Posts Tagged ‘Dublin’
May 4, 2013
A bit more on awards: here is an indirect way to announce the 2013 Front Line Defenders award: with the letter of congratulations published by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), which shows how recognizing a single individual HRD can lift a wider movement:
Brussels, 3 May 2013 – On behalf of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, I would like to warmly congratulate Mr. Biram Dah Abeid for receiving the prestigious Human Rights Defenders at Risk Award, presented by Front Line Defenders, in Dublin. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Abeid, awards, Dublin, Frontline Defenders, human rights, Human rights defender, IRA, Mauritania, slavery, UNPO
April 15, 2013
Front Line Defenders hosted human rights defender Galym Ageleuov from Kazakhstan on its Fellowship Programme in Dublin between January and March 2013. Galym is the founder and head of human rights NGO Liberty – based in Almaty and established in 2011 to monitor and document human rights abuses and promote freedom of the internet in Kazakhstan, including through the You Tube project “Open Your Eyes” which broadcasts videos highlighting socio-political life in the country.
Liberty was one of the few organisations that succeeded in reporting from Zhanaozen and disseminating video footage following the massacre in 2011 when a demonstration by striking oil workers was violently suppressed by police, resulting in at least 14 deaths. Efforts to spread the awful truth of what happened there led to a serious defamation campaign against the organisation which included accusations of inciting violence and attempting to overthrow the government.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Almaty, Dublin, fellowship, Frontline Defenders, Galym Ageleuov, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, internet, Kazakhstan, Non-governmental organization, You Tube, Zhanaozen
April 3, 2013
For many years Dublin-based Front Line Defenders has continued a practice of issuing official-looking cards to whom they judge to be genuine human rights defenders. It is interesting to note that the news service Authint has picked up on this and issued a statement on 2 April 2013 saying: Defenders has issued an identity card to local human rights activist Abdul Qadeer Dar [in Kashmir]. Dar is an Executive Director of Voice of Victims and Chairman Peoples Rights Movement.” “The card is for those human rights defenders who have worked very closely with or have attended one of the Dublin Platforms or trainings”, Front Line told KNS. The “Card doesn’t empower the holder to represent Front Line defenders as it is not a membership organization. The card is intended to demonstrate that its holder is human rights defender with whom front Line Defenders has worked”.
via Defenders issued I Card to local HRA | Authint Mail.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Abdul Qadeer Dar, Advocacy Organizations, Dublin, Frontline Defenders, Human right, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, India, Kashmir, Pakistan, protection
March 27, 2013
In a piece in the Irish Times of 27 March 2013 Mary Lawlor, Director of Front Line Defenders, makes a strong plea for the release of the medical staff arrested and ill-treated in Bahrain:
“Medical ethics is apparently too sensitive an issue to discuss in Bahrain following the cancelling of an international conference that was being organised by the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland RCSI and Médecins Sans Frontières. Hardly surprising given that the Bahraini government jails and tortures medical professionals and human rights defenders……………..
….It is a pity that the RCSI did not feel strongly enough on the issue of medical ethics to speak out publicly when colleagues, some of whom had studied in Dublin, were being tortured in police custody in 2011………But the reality is that the government continues to jail those who raise their voices in defence of human rights. At this moment Dr Ali Al Ekri, Dr Saeed Al Samahiji and Ibrahim Al Demistani, a nurse, remain in prison having been convicted of “trying to overthrow the monarchy”, by treating injured demonstrators and speaking out about killings and torture. At the same time another 20 medics and health professionals will find out today whether the charges of participating in illegal gatherings have been upheld against them. They face the possibility of receiving a three-month prison sentence, although in practice, many of them have already spent that time in prison awaiting trial. Even those medics who have been released or who have had charges against them dropped have been removed from their posts. …. Repression in Bahrain is not a secret. Medical ethics would best be served by releasing the medics from prison together with Nabeel Rajab and all those human rights defenders who have had the courage to speak truth to power.”
via Jailed Bahraini doctors and human rights defenders should be released now – Middle East News | Latest News Headlines | The Irish Times – Wed, Mar 27, 2013.
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Bahrain, Dublin, Front Line Defenders, illegal detention, Ireland, Irish Times, Mary Lawlor, Médecins Sans Frontières, medical profession, Middle East, Nabeel Rajab, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, royal college of surgeons of ireland, torture
December 17, 2012
On December 9, Front Line Defenders held a one-off production called Voices from the Front Line. The event, which took place at Vicar Street Theatre in Dublin, celebrated the inspirational courage of 11 human rights defenders from around the world through an evening of stories and song. Among the performers were leading actors and musicians Martin Sheen, Andrea Corr, Robert Sheehan, Amy Huberman, Paul Brady, Hazel O’Connor, Cara O’ Sullivan, Liam Ó’ Maonlaí and Finbar Furey.
The show was attended by over 800 people and streamed live on Irish broadcaster RTE’s youtube channel. Through telling the stories of human rights defenders in their own words, the evening sought to raise public awareness of who human rights defenders are and the many risks they face. The selected human rights defenders provided an illustrative sample of the thousands more that Front Line Defenders works to protect and support on a daily basis.
• To watch Voices from the Front Line: http://youtu.be/mQ4hzaiHlLk
Posted in films, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: celebrities, Dublin, Front Line, Front Line Defenders, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Martin Sheen, media, streaming
December 6, 2012
The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was founded with a commitment to human rights as one of its three key pillars. Sadly, says Dublin-based Front Line Defenders, OSCE member states have not been living up to those ideals and human rights defenders face imprisonment, threats, harassment, defamation and restrictive legislation in countries across the region. “It is time the OSCE backed up fine declarations with effective action,” said
Mary Lawlor, Executive Director of Front Line Defenders, “too often it has been the prisoner of consensus and failed to respond when human rights defenders have been jailed, attacked or killed.”Front Line Defenders will undertake a silent vigil outside the OSCE Ministerial Council in Dublin on Thursday 6th December highlighting
ten cases of human rights defenders from the region:
Vidadi Iskenderov is in prison in
Azerbaijan
Ales Bialiatski is in prison in Belarus
Natalya Estemirova was murdered in Chechnya, Russia in July 2009
Agnes Gereb is under house arrest and facing a prison sentence in Hungary
Roza Tuletaeva is in prison in Kazakhstan
Azimjan Askarov is in prison in Kyrgyzstan
Pat Finucane was murdered in Northern Ireland in February 1989
Osman Isci is in prison in Turkey
Sviatoslav Sheremet was attacked and badly beaten in Ukraine in May 2012
Dilmurod Sayid is in prison in Uzbekistan
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Dublin, Front Line, Front Line Defenders, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 