Posts Tagged ‘Human rights defender’

Five UN experts urge Israel to stop harassment of human rights activist Issa Amro

August 14, 2013

Special Rapporteur Richard Falk. UN Photo/Jess Hoffman

On 13 August 2013 a group of 5 United Nations independent human rights experts expressed deep concern at the alleged ongoing judicial harassment, intimidation and abusive treatment directed against Issa Amro, a prominent Palestinian human rights defender. Mr. Amro, a founder of the non-governmental organizations Youth Against Settlements and Hebron Defenders, was arrested and detained 20 times in 2012, and six times in 2013, without being charged Read the rest of this entry »

Pillay urges immediate release of detained human rights defender Adilur Rahman Khan in Bangladesh

August 14, 2013

On 13 August 2013 the United Nations added its voice to the many to call for his immediate release of Adilur Rahman Khan, the director of Odhikar, a well-known human rights organization in the country. He was arrested at his home in the capital, Dhaka, on 10 August by plainclothes officers reportedly acting without a warrant, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR]. “We are calling on the Government of Bangladesh to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Khan, whose arrest might be linked to his work as human rights defender,” OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell told reporters in Geneva. She said Mr. Khan is reported to have been arrested under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and

humanrightslogo_Goodies_14_LogoVorlagen

section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act, accused of publishing false information about violence by Government forces during demonstrations in May by the Islamist movement, Hefazat-e-Islami. Odhikar reported that 61 people had died during these protests, challenging the Government’s version of events, noted Ms. Throssell.She said that the day after his arrest, Mr. Khan was denied bail and ordered to be held on remand for five days. “He was allegedly denied access to a lawyer before his court hearing,” she added.

via United Nations News Centre – Bangladesh: UN urges immediate release of detained human rights defender.

Congo Rebels Execute Human-Rights Worker in Katanga

August 14, 2013

Business Week reports on 14 August that rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Katanga province murdered a human-rights investigator who criticized their movement for committing abuses against civilians. Armed men from the secessionist Kata Katanga group [whose name means “cut out Katanga” in the Swahili language] forced their way into the victim’s house on 7 August  before killing him,  according to Scott Campbell, the director of the UN’s joint human-rights office in Congo. The UN mission, known as Monusco, wouldn’t release the victim’s name or organization for security reasons, Campbell said. “Monusco is gravely concerned by the arbitrary execution” of the activist, it said in a separate e-mailed statement that also called on Congolese authorities to protect human-rights defenders and their families.  Almost 370,000 people have been displaced in the province as of July, mainly because of the violence, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

via Congo Rebels Execute Human-Rights Worker in Katanga Province – Businessweek.

 

NGOs jointly call on world to focus on Bahrain on 14 August

August 13, 2013

13 NGOs have signed an open letter concerning the situation in Bahrain in the light of the upcoming mass demonstration on 14 August. As it is short and to the point here is the full text copied from the FIDH website:  Read the rest of this entry »

Saudi Arabia: Release of human rights defender Mohammed El-Bejadi after more than two years

August 9, 2013

Mohammed El-Bejadi Mohammed El-Bejadi

On 6 August 2013, human rights defender Mr Mohammed Saleh El-Bejadi was released from detention in which he had been kept since his arrest during a peaceful protest in the area of Buraidah, on 21 March 2011. Mohammed El-Bejadi is Read the rest of this entry »

Honduras: mining company destabilizes community and threatens HRDs

August 9, 2013

Front Line reports the continuous presence of armed security guards in the community of La Nueva Esperanza, in the department of Atlántida, threatening and intimidating the local population, resulted in the temporary kidnapping of two human rights defenders, Mr Daniel Langmeier and Ms Orlane Vidal. Both are working for the Proyecto de Acompañamiento Honduras – PROAH (Honduras Accompaniment Project), an organisation which aims to prevent or alleviate situations of risk against human rights defenders in Honduras. Read the rest of this entry »

Phil Lynch of ISHR expects UN Human Rights Council to enhance protection of HRDs

August 9, 2013

In a piece published in the Alaska Dispatch of 8 August 2013, Phil Lynch, the Director of the Geneva-based International Service for Human Rights, contemplates what the next session of the UN Human Rights Council could do to improve the fate of HRDs.ISHR-logo-colour-high Read the rest of this entry »

Ethnic Azerbaijani human rights defenders in detention in Iran resort to hunger strike after unfair trial

August 5, 2013

Since 13 July 2013, five ethnic Azerbaijani human rights defenders detained in Tabriz prison have taken part in an ongoing hunger strike in protest at their conviction following an unfair trial. Mahmud Fezli, Latif Haseni, Ayat Mehrali Baglou, Behboud Gholizadeh and Shahram Radmehr are members of the organisation Yeni Gamoh, Read the rest of this entry »

UN Rapporteur joins chorus to urge freedom for Bialiatski in Belarus

August 2, 2013

Special Rapporteur on Belarus Miklós Haraszti. – Photo: OSCE/Susanna Lööf

2 August 2013 the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Republic of Belarus, Miklós Haraszti, said that the detention of Bialiatski is “a symbol of the repression against human rights defenders.” Read the rest of this entry »

Bangladesh: the sad story of the attack on Shahed Kayes

August 2, 2013
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHCR) tells the story of what happened recently in Bangladesh to human rights defender and philanthropic educator Shahed 

AHRC-STM-138-2013.jpgKayes well. I suggest you read the full story provided in the link below but the essence is that Shahed Kayes knew that his attempt to educate impoverished children from the low castes was unacceptable to the deeply entrenched local power structure and those at the top of it, as schooling can lessen the abundant supply of uneducated labour at their disposal. He was also trying to stop illegal sand-mining, a crime that threatens the very survival of the Meghna river communities. The sand mafia was bound to be irked. Read the rest of this entry »