Posts Tagged ‘harassment’
December 22, 2013
Djibouti is not the best covered part of the world. Therefore I forward this case of Mohamed Chehem Gadito, brought to my attention by the Djibouti Observatory for the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights [ODDH in its French abbreviation]. According to the ODDH this is a glaring example of the situation of human rights in Djibouti. The young activist was arrested at a meeting of the opposition on Friday 6 December 2013 and officially released 12 December by the Chamber of flagrante delicto, the court of first instance in Djibouti. Unfortunately, he was again arrested by the police at the threshold of the Gabode prison. Placed in illegal detention he was again presented to the court on 17 December which again ruled in favor of an immediate release. Unfortunately, Chehem Gadito was once again placed back into custody. Several members of his family who were waiting outside the Gabode prison were also arrested and forcibly shipped to Nagad, an administrative detention center intended for illegal aliens. Faced with this denial of justice, Chehem Gadito began a hunger strike. This case highlights the failure of the judiciary in its role as guardian of individual freedom and for ensuring compliance with this principle as provided by law.
Countries in the Horn of Africa: Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia
via Djibouti: Chehem Mr. Gadito, a typical case of arbitrary detention | Somalilandpress.com | Somali News Online from Somaliland – Somalia and Horn of Africa.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Africa, arbitrary arrest, Chehem Gadito Mohamed, Djibouti, Djibouti Observatory for the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights, Gabode, harassment, Horn of Africa, Human rights defender, illegal detention, ODDH, Somalilandpress.com
December 20, 2013
On 19 December 2013, DHNS reported an excellent action by the Indian National Human Rights Commission [NHRC] which should be an example to national institutions worldwide: Peeved at the way state authorities treat human rights defenders, the NHRC has shot off a letter to all State governments asking them to sensitise their officers while dealing with human rights defenders who are making use of their Right to seek Information (RTI users as they are called in India). In his communication NHRC Secretary General, Parvinder Sohi Behuria, said the activists have been complaining that the States treat them as nuisance and take actions to harass them. “It would be of immense help if state government functionaries are sensitised about the problems being faced by NGOs and Human Rights defenders. They should be treated as partners in bringing about a positive change,” Behuria said.
via Treat RTI users as rights defenders.
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: activism, harassment, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, India, National Human Rights Commission NHRC, national institutions, NHRC, Non-governmental organization, Parvinder Sohi Behuria, right to information, Right to Information Act, RTI
December 16, 2013
On 16 December Amnesty International came out with a special report on the death threats and intimidation by armed groups and state security forces in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo [North Kivu] over the past year have, with the aim of silencing human rights defenders, even after the defeat of M23. The report “Better to die while speaking the truth” details the heightened clampdown on human rights defenders by armed groups and the national security forces since the crisis escalated last 
year. “The whole population is vulnerable to human rights abuses in North Kivu and those speaking out to protect these people are deliberately targeted from all sides,” says Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in AI, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Amnesty International, death threats, Democratic Republic of Congo, eastern congo, extrajudicial killings, harassment, human rights, human rights abuses, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, intimidation, North Kivu, paramilitary, Pascal Kabungulu, rape, Sarah Jackson, sexual abuse
November 21, 2013
The legal recognition and protection of human rights defenders is crucial to ensuring that they can work in a safe, supportive environment and be free from attacks, reprisals and unreasonable legal restrictions. Despite this, governments in all regions are increasingly enacting laws which restrict and even criminalise the work of human rights defenders and NGOs. In response the Geneva-based International Service for Human Rights [ISHR] in partnership with regional, sub-regional and national human rights defender groups from around the world announces its plan to develop a model national law on human rights defenders to be enacted locally.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, criminalization, foreign funding, Geneva, harassment, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, International Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, international protection, International Service for Human Rights, model law, Non-governmental organization, reprisals, restrictive laws, retaliation, UN Human Rights Council, United Nations Human Rights Council
November 5, 2013
The Indian government should vigorously investigate allegations that officials are using the law on foreign contributions to repress groups critical of the government, Human Rights Watch said on 31 October 2013.
The government should amend the 2010 Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act to protect the right to freedom of association and expression. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 4 Comments »
Tags: Civil society, Eurasia Review, Foreign Contribution Act, foreign funding, funding restrictions, Government of India, harassment, harss, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch, India, Non-governmental organization, South Asia, United Nations Special Rapporteur
October 16, 2013
On 16 October Scoop News reports on a consultation, held on 25 September 2013 in Geneva, entitled Isolating Papua which highlighted the increasing practice of limiting access to the Papuan provinces of Indonesia. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: arbitrary arrest, arrrest, Asian Human Rights Commission, Coalition for Papua, conflict and peace, freedom of expression, Geneva, harassment, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights violations, Indonesia, Jakarta, journalists, Lukas Enembe, meeting, Non-governmental organization, Papua, police brutality, side event, Special Procedures, UN, WCC, West Papua, World Council of Churches
October 15, 2013
Posted in Front Line, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Africa, bloggers, Bunge La Mwananchi, Daniel Bekele, Dennis Itumbi, detention, Front Line Defenders, harassment, HRW, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch, International Criminal Court, Kenya, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, Maina Kiai, police brutality, Ruth Mumbi, threats, Uhuru Kenyatta, United Nations Special Rapporteur, William Ruto, women human rights defenders
October 6, 2013
Foto: EPAFinally a tiny bit of good news from the Chinese front: After 2,5 years in jail the Chinese human rights defender Ni Yulan has been freed. In 2011 she won the Dutch Tulip for HRDs award. She has never been able to receive the award in person and even her daughter had not been allowed to leave the country for that purpose.
As reported by the ANP via Chinese mensenrechtenactiviste Ni weer vrij | nu.nl/buitenland | Het laatste nieuws het eerst op nu.nl.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Advocacy Organizations, China, forced evictions, harassment, Human Rights and Liberties, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Netherlands, Netherlands, Ni Yulan, prison, the Chinese human rights, Tulip award, woman human rights defender, Yulan
September 2, 2013
JULIA HANN wrote for allAfrica.com on 28 August that the torture and murder of Cameroonian gay rights activist Eric Lembembe on July 11 has shattered the hopes of those who were quick to herald a “global momentum” in the international gay rights movement. Just two weeks before his death, Lembembe, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Alice Nkom, allafrica com, Cameroon, death threats, Eric Lembembe, harassment, Julia Hann, killing, Lembembe, LGBT, LGBT rights, LGBT social movements, Michel Togué, Nkom
September 2, 2013
On Saturday 31 August 2013 United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said at the end of her long awaited one-week-long fact-finding mission that the Sri Lankan state is becoming more authoritarian. “The war between government troops and Tamil rebels may have ended, but in the meantime democracy has been undermined and the rule of law eroded,” the U.N. commissioner for human rights told a news conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka. She visited the former Tamil rebel-held areas in northern Sri Lanka, and met civil society groups, politicians and aid workers before meeting President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers, Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Economic Affairs Minister Basil Rajapaksa.” I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction,” Pillay said. The U.N. envoy said that some people she visited in the northeastern part of the country previously held by the rebels had been later visited by military and police officers and questioned again. “This type of surveillance and harassment appears to be getting worse in Sri Lanka, which is a country where critical voices are quite often attacked or even permanently silenced,” she said. Pillay visited Sri Lanka on the invitation of the Sri Lankan government, but some of the members of the government have criticized her and openly ridiculed her, with one of the Cabinet ministers saying he was willing to marry her.Pillay also expressed concern about media freedom, incomplete investigations into disappearances and abductions, attacks on civil protests, issues of sexual harassment of women and harassment of human rights defenders. She is due to submit a report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next month. Cabinet Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the government had invited her to the country genuinely and would await the report to be submitted next month.
via U.N. human rights chief says Sri Lanka increasingly authoritarian – Wire Lifestyle – The Sacramento Bee.
the full version of her very substantive speech can be found at:
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/full-speech-un-high-commissioner-for-human-rights-navi-pillay-at-the-press-conference-on-her-mission-to-sri-lanka/
- Sri Lanka ready to probe Pillay’s claims (oneislandtwonationsblogspotcom.typepad.com)
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 2 Comments »
Tags: Colombo, colombo sri lanka, fact-finding mission, harassment, human rights, Keheliya Rambukwella, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Navi Pillay, president mahinda rajapaksa, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan government, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nation, united nations high commissioner
