Posts Tagged ‘Netherlands’
February 9, 2013
Emergency workers and human rights defenders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo DRC must be protected, stated Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation on 5 February 2013. The Minister was speaking after talks with Alexandre Luba, the Congolese defence minister and deputy prime minister, and trade minister Jean-Paul Nemoyato. During those talks she focused on the position of Dr Denis Mukwege. Last year human rights defender Dr Mukwege fled to Europe after narrowly escaping an assassination attempt in which one of his security guards was killed (as I reported in an earlier post in this blog). The gynaecologist has now returned to DRC but his life remains in danger, and his work for female victims of rape and mutilation continues to be obstructed.During the talks, the defence minister acknowledged that military personnel have been guilty of sexual violence against women, including rape. The Netherlands is supporting the United Nations stabilisation and reconstruction plan aimed at combating violence, is helping to fund MONUSCO rape investigations, and will be spending one million euros this year on projects providing care and shelter to victims. The Minister is on a visit to the Great Lakes Region, where she is finding out about the conflict in eastern DRC, security, the humanitarian situation, human rights and economic developments.
via Ploumen: human rights defenders in Congo need protection | News item | Government.nl.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Democratic Republic of Congo, Denis Mukwege, Development Cooperation, DRC, emergency workers, Human Rights Defenders, Liliane Ploumen, Netherlands, rape, sexual violence
January 10, 2013
Dutch newspapers and human rights groups concerned with the Dalits (untouchables) report that the winner of the Dutch Human Rights Tulip of 2012 has been barred from traveling to the Netherlands to receive his award in person on Wednesday 9 January. Marimuthu Bharathan, a Dalit human rights defender from Tamil Nadu, was refused a passport by the Indian authorities, according to a press release by International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN).This is the second year in a row that the recipient of the Dutch Human Rights award will not be present at the ceremony in The Hague [Last year, Chinese activist Ni Yulan was in custody awaiting trial during the award ceremony.]The jury of the Tulip has recognised Marimuthu Bharathan as a “tireless champion of better living and working conditions for his country’s Dalits”. Himself a Dalit, he works against caste discrimination by supporting Dalits who as manual scavengers are condemned to clean dry latrines with their bare hands. He also sets up Dalit organisations, campaigns for reforms of the corrupt police system, and fights for compensation and rehabilitation of Dalits who suffer human rights violations. Mr Bharathan’s work as director of the Human Rights Education and Protection Council in Tamil Nadu has put him on a collision course with the state’s authorities who consistently prohibit demonstrations for Dalit rights organised by him and disrupt his work.
According to Indian human rights organisations, this refusal appears to be connected with a false murder charge. “The passport refusal is yet another example of the disenfranchised position of the 200 million Dalits and the defenders of their rights in India. The Indian authorities clearly fail in combating discrimination and exclusion of Dalits and are themselves often the perpetrator of crimes against them. The systemic abuse and torture in police stations is an example of that,” said Gerard Oonk, director of the India Committee of the Netherlands and co-ordinator of the Dalit Network Netherlands.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Bharathan, Dalit, Hague, human rights, Human rights defender, India, Netherlands, Ni Yulan, Tamil Nadu, Tulip award
November 27, 2012
My posts tend to be about Human Rights Defenders at risk but this time I want to draw your attention to a great promoter of human rights in the Netherlands who recently passed away at the relatively young age of 60: Kees Bleichrodt.
This Dutchman started in the 70s as an AI volunteer and in 1978 he became their Coordinator for refugees and in 1986 deputy director.
As from 1989, for more than 20 years, he led the University Asylum Fund (UAF) which helps thousands of refugees to study and find jobs. He was a driven, hardworking man who modernised and developed the organisation enormously. He took great pride in the success of ‘his’ refugee students and described his own job as the ‘most beautiful job in the Netherlands’. He was a real networker who stayed active in other NGOs, including Scholars at Risk. Condolences can be left at: http://www.uaf.nl
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Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: AI, Human rights defender, Kees Bleichrodt, Netherlands, Non-governmental organization, refugees, Scholars at Risk, UAF
June 11, 2012
Nominations for the 2012 Human Rights Defenders Tulip are welcome but deadline is 15 June.
Nominations can be submitted online, by email, fax or post. They will only be accepted if accompanied by a completed nomination form and the necessary documents. Submissions can be made in Dutch, English, French or Spanish. The nomination form is available in these four languages. You can find additional information here. To learn more, please visit http://www.humanrightstulip.org or contact Chris Collier at the Human Rights Tulip secretariat, by email (secretariat@humanrightstulip.org) or phone (+31 (0)6 3493 6026).
Call for Nominations for the 2012 Human Rights Defenders Tulip.
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Tags: award, Human Rights Defenders, Netherlands, Tulip
May 31, 2011
And before i forget – again as a loyal Dutch citizen – nominations are now being accepted for the 2011 Human Rights Defenders Tulip, a human rights award presented by the Dutch government. Human rights defenders the world over are eligible. Nominations close on 15 June. please go to: http://www.humanrightstulip.org/simplepage/page/Nominations
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Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: award, Netherlands
May 31, 2011
The Netherlands – of which I am still a loyal citizen – has an Advisory Council on International Affairs and it is regularly asked for advice by the Government. This time the Council, at least its Committee on Human Rights, did not wait for the new Government to ask but decided spontaneously to react to the first pronouncements of the Government and the first parliamentary debates. The Council also wanted to beat the deadline for input into the Policy Document on Human Rights Policy that the Government promised to send to the Parliament on 1 April 2011. It has become a short but powerful document (30 pages) and is worth reading in its totality. The Human Rights Committee has a membership that includes most Dutch Human Rights experts such as Cees Flinterman, Jenny Goldschmidt, Willem van Genugten, Nico Schrijver, Verrijn Stuart and Menno Kamminga. You can order your copy free of charge from the Council: AIV, PO Box 20061, 2500 EB The Hague, email: aiv@minbuza.nl. Or go to the website: http://www.aiv-advice.nl.
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Posted in books, human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: human rights, Netherlands, policy
April 18, 2011
I just came back from an interesting meeting in Amsterdam organised by Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L) on 15 April. The meeting was about the freedom of lawyers and I will report separately on that issue. Here I only want to draw your attention to the impressive personality of Alec Muchadehama, a lawyer working for Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights who courageously continues his work in spite of the most severe harassment, including detention. ‘This is a man who, despite many years of persecution, continues to fight tirelessly for freedom and justice,’ stated the Dutch human rights ambassador, Lionel Veer as Alec was presented with the first Lawyers for Lawyers Award, adding that this award reflected the priority given by the Dutch government to human rights defenders in its human rights policy. Also present at the meeting was Arnold Tsunga, MEA Laureate 2006, another HRD from Zimbabwe.
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Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, L4L | 2 Comments »
Tags: award, lawyers, Netherlands, Zimbabwe
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 