For those of you who thought that HRDs are mostly serious nerds, watch this lovely and lively clip of Amnesty International staff in the Paris office:
Posts Tagged ‘human rights’
Human Rights Defenders can dance!
December 11, 2012Major ACHR report on Pakistan: Failure of institutions
December 11, 2012The Asian Human Rights Commission – in spite of its name a NGO – published an elaborate and detailed report on human rights developments in Pakistan this year. The part on HRDs reads as follows:
Human Rights Defenders: Human rights defenders HRDs remain subject to: threats and reprisals against them and their families; harassment; legal and physical attacks; arbitrary arrests and detention; forced disappearance; and torture and extra-judicial killing by state and non-state actors. The government has failed to establish an effective national policy of protection for HRDs or to combat impunity by effectively investigating and prosecuting those responsible for such attacks. The lack of effort to combat impunity mirrors the lack of effort to address the whole range of human rights violations witnessed in Pakistan. And, this, in turn, stems from institutional failings within the police and justice delivery mechanisms, and lack of political will on the part of the government to institute effective institutional reforms. The fact that HRDs expose these failings, places them at particular risk.Persons who work in favour of human rights, but contrary to the interests of radical Islamist groups, face considerable threat, as may be noted in the killings in 2011 of the Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, and the Federal Minister of Minority Affairs, Shabaz Bhatti, who were targeted for their efforts to protect minorities, and their opposition to Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws.Another accepted recommendation calls for the government to address the repressive effect of civil society monitoring procedures and anti-terrorism legislation on the operation of human rights defenders. The sentencing of six leaders of a power-loom workers union to a total of 490 years in jail, based on fabricated charges under anti-terrorism legislation in November 2011, illustrates the government’s failure in this regard.The killings of HRD’s in Balochistan, while they were documenting cases of forced disappearances as part of the Supreme Court’s efforts to compile a list of cases, illustrates the risks to defenders who work on the gravest rights abuses.
The Government of Pakistan has failed to invite the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders to visit the country despite accepting a recommendation to do so.
Every Turk is born with rights, including the right to freedom of expression
December 10, 2012
A Turkish court has acquitted four men on trial for their participation in a protest in support of a conscientious objector.
On Thursday 7 December 2012 the court in the north-western city of Eskişehir cleared human rights defender Halil Savda and three others of the charge of “alienating the public from military service”, a criminal offence under Turkey’s Penal Code. The case against them began in 2011 after they protested outside the hearing of fellow conscientious objector Enver Aydemir a year earlier in what became known as the “everyone is born a baby” case – a twist on the Turkish military slogan “every Turk is born a soldier”. In response John Dalhuisen, Director of Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Programme said: “This acquittal should prove that every Turk is born with rights, including the right to freedom of expression”.
In acquitting the defendants, the court ruled that their protest and slogans were protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Turkish Constitution, because they did not contain or incite violence, and that a democratic society must allow freedom of expression even if it shocks and disturbs. However, Savda has another similar conviction that is currently pending at the Supreme Court of Appeals.
Over the last few years, Amnesty International has been campaigning for the Turkish authorities to end their prosecution of Savda and others facing convictions under Article 318 of the Penal Code – which criminalizes “alienating the public from military service”.
15 December deadline for HRD fellowship related to humanitarian law
December 10, 2012The Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights draws again attention to its call for nominations for the 2013 Oak Human Rights Fellowship, sponsored by the Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. The fellowship is a one-semester appointment as a scholar-in-residence. It is designed to provide human rights practitioners doing “on-the-ground” work at some level of personal risk a respite from front-line duties to enable them to reflect, write, and communicate their work to our campus community. The focus of this year’s search is on the protection of the human rights of interned or displaced persons. We are particularly looking for those human rights practitioners involved in international legal rights and basic needs of prisoners of war, civilians detained during occupation or as the result of political violence or states of emergency, and refugees and internally displaced persons fleeing from civil violence, political repression or economic dislocation. The appointment is for mid-August through mid- December 2013. The College provides a stipend of $32,500, plus transportation, housing, health care coverage, and other fringe benefits. We encourage the fellow to bring family with limited financial support for their travel as well. The deadline for completed applications is December 15, 2012 (but first contact the OAK institute with a very good candidate as the first deadline has passed already and forms have to be filled out). Leah Breen Student Assistant, Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights oakhr@colby.edu
OSCE can and should do more on Human Rights Defenders in the region
December 6, 2012
The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was founded with a commitment to human rights as one of its three key pillars. Sadly, says Dublin-based Front Line Defenders, OSCE member states have not been living up to those ideals and human rights defenders face imprisonment, threats, harassment, defamation and restrictive legislation in countries across the region. “It is time the OSCE backed up fine declarations with effective action,” said Mary Lawlor, Executive Director of Front Line Defenders, “too often it has been the prisoner of consensus and failed to respond when human rights defenders have been jailed, attacked or killed.”Front Line Defenders will undertake a silent vigil outside the OSCE Ministerial Council in Dublin on Thursday 6th December highlighting ten cases of human rights defenders from the region:Vidadi Iskenderov is in prison in Azerbaijan
Ales Bialiatski is in prison in Belarus
Natalya Estemirova was murdered in Chechnya, Russia in July 2009
Agnes Gereb is under house arrest and facing a prison sentence in Hungary
Roza Tuletaeva is in prison in Kazakhstan
Azimjan Askarov is in prison in Kyrgyzstan
Pat Finucane was murdered in Northern Ireland in February 1989
Osman Isci is in prison in Turkey
Sviatoslav Sheremet was attacked and badly beaten in Ukraine in May 2012
Dilmurod Sayid is in prison in Uzbekistan
Nasrin Sotoudeh stops hunger strike after daughter is given freedom to travel
December 5, 2012The LA Times and others report that jailed Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, 2012 nominee of the MEA and winner of the Sacharov Award, has halted her hunger strike after the Iranian judiciary agreed to drop a travel ban against her daughter, her husband Reza Khandan said this Tuesday. Sotoudeh had endured nearly seven weeks without food, drinking salt and sugar solutions, to protest her 12-year-old daughter Mehrave being banned from leaving the country. The couple claimed their daughter was being punished for the alleged crimes of her mother, who has defended dissidents.
Khandan went with a group of female activists to the Iranian parliament on Tuesday, where they met with reformist lawmaker Mohammad Reza Tabesh, who in turn negotiated with the deputy speaker and speaker Ali Larijani to obtain an agreement from the head of the judiciary, Khandan said.
“They agreed to close the dossier of Mehrave and she is no longer banned from leaving the country and there are no charges against her,” Khandan said Tuesday.
The family reunited Tuesday evening in the administration department of Evin Prison, the husband said. Sotoudeh, who had earlier been restricted to talking to her children behind a glass partition, was allowed to hug her son and daughter.
“There she stopped her hunger strike and started eating in front of us,” he said.
The United Nations high commissioner for human rights called again Tuesday for Sotoudeh to be released along with other detained human rights activists. Iranian authorities often target the families of human rights defenders, “a disturbing trend apparently aimed at curbing the freedoms of expression, opinion and association,” spokesman Rupert Colville said in a Tuesday briefing.
via: http://shahriarshahabi.com/2012/12/04/nasrin-sotoudeh-breaks-49-day-hunger-strike/
Related articles
- Jailed Iranian Lawyer Ends Hunger Strike (rferl.org)
- UNHCR ‘Extremely Concerned’ About Jailed Iranian Activist (rferl.org)
- Iran: Nasrin Sotoudeh Ends Hunger Strike (NY Times) (nytimes.com)
- Punitive measures imposed on detained human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh (thoolen.wordpress.com)
Pakistan: Human Rights Defenders in the Ministry; perhaps well-meant but still a bad idea
December 4, 2012Several Pakistani newspapers reported on Monday 3 December that “Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accepted in principle a proposal made by the Ministry of Human Rights to appoint Human Rights Defenders in the ministry”.
It all came from a presentation made by the Ministry of Human Rights. There were several welcome announcements (such as including human rights as a subject in educational institutions and plans to effectively implement its international obligations) but the idea to appoint Human Rights Defenders in the Ministry (as civil servants one has to assume) is baffling. It would completely do away with the idea that HRDs ought to be independent and capable of monitoring authorities. If accepted under this title it would surely confuse the current understanding of what are HRDs. The Minister for Human Rights would soon be called Human Rights Defender in Chief.
The Pakistani newspaper Dawn adds: “The basic idea to have human rights defenders in the country was to help those poor victims who could not afford to plead their cases in courts or seek other remedial measures against oppressors. “The number of human rights defenders and their service structure will be worked out by the ministry in collaboration with other ministries,” the official said. However, critics of the government say as elections were just a few months away, new positions are being created to accommodate pro-PPP voters.”
Let’s hope that the Ministry will revert to the more neutral and clarifying title of ‘human rights officers”.
Related articles
- PM approves appointment of rights defenders (dawn.com)
Premier of Bahrain receives delegation from Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
December 3, 2012|
Most posts in this blog are of a serious nature, but this one is close to comical if anyone has bothered to read previous posts on Bahrain. Just some excerpts:
“Bahrain is a democracy, reform and popular participation hub where rights are protected and liberties are respected,” HRH Premier said as he met here today a delegation from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), led by Frej Fennich, Middle East and North Africa Section Chief. HRH Premier pointed out that “Bahrain is a one-family society and we do not accept that one of our compatriots’ basic rights are abused or dignity undermined,” noting that the government’s main interest is to protect the Bahraini citizens’ rights, including the right to live in security and stability, without intimidation or terrorism. The Premier emphasized that freedoms are guaranteed in Bahrain by the force of the Constitution, but, he added, when they are used as a pretext to undermine the security of individuals and destabilize countries, jeopardize their economies and pose a threat to their cohesion and civic peace, the matter goes beyond the natural exercise of freedom and becomes “terrorism”, and therefore should be confronted decisively. Perhaps not totally unexpected: the source is the Bahrain New Agency |
Manama, Dec. 3. – His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman asserted that the Kingdom of Bahrain and the High Commissioner for Human Rights share the same goal and mission of protecting human rights and respecting human dignity.
Igor Kalyapin, the 2nd OMCT Portrait against Torture and Impunity
December 3, 2012The second portrait in the series of 10 HRDs against Torture is: Igor Kalyapin, founder and chair of Russian NGO Committee Against Torture (CAT).
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The main obstacle we have is the same to the reason of torture: lack of effective investigation and absolute lack of will to investigate. Every case is a challenge and we never know for how many years we have to commit ourselves to deal with each of them.
Do you feel threatened because of your activities? Do you face any interference in your work? If this is the case, can you kindly precise.
Recently, we have started to face threats: our lawyers are targeted, some of them are approached by state agents, some of them were arrested, some of them were insulted. I myself now am facing a real threat to be accused of a crime that I have never committed (speaking out of investigational secret).
………………………
Public campaigns (as illustrated in the picture), support of the victims of torture, write support letters, can play a very important role in the fight against torture.
http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/events/2012/12/d22055/
10 Portraits of Human Rights Defenders in the next 10 Days at OMCT
December 1, 2012As Human Rights Defenders are the voice of those who are deprived of it because they are victims of torture, ill-treatment or summary execution, OMCT (one of the 10 NGOs on the Jury of the MEA) has started a series of portraits of those who excel in the fight against torture and impunity. From 1 to the 10 of December, the organisation will every day put a different HRD in the limelight. They tell about the challenges and the obstacles they face and the hopes and disappointments they encounter in their everyday life. It s`tarts today with Edeliza Hernandez from the Philippines:
- Edeliza P. Hernandez / The Philippines
Executive Director, Medical Action Group
I may not refer to each case in this blog but invite you to visit the OMCT website: http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/events/2012/11/d22051/
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 