Posts Tagged ‘human rights’
May 4, 2013
Mona Seif – on of the 2013 MEA nominees – calls on people to campaign for the liberation of Hassan Mustafa, a leading human rights defender in Alexandria, Egypt, who was sentenced 2 years in prison.
Hassan was arrested on 21 January 2013 as he was filing a complaint inside Mansheyya Courts Complex, at the prosecutor general’s office, against the random detention of protesters & children from a protest outside the same Court on the previous day. The protest was taking place during the trial of police officers accused of killing protesters in the 25 January Revolution. He was then falsely accused of attacking a prosecutor causing prosecutors cheeks to turn red (“the prosecutor actually supplied a medical report claiming so !”). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Alexandria, Arab spring, Egypt, Front to Defend Egypt Protesters, Hassan Mustafa, human rights, illegal detention, judicial harassment, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA nominees 2013, Mohamed Morsi, Mona Seif, MonaSeif
May 3, 2013
Bahrain’s crackdown on human rights defenders continued today with the arrest of another prominent figure,
Naji Fateel. The arrest is the latest in a string of recent events calling into question the Kingdom’s claims of reform and progress. On 2 May 2013 at dawn, police arrested human rights defender Naji Fateel at his home in the village in north-west Bahrain. He is being held without formal charges at a location which is still unknown. Naji Fateel is a board member of the
Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights and a blogger who has been active in reporting human rights violations in Bahrain. The human rights defender gives daily speeches during marches in villages in which he discusses the importance of documenting violations and calls for people to form monitoring committees.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 4 Comments »
Tags: Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, Bahrain, blogger, Brian Dooley, Front Line Defenders, HRF, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights First, human rights violations, illegal detention, Middle East, Nabeel Rajab, Naji Fateel, unlawful arrest, Zainab Al-Khawaja
May 2, 2013
Sometimes my eyes fall on more esoteric contributions to the protection of human rights defenders. Let me share with you Mark Laham’s blog post for the Huffington Times of the 1st of May 2013 which calls for a “borderless” one-hour live online yoga class in honour of Nasrin Sotoudeh, the Iranian lawyer in jail, recipient of the Sakharov Award and Nominee of the MEA 2012. Mark got inspired – through AI – by what he read about Nasrin’s struggle and other brave human rights defenders around the world. “How does Nasrin’s story make you feel?” he asks, ” Me, I…I feel the need to do something that will create positive change for this woman and countless others like her.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in AI, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Amnesty International, blog, campaign, Huffington Post, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Iran, Mark Laham, MEA, MEA 2012 nominee, mental-health, Nasrin, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Sakharov Prize, Solidarity, Yoga
May 2, 2013
A coalition of seven female Nobel Prize winners, including Dr. Rigoberta Menchú Tum of Guatemala, called April 25 for the trial of former dictator Efraín Rios Montt to proceed. Montt was indicted in January for genocide and crimes against humanity, including widespread rape. The trial in Guatemala City was suspended last week mere days before observers expected it to conclude when a lower court judge on April 18 unexpectedly issued a ruling on a legal technicality. Guatemala’s attorney general has called the ruling illegal. The trial marks the first time a head of state has been tried for genocide by his own country’s justice system. Rios Montt is accused of ordering the killings of over 1,700 Ixil Maya people in 1982 and 1983, when he was army general and de-facto president of Guatemala. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, THF | 1 Comment »
Tags: Claudia Samayoa, crimes against humanity, Efraín Ríos Montt, genocide, Guatemala, Guatemala City, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, impunity, Ixil people, Nobel Prize, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Rios Montt, Trial, Truthout, UNDEFEGUA
May 2, 2013
reports that on 22 April 2013 the Committee Against Torture (CAT) is the next NGO received a letter of warning from the local Prosecutor’s Office. The letter alleges that CAT is violating the controversial new ‘Foreign Agents’ Law, which states that any Russian NGO involved in political activity and receiving foreign funding must register as a foreign agent.
CAT processes complaints about torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, carries out public investigations, represents the victims’ interests in court and before investigative bodies, and provides assistance with obtaining compensation. The letter from the Prosecutor’s Office states that CAT receives funds from sources outside of Russia, information which is freely available on CAT’s website. The letter also states that CAT has taken part in certain public events, unidentified in the letter, which the authorities consider to be political. According to the authorities, therefore, CAT should have registered as a foreign agent. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: CAT, civil society organisations, Foreign agent, Front Line Defenders, funding, human rights, international commitments, Law, Non-governmental organization, Prosecutor, public investigations, restrictions, Russia, russian ngo
April 29, 2013
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, will carry out an official visit to Ethiopia and Djibouti from 30 April to 9 May 2013 to collect information directly from Eritrean refugees on the human rights situation in their country. As in the case of Iran, Eritrea refuses access to the UN Rapporteur. “Due to lack of access to Eritrea, I will engage with all others concerned by human rights in Eritrea, including those who consider themselves to be victims of alleged human rights violations, human rights defenders and other civil society actors,” Ms. Keetharuth said. Another case of non-cooperation with UN mechanisms that should not be rewarded.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, Human rights in Eritrea, human rights violations, Politics of Eritrea, refugees, Sheila B. Keetharuth, UN, United Nations Special Rapporteur
April 27, 2013
How do I become an international human rights lawyer? is the topic of an article by Hannah Gannagé-Stewart in the Guardian of Friday 26 April 2013. She rightly starts by stating that “the life of an international human rights lawyer is not all jet setting glamour”. Still, it is one of the most frequent questions put to me at the end of a lecture, often during the reception afterwards under 4 eyes: “I would like to work for human rights – what do you advise me?” is the usual opening line. My half-serious standard reply: “if your really want to work FOR human rights, I advise you to get very rich and donate half your wealth to the human rights movement“, is not always appreciated, but correct at the macro level as the shortage of funds is much more problematic than that of talent and devotion in the human rights movement. The question asked was of course situated at the micro level as in: “I want to work IN human rights (even if the pay is not very good)“.
The Guardian piece (although focusing on the UK) contains good, practical advice and most of it would be valid in other countries:
“Jet-setting round the globe, setting the worlds highest courts alight with spectacular oratory performances, radically changing the lives of the most vulnerable. Hell, theres probably a Nobel peace prize in there somewhere too right? Think again. There are actually very few lawyers who would describe themselves as international human rights lawyers, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Free Representation Unit, Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, human rights lawyers, Indonesia, international human rights, internships, job opportunity, litigation, Non-governmental organization, Peace Brigade International, the Guardian
April 26, 2013
Bahrain’s state news agency reported earlier this week that Juan Méndez, the UNs special rapporteur for torture, had “put off his visit” scheduled for early May following a letter from Salah bin Ali Abdulrahman, Bahrain’s human rights affairs minister. The letter outlined “reasons for the request to postpone the visit”, the agency said. However, Mr Méndez said on Wednesday 24 April (according to the National) that there was no choice in the matter, calling the refusal to play host to his visit “a unilateral decision by the [Bahraini] authorities“. “This is the second time that my visit has been postponed, at very short notice. It is effectively a cancellation, as no alternative dates were proposed, nor is there a future road map to discuss“.
So much for the much-touted Government-commissioned report of 2011 in which the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry found evidence of torture committed by the country’s security forces during a pro-reform uprising and the subsequent Government’s promise to coöperate with the UN to address the issues. Refusal to coöperate may pay again!
via Bahrain shuts out UN torture probe – The National.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Bahrain, Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, cooperation with UN, Government, human rights, Juan Mendez, Middle East, torture, United Nations, United Nations Special Rapporteur, visit
April 26, 2013
This is the way the NGO “Chinese Human Rights Defenders” (CDHR) presents itself at the Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies in Ulaan Bator, so close to ‘home’:
“Do the names Zhou Decai, Cao Haibo, Chen Wei, Chen Xi or Cui Fufang ring a bell to you? They are all prisoners of conscience in China. The Chinese Human Right Defenders (CHRD) are doing all they can to make the stories of prisoners of consciousness heard.
On its website, CHRD defines itself as “a network of Chinese and international activists promoting human rights and empowering rights defenders in China. A non-governmental organization, CHRD provides logistical support and capacity-building services to human rights advocates, monitors human rights developments, and assists victims of human rights abuses. CHRD advocates the peaceful realization of human rights protection through democratization and rule of law reform.”
There are many activities of the network: just to name numerous reports have been published, the last one of them being the “2012 annual report on the situation of human rights in China”; It also submits constant reports and appeals to the UN on the situation of human rights in China, urging it to act for its improvement; their website and Twitter account provide constant updates on human rights violations in China, as well as pictures and videos, with stories which do not usually reach the mainstream media.”
via Chinese Human Rights Defenders- Promoting human rights and empowering grassroots activism in China | Ulaanbaatar Ministerial Conference- Civil Society.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Cao Haibo, Chen Wei, China, CHRD, Community of Democracies, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Ministerial Conference, Non-governmental organization, twitter, Ulaanbaatar, Ulan Bator, Zhou Decai
April 25, 2013
(EU) High Representative Catherine Ashton should publicly raise concerns over ongoing and persistent human rights violations in China when she visits Beijing, said Human Rights Watch. “As EU’s top foreign policy official, Ashton cannot ignore the deteriorating human rights environment in China,” said Lotte Leicht, European Union advocacy director. “She needs to make it a central part of her agenda in Beijing.” Ashton should also urge top Chinese officials to stop obstructing Security Council action on Syria, including humanitarian access to all civilians in need, and referring jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity to the International Criminal Court.
In recent months the EU has issued strong statements, including ones at the United Nations Human Rights Council, on China’s use of the death penalty and the crisis of self-immolations in Tibet, among other issues.
The EU also provides some support to human rights defenders in China…..Yet, the EU’s engagement on human rights in China has been extremely weak since Ashton was nominated as the EU’s first foreign policy chief. The more than thirty rounds of the official EU-China dialogue on human rights have had little discernible positive effect for those standing up for human rights in China, and at other levels of political dialogue the EU has failed to give human rights and the rule of law a degree of public attention commensurate with the importance of these issues in China…
…Although the new Chinese leadership has expressed rhetorical support for reform on some key human rights concerns, such as re-education through labor, abuses remain rampant throughout the country. The Chinese government denies people the full exercise of basic rights such as freedom of expression, association, and religion, and systematically suppresses dissidents and human rights activists…
“Ashton should be prepared to tell her Chinese government interlocutors who speak of the need for reform that a good start would be freeing Liu Xiaobo and lifting the appalling and abusive house arrest imposed on Liu Xia,” said Leicht.
Even the new leadership’s commitment to robustly grappling with rampant corruption – identified as a high priority – is already being called into question. In early April, eight activists were arrested for their involvement in a grass-roots anti-corruption campaign.
China: EU Commitments Demand Tough Response | Human Rights Watch.
Posted in human rights | 3 Comments »
Tags: Beijing, Catherine Ashton, China, dialogue, European Union, HRW, Human right, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights violations, Human Rights Watch, International Criminal Court, Liu Xiaobo, Lotte Leicht, repression, Syria, United Nations Human Rights Council
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 