share information on human rights defenders, with special focus on human rights awards and laureates
The 20th Ceremony of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders will take place on Tuesday 8 October and can be followed live on www.martinennalsaward.org as from 18h00 Central European (Geneva) time. The moment of the announcement of the laureate will be approximately 18:30.
As a reminder, the 3 Final Nominees are: Read the rest of this entry »
Malala Yousafzai has been declared the winner of an award for female defenders of human rights in war and conflict. The 16-year-old from Pakistan was due to accept the 2013 RAW in WAR Reach All Women in WAR Anna Politkovskaya Award at a London-based ceremony on 4 October. The award is named after Politkovskaya, a Russian human rights journalist and outspoken government critic, who was murdered in October 2006 – and whose assassin has still not been brought to justice. Named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in April 2013, Malala began blogging for the BBC in 2009 about her life in Pakistan’s Swat Valley region and her desire to attend school freely and safely, reported the BBC. Her increasingly public profile led to her being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman on her way home from school in October last year. She was then flown to the U.K. for treatment and currently lives in Birmingham, where she continues to campaign for education for girls and boys.
via Malala Yousafzai Receives Women’s Human Rights Award | TIME.com.
Authorities in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou are continuing to hold human rights lawyer Yang Maodong, better known as Guo Feixiong, without criminal activists said on 3 October. He was criminally detained on 8 August on charges of “incitement to disturb public order,” after being involved in anti-censorship and anti-corruption protests. “The authorities have made one arrest after the other in recent months, and this is still going on,” said Beijing-based fellow activist and poet Wang Zang, Read the rest of this entry »
Looking back at the 24th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council which came to an end last Friday, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies [CIHRS] is disappointed to see how timid the Council becomes when dealing with human rights in the Arab region. Indeed, the people of Syria, Sudan, Bahrain, Egypt, Palestine, and Yemen need all the support they can get to move their countries towards political stability and the rule of law. The Council should be a driving force in confronting cases of human rights violations and making recommendations to address them.
CIHRS notes with regret Read the rest of this entry »
The Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Bangladesh, a member of the Law Commission, and several rights activists and academics said on Saturday 28 september that the state should not treat human rights defenders as its enemy. They also expressed concern over the use of several laws against human rights defenders Read the rest of this entry »
Justice without Frontiers (JWF) a secular, nonprofit, NGO in Lebanon seeks a (part-time) Communication Officer whose key responsibilities are:
● To develop and implement an integrated media strategy
● To document the process of preparation of JWF activities
● Deliver high quality local, national (and in some instances international) media coverage for JWF projects.
● Responsible for delivering accurate, timely and compelling information and stories that illustrate and raise the profile of projects implemented by JWF.
● Write & produce content – for the website and external media outlets such as Facebook sub-pages, e-actions, emails, and web pages.
● Monitor and evaluate media coverage generated and to draw lessons to improve coverage.
● Build and maintain excellent relationships with key media players, journalists and broadcasters in Lebanon and regionally and internationally.
● Develop and regularly maintain a national database of media contacts.
● Coordinate the production of IEC materials related to the project: billboard-posters-pamphlets-newsletter-song&hellipetc
● Review and assist in the development of proposals, progress reports, and final reports as per donor requirements
Among the Qualifications and Competencies:
● A Bachelor’s degree in journalism or related field.
● Knowledge of local, national and international media (including press, internet, print)
● Native Arabic and excellent English skills (writing, reading, and correspondence).
● IT skills (Word, Excel, power point&hellip)
To Apply: submit a cover letter describing your experience what you would bring to the organization, and your salary requirements; along with a CV and contact information for three professional references; and send to: jwficc@yahoo.com; jwf@jwf.org.lb by October 7, 2013.
On 27 September 2013, Karaganda’s regional court of Karaganda confirmed the decision of the Balkhash Court to approve the forced psychiatric confinement of human rights defender and lawyer Zinaida Mukhortova on which this blog reported earlier. Read the rest of this entry »
In the Monitor of the ISHR of 30 September 2013, Ambassadors András Dékány and Istvan Lakatos of Hungary expresses an important opinion regarding the issue of reprisals against human rights defenders. As it is short here is the full text:
On 26 September the NGO Suaram released its “Malaysia Human Rights Report 2012: Civil and Political Rights” in Kuala Lumpur. The report highlights several key trends in human rights in 2012, including:
1 the increasingly serious and repeated cases of abuses of power by the police and law enforcement agencies with impunity;
2 the heightened intolerance towards dissent; and
3 the government’s cosmetic approach to reform and compliance with human rights standards.
Suaram’s 2012 report is launched to honour human rights defenders in Malaysia and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Assembly and of Association, Maina Kiai in his foreword writes: “This annual report is a critical tool to support civil society actors in their effort to advocate and contribute to strengthened implementation of human rights. Its continued publication is vital to a vibrant democracy in Malaysia”.
(Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 