Posts Tagged ‘Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’
October 23, 2013
On 22 October 2013 the Office of the United Nations High Commissioners for Human Rights called for the immediate release of a well-known Qatari poet who it says was harshly sentenced for a poem considered to be encouraging the overthrow of the ruling system of the country. Mohammed al Ajami – also known as Ibn al Dheeb – was initially sentenced to life in prison on 29 November 2012 for the poem, which was also considered insulting to the nation’s symbols. His sentence was reduced to 15 years last February during a second appeal. On 20 October, Qatar’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, decided to uphold the 15-year sentence. Mr. al Ajami’s only recourse now is to appeal for clemency to the Emir of Qatar, the home country of Al-Jazeera. “This sentence is clearly disproportionate,” OHCHR spokesperson Cécile Pouilly told reporters in Geneva. “Last January, we already publicly expressed our concerns about the harsh sentencing, the fairness of his trial and about the many months Mr. al Ajami had spent in solitary confinement,” she added.
via United Nations News Centre – Citing freedom of expression, UN calls for release of Qatari poet given 15-year sentence.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Al-Jazeera, freedom of expression, Geneva, Ibn al Dheeb, imprisonment, Mohammed al-Ajami, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Office of the United Nations High Commissioners for Human Rights, poet, Qatar, release, sentence, Sentence (law), United Nations
October 14, 2013
Mario Joseph, Haiti – Final Nominee MEA 2013
An unintended consequence of the MEA ceremony on 8 October was that Mario Joseph – one of the 3 Final Nominees for this award – used his speech to make clear how disturbed he was by the UN’s refusal to assume its responsibility for the cholera epidemic caused by UN troops in Haiti. Mrs Pillay – the UN High commissioner for human rights – in her speech replied to the challenge by repeating an earlier position that had mostly gone unnoticed: “I have used my voice both inside the United Nations and outside to call for the right — for an investigation by the United Nations, by the country concerned, and I still stand by the call that victims of — of those who suffered as a result of that cholera be provided with compensation”. Associated Press reported this on 8 October but left out the context by just stating: ‘Pillay said at an awards ceremony for human rights activists in Geneva… streamed live on the Internet.’ So, now you know!
via UN human rights official urges compensation for Haiti cholera victims – Washington Post.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | 2 Comments »
Tags: Associated Press, Cholera, compensation, Geneva, Haiti, immunity, Mario Joseph, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, MEA ceremony, MEA nominees 2013, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations, Washington Post
September 27, 2013
On 26 September 2013 many countries attended the first ministerial meeting held at the United Nations on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals.
(UN Photo/Amanda Voisard)
Foreign ministers attending the meeting, held on the margins of the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate, adopted a declaration pledging not just to protect LGBT rights but also to counter homophobic and transphobic attitudes. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay commended
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: argentina, Brazil, Croatia, equality, European Union, France, homophobia, HRW, Human right, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, LGBT, LGBT rights, LGBTI, meeting, Navi Pillay, Netherlands, non-discrimination, Norway, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, sexual identity, United Nations, United States Secretary of State
September 22, 2013
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in a statement which some claim unusual for a top UN official to direct at a UN-member country, took aim at Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, and other government officials, just after her visit last month to Sri Lanka. During the visit at least three government ministers “joined in an extraordinary array of distortion and abuse” which is continuing now, Pillay’s spokesman, Rupert Colville, told reporters in Geneva: “We consider it deeply regrettable that government officials and other commentators continue what appears to be a coordinated campaign of disinformation in an attempt to discredit the high commissioner or to distract from the core messages of her visit.” Pillay’s office sent a formal complaint to the government demanding that it immediately retract and publicly correct “misinformation”.
In the statement Pillay complained that the defence secretary made widely reported but false claims that she had asked President Rajapaksa during their private meeting to remove a statue of Sri Lanka’s first prime minister from Colombo’s Independence Square. “Firstly, we categorically deny that the high commissioner ever uttered a single word about the statue of Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake at any point during her visit to Sri Lanka, let alone asked the president to remove it. This claim is without a shred of truth,” Colville said. “Secondly, there has been a further distortion concerning comments the high commissioner made to the president concerning a flag in Independence Square.” Pillay asked the president why the flag of one religious community was flying next to the national flag in such a symbolic location, Colville said.
UN rights Chief hits out at senior officials and Gota for waging misinformation campaign.
The full statement is made available on the OCHR website
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Colombo, Colville, Geneva, Gota, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, human rights, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Navi Pillay, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, politics, Sri Lanka
September 10, 2013
On 9 September 2013, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that she had an immediate concern for the protection of human rights defenders, journalists and communities that she met during her recent visit to Sri Lanka. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Civil society, diplomatic pressure, fact finding, Geneva, genocide, government of sri lanka, Human Rights Defenders, human rights situation, LTTE, Navi Pillay, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravinatha Aryasinha, retaliation, Sri Lanka, sri lanka delegation, TamilNet, UN Human Rights Council, vibrant civil society
September 8, 2013
2013 Martin Ennals Award ceremony
October 8th, 2013, 6 pm
Please subscribe online: http://www.martinennalsaward.org
The Martin Ennals Foundation and the City of Geneva announce the 20th ceremony of Martin Ennals Award for human rights defenders. This event is integrated within Human Rights Week, a four-day event organized at the University of Geneva. This ceremony is open to the public. All who are interested in human rights are welcome to come and pay tribute to these men and women who are engaged in the defense of human rights, often risking their lives. It is crucial that the public knows the work of these individuals, not only in Geneva but also at the international level, in order to ensure that they can benefit from a certain degree of protection.
The following 3 nominees were carefully selected by the Jury of the Martin Ennals Award, made up of ten of the world’s leading human rights organisations:
- Ms Mona Seif (Egypt) who is one of the core founders of the ”No To Military Trials for Civilians”, a grassroots initiative that aims to stop military trials for civilians in Egypt.
- The Joint Mobile Group (Russia) seeks accountability for human rights abuses in Chechnya, notably enforced disappearances, torture in custody, and extra-judicial executions.
- Mr Mario Joseph (Haïti) has been referred to as Haiti’s most prominent human rights lawyer, and has worked on some of the most important cases including the one against former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier.
Ms Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will present the award to one of these nominees. The ceremony will be held in French and in English at Uni-Dufour, Jean-Piaget auditorium, U-600 at 6 pm. A live broadcast will be given in the Charles-Rouiller auditorium, U-300, located in the same building and it should also be streamed on the internet.
Posted in films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | 2 Comments »
Tags: 2013 ceremony, City of Geneva, Egypt, Final Nominees for the Martin Ennals Award 2013, Geneva, Haiti, human rights, human rights awards, Joint Mobile Group, Mario Joseph, Martin Ennals Award, MEA, Mona Seif, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Russia, United Nations, University of Geneva
September 6, 2013
Truth commission archives are an important part of dealing with the past, which is a long-term process addressing a legacy of human rights violations.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: archives, documenting, human rights, Human Rights and Liberties, human rights violations, impunity, meeting, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, science, side event, Special Rapporteur, Swisspeace, Switzerland, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Truth commissions, United Nations Human Rights Council
August 16, 2013
The statement below was picked up from the Official Government news agency of Sri Lanka on 15 August 2013. I do not know who the professors in question are and therefore we cannot know whether they are human rights defenders, but in view of earlier retaliation by the governmental media in that country against those who testified before the UN mechanisms on human rights and the tone of the message, there is no doubt that those who speak out risk more than disagreement! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Britain, Colombo, freedom of expression, Human Rights Defenders, Jagath Jayasuriya, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Navanethem Pillay, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, retaliation, Sri Lanka, Tamil Eelam, Tamil National Alliance
June 27, 2013
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Thursday 27 June said there had been significant achievements since a historic human rights document was adopted in Vienna 20 years ago, but there have also been many setbacks and “the magnificent construction is still only half built.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 1 Comment »
Tags: Democratic Republic of Congo, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, International Criminal Court, Navi Pillay, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Pillay, politics, Sarajevo, Vienna, Vienna +20 Conference
June 21, 2013
In June 2013, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights visited former Yugoslavia. In both Serbia and Kosovo she mentioned that human rights defenders have a key role to play:
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Human right, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, internally displaced, Kosovo, Kosovo Liberation Army, minority rights, Navi Pillay, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Pillay, refugees, Serbia, United Nations, UPR
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 