Posts Tagged ‘European Union’
April 11, 2013
Interesting example of how NGO pressure can have effect on the EU: last December, FIDH organised a round of advocacy with its Vice-President and Laureate of the MEA 2006, Arnold Tsunga, to convey to the European Union its concerns around the ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral period [“Zimbabwe: Ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral period”, report of the Observatory for the protection of human rights defenders published in November 2012.] FIDH’s objective was to gear up the EU’s attention to ensure early warning and appropriate reaction in case of human rights violations taking place in the electoral cycle staring with the upcoming referendum on the new Constitution before the holding of Presidential elections in the summer of this year. FIDH’s advocacy was reflected in the European Parliament’s prompt reaction to the arrest of Okay Machisa, National Executive Director of ZimRights, and two other ZimRights members Leo Chamahwinya, Dorcas Shereni through an urgent resolution adopted on 7 February, which also relays the Observatory report recommendations. In addition, the EU Delegation and Heads of Missions in Harare issued a Statement on 22 February to indicate the EU’s particular concern around the pattern of incidents of harassment against civil society organisations and to call on the authorities to demonstrate impartiality in their relation to civil society. 
via Zimbabwe : UE pays particular attention to the situation of … – FIDH.
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA, OMCT | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Arnold Tsunga, civil society organisations, election violence, EU, European Parliament, European Union, FIDH, Harare, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, International Federation for Human Rights, MEA, NGO, Observatory, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, World Organisation Against Torture, Zimbabwe
April 2, 2013
On 21 March 2013 human rights defenders gathered in Yaounde, Cameroon for the first counterparts meeting of the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network PAHRD-Net adopted a plan of action to promote stronger collaboration and protection of human rights defenders across Africa. During the week-long meeting, representatives from the five sub-regions, the Central Africa Human Rights Defenders Network REDHAC, West African Human Rights Defenders Network, Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, as well as thematic focal points for women human rights defenders, defenders working on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity and HRDs working in conflict zone and journalist working to end impunity and corruption, shared experiences and best practices for protection, security management, advocacy, research, information technology, program management and fundraising.
In the plan of action, the PAHRD-Net steering committee agreed to carry out a number of joint activities to strengthen the capacities of the sub-regional networks and to work together to increase the protection and security support available to human rights defenders at risk across the continent.At the end of the meeting, Hassan Shire, PAHRD-Net chairperson said: “African human rights defenders encounter myriad risks and obstacles in carrying out their work. With the steps agreed today, PAHRD-Net looks forward to seeing empowered, safer and more effective HRDs working throughout the continent.” The meeting was made possible by the EU, the Swedish International Development Agency, and the National Endowment for Democracy.
via Cameroon: Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Adopt Plan of Action – East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Africa, Cameroon, European Union, Hassan Shire, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, impunity, National Endowment for Democracy, networking, PAHRD-Net, Pan-Africanism, protection, Swedish International Development Agency, women human rights defenders
March 17, 2013
Human rights group Reporters Without Borders has named and shamed five companies it claims allowed their products to be used by countries with bad human rights records and the NGO also named five countries as “enemies of the internet“. It said that five private sector companies; Gamma, Trovicor, Hacking Team, Amesys and Blue Coat are “digital era mercenaries”. The overall list of companies it believed were involved in selling products to authoritarian regimes was “not exhaustive” and will be expanded in the coming months. “They all sell products that are liable to be used by governments to violate human rights and freedom of information,” the group said.”Their products have been or are being used to commit violations of human rights and freedom of information. If these companies decided to sell to authoritarian regimes, they must have known that their products could be used to spy on journalists, dissidents and netizens.” It added that if surveillance products were sold to an authoritarian regime by an intermediary without their knowledge, “their failure to keep track of the exports of their own software means they did not care if their technology was misused and did not care about the vulnerability of those who defend human rights.” Research by Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab has established that surveillance technology used against dissidents and human rights defenders in such countries as Egypt, Bahrain and Libya came from western companies, it claimed.
The Paris-based group labelled Syria, China, Iran, Bahrain and Vietnam as“enemies of the internet” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Bahrain, China, digital security, European Union, Human right, Human Rights Defenders, human rights group, information technology, internet, Iran, private sector companies, Reporters without Borders, RSF, security, software, spy, Syria, United States, Vietnam, Wall Street Journal
February 23, 2013
The InQuirer from Monrovia reports on 21 February 2013 that Search For Common Ground (SFCG) has launched a new project in Liberia. According to Oscar Bloh, Country Director of SFCG, the project is being launched in Lofa and Bong Counties, two of Liberia’s most populated counties, with the aim of encouraging the authorities to protect and promote human rights in the country. According to Bloh, now that the 14-year war has ended with a democratically elected government, the protection of human rights and access to justice should be key factors in promoting good governance in the country. The organization is working in partnership with the Independent National Human Rights Commission of Liberia, the United Nations Mission In Liberia UNMIL, the Government of Liberia (through the Ministry of Justice) and the European Union in implementing the project which targets about 80,000 citizens. He said the SFCG will work with county authorities, including the police, to engage society and stakeholders by explaining the rule of law. Giving an overview of the project, Mr. James Yarsiah, Executive Director of the partner NGO ‘Rights and Rice’ said the protection of human rights is cardinal to the national transformation in Liberia explained that the activities under the project include the training of local rights activists, providing skills for selected civil society organizations and empowerment of the citizens. The Executive Secretary of the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, Daniel H. Allison, said over the past fifteen years Liberia has become a violator of human rights despite the election of a democratically elected government. He called on the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf led administration to exert every effort to stop human rights violation in the country. This may not be earth-shaking news but is a nice example of the myriad of local projects that are going on.
via allAfrica.com: Liberia: SFCG Launches Human Rights Project in Lofa, Bong.
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Africa, Civil society, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, European Union, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, Liberia, Monrovia, NGOs, projects, Search For Common Ground
February 16, 2013
On 15 February 2013 News.az (an Azeri news agency) distributed under the title “Western human rights defenders’ silence shows double standards” a bit of a rambling attack on western-based international organizations and human rights defenders for using double standards by being quickly critical of repression of journalists in the ‘new democracies’ such as Azerbaijan and being silent with regard to similar repression in western Europe.
The 15 February piece is mostly based on an interview with
Eynulla Fatullayev, editor of the website Haqqin.az, who stated that the case of journalists from News of the World is a high-profile case, and certainly should be considered in the plane of restrictions on the rights of journalists to work freely. What the article does not state is that on 22 January of this year Amnesty International has announced the termination of its collaboration with Eynulla Fatullayev, a former prisoner of conscience, and head of the Public Association for Human Rights in Azerbaijan. Amnesty International believes that Fatullayev, and in particular, his site Haqqin.az, is used by the Government of Azerbaijan to discredit European criticism of human rights violations in Azerbaijan. In 2011 Amnesty International had issued a “mass tweet” on Fatullayev’s behalf; Fatullayev attributed his release inter alia to the work of Amnesty International activists.
In the interview Eynulla Fatullayev states among others the following: “I am more than sure that if a similar event occurred in Azerbaijan or in another state, located in the zone of the new democracies, it would be followed by statements by most international organizations condemning the policy of the authorities to the persecution of media. Why in the case of the United Kingdom or other EU countries, all these organizations remain strangely silent?” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in AI, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 1 Comment »
Tags: Amnesty International, awards, Azerbaijan, Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, double standards, European Union, Eynulla Fatullayev, Fatullayev, freedom of expression, Germany, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, News of the World, Public Association for Human Rights in Azerbaijan, selectivity, Unesco
January 26, 2013
In December 2012, the Stockholm-based NGO Civil Rights Defenders wrote a letter to the Swedish Foreign Minister, Carl Bildt, and urged him to demand stronger protection for human rights defenders in Kosovo. Civil Rights Defender’s letter to Carl Bildt was sent after the attacks against the organisations ‘Kosovo 2.0’ and ‘Libertas’ in late 2012. Read more about the background: http://www.civilrightsdefenders.org/news/statements/kosovo-police-must-promptly-investigate-hate-crime-attacks/
Carl Bildt (Wikipedia)
What is interesting is the frank exchange between the NGO and the Ministry and the fact that the exchange of letter can be made public. I think that in quite a few countries civil society can only dream of this kind of transparency.
For this reason I reproduce the response of 21 January 2013 by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs here in full:
Dear Robert,
Thank you for your letter about the human rights situation in Kosovo and the information about the attacks in Pristina against human rights defenders, addressed to Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. I’ve been asked to answer you. I would first like to apologize for the late reply.
The events you describe is obviously regrettable and unacceptable, and unfortunately part of a pattern in the Western Balkans where gay, bisexual and transgender people’s rights are not guaranteed and they are subjected to harassments. From a Swedish perspective, strengthening human rights in Kosovo is a priority both on a political level and within the framework of the Swedish development cooperation, where we work closely with the civil society, including Civil Rights Defenders. Improvement of the human rights situation is also crucial for Kosovo’s EU integration.
We are discussing these important issues on a political level with politicians in Kosovo. When Prime Minister Hachim Thaci visited Sweden in October, EU integration and the necessary reforms in Kosovo, including human rights, were major themes. In development cooperation, Sweden is working with great commitment with LGBT issues in several projects in the Western Balkans, including Kosovo. As you probably know the Swedish Institute in 2012 showed the exhibition “Article One” to empower the LGBT movement in Kosovo and make them more visible in the community.
One reason why Sweden wants to see Kosovo as well as the other Western Balkan countries as members of the EU, is the great development of these countries’ societies that comes with the EU integration. Democracy in Kosovo has made considerable progress in recent years, but significant challenges remain, not least in the field of human rights. A clear EU perspective with strict requirements and evaluations with regard to respect for human rights is the best way to drive development in Kosovo. Civil society engagement, both within countries and internationally, is of utmost importance for Kosovo to become a more open and democratic society.
Sincerely
Emilie af Jochnick
MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Balkan, Carl Bildt, Civil Rights Defenders, European Union, Human Rights Defenders, Kosovo, Kosovo 2.0, LGBT rights, Libertas, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden), Robert Hard, Sweden
January 21, 2013
Chris Collier has written a very practical Training Guide for human rights NGOs and activists to help you through the complex maze of EU and its obscure machinery. It is jam-packed with useful tips and brings to you every EU tool available. It helps to spot the most appropriate actors for different types of action. This guide comes with a toolkit that provides you with a compilation of good practices showcasing how other NGOs have achieved the desired impact.
http://www.euromedrights.org/eng/2013/01/15/emhrn-training-guide-and-toolkit-on-eu-advocacy/
Posted in books, human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Advocacy Organizations, Chris Collier, Civil society, EMHRN, EU, European Union, funding, human rights, Non-governmental organization, training
December 17, 2012
In this piece there are some interesting reflections on Germany’s human rights policy, which the broadcaster says is quite successful, but not very influential.
The program talks to some persons directly involved in the policy making and addresses an interesting question: “Apart from ethical considerations, human rights defenders face another, more practical key question: how to convince politicians in countries with difficult human rights track records to respect them more closely in the future? Put differently, does respecting human rights lead to a concrete political, social, or economic advantage?”
In its policy, Germany feels bound by ethical concerns as well as its free and democratic order, says Markus Löning, the German government special representative for human rights. Germany emphasises the benefits to strengthening human rights, Löning says. Establishing democracy and the rule of law improve a country’s standing in international relations. Germany’s relationship with eastern European countries after 1989 is a good example, Löning says. “Consider the relationship with Poland 25 years ago,” he says. “Today, Poland is one of our closest friends. The fact alone that a country is democratic makes establishing close, trusting relations so much easier.”
Human rights and the economy. First and foremost, human rights are based on ethics, Imke Dierßen, an advisor on Europe for Amnesty International, agrees. But adhering to human rights does have many advantages, she told Deutsche Welle – including better economic ties. Businesses need a reliable framework, so they usually set up in countries that offer these basic requirements, Dierßen says: countries with “sound legal systems and courts.” Both are prerequisites for long-term investment. Hence, Dierßen is convinced, businesses should have an interest in human rights. The West has a vested interest in standing up for human rights, Imke Dierßen from Amnesty International says. When human rights are neglected for a longer period, pressures build up that can erupt in violence. She points to Syria and Egypt, two countries which have yet to be pacified. “Of course, that also affects the EU,” the human rights expert says, pointing out their geographic proximity. “From a security policy and a geostrategic point of view, it is important to take a preventive approach. That’s where human rights play a great role.”
Eberhard Sandschneider, research director at the German Council on Foreign Relations, is convinced that human rights speak for themselves. While the West tends to underestimate the attractiveness of its own values, he says, other countries are closely watching the consequences of adhering to human rights. “If you make clear that human rights policies in Europe resulted in significant political stabilization, human rights acquire a completely new function and weight in the target countries,” he says.
Dierßen is confident that human rights concerns voiced by the German government are in fact taken seriously by governments. They also send encouraging signals to people suffering from human rights abuses. “Dissidents, mainly in China and East Europe, are always telling me how important the criticism is,” Dierßen says. “Again and again, they tell me: it is very good that you clearly address the issues. The fact alone that you make statements benefits and protects us.” Eberhard Sandschneider, however, believes that Germany’s human rights policies face a dilemma: Germany deals with states whose governments take an opposed stance when it comes to human rights. Dealing with these countries requires good diplomatic skill, the political scientist says. Dealings with them can taint Germany’s credibility, but that makes those relationships all the more important, he says. “Whether we want to or not, we have to work with the bad guys,” Sandschneider says. “Without that cooperation, stabilizing certain regions would not be possible.”
Creativity is called for. German special representative Markus Löning notes that people living in “bad guys” regimes have high expectations of Western human rights policies – which can’t always be implemented. These expectations are also voiced in the respective country’s media, Löning says – where they can take on accusatory or polemic forms. Western human rights policies can be influential, but the potential is limited. They can not perform miracles, which makes the challenge even greater to find creative ways to give human rights a better chance of a breakthrough.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Amnesty International, Deutsche Welle, Eberhard Sandschneider, European Union, German government, Germany, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, Imke Dierßen, Markus Löning, Politics of Germany
October 12, 2012
As this is post number 300 in my blog, I decided to write a more substantive piece and the news of the EU getting the Nobel Peace Prize is an excellent trigger:
The awarding of the 2012 Noble Peace Prize to the European Union has at least made clear that it is really a peace award and not a human rights award as is often assumed. With hindsight, it would have been more appropriate if Alfred Nobel had died on 21 September instead of 10 December 1896. Much later, the United Nations declared 10 December to be International Human Rights Day and designated 21 September as the International Day of Peace. The curious result is that the Nobel Peace Prize – intended for contributions to ‘peace’, not necessarily ‘human rights’ – is given every year in Oslo on 10 December, International Human Rights Day. On quite a few occasions the Peace Prize has been awarded to individuals who can safely be said to belong to the category of human rights defenders (HRDs), but in other cases it was awarded ‘merely’ because they stopped violating human rights (think of Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, Begin and Arafat or de Klerk) or to encourage leaders to continue their conflict resolution work (Obama and now the EU).
Awards for Human Rights Defenders are a different matter!
At the international diplomatic level human rights may nowadays receive a lot of attention in a myriad of procedures and mechanisms, but when it comes to the actual implementation at the grassroots level it is still the dedication of individual human beings that counts most. Fortunately, there are many such persons: some lobbying discreetly for improvements, others demonstrating loudly. However, some have to take tremendous personal risks when publicly challenging the powers that be. These heroes often have to sacrifice more than their time and energy, too many having been arrested, tortured and even killed.
Without the individual human rights defender, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights law risks to remain a dead letter. It is for this reason that almost all human rights organisations have some degree of mandate to come to the succour of threatened colleague human rights defenders. Many organisations at both the local and international level have some kind of human rights award. However, ten international human rights organisations, including the most influential, have set their differences aside to join in a common award for such courageous individuals: the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA), which next year exists 20 years.
A pertinent question is whether awards are really effective. To answer that, one has to know in which way human rights awards intend to help human rights defenders. In the first place, almost all awards want to give recognition and encouragement at the moral and psychological level. This goal should not be trivialized, as activists often have to work in environments that are not appreciative of their efforts, and the causes they defend can be unpopular even within their own social circles. Secondly, many awards come with a measure of direct financial support, which can be of great importance as even relatively small amounts go far in cash-strapped organisations, often based in developing countries.
Finally, the most ambitious but also the most elusive goal is to provide protection. The latter is not really possible without a fair degree of publicity. The problem is that much of the publicity generated by human rights awards tends to be in the country where the award is given, while from the protection point of view the most crucial publicity is in the country of the human rights activist in question. The award givers may want to see the name of their organisation or sponsor referred to in the media of their own country (usually in the West), but the recipients of the award are better served by attention and recognition in their own countries, often in the South with a low-level of literacy and limited independent press. Hence the importance of the use of the mass media, in particular radio and television and the internet. The freshly-crowned Nobel laureate, the EU, makes a major contribution to the protection of Human Rights Defenders, including a promise to give every year a reception in honor of the MEA laureate in the country of the winner.
The notoriety of the Nobel Peace Prize gives it great impact and we all would like to emulate it but it does not make it a human rights award. The number of human rights prizes can be confusing, but individually and collectively they do have the potential to bring human rights defenders ‘from the front line to the front page’. http://www.martinennalsaward.org contains many stories of HRDs and the links to the websites of the 10 NGOs on the Jury give a lot more information.
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: awards, conflict resolution, European Union, human rights, Human Rights Day, Human Rights Defenders, International Day of Peace, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Prize, protection, United Nations, war
May 2, 2012
The European Parliament adopts every year a Resolution based on the report it receives on the EU’s human rights action and policy. So, it did again on 18 April 2012.
The official emblem of the European Parliament. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It is quite a long resolution and I only copy here the general paragraphs relevant to Human Rights Defenders (the chapter also includes a somewhat ill-fitting paragraph 91 on Western Sahara and a correct but detailed observation re the Sacharov prize in para 93, which you can consult in the full text):
…….
Re Human rights defenders
87. Welcomes the EU’s political commitment to supporting human rights defenders, as a long-established component of the EU’s human rights external relations policy, and the many positive examples of demarches, trial observations, prison visits, and other concrete actions undertaken by EU missions and delegations, such as regular, institutionalised meetings with human rights defenders, but remains concerned at the lack of implementation of the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders in some third countries; considers that the VP/HR should make recommendations for enhanced action to those missions where implementation has been noticeably weak;
88. Urges the EU and its Member States to encourage EU missions and delegations to show their support and solidarity for the work undertaken by human rights defenders and their organisations, by regularly meeting and proactively engaging with them and incorporating their contributions into the development of the specific country strategies on human rights and democracy, and regularly engaging with Parliament;
89. Reiterates its call on the EU to systematically raise individual cases of human rights defenders in the ongoing human rights dialogues it has with those third countries where human rights defenders continue to suffer harassment and attacks;
90. Stresses the importance of systematic follow up to contacts with independent civil society, as well as more direct and easier access for human rights defenders to EU Delegations in third countries; welcomes the appointment of liaison officers, in the Delegations and/or in Member State embassies, for human rights defenders, and stresses that these should be experienced and appropriately trained officials whose functions are well-publicised both internally and externally; very much welcomes the fact that the VP/HR has indicated that she will always meet with human rights defenders in the course of her visits to third countries and calls for this practice to be followed by all Commissioners with responsibilities in the external relations field, and for reports on these contacts to be made available to Parliament;
91…….
92. Reiterates its call for greater inter-institutional cooperation on human rights defenders; considers that the EU’s response capacity and the coherence between the actions of the different institutions on urgent crises for human rights defenders would be well served by a shared alert system based on focal points, and encourages the EEAS and the Commission to explore this avenue further with the European Parliament;
93. ……
94. Undertakes to include women’s rights more systematically in its own human rights debates and resolutions and to use the Sakharov Prize network, and especially female winners of the Prize, to advocate women’s rights in the world;
full text: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P7-TA-2012-0126&language=EN&ring=A7-2012-0086
Posted in books, EU, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Civil society, EU, European Parliament, European Union, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, Resolution
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 