share information on human rights defenders, with special focus on human rights awards and laureates
Note in your diary that you can join:
for a discussion about supporting human rights defenders and civil society. The event will be live-streamed on 15 December 2011 at 8:00AM (EST) and available through the CO.NX Portal: https://statedept.connectsolutions.com/hr
Human Rights First recently returned from an assessment trip to Jakarta where they met with activists to learn from them whether the Indonesian government has prioritized human rights through its treatment of human rights defenders. They had the following to say, which will be included in an alternative report to the Universal Periodic Review of Indonesia slated for next summer before the UN Human Rights Council:
President Yudhoyono should make clear that past and future attacks against human rights defenders will not go unpunished and publicly support a renewed independent investigation into Munir’s death that would lead to recommendations for prosecution and a case review of past criminal proceedings. The Government should repeal or amend legislation that criminalizes the work of human rights defenders, including journalists.
for more info see: Indonesia on the Right Path, But Still Has a Long Way To Go | Human Rights First.
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PBI Colombia, which was the Laureate of the MEA in 2001, celebrated 15 years of accompanying human rights defenders with a special edition of its Bulletin and a
documentary about its work with filmmaker Oliver Merchant; the documentary ’15 years of PBI Colombia” is available to view – chapter by chapter – on YouTube.
Emerging from an enforced time warp, the Libyan population is today confronted with the wreckage of a regime that was based on a barely comprehensible ideology, repression and sheer force. The recent atrocities are a particularly grim episode in a long history etched into the collective memory of Libyans over the last forty-two years. With the focus in the west on Gaddafi’s image as terrorist or madman, or both, there has been little sense or understanding of what life has been like in Libya in all these years. In Libya itself, individuals and groups are now beginning to talk openly about their experiences. This entails having to come to terms with the multiple sufferings and deprivations endured. It also means grappling with the more fundamental question of what these have done to the political and social fabric of the country.
Libya, both its current government and society at large, is at an important crossroads where the past, present and future interlink: how it provides justice for past violations and how it respects the rights of those who currently find themselves on the wrong side will be crucial for the broader task of rebuilding a system in which human rights are better protected. Many Libyans are keenly aware of the importance of getting this process right. From the moment it became possible, several initiatives sprang up in Benghazi, Misrata, Tripoli and elsewhere to document human rights crimes and to develop local justice initiatives. There are also official committees tasked with monitoring detention conditions and human rights.
Organizations such as Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL) are helping build a network of human rights defenders. Their commitment was evident during a recent meeting in which LFJL brought together lawyers from across the country. Many of these lawyers – several of whom have personally suffered torture – have maintained a genuine belief in the rule of law. Little attention has been paid to their important work on the ground. For all the inevitable shortcomings of a nascent human rights movement, it provides the much needed impetus to rebuild a credible legal system.
For now, the lawyers involved are looking for ways of how best to work together to deal with the many pressing problems, not least what to do with members of their own profession who failed to live up to expected standards under the previous regime. This raises vexed questions both about the responsibility of judges, prosecutors and others, and due process for those accused of wrongdoing. These efforts are but one part of the precious process taking place today in which Libyans are seeking to reclaim their society. It is already clear that this process will neither necessarily be smooth nor take place in isolation. There is a need for outside expertise and capacity building, including in questions of human rights protection. Indeed, many Libyans may welcome such an engagement. However, the involvement of international actors is a double-edged sword if experiences in other countries in conflict or post-conflict situations are anything to go by. It is too early to tell how the current transition in Libya will pan out. International actors have an important role sharing experiences and seeking to uphold international standards. However, it is equally critical that they tread carefully when engaging in Libya, particularly in an area as painful and sensitive as human rights.
This is very much in line with my views on NGOs in transition countries as published in the book and China and NGOs, “The international human rights movement: not perfect, but a lot better than many governments think” Ashgate, ISBN: 978-1-4094-1959-4: “Repression is, in some ways, the binding and mobilising element in a weak civil society. Afterwards, the challenge becomes to find common ground that is based more solidly on human rights philosophy and has a forward-looking element [….] International NGOs – especially those with links to a variety of domestic NGOs – may be helpful in building consensus. What is also subsequently required from NGOs is constructive participation in debating, designing and implementing a host of new regulations, processes and mechanisms, including those relating to democratic governance and the ratification of international human rights standards. International NGOs can bring expertise, funding and pressure, but have to take care that they do not overwhelm the local NGOs.[….] The creation of democratic governance institutions also requires a human rights ‘culture’. Many people in transition countries will not fully understand the human rights discourse.[ ….The] domestic NGOs are often small and weak in the early phases of transition and international NGOs can help with quick access to relevant information, sharing experiences, staff training, visibility and access to donors. However, again, the risk is that this privileges certain NGOs relative to their national counterparts and the ‘foreign’ resources may hamper the feeling of ownership.”
After a history of false hopes and lost opportunities, it is now crucial to support Libyans who take a lead in discussing how best to respond to violations and develop a system that stands the test of time for the right reasons. For the full text see:
Libyan lawyers and human rights: a nascent movement facing a challenge | openDemocracy.
This short video from 2010 is worth viewing. It is an excellent collection of tiny portraits of individuals from a variety of countries who explain what they do to defend the rights of others and in that way demonstrate what Human Rights Defenders are. An amazingly lively UN product, helped by Bob Marley’s “Stand up for your rights” in the background.
This is just a quick reference to the excellent work of the Oslo-based Human Rights House Foundation and its network over the last 2 months. They continue to call on the OSCE and the Council of Europe to monitor the situation of HRDs and to react against increasing repression against them. The focus is on Belarus, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, countries which often stay out of the limelight when it comes to human rights protection.
In the ‘series’ crime pays, Belarus is one of the top contenders. On September 30th, 2011 one more HRD, Ukrainian civil society activist Volodymyr Senko, was prevented from crossing the Belarusian state border. He is a member of the All-Ukrainian Youth Public Association “Foundation of Regional Initiatives”. Volodymyr is the 12th representative of the Committee on International Control who has been banned entry to the territory of Belarus.
It should be noted that just the day before, on September 29th, 2011, at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw the Belarusian authorities were once again reminded of the necessity to fulfil the obligations in the field of freedom of movement that they undertook, particularly, not to prevent international human rights observers from entering the territory of Belarus for conducting monitoring of human rights observance. In response to that the representative of the Belarus official delegation de-facto admitted the existence of “black lists” of human rights defenders, who are banned entry to the country, as well as the absence of will of the Belarusian authorities to bring the situation in conformity with the international standards.
The International Observation Mission was created by the Committee on International Control over the Human Rights Situation in Belarus, which brings together representatives of the human rights organisations from the OSCE participating states, as well as international civil society networks and organisations for carrying out monitoring of the general situation with observance of fundamental rights in the Republic of Belarus, as well as the issues of defending human rights defenders and ensuring their professional activities. for more information on this NGO with the rather convoluted name http://hrwatch-by.org/en
Several important human rights NGOs, including AI and HRW, have in recent days expressed concern about the situation of human rights defenders in Turkey. I base myself here on the appeal issued on 28 September by 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).
The Observatory has been informed by the reliable Human Rights Association (İnsan Haklari Derneği – İHD) about the arbitrary arrests of 31 members and executives of İHD Şanlıurfa Branch, the Education and Science Workers Trade Union (Egitim-Sen), the Health and Social Service Workers Trade Union (SES) as well as the searches by the police of the houses of the chairpersons and executives of the above mentioned organisations and their offices.
In the morning of September 27, law-enforcement officers raided İHD, Egitim-Sen and SES Şanlıurfa Branch offices as well as the houses of their chairpersons and executives and arrested 31 members of these organisations. The police was in possession of a warrant from the Şanlıurfa Chief Public Prosecution Office mentioning allegations of “propaganda for an illegal organisation” and “participating in activities in line with the action and aims of that organisation” and has denied to release information on the reasons of the raids and arrest, on the basis of legal provisions pertaining to the fight against terrorism.
Among those arrested were İHD Şanlıurfa Branch President Cemal Babaoğlu, İHD executivesMüslüm Kına and Müslüm Çiçek, Eğitim-Sen Branch President Halit Şahin, Eğitim-Sen former Branch President Sıtkı Dehşet and Eğitim-Sen executive Veysi Özbingöl.
The Observatory denounces the continuing policy of arbitrarily arresting human rights defenders in Turkey, and particularly İHD members and members of trade unions, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning their human rights activities. To that extent, the Observatory recalls that other İHD members are in pre-trial detention, notably Mr. Muharrem Erbey, İHD General Vice Chairperson and Chairperson of its Diyarbakir Province branch who had been detained since December 2009, Mr. Arslan Özdemir and Ms. Roza Erdede, İHD members in Diyarbakır, or that others remain in provisional release pending the outcome of criminal trials on alleged terrorism charges.
Accordingly, the Observatory calls upon the Turkish authorities to put an end to the continuing harassment against human rights defenders, including members of İHD, and urges the Turkish authorities.
for more detials and suggested actions you can take, see:
One of the winning blogs of the Communication Initiative, by Bhumika Ghimire, expresses the doubts that many of us feel when we read the hyperbole assessments of how the new media are going to the save the world and bring about the realisation of human rights. Some of the things Bhumika states:
“Are cyber campaigns comparable to the real world action?”
“What about online activists in repressive regimes like China, Burma, North Korea, Iran? These activists and their work in spreading the word, creating networks and keeping the fight alive is admirable and deserves recognition. In many countries, they face almost the same level of scrutiny from their governments as the real world activists. Do we cyber activists in the developed world face a similar level of threat or harassment? Certainly not.”
“The point is, we have to stop glamorizing all and every cyber activist and give credit where it is due. Recognizing the sacrifice of real heroes will add to the validity of online activism as a real force and help online campaigns be more effective.”
see the whole piece on: Online Activism and the Real World: Where Do We Meet? | Communication, Media, Policy.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 