Posts Tagged ‘Human Rights Defenders’

Verdict against labour rights defenders, another blow to Cambodia’s civic space

May 30, 2023

On 26 May 2023 The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) called for quashing the convictions of NagaWorld union leader Chhim Sithar alongside eight members of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU).

FORUM-ASIA strongly condemns the verdict given on 25 May 2023 by a Phnom Penh municipal court. The trade unionists were convicted of ‘incitement to commit a felony or disturb social security’ under Criminal Code Articles 494 and 495.

Sithar was sentenced to two years in prison. Meanwhile, the other union members were sentenced to one to one and a half years in prison and received suspended sentences or judicial supervision.

We urge the court to overturn the verdict as Cambodian authorities are abusing the criminal justice system by targeting union leaders and other labour rights advocates. We call on the Cambodian Government to immediately release Sithar. This is the umpteenth unfair decision that exemplifies the government’s contempt for democratic principles as well as Hun Sen’s attempts to silence critical voices months before the national elections,’ said Mary Aileen D. Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.

Alongside other union members, Sithar was first arrested in January 2022 and held in pre-trial detention for two months after being charged with incitement to commit a crime for leading a peaceful strike demanding higher wages for workers and the reinstatement of hundreds of union members who believe they were unjustly fired in December 2021. After being released on bail, Sithar was once again detained in November 2022 for allegedly violating her bail by travelling abroad to join a trade union conference without court approval.

The trial against Sithar and her eight co-defendants–Chhim Sokhorn, Hay Sopheap, Kleang Soben, Ry Sovandy, Sok Kongkea, Sok Narith, Sun Sreypich, and Touch Sereymeas–began in January 2023. During the trial, Sithar stated that the LRSU has followed all legal protocols for their protest against mass layoffs and alleged union-busting, only launching the strike after all viable mediation efforts were exhausted. Meanwhile, prosecutors claimed that Sithar and LRSU members are guilty of leading a strike for more than a year even after authorities have declared the strike to be illegal.

Nevertheless, in February 2023, Sithar won the prestigious Human Rights Defenders Award– from the US Department of State–for her exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for the promotion and protection of universally recognised human rights and fundamental freedoms.

www.forum-asia.org

Human rights defenders against modern slavery

May 30, 2023

Mariana de la Fuente, is a human rights defender who fights against slave labour and human trafficking in Brazil.  According to ILO,  more than 57,000 workers in Brazil were rescued in conditions similar to slavery – between 2003 to 2021.

Acquittal of de Lima and other human rights defenders in the Philippines

May 25, 2023

On 15 May 2023 Carlos H. Conde, Senior Researcher, Asia Division of HRW writes about the case of de Lima, saying that the acquittal of former Senator Leila de Lima in the second of  three drug cases against her and her likely continued custody in police detention highlight the political nature of the charges against her. See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2018/07/30/senator-de-lima-in-detention-in-philippines-receives-her-award/

De Lima, who has now been in detention for more than six years, was acquitted for allegedly trading illegal drugs while she was secretary of justice, after being acquitted in the first case against her in 2021. Both cases were evidently fabricated and there is no reason to think that the third case against her is any more credible.

Then-President Rodrigo Duterte directed de Lima’s persecution in response to her attempts to investigate killings that took place in the early stages of Duterte’s “war on drugs” in 2016. But Duterte’s enmity toward her started in the late 2000s when, as chair of the Commission on Human Rights, de Lima began an investigation into killings attributed to a “death squad” operating in Davao City, where Duterte was the mayor. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating those killings as well as numerous “drug war” killings that took place while Duterte was president. In 2019, as part of his efforts to avoid international justice, Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC’s Rome Statute, which obligates states party to the treaty to cooperate with the court.

While de Lima’s latest acquittal brings hope that her unjust detention may be ending sooner rather than later, she never should have been prosecuted or held in pretrial detention without bail. Duterte’s improper influence over the Department of Justice was evident by the recanting of the testimony of three key witnesses in this case, saying they had been coerced.

This is an opportunity for the Department of Justice to regain some of its credibility by dropping the outstanding case against de Lima. But there also needs to be accountability. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who last week conceded abuses were committed in the “war on drugs,” should urgently launch an inquiry into how the levers of the justice system were manipulated against de Lima and implement reforms to ensure such politicization of the justice system never happens again.

This is echoed by an Open Letter to the Government of the Philippines on 24 May 2023 by

  • Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
  • Balay Alternative Legal Advocates for Development in Mindanaw (Balaod Mindanaw)
  • Karapatan Alliance Philippines (KARAPATAN)
  • Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism (Dakila)
  • Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights (LILAK)

They welcome the acquittal of Leila de Lima, former Senator and chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, on one of her two remaining politically motivated charges on 12 May 2023 by a Muntinlupa court….

De Lima’s  arrest is in violation of her constitutional rights as a sitting senator and in contravention of international human rights law. The arrest is purely based on politically-motivated charges, following her senate investigation into the thousands of extrajudicial killings under Duterte’s ‘war on drugs.’….De Lima should never have been detained in the first place.

The arbitrary detention and mistreatment of former Senator de Lima reflect the Duterte administration’s judicial harassment of human rights defenders as well as the Philippines’ shrinking civic space. Nearly a year after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office in June 2022, de Lima’s case remains stagnant. The slow progression of the case demonstrates both the previous and current Philippine administrations’ unwillingness to seek justice and accountability…

FORUM-ASIA alongside its reputable Philippine member organisations urge your Excellencies 1) to immediately and unconditionally drop the remaining politically motivated charges against de Lima; 2) to request the Muntinlupa court to grant her bail petition for release; 3) and to provide compensation and other reparations for the human rights violations she was made  to endure.

Philippine authorities should release and allow de Lima to be reunited with her loved ones after six long years.

We demand the immediate release of de Lima and all other political prisoners who have been persecuted for their work and beliefs in human rights and social justice.

Earlier on Monday, 9 January 2023 the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had rejoiced in the acquittal of members of Karapatan, – the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights – and their allies GABRIELA – National Alliance of Women – and the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) in the face of the perjury charges brought against them by the Philippine authorities.

The Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 139 issued its judgment on the retaliatory and trumped-up perjury case against ten human rights defenders, Karapatan Chairperson, Elisa Tita Lubi; Karapatan Secretary General, Cristina “Tinay” Palabay; Karapatan Deputy Secretary General, Roneo Clamor; Karapatan Treasurer, Gabriela Grista Dalena; Karapatan National Council members, Edita Burgos, Wilfredo Ruazol, and Jose Mari Callueng; GABRIELA Chairperson, Gertrudes Ranjo Libang; GABRIELA Secretary General, Joan May Salvador, and member of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Emma Cupin, acquitting them of all charges.

In a case of judicial harassment, which started in July 2019, the then-National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. submitted a perjury complaint against the three organizations related to the registration of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines. Although the case was initially dismissed for lack of probable cause and sufficient evidence, in February 2020 the Quezon City Prosecutor, Vimar Barcellano, granted a motion for reconsideration of the perjury case. 

The judicial harassment resulted in global condemnation from civil society, Members of the European Parliament and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders calling on the Philippine authorities to put an end to the judicial harassment faced by the ten human rights defenders and the wider human rights movement in the country.

While we celebrate the acquittal, we remain as committed as ever to stand in solidarity with members and the wider human rights community in the Philippines in their struggles to advance human rights and social justice for all.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/05/15/latest-de-lima-acquittal-exposes-philippine-justice-systems-politicization

Now it is the turn of the Iranian journalists who reported on Mahsa Amini

May 11, 2023
Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi
Image caption, Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi have been detained in Iran for more than 200 days

BBC Persian Service on 5 May 2023 drew attention to the fate of the two journalists who reported first on Mahsa Amini, whose name made headlines around the world when she died in custody last September, sparking waves of protests in Iran. But not many people have heard of Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi.

The two female journalists helped break the story of Ms Amini’s death and have been detained in two of Iran’s most notorious prisons ever since. On Tuesday, they and the imprisoned Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi were awarded the 2023 Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize by the United Nations’ cultural agency, UNESCO.”They paid a hefty price for their commitment to report on and convey the truth. And for that, we are committed to honouring them and ensuring their voices will continue to echo worldwide until they are safe and free,” said Zainab Salbi, the jury chair. For more on Narges, see; https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/07C20809-99E2-BDC0-FDC3-E217FF91C126

On 22 September, just six days after she tweeted a photograph of Mahsa’s grieving family, Niloufar Hamedi was arrested. Security forces also raided Elaheh Mohammadi’s home at the same time, seizing her electronic devices. On 29 September, she too was arrested.

Both Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi were already known for hard-hitting news reports and coverage of human rights issues.

As well as winning UNESCO’s press freedom prize, Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi have been named as two of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2023 and given the 2023 Louis M Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism, presented by Harvard University in the United States. See: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/8809EB31-7E9C-4624-88E3-FC592D496807 and https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/1748C306-757A-49EB-8436-A9C607356112

“Journalists in Iran are risking their lives on a daily basis to report on the conditions and oppressions there,” the Harvard fellows noted.

Protesters hold up pictures of Mahsa Amini in Berlin, Germany
Image caption, Mahsa Amini’s death led to a wave of protests in Iran and rallies in solidarity around the world

Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi have meanwhile been kept in harsh conditions at Evin prison in Tehran and Qarchak Women’s Prison, south of the city. Reports from inside Qarchak suggest that the facilities are inhumane, with a lack of medicine, food and even safe drinking water or clean air. Ms Mohammadi lost 10kg (22lbs) in the first three months of her detention, her husband wrote on his Instagram page.

Both women have also struggled to access legal support. The first lawyer appointed to represent the pair said in October that he was unable to communicate with them or access the legal documents surrounding their arrests. Less than a month later, he was himself arrested. The journalists’ families have struggled with the pain of not knowing what is going to happen to them.

“I’m asked, ‘What do the authorities tell you?’ I’m not even sure which institution or person to contact,” Ms Hamedi’s husband, Mohammad Hossein Ajorlou, said in an interview with Sharq.

He too has found it difficult to get information about what his wife is accused of and what is likely to happen to her.

At the end of October, Iran’s ministry of intelligence and the intelligence agency of the Revolutionary Guards issued a statement accusing Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi of being trained by the US Central Intelligence Agency to foment unrest in Iran.

Their newspapers denied the allegations and insisted they had just been doing their jobs.

Last week, after they had both spent more than 200 days in custody, the Iranian judiciary announced that Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi had been indicted and their cases referred to a court.

On Monday, Ms Hamedi’s husband wrote on Twitter that she and Ms Mohammadi had been transferred back to Evin prison from Qarchak, apparently in preparation for their trial.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65466887

Advisory Council on International Affairs of Netherlands issues report recommending change in human rights policy

May 9, 2023


On 9 April 2021, the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) received from the Dutch
government a request for advice on human rights in a changing world. The basic premise of
the request was that the multilateral system, as it has developed since the Second World War,
is increasingly under pressure. In the government’s view, autocratic tendencies are eroding the
multilateral system from within, and this is having a clear impact on human rights.
The request for advice draws attention to several troubling developments. The basic principles
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (human dignity, universality, equality/non-
discrimination and indivisibility) are being challenged more and more frequently, not only outside
the EU but also within it. Due to the rapidly growing influence of autocratically governed states, the
preconditions defined by the Netherlands for pursuing an effective international human rights policy,
such as space for civil society, cooperation with like-minded partners and the proper functioning of
multilateral instruments, are under pressure.

Summary:
….In this advisory report of 28 June 2022, the AIV aims to set out a path – in both conceptional and operational terms
– for Dutch human rights policy abroad. To this end, it is important to have a good understanding of
how the human rights system came into being and how it has come under pressure in recent decades.
….Historical analysis shows that the relevance of the human rights system has increased in recent
decades. Although the universality and legitimacy of the ideas in question are a source of constant
debate, empirical research demonstrates to what extent – and under what circumstances – human
rights make a difference. The AIV believes that the universality of human rights should be the central
focus but it cannot be equated with uniformity in the implementation of those rights. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/11/17/rescuing-human-rights-another-way-of-re-assessing-human-rights/]For many
states, cultural and historical differences have helped shape their varying approaches to human rights.
In fact, universality in the sense of universal acceptance of human rights is actually enhanced and
promoted when cultural diversity is acknowledged.
Despite all these achievements, the multilateral human rights system is under serious pressure.
The beginning of the 21st century was a turning point in this regard. During this period, various
events and developments concurred to undermine and erode the multilateral system and the human
rights system that had developed over the previous fifty years. These events and developments include
9/11 and the ‘war on terror’, the success and subsequent stagnation of democratic developments and
the resulting pressure on civil society, new geopolitical relations, the impact of globalisation and
challenges within the human rights system itself.
After 11 September 2001, the war on terror in Afghanistan and later in Iraq gave rise to practices
that were sometimes at odds with international law. As a result, the West in particular was accused
of applying double standards. In addition, while pro-democracy movements in the Arab world
and elsewhere achieved successes (thanks in part to social media), they also prompted regimes to
respond with repression against civil society and human rights defenders. Alongside a rapid rise in
China’s economic, military and political power and self-assurance, the United States’ international
involvement was foundering (a trend which intensified later under President Trump) and the Russian
Federation became increasingly repressive. In the midst of these geopolitical developments, the EU
proved unable to play a significant enough role to prevent the decline of the human rights acquis.
Furthermore, the wave of neoliberal globalisation, which was initially regarded as having a positive
economic and social impact, also turned out to have negative effects. Both externally and beyond
doubt internally, the West was increasingly confronted with rising income and wealth inequality at
national level, the growing power of multinational corporations, and the intractable misuse of social
media by governments, organisations and individuals.
In addition, the human rights system itself faced considerable obstacles: the indivisibility of
political, civil, social, economic and cultural rights was not adequately guaranteed and new positive
developments, such as the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, did not make their
human rights component explicit enough. Human rights instruments were further undermined by
overextension and insufficient funding, which negatively impacted their effectiveness.
Due in part to these developments, the unanimously accepted principle of the universality of human
rights was put in jeopardy, partly because states increasingly expressed reservations about the
principle and partly because a growing number of autocratic, repressive states appeared to have little
or no interest in the human rights acquis.
Nevertheless, there have also been some positive developments. New and in some cases global non-
governmental movements made up of non-traditional actors, often including young participants,
are standing up for social justice and human rights. Businesses are taking a more active approach to
showing respect for and promoting human rights, on their own initiative or as a result of external
pressure. Professional associations and networks are increasingly cooperating at global level to
protect human rights. The EU’s human rights instruments are becoming stronger and more
sophisticated in response to external threats and internal negative tendencies in countries such as
Hungary and Poland. Finally, a new approach to human rights has taken hold at national and local
level, for example in the form of national human rights institutes.
In contrast to the aforementioned political and social changes and threats, these developments create
new opportunities for the realisation of human rights around the world. However, the question is
how the Dutch government should take advantage of these opportunities. How can the Netherlands
actively promote human rights around the world while also continuing to respect them at national
level?
A robust and effective human rights policy requires a strong foreign policy narrative. In this revamped
message, human rights are the crucial link between the Netherlands’ core values and policy goals at
national and international level. Human rights can be more solidly anchored if they are explicitly
incorporated into other global policy areas and narratives, such as the Sustainable Development
Goals, climate, the environment and migration. Coalitions with like-minded countries and
partnerships with civil society within and outside Europe are essential in this regard. The Netherlands
must focus on developing new international and EU instruments to protect human rights and tackle
human rights violations, such as the human rights clauses in EU trade, partnership and association
agreements.
The AIV calls on the government to prioritise human rights. As far as foreign policy is concerned,
this requires the Netherlands to take an effective and explicit moral stance in a complex environment
characterised by realpolitik and tense international relations. A more integrated approach, new
partnerships and the provision of an effective counterweight, based on an understanding of the
cultural context in other countries, are key building blocks in this regard.
Human rights are not just a worthy ideal but also a clear matter of enlightened self-interest, in that
they form a vital link between democracy and the rule of law, on the one hand, and international
security, on the other. Idealism need not be shunned, and every effort must be made to preserve the
international human rights acquis. In order to achieve this goal, however, a much more pragmatic
and realistic approach that recognises today’s realities, including shifts in geopolitical relations, is
required.
Such an approach has both a foreign and a domestic dimension. In addition to prioritising human
rights internationally, the Netherlands also ought to do so at home. This approach requires an
appreciation of other viewpoints, but a robust response when internationally accepted, fundamental
boundaries are crossed.
Only in this way can the Netherlands more effectively protect and promote human rights as a core
interest in a changing constellation of political forces.

https://www.advisorycouncilinternationalaffairs.nl/documents/publications/2022/06/28/human-rights-a-core-interest-in-the-current-geopolitical-context

RFK Human Rights calls to strengthen protection mechanisms for environmental defenders on International Earth Day

April 30, 2023

April 22, 2023

Being an environmental human rights defender is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Every day, government authorities, companies and other non-state actors seek to silence environmental defenders on the frontlines of the global climate and environmental movement through unwarranted persecution, harassment, detention and even murder. As we commemorate International Earth Day on 22 April, an annual celebration honouring those who fight for a clean environment, RFK Human Rights is calling for the international community and national authorities to redouble efforts to strengthen and fortify protection mechanisms for environmental defenders.

According to Front Line Defenders, land, indigenous peoples’ and environmental rights defenders were the most targeted human rights defender (HRD) sector in 2022. Representatives of national governments, private companies, militias and other non-state actors killed 194 land, environmental and indigenous defenders in 2022 accounting for 48 percent of all murdered defenders. Environmental defenders also face routine arbitrary arrest and detention, criminalization, physical abuse, death threats and other forms of repression. Across the world, sparse and tepid investigations into killings of environmental defenders have led to endemic levels of impunity and limited prosecutions. See: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/04/04/front-line-defenders-just-published-its-global-analysis-2022-new-record-of-over-400-killings-in-one-year/

As part of our work to protect civic space by defending fundamental freedoms, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights regularly works to ensure that environmental defenders have ready access to protection and accountability mechanisms. Through our strategic litigation programs, we collaborate with local partners to confront these systematic abuses through active litigation at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and at the United Nations. Under the auspices of our Speak Truth to Power campaign, we continue to provide human rights education programs that combine storytelling and interactive learning to provide the next generation of environmental defenders with the tools they will need to create change.

Together with various coalitions we constantly bring attention to the critical and invaluable work for environmental defenders. Just last week, RFK Human Rights joined dozens of civil society groups from across the globe to raise awareness about the forced disappearance of Mexican environmental defenders Ricardo Arturo Lagunes Gasca and Antonio Díaz Valencia. Both defenders disappeared on Jan. 15 only hours after participating in an anti-mining community meeting. The disappearances take place amid ongoing violence and persecution of land, indigenous and environmental defenders seeking to protect the environment in Mexico. Impunity for the killing of environmental defenders remains disturbingly high in Mexico– in 2021, according to Global Witness, nearly 95 percent of murders did not result in prosecution.

On 20 March 2023, following the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings, United Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a clarion call “to massively fast-track climate efforts by every country and every sector and on every timeframe.” From the UN Sustainable Development Summit to the UN Climate Conference (COP 28), 2023 is replete with opportunities to institutionalize and codify the cherished ideals of environmentalism which we celebrate on International Earth Day. The international community, together with national governments and the private sector, must seize these crucial moments to publicly recognize the essential work of environmental defenders and recommit to ensure that they can conduct their crucial activities free from repression, reprisal and persecution.

VOICES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Witness publishes video Guide for environmental defenders

April 26, 2023

WITNESS recognizes the great risks that environmental defenders take to stand up to power, and understand that the collection of visual evidence is only one strategy communities use to protect their environmental human rights. It wants to support this movement by sharing information and good practices to help community-based documenters collect visual documentation of environmental human rights crimes and violations so that it can be effectively used in advocacy and accountability processes. This Guide is primarily for community members who:

  • Live where industries that mine, extract oil and gas, build dams, cut timber, clear land for agri-business developments, grab land for high-end real-estate development, and do so in a way that violates the environmental human rights of communities
  • Want to—and can—safely document these violations with phones, cameras, and drones
  • Want to—and can—safely use the documentation to protect human rights
  • Would like to help train others to safely collect relevant and reliable visual documentation for human rights advocacy and accountability.

see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2022/03/02/human-rights-high-commissioner-bachelet-urges-support-for-environmental-defenders/

ISHR launches its 2023 Annual Report, highlighting ‘wins’

April 25, 2023

Human rights defenders around the world are coming together in powerful coalitions and turning to international human rights laws and systems to achieve justice and accountability. And while the threats and challenges remain enormous, we’re starting to win! says ISHR in its latest annual report, outlining key impacts during the last year and its vision for 2023 and the years ahead.

Here are just a few examples:  In July 2022, a coalition of more than 1200 NGOs from almost 150 countries secured a win for equality with the renewal of a vital international mechanism to combat violence and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. Just a few weeks later, land, environment and indigenous rights defenders secured a win for climate justice with the landmark recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment at the UN General Assembly. Wins for accountability were achieved in April and October when international, regional and national civil society organisations coordinated successful campaigns to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council and establish an independent international expert monitoring mechanism on the human rights situation in the country. International human rights organisations and Uyghur communities came together to score a win against impunity in August by securing the release of a landmark UN Rights Office report on the human rights crisis in Xinjiang, as well as the first ever formal initiative on China at the Human Rights Council just weeks later in September.

See more achievements by visiting the website!
In a recent conversation with Björk, environmental activist Greta Thunberg reflected that hope is not something you feel, but something you do. ‘When people act,’ she said, ‘they create hope’. In 2023, fuelled by indignation and sustained by hope, ISHR’s commitment is to provide solidarity to defenders, contribute to positive momentum and, with your support, achieve even more significant human rights wins!

https://mailchi.mp/ishr/ishrs-human-rights-council-monitor-june-33837?e=d1945ebb90

Detainees in the Emirates held in prison even after completing their sentence

April 13, 2023

On 12 April 2023 Human Rights Watch reported that United Arab Emirates are continuing to incarcerate at least 51 Emirati prisoners who completed their sentences between one month and nearly four years ago.

The prisoners are all part of the grossly unfair “UAE94” mass trial of 69 critics of the government, whose convictions violated their rights to free expression, association, and assembly. UAE authorities are using baseless counterterrorism justifications for continuing to hold them past their completed sentences.

Prisoners in the UAE94 case have already suffered tremendously after years in prison following a grossly unfair trail,” said Joey Shea, United Arab Emirates researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Emirati authorities should free them immediately and finally put an end to this decade-long ordeal. Prominent UAE partners, including the United States and COP28 organizers, should press UAE authorities for their immediate release.”

The prisoners were among 94 people detained beginning in March 2012 in a wave of arbitrary arrests amid an unprecedented crackdown on dissent. The case had a chilling effect on freedom of expression, assembly, and association.

In July 2013, Abu Dhabi’s Federal Supreme Court convicted 69 of the defendants, sentencing 5 to 7 years in prison, 56 to 10 years, and 8 in absentia to 15 years, with 25 acquitted. The verdict could not be appealed, in violation of international law, because it was issued by the UAE’s highest court. As of March 2023, 51 had completed their sentences but remain imprisoned with no clear legal basis, according to Emirati activists and court documents. Some prisoners completed their sentences as early as July 2019.

At least four of the 51 received a Public Prosecution letter saying that they were on Munasaha during what was supposed to be their last three months in detention, activists and family members told Human Rights Watch. After three months, these detainees were taken in front of a judge, who determined they still held “terrorist thoughts” and ruled that they needed further “rehabilitation.”

Under article 48 of the counterterrorism law, the public prosecutor may place someone convicted of a terrorist offense in a counselling or Munasaha program in the prison where they were serving their sentence, under counselling center supervision.

The counterterrorism law sets no time limit for continued incarceration and instead requires the state security public prosecution to report to the court every three months. The court may order a person’s release if it finds that “his or her condition so allows.” It is not clear if the defendant has any right to attend the hearing or see or challenge the evidence used to justify their detention.

The decade of unjust imprisonment has had devastating consequences for the prisoners’ families. A family member said that the young child of one of the prisoners still does not understand why her father was in prison. “She asks me, we love our country and our leaders, why are they are doing this to my father?” the family member said.

Many prisoners are being held in the notorious al-Razeen prison, and many are alleged to be in solitary confinement. A family member said, “All the prisoners are suffering there, they don’t have their rights and it is very hard to visit them.” Another family member said: “Throughout the years, the conditions are getting worse.”

Visits are irregular and difficult to procure, the family members said. Families often drive for hours to the prison in the middle of the desert, only to be denied a visit with no explanation. Family members also said that phone conversations are often cut off mid-call with no explanation. Some prisoners have not been able to speak with their family members by phone for years.

Other family members said there have been months-long periods in which a prisoner, as one family member said, “totally disappeared” with “no calls, no nothing,” leading the family to believe that “maybe he is dead.” Prisoners are also often denied books and pictures.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in article 15 prohibits retroactive criminal punishment. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, in its general comment on article 9 of the ICCPR, said, “if, under the most exceptional circumstances, a present, direct and imperative threat is invoked to justify the detention of persons considered to present such a threat, the burden of proof lies on States parties to show that the individual poses such a threat and that it cannot be addressed by alternative measures, and that burden increases with the length of the detention.”

“By arbitrarily extending the unjust sentences of peaceful critics using bogus counterterrorism justifications without due process, the UAE again shows its total disregard for the rule of law,” Shea said.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/12/uae-detainees-held-beyond-sentences

Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, two human rights defenders in China, sentenced

April 11, 2023

The Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, on 10 April 2023 condemned the Chinese government’s sentencing of Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong, two of China’s most notable human rights defenders. “Their sentencing once again demonstrates the Chinese government’s hostility to peaceful advocacy of democracy and human rights, and marks a new low in the Chinese government’s human rights record,” said Ramona Li, Senior Researcher and Advocate for the group.

On April 10, the Linshu County Court sentenced Ding Jiaxi to 12 years imprisonment and 3 years deprivation of political rights, and Xu Zhiyong to 14 years imprisonment. The court, located in Shandong province, found both guilty of the crime of subverting state authority following closed-door trials.

The government consistently violated their rights under international and Chinese law throughout their detention and trial. Both Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong had been held in prolonged pre-trial detention for over three years, including periods in a form of incommunicado detention referred to as “residential surveillance in a designated location” where both were subjected to torture. Ding Jiaxi’s lawyers attempted multiple times to have the court dismiss his “confessions” as illegally obtained evidence because of they had been extracted under torture; the court rejected these motions.

Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong were refused access to lawyers for the first thirteen months of their detention, and their attorneys were refused copies of the files containing the information on which the charges were based. Witnesses cited by the prosecution, Wang Jiangsong and Dai Zhenya, publicly refuted testimony that the prosecution alleged they had provided. Family members said that authorities charged the two in Linshu county, far away from Beijing, to avoid public scrutiny of the case.

Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong were active in the New Citizens Movement, which promoted a form of civic engagement through grassroots advocacy for the implementation of the civil and human rights based on China’s laws and constitution. They were both detained amid a crackdown on human rights activists and lawyers following an informal gathering in southern Fujian province in December 2019.

Ding Jiaxi is also a Beijing lawyer who has provided support to many of the most marginalized and underprivileged groups in China, including education rights for the children of migrant workers and grassroots petitioners appealing to central government officials as a last resort to address wrongdoing by local officials. Xu Zhiyong was also a prominent lawyer who was an instrumental figure in pushing through legal reforms defending the rights of China’s internal migrant population. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2020/03/24/un-experts-alarmed-over-chinas-missing-human-rights-lawyers-victims-of-rsdl/]

In a pre-written statement released before his sentencing, Ding Jiaxiconnected his work to his belief in the possibility of China’s “peaceful, rational, and non-violent” transition from an authoritarian state. He wrote: “No matter the many who have doubted me or the difficulties and setbacks I’ve encountered, including physical torture that I’ve suffered, I will not part from my steadfast convictions.”

In his own statement, Xu Zhiyong described his hopes for a liberal democratic China with free elections, equal access to education and job opportunities, and social support for even the poorest to have “enough to live a dignified life.” He said he had simply “called on Chinese people to become real citizens,” and explained the urgency of doing so, saying “we cannot saddle the next generation with this duty.” [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2014/01/24/xu-zhiyongs-closing-statement-to-the-court-a-remarkable-document/]

Both Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong should be immediately and unconditionally released per the recommendation of UN human rights experts, who have found that the two have been arbitrarily detained in violation of international law. UN human rights experts have further characterized the crime of “subversion of state authority” as being so broadly worded that charges under the crime fail to provide adequate due process to the extent that they are in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“The heavy sentencing of Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong is a travesty of justice. At every step, Chinese authorities have taken the wrong turn: from detaining them in secret, torturing them, falsifying witness testimony, putting them on trial in secret, and now this heavy sentence,” said William Nee, Research and Advocacy Coordinator for CHRD.

“Democracies and international organizations around the world must stop paying only lip service to human rights. They must take concrete and credible measures to gain the release of Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, as well as the thousands of prisoners of conscience in China, in the Tibetan and Xinjiang regions and Hong Kong,” said Renee Xia, CHRD executive director.

https://www.nchrd.org/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/10/china-jails-two-leading-human-rights-lawyers-after-closed-door-trial