Posts Tagged ‘hungerstrike’
September 27, 2020
Sotoudeh had been on a hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin prison since August 11 to protest the risk that political prisoners in Iran face amid the coronavirus pandemic. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2020/09/06/german-judges-give-their-human-rights-award-to-iranian-human-rights-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeh/%5D
On September 19, she was taken to hospital for a serious heart condition. But four days later, she was taken back to Evin prison, triggering disbelief from UN independent experts among others.
“It is unfathomable that the Iranian authorities would return Ms. Sotoudeh to prison where she is at heightened risk to COVID-19, as well as with her serious heart condition,” the experts said.
“We urge the authorities to immediately reverse this decision, accept her requests to recuperate at home before undergoing a heart procedure, and allow her to freely choose her own medical treatment,” they added in a statement.
The experts echoed Sotoudeh’s call for the Iranian authorities to grant temporary release to human rights defenders, lawyers, dual and foreign nationals, prisoners of conscience, political prisoners, and all other individuals detained without sufficient legal basis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
47 countries called on Iran to “protect the human rights of all its citizens and release all political prisoners and arbitrarily detained” in a Friday session of the UN Human Rights Council, according to a German diplomat, Susanne Baumann:
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Covid-19, detention, hungerstrike, Iran, joint letter, medical care, Nasrine Sotoudeh, Susanne Baumann, UN Special Rapporteurs
August 29, 2020
Ebru Timtik, 42, died in an Istanbul hospital late Thursday 27 August 2020, the Progressive Lawyers’ Association said. She had been fasting for 238 days. The lawyer and 17 of her colleagues were accused of links to the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP/C, a militant group designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. She was convicted in March 2019 and sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison. Her case was under review by an appeals court.
Timtik started the hunger strike in February to protest alleged unfair proceedings during the trial, along with another colleague, Aytac Unsal, who is reported to be in a critical condition. [see https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2020/08/06/online-conference-for-ebru-timtik-and-aytac-unsal-on-11-august-2020/]
On Friday, police tried to prevent a crowd of her supporters from gathering outside the Istanbul Bar Association for a memorial, the Evrensel newspaper reported. Later, riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to block a protest march. At least one lawyer was detained, the paper said. “Ebru Timtik is immortal” and “Aytac Unsal is our honor,” some of the mourners chanted, according to Evrensel.
European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said: “Ebru Timtik’s hunger strike for a fair trial and its tragic outcome painfully illustrate the urgent need for the Turkish authorities to credibly address the human rights situation in the country and the serious shortcomings observed in the Turkish judiciary,” Stano said.
“Ms. Timtik’s death is a tragic illustration of the human suffering caused by a judicial system in Turkey that has turned into a tool to silence lawyers, human rights defenders and journalists,” said Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner.
Hunger strikers in Turkey traditionally refuse food but consume liquids and take vitamins that prolong their protests. Timtik’s death comes months after two members of a left-wing popular folk group that is banned in Turkey also died of a hunger strike. They had also been accused of links to the DHKP/C.
https://www.startribune.com/turkish-lawyer-dies-on-hunger-strike-demanding-fair-trial/572249512/
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/08/turkey-ebru-timtik-hunger-strike-dies-lawyer-kurdish-prison.html
Posted in EU, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Aytaç Ünsal, Council of Europe, death, Dunja Mijatović, Ebru Timtik, EU, fair trial, human rights lawyers, hungerstrike, in memoriam, Progressive Lawyers' Association (Turkey), Turkey
October 27, 2018
The European Parliament on Thursday awarded the Sakharov human rights prize to Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, jailed in Russia for opposing its annexation of Crimea and described as a “symbol of the struggle” to free political prisoners. {https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2018/09/30/nominees-for-the-2018-sakharov-prize-announced-by-european-parliament/}
“Through his courage and determination, by putting his life in danger, the filmmaker Oleg Sentsov has become a symbol of the struggle for the release of political prisoners held in Russia and around the world,” European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said.
Sentsov, is serving a 20-year sentence in a Russian penal colony north of the Arctic Circle. The 42-year-old was convicted of an alleged arson plot in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 and triggered sanctions from the European Union.
Sentsov’s cousin Natalya Kaplan, who lives in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, said she hopes the prize will raise his morale when he finally hears about it. “I hope (this) will help Oleg to further stay strong and of course I am happy for him. He deserved this,” Kaplan told AFP in written remarks.
Sentsov started a hunger strike on May 14 demanding the release of all Ukrainian prisoners in Russia, and his deteriorating health provoked an outcry from the international community. Sentsov called off the protest after 145 days to avoid being force-fed.
https://www.france24.com/en/20181025-jailed-ukrainian-filmmaker-oleg-sentsov-wins-eus-sakharov-prize-human-rights
Posted in awards, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Crimea, EU, European Parliament, human rights awards, hungerstrike, Oleg Sentsov, prison, Russia, Sakharov Prize, Ukraine
June 2, 2014
The Guardian of 1 June 2014 contains a long and fascinating interview with Nasrin Sotoudeh, the Iranian lawyer who won the Sacharov Prize and was a Final Nominee of the MEA in 2012. The now freed Iranian human rights lawyer – in an interview with Simon Tisdall – speaks out in a moving way about why she is a human rights defender and how she coped with the separation from her family. The title of the piece: ‘I’ve a bad feeling about the women I left behind’ is telling of her concern for others.
(Nasrin Sotoudeh with her son, Nima, after being freed from prison last year. Photograph: Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images)
“Nasrin Sotoudeh’s seven-year-old son, Nima, wants to go out to play. His mother, the leading Iranian human rights lawyer whose arbitrary imprisonment in 2010 sparked an international campaign to free her, has been talking for ages. Nima is bored. At the door to their apartment in north-west Tehran, Nasrin takes Nima in her arms. The boy stands on tip-toe to embrace his mother. They hold each other for a minute or more. It is as though the two cannot bear to be separated..…….”. For more: Freed Iranian rights lawyer: Ive a bad feeling about the women I left behind | World news | theguardian.com.
other posts on Nasrin: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/nasrin-sotoudeh/
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | Leave a Comment »
Tags: detention, Final Nominee MEA 2012, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyer, hungerstrike, Iran, Iranian human rights, MEA, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Nasrine Sotoudeh, Sacharov, Simon Tisdall, the Guardian, woman human rights defender
May 18, 2014
On 8 May 2014 human rights defender and lawyer Ms Shireen Essawi began a hunger strike after learning of the postponement of her trial for nine months and a day. She is charged with cooperating with actors who are working against the state of Israel. Shireen Essawi is a human rights lawyer who has participated in monitoring and documenting human rights violations committed against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, especially children, women, and prisoners from the Gaza Strip. The human rights defender also reported on practices adopted by Israeli authorities for Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails that she believes violate human rights, such as preventing visits by lawyers.
The postponement of her trial on 7 May 2014 follows several court appearances by the human rights defender since her arrest on 6 March 2014. It is reported that under Israeli law, a trial may be suspended and detention can continue upon the condition that a final judgment and sentence is issued within nine months and a day of the adjournment. Shireen Essawi began her hunger strike out of solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, and has declared she will continue it in protest at the adjournment of her trial. The human rights defender was arrested at her home in Jerusalem as part of a wave of arrests targeting lawyers. Her colleagues have since been released on bail, pending trials.
Front Line Defenders expresses its concern at the postponement of the trial and continued detention of Shireen Essawi, which is solely related to her peaceful and legitimate human rights work, in particular concerning the rights of Palestinians and Arab Israelis.
via: http://palsolidarity.org/2014/05/hunger-strike-by-human-rights-defender-ms-shireen-essawi-as-trial-postponed-by-one-year/
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: detention, Front Line (NGO), Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyer, hungerstrike, Israel, Palestine, release on bail, Shireen Essawi, woman human rights defender
September 27, 2013
In five days from now, on 2 October 2013, the People’s Court in Hanoi, Viet Nam, will hear the case of human rights defender Le Quoc Quan, who has been held in detention since 27 December 2012 and whose trial was postponed on 8 July 2013. Le Quoc Quan is a prominent lawyer, blogger and human rights defender. He has a long history of being targeted by the Vietnamese authorities in retaliation for his work. As a lawyer, he represented many victims of human rights violations, but was disbarred in 2007 on suspicion of engaging in “activities to overthrow the regime”. Le Quoc Quan also runs a blog http://lequocquan.blogspot.ie/ where he writes about various issues including civil rights, political pluralism and religious freedom. On 27 December 2012, Le Quoc Quan was arrested on trumped up allegations of tax evasion, was held incommunicado for the first two months and spent fifteen days on hunger strike. Currently the human rights defender remains imprisoned awaiting trial.
More information, please see update from 12 July 2013 http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/23255
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: blogger, freedom of expression, Front Line (NGO), Hanoi, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, hungerstrike, illegal detention, Le Quoc Quan, People's Court, Quoc Quan, religion, Trial
February 22, 2013
An impressive list of 20 human rights organizations have signed a statement regarding Omani human rights defenders who are currently in detention, especially those undertaking hunger strikes. 24 defenders and activists including Basma Al-Kiyumi, Bassima Al-Rajhi, Saeed Al-Hashemi, Hamad Al-Kharusi, and Bassam Abu Qasida undertook a hunger strike on 9 February 2013 in Samail Central Prison, protesting the delayed ruling on the appeals that they brought to the Supreme Court against the judgments that were passed against them. Confirmed reports reveal that the conditions of some of the hunger strikers have deteriorated seriously to the point that some are currently at risk of death. Saeed
Al-Hashemi was transferred to the Royal Hospital in Muscat, where a neurologist examined him and confirmed that he is in urgent need of physiotherapy or surgery as a result of an injury on his right side sustained when he was beaten by unknown assailants during peaceful protests in Oman in 2011. The same reports reveal that Hamad Al-Kharusi and Bassam Abu Qasida were transferred to the jail’s clinic due to exhaustion caused by their hunger strike.These human rights defenders were incarcerated following the decisions of the Appeals Court on 5, 12, and 19 December 2012 which upheld sentences of between 6 months and 1 year in prison issued against them by the Muscat Court of First Instance in July and August 2012.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FIDH, human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: activists, Al-Haq, Arab Organization for Human Rights, Bahrain, Cairo Institute for Human Rights, coalition, FIDH, Human right, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, hunger strikers, hungerstrike, illegal detention, illtreatment, International Federation, judicial harassment, Middle East, Oman, politics
December 5, 2012
The 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/
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Ali Larijani, China Human Rights Defenders, Evin Prison, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, hungerstrike, Judicial system of Iran, Khandan, MEA, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sacharov
May 31, 2012
On 28 May 2012 there was finally some light at the end of the tunnel. Nabeel Rajab was released on bail and Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja ended his hunger strike. Another HRD Zainab Al-Khawaja was also freed. I reported several times on these cases related to the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), the 2012 nominee of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.
Throughout Al-Khawaja’s hunger strike he was able to draw international attention to the on-going human rights violations that are taking place in Bahrain. The hunger strike brought attention to the plight of human rights defenders and political activists who are in detention or have been subjected to human rights violations by the authorities. Despite the primary demand of his hunger strike of “freedom or death” not being met, he has achieved one of his main goals by attracting global attention and focus on the human rights situation in the country. In a statement the human rights defender thanked his family for their support and expressed his gratitude to all those who had shown solidarity with him both inside and outside Bahrain. He will now begin a special diet in order for his body to recover from the 110-day hunger strike.
That Nabeel Rajab was released on bail is of course excellent but we should not forget that he should never have been arrested (on the 5th of May) to start with. He was charged with ‘insulting the statuary bodies” the so-called “Twitter Defamation case”, “participating in illegal assembly and calling others to join” through social networking sites. (See GCHR appeal dated 05-05- 2012 (http://gc4hr.org/news/view/138)
He was released on bail of 300 Bahraini Dinars (appr. $796). However, a travel ban remains in place and the trials will continue (a hearing on the “illegal assembly” case is scheduled for 17 June while another session for the “twitter case” is scheduled for 24 June).
Furthermore, human rights defender Zainab Alkhawaja @angryarabiya was released on 29th May 2012, after more than 1 month imprisonment. She is still facing trials in 2 cases. One of the hearing sessions on the case of “illegal assembly, assaulting a police officer and inciting hatred against the regime is scheduled on June 24th, while the case of “obstructing traffic” is scheduled for November 1st 2012.
While the BCHR welcomes the ending of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja’s hunger strike and the release of both Nabeel Rajab on bail and Zainab Al-Khawaja, it expresses serious concern for the on-going trials of the released activists, the on-going violations of human rights by Bahraini authorities and the continued detention of human rights defenders including Abdulhadi Alkhawaja on fabricated charges.
Posted in Human Rights Defenders, MEA | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, Bahrain, Bahrain Center for Human Rights, hungerstrike, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Nabeel Rajab
