On 1 June 2013 at dawn, Kenyan human rights defender Ms Lydia Mukami was abandoned in a bush after being abducted by unidentified men who had spent several hours subjecting her to physical assault. Lydia Mukami is the chairperson of Mwea Foundation, a grassroots organisation of rice farmers in the Mwea constituency that has been at the forefront of an ongoing campaign to challenge the constitutionality of Kenya’s 1966 Irrigation Act. Read the rest of this entry »
Posts Tagged ‘ill treatment’
Human Rights Watch demands fair trial for 94 defendants in UAE
March 16, 2013United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities should guarantee the safety of 94 defendants facing trial on state security charges says Human Rights Watch. They should also establish an independent investigation into the defendants’ allegations of ill-treatment in detention. The second session of their trial begun on 11 March 2013.
At the first trial session on March 4, authorities brought 84 of the 94 accused before the court to enter pleas. The remaining 10 are being tried in absentia. All 84 of the defendants denied the charges, which, local activists say, are largely based on confessions obtained from two of them, apparently while they were detained incommunicado in 2012. One of the two, Ahmed al-Suweidi, told the court he is innocent and asked for its protection. He told the judges: “I know that what Im going to say may cost my life, but I deny the charges and I ask the court to protect my life and the life of my family,” according to witnesses present in the courtroom. Many of the other defendants told the court that they had been seriously ill-treated during months in detention, including prolonged solitary confinement, exposure to continuous fluorescent lighting that made it difficult to sleep, inadequate heating, and hooding when they were taken from their cells, including while being taken to the toilet or for interrogation. They said they had been repeatedly insulted by prison guards. Lawyers acting for the defendants have repeatedly pressed the judicial authorities to investigate these allegations, but they have yet to do so. “This trial raises serious questions about the UAE’s willingness to respect the fundamental right of all accused to receive a fair trial,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The court shouldn’t admit evidence obtained through ill-treatment or coercion. And the UAE government should ensure allegations of ill-treatment of detainees are properly investigated at once.” Authorities prevented a group of international observers and journalists from entering the court on March 4, stating that they had not requested permission from the Ministry of Justice. Security officials also denied entry to the UAE to two international human rights observers who attempted to enter the country to monitor the trial. “The UAE authorities seem intent on keeping this trial as much under wraps as they can,” said Whitson. “If they are interested in ensuring a fair trial, they should allow international observers to attend the court sessions, not block their presence.”
via UAE: Ensure Safety of 94 on Trial | Human Rights Watch.
Related articles
- HRW fears ‘mockery of justice’ in UAE Islamists trial (dailystar.com.lb)
Four bus drivers in Singapore – after ill-treatment in detention – go on trial on 4 March
February 19, 2013
Human rights defenders Messrs He Jun Ling, Gao Yue Qiang, Liu Xiangying, and Wang Xian Jie will go on a joint trial from 4 to 8 March 2013, reports Front Line Defenders.He Jun Ling, Gao Yue Qiang Liu Xiangying, and Wang Xian Jie are human rights defenders who were employed by the state controlled public transport operator SMRT Ltd. More than 100 mainland Chinese bus drivers refused to report for duty on the 26th of November 2012. It took some time for authorities to label the stoppage an ‘illegal strike’. Once that happened, things moved quickly. 29 drivers accused of participating in the action were swiftly rounded up and deported. Five men were also arrested. One has already been tried, jailed and sent back home. The others – He Jun Ling, Gao Yue Qiang, Liu Xiang Ying and Wang Xian Jie – are waiting for their cases to be heard. They are currently facing charges of inciting an illegal strike among bus drivers, and could be sentenced to a fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars (approx €1,250), a 12-month prison sentence or both.He Jun Ling and Liu Xiangying revealed last week that were assaulted by police officials while they were held in custody in December 2012. According to the information received, He Jun Ling was interrogated from 5am to 1pm, during which time he was locked in a small room, handcuffed, and beaten in the stomach. Liu Xiangying reported that an official threatened him, stating that “they can dig a hole and bury him. No one will be able to find him.” He was also handcuffed to a chair and beaten in his neck and the left side of his body. Read the rest of this entry »Harassment and illegal arrest of HRD in Sri Lanka – backlash against testimony in the UN
November 30, 2012Today Front Line Defenders reports the case of arbitrary arrest of human rights defender Mr Sanjeewa Samarasinghe in Sri Lanka.
On 27 November 2012, human rights defender Mr Sanjeewa Samarasinghe was taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and questioned for 13 hours without a reason given or a lawyer present, before being released. Sanjeewa Samarasinghe is a journalist and the chairman of the State Media Workers’ Association, which defends press freedom and the rights of media workers in Sri Lanka. The human rights defender was taken to the CID office in Colombo 1 with a friend present, although his friend was told to leave the interrogation after 15 minutes. The defender asked the police officers to wait for his lawyer to arrive before questioning him, but this request was ignored and the police proceeded to question him in the absence of his lawyer. The defender’s lawyer was not permitted to enter the CID premises for the entire duration of the interrogation. It is reported that Sanjeewa Samarasinghe was subsequently questioned throughout the night for a period of 13 hours until he was eventually released around 9.30am the following morning on 28 November. Although no reason was given for the arrest, he was reportedly asked during the questioning whether he had been supplying information on human rights violations in Sri Lanka to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Sanjeewa Samarasinghe works as a journalist and leads the State Media Workers’ Association, which works on issues related to media freedom, the right to freedom of expression, and which holds conferences, campaigns, and demonstrations on the rights of media workers.
It would seem another case of backlash against those HRDs who testify in the UN on which I reported previously and which has been condemned in the strongest terms by the United Nations.
Punitive measures imposed on detained human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh
October 21, 2012Paris-Geneva, October 19, 2012. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), strongly condemns the harassment faced by Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh and, more generally, denounces the policy of subjecting jailed human rights defenders to punitive measures in prison.
Since her arbitrary arrest and detention in September 2010, Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer known for defending juveniles facing death penalty, prisoners of conscience, human rights activists and children victims of abuse and a member of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC), who is serving a six-year imprisonment sentence in Evin prison, has been subjected to increasingly restrictive and clearly discriminative and arbitrary conditions of detention.Mrs Sotoudeh was recently honored as the MEA 2012 nominee (see http://www.martinennalsaward.org for a short film on her work).
In recent weeks, Ms. Sotoudeh’s visiting day has been changed from Sunday to Wednesday without any legitimate ground being provided by the prison authorities. In addition to being deprived of face-to-face family visits, the new measure, which contravenes the prison’s rules, has made it more and more difficult for her to receive visits from her family over the past three months. It is also to be recalled that Ms. Sotoudeh has been banned from making phone calls since May 2011.
The Observatory recalls that punitive measures against Ms. Sotoudeh are not new. Previously, Ms. Sotoudeh had been held for long periods in solitary confinement and denied contact with her family and lawyer. She also reportedly suffered acts of torture in prison in order to force her to confess. On July 11, the authorities banned her husband and her 12-year-old daughter from travelling abroad. This case has now been referred to the Islamic Revolution Court (Branch 28), which has summoned them to appear.
To protest against these measures which violate her right to receive unhindered visits by her family, Ms. Sotoudeh started an unlimited hunger strike on October 17, raising further concerns for her physical integrity. It should be recalled that she had already come close to death in 2010 after three dry hunger strikes to protest her conditions of detention and violations of due process during her trial.
“The conditions of detention imposed on Nasrin Sotoudeh are unacceptable and clearly aim at imposing additional punishment on her for her human rights activities”, declared Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President.
“The punitive measures against Ms. Sotoudeh while in detention once more illustrate the relentless policy of the Iranian authorities to stifle human rights defenders, which should be strongly condemned by the whole international community”, added Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General.
The Observatory firmly denounces the policy of harassment against Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh, through arbitrary detention, judicial harassment and punitive measures in prison, which only aims at sanctioning her legitimate human rights activities. It also urges the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her as well all other imprisoned human rights defenders, and more generally to conform to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights instruments ratified by Iran.
For further information, please contact:
• FIDH: Arthur Manet / Audrey Couprie: + 33 1 43 55 25 18
• OMCT: Delphine Reculeau : + 41 22 809 49 39
Since her arbitrary arrest and detention in September 2010, Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer known for defending juveniles facing death penalty, prisoners of conscience, human rights activists and children victims of abuse and a member of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC), who is serving a six-year imprisonment sentence in Evin prison, has been subjected to increasingly restrictive and clearly discriminative and arbitrary conditions of detention.Mrs Sotoudeh was recently honored as the MEA 2012 nominee (see http://www.martinennalsaward.org for a short film on her work).
In recent weeks, Ms. Sotoudeh’s visiting day has been changed from Sunday to Wednesday without any legitimate ground being provided by the prison authorities. In addition to being deprived of face-to-face family visits, the new measure, which contravenes the prison’s rules, has made it more and more difficult for her to receive visits from her family over the past three months. It is also to be recalled that Ms. Sotoudeh has been banned from making phone calls since May 2011.
The Observatory recalls that punitive measures against Ms. Sotoudeh are not new. Previously, Ms. Sotoudeh had been held for long periods in solitary confinement and denied contact with her family and lawyer. She also reportedly suffered acts of torture in prison in order to force her to confess. On July 11, the authorities banned her husband and her 12-year-old daughter from travelling abroad. This case has now been referred to the Islamic Revolution Court (Branch 28), which has summoned them to appear.
To protest against these measures which violate her right to receive unhindered visits by her family, Ms. Sotoudeh started an unlimited hunger strike on October 17, raising further concerns for her physical integrity. It should be recalled that she had already come close to death in 2010 after three dry hunger strikes to protest her conditions of detention and violations of due process during her trial.
“The conditions of detention imposed on Nasrin Sotoudeh are unacceptable and clearly aim at imposing additional punishment on her for her human rights activities”, declared Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President.
“The punitive measures against Ms. Sotoudeh while in detention once more illustrate the relentless policy of the Iranian authorities to stifle human rights defenders, which should be strongly condemned by the whole international community”, added Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General.
The Observatory firmly denounces the policy of harassment against Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh, through arbitrary detention, judicial harassment and punitive measures in prison, which only aims at sanctioning her legitimate human rights activities. It also urges the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her as well all other imprisoned human rights defenders, and more generally to conform to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights instruments ratified by Iran.
For further information, please contact:
• FIDH: Arthur Manet / Audrey Couprie: + 33 1 43 55 25 18
• OMCT: Delphine Reculeau : + 41 22 809 49 39
Punitive measures imposed on detained human rights defender must cease : humanrights-ir.org.
new film shows rampant and systematic use of torture by Sri Lankan police
May 11, 2012This recent film is not directly about Human Rights Defenders (although they are certainly victims of it) nor about the treatment of ethnic minorities. Rather is demonstrates. through a large variety of interviews with victims, lawyers – including Basil Fernando of the Asian Human Rights Commission – and experts, how a lack of investigative skills and high-level condoning have led the Sri Lankan policy to use torture routinely. Most shockingly a former police officers confirms that this is what is expected from the police by the system. It has become a mindset at all levels, including most of the judiciary. It is a long film but worth it. The Danish film maker, Josefina Bergsten, manages to demonstrate the disconnect between international procedures (which are based on functioning institutions that have to address a few bad apples) and the reality on the ground in Sri Lanka where the good apples are the exception. See it and forward it: https://vimeo.com/41898677
HRD Nasrin Sotoudeh Denied Furlough for Iranian New Year
April 7, 2012This piece by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran speaks for itself. The courageous husband also deserve a lot of praise:
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran – Nasrin Sotoudeh Denied Furlough, Telephone Contact.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 