Posts Tagged ‘judicial harassment’
December 1, 2014
The leading human rights defender Maryam Al-Khawaja explains her reasons for boycotting the court hearing in Bahrain that on Monday 1 December saw her sentenced to one year in prison. This impressive statement was originally posted on the website of the Gulf Center for Human Rights on 30 November 2014. For more posts on Maryam Al-Khawaja see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/maryam-al-khawaja/
“As a human rights defender, I, Maryam Al-Khawaja, Director of Advocacy at the Gulf Center for Human Rights, have decided to boycott my court hearing on the 1 December 2014. During this hearing I am due to be sentenced on trumped up charges of assaulting two policewomen at the Bahrain International Airport. (Update: Al-Khawaja was sentenced to one year imprisonment on 1 December)
The decision to boycott the court was reached based on several grounds:
- The lack of independence and due process in the Bahrain judiciary system:
It has become evidently clear that it is not possible to have a fair and independent trial in Bahraini courts as they stand. The judicial system in Bahrain is highly flawed, and is overrun with egregious human rights violations which usually start during the arrest, and continue throughout what is supposed to be a legal process. I was personally subjected to numerous human rights violations since the moment of arriving in Bahrain and until I was able to leave the country as can be read in my testimony here.
There are medical reports about the injuries I sustained during the assault I was subjected to, for which I continue to need physiotherapy. My case was sped up, and quickly turned for sentencing with complete disregard to legal procedures.
- The lack of independency and neutrality of the judge himself:
The presiding judge, Mohammed Ali Alkhalifa, in the case brought against me is a member of the ruling family, and has been himself, as well as members of his family, identified previously during my advocacy campaigns as implicated in human rights violations. This makes his presiding over the case a clear case of conflict of interest given the personal grievances he may have against me. This judge in particular, it is important to note, has been involved in the sentencing of numerous human rights defenders including Nabeel Rajab and Naji Fateel in unfair trials.
- The cooperation of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) with the Ministry of Interior:
During my imprisonment I met with the SIU, headed by Nawaf Hamza, to submit a complaint against the three policewomen and the first lieutenant who assaulted me at the airport. The prosecutor, Mohammed Al-Hazaa, rewrote my statement in his own words, attempting to implicate me in violations, and refused to correct what he had misquoted. This resulted in my refusal to sign the papers and filing of a complaint against the prosecutor. One day before the sentencing, namely on the 30th of November 2014, and due to almost daily follow up by my lawyer, the public prosecution notified him that the complaint case had been revoked. Despite my complaint about the assault since the beginning of my arrest, it was only one day before the sentencing that my lawyer was finally able to get a statement from the public prosecution that my complaint case had been revoked, at a time when the trumped up assault charges against myself were speedily processed and turned for sentencing.
- The violation of my rights by the public prosecution:
During the interrogation I was subjected to, I was refused access to my lawyer by the prosecutor dealing with my case. During my imprisonment my lawyer was not given any visits, nor was the Danish embassy. The way that the public prosecution deals with politically motivated cases is it uses all aspects of the government to provide impunity for the perpetrators of violations.
Based on the reasons stated above, I find any and all cooperation with the court or attendance of the hearings by myself as a problematic legitimisation of an unfair and biased court. Therefore I have decided to boycott the hearings, and have asked my lawyer to do the same.
It is important to note here, if I, as a human rights defender, whose case receives international media and diplomatic attention is handled in this way; it is gravely concerning how cases not receiving attention are handled by the authorities in Bahrain.
Maryam Al-Khawaja
Director of Advocacy
Gulf Center for Human Rights
30th November 2014”
Maryam Al-Khawaja: Why I am boycotting my date with Bahraini justice – Index on Censorship | Index on Censorship.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: arbitrary arrest, Bahrain, Gulf Center for Human Rights, Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Human Rights Defenders, illegal detention, illtreatment, Index on Censorship, intimidation, judicial harassment, Maryam Al-Khawaja, Maryam Alkhawaja, prison sentence, Special Investigations Unit (SIU) Bahrain, trumped up charges, woman human rights defender
November 24, 2014
Sergei Nikitin, Amnesty International’s Moscow Office Director, posted a clear and inspiring blog on 21 November about the “foreign agent” label with which the Russian Government is trying to discredit legitimate work by human rights defenders. [see also: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/foreign-agents/]. In spite of the harassment the writer keeps up hope that justice will ultimately prevail:
“……Two years ago, the law adopted by the State Duma entered into force. It is universally known as the “Foreign Agents” law, despite the fact that it is actually an amendment to an old law “on non-commercial organisations”. The updated law with all its novelties wasn’t put into use at first, but in February 2013 the Russian Prosecutor’s Office began mass inspections of NGOs across the country. These inspections were followed by court hearings. The wide-scale campaign to smear NGOs began.
However, despite the authorities’ demands, human rights activists refused to call themselves foreign agents voluntarily. When all the Russian NGOs united in solidarity and declared, once for all, that they are not “agents”, it prompted widespread admiration.
Russian authorities had to rush to modify the fateful law. Following these amendments, “foreign agents” are now being unilaterally registered, without any judicial review. The leading human rights organizations are on this list too. Registration now consists of a penstroke by the Ministry of Justice. Just this week, two more organizations were put on the register and stigmatized by the “foreign agent” label.
Russian NGOs still reject the insulting stigma – none of the forcibly registered organizations is going to lie to themselves and to society. They are not “agents”. These people, representing various NGOs in different cities around our country are working for the good of our fellow citizens by helping those whose rights have been violated by the Russian authorities.
The past two years of pressure and denigration of civil society activists, the wave of state propaganda and streams of lies and insults have made the lives of human rights defenders, environmentalists and activists very difficult. Their struggle is widely known amongst their NGO colleagues in other countries, evident through numerous solidarity actions that have been conducted abroad in support of Russian civil society over the past two years.
Up to the present day, on the second anniversary of the shameful “Foreign Agents” law, almost 150 NGOs – national and international – have signed a letter to President Putin calling for him to overturn the disgraceful legislation.
Along with my colleagues from Amnesty International, and in the presence of journalists, this week I delivered this letter to the Presidential Administration. Our colleagues from 32 countries that have signed the letter are now waiting for Russian authorities to react.
We brought the letter with six pages of signatures and a 90cm x 150cm poster reprinting the words of the letter. To our great surprise, both were accepted, although the large poster caused some fuss among Presidential Administration employees.
One might say: “Oh, everything is meaningless.” It is nothing like that. More than 50 years of Amnesty International activism in every region of the world suggests the opposite.
There were darker days in the history of our country. We experienced numerous campaigns of lies and slander against individual citizens, groups of citizens and nations. Mudslingers have been always singing from the same song sheet as the authorities.
However, the inexorable course of history teaches us that truth is always restored and justice prevails. It may take years, and sometimes requires a lot of strength.
But we all know that those defamed and stigmatized with the “foreign agent” label are very brave and courageous people. And ultimately, this dark page of history will be remembered with disgust.
A version of this blog originally appeared (in Russian) on Ekho Moskvy’s website.
Open letter to Putin – 148 NGOs slam ‘foreign agents’ law | Amnestys global human rights blog.
Posted in AI, Amnesty international, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: AI Russia, Amnesty International, Civil society, discredit, foreign agent law, foreign agents, foreign funding, freedom of association, human rights activists, Human Rights Defenders, human rights movement, intimidation, judicial harassment, NGOs, restrictive laws, Russia, Sergei Nikitin
July 9, 2014
With a bit of delay, here is the good news that the Turkish Supreme Court – on 11 June – overturned the life sentence issued which was issued against sociologist Pınar Selek on January 24, 2014. The case will have to be re-tried before a lower court for the fifth time. On June 11, 2014, the Criminal Chamber No. 9 of the Supreme Court decided to overturn the decision of a lower court to sentence to life imprisonment Ms. Pınar Selek, an academic known for her commitment towards the rights of vulnerable communities in Turkey. The court argued that Istanbul Special Heavy Criminal Court No. 12 had violated procedural rules, by revoking its own decision of acquittal while the case had already been transferred for review to a higher court. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | Leave a Comment »
Tags: fair trial, FIDH, human rights lawyer, illegal detention, judicial harassment, Kurdish cause, minority rights, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, Pınar Selek, retrial, torture, Turkey, woman human rights defender
May 21, 2014
FIDH and OMCT, in the framework of their Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, express their grave concern about the situation of human rights defenders in Africa. They do so in a 7-page written statement before the 55th ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights [ACHPR] on 20 May in Luanda. It can be read in full on: Situation of human rights defenders in Africa – Contribution to the 55th ordinary session of ACHPR Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | 4 Comments »
Tags: Africa, African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, Civil society, death threats, detention, FIDH, freedom of association, freedom of expression, Human Rights Defenders, intimidation, judicial harassment, LGBTI, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, statement
May 18, 2014
In an excellent piece written for CNN, Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch, on 15 May gives an overview of the different measures that threaten human rights defenders in Russia. While attention is on Ukraine, a vicious crackdown on civil society in Russia itself also escalated with every week brings a new pernicious law or legislative proposal:
- The authorities have blocked or essentially took editorial control over a number of independent news portals and are pushing new laws to stifle freedom of expression.
- A week ago, President Vladimir Putin signed a law requiring Russian bloggers with significant followings to register with the authorities and comply with media regulations.
- The same law requires blogging services and social networks to store user activity for six months.
- Another legislative proposal would introduce administrative and criminal offenses for editors who publish “false anti-Russian” information or offer media support to “anti-Russian extremist and separatist forces.”
- Another new draft law introduces a ban on publishing negative information about the Russian government and military.
- Also, amendments presently under review by the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, would enable the authorities to throw people behind bars for up to five years for repeated participation in unauthorized public protests.
At the same time the infamous Russian law “on foreign agents”, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: ADC Memorial, bloggers, Civil society, foreign agent law, freedom of association, freedom of expression, Front Line (NGO), Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch, judicial harassment, media, nationalist group, Russia, Tanya Lokshina, Women of the Don
May 16, 2014
MEA Laureate 2007 Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa
MEA Laureate 2007, Pierre-Clavier Mbonimpa, was arrested this morning early. The latest information is that he is still detained at the Police-Judiciare. The background is rising tension in Burundi, where it is feared that President Pierre Nkurunziza is expected to campaign for a third term in office in 2015 despite a two-term constitutional limit. The Economist of 29 March 2014 already carried an article under the prescient title “Trouble Ahead” and on 17 April Paul Debbie, security chief at the UN office in Burundi, was ordered to leave the country in connection with a UN report disliked by the Government containing “allegations of weapons distribution to members of the youth league of the ruling party”. [http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/04/burundi-expels-un-official-over-arms-report-2014417144546195161.html] It is feared that this youth wing, named the Imbonerakure, are being armed and trained in weapons use, raising fears of a return to civil war, even of genocide. No charges have been brought against Mbonimpa, but it is believed that the arrest is related to comments made on the radio regarding the above. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | 3 Comments »
Tags: APRODH, Burundi, ethnic conflict, freedom of expression, Front Line, illegal detention, Imbonerakure, judicial harassment, laureate MEA, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Nkurunziza, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, Pierre-Clavier Mbonimpa, UN
January 28, 2014
In my post of 17 January I related that there seemed to be some optimism in the case of Berta Cáceres in Honduras as the court had suspended her case (https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/justice-maybe-on-its-way-for-some-human-rights-defenders-in-honduras/), but the ink on the order was hardly dry when on 26 January 2014, she was again temporarily detained. Members of the criminal investigation unit showed her an order for her capture [the authorities had not communicated any counter-order to them, they stated]. According to sources of Front Line, only her knowledge of the law lead to her release an hour later. Judicial harassment of the first order.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Berta Cáceres, COPINH, Court order, criminal investigation, Honduras, judicial harassment, woman human rights defender
January 17, 2014
As reported by Front Line Defenders, on 9 January 2014, the Appeals Court of Comayagua provisionally suspended the case against Honduran human rights defenders Ms Berta Cáceres and Messrs Tomás Gómez and Aureliano Molina. They had been facing charges of usurpation of land, coercion, and causing more than $3 million in damages to DESA, a hydroelectric dam company. The Court further reversed a decision to displace the indigenous Lenca community from their ancestral lands, and revoked the arrest warrant which had been in place against the human rights defenders. No court date has been set for the final decision in the case. Berta Cáceres is the general co-ordinator of Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Indígenas Populares – COPINH (Civic Council of Popular Indigenous Organisations). Tomás Gómez Membreño and Aureliano Molina are also members of COPINH which is working on land, environmental and indigenous rights, particularly in relation to large-scale development projects.
Front Line Defenders welcomes the provisional suspension but remains concerned that the case has not been permanently suspended. It notes that the case comes in the context large-scale development projects impinging on environmental rights and the rights of indigenous people, and that the principle of free, prior and informed consent is not being fully respected. [for earlier info: http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/22872]
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Appeals Court of Comayagua, arbitrary arrest, Aureliano Molina, Berta Cáceres, COPINH, corporate accountability, DESA, displacement, environmental issues, Front Line (NGO), Front Line Defenders, Honduras, Human Rights Defenders, Indigenous rights, judicial harassment, land disputes, Tomás Gómez, woman human rights defender
December 16, 2013
On December 12, 2013, the Anti-Discrimination Centre (ADC) “Memorial” was officially declared a “foreign agent” by the Leninsky District Court of St Petersburg, and was ordered to register as such with the Ministry of Justice, according to information received by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. Today, the court unexpectedly established that all the activities of ADC “Memorial” fall under the definition of “performing the functions of a foreign agent”. Accordingly, for the first time, a court has directly labelled a human rights NGO a “foreign agent”, and did not just order it to register as such. This decision could pave the way to increased harassment of all human rights organisations in the Russian Federation. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | 1 Comment »
Tags: ADC Memorial, CAT, Center for Social Policy and Gender Studies, Coming Out, controversial restrictions, European Union, FIDH, Foreign agent, foreign agent law, foreign funding, funding restrictions, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, judicial harassment, Non-governmental organization, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, Russia, Tolekan Ismailova, trial observation, United Nations Convention Against Torture, Women of the Don
November 22, 2013
This blog has on several occasions made mention of the dangerous developments in Russia where the ‘foreign agents’ law is being used to delegitimize human rights defenders. Front Line just came with an update showing that the legal aspect of this issue (is the law legally permissible under the Russian Constitution or the European Convention Human Rights?) is coming under scrutiny. On 18 November 2013, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow heard the cases of 3 NGOs – Human Rights Centre ‘Memorial’, GOLOS, and the Public Verdict Foundation – which challenge the ‘Foreign Agents’ law. Following the presentation of their arguments, the court accepted their request to postpone the hearings until 4 February 2014. Significant, as it was taken in order to await for the rulings of the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) or the Russian Constitutional Court, whichever comes first:
- On 6 February 2013, eleven Russian NGOs lodged a complaint with the ECtHR alleging that the ‘Foreign Agents’ law violates four articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, namely Article 10 (Freedom of Expression), Article 11 (Freedom of Association and Assembly), Article 14 (Prohibition of Discrimination), and Article 18 (Limitations on Rights).
- On 13 August 2013, Kostroma Centre for Civic Initiatives Support lodged a complaint with the Russian Constitutional Court arguing that the ‘Foreign Agent’ law violates five articles of the Russian Constitution, namely Article 19 (Equality before the law), Article 29 (Freedom of ideas and speech), Article 30 (Right of Association), Article 32 (Right to participate in managing state affairs), and Article 51 (right not to give incriminating evidence against oneself).
- On 30 August 2013, the Russian Human Rights Ombudsman, Vladimir Lukin, also lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court against certain provisions of the ‘Foreign Agents’ law. In particular, the Ombudsman argued that the definition of terms ‘foreign agent’ and ‘political activities’, as provided by the law, are politically and legally incorrect.
Still, one wonders whether the battle should not be fought also in the public domain as the ‘foreign agent campaign’ by the authorities is clearly not about financial control (there is enough of that already to satisfy any suspicious prosecutor) or political control (in which case registration as simple lobbyist would suffice) but about ‘framing’ the human rights defenders as traitors, unpatriotic people. The requirement to identify oneself as foreign agent on every paper or poster is a clear indication of what the Government wants to achieve. This kind of action by governments (not just Russia) is a deliberate (mis)information effort that should be fought in the same arena of public perception. Admittedly far from easy and costly but there are things that COULD be done, I think:
- bumper stickers and T-shirts with “I am a foreign agent” (in Russian of course, but supporters abroad could have it in English)
- well-known Russian celebrities could make statements such as: “IF …is a foreign agent ,in that case I am also one!”
- production of video clips that poke fun at the idea, etc
As a concrete example: on 21 November 2013, a year after the law came into effect, Amnesty International Norway, LLH (the Norwegian LGBT Organisation) and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee called themselves for one day foreign agents in solidarity with Russian organisations who struggle to keep their work going (see also in Norwegian: http://www.amnesty.no/agent). Of course, people on the ground know best what will work, but I think some form of ‘counter-defamation’ should be tried. It would benefit Russia and could de-motivate the authorities in other countries watching what happens in Russia.
Posted in Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: ADC Memorial, AI Norway, Constitution of Russia, European Convention on Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights, Foreign agent, foreign agent law, foreign funding, freedom of association, Front Line (NGO), GOLOS, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, judicial harassment, LLH, media framing, Memorial, Moscow, Non-governmental organization, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, public perception, public relations campaign, Public Verdict Foundation, restrictive laws, Russia, solidarity action, stigma, Vladimir Lukin
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 