Posts Tagged ‘Human rights defender’
March 27, 2013
On 18 March 2013, the body of human rights defender and indigenous peoples’ leader Encarnación Marcos Ucelo was found, following his kidnapping by heavily armed men the day before. His body reportedly showed signs of strangulation and his hands were tied. Fellow indigenous leaders Messrs Rigoberto Aguilar, Rodolfo López and Roberto González were also kidnapped by the armed men, but all three were released on 17 and 18 March 2013.
Encarnación Marcos Ucelo was a member of the Xinca indigenous people in Santa Maria Xalapán, situated in the department of Jalapa in Eastern Guatemala. He had worked as secretary of the Indigenous Parliament of Santa Maria Xalapán for almost two years and was also involved in a commission established in 2012 to investigate the historical land rights of indigenous peoples and campesino communities in Guatemala. Rigoberto Aguilar, Rodolfo López and Roberto González are all members are of the same indigenous community, while Roberto González is also Mayor of Santa Maria Xalapán and President of the Parliament.
condemns the killing of Encarnación Marcos Ucelo, and expresses serious concern for the security and physical and psychological integrity of Rigoberto Aguilar, Rodolfo López and Roberto González and urges the authorities in Guatemala to initiate an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation and take all necessary measures to guarantee the security and physical and psychological integrity all other indigenous peoples’ rights defenders of the Santa Maria Xalapán community.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: campesinos, climate, Encarnación Marcos Ucelo, environmental issues, Front Line Defenders, Guatemala, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Indigenous People, Land issues, Rigoberto Aguilar, Roberto González, Rodolfo López, Xinca
March 26, 2013
I have reported extensively over the last days on the question of growing judicial and administrative harassment of NGOs and human rights defenders, including the adoption of a resolution last week by the UN Human Rights Council recalling that “domestic law and administrative provisions […] should facilitate the work of human rights defenders, including by avoiding any criminalization, stigmatization, impediments, obstructions or restrictions thereof contrary to international human rights law”. Still, this is exactly what the Russian Federation is doing at the moment according to a statement by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders: Hundreds of NGOs are being subjected to inspections by Government officials across the Russian Federation. This follows the adoption in 2012 of several laws contradicting the right to freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression. …Since the end of February until today, dozens of inspections of NGOs have been launched in at least 13 regions of the Russian Federation, including Krasnodar, Moscow, Orenburg, Penza, Perm and Altai territories, St. Petersburg, Primorsky, Saratov and Rostov provinces. In St. Petersburg, the Spokesperson for the Office of the Prosecutor declared on March 19, 2013 that over the month some 5,000 inspections would be conducted to check compliance with the laws on terrorism, extremism as well as other offences. After this date, dozens of NGOs were inspected in St. Petersburg, including LGBT, human rights and environmental NGOs. Across the country, these operations have been conducted by prosecutors, together with, in some cases, officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security Service FSB, the Ministry of Emergencies, the Federal Service for Supervision of Protection of Consumer Rights and Human Well-Being, the Tax Inspectorate, the Centre E, a unit specialised in anti-extremism, and even the fire service. According to the information received, inspections have particularly targeted groups that supposedly receive foreign funding and conduct monitoring or advocacy work. The scope of the inspections appears to be far-ranging, though inspectors have particularly insisted on the issue of funding. The massive character as well as methods used during inspections disproportionately interfere with the right to freedom of association: the number of inspections is massive, most inspections are unannounced, NGOs have been given short deadlines to provide a huge amount of documents and vague and non-exhaustive lists of requirements. In the case of prominent NGO Human Rights Centre “Memorial”, a pro-government TV crew was informed and present during the inspection. The news report entitled “Memorial hides its income from the Prosecutors Office” was broadcast the same day before the end of the inspection, in flagrant violation of the presumption of innocence. “Information on NGOs sources of funding are public. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | 1 Comment »
Tags: Civil society, FIDH, freedom of association, funding, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, International Federation for Human Rights, Justice Ministry, legal restrictions, NGOs, Non-governmental organization, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, Russia, Souhayr Belhassen, UN Declaration, UN Resolution, United Nations Human Rights Council, World Organisation Against Torture
March 26, 2013
Last Saturday I referred to the new Resolution on Human Rights Defenders in the UN Human Rights Council. Now there is an interesting interview with Counsellor, Geir Sjøberg of the Norwegian Mission to the UN, done by the International Service for Human Rights and reported by Reliefweb. The interview contains such so much meat that I have reproduced it here in full:
- The Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution which some have called a landmark in furthering the protection of human rights defenders. Are you satisfied with the results?
Let me first of all thank the ISHR and other human rights organizations for the invaluable advise and support throughout the process we have had here in Geneva. In 2011, the General Assembly expressed grave concerns about the serious nature of risks faced by human rights defenders due to threats, attacks and acts of intimidation against them. Regrettably, the situation has hardly improved since then. On the contrary, current trends are largely negative, as reported by the Special Rapporteur and others. Against this background, the Council had to respond with a clear message. The resolution ‘Protecting Human Rights Defenders’ should be seen as such, as the collective voice of the international community in 2013. On balance, we see the resolution as an appropriate response by the Human Rights Council at a very difficult time for human rights defenders in all regions of the world. The unanimous adoption of this resolution sends an important signal of support to all the courageous people who are fighting against human rights violations all over the world. We must now work to ensure that this resolution is translated into concrete results on the ground and leads to an improvement in the situation of human rights defenders.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: funding, Geneva, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, International Service for Human Rights, ISHR, legal restrictions, Norway, protection, Reliefweb, Special Rapporteur, UN Resolution, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council
March 19, 2013
From 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.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Advocacy Organizations, award, Civil Rights Defenders, Defenders' Days, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, Martin Luther King, North Korea, Stockholm, United Nations Special Rapporteur
March 19, 2013
On 9 March 2013, police severely beat a number of human rights defenders and members of the
Initiative pour la Résurgence du Mouvement Abolitionniste en Mauritanie – IRA (Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement) in Southern Mauritania. Nine of the human rights defenders were arbitrarily arrested and remain in detention in Kaédi police station. (IRA is an organisation which works to eradicate slavery in Mauritania. It has members and supporters in various regions of the country.)
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: abolition, freedom of assembly, Front Line Defenders, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, illegal detention, Initiative pour la Résurgence du Mouvement Abolitionniste en Mauritanie, IRA, islamic fundamentalists, judicial harassment, Kaédi, Mauritania, slavery
March 16, 2013
On 11 March I referred to the case of the radio journalist Mam Sonando in Cambodia whose criminal charges were being reduced but still maintained. Now Front Line reports that on 14 March 2013, the Court of Appeal ruled that the human rights defender is to be released today as his reduced prison sentence is suspended. While welcoming the release of Mam Sonando, it remains a concern that he was convicted at all.
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Broadcast journalism, Cambodia, Front Line, human rights, Human rights defender, Mam Sonando, media, Phnom Penh, Sentence (law)
March 16, 2013
I reported earlier that on 28 February the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of their joint programme the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, organised a meeting on (legal) restrictions increasingly imposed on human rights defenders. This was followed up on 11 March with an oral intervention at the UN Human Rights Council. 
The statement referred to the recently published Annual Report 2013 of the Observatory, which states that NGOs’ access to funding, in particular foreign funding, is increasingly being hindered by governments around the world. Restrictive laws combined with unfounded criticism, smear campaigns and judicial harassment directed against human rights defenders because of the source of their funding create a hostile environment towards their activities as a way to silence them. Belarusian law now prohibits any possibility for an NGO to hold a bank account in an institution based abroad, and criminalises the use of so-called unauthorised funds. These new provisions were adopted as FIDH Vice-President and “Viasna” President Ales Bialiatski was sentenced to 4.5 years’ imprisonment after he made use of foreign funds to finance human rights activities in his country. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FIDH, human rights, OMCT | 3 Comments »
Tags: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Egypt, Ethiopia, FIDH, funding, Geneva, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, India, International Federation for Human Rights, judicial harassment, legal restrictions, Non-governmental organization, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, Russia, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council, World Organisation Against Torture
March 15, 2013
(@SAIDYOUSIF)
The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) presented an oral intervention before the Human Rights Council on 12 March, 2013, in which it expressed its concerns over the continued deterioration in the situation of human rights in Egypt since President Mohamed Morsi took power. The oral intervention was based on the assessment of members of the Egyptian NGO Forum, a collective of 23 independent human rights organizations in Egypt, on the situation of human rights in Egypt during the first 8 months of Morsi’s presidency. It asserted that three major rights-related crises have been seen over this period: undermining of the independence of the judiciary, violations to the right to free expression and media freedoms, and violations to the right to assembly and peaceful protest. http://www.cihrs.org/?p=6159&lang=en
In addition, CIHRS organized a side event at the HRC, on 11 March, featuring representatives of the Egyptian NGO Forum, including Mohammed Zaree, director of the Egypt Roadmap Program at CIHRS, Masa Amir, researcher at Nazra for Feminist Studies, and Nihad Abboud, from the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression. The event was chaired by Ziad Abdel Tawab, deputy director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies. He expressed concern for an independent civil society in Egypt, referring to recent attempts by the current government to put in place unprecedented restrictions on the funding and activities of non-governmental organizations.
Next, Nihad Abboud drew attention to the violations which have been committed against journalists and photographers as examples of the threats to freedom of expression and of opinion in Egypt. Ms. Abboud further pointed out that the right to freedom of expression is particularly targeted in the context of the right to protest. She spoke about draft legislation to regulate demonstrations, stating that the draft law contains many restrictions on the right to free assembly by allowing the authorities broad powers to ban or restrict demonstrations. ..Perhaps most worrying is that the new constitution includes provisions which restrict on the right to free assembly for the first time in Egypt. Masa Amir turned to the precarious situation of women human rights defenders in Egypt, reminding the audience of the specific targeting of women through virginity tests and other violations by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The side event was concluded with the call that the international community should reassess its engagement with Egypt, in order to avoid replicating the mistakes of the past, including support for dictatorships which blatantly violate human rights.
As if to demonstrate the precarious situation of HRDs in Egypt Front Line Defenders reports that the Egyptian Human rights defender Hassan Mustafa sentenced to two years imprisonment on 12 March by the Mansheya Misdemeanour Court in Alexandria on charges of allegedly assaulting a member of Alexandria Prosecution Office. Numerous supporters of the human rights defender gathered in front of the Courthouse at the time of the hearing to protest against his trial and demand his release. Hassan Mustafa is a well-known human rights defender in Alexandria who has defended the rights of detainees and campaigned on issues such as police brutality and economic rights. According to Hassan Mustafa’s lawyer, the Court heard only two out of fifteen testimonies, of witnesses who denied that he assaulted the Prosecution Office member.
http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/22008
Posted in human rights | 1 Comment »
Tags: Alexandria, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, CIHRS, Democracy, Egypt, freedom of expression, Front Line Defenders, Hassan Mustafa, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, human rights organizations, Middle East, Mohamed Morsi, side event, Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, UN Human Rights Council
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.
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Camotán, Carlos Hernández Mendoza, Chiquimula, Front Line Defenders, Guatemala, Honduras, Human right, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Indigenous People, killing, labour movement, land rights
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.
via: http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/21972
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: China, Feng Zhenghu, Front Line Defenders, He Depu, Hu Jia, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Li Sihua, Liu Feiyue, Liu Ping, March 2013, National People's Congress, Xu Zhiyong
condemns the killing of Encarnación Marcos Ucelo, and expresses serious concern for the security and physical and psychological integrity of Rigoberto Aguilar, Rodolfo López and Roberto González and urges the authorities in Guatemala to initiate an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation and take all necessary measures to guarantee the security and physical and psychological integrity all other indigenous peoples’ rights defenders of the Santa Maria Xalapán community.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 