Posts Tagged ‘Human Rights Defenders’
May 6, 2014
The disappearance of Karen activist “Billy” has prompted the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights UNHCHR to condemn the “pattern of killings and forced disappearances of environmental activists in Southeast Asia” and to urge authorities to conduct thorough and independent investigations. “We are concerned about the lack of progress with an investigation into the disappearance of a prominent human rights defender in Thailand,” UNHCHR spokesman Rupert Colville said in a statement released on Friday 2 May. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OHCHR, UN | 1 Comment »
Tags: Billy, Cambodia, Chut Wutty, disappearances, environmental activists, environmental issues, Human Rights Defenders, indigenous groups, Karen, killings, Land issues, Laos, Philippines, Pholachi Rakchongcharoen, Rupert Colville, Sombath Somphone, South-east asia, Thailand, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
May 6, 2014
While not directly about Human Rights Defenders, this workshop organised by the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN and others (see below) is of great importance to HRDs as they are the ones who provide most of the information to the Treaty Bodies, and are often the victims of the violations reported, including reprisals against them for having cooperated. Thus, this meeting on “The outcome of the treaty body strengthening process: Lessons learnt, implications and implementation” should be of interest to all. It takes place on 9 May 2014, 9.30am to 1pm in Room XXII, Palais des Nations, Geneva. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 1 Comment »
Tags: Andrew Clapham, Geneva, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, international human rights law, international human rights treaties, meeting, Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN, reprisals, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, treaty bodies, UN
May 5, 2014
Via the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD IC) I received the information that women’s rights organization, Society Without Violence, in Armenia was attacked by extremist groups. The Society Without Violence works on women’s empowerment, peace building, raising public awareness on gender stereotypes and gender based violence, and the protection for women human rights defenders. On 15 April 2014, a roundtable (due to recent threats the event was a closed session) was interrupted by neo-nationalist extremist group members protesting the event. As the extremist groups tried to enter the conference room, some verbally attacked members of Society Without Violence, while others used physical force on human rights defenders and hotel security guards. Members of local and official media who arrived with the extremist protestors filmed the incident, but later falsely claimed that the Society Without Violence initiated the violent attack. This attack seems to be part of an increasing pattern and women human rights defenders in Armenia are targeted with threats and violence for carrying on their human rights works.
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Armenia, attack, Human Rights Defenders, intimidation, protection, Society Without Violence, threats, violence, WHRD IC, women human rights defenders, Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition
May 2, 2014
As this blog testifies, across the globe, individuals suspected of posing a threat to state authority are routinely kidnapped, arrested and forcibly disappeared, often without any warning.Amnesty international launches today the easy-to-use app launched by Amnesty International. “Panic Button”, a mobile app for Android, transforms a user’s smart phone into a secret alarm which can be activated rapidly in the event of an emergency, alerting fellow activists and enabling them to respond faster.
“Defending human rights is an incredibly dangerous job in large parts of the world, with activists facing anything from threats to imprisonment and even torture as punishment for their legitimate work,” said Tanya O’Carroll, Technology and Human Rights Officer for Amnesty International. “By introducing technology to the fight for human rights ‘Panic Button’ is bringing them a new tool to alert others about the danger they may be facing with a simple click.”
AI is are currently working with HRDs in 16 countries on how to use the tool and on the growing and omnipresent threat of surveillance so they are clear on the risks they take when using a mobile phone in their work,but the official website for the “Panic Button” app is up and running.
[Amnesty International hopes that activists and members of the public will help to improve the tool by downloading and testing Panic Button in their country as part of the beta – or testing – phase. Authorities know that campaigners coordinate meetings, protests and other activities using mobile phones and have ramped up their surveillance capabilities to monitor and track activists, journalists and campaigners. In a bid to mitigate some of these dangers, the “Panic Button” tool uses a screen disguise feature and requires users to enter a pin number before accessing the application. The alarm itself is triggered by rapidly pressing the phone’s power button, after which an SMS message is sent to three pre-entered contacts chosen by the user, alerting them of the distress call. When a GPS function is enabled, this message includes a map link showing the user’s coordinates and the user can pre-set regular location updates so their network is updated every few minutes when active.]
via New ‘Panic Button’ app provides safety net to human rights activists | Amnesty International.
see also: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/technology-to-protect-human-rights-defenders-great-but-should-there-not-be-more-cooperation/
Posted in AI, Amnesty international, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: AI, alarm, Amnesty International, applications, digital security, human rights activists, Human Rights Defenders, information technology, mobile phone, mobile phones, Panic Button, protection, SMS, Solidarity
May 1, 2014
Human Rights Defenders do not only suffer repression but campaign to get things improved. Success is not always as widely reported as drama, so I draw your attention to the AP story (as it appeared in the Washington Post of 1 May 2014) that Mexico’s parliamentarians have unanimously agreed to change Mexico’s military justice code that will allow members of the armed forces who commit crimes against civilians to be tried in civilian courts. This is a historic change that human rights defenders have been demanding for years.
[The changes come after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in five cases filed by Mexicans who suffered abuse at the hands of soldiers. It ordered that those cases be tried in civilian courts and told Mexico to change its military code of justice.]
Mario Patron, deputy director of Mexico’s Human Rights Centre Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez, said the military code “was subjecting civilian victims to a jurisdiction that is neither independent nor impartial.” He said the reform is a clear step forward, but suggested that cases of soldiers whose human rights have been violated by other soldiers should also go to civilian court
Mexico lawmakers OK civilian courts for soldiers – The Washington Post.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: civilian courts, Criminal justice, Human Rights Defenders, impunity, Law, Mexico, military courts, military justice code, Parliament, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
May 1, 2014
“Civil society loses as repressive States win election to regulate NGO access to UN” is the headline of a rightly alarming report on 23 April 2014 by the New York desk of the International Service for Human Rights [ISHR]. It calls on States that value and respect a vibrant civil society should do more to support non-governmental organisations to have their voices heard at the United Nations. The call comes after very few such States stood for election to an important UN committee that regulates civil society access to the UN, leaving the field to repressive States whose intolerance for civil society at home looks set to further restrict NGO access to the UN.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Civil society, ECOSOC, Greece, Human Rights Defenders, India, International Service for Human Rights, Iran, ISHR, Michelle Evans, NGOs, reprisals, Russia, South Africa, UN Committee on NGOs, United Nations
April 30, 2014
This radio interview [http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/asia-pacific/whos-protecting-aseans-human-rights-defenders/1302596] is interesting because of its content but also because it found its way on the website of Terrorism Watch. If the implication is that forced disappearances are a form of state terrorism, the case of Sombath Somphone (discussed below) puts Laos in the docket:
A regional workshop in Bangkok has highlighted issues like enforced disappearances, legal support for families of the disappeared and peaceful assembly and association. High on the agenda is also protecting rights activists, within the ASEAN regional human rights system. Presenter: Sen Lam interviews Emmerlyne Gil, international legal advisor, International Commission of Jurists, Bangkok: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, ICJ | Leave a Comment »
Tags: ASEAN, Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, Emmerlyne Gil, Forced disappearance, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, Human Rights Defenders, ICJ, International Commission of Jurists, Laos, Sen Lam, Sombath Somphone, South-east asia, terrorism
April 30, 2014
In the series of ‘star power’ for bad causes, American R&B singer Erykah Badu attended the 46th birthday party of King Mswati III of Swaziland on Thursday 24 April, where she sang “Happy Birthday” and dedicated her first song to the “sons of Kings”. The singer has been involved in a number of philanthropic ventures, including Artists for a New South Africa, which works to “advance human rights,” but her visit to Swaziland does not seem to fit in with this. Jeffrey Smith, an advocacy officer at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, said it was “highly unfortunate that someone of Erykah Badu’s international stature would use her star power for inherently reprehensible reasons — namely, to provide legitimacy, and, in a sense, endorse a brutal dictator who both manages and directs every facet of Africa’s last absolute monarchy.”
Journalist Bkheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko are currently imprisoned in Swaziland https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/swaziland-should-immediately-release-two-human-rights-defenders-arrested-on-17-march/
On Monday, Miss Badu tweeted: “I have no political affiliation to anything besides my AFRO. However, I will stand with any group opposing injustice. But not on twitter.” She then retweeted a comment by a man named Joe Black that read: “[Erykah Badu] owes NOBODY an explanation of why she performed in Swaziland. She’s a professional artist, not some phony rights defender.” Remarkably on Tuesday, Miss Badu tweeted that she was not paid for the Swaziland event.
via Human rights groups demand answers after Erykah Badu performs for Swaziland dictator – Washington Times.
for other posts on star power see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/star-power/
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Africa, Bkheki Makhubu, Erykah Badu, Human Rights Defenders, King Mswati III, music, R&B singer, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, star power, Swaziland, Thulani Maseko
April 29, 2014
On April 25, six members of the Zone Nine blogging collective were arrested in Ethiopia. They are now reported to being held at Maekelawi, a detention center in Addis Ababa. News of the arrests first broke on Twitter, where fellow bloggers and social media users voiced support for those arrested and expressed their own fears about what may be to come. Writer Bisrat Teshome, who lives in Addis Ababa, tweeted: “Terrified with the rant of EPRDF on journalists & bloggers. I almost fainted when my door was knocked at about 7pm. #Ethiopia — Bisrat Teshome (@_Bisre)“. As of this evening, no charges had been issued to the members of our group.
[Formed in 2012, the Zone Nine group has leveraged significant critiques of ruling government policy and practice through online campaigns in an effort to raise awareness about political repression in the country. Translating international news for local audiences — through partnership with Global Voices, launched Global Voices in Amharic two years ago. Have been a surveillance target of the Ethiopian government.]
[Kality prison is divided into eight different zones, the last of which — Zone Eight — is dedicated to journalists, human right activists and dissidents. Thus the name of the blog for the proverbial prison in which all Ethiopians live: Zone Nine]
via Six Members of Blogging Collective Arrested in Ethiopia – Global Voices Advocacy.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: activists, Addis Ababa, arbitrary arrest, Bisrat Teshome, bloggers, detention, Ethiopia, freedom of expression, Global Voices, Human Rights Defenders, journalists, Kality prison, twitter, Zone Nine blogging collective
April 29, 2014
In a post dated 13 March 2014, I suggested the possibility of suspending the membership of countries in the Human Rights Council in case of serious reprisals against human rights defenders who coöperate with the UN. [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/zero-tolerance-for-states-that-take-reprisals-against-hrds-lets-up-the-ante/]. The backdrop to this admittedly far-reaching proposal Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR | Leave a Comment »
Tags: ADC Memorial, annual Report of the Secretary General on Reprisals, Cao Shunli, China, General Assembly, gross and systematic violations, Human Rights Defenders, human rights violations, ISHR, membership UN human rights council, Phil Lynch, reprisals, retaliation, Russia, Sri Lanka, UN Human Rights Council
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 