Posts Tagged ‘Human Rights Defenders’

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HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS FORUM LAUNCHES IN BAKU

October 11, 2012

On 8 October a forum of human rights defenders was launched in Baku. The forum was organized by the Legal Education Society, the Azerbaijan Human Rights House and the South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders. The two-day forum is financed by the European Commission.
Current state of human rights in Azerbaijan, protection of human rights in the regions, pressures on rights defenders, public campaigns to protect rights defenders’ rights, the political prisoner issue and reporting on human rights issues were included in the agenda of the first day.
Human Rights House project coordinator Catherine Spasova and representatives of the Norwegian embassy informed the participants about international experience in the field of human rights.
The second day of the forum discussed youth and women’s movements, and their role in the protection of human rights.

a short video is on:

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS FORUM LAUNCHES IN BAKU – YouTube.

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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS for THE 2013 MARTIN ENNALS AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

October 10, 2012

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS :  THE 2013 MARTIN ENNALS AWARD
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS (MEA)


The Martin Ennals Foundation invites nominations for its 2013 Award. The deadline is 9th  December 2012. Nominations can be submitted electronically (Eng,Fre,Sp) at http://www.martinennalsaward.org or as printed document addressed to the MEA Secretariat: c/o OMCT, PO Box 21, CH-1211 Geneva 8, Switzerland.  Tel: +4122 8094925   fax: +4122 8094929  e-mail: info@martinennalsaward.org.

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, Diakonie Germany and HURIDOCS. Additionally, the last three nominees receive each from the City of Geneva a travel grant of 5’000 CHF as well as a project in the order of 11’000 CHF.

Past recipients are: 2012 Venerable Luon Sovath (Cambodia); 2011 Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera (Uganda); 2010 Muhannad Al-Hassani (Syria); 2009 Emad Baghi (Iran); 2008 Mutabar Tadjibaeva (Uzbekistan); 2007 Pierre Claver Mbonimpa (Burundi) and Rajan Hoole and Kopalasingham Sritharan (Sri Lanka); 2006 Akbar Ganji (Iran) and Arnold Tsunga (Zimbabwe); 2005 Aktham Naisse (Syria); 2004 Lida Yusupova (Russia); 2003 Alirio Uribe Muñoz (Colombia); 2002 Jacqueline Moudeina (Chad); 2001 Peace Brigades International; 2000 Immaculée Birhaheka (D.R. Congo); 1999 Natasha Kandic (Yugoslavia); 1998 Eyad Rajab El Sarraj (Palestine); 1997 Samuel Ruiz García (Mexico); 1996 Clement Nwankwo (Nigeria); 1995 Asma Jahangir (Pakistan);  1994 Harry Wu (China).

Martin Ennals (1927-1991) was instrumental to the modern human rights movement. He creatively pursued ideas ahead of his time and was the driving force behind other organisations. His deep desire was to see more cooperation among NGOs.

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HRW’s Moscow Researcher Threatened

October 8, 2012
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According to the NY Times a researcher in Human Rights Watch’s office in Moscow received repeated threats this week of an attack focused on her pregnancy, the rights group said, calling it the latest example of escalating pressure against rights and civic groups in Russia.

Natalia Kolesnikova/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Tanya Lokshina, a senior Human Rights Watch researcher, spoke to reporters in Moscow on Thursday.

 

The anonymous threats were sent to the cellphone of the researcher, Tanya Lokshina, who is also the deputy director of the Moscow bureau. The group said they included details that could have been obtained only by eavesdropping on her telephone conversations.

“These threats demonstrate that the sender clearly was following Tanya’s every move,” said Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch. “They knew where she lived, what she was doing. They made explicit reference to the fact of her pregnancy. They threatened harm to herself and to her unborn baby.”

……..

“This is not the first time members of our organization, and the Moscow office, have been threatened,” Ms. Lokshina said. “But the level of cynicism, the ugliness in the threats that came to my phone over those three days was unprecedented.”The threats stopped Monday, the day Human Rights Watch reported them to the Russian police, prosecutors, officials in the federal government and the Federal Security Service, the domestic intelligence agency that is a successor to the K.G.B.

However, on Thursday, another employee of the office received a text, again threatening Ms. Lokshina’s pregnancy and mentioning the group’s news conference scheduled for later in the day.

Human Rights Watch Says Its Moscow Researcher Threatened – NYTimes.com.

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Arab states respond to unprecedented scrutiny with attacks on human rights defenders

October 7, 2012

On 2 October 2012 the Cairo Institute for Human Rights (CIHR) published its overview of the last session of the UN Human Rights Council. It concludes that many Arab governments have started a kind of ‘counter-revolution’ by harassing human rights defenders, especially those that engage with the UN:

“Reflecting the ‘counter-revolutionary’ repression we have witnessed being carried out by many Arab governments against democracy and rights activists over the last year and a half, this session of the Council witnessed multiple human rights defenders from Sudan, the United Arab Emirates UAE and Bahrain subjected to attacks by their governments or government-affiliated actors for engaging with the United Nations,” said Mr. Ziad Abdel Tawab, Deputy Director of CIHRS. “We urgently call on the UN and its member states to increase efforts to provide protection for these brave defenders and others like them. Such reprisals against those who cooperate with the UN not only constitute rights violations, but also represent an attack on the UN itself and its ability to function properly.”

via ‘Counter-Revolution’ at the United Nations Human Rights Council? Arab states respond to unprecedented scrutiny with attacks on rights defenders and standards | Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies.

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Short summary of the Martin Ennals Award 2012 ceremony now available

October 4, 2012

For a lovely 8 mn summary of the 2012 Martin Ennals Award ceremony of 2 October please go the the website: Welcome to Martin Ennals Awards – MEA.

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Albanian Blerta Cani Drenofci Human rights defender of the month

October 2, 2012

Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders has chosen an Albanian disabilities specialist as its HRD of the month, see:

Civil Rights Defenders – Human rights defender of the month – Blerta Cani Drenofci.

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Ceremony of the Martin Ennals Award to follow on the internet (2 October, 18h00)

September 27, 2012

Every day all over the world, unsung heroes are risking their lives to call attention to injustice and to fight for human rights. On Tuesday October 2nd, one of them will honored with the Martin Ennals Award. The Martin Ennals Award  is chosen by a Jury of ten leading Human Rights organizations including: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First and others (see www.martinennalsaward.org). Thus, this prize represents the expression of the whole Human Rights movement.

The winner will be selected from three nominees, who personalize wider issues in their home countries and allow these issues to be represented through individual cases:

  1. Venerable Sovath Luon: sometimes referred to as the “Multimedia Monk”. He challenges the widespread eviction of poor people from land they have long held but without title, often due to the destruction of records during the Khmer Rouge period.
  2. Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian Lawyer serving a 6 year prison sentence in Iran for “… the offences of “acting against the national security”, “propaganda against the regime” and “membership of Human Rights Defenders Centre” – an organisation presided over by the Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi.
  3. Bahrain Center for Human Rights: Currently high on the world media agenda. Two of the main founders: Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and Nabeel Rajab are serving jail sentences. Zainab al-Khawaja was arrested for demonstrating against the government, while other members are regularly arrested and abused.

The ceremony is hosted by the City of Geneva in Victoria Hall. Short films commissioned by the Martin Ennals Foundation. Those who cannot attend in person may want to follow it on the internet (www.martinennalsaward.org) starting at 18h00 Geneva time.

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Bahraini Defender Sentenced to Prison for Tearing Picture of King

September 27, 2012

On 26 September Human Rights First (HRF) reports that a Bahraini court sentenced Zainab Al-Khawaja to two months in prison for publicly tearing a picture of Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. It notes that the ruling confirms Bahrain’s reputation as a volatile place without due respect for the rule of law.

“The Bahraini regime seems locked into a spiral of imprisoning human rights leaders and it is unable to tolerate freedom of expression. This is not the reform the king promised” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley ”

Zainab Al-Khawaja, a well-known activist, is the daughter of prominent Bahraini human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who is currently serving a life sentence in prison after being arrested, tortured and given an unfair trial in a military court for taking part in the pro-democracy protest. Throughout the uprising in Bahrain, Zainab Al-Khawaja has worked to bring to light abuses committed by the Bahraini regime. Through her blog and twitter account, @angryarabiya, Zainab has urged to world to show its support for the Bahraini people.

“In 18 months, Bahrain has rocketed from obscurity to international fame as a place where doctors were tortured and human rights activists are jailed for peaceful dissent. Zainab’s sentence reinforces this image of a regime addicted to targeting its human rights defenders, and only able to respond to dissent with repression,” Dooley concluded.

Zainab Al-Khawaja’s verdict comes just one day before another prominent human rights leader, Nabeel Rajab, is scheduled to hear the verdict in his appeal of a three-year prison sentence for his part in what the government calls “illegal gatherings.” Rajab is president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), an organization selected by Human Rights First to receive the 2012 Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty and also one the three nominees for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders 2012 which will be decided on 2 October in Geneva.

Bahraini Defender Sentenced to Prison for Tearing Picture of King | Human Rights First.

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U.N. delegation heads to Tunisia to see situation of HRDs first hand

September 27, 2012

On 26 September UPI reports from Geneva that a U.N. rights delegation announced plans to assess the role human rights defenders have played in Tunisia since the country’s Jasmine Revolution in 2010.

Margaret Sekaggya, U.N. special envoy on human rights organizations, leads a delegation to Tunisia for a trip that concludes Oct. 5, a first since the country’s revolution.

“Human rights defenders have played an essential part in the call for democracy, justice and human rights across the region,” she said in a statement. “We are intrigued and excited to observe the working conditions of defenders of all generations in the country that in many ways triggered the Arab Spring.”

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2012/09/26/UN-rights-delegation-heads-to-Tunisia/UPI-29741348668711/#ixzz27fzkoNw1

U.N. rights delegation heads to Tunisia – UPI.com.

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No HRD should be left behind in Burma’s progress

September 24, 2012

The Burmese website Mizzima carries an excellent update on the situation in Burma (Myanmar) which continues to improve but should not let any Human Rights Defenders in detention. The article give precious details and highlights the role of the UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana.

“The UN Special Rapporteur renewed his call on the government to release all remaining prisoners of conscience without delay as a fundamental part of the process of democratic transition and national reconciliation.  That includes the release of people such as Myint Aye, the director of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Organization, and 36-year-old Aung Naing, who has spent the past 16 years of his life in prison…”

‘None should be left behind’.

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