Posts Tagged ‘lawyers’
March 31, 2011
Yesterday, Wednesday 30 March, Front Line – one of the 10 NGOs in the Jury of the MEA – issued an urgent appeal concerning a number of human rights lawyers that have been disappeared amid the upheaval of the last weeks. Between 5 and 27 March 2011, a number of human rights lawyers may have been arrested and remain detained in undisclosed locations in Syria, including Messrs Hussain ‘Issa and Tamer Al-Jahmani, Sulayman Nahili, Nidal Al-Shaykh Hammoud and Muhammad Ibrahim ‘Issa. It is believed that they are at risk of torture and ill treatment.
Front Line notes that “these arrests reflect an ongoing and widescale crackdown by the Syrian authorities against human rights defenders, pro-democracy and political activists across Syria in response to ongoing protests calling for democratic reforms and improved observance of civil and political rights. As part of this crackdown, which has also involved violent attacks on protesters including through the use of live ammunition by security forces, a large number of human rights defenders have been subjected to arrests, detentions and charges solely as a result of exercising their fundamental rights to free assembly and expression”. For more detail see: www.frontlinedefenders.org/
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Posted in Front Line, human rights, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags: disappearances, lawyers, Syria, torture
October 22, 2010
| On Thursday 21 October 2010, a week after the MEA ceremony in Geneva, Muhannad Al-Hassani, has also received the Amsterdam Dean’s Award. The Amsterdam Bar Association has been following his case and is convinced that the actions taken against him are textbook examples of violations of human rights. His freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of assembly, in addition to the freedom to practice his profession, have been unacceptability restricted. Muhannad al-Hassani, was very well aware of the personal risks of his work, but did not allow these to discourage him. Iyas Maleh, the son of the 80-year old Syrian lawyer, Haitham al-Maleh (who was Al-Hassani’s counsel) and who is also serving a prison sentence, accepted the award on behalf of Muhannad al-Hassani. You can read more about this and the speech given by Amsterdam Dean Germ Kemper at http://www.advocatenvooradvocaten.nl/cms/content/view/403/31/. The pressure on the Credentials Committee of the International Bar Association to throw out the Syrian Bar is growing.
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Posted in Al-Hassani, human rights, IBA | 1 Comment »
Tags: award, lawyers, lawyers4lawyers, 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
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
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 