The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD IC) is a resource and advocacy network for the protection and support of women human rights defenders worldwide, which is looking to recruit a full-time Coordinator to liaise with members, represent the Coalition, carry out fundraising activities and facilitate and steer the WHRD IC in meeting its strategic objectives. The position will be primarily based in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Salary and conditions will be commensurate with skills, experience and cost of living in the host country (with current funding until the end of 2013). Deadline for applications: 23rd April
To apply: send CV and a letter of interest to: whrd@apwld.org (with the names and contact details of two referees who will not be contacted without permission).
For more information on the WHRD- IC and its work: http://www.defendingwomen-defendingrights.org/index.php
Posts Tagged ‘Human Rights and Liberties’
Vacancy announcement for Coordinator of Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition
April 10, 2013Humberto Prado Sifontes in Venezuela falsely accused by Minister
April 10, 2013On 8 April 2013, the Minister for the Prison Services, Ms Iris Valera, accused prominent human rights defender, Dr Humberto Prado Sifontes, of instigating violence within the country’s prisons ahead of upcoming elections on 14 April. Humberto Prado Sifontes is the Director of the Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones – OVP (Venezuelan Prisons Observatory) which documents cases of violations against persons in detention in Venezuela.
At a press conference at her office,the Minister stated that on 3 April Humberto Prado Sifontes had met with the families of prisoners in the Comunidad Penitenciaria de Coro. The Minister accused the human rights defender of planning protest actions within prisons all over the country, beginning with hunger strikes before escalating to blood strikes, where prisoners self-mutilate in order to bring attention to their situation. She alleged that Dr Humberto Prado Sifontes quickly departed from the Plaza and went to the Diocesan of the Archbishop when he noticed the presence of officials from the Ministry of Prison Services who were there to investigate what was going on. She claimed to have found evidence for these plans in the notebooks of a prisoner. Minister Valera also linked the human rights defender to two unrelated incidents; one in which five women tried to smuggle grenades into the same prison, and a foiled escape attempt at the Metropolitan Prison Yare II in Caracas. Dr Humberto Prado Sifontes was in fact in Coro to participate in two conferences organised by the University of Falcón. When the families of the prisoners heard of his presence in the State, they arranged to meet him in order to give him photographic and video evidence of torture in the prison.
In 2009 Dr Humberto Prado Sifontes was the winner of the Canadian Embassy in Venezuela’s first human rights award. Front Line Defenders has previously issued appeals to protect him in his peaceful and legitimate work on behalf of prisoner’s human rights in Venezuela. Given the political climate in the run-up to elections in Venezuela, Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned that statements such as those made by the Minister could lead to reprisals against the human rights defender, up to and including physical attack. 
Human Rights Defender Dar issued card by Front Line
April 3, 2013For many years Dublin-based Front Line Defenders has continued a practice of issuing official-looking cards to whom they judge to be genuine human rights defenders. It is interesting to note that the news service Authint has picked up on this and issued a statement on 2 April 2013 saying: Defenders has issued an identity card to local human rights activist Abdul Qadeer Dar [in Kashmir]. Dar is an Executive Director of Voice of Victims and Chairman Peoples Rights Movement.” “The card is for those human rights defenders who have worked very closely with or have attended one of the Dublin Platforms or trainings”, Front Line told KNS. The “Card doesn’t empower the holder to represent Front Line defenders as it is not a membership organization. The card is intended to demonstrate that its holder is human rights defender with whom front Line Defenders has worked”.
Sultan of Oman does the right thing: Human Rights Defenders receive pardon
March 29, 2013Further to my post of 27 March, it now turns out that on 21 March Sultan Qaboos of Oman pardoned 50 people, including several human rights defenders, who had been targeted in a recent crackdown. The 50 had been arrested on charges including insulting the ruler, various cyber-crimes, and taking part in unauthorised protests.
via Oman: Activists and Human Rights Defenders Receive Pardon | Front Line.
Related articles
- Oman: Update on trial against Human Rights Defenders (thoolen.wordpress.com)
Civil Rights Defenders organizes annual “Defenders’ Days” from 2 – 5 April 2013
March 19, 2013From 2-5 April 2013, Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders is organising Defenders’ Days, a conference in its home town for human rights defenders from the world’s most repressive regions. The objective of Defenders’ Days is to advocate for international recognition of human rights defenders at risk, to increase understanding about their vital work, and to create a forum for capacity-building and networking.
“Our aim is to create an annual event that empowers human rights defenders, and gathers key persons and institutions for the advancement of human rights. Defenders’ Days will be a place for networking, constructive coöperation and personal and institutional development”, says Robert Hårdh, Executive Director at Civil Rights Defenders. The conference will be held on 4 April, which is the date of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968.
During the conference there will be training sessions in digital security, video campaigning and effective lobbying, along with the chance to listen to panel discussions with representatives from the international community such as Mrs. Margaret Sekaggya, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. There will also be presentations, which include “The Escape from Camp 14” with Mr. Shin Dong-hyuk, a defector from North Korea.
The conference is on invitation basis only and consists of a closed part and an open session. The closed part is for human rights defenders at risk, and relevant stakeholders, while the open session is open to everyone.
During the conference “The Civil Rights Defender of the Year Award” will be given to one of the most outstanding human rights defenders in the world. A report on the situation for human rights defenders in the award-winner’s country will be presented in connection to the conference.
For more information concerning the conference, contact Ms. Kim Matthis: kim.matthis at civilrightsdefenders.org
via Civil Rights Defenders – Annual conference to empower human rights defenders at risk.
Human Rights Defender Carlos Hernández Mendoza killed in Guatemala
March 14, 2013 reports that on 8 March 2013, human rights defender and trade union leader Carlos Antonio Hernández Mendoza was shot dead as he travelled back from Honduras. Carlos Hernández Mendoza was a leader in the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Salud de Guatemala – SNTSG (National Health Workers Union of Guatemala), as well as a member of several other social movements. A prominent defender of labour and land rights, Carlos Hernández Mendoza was also actively engaged in struggling for prior consultation rights for indigenous communities whose lives and livelihoods are affected by large-scale dam construction and mega projects in the region. On 8 March 2013, at approximately 8.30am, Carlos Hernández Mendoza was travelling in a vehicle through the municipality of Camotán, department of Chiquimula, returning from a trip to Honduras, when he was stopped by individuals asking for a lift. When the human rights defender descended from his vehicle to assist them, he was shot and killed.
Carlos Hernández Mendoza had previously reported incidents of alleged surveillance when cars with darkly tinted windows were noticed in the vicinity of his residence. In November 2010, he was detained in Chiquimula and accused of carrying out activities that threatened national security and of holding illegal meetings. The charges were a result of the human rights defender’s participation in mobilising community protest to defend natural resources.
Related articles
China’s leaders meet – so Human Rights Defenders have to be silenced
March 13, 2013
On 5 March 2013, human rights defender Liu Feiyue was taken from his home by police in Hubei Province. One week later, he remains missing with no further information available on his whereabouts. Liu Feiyue is a former teacher and founder of Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch, a human rights website based in China which documents cases of human rights violations from all over the country. He set up the website in 2005 after becoming increasingly involved in the defence of human rights in Hubei Province. As a result of his human rights work, Liu Feiyue has been harassed, placed under house arrest, detained and beaten.
Liu Feiyue had been under increased surveillance in the weeks prior to this incident, due to the convening of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress and the National People’s Congress in Beijing, which began on 3 and 5 March 2013 respectively. Liu Feiyue has been repeatedly targeted in the past during politically sensitive periods and has often been brought into police custody without any legal procedures. In addition to Liu Feiyue, it is reported that dozens of other human rights defenders have been placed under house arrest or have had their freedom of movement restricted owing to the governmental meetings taking place in Beijing. Those under increased surveillance include Messrs Hu Jia, He Depu and Xu Zhiyong in Beijing, Ms Liu Ping and Mr Li Sihua in Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province and Mr Feng Zhenghu in Shanghai.
New Network launched today:Infrastructures for Peace (I4P)
March 13, 2013The new International Civil Society Network on Infrastructures for Peace (I4P) is launched today with its website: www.I4Pinternational.org
Many countries lack capacities and structures to deal adequately with on-going and potential violent conflict. This has emerged as a central obstacle to the attainment of equitable and sustainable development. In recent years, the number of conflicts has been increasing once again. What is needed – in the same way as for threatening natural disasters – is a comprehensive, inclusive and long-term approaches to peacebuilding, which involves the main stakeholders. Infrastructures for peace and Local Peace Committees can be important pillars to counter these dangerous developments or substantially reduce their impact. Several local peacebuilding NGOs and practitioners felt the need to exchange experiences and best practices about this approach and make I4P more recognised:the network was born and counts now some seventy members. There is an Interim Steering Committee with members from three continents.
Human rights and human rights defenders play a crucial role in this process – even if not spelled out in the main pages of the new website. The local peace groups mentioned as members however frequently refer to the need for human rights and social justice as they realise that lasting peace cannot be the ‘peace of the graveyard’. Moreover, it is the local Human Rights Defenders who suffer most from the absence of peace as this blog and many more sources regularly demonstrate.
Job opportunity for a fundraiser with Protection International
March 12, 2013Brussels-based Protection International is looking for a fundraiser with a strong capacity to investigate and follow up possible funding opportunities. What PI is looking for is a person with at least two-year experience in fundraising for NGOs or relevant organisations, a strong capacity to elaborate budgets and write proposals and reports, an interest in human rights related issues, and extensive skills to work with donors constructively.
Please read the full job description on the website: http://protectioninternational.org/2013/03/12/job-opportunity-protection-international-is-looking-for-a-fundraiser/ and send your applications to recruitment@protectioninternational.org.
The deadline for submitting your applications is : 31 March 2013.
Link between protecting the environment and human rights asserted by UN Expert Knox (re-issued with working links and references to case law)
March 11, 2013What is apparent from this blog, which has featured many cases of environmental Human Rights Defenders, has now been clearly stated (on 7 March 2013) by the United Nations Independent Expert on human rights and environment, John Knox. In his report to the Council of Human Rights, he highlighted the urgent need to clarify the human rights obligations linked to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Such clarification, he said, “is necessary in order for States and others to better understand what those obligations require and ensure that they are fully met, at every level from the local to the global.”……………….In his report Mr. Knox also identifies rights whose implementation is vital to environmental policymaking, such as the rights to freedom of expression and association, rights to receive information and participate in decision-making processes, and rights to legal remedies. “The exercise of these rights, makes environmental policies more transparent, better informed and more responsive to those most concerned.” “States should recognize the important work carried out by human rights defenders working on land and environmental issues in trying to find a balance between economic development and environmental protection, should not tolerate their stigmatization and should ensure prompt and impartial investigations into alleged violations of their rights,” he said.
John Knox was appointed as the Independent Expert on human rights and the environment in July 2012 by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Learn more: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13089&LangID=E
Knox’s full report: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session22/A-HRC-22-43_en.pdf
via Link between protecting the environment and human rights | Scoop News.
I would also like to refer now to an article by Lauri R. Tanner in the Oxford Press Journal of Human Rights Practice on the landmark environmental defenders cases by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: the milestone case of ‘Kawas v. Honduras‘ and the so-called ‘Mexican Ecologists case‘. In its first-ever ruling on environmental defenders, the Court found a positive obligation on the part of member states in the Hemisphere to protect environmentalists who are in serious jeopardy from human rights violations. The Kawas case is a paradigmatic example of the constant threats these activists encounter, both in the Americas and internationally, and states in the region are now on notice to ensure special protection to those most in danger of harm. The Court arrived at the remarkable juncture of ‘making visible and potentially punishable what heretofore has been invisible and unpunished’. In an epilogue Tanner addresses the subsequent ruling in the ‘Mexican Ecologists’ case, and offers recommendations to human rights and environmental defenders and practitioners both regionally and internationally.
PDF to download:
http://jhrp.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/hur020?ijkey=TmPlvBcvZYHLh18&keytype=ref
Full Text online:
http://jhrp.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/hur020?ijkey=TmPlvBcvZYHLh18&keytype=ref
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 