Posts Tagged ‘human rights’
February 17, 2014
The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, is organising an expert seminar on The Right to Privacy in the Digital Age, a topic of great importance for human rights defenders. It will take place on Monday 24 February 2014, in room XXI in the Palais des Nations, Geneva. It purpose is to examine the international human rights law framework of the right to privacy, and identify challenges raised by modern communications technologies; foster understanding of how the right to privacy is implemented by governments, as well as addressed by the private sector and civil society; examine the extent to which domestic and extraterritorial surveillance may infringe on an individuals’ right to privacy; and identify ways forward to ensure the protection and promotion of the right to privacy.
Registration: Owing to limited space, reservation is recommended as soon as possible: alice.priddy[at]geneva-academy.ch. Please note that a live streaming of this seminar will be webcast. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: digital security, electronic surveillance, Geneva, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, international human rights, international human rights law, mass surveillance, palais des nations, Panel of Experts, right to privacy, streaming, the right to privacy, webcast
February 15, 2014
A good example of the interaction of the work of international [human rights] organisations and local media is this piece from El Universal in Venezuela under the title: “Front Line Defenders reject intimidation of human right advocates”. It mentions:
- Front Line Defenders called for prompt and unbiased investigation into the arbitrary detention and assault of human rights activist Inti Rodríguez and defamation of Humberto Prado, a representative of non-governmental organization Venezuelan Prison Watch .
- The UN requests inquiry into involvement of armed gangs in violent events.
- The European Union calls for peaceful dialogue in Venezuela
- USA asks Maduro’s government to respect freedom of expression.
via Front Line Defenders reject intimidation of human right advocates – Daily News.
Posted in EU, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Dialogue on Human Rights, EU, Front Line (NGO), human rights, Humberto Prado, intervention, Inti Rodríguez, intimidation, UN, USA, Venezuela, Venezuelan Prison Watch, violence
February 14, 2014
New York based Human Rights First is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty which recognizes an individual or organization who demonstrates exceptional commitment to advancing human rights. Named in honor of the principal founder of the American Civil Liberties Union and the International League for Human Rights, the Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award was established in 1989. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the award and it will focus areas such as human trafficking, religious freedom, LGBT rights, refugee protection, and defense of civil society. The winner will be selected by a jury and will receive a $25,000 prize. The award will be presented at a ceremony during Human Rights First’s annual Human Rights Summit in Washington, D.C. in December 2014. Nominations are due on March 15, 2014.
More information on this award and past awardees can be found at: <http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/our-work/human-rights-defenders/baldwin-award> .
For more on other human rights awards see THF’s Digest of international human rights awards: http://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/
Posted in awards, HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: American Civil Liberties Union, awards, digest of human rights awards, HRF, human rights, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights First, human trafficking, Roger Baldwin Medal, Roger N. Baldwin
February 13, 2014
Here two recent examples of non-cooperation in relation to requests for access by international human rights mechanisms:
- On 11 February 2014 five international human rights organisations issued a statement decrying Algeria’s lack of cooperation in allowing UN human rights experts and international human rights organizations to visit the country. Algeria may have joined the UN Human Rights Council in January 2014, but it has not agreed to visits by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, despite their repeated requests. Similarly the Algerian authorities have refused to grant visas to nongovernmental human rights organizations for several years. “Algeria remains the only country among its neighbors that generally restricts access to human rights organizations,” said Eric Goldstein, of Human Rights Watch. [The 5 NGOs making the appeal are Amnesty International, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, Human Rights Watch and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of the International Federation for Human Rights FIDH, and the World Organization Against Torture OMCT].
- Today, 14 February it became known that the European Union Special Representative for Human Rights, Stavros Lambrinidis, was denied a request to visit prisoners during his visit to Egypt [he announced this on Twitter after meeting with Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat.] Lambrinidis described the refusal as a “direct contradiction” to the Ministry of Interior’s “press release promising greater openness to such visits”. Only two days earlier – amid mounting allegations of torture inside places of detention – the Ministry of Interior had issued a statement welcoming requests from NGOs wishing to visit prisons. [Lambrinidis held an open discussion with 30 human rights defenders from local and international NGOs earlier this week, stating that the Egyptian government must respect peaceful free expression and human rights communities.]
via:
http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/02/13/eu-human-rights-envoy-denied-access-prisoners/#sthash.hEciHx9r.dpuf
Algeria: Allow Rights Groups to Visit – No Response from Algiers to Requests from UN Bodies / February 11, 2014 / Urgent Interventions / Human rights defenders / OMCT.
Posted in AI, EMHRN, FIDH, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, OMCT, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: access, AI, Algeria, Egypt, EU, EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, FIDH, HRW, human rights, human rights mechanisms, human rights organizations, Lambrinidis, NGOs, non-cooperation, OMCT, prison visits, special rapporteurs, UN Human Rights Council
February 13, 2014
expressed its concern that the whereabouts of human rights defender and lawyer Roshdy El Sheikh Rasheed remain unknown ten days after his disappearance from the city of Tadmor on 31 January 2014. Mr Roshdy El Sheikh Rasheed is the vice-president of the Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) in Syria, an international organisation with UN consultative status whose objective is to promote adherence to human rights principles in Arab states. The human rights defender was taken from his home to an unknown location by plain-clothes individuals on 31 January 2014. As Tadmor is under control of government forces, it is considered very likely that state actors are involved in the disappearance. Roshdy El Sheikh Rasheed fled from Homs to Tadmur in 2013 in order to seek medical attention for an injury he sustained whilst documenting human rights violations during armed battles in Homs. [The human rights defender had been previously detained twice by authorities in Homs.]
The Syrian conflict has been marked by the targeting and abductions of other human rights defenders, to mention just: Razan Zaitouna, Wael Hamada, Nazem Hamaadi and Samira Khalil, Khalil Matouk (or Matouq).
See earlier: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/human-rights-defender-razan-zaitouneh-still-missing-in-syria-after-one-month/
https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/impressive-coalition-of-ngos-urges-action-for-arbitrarily-detained-human-rights-lawyer-khalil-matouq-in-syria/
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Arab Organization for Human Rights, disappearances, Forced disappearance, Front Line (NGO), Homs, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Khalil Ma’touq, Khalil Matouk, Razan Zaitouna, Roshdy El Sheikh Rasheed, Syria, Tadmor, women human rights defenders
February 12, 2014
Howe complex the situation in post-Morsi Egypt is can be illustrated by the letter sent to Al-Monitor by Neil Hicks, one of the most experienced international human rights workers to be found today. As a member of the independent US-based Working Group on Egypt he responds to Wael Nawara’s criticism of the this Working Group’s recommendations on US policy toward Egypt, published on 4 February. Neil Hicks – who works for Human Rights First – in his reply of 7 February neatly outlines the views from an international human rights perspective, under the title: “The US Working Group is right on Egypt”: “One of the most perplexing aspects of the months of instability in Egypt that have followed the removal of President Mohammed Morsi from office on July 3, 2013, is the number of prominent Egyptian liberals who have shown themselves to have a somewhat selective commitment to liberal principles, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Al-Monitor, Constitution, Egypt, fair trial, Foreign Policy of the USA, freedom of expression, human rights, Human rights defender, liberal, Neil Hicks, peaceful protest, Wael Nawara, Working Group on Egypt
February 10, 2014
(Jennifer Lopez performing for the leader Turkmenistan. (c) Agence France-Presse/Igor Sasin)
In quite a few earlier posts in this blog I have drawn attention to stars and celebrities who either support dictators or simply do not care that their actions do. So, I was quite happy to see a thoughtful piece by Jo Biddle of Agence France-Presse on 9 February 2014 analyzing this issue a bit more in-depth, with actress Scarlett Johansson as the “poster girl of Israeli apartheid”, Dennis Rodman in North Korea, and Kim Kardashian expressing her love of Bahrain. I would add, Mariah Carey who thinks nothing of singing for Gaddafi or the Angolan President, while Jennifer Lopez (picture above) did the same in Turkmenistan.
The author rightly states that when celebrities wander into complex foreign policy issues, it can be a minefield, leaving diplomats and human rights campaigners scrambling for damage control. The article mentions exceptions such as Bob Geldof, Bono, George Clooney or Angelina Jolie Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 10 Comments »
Tags: Agence France-Presse, Angelina Jolie, Angola, Bahrain, Barbara Hendricks, Bob Geldof, Bono, Brian Dooley, celebrities, concert, Dennis Rodman, diplomacy, Gaddafi, George Clooney, HRF, human rights, Human Rights First, human rights violations, Israel, Jennifer Lopez, Jo Biddle, Kim Kardashian, Loreen, Mariah Carey, Muammar Gaddafi, North Korea, Scarlett Johansson, singers, solidarity action, star power, stars, Sting, Turkmenistan
January 28, 2014
In my post of 17 January I mentioned Russia‘s report on human rights in the EU (https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/russia-publishes-report-on-human-rights-in-the-eu/) and I now want to refer to a thoughtful comment by Aaron Rhodes (founder of the Freedom Rights Project and former Director of the Vienna-based International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights) in The Commentator of 27 January. He argues inter alia that:
“The report is thus likely to be dismissed as little more than a bad-faith political attack, especially in view of Russia’s own problems — a case of “the pot calling the kettle black.” In fact, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in books, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Aaron Rhodes, Civil society, diplomacy, diplomatic pressure, EU, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights dialogue, human rights monitoring, International Helsinki Federation, Russia, special report
January 26, 2014
There are plenty of training courses on human rights, but this one reported by the Times of India on 26 January deserves special mention as its main target were political parties. The two-day seminar started Saturday 25 January for members of political parties and movements in the state of Madurai. Human Rights Defenders Alert organised the event. Around 60 representatives from political parties and outfits [whatever these are!] attended the training course.
via Political activists learn how to defend human rights – The Times of India.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: awareness raising, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Defenders Alert, human rights education, India, Madurai, political parties, The Times of India, Times of India, training course, training courses
January 24, 2014
On 23 January Human Rights First released a report that describes how the Egyptian government is increasingly targeting non-violent human rights defenders and activists through widespread repression, stifling basic freedoms and exacerbating the chronic instability that has plagued the country for the past three years. The new report titled, “Back to Square One: The U.S. Government and Political Change in Egypt,” outlines recommendations for the U.S. government to take a new course of action to advance human rights and the rule of law in order to achieve greater stability in this vital country. “The U.S. must overhaul its approach to Egypt if it’s to really get on the right side of history” said Brian Dooley of HRF.
The report calls on the U.S. government to:
- Provide clear, sustained and consistent public statements from Washington on its assessment of the situation in Egypt and the ramifications for U.S. interests, including human rights and democracy;
- Work with its donor partners to establish sizeable, sustained economic incentives for Egypt’s leaders that should be conditioned on Egypt adhering to democratic norms and international human rights standards;
- Use its vote and influence at the IMF to withhold loans to Egypt until sound economic policies are in place and meaningful progress is made on human rights and the rule of law;
- Use targeted funding to support civil society efforts to combat human rights abuses and promote an enabling environment that advances religious pluralism and tolerance;
- Promote clear, uniform conditions for the registration and operation of political parties that agree to be bound by the rules of peaceful, democratic contestation;
- Push the Egyptian authorities to investigate all incidents of violence against Christians, assaults on their property and institutions, and hold accountable those responsible; and
- Make available through the Justice Department, resources for prosecutions and police trainings.
For more information about today’s report or to speak with Dooley, please contact Mary Elizabeth Margolis at margolisme[at]humanrightsfirst.org.
Posted in books, HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Brian Dooley, diplomatic pressure, Egypt, Foreign Policy of the USA, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights First, IMF, minority rights, police violence, special report, USA
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 