Posts Tagged ‘Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders at Risk’

Hope and defiance abound as Dublin event hosts 100 human rights defenders

October 27, 2024

At a time of unprecedented backlash against them, dozens of the most at-risk human rights defenders (HRDs) from all regions of the world will come together with dignitaries and civil society leaders in Dublin for three days from 23-25 October at Front Line Defenders’ flagship event, the Dublin Platform. This is Front Line Defenders’ 12th Platform, bringing together around 100 HRDs from close to 100 different countries.

First held in 2002, previous Dublin Platforms have given HRDs from almost every country the opportunity to share strategies for advocacy and protection, build solidarity with colleagues around the world, and network with high-level decision makers.

“Human rights defenders represent the best of the human spirit. They steadfastly champion the human rights of others, often at great personal risk, to push for fairer, more just societies,” said Alan Glasgow, Executive Director of Front Line Defenders.

“But the challenges they face are enormous. For their courageous work, human rights defenders are often targeted with the worst forms of violence, surveillance, criminalisation and other repression.

The dignitaries addressing this year’s Platform will include: Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Michael O’Flaherty, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe; and Seán Fleming, Minister of State in Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs. https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/10/human-rights-defenders-are-oxygen-human-rights-ecosystem

Among the HRDs attending the Dublin Platform are LGBTIQ+ rights defenders; Indigenous, land and environmental rights defenders; women human rights defenders; journalists facing threats and persecution; those fighting against corruption and corporate abuse, and those working on a range of other issues.

The HRDs taking part in the Platform face a wide range of risks, from digital surveillance and online harassment, to death threats and violent attacks, to criminalisation and vilification through smear campaigns. Some work in extremely challenging circumstances amid armed conflicts, crackdowns and other large-scale crises. Front Line Defenders documents the wide array of risks faced by HRDs in its Global Analysis, published annually.

The HRDs in attendance will also attend a special tribute at the HRD Memorial monument in Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens, to commemorate the hundreds of their colleagues around the world who are killed every year for their peaceful work. According to the HRD Memorial initiative – which Front Line Defenders coordinates – at least 300 HRDs across 28 countries were killed in 2023

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/hope-and-defiance-abound-dublin-event-hosts-around-100-human-rights-defenders

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2019 Dublin Platform opens with 120 HRDs but five not able to attend

October 2, 2019

The 3-day 2019 Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders at Risk was opened on 2 October by Irish Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet. Over 120 human rights defenders (HRDs) from more than 80 countries are attending. Front Line Defenders Executive Director, Andrew Anderson, said that five human rights defenders were prevented from traveling to Dublin – Khadija Ismayilova (Azerbaijan), Oyub Titiev (Russia), Said Boudour (Algeria), Michel Matos (Cuba) and Marivic Danyan (Philippines). See more below.

The opening ceremony featured a testimony by Bahraini woman human rights defender (WHRD) Ebtisam Alsaegh, who was finally able to leave Bahrain and attend Dublin Platform years after first being invited. Speaking in Dublin, she called for an immediate end to gendered and sexualized attacks against women human rights defenders around the world.

Over three days, human rights defenders will share tactics and strategies for their protection and security, while learning from each other about their struggles, protests, resistance movements and victories. On Thursday evening, the HRDs will march in a procession to Christchurch Cathedral as part of the “Set Them Free” campaign, calling for the release of HRDs facing multi-decade prison sentences around the world. The campaign includes former Front Line Defenders Protection Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Bahraini HRD Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, now serving a life sentence for his role in the peaceful pro-democracy uprising of 2011.

Four human rights defenders were either prevented from leaving their countries – or decided not to risk it due to pending charges. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/10/18/repressive-governments-and-ophelia-compete-to-prevent-hrds-to-travel-to-dublin/]

On 26 September, Cuban cultural rights defender Michel Matos was banned from travelling from José Martí International Airport in Havana while en route to attend the event in Ireland. Michel is an activist for cultural rights in Cuba. He, along with other artists, musicians and performers, has taken a stand against the controversial Decree 349, signed by Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel in April 2018, which grants the Ministry of Culture disproportionate power to control, cancel and sanction artistic expression, while containing vague and overly broad restrictions. While being processed at passport control, officials informed him he was not permitted to board the plane as he is on an automatic travel ban list. He was not shown any documents or given any further details on the ban, other than being told that the officials “were following orders”.

Due to his work advocating for the rights of political prisoners in Algeria, Said Boudour has been informed that he is currently being sought by the Algerian authorities. As he prepared to travel to Ireland to attend the Platform, he received advice from his lawyer that should he attempt to leave the country he would almost certainly be arrested at the airport. Said is a member of the Algerian League for Human Rights. He works on a range of civil and political rights in Algeria, with a particular focus on the rights of prisoners in the context of the ongoing anti-government demonstrations, and on democracy in Algeria. The human rights defender has been frequently harassed by the Algerian authorities; he has been previously detained three times and has been under regular police surveillance.

Khadija Ismayilova, a woman human rights defender and journalist from Azerbaijan, was also unable to accept her invite to the Dublin Platform due to a travel ban imposed against her following her release from prison in 2016. In 2018 the Baku Court of Appeal refused for the third time to lift the ban. Khadija is well known for her investigative reports on corruption in Azerbaijan, including the President’s family’s involvement.

Oyub Titiev, a human rights defender from Chechnya, was similarly prevented from travelling due to a travel ban stemming from his conditional release from prison in June 2019. He was detained in January 2018 on fabricated drug charges in retaliation for his work with Human Rights Center Memorial in Chechnya. Both Oyub and Front Line Defenders had written without success to the Russian authorities seeking permission for him to allowed travel to attend the Dublin Platform.

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/2019-dublin-platform

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Annual reports 2017 by Front Line Defenders

April 28, 2018

On 23 April 2018 Dublin -based NGO “Front Line Defenders” published  two significant reports:

  1. Dispatches 2017 –  the annual publication about the significant challenges confronting human rights defenders (HRDs) and  efforts to provide the protection and support they so critically need;
  2. The Annual Report on Human Rights Defenders at Risk 2017, which documents hundreds of physical, legal, and social attacks on HRDs around the world in 2017.What stands out is the courage and resilience of the individual HRDs  who tirelessly continue their work to build more just and equal societies despite increasingly repressive environments. Almost every day a HRD is killed because of her or his peaceful work.

    Moreover, in October 2017, Front Line Defenders held its biannual Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, bringing together over 110 HRDs from 99 countries. To read the Platform Report, view video testimonies of fellow HRDs and see some photos from the event, click the link below to access the Platform page:

    In 2018, Front Line Defenders will be reviewing its work and setting priorities for the next four years, so please feel encouraged to send them any feedback on how you think it could be more effective.

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Dispatches-  https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/resource-publication/dispatches-2017

Annual Report-  https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/resource-publication/annual-report-human-rights-defenders-risk-2017

Dublin Platform  – https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/2017-dublin-platform

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