Posts Tagged ‘detention’
April 29, 2014
On April 25, six members of the Zone Nine blogging collective were arrested in Ethiopia. They are now reported to being held at Maekelawi, a detention center in Addis Ababa. News of the arrests first broke on Twitter, where fellow bloggers and social media users voiced support for those arrested and expressed their own fears about what may be to come. Writer Bisrat Teshome, who lives in Addis Ababa, tweeted: “Terrified with the rant of EPRDF on journalists & bloggers. I almost fainted when my door was knocked at about 7pm. #Ethiopia — Bisrat Teshome (@_Bisre)“. As of this evening, no charges had been issued to the members of our group.
[Formed in 2012, the Zone Nine group has leveraged significant critiques of ruling government policy and practice through online campaigns in an effort to raise awareness about political repression in the country. Translating international news for local audiences — through partnership with Global Voices, launched Global Voices in Amharic two years ago. Have been a surveillance target of the Ethiopian government.]
[Kality prison is divided into eight different zones, the last of which — Zone Eight — is dedicated to journalists, human right activists and dissidents. Thus the name of the blog for the proverbial prison in which all Ethiopians live: Zone Nine]
via Six Members of Blogging Collective Arrested in Ethiopia – Global Voices Advocacy.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: activists, Addis Ababa, arbitrary arrest, Bisrat Teshome, bloggers, detention, Ethiopia, freedom of expression, Global Voices, Human Rights Defenders, journalists, Kality prison, twitter, Zone Nine blogging collective
April 2, 2014
US-based NGO Freedom House, in cooperation with the Lithuanian Parliament and Belarusian human rights defenders, launched on 26 March 2014 the MP4Freedom initiative inviting Lithuanian MPs to become “godparents” of political prisoners in Belarus. “As neighbors, Lithuanians should care about the future of the Belarusian nation,” said Petras Austrevicius, deputy speaker of the Seimas, who championed the initiative on behalf of the Lithuanian Parliament. “The idea behind this initiative is to encourage Lithuanian MPs to engage on the issue personally by becoming ‘godparents’ of political prisoners in Belarus.”
“To make this initiative effective, Lithuanian MPs should address the Belarusian authorities and demand the release of political prisoners,” said Marina Lobava, the mother of a political prisoner Eduard Lobau. “MPs can write to the heads of detention facilities requesting information about the health of a particular political prisoner. They can also help by contacting the International Red Cross and facilitating its visits to prisons. International advocacy in the EU to keep the political prisoners issue on the foreign policy agenda towards Belarus is also necessary.”
Under this campaign, the participating Lithuanian parliamentarians, who represent the governing and opposition political parties alike, take the responsibility to follow the cases of particular political prisoners in Belarus, meet with their relatives, and speak publicly both at Lithuanian and international venues on human rights violations in Belarus. There are currently 10 political prisoners in Belarus, according to the Human Rights Center Viasna.
Freedom House, the Lithuanian Parliament and human rights defenders launch initiative to support Belarusian political prisoners | Belarus: civil society under attack | Freeales.fidh.net.
Posted in Freedom House, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Belarus, detention, EU, Freedom House, Human Rights Defenders, Lithuania, Lithuanian Parliament, MP4Freedom, parliamentarians, political prisoner, political prisoners, solidarity action, Viasna Human Rights Centre
March 17, 2014
Today, 17 March 2014, the Asian Human Rights Commission, comes out with a statement that makes Sri Lanka look like one the worst offenders when it comes to retaliation and reprisals against human rights defenders. My feelings about reprisals are well-known and were recently expressed in: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/zero-tolerance-for-states-that-take-reprisals-against-hrds-lets-up-the-ante/
A draft resolution promoting reconciliation, accountability, and human rights in Sri Lanka is being discussed at the United Nations Human Rights Council. The proposed resolution calls for, among other things, the Office of the High Commissioner, “To lead a comprehensive investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka and establish the facts and circumstances of such violations and of the crimes committed with the view to avoiding impunity and ensuring accountability with assistance from relevant experts”.
The statement of the AHRC reads: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in AHRC, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 4 Comments »
Tags: AHRC, anti-reprisals focal point, arbitrary arrest, Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando, detention, Forced disappearance, investigation, large scale violations, reprisals, retaliation, Sri Lanka, UN, UN Human Rights Council
February 27, 2014
reports that on 24 February 2014, human rights defender Abdulhakim Al Fadhli was chased by state security cars and then taken to state security headquarters, where he remains in detention. Earlier that day, human rights defenders Mr Nawaf Al Hendal and Ms Hadil Abo Qoreis were summonsed via news broadcasts to appear before state security investigations service. Abdulhakim Al Fadhli had also been unofficially informed of a summons against him. As in a B-film, state security cars, chasing Abdulhakim Al Fadhli, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Abdulhakim Al Fadhli, Abdullah Atallah, arbitrary arrest, Bedoun, demonstration, detention, freedom of expression, Front Line (NGO), Hadil Abo Qoreis, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, indigenous groups, Kuwait, minority rights, Nawaf Al Hendal, repression, statelessness, woman human rights defender
February 27, 2014
(People hold candles at Light the Dark – a vigil in response to tragic turn of events on Manus Island that left one person dead and 77 injured. Source: News Corp Australia)
On 26 February the Australian Herald Sun contained an article by Rita Panahi under the provocative title: “Human rights lectures are little more than a joke“. In it she hits hard at some countries that criticize Australia’s interception and detention policy of refugees. “Being lectured to by China and Iran about human rights abuses is a bit like taking advice on etiquette from Miley Cyrus. It’s not just the pot calling the sparkly stainless steel kettle black, but then accusing it of racial profiling.” Quite rightly she points to the irony that Iran feels “emboldened to attack, despite the fact the young man killed was supposedly fleeing that country.”[The riots in Manus Island detention centre escalated into a riot on Monday and 23-year-old Iranian Reza Berati was killed’]
Even China, with its record of silencing dissidents, felt entitled to question Australia’s record. China’s Foreign Affairs Vice-Minister, Li Baodong, criticised our asylum policy and expressed concern for “the protection of refugees and asylum seekers and the right of the children of refugees”. He said: “We have also asked about whether these refugees will be illegally repatriated to other countries.”
In looking at the China’s own human rights record the author then states: “Of course, China’s human rights abuses are not restricted to terrorising pregnant women. According to Amnesty International, “harassment, surveillance, house arrest and imprisonment of human rights defenders are on the rise and censorship of the internet and other media has grown. Repression of minority groups, including Tibetans, Uighurs and Mongolians, and of Falun Gong practitioners and Christians who practise their religion outside state-sanctioned churches, continues”. China and Iran indeed also execute more people than any other country.
However, to conclude now that these nations have “no right to question any country, let alone one with values of freedom and fairness, such as Australia” is a bit much. If only ‘sparkly’ clean countries are allowed to address human rights issues, it is going to be extremely silent. Would it not be preferable to have a substantive discussion of human rights issues? One that would include – in the case of Rita Pahani – at least a mention of the statement by Amnesty International – so eagerly quoted on above on China – on Australia’s refugee policy. It should not have escaped the author as the Amnesty statement came just two days before her own writing.
To help in her research: “On Monday 24 February, Amnesty International in a report took a swipe at Australia for the way the country has responded to the global refugee crisis. Amnesty said Canberra should have accepted more refugees fleeing the bloody crisis in Syria. The group said the country had the capability to take in seven thousand five hundred Syrian refugees. The rights group also called on Canberra not to send and detain vulnerable refugees on Islands in Papua New Guinea and the Republic of Nauru.” http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/02/24/352094/aussies-under-fire-over-refugee-stance/
Human rights lectures are little more than a joke | Herald Sun.
Posted in AI, Amnesty international, human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: AI, Amnesty International, Australia, Canberra, China, detention, double standards, Herald Sun, human rights, human rights abuses, Iran, Manus, News Corp Australia, refugee law, refugees, Reza Berati, Rita Pahani
February 6, 2014
In an opinion adopted on 20 November 2013, the United Nations UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention [WGAD] requested the release of Iranian human rights defenders Khosro Kordpour and Massoud Kordpour from arbitrary detention. The WGAD carried out its investigation pursuant to an appeal by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and informed the Observatory (an FIDH-OMCT joint program me) of its decision on 4 February, 2014.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | Leave a Comment »
Tags: arbitrary arrest, detention, fair trial, FIDH, freedom of expression, Human Rights Defenders, human rights violations, illegal detention, Iran, journalists, Khosro Kordpour, Kurdish cause, Massoud Kordpour, media, minority rights, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, UN, Working Group
January 11, 2014
(Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tomás Ojea Quintana. UN Photo/JC McIlwaine)
On 11 December 2013 Tomás Ojea Quintana, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, welcomed the release of 44 prisoners of conscience in Myanmar, hailing it as an important step towards fulfilling President Thein Sein’s pledge of freedom for all political prisoners by the end of this year. “When I look back to the start of my mandate in 2008, I was referring to figures of over 1,900 persons detained on political grounds. It is important to acknowledge the significance of the progress that has been made: today we are referring to figures of less than 50”. The expert said the practice of arresting those who express views that are different to those of the Government became embedded during 50 years of military rule. “Moving to a culture of democracy, where people are free to express their views, will take time,” he stated. “The releases today are a step towards this, but need to be accompanied by legislative reforms.” However on 17 December the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, welcoming the latest release of prisoners of opinion in Burma/Myanmar, deplored the re-arrests of human rights defenders Ko Htin Kyaw and Aye Thein within hours of their “release”. Front Line reported that on 3 December 2013, Tin Htut Pai was arrested for his involvement in commemorating the one-year anniversary of the protests against the Letpadaung mining project. Tin Htut Pai is currently detained but has not been permitted to see his lawyer. Tin Htut Pai is the founder of Generation Youth, an organisation that advocates for youth empowerment and campaigns against land confiscation.
On 10 January 2014 this was followed by praise from the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, for President Thein Sein’s announcement on 2 January that he would commute death sentences to life imprisonment and reduce some sentences on humanitarian grounds and to mark the 66th anniversary of independence of the country. The move is “very significant” for Myanmar, which has not carried out the death penalty since 1989, the spokesperson noted, as the country assumed the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
https://www.un.org/apps/news//story.asp?NewsID=46718&Cr=myanmar&Cr1=#.UtEULijKzZQ
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=46904&Cr=myanmar&Cr1=#.UtEThCjKzZQ
http://www.fidh.org/en/asia/burma/14406-burma-it-is-time-to-free-all-human-rights-defenders-and-stop-ongoing
http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/24414#sthash.HRV7IJe0.dpuf
Posted in FIDH, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OHCHR, OMCT, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: abolition, arrest, ASEAN, Burma, death penalty, detention, FIDH, Front Line (NGO), Human Rights Defenders, human rights situation, Letpadaung, Mining, Myanmar, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, President Thein Sein, release, Rupert Colville, Special Rapporteur, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Tin Htut Pai, Tomas Ojea Quintana, UN Special Rapporteur
October 31, 2013
In the last three days Morocco has been seen using Anti-Terrorism laws against human rights defenders and journalists exercising their freedom of expression. The following two cases come from Frontline: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Al Qaeda, Al Sabeel, Ali Anouzla, alianouzla, anti terrorism legislation, detention, freedom of expression, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, journalists, Lakome.com, media, Morocco, Mostafa Al-Hesnawi, Rabat, western Sahara
October 29, 2013
Human rights defenders working on behalf of communities affected by large-scale development projects are increasingly being branded ‘anti-government’, ‘against development’ or even ‘enemies of the State’, the Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, has warned. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 3 Comments »
Tags: criminalization, death threats, detention, development, environmental issues, freedom of expression, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, judicial harassment, Land issues, Margaret Sekaggya, retaliation, Sekaggya, Special Rapporteur, UN General Assembly, United Nations, United Nations Special Rapporteur
October 17, 2013
In a move praised by local and international rights groups, Burma’s government, led by ex-general Thein Sein, has released 56 political prisoners. However, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners [AAPP] noted in a statement to the media that 133 political prisoners were still languishing in the country’s prisons. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: AAPP, activism, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Aung Myint, Burma, Burmese President Thein Sein, David Cameron, detention, freedom of demonstration, Hla Myo Naing, Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyer, Karen, minority rights, Myanmar, political prisoner, political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, Rakhine, Rakhine State, release, Sittwe, Thein Sein, U Aung Myint
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 