Posts Tagged ‘Council of Europe’
February 25, 2014
Twenty trainers from among Azerbaijani lawyers and human rights defenders have been trained to apply the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Revised European Social Charter (RESC), with a particular focus on anti-discrimination standards, AzerTag state news agency reported. The last of three four-day training sessions for Trainers took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 20-23 February.
Twenty lawyers and human rights defenders were selected for training via competition to share their experiences with colleagues through a series of cascade trainings, which will start in March 2014 and continue even after the joint project of the Council of Europe and European Union is completed. The Justice Academy of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the key local partner in this project.
“This activity is one of the most important activities within the capacity building project for lawyers and human rights defenders, and I believe that the advocates and human rights defenders attending this programme have obtained essential benefit from the shared knowledge and they will put this knowledge and information into practice …” said Teymur Malik-Aslanov of the Council of Europe Office in Azerbaijan.
[This activity is a regional project implemented in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.]
via CoE, EU train Azerbaijani lawyers – AzerNews.
Posted in EU, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: anti-discrimination, Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani, AzerTag, Baku, Council of Europe, EU, European Convention on Human Rights, Human Rights Defenders, lawyers, Revised European Social Charter, the European Convention on Human Rights, training courses
February 11, 2014
It sounds almost like a joke but it truly happened. On 9 February 2014 Ukrainian border officials barred a Russian human rights defender from entering the country, according to Human Rights Watch: Andrei Yurov, a member of Russia’s presidential human rights council and the Head of its permanent commission on human rights outside Russia, was deported to Russia upon his arrival at Borispyl airport in Kiev. Yurov was to meet in Kiev with Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muiznieks, and to work within the International Human Rights Defenders’ Group on the Situation in Ukraine, which was founded on December 1, 2013, in response to the November 30 police violence against peaceful protesters in Kiev.
“Yurov’s expulsion is an unprecedented and wholly regrettable step,” said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of driving out human rights defenders the Ukrainian government should be open to scrutiny of its human rights record during this crisis.”
via Ukraine: Russian Rights Defender Expelled | Human Rights Watch.
Posted in HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Andrei Yurov, barring, Council of Europe, expulsion, HRW, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch, International Human Rights Defenders’ Group on the Situation in Ukraine, Kiev, Nils Muižnieks, non-cooperation, Russia, Ukraine, visa denial
July 30, 2013
In the context of the ongoing debate – here in Greece but also elsewhere – on whether ‘hate speech’ and racist parties should be banned, I refer to the following letter to the Editor of the Economist (6 July 2013) by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights:
The far-right in Greece
http://www.economist.com/news/letters/21580437-iran-greece-germany-majoritarianism
“SIR – I fully agree that “Greece needs a more robust anti-racism law (“Racist dilemmas”, June 22nd). But I do not agree that banning the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn political party “could be counterproductive” and may be contrary to the right of freedom of association. I recently reported on Golden Dawn following an official visit to Greece. The leadership of this party has historical links with the military junta that ruled Greece in the 1970s and is openly contemptuous of democracy.
Greek democracy is under serious threat. I have urged the Greek authorities actively to prosecute individual members of Golden Dawn and others who have engaged in hate speech or violent racist attacks. Under international human-rights law the Greek authorities would be within their rights to ban Golden Dawn as well. The right to freedom of association is not absolute and may be restricted to protect the rights of others. Greece is bound by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, article four of which calls on states to ban racist organisations.
Moreover, Greece is bound by the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, which has found that, under certain conditions, states can impose restrictions on political parties and their members or supporters.
Such restrictions are possible if a political party has been found to use violence to achieve its goals and deny fundamental rights and freedoms, including the principle of non-discrimination.
Nils Muiznieks
Commissioner for human rights, Council of Europe
Strasbourg”
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe, European Court of Human Rights, freedom of association, Golden Dawn, Greece, human rights, minority rights, neo-nazi party, Nils Muižnieks, The Economist
May 21, 2013
(Konstantin Dolgov -Image from vaseljenska.com)
On 16 May 2013 Russia Today spoke with the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Commissioner for Human Rights Konstantin Dolgov, to find out his view on the situation as the hunger strike in Guantanamo hits its’ 100-day landmark. It is good to see Russia express its concern about this and even invoke the views of human rights defenders. Below I give some quotes from the interview. If only Russia would always be so concerned with their views! As to illustrate this the Moscow Times comes today with an article by Jonathan Earle Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: AI, Baltic countries, Council of Europe, EU, Foreign agent, Gitmo, Guantanamo, homophobia, Human right, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights organization, illegal detention, jonathan earle, Konstantin Dolgov, minority rights, Moscow Times, politics, Ravil Mingazov, registration, RT (TV network), Russia, Russia Today, terrorism, United States, USA
January 26, 2013
The Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) was informed today by its partners that prominent human rights defenders were arrested in Baku, Azerbaijan, in connection with a protest held on Saturday 26 January 2013:
Hundreds of people have demonstrated in Azerbaijan’s capital to express solidarity with recent protests in the central town of Ismayilli.More than 40 participants to the peaceful protests were detained, including prominent blogger Emin Milli, Rafto Prize winner 2009 Malahat Nasibova, human rights lawyer Intigam Alieyev, as well as investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova.The arrests happen to come two days after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan and called upon the authorities to stop attacks and harassment against human rights defenders. The Azerbaijani human rights defenders present in Strasbourg held a joint press conference in the Council of Europe buildings on Wednesday 23 January 2013.
“By arresting within a crowd of protesters also these prominent human rights defenders, Azerbaijan authorities show that they use detention as a tool to punish critical voices, few days after those critical voices expressed their opinions at the Council of Europe” says HRHF.
Posted in human rights | 2 Comments »
Tags: Azerbaijan, Baku, Council of Europe, Emin Milli, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, harassment, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights House Foundation, Intigam Alieyev, Malahat Nasibova, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
December 20, 2012
The ‘new’ Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (who took office on on 24 January 2012) Nils Muižnieks stated in his end of the year message some hard truths about the position of human rights defenders in Europe.
”Defamation, threats, verbal and physical attacks, sanctions and judicial harassment are used to deter human rights activists from working with migrants.” Nils Muižnieks states that in several Council of Europe countries, the rise of xenophobic and anti-migrant discourse has “negatively impacted” on the work of human rights defenders who protect and promote the rights of migrants.“Human rights defenders are even increasingly labelled as traitors who are threatening national identity and security,” he adds. “They are often exposed to intimidation and abuse.
“The situation in Greece is particularly worrisome as migrants have become targets of unacceptable, extreme violence notably by members, including MPs, of the far right political party of Golden Dawn.“Human rights defenders defending migrants are under threat. There have been several instances of lawyers being threatened and physically attacked in Athens as they were assisting migrants in the course of asylum and other legal procedures.
“In some Council of Europe countries the work of defenders working with migrants and their rights is being criminalised. In France, legal provisions corresponding to the so-called délit de solidarité the offence of solidarity concretely result in law enforcement bodies pressuring and punishing human rights defenders providing assistance to irregular migrants. Persons standing up for the rights of migrants have been detained, prosecuted and/or fined.“ “In Belgium, similar tendencies have been identified and persons who have been demonstrating in favour of the rights of migrants have been arrested.”
via Nils Muižnieks: “Human rights defenders are increasingly labelled as traitors” | HUMANERIGHTSEUROPE.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Belgium, China Human Rights Defenders, Commissioner for Human, Council of Europe, Europe, France, Golden Dawn, Greece, harassment, migrants, Nils Muižnieks, refugees, threats
March 15, 2012
On March 8 and 9, 2012, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), organised the fourth “inter-mechanisms” meeting, which was hosted by the Office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland. This is a unique informal platform where under Chatham House Rules key actors meet to fine tune standards and mechanisms for Human Rights Defenders.
On this occasion, international and regional mechanisms and programmes for the protection of human rights defenders – operating within the United Nations, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), the Council of Europe, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights(IACHR) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights – joined by representatives of the European Union, the International Organisation of the Francophonie and various NGOs, discussed the drafting of a joint report on existing standards and recommendations related to the protection of human rights defenders at the international and regional levels. IACHR offered to take a coordinating role in drafting the report, with the back up of the Observatory. This report would be inspired by the 2011 Commentary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and the IACHR Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders. Such a document, the first of its kind, will not only be a useful tool to human rights defenders, States and other relevant stakeholders, but will also demonstrate a unity of approaches among mechanisms.
Participants also shared their experiences and lessons learnt in order to identify possible ways tostrengthen the coordination and cooperation among existing mandates on the protection of human rights defenders. In particular, action-oriented discussions focused on how to ensure accountability for human rights violations against human rights defenders, which is a central issue for all mechanisms and programmes in order to combat impunity.
Participants also discussed core policy challenges affecting the protection of human rights defenders in relation to freedom of association, as well as possibilities of cooperation with the newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. A specific focus on the right to receive and access funding, including foreign funding was discussed, reflecting renewed preoccupations by mechanisms on restrictions by States in this regard. These issues should be further discussed during a future inter-mechanisms meeting, to be organised by the Observatory.
For more information, please contact :
• OMCT : Delphine Reculeau : + 41 22 809 49 39
• FIDH : Karine Appy / Arthur Manet : + 33 1 43 55 25 18
Concrete steps towards better protection of human rights defenders / March 15, 2012 / Urgent Interventions / Human rights defenders / OMCT.
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Council of Europe, FIDH, Human Rights Defenders, IACHR, international community, NGOs, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OIF, OMCT, OSCE, Special Rapporteur, UN
November 3, 2011
This is just a quick reference to the excellent work of the Oslo-based Human Rights House Foundation and its network over the last 2 months. They continue to call on the OSCE and the Council of Europe to monitor the situation of HRDs and to react against increasing repression against them. The focus is on Belarus, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, countries which often stay out of the limelight when it comes to human rights protection.
see; Joint call for better protection of HR defenders in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia – Human Rights House Network.
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Armenia, Azerbaijian, Belarus, Council of Europe, Georgia, HRDs, HRHF, OSCE
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 