Posts Tagged ‘freedom of assembly’
July 8, 2014
A National Secretariat functioning under Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence and Urban Development has issued a curious letter on 1 July 2014. The following is the letter in full:
“MINISTRY OF DEFENCE AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT National Secretariat for Non Governmental Organizations
To All Non Governmental Organizations
Non Governmental Organizations acting beyond their mandate
It has been revealed that certain Non Governmental Organizations conduct press conferences, workshops, training for journalists, and dissemination of press releases which is beyond their mandate.
We reiterate that all Non Governmental Organizations should prevent from such unauthorized activities with immediate effect.
D.M.S. Dissanayake
Director/Registrar”
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), which made the letter public, adds the understandably sarcastic comment that the next letter may well read: “It has been revealed that certain Non-Governmental Organisations have members who are breathing and still moving. We hereby call upon all of them to cease from such unauthorized activities with immediate effect.”
For the full context see this Statement online on AHRC’s revamped website: www.humanrights.asia.
Posted in AHRC, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: censorship, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, harassment, Human Rights Defenders, human rights violations, intimidation, Ministry of defence, Sri Lanka
April 30, 2014
This radio interview [http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/asia-pacific/whos-protecting-aseans-human-rights-defenders/1302596] is interesting because of its content but also because it found its way on the website of Terrorism Watch. If the implication is that forced disappearances are a form of state terrorism, the case of Sombath Somphone (discussed below) puts Laos in the docket:
A regional workshop in Bangkok has highlighted issues like enforced disappearances, legal support for families of the disappeared and peaceful assembly and association. High on the agenda is also protecting rights activists, within the ASEAN regional human rights system. Presenter: Sen Lam interviews Emmerlyne Gil, international legal advisor, International Commission of Jurists, Bangkok: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, ICJ | Leave a Comment »
Tags: ASEAN, Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, Emmerlyne Gil, Forced disappearance, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, Human Rights Defenders, ICJ, International Commission of Jurists, Laos, Sen Lam, Sombath Somphone, South-east asia, terrorism
February 10, 2014
On 26 February 2014 the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights will be organising a Panel of Experts on the topic of Facilitating Peaceful Protests. The meeting will take place in the new Maison de la Paix (chemin Eugène-Rigot 2) in Geneva, from 18h00 -20h00. This is very timely as there are a lot of problems with the implementation of this aspect of freedom of assembly and expression as demonstrated again and again in this blog; most recently on 22 January (https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/human-rights-defenders-call-on-osce-to-establish-rapid-response-mechanism-in-cases-of-mass-rallies/). Freedom of assembly, and specifically for the purpose of protest, concerns every state. A state that obstructs or prevents peaceful protests, deems them unlawful, or uses force to disperse or deter them, is not only potentially violating the right to freedom of assembly but also creating conditions that invite violence. In recent protests in Cambodia, Egypt, Thailand, and Ukraine, among many others, excessive use of force by the security forces has been widely condemned. It is in the state’s own interest to ensure that protests can occur, and that they can occur peacefully. Most
The Experts Panel, which will discuss the facilitation of peaceful protests and constraints on the use of force by law enforcement personnel as well as efforts at the multilateral level to promote and protect human, will be composed of:
- Stuart Casey-Maslen, Head of Research, Geneva Academy
- Christof Heyns, United Nations Special, Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
- Neil Corney, Researcher, Omega Foundation UK and expert on police use of weapons
- Barbara Fontana, Deputy Head of Human Rights section, Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in Geneva.
It will also be the occasion to launch the new Academy Briefing on Facilitating Peaceful Protests.
Posted in books, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: academic, Christof Heyns, freedom of assembly, freedom of demonstration, freedom of expression, Geneva, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, panel, Panel of Experts, study
January 24, 2014
On 23 January Human Rights First released a report that describes how the Egyptian government is increasingly targeting non-violent human rights defenders and activists through widespread repression, stifling basic freedoms and exacerbating the chronic instability that has plagued the country for the past three years. The new report titled, “Back to Square One: The U.S. Government and Political Change in Egypt,” outlines recommendations for the U.S. government to take a new course of action to advance human rights and the rule of law in order to achieve greater stability in this vital country. “The U.S. must overhaul its approach to Egypt if it’s to really get on the right side of history” said Brian Dooley of HRF.
The report calls on the U.S. government to:
- Provide clear, sustained and consistent public statements from Washington on its assessment of the situation in Egypt and the ramifications for U.S. interests, including human rights and democracy;
- Work with its donor partners to establish sizeable, sustained economic incentives for Egypt’s leaders that should be conditioned on Egypt adhering to democratic norms and international human rights standards;
- Use its vote and influence at the IMF to withhold loans to Egypt until sound economic policies are in place and meaningful progress is made on human rights and the rule of law;
- Use targeted funding to support civil society efforts to combat human rights abuses and promote an enabling environment that advances religious pluralism and tolerance;
- Promote clear, uniform conditions for the registration and operation of political parties that agree to be bound by the rules of peaceful, democratic contestation;
- Push the Egyptian authorities to investigate all incidents of violence against Christians, assaults on their property and institutions, and hold accountable those responsible; and
- Make available through the Justice Department, resources for prosecutions and police trainings.
For more information about today’s report or to speak with Dooley, please contact Mary Elizabeth Margolis at margolisme[at]humanrightsfirst.org.
Posted in books, HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Brian Dooley, diplomatic pressure, Egypt, Foreign Policy of the USA, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights First, IMF, minority rights, police violence, special report, USA
January 22, 2014
In the face of the inactivity of international institutions in the OSCE region concerning mass protests the International Civic Initiative for OSCE calls to establish a special rapid response mechanism in the framework of the OSCE.
“The current situation in Ukraine with clashes in Kyiv’s streets has gained attention of many of us. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Belarus, Charter97, freedom of assembly, freedom of demonstration, Human Rights Defenders, International Civic Initiative, International Civic Initiative for OSCE, international monitoring, Kiev, mass demonstrations, ODHIR, OSCE, police behavior, rapid response mechanism, Turkey, Ukraine
January 21, 2014
The ‘eastern’ pull of Ukraine is now also reflected in its repressive legislation on human rights defenders. On January 16, 2014, Ukrainian Parliament unexpectedly and hurriedly adopted a comprehensive restrictive bill, which punishes protests, criminalises libel, restricts civic organisations receiving foreign funding and labels them as “foreign agents”. The bill, entitled “On Amendments to the Law on Judicial System and Status of Judges and Procedural Laws on Additional Measures for Protecting Citizens’ safety”, was introduced on January 14, 2014 and voted only two days after, with no legal assessment, no parliamentary hearings, and no consultation. The text was swiftly adopted by show of hands, backed by 235 out of 450 parliamentarians, before it was immediately signed it into law by the President. According to the bill, all civic organisations receiving funds from foreign sources must include in their title the term “foreign agents”, register as such, submit monthly reports regarding the organisations, publish quarterly reports on their activities in the official media and may not benefit from a tax-exempt status. The bill specifies that all organisations taking part in political actions, defined as actions aimed at influencing decision-making by state bodies, a change in the state policy which those bodies have defined as well as forming public opinion for those purposes, are deemed civic organisations. Organisations failing to register may be closed by court decision.
There were quite a few other restrictions passed in the same bill as can be seen from the Open Letter of 20 January 2014 sent to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and Parliamentary Speaker Volodym, signed by Karim Lahidji, FIDH President, and Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General:
Ukraine: Call to repeal highly restrictive law on so-called “foreign agents”, libel and extremism, which blatantly violates Ukraines international obligations / January 20, 2014 / Urgent Interventions / Human rights defenders / OMCT.
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | 1 Comment »
Tags: anti-terrorist laws, civic organisations, controversial restrictions, criminalization, FIDH, Foreign agent, foreign agent law, foreign agents, foreign funding, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of expression, funding, Gerald Staberock, Human Rights Defenders, Karim Lahidji, legal restrictions, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, open letter, Russia, Ukraine
November 27, 2013
(High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. UN Photo/Sarah Fretwell)
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, had hardly pronounced herself on the new ‘demonstrations law’ in Egypt, issued on Sunday, and a number of high-profile demonstrators was arrested. Yesterday Mona Seif, the MEA Nominee of 2013, and a group of other human rights defenders were arrested when they were protesting in-front of the Shura Council against the suggested constitutional article that guarantees the continues referral of civilians to military trials. Observers believe that the authorities want to send a message in the context of the new law referred to above. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | Leave a Comment »
Tags: arbitrary arrest, Cairo Institute for Human Rights, Egypt, final nominees 2013, freedom of assembly, freedom of demonstration, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Law, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Mohamed Abdelazia, Mona Seif, Navi Pillay, no military trial, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations, woman human rights defender
November 6, 2013
The OMCT and the FIDH, in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, made an intervention under agenda item 9: “Situation of human rights defenders” at the at the 54th session of African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights [ACHPR] on 5 November.
Human rights defenders were attacked, received threats or were slandered in the DRC, Senegal and Tunisia. In some cases they were even killed, as in the DRC and in Cameroon, in a climate of impunity. Defenders, and in particular defenders of economic, social and cultural rights, also continued to be subjected to arbitrary arrests and judicial harassment in Angola, Cameroon, the DRC, Egypt, Mauritania and Tunisia. Obstacles to freedom of association were also recorded, as for instance in Angola, Egypt and Rwanda. A summary is as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | 1 Comment »
Tags: African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, Angola, Cameroon, Death threat, DRC, Egypt, environmental issues, FIDH, foreign funding, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of expression, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, judicial harassment, killing, land disputes, LGBT rights, Mauritania, murder, Non-governmental organization, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, Rwanda, Senegal, Tunisia
October 1, 2013
On 26 September the NGO Suaram released its “Malaysia Human Rights Report 2012: Civil and Political Rights” in Kuala Lumpur. The report highlights several key trends in human rights in 2012, including:
1 the increasingly serious and repeated cases of abuses of power by the police and law enforcement agencies with impunity;
2 the heightened intolerance towards dissent; and
3 the government’s cosmetic approach to reform and compliance with human rights standards.
Suaram’s 2012 report is launched to honour human rights defenders in Malaysia and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Assembly and of Association, Maina Kiai in his foreword writes: “This annual report is a critical tool to support civil society actors in their effort to advocate and contribute to strengthened implementation of human rights. Its continued publication is vital to a vibrant democracy in Malaysia”.
via Putrajaya tarnished by culture of impunity, intolerance, and missing reforms — Suaram | What You Think | The Malay Mail Online.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Civil and political rights, freedom of assembly, Human right, human rights, impunity, intolerance, Kuala Lumpur, Maina Kiai, Malaysia, Malaysia Human Rights Report, Non-governmental organization, Putrajaya, repression, right to freedom of expression, Suaram, United Nations Special Rapporteur
September 25, 2013
Posted in AI, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: AI, Amnesty International, Cambodia, cambodian authorities, Cambodian Center for Human Rights, freedom of assembly, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch, LICADHO, Phnom Penh, Police, United Nations, United Nations Special Rapporteur
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 