Posts Tagged ‘NGOs’

Huge number of NGOs call on Laos to investigate Sombath’s disappearance one year on

December 13, 2013
62 regional and international organizations expressed their outrage over the Lao Government’s ongoing failure to shed light on the enforced disappearance of prominent human rights defender Sombath Somphone. Sunday 15 December 2013 will mark the one-year anniversary of Sombath’s disappearance. Sombath was last seen on the evening of December 15, 2012 in Vientiane. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showed that police stopped Sombath’s car at a police post. Within minutes after being stopped, unknown individuals forced him into another vehicle and drove away. Analysis of the CCTV footage shows that Sombath was taken away in the presence of police officers. This fact supports a finding of government complicity. Despite the Lao Government’s pledge to “thoroughly and seriously” investigate Sombath’s disappearance, the authorities’ probe has been inadequate and unproductive and there has been no progress in the investigation.

Sombath’s enforced disappearance is not an isolated incident. To this day, the whereabouts of nine people, two women, Kingkeo and Somchit, as well as seven men, Soubinh, Souane, Sinpasong, Khamsone, Nou,Somkhit, and Sourigna, arbitrarily detained by Lao security forces in November 2009 in various locations across the country remain unknown. The nine had planned peaceful demonstrations calling for democracy and respect of human rights. Also unknown are the whereabouts of Somphone Khantisouk, the owner of an ecotourism guesthouse and an outspoken critic of Chinese-sponsored agricultural projects that were damaging the environment in the northern province of Luang Namtha. He disappeared after uniformed men abducted him in January 2007. Signed by: Read the rest of this entry »

The fight against impunity for international crimes in Africa: No ‘Free Pass’ for leaders say Human Rights Defenders

November 18, 2013

Today, 18 November, a group of 14 Africa-based NGOs came out with a strong statement supporting the ICC which has its annual meeting coming up 20-28 November in the Hague: “African governments should reject special exemptions for sitting officials before the International Criminal Court (ICC)“, African organizations and international organizations with a presence in Africa said in a document released today. The ICC faces important challenges in Africa. In October the African Union said that the trials of Kenya’s president and vice president, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, should be suspended

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Regional ‘Asia Democracy Network’ created in Seoul

October 30, 2013

Tibet-Korea-2013

(The Founding Assembly of the ‘Asia Democracy Network’ and the ‘3rd Seoul Democracy Forum’ held in Seoul, Korea .Photo: TPI)

The meeting held from 21 – 24 October 2013 in Seoul, South Korea, was attended by the over 80 civic leaders, democracy activists human rights defenders from all corners of Asia. The Asia Democracy Network [ADN] is a joint initiative Read the rest of this entry »

Clashing Views of China’s Human Rights Record at UPR session today

October 21, 2013

The New York Times of Monday 20 October carries a post by Chris Buckley which looks at the documentation submitted for today’s UPR session on China and concludes that it seems as if there are two different countries facing scrutiny in Geneva. Read the rest of this entry »

Human rights defenders at the local level in Manipur, India, organise themselves

October 18, 2013

The Hueiyen News Service Imphal, reports that on 19 October  2013 a number of NGOs in Manipur State [a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital] will come together to organise a new “Convention on Protection of Human Rights Defenders of Manipur“. The Convention has been planned against the backdrop of increasing targeting of human rights defenders and their organizations in Manipur by security forces operating under emergency laws. The convention will also discuss the patterns of targeting human rights defenders and adopt specific resolution and strategies to promote the human rights and protection of human rights defenders of Manipur.

via Protection of human rights defenders : 18th oct13 ~ E-Pao! Headlines.

BREAKING NEWS: LAUREATE MEA 2013 JUST ANNOUNCED: JOINT MOBILE GROUP, Russia

October 8, 2013

 new MEA_logo with textThe Joint Mobile Group was selected by the International Human Rights Community (See Jury Below) as the Laureate 2013 of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.  Read the rest of this entry »

UN Human Rights Council should not be a bystander on reprisals, say two Hungarian Ambassadors

October 1, 2013

In the Monitor of the ISHR of 30 September 2013, Ambassadors András Dékány and Istvan Lakatos of Hungary  expresses an important opinion regarding the issue of reprisals against human rights defenders. As it is short here is the full text:

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UN Human Rights Council 2013 condemns crackdown on Human Rights Defenders

September 28, 2013

Michael Ineichen of the International  Service for Human Rights [ISHR] in its Monitor of 27 September 2013 welcomes the adoption of a Resolution by the UN Human Rights Council which condemns the global crackdown on civil society and calls on all ISHR-logo-colour-highgovernments to protect and support the work of non-governmental organisations and human rights defenders. In a resolution adopted that day, entitled ‘Civil society space’, Read the rest of this entry »

Controversy surrounding the death of LGBT activist Eric Ohena Lembembe; Cameroon blames the victims and continues persecution

September 25, 2013

On 23 September Amy Bergquist of the Advocates for Human Rights writes in her blog: The International Justice Program doesn’t get to travel to Geneva very often, but thanks to the United Nations’ live webcasts, we can usually see and hear all the U.N.’s human rights action as it happens. On Friday morning, I was eager to watch the U.N. Human Rights Council’s consideration of the Universal Periodic Review of Cameroon. I was especially moved when one of our colleagues from the Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS (CAMFAIDS) took the floor to speak on behalf of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association and recounted his July 15 discovery of his tortured and murdered colleague, Eric Ohena Lembembe, Read the rest of this entry »

Protection International opens inscription for new e-learning course on Security for HRDs

September 12, 2013

On 7 October 2013, a new course on “Security and protection management for HRD and social organisations” begins on the e-learning platform of Protection International (http://www.e-learning.protectioninternational.org/course/info.php?id=21).

•       Enrolment until 24 September 2013 Read the rest of this entry »