Posts Tagged ‘OMCT’

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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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FIDH MEMBERS IN DETENTION OR HARASSED FOR THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS WORK

November 21, 2012

In various parts of the world human rights defenders brave legal harassment, arbitrary detention, ill treatment, torture and sometimes death, in seeking to secure freedom and dignity for all. In challenging serious abuses of State power, many such defenders find themselves behind bars;
Les défenseurs des ligues membres de la FIDH emprisonnés
FIDH works endlessly to secure the release of these (and other) human rights defenders, mainly through the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders – its joint programme with OMCT.A recent summing up by FIDH of their (local affiliate) in Bahrain, Belarus, Iran, Turkey and Uzbekistan makes sobering reading:
Check out the steps that led to their detention:

  • In BAHRAIN :Nabeel Rajab, FIDH Deputy Secretary General and President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)

    Abdulhadi AlKhawaja, former President of BCHR

The Bahrain Centre or Human Rights is one the 2012 nominees of the Martin Ennals Award.

  • In BELARUS :Ales Bialiatski, President of the Viasna Human Rights Centre and FIDH Vice President

Since his election in 1994, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, has installed an authoritarian regime that represses freedom of expression, assembly and association. The human rights situation in Belarus markedly deteriorated on 19 December 2010 when riot police brutally dispersed demonstrators protesting against the unfair handling of the presidential election. This event marked the beginning of an unprecedented wave of repression, which continues to this day. Prominent human rights defender, Ales Bialiatski was arrested in Minsk on 4 August 2011 and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison on trumped up tax evasion charges. He remains in prison to this day.

  • In IRAN :Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, founding member of Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) and human rights lawyer

    Abdolfattah Soltani, founding member of DHRC and human rights lawyer

    Mohammad Seifzadeh, member of the DHRC and human rights lawyer

    Nasrin Sotoudeh, member of DHRC and prominent human rights lawyer known for defending juveniles facing death penalty, prisoners of conscience, human rights activists and child victims of abuse; she is lso a 2012 MEA nominee

  • In TURKEY :Muharrem Erbey, IHD Vice Chairperson and former Chairperson of Diyarbakır branch
    Arslan Özdemir, Executive, IHD Diyarbakır branch
    Şerif Süren, Executive, IHD Aydın branch
    Orhan Çiçek, Executive, IHD Aydın branch
    Reşit Teymur, Executive, IHD Siirt branch
    Abdulkadir Çurğatay, Executive, IHD Mardin branch
    Veysi Parıltı, Executive, IHD Mardin branch
    Şaziye Önder, representative IHD Doğubeyazıt (Ağrı)
    Mensur Işık, former Chairperson, IHD Muş branch
    Hikmet Tapancı, Executive, IHD Malatya branch
    Ali Tanrıverdi, Chairperson IHD Mersin branch
    Osman İşçi, IHD General Headquarters (Ankara) former worker and member of IHD
    Hanim Koçygit, Executive, IHD Sakarya branch
    Bekir Gürbüz, former Chairperson, IHD Adıyaman branch

FIDH notes in this respect: Despite Turkey’s considerable human rights progress since 2000, those expressing ideas on “sensitive” human rights related issues continue to be targeted and criminalised by the public authorities. So-called “sensitive” questions include the promotion of alternative identities to the Turkish mainstream (e.g. asserting the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, especially Kurds, as well as the rights of sexual minorities). It also encompasses any criticism of the State and its institutions, including institutional functioning, judicial independence, and impunity for human rights violations. Members of NGOs, lawyers, trade unionists, journalists, intellectuals, academics, conscientious objectors, the families of victims of serious human rights violations, and others have been targeted by State policies that consider their expression of their views to be a threat. Fourteen members of the Human Rights Association (IHD), a Turkish FIDH member organisation, are currently being held in preventive detention under an anti-terrorism law that criminalises legitimate expression of opinion.

  • In UZBEKISTAN :Zafar Rakhimov, member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU) Kashkadarya regional branch
    Nasim Isakov, member of the HRSU Djizak regional branch
    Yuldosh Rasulov, member of the HRSU Kashkadarya regional branch
    Azam Formonov, Head of the Sirdarya regional branch of the HRSU
    Gaybullo Jalilov, member of the HRSU Karshi regional branch

Uzbekistan has the highest number of human rights defenders serving lengthy prison sentences in Eastern Europe/Central Asia. These sentences are usually served in penal colonies where the regime is extremely strict. Harsh conditions and ill treatment have caused the health of incarcerated defenders to deteriorate quickly. These inhumane and degrading conditions are currently the reality of several members of FIDH member organisation, the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan.

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Good news from the Gambia: judicial harassment of 2 HRDs ended

November 15, 2012

On November 14, 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), announced and welcomed the vindication of two women human rights defenders in The Gambia following two years of judicial harassment.

On November 12, the Banjul Magistrates’ Court decided to drop all charges against Dr. Isatou Touray and Ms. Amie Bojang-Sissoho, respectively Executive Director and Programme Coordinator of The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP), an organisation working on sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and children. The two women human rights defenders had been prosecuted since October 2010 on charges of “theft” for the alleged embezzlement of 30,000 Euros received in 2009 from “Yolocamba Solidaridad”, a Spanish development NGO.

This landmark decision puts an end to an uninterrupted judicial harassment that had been going on for more than two years, since the police started interrogations of GAMCOTRAP staff in May 2010. Since the opening of their trial, Dr. Isatou Touray and Amie Bojang-Sissoho had been summoned to 66 hearings, which took place in a hostile atmosphere and on completely unlawful grounds. Indeed, the alleged victims had never filed a complaint and the Prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence that they had indeed committed a criminal offence. Furthermore, on January 31, 2011, Ms. Begoña Ballestros Sanchez, Director of Yolocamba Solidaridad, denied accusing anyone associated with GAMCOTRAP of theft and submitting a complaint in relation thereof during a hearing at Banjul Magistrate’s Court. During interrogation, Ms. Isatou Touray had to respond to very precise questions by the Prosecutor covering all aspects of GAMCOTRAP’s activities, staff and resources that are unrelated to the charges. In addition, the Prosecutor also repeatedly made depreciating comments about the work of GAMCOTRAP’s programme to eradicate female genital mutilation.

One can only hope that their acquittal marks a step forward in the respect of the rights of human rights defenders in the Gambia.

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Punitive measures imposed on detained human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh

October 21, 2012
Paris-Geneva, October 19, 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), strongly condemns the harassment faced by Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh and, more generally, denounces the policy of subjecting jailed human rights defenders to punitive measures in prison.
Since her arbitrary arrest and detention in September 2010, Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer known for defending juveniles facing death penalty, prisoners of conscience, human rights activists and children victims of abuse and a member of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC), who is serving a six-year imprisonment sentence in Evin prison, has been subjected to increasingly restrictive and clearly discriminative and arbitrary conditions of detention.Mrs Sotoudeh was recently honored as the MEA 2012 nominee (see http://www.martinennalsaward.org for a short film on her work).
In recent weeks, Ms. Sotoudeh’s visiting day has been changed from Sunday to Wednesday without any legitimate ground being provided by the prison authorities. In addition to being deprived of face-to-face family visits, the new measure, which contravenes the prison’s rules, has made it more and more difficult for her to receive visits from her family over the past three months. It is also to be recalled that Ms. Sotoudeh has been banned from making phone calls since May 2011.
The Observatory recalls that punitive measures against Ms. Sotoudeh are not new. Previously, Ms. Sotoudeh had been held for long periods in solitary confinement and denied contact with her family and lawyer. She also reportedly suffered acts of torture in prison in order to force her to confess. On July 11, the authorities banned her husband and her 12-year-old daughter from travelling abroad. This case has now been referred to the Islamic Revolution Court (Branch 28), which has summoned them to appear.
To protest against these measures which violate her right to receive unhindered visits by her family, Ms. Sotoudeh started an unlimited hunger strike on October 17, raising further concerns for her physical integrity. It should be recalled that she had already come close to death in 2010 after three dry hunger strikes to protest her conditions of detention and violations of due process during her trial.
“The conditions of detention imposed on Nasrin Sotoudeh are unacceptable and clearly aim at imposing additional punishment on her for her human rights activities”, declared Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President.
“The punitive measures against Ms. Sotoudeh while in detention once more illustrate the relentless policy of the Iranian authorities to stifle human rights defenders, which should be strongly condemned by the whole international community”, added Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General.
The Observatory firmly denounces the policy of harassment against Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh, through arbitrary detention, judicial harassment and punitive measures in prison, which only aims at sanctioning her legitimate human rights activities. It also urges the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her as well all other imprisoned human rights defenders, and more generally to conform to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights instruments ratified by Iran.
For further information, please contact:
• FIDH: Arthur Manet / Audrey Couprie: + 33 1 43 55 25 18
• OMCT: Delphine Reculeau : + 41 22 809 49 39

 

 

Punitive measures imposed on detained human rights defender must cease : humanrights-ir.org.

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