Posts Tagged ‘human rights lawyer’
April 2, 2014
On 26 March 2014, the family of human rights defender Mr Maen Al-Ghoneimi was informed by the Damascus Military Police in Syria that he had died in detention two months earlier, on 14 January 2014. The police declared that he died of heart failure and delivered to the family the personal possessions of the human rights defender, but refused to disclose where he had been buried. Maen Al-Ghoneimi was a human rights lawyer and a member of the lawyers’ syndicate in Damascus. The human rights defender was an active participant in lawyers’ peaceful protests and sit-ins and provided legal aid to internally displaced people in Syria. Maen Al-Ghoneimi was arrested on 20 May 2013, and was then kept incommunicado until news of his death emerged. No charges had been brought against him. The family stated that he was in good health at the time of the arrest, and therefore believes that he may have been tortured or have become ill and denied medical treatment while in detention.
Front Line Defenders rightly demands a thorough, impartial and immediate investigation into the deaths of detained human rights defenders, including also Ayham Mostafa Ghazzoul https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/21602
Sadly, this fits too well with the special campaign I mentioned on 16 March https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/the-silenced-voices-of-syria-special-campaign-aimed-at-human-rights-defenders/
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: arbitrary arrest, Ayham Mostafa Ghazzoul, Damascus Military Police, death, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyer, illegal detention, lawyer, Maen Al-Ghoneimi, Silenced Voices of Syria, Syria, torture
March 19, 2014
Swaziland should immediately release Mr. Thulani Maseko and Mr. Bheki Makhubu, the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network said today. The human rights defenders (the first a lawyer and the second a journalist) were arrested on Monday 17 March 2014, reportedly in response to articles published in a national magazine. Maseko is a prominent human rights lawyer working at the national and regional levels, a senior member of Lawyers for Human Rights Swaziland and the Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, which is part of the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network. Makhubu is the Editor-in-Chief of the Nation. The two men were arrested under the same warrant, issued by Chief Justice Ramodibedi, on charges of “scandalizing the judiciary” and contempt of court. Their lawyer was not permitted to represent the pair when they were jointly charged on 18 March 2014. They have been remanded pending a bail hearing on 24 March 2014. The charges are apparently in relation to articles published in the Nation Magazine questioning the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Chief Government Vehicle Inspector, Bhantshana Gwebu. Mr. Gwebu had been arrested and charged with contempt of court after he arrested the driver of a High Court judge. As an absolute monarchy, the King of Swaziland has the discretionary power to suspend constitutional rights such as freedom of expression and in practice these rights are frequently curtailed. Mr. Maseko has previously been charged with sedition for public statements made.“Human rights defenders must be able to speak out on issues of public interest,” said Hassan Shire, Chairperson of the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network. “We call on the Swaziland authorities to drop the charges against Mr Maseko and Mr Makhubu and allow them to continue with their important work.”
via Swaziland: Release Human Rights Defender and Journalist – East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: arbitrary arrest, Bheki Makhubu, Chief Justice Ramodibedi, Hassan Shire Sheikh, Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyer, illegal detention, Journalist, Lawyers for Human Rights Swaziland, Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network, Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, Swaziland, Thulani Maseko
March 15, 2014
Today, 14 March, Amnesty International brought out a statement severely criticizing China‘s treatment of human rights defenders in need of medical care. Cao Shunli, 52, died from organ failure on Friday at a hospital in Beijing, after five months in detention. Repeated requests by Cao’s family for her to receive medical treatment for serious health problems were denied.[ https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/serious-concern-for-health-of-detained-human-rights-defender-cao-shunli/]
“Cao Shunli’s death exposes just how callous and calculating the Chinese authorities are prepared to be to silence critics. The authorities today have blood on their hands.” said Anu Kultalahti, China Researcher at Amnesty International. “Cao Shunli was a courageous woman who paid the ultimate price for the fight for human rights in China. She should have never been detained in the first place; but to then deny her the medical treatment she desperately needed is a most barbaric act.”
Cao had led attempts to allow activists to contribute to China’s national human rights report, ahead of a UPR review at the UN Human Rights Council in 2013 and was arrested in September as she attempted to travel to Geneva to attend a human rights training course. Her detention was seen by many as a reprisal for her wanting to contribute to a public discussion on violations in China – the charges against her concerned “picking quarrels and making trouble” . The full Council is expected to hear the result of the UPR session on Wednesday 19 March. It will be interesting to see how the States and in particular China is going to react to this tragic event.
Many other NGOs and media have come out with statements about the death of Cao Shunli including Front Line (“Chinese Government Responsible for the Death of Cao Shunli“) and the International Service for Human Rights (http://www.ishr.ch/news/un-human-rights-council-must-demand-accountability-death-cao-shunli).
Posted in AI, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR | 2 Comments »
Tags: AI, Amnesty International, Cao Shunli, China, Front Line (NGO), Geneva, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyer, ill treatment, illegal detention, International Service for Human Rights, lawyer, medical care. Cao Shunli, Reprisal, reprisals, UN, UN Human Rights Council, UPR, woman human rights defender
February 17, 2014
reports that on 12 February 2014, human rights defender Didier Kalemba addressed a formal complaint to the public prosecutor’s office in the Democratic Republic of Congo in connection with a series of intimidatory acts that he has recently been subjected to. Didier Kalemba is a lawyer who has been acting as a protection officer for the Association Congolaise pour l’Accès à la Justice – ACAJ (Congolese Association for Access to Justice). His work mainly focuses on following up on cases of arbitrarily detained persons, particularly political prisoners or prisoners of conscience. Didier Kalemba received several calls from the same telephone number demanding him to halt his visits to the Ndolo military prison, or his family would regret his “stubbornness.”
[This is not the first time Didier Kalemba has received threats]
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: ACAJ, Association Congolaise, congo drc, death threats, Democratic Republic of Congo, Didier Kalemba, DRC, formal complaint, Front Line (NGO), Human rights defender, human rights lawyer, intimidation, lawyer, prison visits
November 11, 2013
Authoritarian Vietnam has stepped up an alarming crackdown on domestic dissent even as it seeks a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International says on 7 November. Vietnam is using a raft of draconian legislation to clamp down on a growing number of citizens who seek to question the party’s stranglehold on power. “Vietnam is fast turning into one of Southeast Asias largest prisons for human rights defenders and other activists” said Amnesty researcher Rupert Abbott to AFP.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in AI, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: AFP, Amnesty, Amnesty International, bloggers, Dieu Cay, freedom of expression, Human rights defender, human rights lawyer, internet, Le Quoc Quan, prisoners of conscience, Reporters without Borders, Rupert Abbott, UN Human Rights Council, United Nations Human Rights Council, Vietnam
November 4, 2013
On 1 November 2013, human rights defender, Zinaida Mukhortova, was released from Astana Medical Centre for Psychological Health in Kazakhstan. As reported in this blog earlier she had been detained in psychiatric confinement since 9 August 2013 in Balkhash and was transferred to Astana on 30 September 2013 for psychological testing. Since her detention, Zinaida Mukhortova has been subjected to forced psychiatric confinement and treated against her will. Zinaida Mukhortova is a human rights lawyer with more than 10 years’ legal practice. Through her work, she has denounced cases of corruption and interference of political interests in the judiciary.
To find out more about the legal proceedings taken against Zinaida Mukhortova, please see update of 9 October 2013, http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/23924 by
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: anti corruption, Astana, forced psychiatric treatment, Front Line (NGO), Health in Kazakhstan, Human right, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, human rights lawyer, independence of the judiciary, Kazakhstan, psychiatric confinement, Psychiatry, woman human rights defender, Zinaida, Zinaida Mukhortova
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 17, 2013
In a move praised by local and international rights groups, Burma’s government, led by ex-general Thein Sein, has released 56 political prisoners. However, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners [AAPP] noted in a statement to the media that 133 political prisoners were still languishing in the country’s prisons. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: AAPP, activism, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Aung Myint, Burma, Burmese President Thein Sein, David Cameron, detention, freedom of demonstration, Hla Myo Naing, Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyer, Karen, minority rights, Myanmar, political prisoner, political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, Rakhine, Rakhine State, release, Sittwe, Thein Sein, U Aung Myint
October 14, 2013
That there can be a risk in accepting (monetary) awards is demonstrated again by the case of Massoumeh Dehghan, retired teacher and wife of imprisoned human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani in Iran. She told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that her one-year prison sentence for accepting her husband’s human rights award has been upheld (suspended for five years, and five years’ ban on foreign travel). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Abdolfattah Soltani, awards, backlash, Germany, human rights, human rights award, human rights awards, human rights lawyer, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Iran, judicial harassment, Massoumeh Dehghan, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Nuremberg, Nuremberg Human Rights Award
August 8, 2013
Ms. Ragia Omran, a leading Egyptian human rights lawyer and women’s rights activist, was announced -on 2 July 2013 – as the winner of the 2013 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, now in its 30th year. The award recognizes her extraordinary work, and initiates a partnership to support her efforts to advance the women’s rights, the rule of law, and democracy in Egypt through human rights legal advocacy. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Arab spring, democracy in egypt, Egypt, Hisham Mubarak Law Center, human rights, human rights awards, human rights lawyer, Kerry Kennedy, lawyer, Middle East, Mohamed Morsi, Mona Seif, Ragia Omran, Robert F. Kennedy, Tahrir Square, woman human rights defender
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 