Posts Tagged ‘human rights’
March 26, 2011
As you will know, on Wednesday 16 March a group of about 150 protestors – including relatives of the 21 political prisoners whose release the protest was designed to secure – gathered outside the Interior Ministry in Damascus to present a petition calling for the prisoners’ release. The 21 include MEA 2010 Laureate Muhannad al-Hassani, the president of the Syrian Human Rights Organization.
Forty of the protestors were seized and interrogated by the security services; several were detained on the usual charges of bringing the State is disrepute. Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a news release, “Like many of the political prisoners whose release they were calling for, protestors appear to have been arrested simply for the peaceful expression of their views. The Syrian authorities must immediately release all those arrested in the last two days for merely attending peaceful protests, and stop these attacks on freedom of expression and assembly.”
Today- Saturday 26 March – it was reported that under pressure from the various on-going demonstrations, the Government would have decided to release 200 political prisoners. Is this true? Will al-Hassani finally be allowed to return to his family and his human rights work?
Posted in AI, Al-Hassani, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags: human rights, political prisoner, Syria
November 2, 2010
On 1 November 2010 the INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS (ICJ) followed up on the case of Al-Hassani who was beaten in jail, with a press release entitled: “Syria: Muhannad Al-Hasani, ICJ Commissioner and Martin Ennals Laureate physically assaulted in jail”. The International Commission of Jurists deplored the failure of the Syrian authorities to protect the physical integrity ICJ Commissioner Muhannad Al-Hasani, an internationally renowned lawyer and human rights defender currently serving a three-year sentence in Adra Prison, Damascus. Some of the key paragraphs are:
“Muhannad Al-Hasani was severely beaten by a prisoner who accused him of working against the interests of the Syrian nation. The prisoner is believed to have been acting at the behest of the Syrian security services. Mr. Al-Hasani is suffering from hematoma and bleeding from his eye and forehead as a result of the assault. The attack on Muhannad Al-Hasani is an attack on human rights defenders everywhere who strive to protect rights under the rule of law. The Syrian authorities have brazenly rebuffed the international community by allowing this assault in the immediate aftermath of his receiving the Martin Ennals award said Wilder Tayler, ICJ Secretary General. It is the responsibility of the Syrian authorities to protect Mr. Al-Hasani from any form of ill-treatment and they must be held accountable for these attacks, added Wilder Tayler.”
“This assault intensifies a campaign of harassment and intimidation against Mr. Al-Hasani, because A of his work as a lawyer and as a human rights defender. His present prison sentence comes after his conviction by the second criminal court of Damascus for “weakening national sentiments” following an unfair trial. Prior to this he was permanently disbarred from practicing law by the non-independent Syrian Bar Association.”
For more information, please contact Saïd Benarbia, Middle East & North Africa Legal Advisor, via: info@icj.org
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Posted in Al-Hassani, human rights, IBA, ICJ, MEA | 1 Comment »
Tags: human rights, human rights violations, lawyer, Syria
October 19, 2010
Last Friday – 15 October 2010 – I had the honour to introduce MUHANNAD AL-HASSANI, the 2010 Laureate of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. The ceremony took place at the beautiful Victoria Hall in Geneva in front of an audience of five hundred people and with more watching it on the internet because the event was being streamed in English as well as Arabic.
I first briefed the audience on what happened to Emad Baghi, last year’s Laureate from Iran. He was arrested at his home on December 28, 2009 and detained without charge. After elaborate campaigns NGOs on the Jury and many others, he was released on bail in June this year. However, immediately the regime revived the pending charges against him and in July and September Baghi was sentenced to respectively one and six years in prison and banned from media and political activities for five years. He remains free from imprisonment for now, pending an appeal, but he and other human rights defenders in Iran should not be forgotten.
al hassani in court
Al-Hassani was unanimously selected as Laureate 2010 by the MEA Jury which is composed of 10 leading human rights NGOs. If Al-Hassani looked sad on the huge posters that were placed throughout Geneva there are good reasons. He was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for – pay attention to the dangerously vague wording – “weakening national sentiments” and “spreading false news” and…, on top of it, he had to prove his own innocence against these ludicrous charges. Muhannad Al-Hassani, as a well-established lawyer, has challenged the oppressive legal framework imposed by the Syrian government. He decided to report on legal proceedings before the State Security Court (which are supposed to be public). His NGO Swasiya has been denied registration for the past six years. He has been subjected to a travel ban and his office and communications have been under constant surveillance by Syrian security. I think that the Government of Syria should understand that its efforts to gain respect in the international community will lack credibility as long as it keeps imprisoning those defending human rights. In addition, in an appalling demonstration of servility to the Government, the Syrian Bar Association in 2009 prohibited Mr Al-Hassani from practicing law for the rest of his life… It should be the Bar Association itself that is debarred and I hope that the International Bar Association will soon address this shocking issue. The single most important goal of the Martin Ennals Award is to increase the visibility of Mr Al-Hassani’s situation and that of the many other Human Rights Defenders in Syria. The ceremony in Geneva was a show of solidarity with Al-Hassani and his family, who were not allowed to travel to Geneva and receive the award.
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Posted in Al-Hassani, Emad baghi, human rights, MEA | 2 Comments »
Tags: award, human rights, human rights violations, independence of the judiciary, internet, lawyer, rule of law, streaming, Syria
October 19, 2010
The annual MEA ceremony has just taken place on Friday 15 October 2010 in Geneva. The forced absence of the Laureate, Muhannad Al-Hassani, who is serving a 3-year sentence, was to a large extent compensated for by the very ‘personal’ and exclusive portrait made by film produced by True Heroes (THF). The whole 1-hour ceremony can still be viewed on: http://www.martinennalsaward.org/video/bceremony_en.m4v. The audience in the Victoria Hall was approximately 500 persons and at least the same number of people has watched it in English or Arabic on the website, including the family of Al-Hassani. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights handed over the award to the representative of the laureate.
In addition to being convicted on ludicrous charges (see my other blog about what I said about Al-Hassani) the laureate was barred for life by the Syrian Bar Association. Fortunately the International Bar Association at its recent meeting in Vancouver has started to look into this misbehaviour by its Syrian member. Also the European Union made a strong statement in support of the Laureate. It can be viewed on: http://ec.europa.eu/delegations/syria/press_corner/all_news/news/2010/20101018_en.htm
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Posted in Al-Hassani, EU, human rights, IBA, MEA, UN | 1 Comment »
Tags: award, human rights, independence of the judiciary, internet, lawyers, streaming, Syria
October 12, 2010
WATCH Friday 15 October 18h00 GMT http:/www.martinennalsaward.org ceremony for the Laureate of the MEA in both English and Arabic.
Muhannad Al-Hassani, the Laureate of this year’s MEA, lingers in jail in Syria. He is a lawyer who has bravely defended human rights and challenged the oppressive Syrian government. A three-year prison term prevents him from being able to attend the award ceremony in person.
The Martin Ennals Award is granted each year to a person who has demonstrated an exceptional record of combating human rights violations by courageous and innovative means. Mr. Al-Hassani is a man of exceptional courage, who has been arbitrarily detained for defending the rule of law and the freedom of association. The MEA is the result of a unique collaboration of ten of the world’s leading human rights NGOs, who form the Jury.
Awarding the Martin Ennals Award and broadcasting the ceremony on the internet will increase the visibility of Mr. Al-Hassani’s situation and his valuable work. He has suffered enough.
Posted in Al-Hassani, MEA, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags: award, human rights, human rights violations, lawyers, streaming, Syria
August 6, 2010
The Laureate of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders Emad(dedin) Baghi was released from jail only a month ago, but according to a new court ruling – issued 2 years after the trial related to Defending Prisoners’ Rights Society – he has been sentenced to 1 year imprisonment and 5 years prohibition from political, organizational, and media activities. Does the harassment ever stop?
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Posted in Emad baghi, human rights, MEA, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags: award, human rights, Iran, jail
July 5, 2010
Haitham Al-Maleh (78), the lawyer of Muhannad Al-Hassani, the Laureate of the Martin Ennals Award 2010, was sentenced by a military court in Damascus on Sunday to three years for “spreading false information” and “weakening national sentiments” – the same charged laid on Muhannad Al-Hassani.
It would seem that weakening the sentiments for this nation, can be safely left to the Syrian regime itself!
Posted in Al-Hassani, MEA, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags: human rights, independence of the judiciary, lawyers, Syria
July 5, 2010
The NGO HURIDOCS announces the launch of a new, Open-Source version of HuriSearch (http://www.hurisearch.org) , its specialised search engine for human rights information. HuriSearch is an effective Internet search tool, very useful for human rights researchers and advocates, academic staff and students, journalists, diplomats and staff of international organisations. HuriSearch searches the content of over 5000 human rights websites, with a total of almost 7 million pages. This content is always fresh, because HuriSearch indexes the content of these websites very frequently. The source of information is crucially important in human rights work and HuriSearch makes it possible to focus searches on information published in a particular country, by a particular type of organisation, by a specific organisation, or in a specific language. Search results are based upon relevance of contents rather than website popularity – which makes the pages from smaller, specialized organisations more visible than on other search engines.
Feedback is appreciated but please send it directly to: search@huridocs.org
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Posted in human rights, HURIDOCS, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags: human rights, internet, search engine
May 28, 2010
True Heroes Films (THF) has produced “Through the Looking Glass: The Andijan Massacre” which uncovers the lost story of how armed forces gunned down a largely peaceful demonstration in Uzbekistan, in the heart of Central Asia. This new film goes out on BBC World on 29 May 2010. SHOWING TIMES: Saturday 29th May 0210 and 1510 GMT (and Sunday 30th at 0910 and 2110 GMT)
Demonstrators had been gathering daily in the eastern city of Andijan through 2005 to call for justice in this highly repressive state – but after almost 100 days the military moved in and opened fire, running down the demonstrators as they tried to get away. Around five hundred people are thought to have been killed.
The Uzbek authorities called what happened an ‘Islamic uprising’. It confiscated all film of the event and rounded up and imprisoned witnesses. Foreign reporters were ordered out of the country and there has never been an international enquiry. Even now, family members of those involved are threatened and forced to keep silence.
Now for the first time in five years a group of survivors living abroad has decided to speak and it is through them that the film emerges. Each took great risks to appear on camera, in full knowledge that the authorities could take revenge on their children and other relatives in prison.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags: Andijan, film, human rights, massacre, Uzbekistan
