Posts Tagged ‘HRW’
Kyrgyz President says no need for ‘foreign agent law’
September 19, 2013Further to my earlier blog post about Kyrgyzstan following the bad example of Russia in trying to create a ‘foreign agents’ obstacle for human rights defenders, I am happy to refer to Front Line latest update of 19 September 2013 which says that during a press interview on the outcomes of his working visit to Brussels on 17 September 2013, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev stated to journalists that Kyrgyzstan does not need a “foreign agent” law, a draft bill of which was opened for public discussion on 6 September 2013.
On 16 September 2013, ahead of President Atambaev’s visit to Brussels, Front Line Defenders and Human Rights Watch published a joint letter to the European Union urging EU leaders to raise concerns about human rights abuses in Kyrgyzstan and getting specific commitments from President Atambaev to address them. The letter also contained an appeal to the EU to press the Kyrgyz President for the immediate release of the wrongfully imprisoned human rights defender Azimjan Askarov http://www.hrw.org/news/2010/09/15/kyrgyzstan-free-human-rights-defender-ensure-fair-retrial as well as on the draft bill http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/23774. 
Related articles
- Kyrgyzstan follows bad example set by Russia: foreign agents (thoolen.wordpress.com)
Challenges for Human Rights Education at side event Council on 25 September
September 19, 2013The World association for the School as an Instrument of Peace & the International Training Centre for Human Rights and Peace Teaching organise on 25 SEPTEMBER, from 10.00 – 12.00 in ROOM XXIV – PALAIS DES NATIONS, Geneva a side event:
“Making Human Rights a Reality : Challenges for Human Rights Education“.
Speakers include:
Ms Rebiya Kadeer, President of the World Uyghur Congress [who is the laureate of the HRW “Human Rights Defenders Award” in 2000 as well as the Norwegian Rafto Award in 2004. Former member of the Political Consultative Congress of China (1992 -1997).
Mr. Emmanuel Decaux, Professor, University of Paris II, Member of the UN Committee on Forced Disappearances
Ms. Amina Lemrini, President of the High Council for Audiovisual Communication, Morocco
Ms. Nadira Eshmatova, Youth Human Rights Group, Kyrgyzstan
Ms. Géraldine Puig, Education program on citizenship and human rights, Ministry of public education, Republic and Canton of Geneva.
Moderator : Ms. Stefanie Rinaldi, University of Teacher Education, Lucerne
if you are interested contact: Cifedhop cifedhopATmail-box.ch.
Azerbaijan sees crackdown on HRDs and civil society as a whole
September 3, 2013A recent 100-page report by Human Rights Watch, “Tightening the Screws: Azerbaijan’s Crackdown on Civil Society and Dissent,” documents the dramatic deterioration of the government’s record on freedom of expression, assembly, and association in the past 18 months. The authorities have arrested dozens of political activists on bogus charges, imprisoned critical journalists, broken up peaceful public demonstrations, and adopted legislation imposing new restrictions on fundamental freedoms.
Read the rest of this entry »
Takeover of human rights NGO: a weapon in the arsenal of Rwanda’s Government
August 22, 2013Repressive governments are using different and increasingly ‘indirect’ means to silence human rights defenders. Intimidation, administrative restrictions, fiscal regulations aimed at reducing funding, terminating rental agreements, judicial harassment, etc. According to a report by Human Rights Watch of 14 August 2013, Rwanda is practicing a slightly different tactic: wholesale infiltration and ‘take over’ of independent NGOs.
Ecuador: Clampdown on Civil Society | Human Rights Watch
August 13, 2013On 12 August Human Rights Watch issued a report on Ecuador and urged it to revoke a presidential decree that grants far-reaching powers to the government to oversee and dissolve nongovernmental organizations.
On June 4, 2013, President Rafael Correa adopted a decree [a similar decree in December 2010 was shelved after criticism] that creates new procedures for Ecuadorean nongovernmental organizations to obtain legal status and requires international organizations to undergo a screening process to seek permission to work in Ecuador. Read the rest of this entry »
Snowden gets one year asylum – Kenneth Ross makes good suggestion
August 2, 2013
In the ongoing saga concerning the asylum request by Snowden, Kenneth Ross, the director of Human Rights Watch, makes on 2 August an interesting and courageous comment on Twitter: “Instead of trying to extradite Snowden, Congress should ask him to testify by video as spur to end mass NSA snooping.”
Egyptian NGO bill with big shortcomings in crucial last phase
May 31, 2013
(Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi)
In the context of restrictive legislation to hinder the work of human rights defenders, the Egyptian case deserves urgent attention now. The law on NGOs is being rewritten in this important country and others in the region may follow the example. Despite recent amendments Read the rest of this entry »
Egyptian HRD and MEA Nominee, Mona Seif, under attack
May 3, 2013As readers of this blog know I would have readily reported on any developments surrounding the MEA especially since the Final Nominees 2013 were announced recently. A few days ago a controversy arose around the nomination of Mona Seif, the courageous Egyptian human rights defender who was selected because of her campaign against military trials for civilians. UN Watch, an NGO affiliated to the American Jewish Committee, and famous for its strident monitoring of anything that smacks of criticism of Israel, accused Mona Seif of being a terrorist sympathizer on the basis of 3 older tweets in which she strongly defended the right of Palestinians to resist Israeli occupation. The organisation started a twitter campaign to have Mona recalled as nominee.
Mona Seif, Egypt – Final Nominee MEA 2013
The problem is that I am – in a personal capacity – the Chair of the Jury which is composed of ten of the world’s leading human rights NGOs (see list http://www.martinennalsaward.org). I am a non-voting chair whose only role is to facilitate the process and I do not participate in the selection. The board of the Martin Ennals Foundation also has no role in the selection as the Statutes provide for a fully independent Jury. Only the NGOs on the Jury can vote on the recipient of the MEA. Still, I feel that my capacity of Chair of the Jury obliges me to show restraint in speaking out.
