Posts Tagged ‘detention’

Newer posts »

Call for release of political prisoners in Iran for Norooz

March 18, 2012

Iranian activists have issued a statement urging the government to release political prisoners for Norooz, the Iranian New Year. Radio Zamaneh reports that 440 Iranian civic and political activists of various stripes have signed a statement demanding that the government at least allow political prisoners to spend the New Year with their families, on the first day of spring in March.

The statement condemns the harsh sentences handed recently to Nasrin Sotoudeh, Nargess Mohammadi and Abdolfattah Soltani, members of the Human Rights Defenders Centre, and it denounces the arrest of journalists, political activists and all prisoners of conscience.

via Iranian activists call for release of political prisoners for Norooz.

Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Netherlands Human Rights Tulip goes to Chinese HRD in detention

December 22, 2011

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today – 22 December – that the annual award for HRDs, the Tulip,  has been awarded to the Chinese human rights activist Ni Yulan. The announcement of the award was delayed several weeks at the request of Ms Ni’s family in the interest of her safety. The activist is currently in custody awaiting trial. The Human Rights Defenders Tulip is awarded annually to someone who has made an extraordinary contribution to protecting and promoting human rights.

Posted in Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , ,

Arbitrary arrest and detention of 31 human rights defenders in Turkey

October 4, 2011

Several important human rights NGOs, including AI and HRW, have in recent days expressed concern about the situation of human rights defenders in Turkey. I base myself here on the appeal issued on 28 September by 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). 

The Observatory has been informed by the reliable Human Rights Association (İnsan Haklari Derneği – İHD) about the arbitrary arrests of 31 members and executives of İHD Şanlıurfa Branch, the Education and Science Workers Trade Union (Egitim-Sen), the Health and Social Service Workers Trade Union (SES) as well as the searches by the police of the houses of the chairpersons and executives of the above mentioned organisations and their offices.

In the morning of September 27, law-enforcement officers raided İHD, Egitim-Sen and SES Şanlıurfa Branch offices as well as the houses of their chairpersons and executives and arrested 31 members of these organisations. The police was in possession of a warrant from the Şanlıurfa Chief Public Prosecution Office mentioning allegations of “propaganda for an illegal organisation” and “participating in activities in line with the action and aims of that organisation” and has denied to release information on the reasons of the raids and arrest, on the basis of legal provisions pertaining to the fight against terrorism.

Among those arrested were İHD Şanlıurfa Branch President Cemal Babaoğlu, İHD executivesMüslüm Kına and Müslüm Çiçek, Eğitim-Sen Branch President Halit Şahin, Eğitim-Sen former Branch President Sıtkı Dehşet and Eğitim-Sen executive Veysi Özbingöl.

The Observatory denounces the continuing policy of arbitrarily arresting human rights defenders in Turkey, and particularly İHD members and members of trade unions, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning their human rights activities. To that extent, the Observatory recalls that other İHD members are in pre-trial detention, notably Mr. Muharrem Erbey, İHD General Vice Chairperson and Chairperson of its Diyarbakir Province branch who had been detained since December 2009, Mr. Arslan Özdemir and Ms. Roza Erdede, İHD members in Diyarbakır, or that others remain in provisional release pending the outcome of criminal trials on alleged terrorism charges.

Accordingly, the Observatory calls upon the Turkish authorities to put an end to the continuing harassment against human rights defenders, including members of İHD, and urges the Turkish authorities.

for more detials and suggested actions you can take, see:

Arbitrary arrest and detention of 31 human rights defenders – TUR 001 / 0911 / OBS 114 – FIDH – Worldwide Human Rights Movement.

Posted in AI, FIDH, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , ,

Norway bravely criticizes Iran for persecution of human rights defenders

July 19, 2011

 

 

 

On 13 July 2011 the State Secretary at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gry Larsen, commented in very clear terms on the situation in Iran, saying inter alia: “Iran’s groundless persecution of people connected to Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi’s Defenders of Human Rights Center give cause for serious concern.”

A number of Iranian lawyers have recently been given, or can expect to be given, severe prison sentences. Two of the founders of the Human Rights Centre set up by Shirin Ebadi, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah and Mohammad Seifzadeh, have been sentenced to nine and two years’ imprisonment respectively. Another prominent lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani is still waiting for his case to be tried more than two years after he was arrested, and Shirin Ebadi’s own lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment earlier this year.

“The legal proceedings against these lawyers seem to have focused solely on their work to promote and defend human rights in Iran. They are in violation of both national and international principles of the rule of law. For example, the defendants were denied proper legal assistance,” said Ms Larsen.

The Iranian authorities have systematically persecuted people connected to the Defenders of Human Rights Center and confiscated property and materials relating to their work over a period of time in an attempt to stop the centre’s activities.

“Norway urges Iran to fulfil its obligations under international human rights conventions. We particularly urge Iran to stop its campaign against the Defenders of Human Rights Center and to safeguard the rights of people who are themselves working diligently to promote the rule of law in the country,” said Ms Larsen.

Groundless prison sentences for human rights defenders in Iran.

Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, organisations | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,

Marvelous: Human Rights Defenders in Minsk detained just before detention seminar

May 30, 2011

The Belarusian police decided to contribute – rather spontaneously – a hands-on element to a NGO training course on detention conditions:

On Saturday 28 May 2011 seven human rights defenders were detained at the BPF Minsk office, where a seminar on detention conditions was expected to take place. The detainees, including Belarusian Helsinki Committee leader Aleh Hulak, Belarusian human rights defenders Liudmila Isakava and Aliaksandr Sasnou, Russian expert Olga Solomatova, Ukrainian activists Alla Blahaya, Vadim Pivovarov and Oleh Martynenko, were taken to Minsk Savetski District police department. At about 2.30 p.m. all of them were released without charges. However, the defenders were officially warned of possible prosecution for violation of the Belarusian legislation.

Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: ,

Syrian Human Rights defender Anwar Al – Bunni released from prison on Monday 23 May 2011

May 23, 2011

Anwar Al-Bunni

Anwar Al-Bunni winner of the 2008 Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk has been released today. He finished serving his sentence on the 17th of May 2011 but was taken initially to a branch of the security apparatus before being finally released today. Anwar Al-Bunni was originally sentenced to a five year prison sentence because of his courageous work defending human rights defenders and opposition activists facing charges before the State Security Court, now slated to be abolished by a regime under pressure from the protests. He had also set up a human rights centre in Damascus to support the work of human rights defenders and publicly denounced the use of torture in Syrian prisons. This is very similar to the work and condemnation of Muhannad Al-Hassani the 2010 MEA Laureate which is still in prison.

The good news re Al-Bunni is tempered by the consideration that he was not released before he had served his time and that the Syrian regime still holds hundreds of human rights defenders in detention or under threat.

Posted in Al-Hassani, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | 2 Comments »
Tags: ,

Uzbek dissident Yusuf Jumaev freed from prison but others remain

May 23, 2011

Human Rights Watch announced last Friday a bit of good news: – Uzbek authorities released the dissident Yusuf Jumaev from prison on May 19, 2011. Jumaev, a civic activist, poet, and prominent government critic, was arrested in 2008 and ill-treated in prison. Jumaev was arrested in the weeks before the December 2007 presidential election after he called for President Islam Karimov to resign. Jumaev had also written poems and staged protests about the Andijan massacre, as well as about government oppression, and the arrest of his son. Jumaev’s release follows an apology he addressed to Karimov in connection with the 20th anniversary of Uzbekistan’s independence. Although Jumaev was released, the conviction was not quashed and the government has not given any indication that it intends to ease its campaign to crush its critics, Human Rights Watch said.

“Jumaev’s release is a positive development but it serves as a stark reminder of the many other activists who remain unjustly behind bars and the urgency of securing their release,” Swerdlow of HRW said. “Jumaev’s imprisonment and the ill-treatment he suffered underscore the danger of dissent in Uzbekistan.” At least 13 human rights defenders and numerous political activists and independent journalists remain in prison in Uzbekistan in retaliation for their work or criticism of the government, Human Rights Defenders in prison include: Solijon Abdurakhmanov, Azam Formonov, Nosim Isakov, Gaibullo Jalilov, Alisher Karamatov, Jamshid Karimov, Norboi Kholjigitov, Rasul Khudainasarov, Ganihon Mamatkhanov, Habibulla Okpulatov, Yuldash Rasulov, Dilmurod Saidov, and Akzam Turgunov. Several of them are in serious ill-health and at least seven have suffered torture or ill-treatment in prison.

Posted in HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: ,

Bahrain, hell for human rights defenders

April 11, 2011

Human Rights Watch and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies reported on Wednesday 6 April that hundreds of people have been detained or arbitrarily arrested in Bahrain, activists barred from traveling abroad and several protesters killed as security forces in balaclavas and military fatigues resort to excessive force and storm villages, hospitals and news organizations. They called on the UN to hold an emergency session on Bahrain.

The same day Mohammad al-Maskati, the head of Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, said in an interview with Press TV that the “Bahraini authorities are not only arresting the opposition leaders, but also human rights defenders, doctors, a lot of religious figures … anyone who may affect the situation in Bahrain”.

Bahrain’s leading opposition group, al-Wefaq, also says over 450 opposition activists, including 14 women, have been arrested since the uprising began in the tiny Persian Gulf state in mid-February.

On Thursday 14 April Nabeel Rajab, the president of the Bahrain center for Human Rights added during an interview with the Voice of America that the situation is ‘very critical’. “You have approximately one for every 1,000 citizens detained right now for political reasons”. The interviewer, Hilleary, asked what Rajab believed the detained persons are going through “I am afraid that many bloggers and [those] who are active in the net – on Twitter and Facebook – are facing very hard times at this point in time”. 
The interview then turned to his own risk (“are you fearful of speaking out?”). 
Rajab’s reply is worth quoting in full as it shows the uncompromising dedication that many Human Rights Defenders share: “Arrests, harassments and intimidation will never stop an activist who believes in his work and believes in the importance of his work. I do believe in my work very much. I was arrested, as I told you, and I was beaten up, but that has encouraged me to do more activism, believing [that] this situation cannot continue. And this activism that we are doing – it has a cost. The cost might reach – it might be our life – but, you know, once we believe in our work, once I believe in my work, I am willing to see [through] the changes that I am fighting for.”

The international human rights movement should ensure that it does not have to come to such sacrifices and that is what this little blog is about.

 

Posted in HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: , ,

Don’t forget the two MEA Laureates in detention

December 23, 2010

Two MEA Laureates are in detention currently. Please do not forget them and send a postcard to the authorities. You can order the cards from the MEA Secretariat, info@martinennalsaward.org. Happy new Year to you all

Posted in Al-Hassani, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tags: , ,

Newer posts »