[reposted as it seems that the link no longer worked – why? – Syrian secret service THAT sophisticated??]
After more than a month the abduction of 36-year-old human rights defender Ms. Razan Zaitouneh in Syria continues to go unsolved. She became part of the statistics herself that she was gathering inside Syria. Now part of ‘the missing’ inside her country Zaitouneh was joined in her abduction by her husband Nazem al-Hamadi, along with reform activist Ms. Sameera Alkhalil along with lawyer and poet Wael Hamada on December 9, 2013 in the Damascus suburb of Douma city. Just before she recorded this video message for the FIDH:
(Mary Aileen Bacalso receiving the Award in Argentina from foreign Minister Hector Timerman)
Human rights defender Mary Aileen Bacalso from the Philippines received the Emilio F. Mignone International Human RightsAward in Argentina Tuesday last week for her advocacy work in her capacity as the secretary-general of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances(AFAD). Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman presided over the ceremony, which was conducted at the Argentine Foreign Ministry. It was attended also by representatives from Argentine human rights organizations, and the family of human rights defender Emilio Mignone, after whom the award was named. [Mignone’s daughter Monica disappeared during the Argentine dictatorship]
Bacalso’s own husband was abducted by seven armed men in 1988. He was released after being tortured and made to admit to the accusations, said Bacalso in a phone interview with InterAksyon.com. In 1998, she co-founded AFAD with two other organizations in India and Sri Lanka as a response to the problem of enforced disappearances in many parts of Asia. In Sri Lanka alone, there were 60,000 cases at the time, according to the AFAD website. From the beginning, they took pointers from and coordinated with human rights groups in Latin America which were formed in the 1980s to take action on enforced disappearances. AFAD now has 11 member-organizations from eight countries, with the main office based in the Philippines. They disseminate information, campaign for the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, research and document cases, and accompany families of victims of enforced disappearances.
Aside from bringing them recognition, Bacalso said she hoped the award would also give them credibility as they try to convince governments in Asia and in the rest of the world to stop enforced disappearances.
In her acceptance speech, she recalled the adversity faced by those who fought for the rights of the victims of enforced disappearances. “AFAD’s own former Chairperson from Indonesia, Munir, who worked tirelessly for the cause of the disappeared, was poisoned by a lethal dose of arsenic in a flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam via Singapore.” “Our colleagues in Kashmir are persecuted in more ways than one, including non-issuance of passports to restrict their movement and block them from forging solidarity with sister organizations in other countries. “Our leaders in Bangladesh were recently arrested, their office raided and files and pieces of equipment stolen in a desperate attempt to silence them. “In Laos, almost a year ago, development worker Sombath Somphone was taken by the police in broad daylight as evidenced from the CCTV camera footage, yet despite the obvious proof, the Laos government denies knowledge of the victim’s whereabouts. His wife has gone from pillar to post and has knocked on doors of national and international bodies yet her husband is nowhere to be found.” “In the Asian region with a huge number of cases and where defenders face the danger of being disappeared themselves, this award, representing the support of the Argentinian government, is a strong protection to our work in our region,” Bacalso said.
for more information on the Mignone award go to the Digest of awards on: www.trueheroesfilms.org
The State of Honduras fails to comply with the implementation of protection measures for human rights defenders (HRD) at risk. For this reason, last Monday 28th October, state representatives appeared in a public hearing before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights in Washington D.C.
This hearing was requested by the Centre for Human Rights Research and Promotion (CIPRODEH), the Committee of the Families of Detained and Disappeared Persons in Honduras (COFADEH), the Team for the Reflection, Research and Communication of the Society of Jesus in Honduras (ERIC-SJ), Protection International (PI) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL).
The participating organisations denounced the ineffectiveness of the interim and precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Court and the Commission of Human Rights, after finding many shortcomings faced by the beneficiaries, who continue to be threatened. Likewise, punctual observations were made encompassing the various limitations and loopholes under the draft law named “Law on Protection for Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Social Communicators and Justice Operators”, pending approval by the National Congress since august 2013. Finally some cases were highlighted, illustrating the risks that human rights defenders continue to face to the date in Honduras. Among others, special mention was made of the recent murder of Manuel de Jesús Varela Murillo, who was receiving protection measures.
The organisations called on national authorities to submit the above-mentioned draft law to a wide dialogue, in a participative and transparent way, for the purpose of establishing a mechanism to protect effectively human rights defenders. Finally, the CIDH was requested to visit Honduras to verify the reported risk situation, in order to provide appropriate recommendations.
(Du Jirong, sister of human rights activist Du Bin, with sign saying “Du Bin is innocent” outside the Fengtai District Public)
The 41-year-old photographer and filmmaker Du Bin disappeared on May 31, weeks after he had released a documentary on the extreme conditions of Chinese labor camps in May, called Women Above Ghosts’ Heads. His film focused on Masanjia Women’s Labor Camp where many detainees were Read the rest of this entry »
I am re-publishing this excellent editorial that appeared in the Bangkok Post of 25 Apr 2013 about the lack of protection for environmental human rights defenders in Thailand. If only more newspapers carried such succinct and clear opinions:
“The rally in front of the Appeal Court on Tuesday by 300 residents from Prachuap Khiri Khan to demand transparency in the murder case of environment defender Charoen Wat-aksorn attracted scant media attention.That is not surprising at all as most mainstream media have lost interest in the case, which has dragged on for almost a decade since the victim’s murder on June 21, 2004, regrettably with justice yet to be served _ at least in the mind of Charoen’s widow, his friends and supporters. It is understandable why these rural residents had to travel from their hometown more than 200 kilometres away to gather in front of the court, albeit in a peaceful and civilised manner, to demonstrate their “reaction” against the courts recent acquittal of the last suspect in Charoen’s murder case, 51-year-old Thanu Hinkaew. Their presence in Bangkok was not meant to protest against the Appeal Courts acquittal but merely to seek an explanation from the court and to ensure the case would be treated with transparency when prosecutors appeal against the verdict to the Supreme Court. Read the rest of this entry »
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, has been informed of the arrest and detention of human rights defender Abdi Osman, vice-president of the Ligue djiboutienne des droits humains (LDDH). On 21 February 2013 it seems that Osman has been arrested and brought to the police station. At the time of writing he seems not to be at this station anymore but his place of detention is worryingly unkown. Osman had on 20 February addressed publicly in the framework of an opposition meeting the torture and bad detention conditions of political prisoners. Action suggestions are in:
Mexico’s security forces have participated in widespread enforced disappearances, Human Rights Watch said in a special report released on 20 February 2013. Virtually none of the victims have been found or those responsible brought to justice, exacerbating the suffering of families of the disappeared, Human Rights Watch found. The 176-page report, “Mexico’s Disappeared: The Enduring Cost of a Crisis Ignored,” documents nearly 250 “disappearances” from December 2006 to December 2012. In 149 of those cases, Human Rights Watch found compelling evidence of enforced disappearances, involving the participation of state agents.
“President Peña Nieto has inherited one of worst crises of disappearances in the history of Latin America,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “While his administration has announced some important measures to assist victims, it has yet to take the steps necessary to ensure that those responsible for these horrific crimes are brought to justice.”
Human Rights Watch found evidence that members of all branches of the security forces carried out enforced disappearances: the Army, the Navy, and the federal and local police. In some cases, such as a series of more than 20 enforced disappearances by Navy personnel in June and July 2011 in Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, the common modus operandi of the crimes, the scale of the operations, and the inconsistent accounts by the Navy suggest the crimes may have been planned and coordinated. In over 60 cases, Human Rights Watch found evidence that state agents collaborated directly with organized crime groups to “disappear” people and extort payments from their families. For example, evidence indicates that local police in Pesquería, Nuevo León arbitrarily detained 19 construction workers in May 2011 and handed them over to an organized crime group. The men have not been seen since….. Read the rest of this entry »
More than two months after his arrest, the whereabouts of human rights defender and religious leader Imam Baba Leigh continues to remain unknown. Imam Baba Leigh was taken from his home on 3 December 2012 by two men believed to be part of the Gambia‘s National Intelligence Agency. Imam Baba Leigh is a religious leader and an active human rights defender. He serves as a religious advisor for The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices (GAMCOTRAP), an organisation working in the area of sexual and reproductive health and the rights of women and children. He is known as an outspoken campaigner who has aptly used his religious status to advocate for human rights and social reform. Read the rest of this entry »
Today, 20 December, Front Line Defenders reports that on 15 December 2012, human rights defender Mr Sombath Somphone disappeared after last being seen driving away from his office. Since then, his whereabouts have been unknown, although sources have reported having seen video footage of the human rights defender in the custody of the police. Sombath Somphone is the founder and executive director of the Participatory Development Training Centre (PADETC), which trains young people in order to promote sustainable development. For his community development work he was awarded one of Asia’s most prestigious civil awards, the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, in 2005.
Sombath Somphone left the offices of PADETC in Vientiane at around 5pm on 15 December. When he failed to come home that night, his wife searched for him in the city’s hospitals before eventually reporting him missing with the police. On 18 December, an official from the government press office reportedly commented on the phone that there was not yet enough evidence to draw any conclusions about the case. Family members of Sombath Somphone have lodged a complaint with the police who deny all knowledge of the case.
An anonymous colleague of the human rights defender has, however, reported that on 17 December, relatives of Sombath Somphone were shown CCTV footage of his car being stopped by police officers around 6pm in the vicinity of Vatnak village in Sisattanak district, Vientiane The footage then reportedly showed the human rights defender being led to the Sisattanak district police station in Vientiane, and some time later showed Sombath Somphone being led out of the office and taken away in a white pick-up truck.
On 20 December, the Laos Foreign Ministry came up with the statement stating “the authorities are not in a position to say exactly what has actually happened, why Sombath Somphone has gone missing, or who might have been involved in the incident”. The Ministry alleges that it might be possible that the human rights defender was kidnapped due to personal or business conflict.
Sombath Somphone founded PADETC in 1996, and since the organisation has become a prominent player in Lao civil society. The organisation works in numerous fields to promote sustainable development through the education of young people in particular. Although the organisation’s work is not political in nature, it is alleged that Sombath Somphone may have been targeted by government authorities due to his opposition to state development projects with harmful social or environmental consequences. Front Line Defenders is concerned by the allegations of enforced disappearance of Sombath Somphone, in the light of the important work he has carried out defending human rights in Laos and promoting sustainable development through developing the capacities and leadership skills of young people.
If you think that the day of disappearances like in the southern cone of Latin America in the 1970-80’s are over, look at this shocking video by AI re Mauritania,
More than two months after his arrest, the whereabouts of human rights defender and religious leader Imam Baba Leigh continues to remain unknown. Imam Baba Leigh was taken from his home on 3 December 2012 by two men believed to be part of the Gambia‘s National Intelligence Agency. Imam Baba Leigh is a religious leader and an active human rights defender. He serves as a religious advisor for The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices (GAMCOTRAP), an organisation working in the area of sexual and reproductive health and the rights of women and children. He is known as an outspoken campaigner who has aptly used his religious status to advocate for human rights and social reform. 
reports that on 15 December 2012, human rights defender Mr Sombath Somphone disappeared after last being seen driving away from his office. Since then, his whereabouts have been unknown, although sources have reported having seen video footage of the human rights defender in the custody of the police. Sombath Somphone is the founder and executive director of the Participatory Development Training Centre (PADETC), which trains young people in order to promote sustainable development. For his community development work he was awarded one of Asia’s most prestigious civil awards, the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, in 2005.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 