Posts Tagged ‘Human rights defender’
February 16, 2013
On 15 February 2013 News.az (an Azeri news agency) distributed under the title “Western human rights defenders’ silence shows double standards” a bit of a rambling attack on western-based international organizations and human rights defenders for using double standards by being quickly critical of repression of journalists in the ‘new democracies’ such as Azerbaijan and being silent with regard to similar repression in western Europe.
The 15 February piece is mostly based on an interview with
Eynulla Fatullayev, editor of the website Haqqin.az, who stated that the case of journalists from News of the World is a high-profile case, and certainly should be considered in the plane of restrictions on the rights of journalists to work freely. What the article does not state is that on 22 January of this year Amnesty International has announced the termination of its collaboration with Eynulla Fatullayev, a former prisoner of conscience, and head of the Public Association for Human Rights in Azerbaijan. Amnesty International believes that Fatullayev, and in particular, his site Haqqin.az, is used by the Government of Azerbaijan to discredit European criticism of human rights violations in Azerbaijan. In 2011 Amnesty International had issued a “mass tweet” on Fatullayev’s behalf; Fatullayev attributed his release inter alia to the work of Amnesty International activists.
In the interview Eynulla Fatullayev states among others the following: “I am more than sure that if a similar event occurred in Azerbaijan or in another state, located in the zone of the new democracies, it would be followed by statements by most international organizations condemning the policy of the authorities to the persecution of media. Why in the case of the United Kingdom or other EU countries, all these organizations remain strangely silent?” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in AI, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 1 Comment »
Tags: Amnesty International, awards, Azerbaijan, Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, double standards, European Union, Eynulla Fatullayev, Fatullayev, freedom of expression, Germany, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, News of the World, Public Association for Human Rights in Azerbaijan, selectivity, Unesco
February 16, 2013
More than two months after his arrest, the whereabouts of human rights defender and religious leader Imam Baba Leigh continues to remain unknown. Imam Baba Leigh was taken from his home on 3 December 2012 by two men believed to be part of the Gambia‘s National Intelligence Agency. Imam Baba Leigh is a religious leader and an active human rights defender. He serves as a religious advisor for The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices (GAMCOTRAP), an organisation working in the area of sexual and reproductive health and the rights of women and children. He is known as an outspoken campaigner who has aptly used his religious status to advocate for human rights and social reform. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Baba Leigh, detention, disappearances, Forced disappearance, Front Line (NGO), Gambia, Human right, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, imam, Imam Baba Leigh, NGO, sexual and reproductive health
February 15, 2013
The UN Human Rights Council’s 22nd session will be held from 25 February to 22 March 2013 and consider a range of significant thematic and country-specific human rights issues and actions. The ISHR provides timely and expert information especially as for human rights defenders there are several relevant initiatives. Norway will lead negotiations on a resolution focusing on legislation that affects human rights defenders with the goal of improving the protection of human rights defenders and eliminating laws which impair their work. ISHR
has watched the development of this resolution closely. The resolution will build on the report of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Ms Margaret Sekaggya, to the UN General Assembly in 2012. This report considered the issue of the ‘criminalisation’ of human rights defenders Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights | 8 Comments »
Tags: criminalization, freedom of demonstration, freedom of expression, human rights, Human Rights Council, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, International Service for Human Rights, ISHR, Margaret Sekaggya, national institutions, Norway, Special Rapporteur, UN, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
February 15, 2013
The recent killing of Dalit human rights defender Mr Chandra Kant Gaikwad shows that a democratic system is not enough to guarantee a peaceful progressive development. If the leaders of the victims are not protected and the powerful feel free to kill with impunity, this is what happens according to a report by Front Line
…….
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: assassination, Chandra Kant Gaikwad, Dada Shivaji Jadhav, Dalit, dalit human rights, dalit movement, Front Line, Front Line (NGO), Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, impunity, Indapur, killings, Pune, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Vaibhav Gite
February 14, 2013
reported that on 13 February 2013, three pellets were fired at the vehicle of Father Alberto Franco, a prominent human rights defender and Executive Secretary of the Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz – CIJP (Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace). The CIJP is a church-based human rights organisation working to expose human rights violations committed by state security forces and paramilitary groups in conflict regions in Colombia. The attack follows acts of surveillance and intimidation of Father Alberto Franco during recent weeks and coincides with the hearing of the case “Operation Genesis”, a joint military and paramilitary operation which resulted in the killing and forced disappearance of many civilians; a case which the CIJP has provided key evidence for. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Alberto Franco, Álvaro Uribe, CIJP, Colombia, death threats, Forced disappearance, Front Line, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace
February 14, 2013
reports that a new hearing on the case of human rights defender Bahtyar Mamedov is scheduled to start on 14 February 2013 at the Court of Grave Crimes in Baku. The human rights defender has been detained since 30 December 2011 on charges of “swindle” and “extortion accompanied by violence”. The trial under the charges of swindle has been ongoing since April 2012, despite a reported lack of evidence to support the case.
Bahtyar Mamedov is a defender of property rights and the legal representative of Baku inhabitants whose houses have been demolished. Bahtyar Mamedov subsequently discovered fraud with money due to be paid as compensation, allegedly involving a military unit commander, Shahin Sultanov. Bahtyar Mamedov was then accused himself of an alleged attempt on his part to extort money from Shahin Sultanov, which he strongly denies. During the initial three-month period ordered by the Court of Grave Crimes to investigate the charges of “extortion accompanied by violence”, no evidence was found to support the charges, yet the case was not closed. The prosecution subsequently opened a second case against Bahtyar Mamedov on charges of fraud. Until 5 November 2012, Shahin Sultanov, the alleged victim of the fraud, had not been questioned by the investigative team and did not respond to the summons to appear before the court. On 15 October 2012, he sent a declaration stating that he did not know Bahtyar Mamedov and that he had lodged a complaint against him according to information received from third persons, and that he has nothing against Bahtyar Mamedov.
Front Line Defenders issued an urgent appeal and an update on the continued judicial harassment faced by Bahtyar Mamedov on 26 October 2012 <http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/20381> and 12 November 2012 <https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/20745> respectively.
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Azerbaijan, Bahtyar Mamedov, Baku, Extortion, Front Line, Human right, Human rights defender, Independence of Lawyers, judicial harasment, judicial harassment, legal profession, Property, Shahin Sultanov
February 9, 2013
The Asian Human Rights Commission (regional NGO) reports that two prominent lawyers have been assassinated in targeted killings on 2 February 2013.
Mr. Malik Jarrar 47, a Supreme Court lawyer, was shot dead in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Paktoonkha province by unknown persons, riding a motorcycle. He was on his way to pick up his two sons from school. Mr. Jarrar was the former vice chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Another prominent lawyer, Mr. Mian Muhammad Tariq 55, was also shot dead in similar manner in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province. He was shot dead by unknown assailants when he was parking his car inside his apartment building.
Mr Malik’s was probably a sectarian killing as he was from the Shia sect, the second largest sect of Islam which is under attack by the Taliban and other fundamentalist Sunnis who had declared them as Kafir (infidel) and liable to be killed. In the recent days four prominent Shia were assassinated by unknown persons in Peshawar.
The legal fraternity of the whole country organised a two-day boycott of courts in protest of killings. The lawyers see in the killings of their colleagues the total failure of the government to for maintaining the rule of law in the country.
In the last week four workers of one NGO, HANDS, working to provide health facilities and food rations to poor fisherfolk, were abducted by unknown persons but the government has failed to recover them. Persons who work in favour of human rights, which is deemed contrary to the interests of radical Islamist groups face considerable threat, as may be noted in the killings in 2011 of the Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, and the Federal Minister of Minority Affairs, Shabaz Bhatti, who were targeted for their efforts to protect minorities, and their opposition to Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws.
So far 87 journalists had been killed in Pakistan since 2000. In the year 2012, eight journalists were killed while performing their official duty.
The irresponsible attitude of the government towards the security and protection of the human rights defenders and the appeasement policy towards the Muslim fundamentalists groups can be judged by the government’s refusal to allow the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders to visit the country. The government, after ratifying the UN ICCPR has accepted a recommendation to do so.
source: http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-STM-039-2013
Posted in human rights | 1 Comment »
Tags: Asian Human Rights Commission, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, lawyers, legal profession, Malik Jarrar, Mian Muhammad Tariq, Non-governmental organization, Pakistan, Pakistan Human Rights Commission, Peshawar, sectarian violence, Shia, Sindh
February 8, 2013
In the aftermath of the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, at the end of last year, I came across a post that used the word ‘human rights defenders’ to describe those who publicly countered attempts to blame the victims or to scold the teachers for not being religious enough or being too soft. I decided to sit on it for a while as the shock and emotions run too high and is seemed all very political. Now, on reflection I have decided to share it here as it certainly clarifies the climate in which liberal groups (such as People For the American Way) have to operate in parts of the USA. The qualification Human Rights Defenders in the end seems about right to me. The article reads in part:
“..grief stricken and appalled Human Rights Defenders throughout the nation called on citizens Tuesday to reject extremist hate messages American leaders and groups have relayed, as the nation mourns the tragic and horrific loss of 20 children and six adults“, such as “God caused the shooting” and singing “praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment.” [Only hours after the tragedy Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church group’s tweeted: “Westboro will picket Sandy Hook Elementary School to sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment.”]
Mike Huckabee and Bryan Fischer (of the American Family Association) both implied that the school shooting occurred on public schools for adhering to the separation of church and state — saying God let the massacre happen because we’ve moved away from things like compulsory prayer (1). Echoing Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson in the wake of 9/11 (who also, in part, blamed that tragedy on People For the American Way), Focus on the Family’s James Dobson said God has ‘allowed judgment to fall upon us’ because the nation has turned its back on him by accepting things like abortion and gay marriage.”(2). The Tea Party Nation has called the teachers “radicals in the classrooms,” accusing them of being part of a liberal plot to “destroy the family” and create a society that “coddled” the shooter (3).
- http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/fischer-god-didnt-stop-ct-school-shooting-because-hes-gentleman-who-doesnt-go-where-he-not-w
- http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/dobson-connecticut-shooting-was-god-allowing-judgment-fall-upon-us-turning-our-back-him
- http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/tea-party-nation-attacks-teachers-over-ct-school-shooting
The references above provide links to the statements mentioned in the article of 19 December 2012 which can be found in full on : http://www.examiner.com/article/god-did-not-cause-it-human-rights-defenders-say-1
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Bryan Fischer, God, gun debate, human rights, Human rights defender, Jerry Falwell, liberal, Newtown, Pat Robertson, People For the American Way, politics, radicals, religion, religious extremism, right-wing, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Shirley Phelps-Roper, Tea Party Nation, United States, USA, Westboro Baptist Church
February 7, 2013
A draft law to criminalise “homosexual propaganda”, currently being considered by the Russian parliament, flagrantly violates international human rights laws and standards, says the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR). The ISHR is particularly concerned that the law will be used to target, intimidate or harass human rights defenders and those who speak out on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. “States have an obligation not only to respect and protect human rights, but also to respect and protect those who stand up and speak out for human rights. Russia’s draft law is manifestly incompatible with this obligation,” said Ms Collister of the ISHR.
ISHR’s statement comes as three United Nations Independent human rights experts have also called on Russian parliament to scrap the draft Bill. In a joint statement issued by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders and the Special Rapporteur on the right to health, the experts state, “The draft legislation could further contribute to the already difficult environment in which these defenders operate, stigmatizing their work and making them the target of acts of intimidation and violence, as has recently happened in Moscow.”
For further comment, contact Heather Collister, International Service for Human Rights, on + 41 79 920 3805 or h.collister@ishr.ch.
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: draft law, freedom of expression, Freedom of speech, health, homoph, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, International Service for Human Rights, legislation, LGBT rights, Moscow, Russia, Special Rapporteur, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, UN Rapporteurs, United Nations
February 5, 2013
On 25 January 2013, the Investigatory Committee of the Republic of Karelia, Russian Federation, resumed the investigation of the criminal case against human rights defender Maxim Efimov. He is charged with “actions aimed at the incitement of national, racial, or religious enmity, abasement of human dignity, and also propaganda of the exceptionality, superiority, or inferiority of individuals by reason of their attitude to religion, national, or racial affiliation, if these acts have been committed in public or with the use of mass media”, under Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Maxim Efimov is Director of the Karelian regional branch of the inter-regional Youth Human Rights Group (YHRG). He is also Chief Editor of the human rights newspaper Chas nol (Hour zero). The above mentioned charges were brought following the publication by Maxim Efimov of an article in early 2012 regarding the Russian Orthodox Church, in which he criticised state sponsorship of the Church.
On 25 January 2013, investigator A A Voronin decided to reopen the investigation against Maxim Efimov and to seek a sixth expert opinion [SIC] on whether the article published by Maxim Efimov contained any illegal statement. The additional expert opinion was ordered on the basis of the alleged insufficient clarify of five previous expert opinions, which all found that the article did not contain any illegal statement. On 1 February 2013, Maxim Efimov sent a letter to the Director of the Investigatory Committee of Russian Federation, A Bastrykin, protesting the reopening of the investigation.
Front Line Defenders reiterates its concern at the risk of criminal prosecution facing Maxim Efimov, and calls on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against him. Front Line Defenders believes that the charges and criminal case brought against Maxim Efimov are solely motivated by his legitimate and peaceful human rights work in the Russian Federation, as is evident by the investigator’s failure to accept the unanimous decision by five previous expert opinions declaring that the article published by Maxim Efimov did not contain any illegal statement.
In May 2012 Human Rights First and other NGOs had already reported on sinister efforts – reminiscent of old Soviet practices – to force activist Maxim Efimov to undergo a psychiatric evaluation in a mental hospital. Ironically, while churchgoers were routinely hospitalized for ‘insanity,” this time it was Efimov’s criticism of the Orthodox Church that triggered his prosecution. Regional human rights group AGORA, whose lawyers represent Efimov, promised to conduct an independent psychiatric evaluation for their client, reminding the government that “the European Court has a clear and unequivocal position in relation to the grounds on which people can be placed in psychiatric hospitals,” which are hardly applicable in this case”. AGORA is preparing to take this case to the Supreme Court of Karelia. http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/2012/05/15/russian-court-to-activist-youre-crazy/
Meanwhile, state pressure on Efimov kept mounting. Two days after an arson attack on the Saint Catherine Cathedral in Petrozavodsk, Efimov was summoned for another round of questioning, and the investigator alleged that the attack was carried out by his supporters—another effort by the government to interfere with his work. Efimov had condemned the attack on the cathedral and sent condolences to congregants and denied any involvement, claiming that his being at the center of this arson investigation is baseless and is yet another example of interference in his daily work as a human rights defender in Karelia.
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Efimov, freedom from religion, freedom of expression, Front Line (NGO), Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights First, intolerance, judicial harassment, Karelia, Maxim Efimov, Non-governmental organization, psychiatric abuse, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, separation of church and state
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 