Having reported in 2014 on the fate that had befallen Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the former Uzbek dictator [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2014/08/22/how-the-mighty-fall-in-uzbekistan-gulnara-karimova-asks-human-rights-protection/], I now feel that I should follow-up by referring to media reports (Reuters Almaty) that she is in fact being detained over fraud claims. Uzbek Prosecutors have revealed that Gulnara Karimova, who has not been seen in public for three years, was convicted of embezzlement already back in 2015. Gulnara Karimova’s lawyer has raised concerns about the welfare of the socialite.
Photograph: Yves Forestier/Getty Images for Style.Uz Art Week
The prosecutor general’s office said it was seeking to freeze about $1.5bn (£1.15bn) in assets held by Karimova in countries including Switzerland, Sweden, Britain, France, Latvia, Ireland, Malta, Germany, Spain, Russia, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates. Karimova could not be contacted for comment. Her Swiss lawyer Gregoire Mangeat said he did not know where she was being held and revealed that he had been forced to cancel a visit to see her this month. “The methods and behaviour adopted by the Republic of Uzbekistan thereby constitute a serious violation of the most fundamental human rights guarantees,” Mangeat said.
Saturday, 27 May 2017 jailed UAE lawyer Mohammed al-Roken was announced as the winner of the Ludovic Trarieux Award. This award is given by the Luxembourg-instigated European Bar Human Rights Institute (IDHAE), and is named after Trarieux, who in 1898 founded France’s Human Rights League. The annual award, worth 20,000 euros, recognises lawyers who have sought to defend human rights, often at great risk to themselves. [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2016/06/07/detained-chinese-lawyer-wang-yu-wins-ludovic-trarieux-prize/]
The Emirates lawyer was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2013. Mohammed al-Roken was among 69 people jailed on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government following a mass trial criticised by rights groups. A former head of the UAE Jurists’ Association, Roken, 54, was arrested in July 2012, after taking on the defence of several government opponents, including seven islamists. According to Amnesty the trial “was marred by allegations of torture which were blatantly ignored, the rights of defence were flaunted, and independent observers were banned from the court room“. For more on the Emirates and human rights: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/united-arab-emirates/
In awarding the Jury said Roken had devoted two decades to defending fundamental freedoms. The jury lamented that Roken’s trial had gone ahead behind closed doors and demanded his immediate release.
On 8 May 2017 AFP reported that human rights lawyer Xie Yang – according to a Chinese court – had admitted to getting “brainwashed” overseas. One cannot but wonder about how ‘public opinion’ in China itself receives the news of these ‘confessions’. There have been quite a few earlier cases (see e.g. https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2016/08/02/another-chinese-human-rights-lawyer-wang-yu-spontaneous-video-confession/) which the outside world has generally has dismissed as forced, but it is quite likely that the ‘home market’ is less critical (why would the authorities otherwise persist is this habit?).Read the rest of this entry »
Fair Trials, a human rights organisation, has created a new animation showing what it would feel like to live in a world without fair trials. To accompany the animation, Fair Trials have set up a website: www.withoutfairtrials.org, which explains why fair trial rights are important, what they mean and the consequences if they are not respected. For example, the right to a fair trial encompasses the right to access a lawyer, the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty if accused of a criminal offence and the right to be told the case against you in a language you understand.
The right applies whenever there is a determination of someone’s civil rights and obligations or any criminal charge against them. The animation looks at the importance of the right to a fair trial from the police station, to the courtroom and in prison. The animation highlights that around the world, fair trial rights are being denied to many people, everyday. For example, the website accompanying the animation says that in China, imprisoned human rights defenders are being denied access to lawyers and in Spain it is common for suspects not to be given information about the case against them until shortly before the trial starts.
A group of 10 NGOs has called on the authorities to immediately release human rights defender and professor of economics Dr Nasser Bin Ghaith, who remains in detention in an unknown location in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for his social media posts and human rights activities.
Nasser Bin Ghaithhas been denied proper access to his lawyer or family since his arrest in August 2015, and reportedly subject to torture in custody. The continued detention and charges violate his human rights, including his right to free expression. On 18 August 2015, security officers in civilian clothes arrested Dr Bin Ghaith in Abu Dhabi and searched his home and confiscated personal items including electronic memory sticks. He was held incommunicado until finally being brought to the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi on 4 April 2016, when he told the court he had been tortured and beaten in detention and deprived of sleep for up to a week. On 2 May 2016, a second hearing took place to examine charges against Dr Bin Ghaith relating to his online postings. He stated that he is still being held in secret detention, a fact he had previously brought to the judge’s attention during his hearing on 4 April. The judge refused to listen to his complaints for a second time. Neither his family nor his lawyer knows where he is being detained, and his lawyer’s request to visit him has been denied repeatedly.
Dr Bin Ghaith is one of a group of men known as the “UAE5” who were imprisoned in 2011 and tried for “publicly insulting” UAE officials. That trial also breached international human rights law and was widely criticised by human rights groups, including signatories of this letter.
A further charge brought against Dr Bin Ghaith of allegedly “posting false information about UAE leaders and their policies, offensively criticizing the construction of a Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi, and instigating the people of the UAE against their leaders and government” was related to a statement he made on Twitter intending to promote tolerance.
The court ordered the case to be adjourned until 23 May when the defence’s arguments will be heard.
All the attention is on Turkey as the country where refugees will have to be processed. The more the question of fair trial becomes important. The following does not bode well:
In the early morning of 16 March 2016, police raided the houses of 9 lawyers in Istanbul, Turkey. After the search, lawyers Ramazan Demir, İrfan Arasan, Ayşe Acinikli, Hüseyin Boğatekin, Şefik Çelik, Adem Çalışçı, Ayşe Başar, Tamer Doğan and Mustafa Rüzgar were taken into custody. They are all members of the Libertarian Lawyers Association ÖHD). There has not been given any justification for these arrests and searches. The case file on the arrests is confidential. Allegedly the lawyers are arrested on suspicion of having ties with a terrorist organization. All the lawyers that were arrested represent the 46 lawyers who were arrested in 2011 on suspicion of “working for, or belonging to, a terrorist organization”. A hearing in the trial against these lawyers took place only one day after the arrests (!), on 17 March 2016. The arrest of their lawyers means that they are deprived from their legal defense.
Lawyers for Lawyersand Fair Trial Watchare extremely worried about the state of the rule of law in Turkey, which is quickly deteriorating. They sent a letter to the Turkish authorities in which they urge them to:
– Immediately release lawyers and drop the criminal investigation;
– Abstain from identifying lawyers with their clients or their clients’ causes;
– Put an end to all forms of harassment against lawyers in Turkey;
– Guarantee in all circumstances that all lawyers in Turkey are able to carry out their legitimate activities without fear of reprisals, intimidation, threats and free of all restrictions. For more information see: http://www.advocatenvooradvocaten.nl/11446/turkey-police-raid-on-and-arrest-of-9-lawyers
Meanwhile on 11 February, 2016 the Human Rights Foundation drew attention to the case of journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, and urges the government of Turkey to drop the arbitrary charges imposed on them. On November 26, Dündar, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Cumhuriyet, and Gül, the Ankara bureau chief, were arrested based on a criminal complaint filed against them by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The complaint stems from a report published in Cumhuriyet on May 29, 2015 with photos and video footage claiming that Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization secretly armed Islamist rebel groups in Syria. The two journalists are being held at the high-security Silivri prison west of Istanbul. They are currently awaiting trial and facing up to life in prison.
Source: Vedat Arik/AP
“The rise of authoritarianism in Turkey is blatant. Erdogan’s government crackdown on independent journalists is a step towards exerting dictatorial control over Turkey’s media,” said HRF president Thor Halvorssen.
On 8 December 2015 at 18:00, Alkarama will present its 2015 Alkarama Award for Human Rights Defenders in the Arab World to Talib Al Ma’amari a Member of the Omani Parliament who stands up for human rights. The event will be held at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva (Switzerland). “Talib Al Mamari is a prisoner of conscience and a courageous human rights defender. By his unwavering non-violent fight against harmful environmental policies in Oman, he has become a model in the region as a dedicated militant who is genuinely close to the citizens’ concerns. Alkarama is proud to honour him,” says Mourad Dhina, Executive Director at Alkarama. The ceremony will be live-streamed on: http://www.youtube.com/AlkaramaHR/live.
On 27 November 2015, Mr Guo Feixiong was sentenced to six years in prison by the Tianhe District People’s Court in Guangzhou, China. Two other human rights defenders, Liu Yuandong and Sun Desheng, received three and two and a half year sentences respectively. In September, Guo Feixiong (pen name of Yang Madding) was awarded the 2015 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2015/09/12/2015-front-line-defenders-award-to-chinese-guo-feixiong-yang-maodong/].
Guo Feixiong was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of “gathering crowds to disturb social order” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. The latter charge was reportedly added by the judge at the sentencing and therefore one that Guo Feixiong’s lawyers had no opportunity to defend him against, and which resulted in two years being added to his sentence. Liu Yuandong was sentenced to three years, while Sun Desheng was sentenced to two and a half years, both on charges of “gathering crowds to disrupt public order”.
Since his detention in 2013, Guo Feixiong has reportedly been held in a 30 sq metre cell with 30 other detainees. Furthermore, he has been denied permission to go outside or exercise in the prison yard since his initial detention and has alleged ill-treatment by the prison guards. According to his lawyer, Mr Zhang Lei, Guo Feixiong’s health has suffered greatly as a result. It has also been reported that Sun Desheng had had his hands cuffed and legs shackled for long periods after his detention.
On 7 October, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights announced that Ms. Natalia Taubina, a leading human rights defender from Russia, has been selected as the laureate of the 2015 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, now in its 32nd year. “..I know my father would be proud of her work” said Kerry Kennedy, President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. “This award is not just a recognition, it is an opportunity to work hand in hand with human rights defenders to protect the rights and freedoms of the Russian people.”
Natalia is the Director of the Public Verdict Foundation in Russia and is being recognized for her work to hold law enforcement agents accountable for human rights violations and support victims of torture in Russia. The Public Verdict Foundation litigates on behalf of citizens wrongfully arrested, beaten, tortured, and illegally detained by police. In 2014, the Russian government categorized the foundation as a “foreign agent”to publicly invalidate, shame, and render inoperable organizations with international ties. Natalia’s organization has resolutely fought this label in court and is committed to protecting human rights despite the government’s attempt to shut down civil society groups.
“This recognition of our work is especially important today when civil society in Russia is under unprecedented pressure. The climate in which we now operate is hostile like never before. But victims of abuse in Russia need us, and we are not going to abandon them” said Natalia Taubina.
Mrs. Robert F. Kennedy will present Natalia with the 2015 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in Washington, D.C., in a ceremony on 19 November.
In this video (published on 14 October 2015) human rights lawyer Amal Clooney tells Amnesty International why she has taken up the case of former President Mohamed Nasheed, former president of the Maldives who was jailed for 13 years on terrorism charges. This hasty trial received universal criticism and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has declared his imprisonment as a violation of international law. Amal Clooney gave this interview after she spoke at a side event organised by Amnesty International to highlight the human rights situation in the Maldives focusing on fair trials and access to justice. https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2015/09/07/mahfooz-saeed-lawyer-of-maldives-ex-president-stabbed/
Others in a similar situation as Nasheed include former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim, sentenced in March to 11 years for allegedly keeping an unlicensed weapon; former Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim, sentenced in March to 25 years for alleged corruption. Almost all opposition leaders are either in jail or in exile, fearing arrest and imprisonment if they return. They include Sheikh Imran Abdulla, the leader of Adhaalath Party, who has been detained since May. He is at risk of unfair trial.
Source: Vedat Arik/AP
On 27 November 2015, Mr 
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 