Posts Tagged ‘internet’
April 15, 2013
Front Line Defenders hosted human rights defender Galym Ageleuov from Kazakhstan on its Fellowship Programme in Dublin between January and March 2013. Galym is the founder and head of human rights NGO Liberty – based in Almaty and established in 2011 to monitor and document human rights abuses and promote freedom of the internet in Kazakhstan, including through the You Tube project “Open Your Eyes” which broadcasts videos highlighting socio-political life in the country.
Liberty was one of the few organisations that succeeded in reporting from Zhanaozen and disseminating video footage following the massacre in 2011 when a demonstration by striking oil workers was violently suppressed by police, resulting in at least 14 deaths. Efforts to spread the awful truth of what happened there led to a serious defamation campaign against the organisation which included accusations of inciting violence and attempting to overthrow the government.
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Tags: Almaty, Dublin, fellowship, Frontline Defenders, Galym Ageleuov, Human right, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human rights defender, internet, Kazakhstan, Non-governmental organization, You Tube, Zhanaozen
March 17, 2013
Human rights group Reporters Without Borders has named and shamed five companies it claims allowed their products to be used by countries with bad human rights records and the NGO also named five countries as “enemies of the internet“. It said that five private sector companies; Gamma, Trovicor, Hacking Team, Amesys and Blue Coat are “digital era mercenaries”. The overall list of companies it believed were involved in selling products to authoritarian regimes was “not exhaustive” and will be expanded in the coming months. “They all sell products that are liable to be used by governments to violate human rights and freedom of information,” the group said.”Their products have been or are being used to commit violations of human rights and freedom of information. If these companies decided to sell to authoritarian regimes, they must have known that their products could be used to spy on journalists, dissidents and netizens.” It added that if surveillance products were sold to an authoritarian regime by an intermediary without their knowledge, “their failure to keep track of the exports of their own software means they did not care if their technology was misused and did not care about the vulnerability of those who defend human rights.” Research by Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab has established that surveillance technology used against dissidents and human rights defenders in such countries as Egypt, Bahrain and Libya came from western companies, it claimed.
The Paris-based group labelled Syria, China, Iran, Bahrain and Vietnam as“enemies of the internet” Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Bahrain, China, digital security, European Union, Human right, Human Rights Defenders, human rights group, information technology, internet, Iran, private sector companies, Reporters without Borders, RSF, security, software, spy, Syria, United States, Vietnam, Wall Street Journal
March 4, 2013
On Thursday 7 March 2013 will take place “The Human Voices of Freedom – Securing Human Rights Online” event: a panel discussion and interactive webcast with human rights activists from across the globe at the Human Rights Council, highlighting the importance of protecting freedom of expression on-line. This public event, sponsored by the U.S. Mission to the UN, is to take place from on 7 March from 1pm to 3pm in room XXIII/United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Internet Freedom Fellows program brings human rights activists from across the globe to Geneva, Washington, DC, and Silicon Valley to meet with fellow activists, U.S. and international government leaders, and members of civil society and the private sector engaged in technology and human rights. This year’s Internet Freedom Fellows are human rights activists and active practitioners of digital media from China, Russia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sudan.
Please note: Registration is only required for those attendees who do not hold a United Nations badge.
via Internet Freedom Fellows | Event Registration Page: The Human Voices of Freedom – Securing Human Rights Online.
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Tags: China, freedom of information, Geneva, Ghana, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, internet, Internet Freedom Fellows, Nigeria, on-line, Russia, side event, Silicon Valley, Sudan, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council, US permanent mission to the UN, USA
February 25, 2013
The HURIDOCS network publishes a Newsletter with many items that are of importance to Human Rights Defenders. The latest issue carries e.g. interesting news on access to human rights case law from the Asian and American scene. In the future it should be possible to have on-line access to the case load of these regional systems which until now are very difficult to find. Connecting these two databases in the future will be possible, but only if they are built on common standards. Developing these is a core function of HURIDOCS as illustrated by an interview with Judith Dueck who has been involved in standard formats for almost 25 years (Judith Dueck looks back upon how it was done).
One reason to refer to this article of course the youth picture of me (from 1988) they added!
To get the HURIDOCS newsletter free every 15 days subscribe via the homepage: http://www.huridocs.org/
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Tags: Advocacy Organizations, Africa, Americas, case law, documentation, documenting, Hans Thoolen, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, Human Rights Defenders, HURIDOCS, information technology, internet, Judith Dueck, jurisprudence, Latin America, newsletter, Standard formats, technology
November 6, 2012
Radio Netherlands reports today, 6 November, that a three-day UN-sponsored internet talking shop has kicked off in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) brings together 1,500 delegates from around the world to discuss issues such as identity protection online, how content can be controlled and the role of governments in managing the internet. At the same time, Azeri activists and human rights organisations are using the gathering to draw attention to the lack of freedom in the host country itself.
Dutch Europarliamentarian Marietje Schaake, who has been awarded the title of ‘Most Wired’ MEP, said at a preparatory event: “An open and free internet is an enormous chance for everyone in the world. “We shouldn’t look at internet freedom in terms of nations, but in terms of values.”
………..
Azeri journalists jailed
Just as they did in May of this year during the Eurovision Song Contest, Azeri activists are seizing on increased international media attention to point out human rights breaches in their home country. In a report issued last week, Human Rights Watch stated that “the government of Azerbaijan has a poor and worsening record on freedom of expression, online and offline”.
Several political activists, human rights defenders and journalists have been jailed, and last week the Azeri parliament adopted amendments increasing fines up to thousands of euros for ‘unsanctioned public gatherings’. In an open letter to the Azerbaijani government published in British newspaper The Independent, activist Emin Milli says, “you once suggested in a speech that the internet is free in Azerbaijan. I am sure you will repeat this message at this global forum. It is true that people in Azerbaijan are free to use the internet, but it is also a fact that they can be severely punished afterwards for doing so.”
Uncensored internet: a human right? | Radio Netherlands Worldwide.
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Tags: Azerbaijan, Baku, Eurovision, Human Rights Watch, internet, Internet Governance Forum, journalists, Schaake, UN
September 27, 2012
Every day all over the world, unsung heroes are risking their lives to call attention to injustice and to fight for human rights. On Tuesday October 2nd, one of them will honored with the Martin Ennals Award. The Martin Ennals Award is chosen by a Jury of ten leading Human Rights organizations including: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First and others (see www.martinennalsaward.org). Thus, this prize represents the expression of the whole Human Rights movement.
The winner will be selected from three nominees, who personalize wider issues in their home countries and allow these issues to be represented through individual cases:
- Venerable Sovath Luon: sometimes referred to as the “Multimedia Monk”. He challenges the widespread eviction of poor people from land they have long held but without title, often due to the destruction of records during the Khmer Rouge period.
- Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian Lawyer serving a 6 year prison sentence in Iran for “… the offences of “acting against the national security”, “propaganda against the regime” and “membership of Human Rights Defenders Centre” – an organisation presided over by the Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi.
- Bahrain Center for Human Rights: Currently high on the world media agenda. Two of the main founders: Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and Nabeel Rajab are serving jail sentences. Zainab al-Khawaja was arrested for demonstrating against the government, while other members are regularly arrested and abused.
The ceremony is hosted by the City of Geneva in Victoria Hall. Short films commissioned by the Martin Ennals Foundation. Those who cannot attend in person may want to follow it on the internet (www.martinennalsaward.org) starting at 18h00 Geneva time.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | 3 Comments »
Tags: Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, award, Bahrain, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Cambodia, ceremony, event, Geneva, HRDs, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights movement, internet, Iran, Luon Sovath, Martin Ennals, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Nabeel Rajab, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Shirin Ebadi, streaming, video
April 21, 2012
The announcement of the three nominees of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders 2012 will take place on Tuesday 24 April 2012, from 11h00 to 11h30 in Geneva (that is 09h00 – 09h30 GMT). For the first time this short event is being ‘broadcast’ live on the internet (www.martinennalsaward.org). There will be brief film images shown of the 3 nominees. The event also includes the announcement of the new Chairperson of the Martin Ennals Foundation.
Posted in human rights | 1 Comment »
Tags: Advocacy Organizations, Geneva, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, internet, Martin Ennals Award, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, nominees 2012, streaming
November 1, 2011
Admittedly not the best topic to bring up if one wants to increase traffic to one blog, but honesty dictates to shares my thoughts on this with you. It came about by the coincidence of two things: (1) my internet connection is down for technical reasons (I go on-line to do something and then disconnect again), and (2) I read belatedly Schumpeter’s column in the Economist of 2 July 2011 “Too much information”. The latter does not say anything shockingly new but is a good summing up of the problem. Not only the quantity of information is staggering (and continues to ‘stagger’ by doubling the amount of data stored every 18 months) but also the omnipresence and fragmentation due to ease of constant access (broadband, mobile access) is major factor.
The possible solutions include better filtering although I personally have doubt about the real effect of this. If the filters would successfully trim down the overload, it could well risk to make the feeling of stress even worse as the recipients ends up with a larger amount of important and urgent matters that require action or response. The filtering would only be useful if it would reduce the total amount of things to read or see, and one could feel sure that the stuff eliminated is really not important: a substantive SPAM filter that does not need to be checked.
More promising seems to be the ‘solution’ of time off, i.e. disconnecting from the internet and mobile phones completely for at least a few hours a day. This would restore people’s capacity to focus, thus to be more creative and productive as shown by considerable research quoted in the above-mentioned article.
The effect of this on my blog on Human Rights Defenders? Well, one of its purposes has always been to help people to digest the enormous amount of information available even on a relatively narrow topic such as HRDs. The selection may be biased and the way I summarize may be incomplete, but the blogs are usually short and ..- even if due only to my failing internet – there will be less of them for a while.
Johann Hari’s observation comes to mind: there is a good reason that ‘wired’ means both “connected” and “frantic, unable to concentrate”!
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: blog, information overload, internet, Johann Hari, The Economist
October 1, 2011
One of the winning blogs of the Communication Initiative, by Bhumika Ghimire, expresses the doubts that many of us feel when we read the hyperbole assessments of how the new media are going to the save the world and bring about the realisation of human rights. Some of the things Bhumika states:
“Are cyber campaigns comparable to the real world action?”
“What about online activists in repressive regimes like China, Burma, North Korea, Iran? These activists and their work in spreading the word, creating networks and keeping the fight alive is admirable and deserves recognition. In many countries, they face almost the same level of scrutiny from their governments as the real world activists. Do we cyber activists in the developed world face a similar level of threat or harassment? Certainly not.”
“The point is, we have to stop glamorizing all and every cyber activist and give credit where it is due. Recognizing the sacrifice of real heroes will add to the validity of online activism as a real force and help online campaigns be more effective.”
see the whole piece on: Online Activism and the Real World: Where Do We Meet? | Communication, Media, Policy.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: bloggers, campaign, Communication Initiative, cyber activism, HRDs, internet, new media
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 