Posts Tagged ‘Human Rights Defenders’
October 26, 2013
Two hundred and eighteen human rights defenders in Shanghai signed a public appeal urging the United Nations not to elect China to the 47-member Human Rights Council. The election will be held on 12 November in the General Assembly.
China is one of the five candidates for the four seats to be filled by Asia-Pacific states. The other candidates are Jordan, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. Among the voluntary pledges made by China for its membership are: “To continue to strengthen the development of democracy and the rule of law [and] push forward the reform of the judicial system.” The appeal is dated October 21, 2013, the day before China’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Below are copies of the original signature sheets. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: boycott, China, elections, Geneva, human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, Human rights in China, Shanghai, the United Nations, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council, Universal Periodic Review
October 26, 2013
On 26 October 2013, the Geneva-based Alkarama human rights organisation announced that Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Haidar Shaye will receive the 2013 Alkarama Award for human rights defenders. The Director of Alkarama’s Legal Department, Rachid Mesli, said that Shaye was awarded the prize because he personifies the struggle against human rights abuses in Yemen and for his courageous investigative reporting in this regard. Since last year, the Alkarama Award for Human Rights Defenders is presented every year to a human rights defender or organization in recognition of their contribution to the protection and the promotion of human rights in the Arab world.
via Saba Net – Yemen news agency.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Abdulelah Haidar Shaye, Alkarama, Arab world, awards, Geneva, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, human rights awards, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Journalist, Rachid Mesli, reporting, Shaye, Yemen
October 26, 2013
On Saturday, the 19th of October 2013 , around 1:00 pm, Rocío Mesino Mesino, leader of the Peasant Organization of the Southern Sierra (OCSS ), was killed in the town of Mexcaltepec, municipality of Atoyac de Alvarez, in the state of Guerrero, Mexcio. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: activism, activists, campesinos, Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos, environmental issues, Extrajudicial killing, Forced disappearance, Guerrero, Hilario Mesino, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, kili, Mesino, Mexico, Miguel Angel Mesino, murder, OCSS, Peasant Organization of the Southern Sierra, Rocío Mesino, Rocío Mesino Mesino, Truth, woman human rights defender
October 25, 2013
A post of 24 October in LGBT Weekly informs about a cooperation between Front Line Defenders and the LGBTI Support Centre of the of the Helsinki Committee for human rights of the Republic of Macedonia and the ACI-Particpa in Honduras in a new campaign RADIOHRD. LGBTI rights defenders attempt to increase their recognition and capacity to carry out their work by sharing a clear message on Public Service Announcements [PSAs] in each country in order to change societal attitudes and institutional frameworks that lead to violence and discrimination. This new campaign utilizes radio as one of the most powerful tools for awareness raising and reform. “In a time where technologies of information play an increasingly important role in the processes of social change, we find that the radio is still the most reliable, trusted and widely used media amongst all sectors of society all around the world, and Honduras and Macedonia are no exception to this”, explains Kocho Andonovski, program director of the LGBTI Support Centre in Macedonia. Through this awareness raising campaign, eight human rights defenders give their testimony to illustrate the reality faced by the LGBTI communities and those working to promote their rights and end violence and discrimination. During the coming months, national and local radio stations in Macedonia and Honduras will broadcast the series of Public Service Announcements PSAs, short radio spots aimed to promote the recognition that LGBTI rights defenders are engaged in legitimate and valuable work to promote human rights. The campaign will also be broadcasted via the website http://www.radiohrd.org, where video interviews, petitions in support of the defenders and further information are also available.
via Front Line Defenders uses radio to promote the security of LGBTI rights defenders | LGBT Weekly.
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Tags: awareness raising, campaign, Frontline Defenders, gay rights, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, homophobia, Honduras, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, LGBT, LGBT social movements, LGBTI, protection, PSA, public service announcements, radio, radio journalist, Republic of Macedonia, www.radiohrd.org
October 24, 2013
The Pan African Human Rights Defenders Network, one of the regional partners of the MEA, on 22 October, awarded 5 activists with its Africa Human Rights Defenders Award. The winners of this first edition are:
- Imam Baba Leigh from the Gambia (released on 11 May from jail as reported in this blog)
- Paulete Oyane Onda from Gabon,
- Livingstone Sewanyana from Uganda,
- Yara Sallam from Egypt and
- Maria Lucia Inacio da Silveira from Angola.
via Imam Baba Leigh, 4 other Human Rights Defenders Awarded – Foroyaa Newspaper.
Posted in human rights | 2 Comments »
Tags: Africa, Africa Human Rights Defenders, African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, Angola, awards, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Human Rights and Liberties, human rights awards, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Imam Baba Leigh, Livingstone Sewanyana, Maria Lucia Inacio da Silveira, Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network, Paulete Oyane Onda, The Pan African Human Rights Defenders Network, Uganda, Yara Sallam
October 23, 2013
On 22 October the BBC and others reported that many member states of the UN Human Rights Council expressed concern at the arrest of dissidents, the continued use of the death penalty and the use of torture in prison, but Chinese officials maintained major progress had been made in improving social and economic rights. Julie de Rivero, of Human Rights Watch, told the BBC that China’s focus on economic progress was a way of avoiding the real issues: “The question is why does China continue to torture people in prisons and why is it systematic? Why do they not allow human rights defenders to raise questions that party members are even raising, about corruption? When it comes from the mouth of a human rights defender it earns them a place in prison”. Members of the UN panel also expressed concern about the treatment of a number of Chinese human rights activists in recent weeks.
(Activists from Students for a Free Tibet defied security to display a banner
on scaffolding in front of the United Nations (via BBC))
Under the UPR system, all UN member states undergo the review by the UN once every four years. [The UN panel – with a rotating membership of 47 states that does not currently include China – has no binding powers.] The report on China is expected later this week.
via BBC News – UN criticises Chinas rights record at Geneva meeting.
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Tags: BBC, China, corruption, freedom of expression, Geneva, HRW, human rights, human rights activists, Human Rights Defenders, Human rights in China, Human Rights Watch, reprisals, UN Human Rights Council, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council, Universal Periodic Review, UPR
October 22, 2013
Nominations for the 2014 MARTIN ENNALS AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS (MEA) can now be submitted electronically at http://www.martinennalsaward.org. Deadline: 9 December 2013.
The Award is granted annually to an individual, or exceptionally an organisation, in recognition of their commitment and ongoing efforts in the defence and promotion of human rights. Nominees must be currently involved in work for the promotion and protection of human rights. Special account is taken of those who are at risk and have demonstrated an active record of combating human rights violations by courageous and innovative means. The MEA aims to encourage individuals or organisations, particularly those who are working in conditions hostile to fundamental human rights and who are in need of protection.
The present value of the annual Award is 20’000 Swiss Francs, to be used for further work in the field of human rights. The following organisations participate in the Jury that selects the award: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Front Line, Human Rights First, International Federation for Human Rights, the World Organisation Against Torture, International Commission of Jurists, International Service for Human Rights, Protestant Agency for Diakonia and Development (Germany) and HURIDOCS.
The Ceremony is hosted by the City of Geneva in late 2013. They provide each of the final three nominees with project funds of 11’650 CHF and a 5’000 CHF travel grant.
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Tags: AI, awards, call for nominations, Diakonie, FIDH, Frontline Defenders, Geneva, HRF, HRW, Human right, human rights, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, human rights violations, HURIDOCS, ICJ, ISHR, Martin Ennals, Martin Ennals Award, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, nominations, OMCT
October 22, 2013
Dina Goor was an elite model. She was an interior designer in Israel and much more. Dina’s arrival at the Qalandiya checkpoint a decade ago in her grey Volkswagen Golf, changed her and the human rights movement in Israel. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Dina Goor, Human right, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Defenders Fund, Israel, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israelis, Machsom Watch, occupation, woman human rights defender, Yesh Din
October 22, 2013
Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders is organising a five-day working conference in Przno, Montenegro, from the 22 – 27 October. The conference is entitled “Empowering people – ideas worth spreading“ and will gather human rights activists from Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. The goal of the conference is to increase the participants’ capacities in using new media and technology as well as art in their advocacy work.
“We want to truly empower activists in using new media and technology in their work as well as giving them the tools to be more effective. New media and social networks are used everywhere and therefore our advocacy efforts must follow the trend. Art is also a well-known tool for sending a powerful message and engage people in a debate. During the conference, the participants will share ideas, create new projects and be given a „communications upgrade“ to create online and offline communities, thus making them part of the human rights advocacy network“, said Goran Miletic, Programme Director for the Western Balkans at Civil Rights Defenders.
Through intensive training and workshops, 40 activists from the Western Balkans will learn how to use new media, create communication strategies, learn about video production and theatre as well as civic journalism in advocacy. The participants will exchange ideas and create new ones at the conference, which will provide the foundation for future joint efforts and regional partnerships.
Civil Rights Defenders – New media and art as tools for human rights advocacy.
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Tags: Advocacy, albania, art, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Civil Rights Defenders, films, human rights activists, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, information technology, Kosovo, Montenegro, social media, training course, western balkans
October 18, 2013
The Hueiyen News Service Imphal, reports that on 19 October 2013 a number of NGOs in Manipur State [a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital] will come together to organise a new “Convention on Protection of Human Rights Defenders of Manipur“. The Convention has been planned against the backdrop of increasing targeting of human rights defenders and their organizations in Manipur by security forces operating under emergency laws. The convention will also discuss the patterns of targeting human rights defenders and adopt specific resolution and strategies to promote the human rights and protection of human rights defenders of Manipur.
via Protection of human rights defenders : 18th oct13 ~ E-Pao! Headlines.
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Tags: Advocacy Organizations, Civil society, coalition, emergency laws, Human right, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, India, Manipur, minorities, NGOs, Non-governmental organization, repression, security forces
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 