I have posted extensively on the ‘foreign agents” law in Russia (and a few other countries that got inspired by this bad example) [see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/foreign-agent/] and the article below in the Moscow Times is an excellent piece that sums up the current repression AND the resilience of the human rights defenders. Election-monitoring watchdog Golos won a rare victory among Russian NGOs on Tuesday 9 September when a Moscow court ruled it should not after all be labeled a “foreign agent.” But rights activists warn that the battle against the “foreign agents” label is only the tip of the iceberg in a far broader pressure campaign being waged by the authorities. Read the rest of this entry »
Posts Tagged ‘freedom of association’
Russia’s Human Rights Defenders continue the struggle against foreign agents law and other repression
September 11, 2014Two more organisations registered as ‘foreign agents’ in Russia
September 2, 2014
comes with the worrying news that on 29 August 2014, Russia added two more prominent human rights groups, the Institute for Freedom of Information and Soldiers’ Mothers of Saint-Petersburg to the list of ‘foreign agents’, which now includes 13 NGOs operating in the Russia. Both human rights groups were previously inspected by the authorities and received official notices from the Prosecutor of illegal activity, for carrying out “political activities” and receiving foreign funding without being registered as foreign agents. Read the rest of this entry »
Azerbaijan: a hot summer in summary
August 18, 2014An array of international human rights organisations have over the last weeks focused on Azerbaijan. These four reports together give a shocking picture of the kind of repression that awaits human rights defenders: Read the rest of this entry »
Bangladesh also to use funding controls to restrict human right defenders
June 14, 2014Bangladesh is trying to restrict human rights defenders such as Adilur of the NGO ODHIKAR, final nominee of the MEA 2014. The cabinet has approved the “Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulations Bill, 2014”, which will likely become law soon. The Bill empowers bureaucrats to decide the fate of NGOs. All individuals or collectives, from NGO’s to volunteer groups, receiving foreign funds for implementing projects will be under constant surveillance under this law.
In a statement of 13 June the Asian Legal Resource Centre says that the law will usher even more arbitrary executive actions in Bangladesh. Read the rest of this entry »
Human Rights Defenders in Hungary: not yet ‘foreign agents’ but getting close
June 13, 2014The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, an FIDH-OMCT joint programme, expressed its concern that the Hungarian government is alarmingly shrinking the space of civil society by hindering their access to funding, conducting unexpected inspections and blacklisting prominent human rights organizations. The Observatory – not by accident – did so on 12 June 2014, the day the Hungarian Government was meeting representatives from a group of donor Governments including Norway.
Situation of human rights defenders in Africa – Observatory on HRDs before African Commission
May 21, 2014FIDH and OMCT, in the framework of their Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, express their grave concern about the situation of human rights defenders in Africa. They do so in a 7-page written statement before the 55th ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights [ACHPR] on 20 May in Luanda. It can be read in full on: Situation of human rights defenders in Africa – Contribution to the 55th ordinary session of ACHPR Read the rest of this entry »
JOINT NGO RECOMMENDATIONS ON ENSURING PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN CENTRAL ASIA
May 21, 2014
From 20-21 May 2014 there was in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, a Regional Workshop on Implementing the Human Dimension Commitments and Enhancing the role of Civil Society. An important contribution was the joint statement by six NGOs containing recommendations to protect human rights defenders in Central Asia. The text in its totality follows below: Read the rest of this entry »
Let Ukraine not distract from ongoing repression of human rights defenders in Russia
May 18, 2014In an excellent piece written for CNN, Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch, on 15 May gives an overview of the different measures that threaten human rights defenders in Russia. While attention is on Ukraine, a vicious crackdown on civil society in Russia itself also escalated with every week brings a new pernicious law or legislative proposal:
- The authorities have blocked or essentially took editorial control over a number of independent news portals and are pushing new laws to stifle freedom of expression.
- A week ago, President Vladimir Putin signed a law requiring Russian bloggers with significant followings to register with the authorities and comply with media regulations.
- The same law requires blogging services and social networks to store user activity for six months.
- Another legislative proposal would introduce administrative and criminal offenses for editors who publish “false anti-Russian” information or offer media support to “anti-Russian extremist and separatist forces.”
- Another new draft law introduces a ban on publishing negative information about the Russian government and military.
- Also, amendments presently under review by the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, would enable the authorities to throw people behind bars for up to five years for repeated participation in unauthorized public protests.
At the same time the infamous Russian law “on foreign agents”, Read the rest of this entry »
Gay rights in Africa: Judge in Zimbabwe gives bit of hope with ruling for human rights defender Martha Tholanah
March 4, 2014With the Ugandan anti-gay law signed by President Museveni last week (in spite of the fascinating news that broke only afterwards that his own daughter came out publicly as lesbian opposing the law), attention on LGBTI rights in Africa has been mostly negative. The more reason to point to a small ‘victory’ in neighbouring Zimbabwe where a mostly independent judiciary had the courage to squash the charges against human rights defender Martha Tholanah of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ). Read the rest of this entry »
Uzbekistan’s Human Rights Defenders risk a lot by helping others
January 27, 2014“Why do people turn to human rights defenders?” asks Vladimir Husainov in this video posted by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting [IPWR] on 27 January 2014. “Because they can at least do something, even though they have no official powers or authority.” Husainov is one of a handful of courageous human rights defenders in Uzbekistan. They investigate various kinds of abuses ranging from the routine practice of torture in detention to the use of child labour in the cotton fields. Read the rest of this entry »
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 