In a piece published in the Alaska Dispatch of 8 August 2013, Phil Lynch, the Director of the Geneva-based International Service for Human Rights, contemplates what the next session of the UN Human Rights Council could do to improve the fate of HRDs.
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Posts Tagged ‘Non-governmental organization’
Phil Lynch of ISHR expects UN Human Rights Council to enhance protection of HRDs
August 9, 2013UN Rapporteur joins chorus to urge freedom for Bialiatski in Belarus
August 2, 2013
Special Rapporteur on Belarus Miklós Haraszti. – Photo: OSCE/Susanna Lööf
2 August 2013 the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Republic of Belarus, Miklós Haraszti, said that the detention of Bialiatski is “a symbol of the repression against human rights defenders.” Read the rest of this entry »
Russian Rights Defender Gannushkina Fined For Refusing Documents
June 26, 2013
(Svetlana Gannushkina)Prominent Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina has been fined for refusing to provide documents demanded by prosecutors. A court in Moscow ruled late on June 18 that the chairwoman of Moscow-based Civic Collaboration Committee must pay 2,000 rubles (50 Euro) for failing to turn over papers related to the financial activities of her organization. Gannushkina, a Soviet-era veteran rights defender, has been refusing to provide the documents to investigators since April. Prosecutors made the request under the new law requiring all nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign funding and engage in political activity to register as ‘foreign agents’. [Last week, a Moscow court rejected an appeal by Russia’s independent election monitor, Golos, against the 300,000 ruble $9,500 fine imposed on the group under the legislation.] Based on reporting by Interfax and ITAR-TASS
via Russian Rights Defender Fined For Refusing Demand For Documents.
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Russian NGO “For Human Rights” forcibly evicted from offices
June 25, 2013Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders condemns the brutal use of force against the Russian NGO ‘’For Human Rights’’ and its chairman Lev Ponomaryov, during the organisation’s forcible eviction Saturday night, 22 June 2013. Read the rest of this entry »
Assessing Needs of Human Rights Defenders and Strategies for Collaboration: results of a workshop
June 20, 2013As far back as October 2012 in Lima, Peru, during the 7th Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED – U.S.A) organised a workshop on one of my favorite topics: how the existing efforts for and among human rights defenders (HRDs) could more effectively meet the needs of endangered human rights defenders (HRDs) Read the rest of this entry »
New Guide for human rights defenders on domestic implementation of UN human rights recommendations
June 18, 2013The Australia-based Human Rights Law Centre and the International Service for Human Rights have jointly published a Guide for Human Rights Defenders on Domestic Implementation of UN Human Rights Recommendations. The Guide considers strategies and tactics that NGOs can use to contribute to the implementation of UN recommendations at the national level. Effective follow-up by civil society is vital to ensuring that UN recommendations lead to an improvement of the human rights situation on the ground. The Guide is intended for a diverse audience, working in different countries and sectors, and with different areas of focus and expertise. The 20-page booklet outlines a range of strategies with a view to NGOs identifying those which are most appropriate to their domestic political, legal, economic, and social contexts and their organisation’s goals, resources, and working methods.
PDF at: Guide for Human Rights Defenders on Domestic Implementation of UN Human Rights Recommendations.
Results of G-Media course ‘Media Empowerment on Human Rights’ of May 2013
June 17, 2013Gmedia concluded its 4th workshop in its Media Empowerment on Human Rights programme held in Geneva from 13 to 17 May 2013 in collaboration with OMCT and with the participation of thirteen journalists, four from Guatemala and nine from Kenya. As part of the programme, Gmedia makes its workshops run in parallel with the UN Committee on Torture (CAT) sessions. Journalists participated in debates and discussions conducted by Human Rights experts from the academia, Media, UN Agencies, Permanent Missions and International NGOs on such topics as the Human Rights doctrine, monitoring mechanisms and institutions, sharing experiences and good practices, and challenging the role of media as a human rights defender. Journalists had also the opportunity to attend and report on the Committee against torture session concerning their respective countries.
As a result, the course can point to 37 published articles, video broadcasted and radio programs by participants in Guatemala and Kenya and 3 live coverage on CAT broadcasted in Kenyan television. Gmedia is currently working on the development of its next workshop to follow the sessions of the UPR in October 2013.
via Newsletter June 2013.
National Coalition for Human Rights Defenders in Uganda launched
June 14, 2013The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project announced the launch of the new Ugandan National Coalition for Human Rights Defenders on Tuesday 11 June 2013. Six leading human rights organisations (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, Human Rights Network Uganda, Human Rights Centre Uganda, Avocats Sans Frontiers, NGO Forum and Foundation for Human Rights Initiative) took the initiative to bring human rights defenders HRDs in Uganda together under one national coalition to enhance their protection and co-ordination. A 2012 report by Human Rights Centre Uganda, “The Quest for an enabling working environment for human rights defenders in Uganda” prepared the ground.
Special Rapporteur’s next report focuses on HRDs and large-scale development projects: you can contribute!
June 14, 2013The next thematic report of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, to the General Assembly in October 2013 will focus on the links between large-scale development projects and a safe and enabling
- environment for human rights defenders, with a particular emphasis on the challenges of the human rights-based approach to development and the role of human rights defenders. This is indeed – as also shown in this blog – a growing area of concern with many HRDs working on e.g. land grabbing, forced evictions, environmental issues or the protection of indigenous minorities under constant threats and many having been killed .
To this end, the Special Rapporteur is requesting Member States, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations and regional human rights mechanisms to answer a questionnaire. If you would like to contribute to this exercise, kindly complete the questionnaire and send it to defenders@ohchr.org. Deadline: 24 June 2013!. Should you have any question, please send an e-mail to the same address. Questionnaire to be found via Questionnaire on large-scale development.
ODIHR launches new project for protection of human rights defenders in OSCE region
June 13, 2013
Antoine Madelin of the International Federation for Human Rights (OSCE/Shiv Sharma)
A new project to promote the effective protection of human rights defenders through the development of recommendations for governments was launched by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) at a two-day expert meeting in Warsaw on 10 and 11 June 2013. Read the rest of this entry »
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 