share information on human rights defenders, with special focus on human rights awards and laureates
Front Line reports succinctly on a case in the Russian Federation, where human rights defender Ms Sophia Kropotkina is being harassed in and outside hospital:
via Russian Federation: Harassment of human rights defender Ms Sophia Kropotkina | Front Line.
The Press statement below was issued by the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and shows the need for the continued attention and support from the UN as well as NGOs:
AT noon on 12th September 300 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise
(WOZA) were prevented from conducting a peaceful protest to The
Chronicle in Bulawayo. Three small groups that managed to arrive at
the Chronicle but were quickly dispersed by Riot Police with raised
baton sticks. In 5 parts of the Central business district Riot Police
were standing in groups of 4 carrying baton sticks and obviously ready
to stop the protests as they began.
A block away, WOZA national coordinator, Jenni Williams was standing
alone when 4 police officers surrounded her. One of these police
officers had arrested Williams on 21 September 2011 while shopping in
an Electrical shop. On that day, 30 minutes previously he had also
arrested Magodonga Mahlangu. Both activists were then charged with
Kidnap and Theft, charges that are still being prosecuted in 2012.
On the 12 September, he once again refused to give his name but asked,
“Jennifer what are you planning here?” To which Williams replied,
“What are you doing here beating people?” The other police officers
then started to lecture Williams on the need for WOZA to notify police
before any protest. A legal argument ensured. One the officers then
announced that the Officer Commanding of Bulawayo, Central Assistant
chief Inspector Rangwani wanted to see Williams. The police officers
then escort her to the station on foot.
As they began to walk, Magodonga Mahlangu arrived and asked Williams
what was happening. It was at this point that a further legal argument
ensued. Williams advised Mahlangu that it seemed she was under arrest.
The officers said she was not but then refused to allow her to go and
reschedule the meeting with the chief Inspector.
As the two arrived at the police station, eight members entered the
station in solidarity bringing the number ‘arrested’ to 10. They were
taken to the chief inspector Rangwani’s office and they were told he
would be arriving shortly. Lawyers were deployed to represent the
activists but were denied access. A two and a half hour circus then
ensued with the activists being told they were being charged but some
officers refusing to charge them, mentioning the letter of complaint
filed the week before. The arresting officers then stage-managed the
separation of Williams and Mahlangu from the other 8. The 8 and other
activists outside were rounded up by a Riot squad and force marched to
the bus terminus.
The WOZA leaders who were now back in the OC Rangwani office were
still unable to access their lawyers. Finally two senior officers
seated themselves in the OC chair and surprisingly asked the two if
they had wanted a meeting with the OC. Williams then asked the
whereabouts of OC Rangwani, the officers admitted he was on leave. The
WOZA leaders then stood up and said, ‘as we are told we are not
formally under arrest we are now leaving and will be submitting a
further letter of complaint.” Williams then left her phone number for
a meeting to be scheduled and the two activists walked out of the
police station.
WOZA wish to draw attention to the disparate police response between
the police at Parliament in Harare and the Bulawayo police. On 12
September it was obvious that the WOZA leaders were arrested to
prevent their exercising their right to protest. This right is
provided by constitutional law buttressed by Supreme Court ruling of
2010 after legal action taken by Williams and Mahlangu. ‘Once again
police in Bulawayo have acted overzealously and acted to discriminate
against WOZA members from Bulawayo which is regional and tribal
discrimination.
See the complaint against the police at
http://wozazimbabwe.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/WOZA-complain-of-police-harrasment-ZRP-Jomic.pdf
A training workshop for human rights defenders organized by the East
and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project [EHAHRDP] has been interrupted
by uninvited media representatives and the police. Participants are
currently being questioned by the police.
EHAHRDP organized the training working on monitoring, documentation
and reporting of human rights violations for LGBTI defenders, which
opened this morning at Esella Country Hotel, Najjera, Kampala. The
workshop organisers, which brought together twenty HRDs from Uganda,
Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya, as well as seven EHAHRDP staff members and
interns, stopped the meeting when they learned that the media was
coming to the hotel. Around ten journalists arrived at approximately
2.30pm, and two or three cameras were used to film the event. EHAHRDP
has not been able to establish who informed the media that the
training was taking place, although some of the journalists claimed to
have received the information via the Minister of Ethics and
Integrity, Rev. Simon Lokodo.
Soon afterwards, the police arrived and began to question
participants. Led by the head of the Kampala Metropolitan Criminal
Investigations Department, the police began by questioning Paul
Njogore from Freedom House, Jane Wothaya Thirikwa from Gay Kenya
Trust, Neil Blazevic (a Canadian citizen) and Tabitha Netuwa from
EHAHRDP, who were then held for some time in a police van and were
told they would be taken to the Kira Road police station. The police
are currently questioning all participants one-by-one, including by
forcibly entering their hotel rooms.
EHAHRDP calls on the Ugandan police to immediately release all
participants, and condemns this unjustified interruption of our
legitimate activities.
For more information, please contact:
Hassan Shire, Executive Director on executive@defenddefenders.org or
+41 793 375 875
Rachel Nicholson, Advocacy Officer on advocacy@defenddefenders.org or
+41 762 556 769
The Office for a Democratic Belarus came today with the following information:
Academic director of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISS) Aliaksei Pikulik was convicted today (June 1) by court of the Central district of Minks city to 5 days of imprisonment following his arrest on May 31 on the account of “hooliganism”.
Activist of the Govori Pravdu campaign Mikhas Pashkevich received 7 days of administrative arrest following the decision by the court in Svetlahorsk, Homiel region. He was detained on May 31 near the village of Yakimava Slabada after a meeting with local activists and journalists.
On June 1, a number of journalists were also temporarily detained in Minsk and Hrodna. Volha Chajchyc and Tacciana Belashova spent three hours at a police station following their arrest while preparing a reportage on the International day for protection of children. Volha works for the Poland-based Belsat TV, which repeatedly tries to receive ccreditation in Belarus but with no success.
In Hrodna, activist of the non-registered Union of Poles Ihar Bantsar, who was detained during a picket organised in defence of a local Polish school and severely beaten, is awaiting a court hearing. Eight other participants of the action were released and will be put on trial on June 4 for participation in a non-authorised action of protest. Over 100 people took part in the picket despite the refusal of local authorities to allow the demonstration to take place.
Sources: http://www.naviny.by <http://naviny.by> , http://www.svaboda.org <http://svaboda.org> , http://www.baj.by <http://baj.by> , Facebook
———————————————————
Office for a Democratic Belarus
Square de Meeûs 37, 4th floor
1000 Brussels
Phone: +32 (0)2 791 7505
info@democraticbelarus.eu <mailto:info@democraticbelarus.eu>
http://www.democraticbelarus.eu <http://www.democraticbelarus.eu>
The man pictured here is Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who has tremendous helped the OHCHR during the last years to have a more penetrating presence in the media. On this occasion on 23 March 2012, it was to warn that there must be no reprisals against Sri Lankan human rights defenders in the wake of a resolution calling on its Government to probe alleged abuses during the country’s civil war. The warning from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, follows the adoption of a resolution yesterday by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, calling on Sri Lanka to take “credible” steps to ensure accountability for alleged serious violations committed in 2009 during the final stages of the conflict between the Government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and to ensure accountability.“During this Human Rights Council session, there has been an unprecedented and totally unacceptable level of threats, harassment and intimidation directed at Sri Lankan activists who had travelled to Geneva to engage in the debate, including by members of the 71-member official Sri Lankan government delegation,” said Rupert Colville, at a press briefing in Geneva. Mr. Colville said that intimidation and harassment of Sri Lankan civil society activists have also been reported in other locations around Geneva. Also, the Sri Lankan ambassador in Geneva received an anonymous threatening letter which is being followed up by the police and UN security.
At the same time, newspapers, news websites and TV and radio stations in Sri Lanka have been running, since January, a “continuous campaign of vilification,” including naming and in many cases showing images of activists, describing them as an ‘NGO gang’ and repeatedly accusing them of treason, mercenary activities and association with terrorism. “Some of these reports have contained barely veiled incitement and threats of retaliation,” Mr. Colville said. “At least two comments posted by readers of articles of this type have called for burning down of the houses of the civil society activists named in the articles, and at least one such comment called openly for them to be killed.”
The spokesperson said the High Commissioner had noted that some of the attacks on human rights defenders were carried in Sri Lankan state media and Government websites or were filed by journalists who had been officially accredited to the Council session by the Sri Lankan permanent mission. “She is calling on the Government to ensure the protection of human rights defenders, to publicly disassociate itself from such statements, and to clearly uphold the right of Sri Lankan citizens to freely engage in international debate of this kind,” Mr. Colville said.
from: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41617&Cr=Sri%20Lanka&Cr1=
