesnikava (Belarus)
Political activist Maryia Kalesnikava dared to challenge the repressive Belarus government. On 7 September 2020, Maryia was abducted by the Belarus authorities. She was taken to the border where she resisted deportation by tearing up her passport. She was detained and later sentenced to 11 years in prison on false charges. Maryia’s family haven’t heard from her for more than a year.
Floraine Irangabiye (Burundi)
Floriane Irangabiye is a mother, journalist, and human rights defender from Burundi. In 2010 she relocated to Rwanda where she co-founded a radio station for exiled Burundian voices. In August 2022 she was arrested while visiting family in Burundi. In January 2023 she was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “undermining the integrity of the national territory”, all for criticizing Burundi’s human rights record.
Kyung Seok Park (South Korea)
Kyung Seok Park is a dedicated disability rights activist. Holding peaceful protests on Seoul’s public transport systems, Kyung Seok Park has drawn attention to how hard it is for people with disabilities to easily access trains and subways safely – denying them the ability to travel to work, school, or to live independently. Kyung Seok Park’s activism has been met with police abuse, public smear campaigns and punitive litigation.
The UK, US and Canada are announcing a sweeping package of sanctions targeting individuals linked to human rights abuses around the world, ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December.
UK targets forced labour operations in Southeast Asia, and government-linked officials in Belarus, Haiti, Iran, and Syria complicit in repressing individual freedoms.
The first set targets 9 individuals and 5 entities for their involvement in trafficking people in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, forcing them to work for online ‘scam farms’ which enable large-scale fraud. Victims are promised well-paid jobs but are subject to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment…
The second is aimed at a number of individuals linked to the governments, judiciaries and prosecuting authorities of Belarus, Haiti, Iran, and Syria, for their involvement in the repression of citizens solely for exercising fundamental freedoms in those countries.
Included in the USA sanctions are two Afghanistan government ministers accused of repressing women and girls, by restricting access to secondary education; two Iranian intelligence officers who the Treasury says plot violence against Iranian regime opponents beyond the nation’s borders and two Chinese officials accused of torturing Uyghur ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region of China.
On 12 October 2023, Laurie Wiseberg’s son, Jesse Scoble, informed the world on her passing on 11 October 2023 in Montréal.
“It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of Dr. Laurie Sheila Wiseberg, Laurie to most, Dr. Wiseberg to a few, Libby to her family, Nama to my kids, and mom to me. How does one sum up a life, let alone one as impressive and eventful as hers?
It would take another lifetime to try to capture it. She described herself in simple terms as:
Dr. Laurie S. Wiseberg (project advisor and contributor) was a human rights scholar/advocate who taught and wrote extensively about the work of human rights for non-governmental organizations. She served as Executive Director of a human rights NGO (Human Rights Internet) for 20 years. Dr. Wiseberg spent the following 20 years doing humanitarian work “in the field”, assisting United Nations agencies in providing better protection for persons displaced as a result of conflict or environmental disasters in countries across the globe.
Jesse will write a proper obit for her in the coming days, but wanted us to know that after a year long struggle she left this world on her own terms. “A glass of red wine in her hand“.
I personally have known Laurie almost all of my ‘human rights life’, starting with the creation of HURIDOCS some 40 years ago. Here the first picture i have of her, September 1978 in Cambridge at an Amnesty meeting.
“Canada firmly believes that the protection of human rights is the cornerstone of a just society. As the world grapples with numerous human rights challenges, Canada is reinforcing its role as a global leader in promoting human rights and protecting those who safeguard them,” said former Immigration Minister Sean Fraser.
“Together, we will continue to champion human rights and foster an environment where individuals can freely exercise their voices without fear of persecution.”
Although these individuals make huge contributions to the building of inclusive and democratic societies that contribute to a peaceful international community, they are repeatedly the victims of criminalization, arbitrary arrest, and threats, with hundreds of HRDs being tortured and assassinated every year.
In responding to the needs of this vulnerable group, Canada has long fostered a tradition of HRD resettlement. In fact, it was ranked as the top resettlement country in the world for the fourth year in a row, welcoming over 47,500 refugees from over 80 countries in 2022.
Fraser furthered this initiative on July 25 by declaring the expansion of the global HRD stream – a government initiative that has resettled HRDs since 2021 through the Government-Assisted Refugee (GAR) Program (and was one of the first to offer a dedicated, permanent pathway for HRDs globally).
Over the following months, Canada is also looking to re-engage civil society organizations on the development of a temporary protection pathway for HRDs in need.
Disappeared Chinese human rights defender must be allowed to reunite with his family in Canada
After 31 months in hiding in Vietnam, on August 24, 2022 Chinese human rights defender Dong Guangping was arrested by Vietnamese police. There has been no news of his fate since then. His wife and daughter, who live in Toronto, are fearful that he has been handed over to Chinese authorities. In China he would face a grave risk of once again being jailed for his human rights activism. He has previously served three prison terms there, simply because he believes in human rights and refuses to remain silent in the face of grave violations in the country.
He was sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison in China. After he was released in 2019, Dong Guangping wanted to reunite with his wife and daughter in Canada. However, as China refused to issue him a passport, he was not allowed to leave the country through official channels. He first tried unsuccessfully to reach safety by swimming to a nearby Taiwanese island. In January 2020, he clandestinely crossed the border into Vietnam.
With backing from the Canadian government, Dong Guangping and his family had been hopeful that he would soon be allowed by Vietnamese officials to leave the country and travel to Canada. His arrest was unexpected and his subsequent disappearance has come as a crushing blow.
You can express Your Concern to the Embassies Please write, phone or send an email to Vietnam’s and China’s Ambassadors to Canada:
expressing your concern about Dong Guangping’s arrest in Vietnam on August 24, 2022 and the fact that there has been no news of his whereabouts or wellbeing since then;
asking them to immediately disclose where Dong Guangping is at this time and that Canadian officials be granted access to him; and
requesting that Dong Guangping be allowed to travel to Canada without any further delay, to join his wife and daughter.
His Excellency Cong Peiwu Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in Canada
IFEX Deputy Executive Director Rachael Kay delivered a presentation on the situation of human rights defenders, journalists, and media organisations to the Canadian House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights.
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…Like everyone, we see the expansion of authoritarianism in all its forms. Information is being weaponized in ways that has a profound impact on people and is creating a kind of information chaos. In our network alone, we’ve seen how misuse of access to information legislation, internet shutdowns, misinformation, attacks on media and of course the murder of journalists is becoming routine. When those targeted directly with online disinformation and smear campaigns are women, the form the attacks take is usually gendered and often results in self-censorship.
The aim is to silence these voices, and it is doing just that.
We can see this played out in the current context. Immediate action is required in the most urgent situations, Ukraine/Russia, Afghanistan, Belarus, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Nicaragua and Sudan, just to name a few. It is imperative that coordinated systems of emergency support for journalists at risk and their families are created, something where we see Canada is already moving in the right direction. But we must continue to increase our effectiveness.
And to be effective, these systems should include providing emergency visas that have simple and secure methods of submission and, in the absence of such, they must expedite the processing of visas for journalists and their families, as well as ensure safe passage. Key to the success of any intervention is effective coordination with local and international civil society organisations working to protect and evacuate journalists.
We see that media freedom has never been more crucial. Democracies cannot survive and flourish without free, independent and pluralistic media. We need to reverse engineer the current branding of the media as fake news and the enemy of the people as normal. It has been the lexicon adopted around the world – language mimicked and acted upon that includes continued verbal and physical attacks on the media with total impunity. This has had a profound impact on press freedom and journalists in particular. And be sure, no country, including Canada, is exempt from this trend.
The narrative needs to be countered forcefully with words and actions. Outside of intervening in urgent situations, the government must play a significant, ongoing role in reinforcing the need for press freedom and respect for journalists in its own national context.
There is also the need for accountability. The criminalisation of journalism and abuse of law by state actors has to end and we call on multilateral relationships and institutions to ensure that those who attack the media face real consequences for their actions – otherwise attacks against the press will continue to escalate and any standards championed by Canada will remain empty.
…..
At IFEX our network of over 100 member organisations in more than 70 countries actively advocate for freedom of expression and information as a fundamental human right – many do so in very dangerous circumstances. The targeted repression of press freedom advocates and journalists, and attacks on communities and institutions, see accepted norms being increasingly undermined and weakened.
We have been called on to do more direct support for our members, across all regions, who find themselves increasingly under attack by authoritarian states focused on shutting down the voices of civil society and threatening dissent at any price.
Organisations whose offices and staff are targeted and harassed with no other aim but closure and erasure need to be supported, funded and engaged with – because these are the voices that call for accountability and if these voices are shuttered it will leave a vacuum for democracy.
We know these issues are complex. IFEX’s members and allies around the world have been working on them, doing grassroots advocacy, publishing reports, indexes and offering solutions and campaigning for years. They are a rich pool of knowledge that could inform Canada’s policies and discussions with nuance and a national and global perspective. As part of your efforts in focusing on press freedom we would welcome being a conduit to these sources.
Governments and civil society groups need to continue to find ways to collaborate, to be at the table together.
On Friday 11 March 2022, AFP reported that Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been released from prison in Saudi Arabia after serving a 10-year sentence for advocating an end to religious influence on public life.
“Raif called me. He is free,” his wife, Ensaf Haidar, who lives in Canada with their three children and had been advocating for his release, told AFP. Badawi’s release was also confirmed by a Saudi security official who said on condition of anonymity that Badawi “was released today”. “I jumped when I found out. I couldn’t believe it. I can’t wait to see my dad, I’m so excited,” one of his daughters, Nawja Badawi, 18, told AFP. Badawi’s son Terad Raif Badawi tweeted: “After 10 years my father is free!”
“Raif Badawi, human rights defender in Saudi Arabia, has finally been released!” Amnesty International tweeted. “Thousands of you have mobilized alongside us in the defense of Raif Badawi for 10 years. A big thank you to all of you for your tireless support.”
Every Friday for almost seven years, Haidar – who fled to Canada after Badawi’s arrest and has since become a Canadian citizen – had held a public vigil for him. Quebec has paved the way for Raif Badawi to come to the country if he chooses by placing him on a priority list of possible immigrants for humanitarian reasons.
No details of his release conditions were immediately available. But Amnesty noted that the Saudi blogger could still face a 10-year ban on all travel outside Saudi Arabia following his release.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser rises during Question Period, in Ottawa, Dec. 10, 2021. Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press
Six months after the federal government promised to help thousands of Afghan women leaders, human- rights activists and journalists flee to Canada, the first planeload has landed.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced the arrival of 252 Afghan refugees on Tuesday, including the first 170 admitted through a special program for people the government deems to be human-rights defenders.
“It is a privilege to welcome today this cohort of Afghan refugees, who face persecution as a result of their work to protect the human rights of others,” Mr. Fraser said in a statement.
“I am grateful for their work to document and prevent human rights abuses and proud that they now call our country home.”
The Liberal government launched the special program in July after weeks of criticism from angry Canadian veterans upset Ottawa wasn’t doing more to help Afghans facing possible Taliban reprisals for having worked with Canada in the past.
Mr. Fraser’s office said the 170 who arrived through the special program had been referred to Canada by the Ireland-based human-rights organization Front Line Defenders, which has been working to identify those most at risk.
The Liberals have promised to resettle 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada, but nearly all of those are expected to be people living in UN camps in Pakistan and other neighbouring countries.
With Monday’s arrivals, the government says it has so far resettled about 6,750 Afghan refugees in Canada. Fraser suggested last month that it could take up to two years for the government to meet its promise of bringing in 40,000 Afghans.
Veterans and refugee groups aren’t the only ones who have lamented the pace of the government’s efforts when it comes to helping Afghans escape to Canada, with opposition parties also joining the chorus of criticism in recent months.
“For building a model of community-based child protection in the face of terrorist insurgency and gender-based violence in the Lake Chad region of Cameroon.”
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Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 