Posts Tagged ‘Human Rights Defenders’
June 7, 2016
Posted in books, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, Protection International, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Business and human rights, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, enabling environment, Geneva, guidelines, Human Rights Defenders, ICAR, ISHR, legal protection, national action plans (NAPs), Norway, Protection International, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights
June 6, 2016
Hina Jilani will speak on the subject of “Protecting Human Rights Defenders Worldwide.” Ms Jilani, from Lahore in Pakistan, is a lawyer, civil rights activist, and an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. She has been active in the movement for peace, human rights, and women’s rights in Pakistan for more than three decades and is internationally recognised for her expertise in critical human rights investigations. especially as the first UN rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. The event will incorporate an interview with Ms Jilani and Mrs Robinson. The lecture is free of charge and open to the public. For more information or to reserve a seat visit www.maryrobinsoncentre.ie/events.
Source: International Human Rights Lecture 2016 – The Mary Robinson Centre – Ireland’s first Presidential Library
More posts about Hina Jilani: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/hina-jilani/
She won the 2000 Ginetta Sagan award and the 2008 American Bar Association Human Rights Award.
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Hina Jilani, Human Rights Defenders, Ireland, lecture, Mary Robinson, Mary Robinson Centre, woman human rights defender
June 3, 2016
After more than eight years in the making, the documentary ‘The Cause of Progress’ will have its world première at the Sheffield international documentary festival on 11 June 2016. Preliminary versions of this film by Chris Kelly were shown in closed circles (see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/09/16/documentary-the-rights-of-others-shows-human-rights-defenders-in-cambodia-against-evictions/) but it has now been finalised. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Cambodia, Chris Kelly, Documentary film, film festival, Human Rights Defenders, human rights film, land disputes, land rights defender, Luon Sovath, MEA laureate 2012, Sheffield film festival, The Cause of Progress, video monk
June 2, 2016
Imran Anjum is a human rights defender from the city of Sahiwal, Punjab province in Pakistan. He is the Founder and the Executive Director of Peaceful & Active Center for Humanity (PEACH), a non-governmental organisation working on the social and economic development of some of the most disadvantaged communities in Pakistan. Imran Anjum is directly involved in the provision of legal aid to people from these communities and carries out advocacy work on the rights of bonded labourers, including child labourers and brick kiln workers. Currently, PEACH is running a campaign across the Punjab province aimed at raising awareness among brick kiln workers about their rights.
On 20 May 2016, a group of brick kiln owners displayed banners around the city of Gojra, Punjab province, calling human rights defender Mr Imran Anjum ‘a blasphemer‘ and insisting on his execution. These threats follow an attack on 9 May 2016, when Imran Anjum, along with two of his colleagues, was travelling home to Sahiwal from a conference in Gojra devoted to the protection of the rights of brick kiln workers. Two people on motorbikes chased his car, forcibly stopped him, dragged him and his colleagues out of the vehicle and threatened them at gunpoint. They said that they would kill the human rights defender and his colleagues if they did not stop their labour rights work or if they went back to Gojra.
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-imran-anjum
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: blasphemy, brick kiln workers, death threats, economic and social rights, Front Line (NGO), Human Rights Defenders, Imran Anjum, labour rights, Pakistan, Peaceful & Active Center for Humanity (PEACH)
June 1, 2016
reports that on 25 May 2016, the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh (ACC) questioned human rights defender Mr Adilur Rahman Khan over an allegation of involvement of the human rights organisation Odhikar in money laundering. Similarly the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the OMCT and FIDH called on 26 May for urgent intervention to step up campaigns in his support.
Adilur Rahman Khan [https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/adilur-rahman-khan] is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, and founder and Secretary of Odhikar. The human rights organisation was established in 1994 with the aim to advance the civil, political, social and economic rights of the citizens of Bangladesh, and to create a wider monitoring and awareness-raising system on the abuse of these rights. Odhikar also carries out advocacy to address the current human rights situation in the country, provides trainings for human rights defenders and conducts fact-finding missions in rural areas of Bangladesh. Adilur was a Final Nominee for the MEA in 2015.
As the links below show it is clearly a case of administrative and judicial harassment against the human rights organisation Odhikar and its Secretary in a further attempt to sanction and silence their human rights activities.
[On 25 May 2016, the ACC’s Deputy Director Mr Jalal Uddin Ahmed questioned Adilur Rahman Khan over Odhikar’s alleged involvement in money laundering as a part of an investigation opened in 2013. The Deputy Director informed the human rights defender that the inquiry into the allegation related to the the sum of € 97 000 that the ACC supposed had been deposited to the Standard Chartered Bank account of Odhikar, as part of money laundering activities. Adilur Rahman Khan denied all accusations made against Odhikar. He explained that the sum of €97 501,07 available on the organisation’s bank account was part of a contribution made by the European Union (EU) to help Odhikar implement a three-year project titled ‘Education on the Convention against Torture (CAT) and Official Protocol to the CAT Awareness Program in Bangladesh’, from 2012 to 2014.]
Also on 27 May the Asian Human Rights Commission published a press release about the members of families of 19 disappeared victims who once again took to the street 26 May 2016. They formed a “human chain” in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka to demand the return of their loved ones within the month of Ramadan. Prominent human rights defenders, members of the civil society, and academic scholars joined the families to express solidarity.
http://odhikar.org/human-rights-monitoring-report-may-2016/
http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/bangladesh/2016/05/d23782/
http://www.humanrights.asia/news/press-releases/AHRC-PRL-013-2016
for other posts on Odhikar see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/odhikar/
Posted in AHRC, FIDH, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Adilur, AHRC, Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh (ACC), Bangladesh, EU, Final Nominee MEA 2015, Forced disappearance, foreign funding, Front Line (NGO), Human Rights Defenders, judicial harassment, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Odhikar
May 27, 2016
Attacks on higher education threaten the safety and well-being of scholars, administrators, staff and students; undermine academic work and instruction; and deny everyone the benefits of expert knowledge and scientific and creative progress. Too often such attacks go unreported. Scholars at Risk (SAR) publishes an Academic Freedom Monitor which tracks key attacks with the aims of protecting vulnerable individuals, promoting accountability and preventing future violations. In the period February – April 2016 SAR reports 20 incidents:
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Academic freedom, anniversary, Bangladesh, Canada, Human Rights Defenders, human rights monitoring, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, meeting, Montreal, Nigeria, repression, Scholars at Risk, Sudan, Swaziland, Turkey, Venezuela
May 27, 2016
On Wednesday 25 May 2016 Azerbaijan finally released investigative journalist Khadijah Ismayilova [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/azerbaijan-khadija-ismayilova-remains-in-jail-but-council-of-europe-takes-exceptional-step/] after a number of other human rights defenders were released bit by bit over the last months. Ismayilova was serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence on charges which included embezzlement, illegal business activities and tax evasion. The Supreme Court has now amended her imprisonment to 3 1/2 years of suspended sentence and released her from prison. She vowed to continue to fight to clear her name. “I will continue to fight until complete acquittal,” Ismayilova told reporters after her release. “I will also continue to work as a journalist.” The British-Lebanese lawyer Amal Clooney is representing Khadija Ismayilova at the European Court of Human Rights.
As an independent reporter and journalist of the Azerbaijani radio Azadliq (“Radio Freedom”) she has shown great courage (see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/khadija-ismayilova-azerbaijan-is-not-deterred/), and received several international prizes, such as the 2015 Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism (HRW), the 2015 Freedom to Write Award, the 2012 Fritt Ord/Zeit Press Prize, and the 2012 Courage of Journalism Award by the Washington-based International Women’s Media Foundation.
Although there are still human rights defenders and journalists in prison, Azerbaijan provides a fine example of how awards and the combined international pressure from a variety of sources (States, NGOs and international organizations) can have an impact:
https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/azerbaijan-pardon-jafarov-ismayilova-aliyev/
https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/04/08/released-intigam-aliyev-azerbaijan-civil-rights-defender-of-the-year-award/
Source:
Reuters – Azerbaijan frees journalist whose case raised outcry in West
https://www.cpj.org/2016/05/-azerbaijani-reporter-khadija-ismayilova-ordered-r.php
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Amal Clooney, Azerbaijan, campaign, Council of Europe, diplomatic pressure, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, Ismayilova, journalists, Khadijah Ismayilova, release
May 20, 2016
On 18 May 2016 Global Partners Digital (GPD) issued a new entry in its series of ‘Travel Guides to the Digital World‘: Cybersecurity Policy for Human Rights Defenders.
Just as a travel guide introduces tourists to the customs, language and geography of a foreign land, the series aims to equip human rights defenders with the information needed to navigate complex areas of internet-related policy from a human rights perspective. Previous guides in the series have focused on internet governance and digital surveillance. The latest entry, shines the spotlight on an emerging, and increasingly crucial domain – and aims to fill a conspicuous gap. For while much valuable work has already been done on cybersecurity, there are currently few resources for human rights defenders on this issue.
A few years ago, cybersecurity was a word most likely to evoke dreary office trainings on password protection. Today, it is a top priority of states worldwide. 72 countries now have live national cybersecurity strategies, and 102 have National Computer Incident Response Teams (CIRTs). It remains however, a contested, elastic and shifting term which can cover a seemingly endless range of different issues, situations, and policy measures.
In spite of this, human rights defenders have so far been notable for their absence in cybersecurity policymaking spaces. Without the crucial scrutiny they provide, important decisions are being taken without any consideration for their broader implications on the enjoyment of basic human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, access to information, and privacy. The guide hopes in a small way to address this trend by helping human rights defenders to find their bearings and gain a solid grasp of the institutions, actors and issues at stake.
A few words on structure. In conceptualising the guide, an immediate challenge was the sheer range of definitions available within cybersecurity. We’ve tried to resolve this by grouping issues into three broad categories – information security, cyber crime and cyber conflict – but we recognise that these overlap. Human rights defenders need to be active not only in challenging the impact of cybersecurity policies, but in reshaping its very meaning, which is why definition is a key focus of the guide.
The guide concludes with a list of recommendations, which are by no means prescriptive or comprehensive, but which hopefully offer some useful starting points for strategic engagement from a human rights perspective.
[GPD are a small team based in Shoreditch in London working with civil society groups, governments, international institutions and businesses to protect and promote human rights values online. Much of its work is carried out with partner organisations in the global South. Global Partners Digital started off in 2005 as Global Partners and Associates (GPA) which was set up to work in the areas of democracy, governance and human rights. As a team within GPA, it initially worked on human rights and traditional media issues. Since then, its work in this field has developed substantially. With the unprecedented growth of the internet and mobile phone technologies – and the challenges and opportunities that these bring – GPD have become increasingly focused on human rights and digital communications. Thus the rebranding as Global Partners Digital in 2013.]
see also: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/new-book-on-internet-policy-and-governance-for-human-rights-defenders/
Source: Introducing GPD’s new travel guide to cybersecurity policy for human rights defenders | Global Partners Digital
Posted in books, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Civil society, cyber activism, digital security, Global Partners Digital (GPD), guidelines, Human Rights Defenders, internet, Internet Policy and Governance for Human Rights Defenders
May 18, 2016
A group of 10 NGOs has called on the authorities to immediately release human rights defender and professor of economics Dr Nasser Bin Ghaith, who remains in detention in an unknown location in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for his social media posts and human rights activities.
Nasser Bin Ghaith has been denied proper access to his lawyer or family since his arrest in August 2015, and reportedly subject to torture in custody. The continued detention and charges violate his human rights, including his right to free expression. On 18 August 2015, security officers in civilian clothes arrested Dr Bin Ghaith in Abu Dhabi and searched his home and confiscated personal items including electronic memory sticks. He was held incommunicado until finally being brought to the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi on 4 April 2016, when he told the court he had been tortured and beaten in detention and deprived of sleep for up to a week. On 2 May 2016, a second hearing took place to examine charges against Dr Bin Ghaith relating to his online postings. He stated that he is still being held in secret detention, a fact he had previously brought to the judge’s attention during his hearing on 4 April. The judge refused to listen to his complaints for a second time. Neither his family nor his lawyer knows where he is being detained, and his lawyer’s request to visit him has been denied repeatedly.
Dr Bin Ghaith is one of a group of men known as the “UAE5” who were imprisoned in 2011 and tried for “publicly insulting” UAE officials. That trial also breached international human rights law and was widely criticised by human rights groups, including signatories of this letter.
A further charge brought against Dr Bin Ghaith of allegedly “posting false information about UAE leaders and their policies, offensively criticizing the construction of a Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi, and instigating the people of the UAE against their leaders and government” was related to a statement he made on Twitter intending to promote tolerance.
The court ordered the case to be adjourned until 23 May when the defence’s arguments will be heard.
Source: UAE: Free human rights defender Dr Nasser Bin Ghaith – Index on Censorship | Index on Censorship
for other posts on the UAE: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/united-arab-emirates/
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Index on Censorship | 2 Comments »
Tags: blogger, fair trial, freedom of expression, Human Rights Defenders, illegal detention, Index on Censorship, Nasser Bin Ghaith, NGOs, UAE, UAE5, United Arab Emirates
May 15, 2016
Today the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) announced the publication of its annual report which highlights key developments during 2015 and its vision for 2016 and the years ahead.
Source: Our vision and achievements: ISHR’s 2016 Annual Report | ISHR
for more posts on the ISHR, see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/ishr/
Posted in books, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR | Leave a Comment »
Tags: accredited NGOs, annual report 2016, Geneva, Human Rights Defenders, International Service for Human Rights, ISHR, NGO, UN
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 