Posts Tagged ‘detention’
December 13, 2012
Front Line Defenders reports that on On 7 December 2012, human rights defender Ms Saida Kurbanova was sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention for ‘hooliganism’, after being attacked by two women who alleged that the human rights defender had been the one to attack them. Saida Kurbanova is the head of the branch of the non-governmental Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU). It is reported that following the arrest, the hard disk of Saida Kurbanova’s computer was confiscated.
Since her arrest, Saida Kurbanova has been detained in the temporary detention facility at Pakhtakor police station. On 10 December 2012 a representative of Pakhtakor police station reportedly refused to pass on a food parcel and warm clothes to Saida Kurbanova which her family had brought her. In addition, her release on 21 December 2012 is reportedly subject to her paying for the 15 days spent in the temporary detention facility!
Front Line Defenders is concerned about the use of orchestrated attacks on human rights defenders as a means to accuse them of having instigated the incident, and consequently charging them fines or sentencing them to administrative detention. Front Line Defenders believes that Saida Kurbanova’s sentencing is linked to her human rights activities and fears for her physical and psychological integrity and security while in detention.
Appeals@frontlinedefenders.org
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: detention, Front Line, harassment, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Saida Kurbanova, Uzbekistan, woman human rights defender
November 28, 2012
Sometimes there is good news from Cuba: Front Line Defenders confirmed yesterday that on 26 November 2012, the Cuban HRD, Antonio González Rodiles, was released after 19 days in Acosta police station in Havana. He had to pay a fine of 800 Cuban pesos. News of his release was first published around 9pm on 26 November on Twitter by the prominent Cuban blogger and dissident Ms Yoani Sánchez. The website of Estado de SATS, an independent project headed by Antonio Rodiles, reports that the defender is “grateful for the solidarity and support he has received and will immediately resume his work leading Estado de SATS”….. In addition to being released today, these charges against him have been cleared.The independent project Estado de SATS, led by Antonio Rodiles, aims to create a space for participation and debate in Cuba through panel discussions, forums and other events that are filmed and broadcast on the Internet.
via Cuba: Update- Human Rights Defender Mr Antonio González Rodiles Released | Front Line.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Antonio González Rodiles, Cuba, detention, Estado de SATS, Front Line Defenders, release
November 21, 2012
In various parts of the world human rights defenders brave legal harassment, arbitrary detention, ill treatment, torture and sometimes death, in seeking to secure freedom and dignity for all. In challenging serious abuses of State power, many such defenders find themselves behind bars;
FIDH works endlessly to secure the release of these (and other) human rights defenders, mainly through the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders – its joint programme with OMCT.A recent summing up by FIDH of their (local affiliate) in
Bahrain,
Belarus,
Iran,
Turkey and
Uzbekistan makes sobering reading:
Check out the steps that led to their detention:
The Bahrain Centre or Human Rights is one the 2012 nominees of the Martin Ennals Award.
- In BELARUS :Ales Bialiatski, President of the Viasna Human Rights Centre and FIDH Vice President
Since his election in 1994, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, has installed an authoritarian regime that represses freedom of expression, assembly and association. The human rights situation in Belarus markedly deteriorated on 19 December 2010 when riot police brutally dispersed demonstrators protesting against the unfair handling of the presidential election. This event marked the beginning of an unprecedented wave of repression, which continues to this day. Prominent human rights defender, Ales Bialiatski was arrested in Minsk on 4 August 2011 and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison on trumped up tax evasion charges. He remains in prison to this day.
- In IRAN :Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, founding member of Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) and human rights lawyer
Abdolfattah Soltani, founding member of DHRC and human rights lawyer
Mohammad Seifzadeh, member of the DHRC and human rights lawyer
Nasrin Sotoudeh, member of DHRC and prominent human rights lawyer known for defending juveniles facing death penalty, prisoners of conscience, human rights activists and child victims of abuse; she is lso a 2012 MEA nominee
- In TURKEY :Muharrem Erbey, IHD Vice Chairperson and former Chairperson of Diyarbakır branch
Arslan Özdemir, Executive, IHD Diyarbakır branch
Şerif Süren, Executive, IHD Aydın branch
Orhan Çiçek, Executive, IHD Aydın branch
Reşit Teymur, Executive, IHD Siirt branch
Abdulkadir Çurğatay, Executive, IHD Mardin branch
Veysi Parıltı, Executive, IHD Mardin branch
Şaziye Önder, representative IHD Doğubeyazıt (Ağrı)
Mensur Işık, former Chairperson, IHD Muş branch
Hikmet Tapancı, Executive, IHD Malatya branch
Ali Tanrıverdi, Chairperson IHD Mersin branch
Osman İşçi, IHD General Headquarters (Ankara) former worker and member of IHD
Hanim Koçygit, Executive, IHD Sakarya branch
Bekir Gürbüz, former Chairperson, IHD Adıyaman branch
FIDH notes in this respect: Despite Turkey’s considerable human rights progress since 2000, those expressing ideas on “sensitive” human rights related issues continue to be targeted and criminalised by the public authorities. So-called “sensitive” questions include the promotion of alternative identities to the Turkish mainstream (e.g. asserting the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, especially Kurds, as well as the rights of sexual minorities). It also encompasses any criticism of the State and its institutions, including institutional functioning, judicial independence, and impunity for human rights violations. Members of NGOs, lawyers, trade unionists, journalists, intellectuals, academics, conscientious objectors, the families of victims of serious human rights violations, and others have been targeted by State policies that consider their expression of their views to be a threat. Fourteen members of the Human Rights Association (IHD), a Turkish FIDH member organisation, are currently being held in preventive detention under an anti-terrorism law that criminalises legitimate expression of opinion.
- In UZBEKISTAN :Zafar Rakhimov, member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU) Kashkadarya regional branch
Nasim Isakov, member of the HRSU Djizak regional branch
Yuldosh Rasulov, member of the HRSU Kashkadarya regional branch
Azam Formonov, Head of the Sirdarya regional branch of the HRSU
Gaybullo Jalilov, member of the HRSU Karshi regional branch
Uzbekistan has the highest number of human rights defenders serving lengthy prison sentences in Eastern Europe/Central Asia. These sentences are usually served in penal colonies where the regime is extremely strict. Harsh conditions and ill treatment have caused the health of incarcerated defenders to deteriorate quickly. These inhumane and degrading conditions are currently the reality of several members of FIDH member organisation, the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan.
Posted in FIDH, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Bahrain, Belarus, detention, FIDH, harassment, human rights, Human rights defender, International Federation for Human Rights, Iran, MEA, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, Turkey, Uzbekistan
September 24, 2012
The Burmese website Mizzima carries an excellent update on the situation in Burma (Myanmar) which continues to improve but should not let any Human Rights Defenders in detention. The article give precious details and highlights the role of the UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana.
“The UN Special Rapporteur renewed his call on the government to release all remaining prisoners of conscience without delay as a fundamental part of the process of democratic transition and national reconciliation. That includes the release of people such as Myint Aye, the director of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Organization, and 36-year-old Aung Naing, who has spent the past 16 years of his life in prison…”
‘None should be left behind’.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Aung Naing, Burma, detention, Human Rights Defenders, Mizzima, Myanmar, Myint Aye, Tomas Ojea Quintana, UN Special Rapporteur
August 16, 2012
Image from twitter.com by user @SAIDYOUSIF
Late last night, Wednesday 15 August, Russia Today reported that another Bahraini HRD was arrested: Said Yousif (pictured on the right with Nabeel Rajab). Both work for the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, one of the three nominees for the 2012 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. The ongoing crackdown on human rights activists completely contradicts the promised made by the Government after a government-sponsored report revealed gross violations of human rights.
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Bahrain, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, detention, Human Rights Defenders, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Nabeel Rajab, Non-governmental organization, Said Yousif
August 13, 2012
On 12 August 2012 the Ahlul Bayt News Agency published a moving letter by Sumaya Rajab, the wife of the prominent Bahraini human rights defender,Nabeel Rajab, who is currently detained in Bahrain. Nabeel Rajab is one of the 3 MEA nominees for 2012. She writes this letter also in the name of their son Adam and daughter Malak to urge all of you to use your influence and act quickly to guarantee her husband’s immediate release.
for the full text of the letter see: Bahrain: An open letter from the family of Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab.
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Bahrain, detention, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights violations, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Nabeel Rajab
August 10, 2012
As new cases of arbitrary arrests and ongoing judicial harassment have been reported in Bahrain, the Observatory for Human Rights Defenders – a joint project of OMCT and FIDH – remains extremely concerned with the very repressive climate faced by human rights defenders in that country, it appears from a press statement of 9 August 2012..
On August 2, 2012, Ms. Zainab Al-Khawaja was once again arrested while she was protesting alone at Al Qadam roundabout against the arbitrary detention of her father Mr. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja,founder of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), former President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), and former MENA Director at Front Line. While arresting Ms. Al-Khawaja, police officers verbally assaulted her and threatened her with reprisals as she was legitimately resisting their orders to give a blood sample. She was finally forcibly led to the Fort Prison Hospital before being transferred to Isa Town Detention Center, where she was kept handcuffed despite a serious leg injury sustained after security forces shot her with tear gas canisters at close range. On August 4, 2012, the Public Prosecution remanded her into custody for seven days.
The Observatory further recalls that Mr. Nabeel Rajab, President of the BCHR – which is one of the three nominees for the 2012 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders – and FIDH Deputy Secretary General, has faced constant judicial harassment, as four cases have been brought against him since May 2012 in relation with his human rights activities. Mr. Rajab is still facing three of these cases. In particular, he has been detained since July 9, 2012 and sentenced to 3 months’ imprisonment for alleged libel after he tweeted the following on June 2: “Khalifa, leave the residents of Al Muharraq, its Sheikhs and its elderly. Everyone knows that you are not popular here, and if it wasn’t for the subsidies, they wouldn’t have gone out to welcome you. When will you step down?“
The Observatory is deeply concerned about constant postponements, as their only aim seems to be to keep Mr. Nabeel Rajab in detention as long as possible, by delaying the examination of the request filed by his lawyers against his 3-month imprisonment sentence. The Observatory reiterates its call on the Bahraini authorities to immediately and unconditionally release him as his detention is arbitrary and only aims at sanctioning his human rights activities.
Bahrain: Ongoing arbitrary arrests and judicial harassment of human rights defenders / August 9, 2012 / Urgent Interventions / Human rights defenders / OMCT.
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | 3 Comments »
Tags: Bahrain, detention, FIDH, Human Rights Defenders, human rights violations, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Nabeel Rajab, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT
June 19, 2012
A training workshop for human rights defenders organized by the East
and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project [EHAHRDP] has been interrupted
by uninvited media representatives and the police. Participants are
currently being questioned by the police.
EHAHRDP organized the training working on monitoring, documentation
and reporting of human rights violations for LGBTI defenders, which
opened this morning at Esella Country Hotel, Najjera, Kampala. The
workshop organisers, which brought together twenty HRDs from Uganda,
Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya, as well as seven EHAHRDP staff members and
interns, stopped the meeting when they learned that the media was
coming to the hotel. Around ten journalists arrived at approximately
2.30pm, and two or three cameras were used to film the event. EHAHRDP
has not been able to establish who informed the media that the
training was taking place, although some of the journalists claimed to
have received the information via the Minister of Ethics and
Integrity, Rev. Simon Lokodo.
Soon afterwards, the police arrived and began to question
participants. Led by the head of the Kampala Metropolitan Criminal
Investigations Department, the police began by questioning Paul
Njogore from Freedom House, Jane Wothaya Thirikwa from Gay Kenya
Trust, Neil Blazevic (a Canadian citizen) and Tabitha Netuwa from
EHAHRDP, who were then held for some time in a police van and were
told they would be taken to the Kira Road police station. The police
are currently questioning all participants one-by-one, including by
forcibly entering their hotel rooms.
EHAHRDP calls on the Ugandan police to immediately release all
participants, and condemns this unjustified interruption of our
legitimate activities.
For more information, please contact:
Hassan Shire, Executive Director on executive@defenddefenders.org or
+41 793 375 875
Rachel Nicholson, Advocacy Officer on advocacy@defenddefenders.org or
+41 762 556 769
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: detention, EHAHRDP, Freedom House, gay right, harassment, Human Rights Defenders, Kampala, LGBT, Uganda
June 2, 2012
The Office for a Democratic Belarus came today with the following information:
Academic director of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISS) Aliaksei Pikulik was convicted today (June 1) by court of the Central district of Minks city to 5 days of imprisonment following his arrest on May 31 on the account of “hooliganism”.
Activist of the Govori Pravdu campaign Mikhas Pashkevich received 7 days of administrative arrest following the decision by the court in Svetlahorsk, Homiel region. He was detained on May 31 near the village of Yakimava Slabada after a meeting with local activists and journalists.
On June 1, a number of journalists were also temporarily detained in Minsk and Hrodna. Volha Chajchyc and Tacciana Belashova spent three hours at a police station following their arrest while preparing a reportage on the International day for protection of children. Volha works for the Poland-based Belsat TV, which repeatedly tries to receive ccreditation in Belarus but with no success.
In Hrodna, activist of the non-registered Union of Poles Ihar Bantsar, who was detained during a picket organised in defence of a local Polish school and severely beaten, is awaiting a court hearing. Eight other participants of the action were released and will be put on trial on June 4 for participation in a non-authorised action of protest. Over 100 people took part in the picket despite the refusal of local authorities to allow the demonstration to take place.
Sources: http://www.naviny.by <http://naviny.by> , http://www.svaboda.org <http://svaboda.org> , http://www.baj.by <http://baj.by> , Facebook
———————————————————
Office for a Democratic Belarus
Square de Meeûs 37, 4th floor
1000 Brussels
Phone: +32 (0)2 791 7505
info@democraticbelarus.eu <mailto:info@democraticbelarus.eu>
http://www.democraticbelarus.eu <http://www.democraticbelarus.eu>
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Belarus, BISS, detention, freedom of expression, harassment, Human Rights Defenders, journalists, Office for a Democratic Belarus
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 