Posts Tagged ‘OMCT’

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OMCT launches documentary “Amazon Indians on borrowed time”

January 28, 2013
ShabanoYanomami.jpg

ShabanoYanomami.jpg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

This 30-minute film, directed by Daniel Schweizer, is part of OMCT’s sponsorship project “Defend the Defenders”. The film follows a mission of OMCT in Brazil, accompanied by the sponsor and actress Noémie Kocher, showcasting human rights defenders of indigenous peoples rights, Megaron and Davi Yanomami Kopenawa. The documentary – available through VIMEO –  illustrates the challenges and threats facing the indigenous Yanomami and Kayapo and their defenders on the construction of Belo Monte hydroelectric dam and illegal mining in Amazonia. http://protectionline.org/2013/01/23/documentary-by-omct-amazon-indians-on-borrowed-time/

 

For more information on the Sponsorship project “Defend the Defenders”, visit OMCT website:bit.ly/u8puEj

 

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Philomène Muamba in CONGO (DRC) threatened

January 24, 2013

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and OMCT, received information from the local group “Voix des sans-voix pour les droits de l’Homme ” about serious threats against the HRD Philomène Muamba, President of ADDEF ( l’Association pour la défense des droits des enfants et femmes opprimés), based in Kasaï-Occidental. It seems that on 17 January at 03h00 in the morning 3 policemen and 2 military came to the house of Ms Philomène Muamba, in Tshikapa, without any written order. As she was not home, they expressed threats against her little sister. Philomène Muamba then lodged a complaint against X  with both the military and civilian prosecutors in Tshikapa.

Since 2011 Philomène Muamba has received several death threats on the telephone along the lines that “you had us arrested and thought we were going to die in jail but …we will bury you”. In 2011 et 2012, she was indeed at the basis of a trial that had led to the conviction of persons who had been accused of several cases of rape. And one should note that on 17 January 2013 around 20h00 several detainees – including men mentioned above – had escaped from the central prison in  Tshikapa.

The original report is only in French: http://www.omct.org/fr/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/congo-dem-republic/2013/01/d22133/

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Portrait of Stanislav Dmitrievsky prominent Russian human rights defender

January 22, 2013

In the framework of its Sponsorship project ‘Defend the defenders‘, OMCT released in January 2013 a portrait of Stanislav Dmitrievsky, prominent Russian human rights defender and Chairman of the Russian Chechen Friendship Society. Mr. Dmitrievsky, who is sponsored by the Swiss Clown Dimitri, is once again facing judicial harassment. As the court summons him for co-authoring the book “International Tribunal for Chechnya”, it is feared that Stanislav Dmitrievsky will have to face criminal charges if the publication is recognized as “extremist material”. Stanislav Dmitrievsky is sponsored by Swiss clown Dimitri in the framework of the OMCT Project Defend the defenders.

Stanislav is a Russian human rights activist, a writer and an editor. He has devoted his life to actively fight against injustice in Russia and North Caucasus. Former Editor-in-chief of the newspaper Pravozaschita (“Human Rights Defense”), he has then been involved in human rights non-profit organisations. He is also involved in the civil society movement against the reportedly unlawful de-listing and demolition of buildings of cultural significance in Russia. He his currently the chairman of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS), a Finland-based NGO.  The mandate of the RCFS is to monitor the human rights respect in North Caucasus and especially Chechnya. Regrettably, Mr. Dmitrievsky had to move the originally Russia-based RCFS headquarters to Finland when the Court of Justice of Nizhnii Novgorod shut down the NGO in 2006.

Mr. Dmitrievsky is also a consultant for the Nizhny Novgorod Foundation to Support Tolerance, directed by Ms. Oksana Chelysheva. This Foundation has taken over the work of the RCFS after its closure in Russia, and is now one of the three organisations composing the reconstituted RCFS in Finland. Their collaboration led to the publication of “International Tribunal for Chechnya”, the book currently subjected to investigation about its alleged “terrorist” content.

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Arbitrary detention of Vietnamese HRDs such as Le Quoc Quan

January 4, 2013

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), reports the arbitrary detention of Mr. Le Quoc Quan, a human rights lawyer and blogger.

On December 27, 2012, Mr. Le Quoc Quan was arrested by the police in Hanoi while dropping off his daughter at school. The police also searched his office and home and confiscated some documents. The police told his family that he would be charged under Article 161 of the Criminal Code, which relates to tax evasion. If condemned, he risks three years in prison and a heavy fine. Mr. Le Quoc Quan, who began a hunger strike on December 28, is currently detained incommunicado in Hoa Lo Prison No. 1. Neither his lawyer nor his family have been able to visit him to date.

Mr. Le Quoc Quan’s arrest follows a recent order by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that authorities renew the fight against anyone using the Internet to “defame and spread propaganda against the State”.Mr. Le Quoc Quan has been harassed constantly since 2007 by the Vietnamese authorities because of his human rights activities. On October 3, 2012, some 50 security police and plain-clothed militia forced entry into the head office of VietNam Credit in Hanoi and its branch office in Saigon. The firm belongs to Mr. Le Quoc Quan and his two brothers. Police seized files and documents belonging to the firm, assaulted the staff and detained the brothers for interrogation. In addition, on August 18, 2012, Mr. Le Quoc Quan was brutally beaten by two unidentified men with iron bars outside his home in Hanoi.

The Observatory recalls that allegations of tax evasion have previously been levelled against human rights defenders. Blogger Nguyen Van Hai, alias Dieu Cay, founding member of the Club of Free Journalists, was initially jailed for tax evasion but then sentenced in September 2012 to 12 years in jail for spreading anti-State propaganda under Article 88 of the Criminal Code, along with two other bloggers and members of the Club of Free Journalists.

via Viet Nam: Arbitrary detention of Mr. Le Quoc Quan / January 4, 2013 / Urgent Interventions / Human rights defenders / OMCT.

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Bangladesh has restrictive environment for HRDs ahead of the 2013 elections concludes Observatory mission

December 7, 2012

Bangladesh is not always high on the agenda of the international human community, so it is interesting to read the preliminary findings of the report below:

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture OMCT, expresses concerns about the restrictive environment for human rights defenders in Bangladesh, after it completed a fact-finding mission in the country on November 22, 2012.

“With the existing polarised political context and increasing tensions ahead of the upcoming 2013 general elections, human rights defenders are put at further risk of human rights violations”, the mission concludes. “While laws have become a tool used by the State to hinder the work of and suppress dissident voices through judicial harassment, a lack of proper judicial safeguards and remedies has allowed for the culture of impunity to continue”.

via Bangladesh: Restrictive environment for human rights defenders ahead of the 2013 elections – Preliminary findings of a fact-finding mission / December 7, 2012 / Urgent Interventions / Human rights defenders / OMCT.

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Portrait number 7 in the OMCT series is: Saida Ali from Kenya

December 7, 2012

Portrait number 7 in the OMCT series is Saida Ali, the Executive Director of the Coalition on Violence Against Women COVAW in Kenya.

via Saida Ali: Ten Portraits against Torture and Impunity / December 7, 2012 / Events / Human rights defenders / OMCT.

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Portrait number 4 in OMCT series is Franklin Castañeda Villacob from Colombia

December 4, 2012

Today’s HRD in the OMCT series is Franklin Castañeda Villacob, 30 years old, working with the Committee of Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) in Colombia

Franklin Castañeda: Ten Portraits against Torture and Impunity / December 4, 2012 / Events / Human rights defenders / OMCT.

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Pierre-Claver Dekpoh the 3nd Portrait in the OMCT series HRDs against Torture

December 3, 2012

For those who did not go to the OMCT website, here is today’s portrait in the series of 10:  Pierre-Claver Akolly Amégnikpo DEKPOH, from Lomé in Togo. He has been engaged in the fight for human dignity and social peace and against injustice since 1990; and has been a member of ACAT-Togo since March 1999. He states that his commitment to the fight against torture and ill-treatment is in keeping with his Christian faith.

via Pierre-Claver Dekpoh: Ten Portraits against Torture and Impunity / December 3, 2012 / Events / Human rights defenders / OMCT.

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10 Portraits of Human Rights Defenders in the next 10 Days at OMCT

December 1, 2012

As Human Rights Defenders are the voice of those who are deprived of it because they are victims of torture, ill-treatment or summary execution, OMCT (one of the 10 NGOs on the Jury of the MEA) has started a series of portraits of those who excel in the fight against torture and impunity.  From 1 to the 10 of December, the organisation will every day put a different HRD in the limelight. They tell about the challenges and the obstacles they face and the hopes and disappointments they encounter in their everyday life. It s`tarts today with Edeliza Hernandez from the Philippines:

I may not refer to each case in this blog but invite you to visit the OMCT website:  http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/events/2012/11/d22051/

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New fact-finding report on Zimbabwe by Observatory for human rights defenders

November 26, 2012

Today, 26 November 2012, The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has published the report “Zimbabwe: Ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral period”.

 

The report analyses multiple forms of harassment facing human rights defenders while they try to do their work, including police summons, disruption of assemblies and protests, police violence, propaganda and slandering, threats of organization closure, and deterrence from participating in international and regional meetings. They remain the target of arbitrary arrests and detentions. Most of these violations are instigated by the police, members of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), militias and traditional leaders. The Censorship Board and the Provincial Governors also take a stance against anyone deemed to run counter the interests of Zanu-PF.

“Almost four years after the conclusion of the GPA, and despite the repeated calls from the international community, the situation of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe remains extremely perilous”, deplored Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President. “Besides the need for radical change in the authorities’ methods, it is of vital importance that the reforming process be completed in conformity to international and regional human rights standards. In particular, the first step is that a new Constitution has to enter into force as soon as possible in order to ensure that human rights are effectively guaranteed”, she added.

 

“It is time that the Zimbabwean authorities stop resorting to legislation that restrict fundamental freedoms as well as encouraging and condoning serious violations of the rights of human rights defenders, including arbitrary arrests or acts of torture”, added Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General. “Accordingly, the authorities must take all the necessary steps to ensure that human rights defenders are able to operate efficiently and without hindrances in the country, as well as to put an end to the climate of impunity that still prevails within the society”, he concluded.

 

The full report is available in English at the following links: http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/obsrapportzim2012eng.pdf

http://www.omct.org/files/2012/11/22036/zimbabwe_mission_report.pdf

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