share information on human rights defenders, with special focus on human rights awards and laureates
“Write for Rights” is one of Amnesty International’s major global campaigns. AI is capable of getting its own outreach and does not need my blog but I want to refer to it anyway as it is such a quintessential human rights action model. Read the rest of this entry »
The Information and Communications Amendment Bill of 2013 was passed in Kenya by parliament on October 31, 2013, but has not yet been signed by the president. Another problematic draft law, the Media Council Bill, is due to
be debated in parliament in the coming weeks. Moreover, on October 30 the attorney general also proposed controversial new provisions regulating the work of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including a proposed cap at 15 percent of foreign funding. “These new laws are an attempt to undermine freedoms of expression and association in Kenya,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director of Human Rights Watch on 12 November. “Kenya’s leaders should act swiftly to prevent these bills from becoming law and focus on the country’s real challenges, like police reform and accountability.”
The new idea of restricting (foreign) funding follows similar efforts by an increasing number of other countries, signaling a dangerous trend:
On October 30, the office of the attorney published in the official gazette – the mandatory first step before a bill is introduced to parliament – the Miscellaneous Amendment Bill of 2013. This bill includes provisions that would grant broad discretionary powers to a new government body to regulate nonprofit organizations and would limit access to foreign funding for these groups. The amendment would empower a new government body, the Public Benefits Organizations Authority, to “impose terms and conditions for the grant of certificates of registration, permits of operation, and public benefit organization status.” The chairperson would be appointed by the president, increasing executive powers over nongovernmental groups. Critics of the law fear that the wide powers vested in the executive branch could be used to restrict nongovernmental organizations or even penalize organizations that fall out of favor with the Kenyan authorities.
The amendment would also introduce new limits on funding for nongovernmental organizations. It states that “a public benefit organization shall not receive more than 15 percent of its total funding from external donors,” unless otherwise approved by the minister for finance. Funding to nonprofits would be channeled through a new Public Benefits Organizations Federation rather than directly from donors – which could create new operational difficulties for nongovernmental organizations and delays in their projects.
“This new law requiring nongovernmental organizations to raise 85 percent of their funding locally may well have the effect of weakening independent voices,” Bekele said. “As we have seen elsewhere in the region, including in Ethiopia, these laws are an assault on basic freedoms and Kenya’s citizens and leadership should soundly reject them.”
Kenya: New Laws Would Undermine Basic Rights | Human Rights Watch.
A three-day Forum on the participation of African NGOs at the 54th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights [ACHPR] and also the 28th African Human Rights Book Fair concluded on Sunday, 20th October, 2013 in Kololi. The forum brought together stakeholders dealing with various human rights issues from different parts of Africa. Various reports were presented that touched on media freedom and freedom of expression as well as on laws and principles governing media practice such as defamation, sedition and other draconian laws that prevail in many African countries. Kebba Jeffang reports in the Foroyaa newspaper of 21 October on the results:
The Ogaden OnLine reports the following on 29 September:
We, the peoples of Benshangul, Gambella, Ogaden Somali, Oromo, Shakacho and Sidama nations unanimously agree to form Human Rights Advocacy Group [HRAG] in order to advocate for the Human Rights of the member communities and other oppressed peoples by the Ethiopian government. HRAG will tirelessly campaign harnessing the combined resources of the aforementioned communities and other support groups. It will expose the crimes the Ethiopian government is committing against the defenceless communities of these peoples, including land grabbing and displacement, mass executions, extra-judicial killings, rampant rape, mass detentions and use of aid as a weapon to gain compliance to the regime marginalization policies. HRAG will conduct targeted advocacy campaign that includes data gathering, advocacy works directed at countries of the world, Human Rights defenders, the AU and the United Nations, and will encourage more vigorous and joint campaigns by all the communities concerned. HRAG informs that the current situation in Ethiopia is very dire and unless urgent measures are taken, a crisis far worse than any seen so far in Africa will unfold. Therefore, HRAG calls the international community, in particular Donor countries, the AU and the UN and EU to make the Ethiopian government accountable for its flagrant Human Rights violations.Finally, HRAG calls upon all peoples in Ethiopia to stand up together and confront the perpetrators.Justice for all nations and nationalities.
While any new group with a focus on the defense of human rights is welcome – and in view of the means employed by the Ethiopian government also needed – the statement would have gained from a clear position that violent means will not be employed or advocated.
via Ogaden Online: The official homepage of Ogaden on the Internet – Human Rights Advocacy Group HRAG.
On 15 August 2013 the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa [HRLHA] called for reversal of the sentencing of 21 Oromo students by the Federal High Court of Ethiopia on 7th August.
Three of the Sentenced Oromo Students
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, will carry out an official visit to Ethiopia and Djibouti from 30 April to 9 May 2013 to collect information directly from Eritrean refugees on the human rights situation in their country. As in the case of Iran, Eritrea refuses access to the UN Rapporteur. “Due to lack of access to Eritrea, I will engage with all others concerned by human rights in Eritrea, including those who consider themselves to be victims of alleged human rights violations, human rights defenders and other civil society actors,” Ms. Keetharuth said. Another case of non-cooperation with UN mechanisms that should not be rewarded.
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Intervening at the 53rd ordinary session of African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, on 18 April 2013, the FIDH and the OMCT, in the framework of their Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, expressed their grave concern about the situation of human rights defenders in Africa, which they stated had not observed an improvement. Violations of human rights targeting defenders have continued, notably in Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo DRC, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Judicial harassment based on false accusations, accompanied by arbitrary arrests and detentions, remains the most common harassment technique, especially in Algeria and Zimbabwe, but also in Cameroon, Djibouti, Egypt, The Gambia and Sudan. In several countries, including The Gambia and DRC, defenders have also been subjected to threats and smear campaigns. In late December 2012 / early January 2013, the presence in Goma in the Kivu region of non-State armed groups notably led to increased threats against local defenders, forcing many of them to hide or flee into exile. The targeted defenders are, inter alia, members of NGOs and lawyers in Chad, DRC, Zimbabwe, journalists in Djibouti, trade unionists fighting against impunity in Algeria, Djibouti, DRC, Zimbabwe or defending land rights and the right to a healthy environment in Cameroon; defenders of the right to work in Algeria and the right to health care in Sudan; advocates for the abolition of the death penalty in The Gambia, women’s rights in DRC, The Gambia, and free and fair elections in Zimbabwe; and activists campaigning against arbitrary detention in Egypt. Some excerpts follow but the reference to the full report is below:
I reported earlier that on 28 February the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of their joint programme the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, organised a meeting on (legal) restrictions increasingly imposed on human rights defenders. This was followed up on 11 March with an oral intervention at the UN Human Rights Council.
The statement referred to the recently published Annual Report 2013 of the Observatory, which states that NGOs’ access to funding, in particular foreign funding, is increasingly being hindered by governments around the world. Restrictive laws combined with unfounded criticism, smear campaigns and judicial harassment directed against human rights defenders because of the source of their funding create a hostile environment towards their activities as a way to silence them. Belarusian law now prohibits any possibility for an NGO to hold a bank account in an institution based abroad, and criminalises the use of so-called unauthorised funds. These new provisions were adopted as FIDH Vice-President and “Viasna” President Ales Bialiatski was sentenced to 4.5 years’ imprisonment after he made use of foreign funds to finance human rights activities in his country. Read the rest of this entry »
Photo: Ninke Liebert Photography
Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders reported yesterday that the Ethiopian human rights defender and journalist Mesfin Negash was found guilty of supporting terrorism and treason by an Ethiopian court on Wednesday.
Mesfin was convicted in absentia together with 23 other journalists and political activists. The sentence will be delivered on July the 13th.
” The verdict is just another evidence of how politicized the Ethiopian justice system is, and a sign of the ever growing repression in the country. This is the same law that was used against the Swedish journalists, Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson”, says Erik Esbjörnson of Civil Rights Defenders.
Ethiopian authorities charged Mesfin Negash in November 2011 with supporting terrorism, among other. Mesfin was then already in exile, together with several of his colleagues from the newspaper Addis Neger, after having been subjected to severe harassment for a long period.
Mesfin Negash was granted asylum in Sweden in February 2012. In May he was elected Human Rights Defender of the Month in Civil Rights Defenders’ campaign to protect human rights defenders at risk around the world.
– The verdict will not prevent me from working to promote human rights in Ethiopia, says Mesfin Negash.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) welcomes the strong stand taken by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) on the political, security and humanitarian confllicts and crises raging on the continent, at its 51st Session. FIDH now urges African Union (AU) Member States to give immediate effect to the recently adopted resolutions. The document published by allAfrica.com refers to the recent conflict between Sudan and South Sudan the unconstitutional changes of government that lately occured in Mali and Guinea-Bissau, the territorial integrity of Mali and a West African region where several armed groups, like in Nigeria, still perpetrate violations. On HRDs the document of FIDH states the following:
“The African Commission considered with a particular attention the civil and political rights’ violations happening in several countries. The Commission condemned the recurring impediment to Human rights defenders’ action in countries like Ethiopia – where the Charities and Civil Societies Proclamation adopted in 2009 continues to place excessive restrictions on Human rights organisations’ work – Swaziland – where authorities keep opposing the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of association – and Somalia, where journalists are taken in the grip of the ongoing armed conflict and are openly murdered. The FIDH welcomes the African Commission’s clear call for the amendment of the Ethiopian Charities and Civil Societies Proclamation, for the respect of the rights to fundamental freedoms in Swaziland and for justice to be rendered to the murdered journalists in Somalia. All these recommandations were supported by our organisation.”
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 