Posts Tagged ‘Human Rights Defenders’

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Pakistan: Human Rights Defenders in the Ministry; perhaps well-meant but still a bad idea

December 4, 2012

Several Pakistani newspapers reported on Monday 3 December that “Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accepted in principle a proposal made by the Ministry of Human Rights to appoint Human Rights Defenders in the ministry”.

It all came from a presentation made by the Ministry of Human Rights. There were several welcome announcements (such as including human rights as a subject in educational institutions and plans to effectively implement its international  obligations) but the idea to appoint Human Rights Defenders in the Ministry (as civil servants one has to assume) is baffling. It would completely do away with the idea that HRDs ought to be independent and capable of monitoring authorities. If accepted under this title it would surely confuse the current understanding of what are HRDs. The Minister for Human Rights would soon be called Human Rights Defender in Chief.

The Pakistani newspaper Dawn adds:  “The basic idea to have human rights defenders in the country was to help those poor victims who could not afford to plead their cases in courts or seek other remedial measures against oppressors. “The number of human rights defenders and their service structure will be worked out by the ministry in collaboration with other ministries,” the official said. However, critics of the government say as elections were just a few months away, new positions are being created to accommodate pro-PPP voters.”

Let’s hope that the Ministry will revert to the more neutral and clarifying title of ‘human rights officers”.

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Pierre-Claver Dekpoh the 3nd Portrait in the OMCT series HRDs against Torture

December 3, 2012

For those who did not go to the OMCT website, here is today’s portrait in the series of 10:  Pierre-Claver Akolly Amégnikpo DEKPOH, from Lomé in Togo. He has been engaged in the fight for human dignity and social peace and against injustice since 1990; and has been a member of ACAT-Togo since March 1999. He states that his commitment to the fight against torture and ill-treatment is in keeping with his Christian faith.

via Pierre-Claver Dekpoh: Ten Portraits against Torture and Impunity / December 3, 2012 / Events / Human rights defenders / OMCT.

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Bedoon Human rights defenders arrested and detained in Kuwait

December 3, 2012

On 30 November the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) reports the arrest and detention of  Yousif Al- Zhairy and Khaled Al- Battah. GCHR believes that these arrests form part of on-going harassment of the Bedoon Community at the hands of State authorities. No grounds were provided for their arrest and no charges have been brought against them. The two human rights defenders are sharing a cell and it is reported that they will be detained for ten days as criminal investigations are carried out. Both Khaled Al-Battah and Yousif Al-Zhairy are peaceful human rights activists who have campaigned and protested for the rights of the Bedoon in Kuwait.

via Kuwait- Human rights defenders Yousif Al- Zhairy and Khaled Al- Battah arrested and detained as harassment of Bedoon community continues.

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10 Portraits of Human Rights Defenders in the next 10 Days at OMCT

December 1, 2012

As Human Rights Defenders are the voice of those who are deprived of it because they are victims of torture, ill-treatment or summary execution, OMCT (one of the 10 NGOs on the Jury of the MEA) has started a series of portraits of those who excel in the fight against torture and impunity.  From 1 to the 10 of December, the organisation will every day put a different HRD in the limelight. They tell about the challenges and the obstacles they face and the hopes and disappointments they encounter in their everyday life. It s`tarts today with Edeliza Hernandez from the Philippines:

I may not refer to each case in this blog but invite you to visit the OMCT website:  http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/events/2012/11/d22051/

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Is US aid Endangering Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico and Colombia?

November 30, 2012

In the FPIF edition of 29 November 2012 (Foreign Policy in Focus, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies) Christine Ahn and Erika Guevara-Rosas have published a provocative piece that takes US policy – especially its aid policy – to task for contributing to the process of militarization that adds to the woes of (women) HRDs. A long but well-argued piece worth reading:

“While a significant chunk of USAID spending goes to education and health programs, pockets of aid enlarge the already bloated military budgets of recipient governments. The result: less security and more violence against women, particularly women human rights defenders. ………..we take a look into Colombia and Mexico, the two countries with the largest number of documented instances of death threats against women human rights defenders—and coincidently two major recipients of U.S. aid.”

Endangering Women Human Rights Defenders | FPIF.

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Harassment and illegal arrest of HRD in Sri Lanka – backlash against testimony in the UN

November 30, 2012

Today Front Line Defenders reports the case of  arbitrary arrest of human rights defender Mr Sanjeewa Samarasinghe in Sri Lanka.

On 27 November 2012, human rights defender Mr Sanjeewa Samarasinghe was taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and questioned for 13 hours without a reason given or a lawyer present, before being released. Sanjeewa Samarasinghe is a journalist and the chairman of the State Media Workers’ Association, which defends press freedom and the rights of media workers in Sri Lanka. The human rights defender was taken to the CID office in Colombo 1 with a friend present, although his friend was told to leave the interrogation after 15 minutes. The defender asked the police officers to wait for his lawyer to arrive before questioning him, but this request was ignored and the police proceeded to question him in the absence of his lawyer. The defender’s lawyer was not permitted to enter the CID premises for the entire duration of the interrogation. It is reported that Sanjeewa Samarasinghe was subsequently questioned throughout the night for a period of 13 hours until he was eventually released around 9.30am the following morning on 28 November. Although no reason was given for the arrest, he was reportedly asked during the questioning whether he had been supplying information on human rights violations in Sri Lanka to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Sanjeewa Samarasinghe works as a journalist and leads the State Media Workers’ Association, which works on issues related to media freedom, the right to freedom of expression, and which holds conferences, campaigns, and demonstrations on the rights of media workers.

It would seem another case of backlash against those HRDs who testify in the UN on which I reported previously and which has been condemned in the strongest terms by the United Nations.

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HURIDOCS exists 30 years: my interview now on line

November 30, 2012

HURIDOCS

Hans Thoolen talks about the excitement of founding HURIDOCS, why the human rights community nowadays resembles a church with too many priests (and too few believers) and what made Latin American human rights defenders embrace technology before everyone else. Looking back at decades of involvement in human rights work, he also sketches out his idea of a multimedia platform that gives human rights defenders the space to inspire others. 

What was the most exciting idea about founding HURIDOCS?
It started for me and the others at this conference in 1979 near Paris. During this conference we sensed there was space for better cooperation among NGOs, especially with new technology. Mind you: this was 1979, well before the internet, and information technology was hardly used. Our idea was to somewhere, somehow seek some level of agreement among NGOs – or at least to create the tools with which working together would be possible in the future.

in 1982 Quito with Jose Antonio Viera de Gallo from Chile

Hans Thoolen (second from right) at the Quito conference in Spring 1982, the most important conference before HURIDOCS was officially founded a few months later.

How did you move on from there?
That idea survived the meeting and there was some money left over from the Ford Foundation and that was used to have informal consultations. So for a few years, Martin Ennals, who had just stepped down as secretary-general of Amnesty International, Friederike Knabe, Laurie Wiseberg, Bjorn Stormorken and myself (working for the International Commission of Jurists) were the people who worked on the follow-up. We had meetings in London, Brussels, Oslo and Geneva and we were asking NGOs what they thought of the potential of information technology and testing out ideas on information exchange.

That slowly lead to the first big conference, in Quito, Ecuador, in 1982, partly because the Latinos had taken to the use of technology well before the West – in the NGO world, not in the business world, of course. This maybe was surprising, but when you thought about it, not that strange.

Why not? And how did this lead to the founding of HURIDOCS?

…….

………

and the rest you have to read yourself on:

http://www.huridocs.org/2012/11/we-were-breaking-new-ground/

 

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Human Rights First to hold Human Rights Summit: 4-5 December

November 29, 2012

 

On December 4-5, 2012, Human Rights First will convene the inaugural Human Rights Summit: American ideals. Universal values, marking the 64th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Summit is designed to bring international civil society activists, U.S. policymakers, military and business leaders together to look at U.S. global leadership on human rights. Human Rights First believes that American leadership is necessary to secure human rights around the world. We hope you will join us as we celebrate progress and address the challenges ahead. Sessions during the two-day Summit will cover human rights issues including the Arab Spring, emerging technologies, immigration reform, and more. Senators Richard Durbin (D – IL) and John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the United Civil Front Garry Kasparov, President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Dr. Richard Land, and Vice President of Communications and Public Policy at Facebook Elliot Schrage will join us as guest speakers.

Human Rights First also invites you to the screening of the award-winning film THE HOUSE I LIVE IN on Tuesday, December 4, at 7 p.m. The screening will be followed by a discussion with acclaimed filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, who received the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival for this film. This event is free and open to the public

 

Space is limited. Reserve <http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=kHQZD8AfBaT%2FEULL8Hi1yi%2BQnID0Npd%2F>  your spot today!

Register for sessions now! <http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=3twClNNnpynWcNjK3OOtRy%2BQnID0Npd%2F>

 

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New fact-finding report on Zimbabwe by Observatory for human rights defenders

November 26, 2012

Today, 26 November 2012, The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has published the report “Zimbabwe: Ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral period”.

 

The report analyses multiple forms of harassment facing human rights defenders while they try to do their work, including police summons, disruption of assemblies and protests, police violence, propaganda and slandering, threats of organization closure, and deterrence from participating in international and regional meetings. They remain the target of arbitrary arrests and detentions. Most of these violations are instigated by the police, members of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), militias and traditional leaders. The Censorship Board and the Provincial Governors also take a stance against anyone deemed to run counter the interests of Zanu-PF.

“Almost four years after the conclusion of the GPA, and despite the repeated calls from the international community, the situation of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe remains extremely perilous”, deplored Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President. “Besides the need for radical change in the authorities’ methods, it is of vital importance that the reforming process be completed in conformity to international and regional human rights standards. In particular, the first step is that a new Constitution has to enter into force as soon as possible in order to ensure that human rights are effectively guaranteed”, she added.

 

“It is time that the Zimbabwean authorities stop resorting to legislation that restrict fundamental freedoms as well as encouraging and condoning serious violations of the rights of human rights defenders, including arbitrary arrests or acts of torture”, added Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General. “Accordingly, the authorities must take all the necessary steps to ensure that human rights defenders are able to operate efficiently and without hindrances in the country, as well as to put an end to the climate of impunity that still prevails within the society”, he concluded.

 

The full report is available in English at the following links: http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/obsrapportzim2012eng.pdf

http://www.omct.org/files/2012/11/22036/zimbabwe_mission_report.pdf

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UN RAPPORTEUR ON HRDs about IRELAND

November 23, 2012

DUBLIN (23 November 2012)  “The overall environment in which defenders operate in Ireland is in general conducive, although more should be done domestically to raise awareness about the profile and role of defenders,” the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, said today at the end of her first fact-finding mission to the country.

The expert expressed concern about the challenges faced by certain groups of defenders, notably those working on environmental rights and who try to exercise their legitimate right to protest. She also drew attention to the plight of sexual and reproductive rights defenders who are victims of smear campaigns, and those working for the rights of the Traveller community who are excluded from policy making bodies, as well as ‘whistle-blowers’ who are not properly protected.……


The Special Rapporteur also stressed that “blasphemy is currently a criminal offence in Irish legal framework but its codification seems vague, unclear and no longer appropriate,” and welcomed the Government’s initiative to convene a Constitutional Convention which will contemplate the removal of the offence of blasphemy from the current legal framework.  …………….

Ms. Sekaggya recognized that Ireland has been a champion in the protection of defenders at risk in other countries under the European Union Guidelines on human rights defenders. She also acknowledged the Government’s efforts in integrating and promoting the protection of defenders through its development aid.

“Ireland has a unique opportunity to bring human right issues forward now that it has been elected to the UN Human Rights Council and will have the Presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2013,” she said. “In this context, I suggest a first assessment of the implementation of the EU Guidelines on human rights defenders.”
 

for the full end-of-mission statement by the Special Rapporteur: http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12823&LangID=E

The United Nations in the Heart of Europe | News & Media | IRELAND IS A SUPPORTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS DESPITE CERTAIN CHALLENGES, SAYS UN EXPERT ON RIGHTS DEFENDERS.

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