Posts Tagged ‘Human Rights Defenders’
September 3, 2013
(Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peacful assembly and of association Maina Kiai. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré)
On 9 August 2013 three independent
United Nations Rapporteurs jointly called on the Government of
Uganda to repeal a new bill that places restrictions on the freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and to prepare a new version that complies with the country’s international human rights obligations.
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Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Frank William La Rue, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights obligations, kiai, legal restrictions, Maina Kiai, Margaret Sekaggya, peaceful assembly, police intimidation, Politics of Uganda, Special Rapporteur, Uganda, United Nations, United Nations Special Rapporteur
September 2, 2013
On 28 August 2013, 50 years after Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech, Corinne Duffy of Human Rights First (HRF) gives an interesting palette of stories how his words and action continue to inspire HRDs everywhere: 
Posted in HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Africa, dr martin luther, freedom of religion, HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights First, Immigration, King, LGBT, LGBT rights, Martin Luther King, racial discrimination, South Africa, United States, Zainab Al-Khawaja
August 30, 2013
On 25 August 2013, human rights defenders Ms María Enriqueta Matute, Mr Armando Fúnez Medina and Mr Ricardo Soto Fúnez were killed in an attack in Honduras. The three belonged to various tribes of the Tolupán indigenous people, from Locomapa, in the Yoro zone, and had been involved in a peaceful protest against a local mining operation and the construction of Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Armando Fúnez Medina, environmental issues, Front Line (NGO), Honduras, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, hydroelectric dam, indigenous groups, Indigenous People, Land issues, Locomapa, María Enriqueta Matute, peaceful protest, Ricardo Soto Fúnez, San Francisco, sit in protest, Yoro
August 29, 2013
The UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon gave the Annual Leiden Freedom Lecture, in the Netherlands, on 28 August 2013 and made a number of strong points relevant to human rights defenders: Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Ban Ki-moon, Hague, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, lecture, Leiden, LGBT rights, Netherlands, reprisals, Secretary-General of the United Nations, UN Human Rights Council, United Nation
August 27, 2013
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in collaboration with DIGNITY, has made the practice of custodial torture and ill-treatment a core area of engagement. With a view to counteract the widespread practice of torture, the AHRC and DIGNITY have formed an Asian Alliance against Torture and Ill-treatment (AAATI) in 2012. The first conference of Asian Parliamentarians and Human Rights Defenders was held in Hong Kong in 2012 [ see report Torture – Asian and Global Perspectives Vol. 1, No. 3 ].
The focus for the second meeting [scheduled for 11-13 November 2013] will be to identify the reluctance of governments to achieve a substantial change in the nature of policing in their countries to bring these institutions at par with the policing systems of advanced democracies.
The link below refers to the announcement which in fact is a CONCEPT PAPER:
ASIA: Second Regional Conference of Asian Parliamentarians & Human Rights Defenders on Elimination of Custodial Torture and Ill-treatment in Asia November 2013, Hong Kong — Asian Human Rights Commission
For details please contact: Bijo Francis, Executive Director, Email: ahrc at ahrc.asia
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Tags: AHRC, Asia, asian human rights, Asian Human Rights Commission, DIGNITY, Hong Kong, Human right, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, ill treatment, meeting, Non-governmental organization, parliamentarians, Police, torture, United Nations
August 25, 2013
(Commissioners of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights – Photo: OAS)
By letter of 23 August 2013, addressed to Dr. Emilio Álvarez Icaza, executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a group of human rights NGOs [National Religious Campaign Against Torture, California Families to Abolish Solitary Confinement, California Prison Focus, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, The Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, Disability Rights Legal Center, Stanford International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic, American Friends Service Committee (Western Region), ACLU National Prison Project, Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes, Fair Chance Project, Center for Constitutional Rights, Justice Now, National Lawyers Guild, San Diego Committee for Prisoners Rights, The Real Cost of Prisons Project and the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law] requested a thematic hearing with a focus on people incarcerated in California prisons. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: American Friends Service Committee, California, california coalition for women prisoners, Centre for Constitutional Rights, detention, Emilio Álvarez Icaza, Human right, Human Rights Defenders, IACHR, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, mandatory minimum sentences, national prison project, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Organization of American States, prison conditions, racial discrimination, solitary confinement, thematic hearing, USA
August 22, 2013
Repressive governments are using different and increasingly ‘indirect’ means to silence human rights defenders. Intimidation, administrative restrictions, fiscal regulations aimed at reducing funding, terminating rental agreements, judicial harassment, etc. According to a report by Human Rights Watch of 14 August 2013, Rwanda is practicing a slightly different tactic: wholesale infiltration and ‘take over’ of independent NGOs.
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Tags: Africa, freedom of association, HRW, human rights, human rights abuses, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, human rights group, human rights groups, Human Rights Watch, infiltration, LIPRODHOR, Non-governmental organization, Rwanda
August 22, 2013
Although the deadline for nominations (15 August) has passed, I still want to draw your attention to a new series of human rights awards instituted by Pan-African HRDs Network (PAHRD-Net), which in turn is made up of five sub-regional networks i.e. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, West Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network hosted by the International Commission of Jurists and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, and Central African Human Rights Defenders Network.
The new awards aim to honour exceptional individuals who peacefully promote and protect universally recognized rights as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Altogether six awards will be presented, one Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Award and five sub-regional awards:
– East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Award 2013
– West Africa Human Rights Defenders Award 2013
– Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Award 2013
– Central Africa Human Rights Defenders Award 2013
– Northern Africa Human Rights Defenders Award 2013
Both individuals and organizations are eligible. Awards include support to the human rights work of the winning individual or organisation with a total value of 10 000 USD for the Pan-African award winner and 5 000 USD for each sub-regional award winners. The winners will be selected by an independent jury. Nominations should be returned to: hrdaward@defenddefenders.org.
The awards will be presented to the winners at the occasion of the 54th Ordinary Session of the Africa Commission on Human and People’s Rights scheduled to be held in October 2013 in Banjul, The Gambia.
allAfrica.com: Africa: Call for Nominations – Pan African HRD Award 2013.
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Tags: Africa, awards, Banjul, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, International Commission of Jurists, Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network, protection, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
August 20, 2013
Mrinalini Shinde wrote a post in Polymic of 17 August about the human rights situation in Saoudi Arabia in good polemic style under the title: “Starting a Human Rights Association in This Country? Prepare to Face Jail Time”. She is an undergraduate student of law at National Law School of India University, interested in gender and sustainability issues. .. She has volunteered with the Human Right Law Network, and has conducted research in family laws, and gender justice. see: Mrinalini Shinde.
© Climber1 (Wikimedia Commons)
The article is not news but provides an excellent example of how students in human rights can write up information Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Amnesty International, Bajadi, human rights, human rights activists, Human Rights Defenders, human rights groups, india university, Mrinalini Shinde, National Law School of India University, Riyadh, saoudi arabia, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, students
August 20, 2013
On 17 August 2013, it emerged that Guangzhou-based human rights defender Mr Yang Maodong, better known by his pen name Guo Feixiong, had been detained on charges of “assembling a crowd to disrupt order in a public place”. Although in detention since 8 August 2013, Yang Maodong’s family were only notified by the police of his arrest on 17 August [!]. Yang Maodong is a well known figure in China‘s rights defence movement Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: China, detention, Front Line (NGO), Guangdong, Guangzhou, Guo Feixiong, harassment, Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyers, human rights movement, illtreatment, torture, Yang Maodong
(Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peacful assembly and of association Maina Kiai. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré)
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 