Former political prisoner Vasil Parfiankou has been placed in medical and labor dispensary No. 1 in the town of Svetlahorsk, after serving five days of arrest in Minsk. The Human Rights Center “Viasna” Read the rest of this entry »
Posts Tagged ‘Human rights defender’
Vasil Parfiankou sent for forced treatment in Belarus
September 24, 2013Follow on YouTube very interesting debate on Syria and media organised by International Alert
September 20, 2013While not directly dealing with Human Rights Defenders, I want to share with you this fascinating debate organised by International Alert.
As Syria stays in the news, Read the rest of this entry »
Whistle-blowers and HRDs serve democratic principles says U.N. expert
September 19, 2013On 11 September, 2013 UPI in Geneva carried an interesting but surprisingly-little-noticed item under the title “U.N. expert says whistle-blowers serve democratic principles“: Human rights defenders and whistle-blowers need protection in order to ensure democratic and international order, a rights envoy said from Geneva. Alfred de Zayas, U.N. special envoy in equitable order, told the U.N. Human Rights Council access to “truthful and reliable” information from diverse sources is essential for people to play an effective role in public affairs. German protesters gathered last weekend for an event dubbed “Freedom Not Fear.” Tens of thousands of demonstrators turned out in Berlin to rally against the U.S. National Security Agency and Britains signals intelligence program gathering of databases of peoples email, online chat and Internet browsing histories without prior court authorization. “I am dismayed that notwithstanding lip service to democracy, too many governments seem to forget that in a democracy, it is the people who are sovereign,” de Zayas said in his prepared remarks Wednesday. NSA contractor Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Moscow. He faces charges in the United States, including two espionage-related counts, for leaking information about a surveillance program dubbed Prism. De Zayas said human rights defenders and whistle-blowers deserve “specific protection” from prosecution. “[They] have in some contexts been accused of being unpatriotic, whereas they perform, in reality, a democratic service to their countries and to the enjoyment of human rights of their compatriots,” he said.
via U.N. expert says whistle-blowers serve democratic principles – UPI.com.
As asked in another blog : Are whistle blowers heroes or villains? : “Private Chelsea nee Bradley Manning, Julian Assange. Edward Snowden. They have all claimed that their actions are for the public good. The Establishment says that they are all a risk to national security. That brings up the thorny issue of Free speech v security. Were lives put at risk because of the leaks? If so, is that a price worth paying? Are they moral crusaders? Or are they recklessly endangering national security? Should we even conflate whistle blowing with security? Was national security ever really at risk? Or is that a cop-out from our leaders because they are embarrassed about what is being leaked? Then we have to ask the question – is there a difference between a corporate whistle-blower and one that works for the government? If so, why? Whistle blowers. Good or Bad? Heroes or Villains?”
Related articles
- Walking on eggshells | Are whistle-blowers heroes or heels? (tribune-democrat.com)
- Whistle-blowers need protection, U.N envoy says (upi.com)
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)
China Detains Activists trying to reach UN
September 19, 2013While Iran has started to free some of its political prisoners, China does the opposite by detaining two prominent rights activists who were en route to Geneva ahead of a U.N. review of Beijing’s rights record. Beijing-based activist Cao Shunli was stopped at Beijing’s airport on 14 September and questioned by state security police, the overseas-based China Human Rights Defenders [CHRD] said in an emailed statement. On the same day, Guangdong rights activist Chen Jianfang was also intercepted at Guangzhou’s International Airport.The activists, who have been incommunicado since, had been en-route to Geneva to attend a training course at the invitation of a Geneva-based rights group ahead of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of China on 22 October. Chen, a farmer-turned-petitioner who has been repeatedly detained in illegal “black jails” and who served a 15-month term in labor camp in March 2010, said she was threatened with violence by airport police, who also tore up her plane ticket. Both women had been active in transparency campaigns around the U.N. review process, sending information requests, suing the foreign ministry, and staging demonstrations outside its gates in a bid to be included in China’s submission to the U.N. “In recent weeks, police in several Chinese cities have interrogated other activists and lawyers about the same training program and warned them about serious consequences,” CHRD said.
(Reported by Wei Ling for RFA’s Cantonese Service, and by Xin Yu for the Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie).
via RFA’s China Detains Activists Over UN Campaign.
Related articles
- China continues harsh line on dissent but one jailed HRD smuggles out video (thoolen.wordpress.com)
Philippines nun speaks strongly against arrest of church worker Yadao
September 13, 2013I remember from my visit to the Philippines in the early 80s that the nuns were extraordinarily active in the area of human rights (that was under Marcos). I was reminded of this when I saw the Bulalat report of 13 September that a long-time lay worker of a Catholic-run organization was arrested by elements of the Philippine Army on 8 September and the fierce reaction by Sister Somogod.
(Joel Yadao (in gray shirt) in June 2012. Photo courtesy of RMP-NMR) Read the rest of this entry »
Protection International opens inscription for new e-learning course on Security for HRDs
September 12, 2013On 7 October 2013, a new course on “Security and protection management for HRD and social organisations” begins on the e-learning platform of Protection International (http://www.e-learning.protectioninternational.org/course/info.php?id=21).
• Enrolment until 24 September 2013 Read the rest of this entry »
Example of unclear thinking about the role of human rights defenders
September 11, 2013On 22 August 2013 Mekki Elmograbi (makkimag@gmail) published a piece in the Sudan Vision Daily which tries to make a distinction between ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ practice of journalism with the consequent distinction that in the first case human rights defenders should defend the journalists but in the second case use dialogue techniques to defuse the situation. It is a rambling article and the categorization cannot be easily understood. However, I am sharing it anyway as it is in order to illustrate the state of thinking in parts of the world: Read the rest of this entry »
In a few hours starts side event on retaliation against HRDs – can be followed on internet
September 10, 2013In the context of my previous post, here is the reference to a side event organized by the ISHR on this topic which starts today (Tuesday) at 13h15-14h45 Swiss time in the Palais des Nations, Room 21. You can follow the event at www.ishr.ch/council/webcast.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 