Posts Tagged ‘FIDH’
October 16, 2012
An “Insignificant State” called “Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan” or a highly repressive regime torturing human rights defenders?
Last October(2011), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) launched a new web application to bring attention to human rights defenders still incarcerated in horrific conditions in Uzbek prisons.
US Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain stated on 8 October 2011 “When they ask me who’s the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan, I’m going to say, ’You know, I don’t know. Do you know?” Cain added that it was not a priority to know “the head of one of those small, insignificant states around the world”.
FIDH does want people to know. And to care.
At least 10 Uzbek human rights defenders remain in detention under appalling conditions ; several of them are members of FIDH member organisation, the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU).
Nevertheless, Uzbekistan has long been a key US partner, hosting US military bases servicing the Afghan military campaign. Moreover, in 2009 the EU dropped all 2005 sanctions imposed following the Andijan tragedy, despite there being no serious change in Uzbekistan’s human rights record.
On the rare occasions that the international community has sent strong messages on human rights issues these calls have been heard: on the eve of Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s last visit to Uzbekistan in December 2010, one human rights defender, Farhad Mukhtarov was released. Again, on 14 October 2011, the member of the HRSU Norboy Kholjigitov was released on parole, after 6 years and 4 months in detention, in advance of Hillary Clinton’s visit to Tashkent on 23 October 2011. I should add that in 2008 the MEA laureate Mutabar Tadjibaeva was released after concerted pressure by EU, US and a large number of NGOs!
Must we wait another 10 years to release all the imprisoned human rights defenders?
Therefore I am repeating the FIDH’s application (in English and Russian) and spread the word about this situation by linking it to my blog. Do the same and go to http://www.fidh.org/2011_UZ
The application details the history of human rights defenders, their wrongful detention, and the general political background influencing their situation.
Uzbekistan : New web application on detained human rights … – FIDH.
Posted in films, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: FIDH, film, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, International Federation for Human Rights, MEA, Mutabar Tadjibayeva, Non-governmental organization, political prisoners, Uzbekistan, web application
September 27, 2012
Organisation for the Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has an active human rights defenders programme that is often overlooked. The statement below illustrates the kind of cases that continue to plague parts of Europe.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of their joint programme, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, submitted to the OSCE information on the threats and obstacles faced by human rights defenders in OSCE Participating States.
In 2011 and 2012, human rights defenders in Eastern Europe and Central Asia continued to operate in a difficult, and sometimes hostile environment. The lack of accountability and respect for the rule of law remained acute, particularly in Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Turkey and Uzbekistan. For the full text go to:
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe OSCE : Contribution to the 2012 OSCE Human Dimension … – FIDH.
Posted in books, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Belarus, Central Asia, Europe, FIDH, human rights, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, OSCE, rule of law, Russian Federation, Turkey, Uzbekistan
August 10, 2012
As new cases of arbitrary arrests and ongoing judicial harassment have been reported in Bahrain, the Observatory for Human Rights Defenders – a joint project of OMCT and FIDH – remains extremely concerned with the very repressive climate faced by human rights defenders in that country, it appears from a press statement of 9 August 2012..
On August 2, 2012, Ms. Zainab Al-Khawaja was once again arrested while she was protesting alone at Al Qadam roundabout against the arbitrary detention of her father Mr. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja,founder of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), former President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), and former MENA Director at Front Line. While arresting Ms. Al-Khawaja, police officers verbally assaulted her and threatened her with reprisals as she was legitimately resisting their orders to give a blood sample. She was finally forcibly led to the Fort Prison Hospital before being transferred to Isa Town Detention Center, where she was kept handcuffed despite a serious leg injury sustained after security forces shot her with tear gas canisters at close range. On August 4, 2012, the Public Prosecution remanded her into custody for seven days.
The Observatory further recalls that Mr. Nabeel Rajab, President of the BCHR – which is one of the three nominees for the 2012 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders – and FIDH Deputy Secretary General, has faced constant judicial harassment, as four cases have been brought against him since May 2012 in relation with his human rights activities. Mr. Rajab is still facing three of these cases. In particular, he has been detained since July 9, 2012 and sentenced to 3 months’ imprisonment for alleged libel after he tweeted the following on June 2: “Khalifa, leave the residents of Al Muharraq, its Sheikhs and its elderly. Everyone knows that you are not popular here, and if it wasn’t for the subsidies, they wouldn’t have gone out to welcome you. When will you step down?“
The Observatory is deeply concerned about constant postponements, as their only aim seems to be to keep Mr. Nabeel Rajab in detention as long as possible, by delaying the examination of the request filed by his lawyers against his 3-month imprisonment sentence. The Observatory reiterates its call on the Bahraini authorities to immediately and unconditionally release him as his detention is arbitrary and only aims at sanctioning his human rights activities.
Bahrain: Ongoing arbitrary arrests and judicial harassment of human rights defenders / August 9, 2012 / Urgent Interventions / Human rights defenders / OMCT.
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | 3 Comments »
Tags: Bahrain, detention, FIDH, Human Rights Defenders, human rights violations, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Nabeel Rajab, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT
May 22, 2012
(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.”
Posted in books, FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Africa, African Court on Human and Peoples Rights, African Union, Ethiopia, FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, International Federation for Human Rights, Somalia, Swaziland
May 8, 2012
On May 7, 2012, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), reports and protests the arbitrary arrest and judicial harassment of Mr. Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) and FIDH Deputy Secretary General. The Centre was announced only two weeks ago as one of the nominees of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (for a short film on their work see http://www.martinennalsaward.org)
On May 5, 2012, Mr. Nabeel Rajab was arrested by plain clothes police officers upon arrival at Manama airport from Lebanon and transferred to Al Hawra police station. The police officers who proceeded to the arrest stated that they were following orders by the Public Prosecutor, however neither Mr. Rajab nor his lawyers were then informed of the reasons for his arrest.
Mr. Rajab had returned to Bahrain in order to attend a hearing for charges of “participating in an illegal assembly” and “calling others to join”, relating to a protest organised on March 31, 2012 in Manama to denounce the detention of human rights defender Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, former BCHR President and former MENA Director at Front Line.On May 6, Mr. Rajab was accordingly taken to court, where he denied the charges against him. The trial was postponed to May 22, 2012.
Later the same day, Mr. Rajab was presented before the Public Prosecutor, who informed him of the reasons for his arrest. According to Mr. Rajab’s lawyers, charges of “insulting the statutory bodies”, pursuant to Article 216 of the Penal Code, which carry an imprisonment for a term of up to three years and a fine, are pressed against him in relation to tweets he posted deemed “insulting” to the Ministry of Interior. Mr. Rajab replied that he was the author of tweets posted through his account and that he did not recognise the jurisdiction of the Court and the Prosecution due to their lack of independence from the Executive. The Public Prosecutor remanded Mr. Rajab to detention for seven days.
The Observatory firmly denounces the arbitrary detention as well as the judicial harassment of Mr. Nabeel Rajab, which seem to merely aim at sanctioning his legitimate human rights activities. It recalls that according to international standards pre-trial detention should only be used where other measures of restraint are not possible.
The Observatory recalls that these events occur within the context of an intensified crackdown against activists, including human rights defenders, who have supported or are alleged to have supported the protest movement which started in Bahrain in February 2011.
Bahrain: Arbitrary arrest and judicial harassment … – FIDH.
Posted in FIDH, Front Line, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, Bahrain, detention, FIDH, Human rights defender, independence of the judiciary, International Federation for Human Rights, lawyers, MEA, Nabeel Rajab, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, World Organisation Against Torture
May 3, 2012
And the virtual ink on my previous post is hardly dry and I come across the case of Mohammed Ali Dadkhah, just but not justly sentenced to 9 year prison. Iran can hardly be surprised that it leads the table of HRDS honored in the context of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.
A prominent lawyer who worked on the case of a Christian pastor on death row in Iran for apostasy, which made headlines around the world, Dadkhah has been sentenced to nine years in jail. “I have been convicted of acting against the national security, spreading propaganda against the regime and keeping banned books at home,” he said. Iranian authorities have used such vague charges in recent years to incriminate activists and lawyers in recent years. He had also been banned from teaching at universities or practicing law for an extra 10 years.
Dadkhah has represented several political and human rights activists jailed in the aftermath of the country’s 2009 disputed elections. He has also been the lawyer of the 32-year-old Yusuf Naderkhani, whose sentencing to death for apostasy triggered an international outcry.
Other prominent Iranian lawyers have also been sentenced to lengthy prison terms such as Abdolfattah Soltani, Nasrin Sotoudeh and recently Narges Mohammadi. Like them, Dadkhah worked for the DHRC of Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi who fled the country in 2009.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) on Thursday condemned the sentencing of Dadkhah as well as the systematic harassment by the state against the DHRC members.
“We fear that the harassment against DHRC and attempts to silence its members will continue exponentially”, says Souhayr Belhassen, the FIDH President.
“The authorities in Iran are doing their utmost to stifle human rights defenders by imposing heavy sentences of imprisonment, exile, and ban on professional practice. All this is aimed at intimidating the whole society into a deadly silence”, adds secretary general of the OMCT, Gerald Staberock.
Iranian lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah sentenced to nine years in jail | World news | guardian.co.uk.
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: detention, FIDH, Human Rights Defenders, Iran, lawyers, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, Mohammed Ali Dadkhah, Narges Mohammadi, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, Shirin Ebadi, Soltani, Sotoudeh
March 15, 2012
On March 8 and 9, 2012, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), organised the fourth “inter-mechanisms” meeting, which was hosted by the Office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland. This is a unique informal platform where under Chatham House Rules key actors meet to fine tune standards and mechanisms for Human Rights Defenders.
On this occasion, international and regional mechanisms and programmes for the protection of human rights defenders – operating within the United Nations, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), the Council of Europe, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights(IACHR) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights – joined by representatives of the European Union, the International Organisation of the Francophonie and various NGOs, discussed the drafting of a joint report on existing standards and recommendations related to the protection of human rights defenders at the international and regional levels. IACHR offered to take a coordinating role in drafting the report, with the back up of the Observatory. This report would be inspired by the 2011 Commentary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and the IACHR Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders. Such a document, the first of its kind, will not only be a useful tool to human rights defenders, States and other relevant stakeholders, but will also demonstrate a unity of approaches among mechanisms.
Participants also shared their experiences and lessons learnt in order to identify possible ways tostrengthen the coordination and cooperation among existing mandates on the protection of human rights defenders. In particular, action-oriented discussions focused on how to ensure accountability for human rights violations against human rights defenders, which is a central issue for all mechanisms and programmes in order to combat impunity.
Participants also discussed core policy challenges affecting the protection of human rights defenders in relation to freedom of association, as well as possibilities of cooperation with the newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. A specific focus on the right to receive and access funding, including foreign funding was discussed, reflecting renewed preoccupations by mechanisms on restrictions by States in this regard. These issues should be further discussed during a future inter-mechanisms meeting, to be organised by the Observatory.
For more information, please contact :
• OMCT : Delphine Reculeau : + 41 22 809 49 39
• FIDH : Karine Appy / Arthur Manet : + 33 1 43 55 25 18
Concrete steps towards better protection of human rights defenders / March 15, 2012 / Urgent Interventions / Human rights defenders / OMCT.
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Council of Europe, FIDH, Human Rights Defenders, IACHR, international community, NGOs, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OIF, OMCT, OSCE, Special Rapporteur, UN
February 28, 2012
On 27 February 2012 an impressive array of international NGOs welcomed the decision by the Criminal Chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court to acquit the judge and human rights defender Baltasar Garzón. The organizations include: the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), Lawyers Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), Asociación pro Derechos Humanos de España (APDHE), Asociación Española para el Derecho Internacional de los Derechos Humanos (AEDIDH), the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF) and Rights International Spain (RIS). The stated: “… We have previously issued a statement https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByBM8_x9YdxiOTllZTE4YzYtNGQ1Mi00NGQ1LWJlNTgtMDhjNDliMDE4MzYx/edit?pli=1 warning the international community and Spanish society of the danger that the process posed to both judicial independence and access to justice for victims of crimes committed during the Spanish Civil War and the Franco regime. We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to finally acquit Judge Baltasar Garzón of the malfeasance charges against him. However, at the same time, we strongly reaffirm that grave damage has been done to both Judge Garzón and judicial independence more broadly. Judge Garzón should never have been prosecuted for complying with the clear obligation under international law to investigate grave violations of human rights.”
The organizations added that the critical question that motivated the prosecution of Judge Garzón has not been adequately answered: “Who has the legal authority to investigate crimes committed during the Spanish Civil War and the Franco regime?” “We remind the Supreme Court of its obligation to rule on this issue of legal authority or competency raised before it. Determination of this pressing issue was inexplicably subordinated to the malfeasance prosecution against Judge Garzón and as a result has unjustifiably remained pending for over two years. Our organizations call on the Supreme Court to consider and determine, in accordance with its constitutional mandate and principles of international law, what courts have the authority to investigate and provide effective remedy for the 114,266 enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings committed during the Civil War and Franco regime that followed. We also call on the Court to confirm the applicability of national and international law to the investigation and redress of these and other serious crimes against international law.”
Along with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee, the NGOs call on Spain to repeal its 1977 Amnesty Law as it violates the international law obligations Spain has assumed since that year and the Spanish Constitution itself (articles 1.1, 9, 10.2, 95 and 96).
Spain: Human Rights Groups Welcome Spanish Court’s Decision to Acquit Judge Baltasar Garzón / February 27, 2012 / Urgent Interventions / Human rights defenders / OMCT.
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, L4L, OMCT | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Baltasar Garzón, court, disappearances, FIDH, Human Rights Defenders, ICJ, impunity, Observatory, OMCT, Spain
October 27, 2011
IPS reported that on Monday 24 October a symbolic empty chair was at the launch of a report on the repression of human rights defenders, a physical reminder that its would-be occupant – Ales Bialiatski, president of Human Rights Centre Viasna in Belarus – has been languishing in prison since August. Bialiatski is charged with tax evasion, but supporters say it is clear that the charges are in retaliation for his long and distinguished career of human rights activism in the country. The chair was also empty for the hundreds of other human rights defenders across the world who have been deprived of their freedom and fundamental rights, leaving a void in the communities they worked to protect.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT), published its 600-page report on individual human rights defenders and organisations that faced repression between January 2010 and April 2011. It covers 70 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, The Americas and Europe. The abuses cited include the ‘usual’ harassment, threats and arrests, arbitrary detention, defamation campaigns, and restrictions in terms of freedoms of association and expression, but also notes Antoine Bernard, of FIDH, a trend to the criminalise social protests. “That is a very universal trend, to use the law not as a protecting tool, that is supposed to be its role, but law as a repressive tool to arbitrarily provide the legal basis for silencing human rights defenders”, he said to InterPress Service (IPS). “A threat to a human rights defender very often transcends beyond the individual case, it carries a shadow to society at large,” concluded Gerald Staberock, secreterary-general of OMCT.
The United Nations special rapporteur on the situation for human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggaya, underscored the importance of implementing the Declaration for Human Rights Defenders that the General Assembly adopted back in 1998, and the importance of disseminating information about it. “It is still an instrument that is not sufficiently known, either to those who should shoulder the main responsibility for its implementation, namely states, or to those whose rights it sets out to protect, human rights defenders,” Sekaggaya said.
Posted in books, FIDH, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Ales Bialiatski, Antoine Bernard, FIDH, Gerald Staberock, Margaret Sekaggaya, Observatory, OMCT
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 