Posts Tagged ‘Human Rights Defenders’
October 31, 2013
In the last three days Morocco has been seen using Anti-Terrorism laws against human rights defenders and journalists exercising their freedom of expression. The following two cases come from Frontline: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Al Qaeda, Al Sabeel, Ali Anouzla, alianouzla, anti terrorism legislation, detention, freedom of expression, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, journalists, Lakome.com, media, Morocco, Mostafa Al-Hesnawi, Rabat, western Sahara
October 29, 2013
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) should esta
blish a mission in Belarus, the delegates to the Third Belarusian Human Rights Forum, which took place in Vilnius on Saturday and Sunday, say in a statement on 27 October. The delegates also urge the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to take measures to encourage Belarusian authorities to respect human rights. It is necessary for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to preserve its Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus and for all OSCE institutions and bodies, including the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, to step up cooperation with Belarus’ civil society. The delegates condemn violations of human rights by Belarusian authorities and urge them to abide by international commitments and implement recommendations within the framework of the UN Universal Periodic Review. Authorities should invite all UN special rapporteurs to visit Belarus, above all, the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on Belarus.
At the same meeting, Ales Bialiatski‘s wife called on the West to be consistent in relation to Belarus. Natallia Pinchuk calls not to close the question of rehabilitation, not to reduce pressure on the Belarusian authorities and not to make concessions until all political prisoners are released, Radio Svaboda reports. “Some human rights defenders began to propose in their articles and speeches to lift demands for the full rehabilitation of political prisoners. They say the regime will never agree on it. But I think we must be consistent first of all. If we began to demand the rehabilitation, we must keep to this position. Secondly, people’s rights remain restricted without rehabilitation. They have only half-freedom,” she said. “We, relatives of the political prisoners, expect firmness and applying all instruments from the European Union and the US. It’s very important that the US and Europe have a concerted approach,” she said. Natallia Pinchuk is sure that her husband, who serves his term in a correctional colony shares her opinion.
via Belarusian human rights defenders urge UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish office in Minsk | Belarus: civil society under attack | Freeales.fidh.net and
http://www.charter97.org/en/news/2013/10/28/78577/
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Ales Bialiatski, Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus, belarusian authorities, Charter97, EU, European Union, FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Minsk, Natallia Pinchuk, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, OSCE, Radio Svaboda, Third Belarusian Human Rights Forum, United Nations, UPR, USA, Vilnius, West
October 29, 2013
Human rights defenders working on behalf of communities affected by large-scale development projects are increasingly being branded ‘anti-government’, ‘against development’ or even ‘enemies of the State’, the Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, has warned. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 3 Comments »
Tags: criminalization, death threats, detention, development, environmental issues, freedom of expression, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, judicial harassment, Land issues, Margaret Sekaggya, retaliation, Sekaggya, Special Rapporteur, UN General Assembly, United Nations, United Nations Special Rapporteur
October 29, 2013
Amnesty International – among a plethora of NGOs – urges Israel to drop charges against Palestinian lawyer Anas Barghouti (24 October 2013). It says that Israeli must drop all charges against the Palestinian human rights lawyer released on bail last night. Anas Barghouti, a lawyer with the Addameer Association for Prisoner Support and Human Rights, was released on bail on the orders of a military judge at Ofer Military Court yesterday because confessions from other detainees submitted as evidence failed to prove he is a security threat. Barghouti had been arrested by the Israeli army more than a month ago 15 September, at a checkpoint north of Bethlehem in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Nine days later he was charged with “membership in the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine” – an organisation which Israel has banned – and “leadership of a committee to organise demonstrations”. Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Director Philip Luther said:“The release of Anas Bargouthi is positive news but he should have never been detained and charged in the first place.“ Barghouti’s arrest is part of a pattern of harassment by the Israeli authorities of Palestinian human rights organisations and activists in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, with individuals suffering arbitrary detentions, restrictions on movement, and raids of homes and offices. For example, last December Israeli security forces raided the offices of Addameer and two other Palestinian NGOs in Ramallah, seizing computers, work files and equipment and ransacking the premises. Addameer’s chair, Abdullatif Ghaith, a resident of East Jerusalem, has been banned by Israel’s military from entering other parts of the occupied West Bank or travelling abroad since 2011. Meanwhile, on 23 September, a week after the Bargouthi’s arrest, Israeli forces also arrested Samer Arbid, Addameer’s accountant. He was placed in custody for questioning until 21 October and then given a four-month administrative detention order – a military order without charge or trial which can be extended indefinitely. Yet another activist from Addameer – Ayman Nasser – was arrested in October last year and charged with offences that included membership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and carrying out activities in support of Palestinian prisoners. He was convicted of these charges a month later and spent a year in prison after a trial by military court, being released earlier this week. In detention Nasser told his lawyer that he had been tortured during interrogation following his arrest. He said he was interrogated for up to 20 hours every day and that during the interrogations he was kept in a stress position on a chair with his hands tied behind his back.
via AIUK : Israel must drop charges against Palestinian lawyer Anas Barghouti.
Posted in AI, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Addameer, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights, Amnesty International, Anas Barghouti, anti-terrorist laws, Barghouti, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, illegal detention, Israel, Palestinian people, Palestinian territories, Ramallah, West Bank
October 28, 2013
reports that on 22 October 2013, human rights lawyer André Michel in Haiti was arbitrarily held in police custody after police attempted to carry out a search on his vehicle. He was eventually released the next morning but remains at risk of arrest. André Michel is involved, as legal representative of the complainant, in a case of corruption and embezzlement of public funds allegedly implicating members of the President’s family. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | 1 Comment »
Tags: André Michel, arrest, Arrest warrant, Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers of 1990, Haiti, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyer, Independence of Lawyers, judicial harassment, lawyer, lawyers, legal profession, Mario Joseph, MEA, police intimidation, Political corruption, threats
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 »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
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 »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
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.
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
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
reports that on 22 October 2013, human rights lawyer André Michel in Haiti was arbitrarily held in police custody after police attempted to carry out a search on his vehicle. He was eventually released the next morning but remains at risk of arrest. André Michel is involved, as legal representative of the complainant, in a case of corruption and embezzlement of public funds allegedly implicating members of the President’s family. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 