Posts Tagged ‘Russia’
April 10, 2014
In a hearing observed on 8 April by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT joint programme), the Saint Petersburg City Court upheld that the Anti-Discrimination Centre (ADC) “Memorial”, a prominent Russian NGO was performing the functions of a “foreign agent” and had to register as such for its human rights work.
At the end of yesterday’s hearing, which lasted less than an hour, the Observatory mission delegate reported that the judge interrupted ADC “Memorial’s lawyers on several occasions throughout the session, thereby hindering their capacity to develop their arguments and breaching their right to a fair trial and due process, while no one objection or remark was voiced when the prosecutor was speaking. Once again, the City Court pointed a report submitted by ADC “Memorial” to the United Nations Committee Against Torture in 2012 as the only evidence of its so-called “political activities Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | Leave a Comment »
Tags: ADC Memorial, Civil society, civil society organisations, FIDH, foreign agent law, funding, legal proceeddings, Memorial, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, Russia, the Saint Petersburg City Court, trial observation
April 1, 2014
As a result of the annexation of the Crimea, the Russian Procurator-General has found himself in a legal conundrum. The local NGO “Crimea Human Rights Centre” [CHRC] had for years militated in favour of the rights of the Russian speaking majority and insisted on the right to self-determination already in 2005 as the only way to secure their rights.
As the NGO receives funding from abroad (mostly from the Russian government but also from a rich businessman in Abkhazia), it had been forced on 2 February 2014 to register under the new Ukrainian “Foreign Agents law” [see my earlier post: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/ukraine-follows-russias-example-again-human-rights-defenders-labeled-as-foreign-agents/].
As a result, the members of the CHRC had even been forced to wear T-shirts with the text: “Foreign Agent”. With the integration of the Crimea, several staff members had stopped wearing the hated T-shirts but a certain, Aleksey Baburinko, one of the few Ukrainian human rights defenders left in the Crimea, lodged a complaint saying the CHRC still fell under the law on Foreign Agents, “either the Ukrainian or the Russian version”.
Today, 1 April 2014, the local Prosecutor’s office in Sebastopol issued a statement that wearing the T-shirts was no longer necessary but that the issue of registration would be referred to the new Russian Minister for Crimean Affairs, Oleg Savelyev, who has just been appointed.
Via http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/1april2014
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Crimea, foreign agent law, itar-tass, NGO, prosecutors office, Russia, Ukraine
March 6, 2014
Igor Kalyapin – as President of the Joint Mobile Group [JMG] – is recipient of the 2013 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders [http://www.martinennalsaward.org which contains an excellent short film on his work] as well as the 2011 Front Line Defenders 
Award [http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/16876]. In spite of this, he is continually subjected to a defamation campaign, the most recent incident taking place on 25 February 2014, at a meeting of the Civil Chamber of the Chechen Republic, where the Head of the Republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, accused Igor Kalyapin of being a “traitor of the nation” and a man who defends “bandits and drug addicts” and “promotes his personal interests”.
On 25 February 2014, Ramzan Kadyrov further accused the human rights defender of using human rights work to make a career. Kadyrov stated that there are ‘real’ human rights defenders in Chechnya and that the Republic does not need ‘Kalyapins’. This statement was broadcast by the state TV channel Vainakh. Kadyrov went on to list cases which are being investigated by Igor Kalyapin and the JMG (such as Islam Umarpashaev and Ruslan Kutaev – more information on these cases on: http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/.)
Posted in awards, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Joint Mobile Group, MEA | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Chechen Republic, Chechnya, defamation, Front Line (NGO), human rights awards, Human rights defender, Igor Kalyapin, intimidation, JMG, Joint Mobile Group, Kadyrov, laureate MEA, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Ramzan Kadyrov, Russia
March 6, 2014
Rolando Jiménez Perez, Chilean human rights defender, is given the floor in the newsletter of the International Service for Human Rights [ISHR] of February 2014. Here are some of the most quotable statements but the whole interview with Camille Marquis is worth reading:
‘I wanted to fight for human rights in order to help lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals and to put an end to any brutality for reasons of sexual orientation and gender identity. During the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, Rolando Jiménez Pérez was a member of the Communist Party driven, along with his fellow party workers, by the goal of restoring democracy. His sexuality was used by the party as a means to belittle him. This brought home to Rolando just how strong a role a person’s sexual orientation could play and he made up his mind that once the dictatorship was over he would turn his attention entirely to human rights and in particular towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Chile, Civil society, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights mechanisms, International Service for Human Rights, ISHR, LGBT, lgbt human rights, LGBTI, Movilh, NGOs, non-discrimination, Rolando Jiménez Perez, Russia, UN Human Rights Council, UPR
February 28, 2014
Regular readers of this blog know that I like the idea of holding celebrities accountable (most recently: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/star-power-and-human-rights-a-difficult-but-doable-mix/). The reason is that there is a mutually reinforcing (and for many profitable) interaction between the stars and the media (which in turn feed on the interest of the public). Celebrities’ views on all kind of issues – including human rights – can hardly be called private. Their social media are virtual industries and influence millions globally. So it seems a good idea to have an annual look at which celebrities have advanced and which have harmed the cause of human rights around the world. Halvorssen and Leigh Hancock ( of the Human Rights Foundation) have done exactly that in the Atlantic on 27 February 2004 and linked it to the upcoming Oscars night on Sunday.
(Gary Hershorn/Reuters)
The list of celebrities deserving recognition for their accomplishments in the field of human rights or those who should be ashamed for supporting human-rights violators, is long and contains many video links. Like the real Oscars, the list is slanted in terms of geopolitical interest and I think that if all major international human rights organisations would get together to agree on a list if would be more balanced, but that is probably wishful thinking. Still, the Human Rights Foundation deserves credit for this creative initiative. and here is the summary:
The Nominees for Outstanding Work in the Field of Human Rights Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | 5 Comments »
Tags: Africa, Angola, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bahrain, Bassem Youssef, Ben Kingsley, Bono, celebrities, China, Colin Firth, Cui Jian, democratic republic of the congo, Dennis Rodman, Egypt, Emma Thompson, Equatorial Guinea, Fat Joe, Gabriela Montero, George Clooney, Gustavo Dudamel, Halvorssen, hollywood, human rights, Human Rights Foundation, human trafficking, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Stewart, Julio Iglesias, Kanye West, Kazakhstan, Khalid Abdalla, Kim Kardashian, Leigh Hancock, LGBT rights, Libya, Madonna, major star power, Mariah Carey, Muammar Gaddafi, North Korea, oscar night, Oscars, Russia, Susan Sarandon, the Atlantic, The Square, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Venezuela
February 26, 2014
Interfax-Ukraine reports today that the Ukrainian Security Service has lifted an entry ban it had earlier imposed on a number of foreign activists and human rights defenders, including journalist Yury Barabash and human rights defender Andrei Yurov, both Russian citizens. As I reported earlier Yurov, a member of the Russian presidential Human Rights Council and a Moscow Helsinki Group expert, had been barred from entering Ukraine to take part in an international conference in Kiev (Kyiv): https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/andrei-yurov/ [The head of the Human Rights Council, Mikhail Fedotov, had called on the new Ukrainian authorities on Sunday to lift the entry ban.]
via Ukrainian Security Service lifts entry ban from some foreign activists, rights defenders.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: access, Andrei Yurov, barring, entry, Human Rights Council, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Interfax-Ukraine, Journalist, Kiev, Kyiv, Moscow Helsinki Group, Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian Security Service, Yurov, Yury Barabash
February 25, 2014
(Photo Credit: SchuminWeb via Wikimedia Commons)
In ForceChange Avram Reisman posts an appeal to be signed asking President Putin of Russia to investigate attacks against human rights defenders. The background is that in early February 2014, human rights defender Igor Sazhin’s apartment was attacked by an unknown assailant. Video from Sazhin’s apartment building shows that the man set the rug outside his family’s apartment ablaze after dousing it with fuel. Despite Sizhan filing a complaint with the police immediately afterward, the police claim the attempted arson was not a crime and refuse to investigate. Sazhin is a founding member of the Komi Human Rights Commission, which has been consistently targeted by the ultra-nationalist group Northern Frontier. In May 2013, Northern Frontier attacked a meeting of the Human Rights Commission. In addition, they have posted the names and addresses of many local human rights defenders, including Sazhin.
The open letter asks President Putin to denounce any violent political actions as deplorable; without this official response, human rights defenders across Russia will be in implicitly acceptable targets for ultra-nationalists.
Investigate Attacks Against Human Rights Defender – ForceChange.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: arson, attacks, Avram Reisman, campaign, ForceChange, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Igor Sazhin, intimidation, Komi Human Rights Commission, Komi Republic, President Putin, Putin, Russia, threats
February 18, 2014
On 16 February 2014 Faith Karimi and Neda Farshbaf wrote for CNN how pop star Rihanna is adding major star power to the campaign for gay rights in Russia. The singer behind hits such as “Disturbia” and “SOS” tweeted a photo of herself wearing a hat emblazoned with P6,
short for Principle 6. This campaign speaks out against Russia’s anti-gay propaganda law as the nation hosts the Winter Olympics. And Rihanna has 34 million followers on Twitter! The photo links to her Instagram account, which has about 12 million followers. In subsequent tweets, she posted links to other articles highlighting the issue.
Rihanna adds star power to P6 campaign for gay rights in Russia – CNN.com.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: 2014 winter olympics, CNN, Disturbia, gay rights, gay rights in Russia, instagram, LGBT, lgbt human rights, LGBTI, major star power, music, P6 campaign, pop star, Rihanna, Russia, Sochi, SOS, star power, twitter
February 15, 2014
This is a long but excellent to piece to read over the weekend by Stefania Kulaeva of the remarkable NGO Memorial in Russia:
AT THE TIME of the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi it is important to remember the human rights abuse of minorities and their defenders in Russia. This is a question for gay people but also for Roma, immigrant workers and members of other ethnic communities.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: 2014 winter olympics, ADC Memorial, campaign, foreign funding, Front Line (NGO), Human Rights Defenders, human rights violations, LGBT, Memorial, migrants, minorities, non-discrimination, roma, Russia, Sochi, Stefania Kulaeva, woman human rights defender
February 11, 2014
It sounds almost like a joke but it truly happened. On 9 February 2014 Ukrainian border officials barred a Russian human rights defender from entering the country, according to Human Rights Watch: Andrei Yurov, a member of Russia’s presidential human rights council and the Head of its permanent commission on human rights outside Russia, was deported to Russia upon his arrival at Borispyl airport in Kiev. Yurov was to meet in Kiev with Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muiznieks, and to work within the International Human Rights Defenders’ Group on the Situation in Ukraine, which was founded on December 1, 2013, in response to the November 30 police violence against peaceful protesters in Kiev.
“Yurov’s expulsion is an unprecedented and wholly regrettable step,” said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of driving out human rights defenders the Ukrainian government should be open to scrutiny of its human rights record during this crisis.”
via Ukraine: Russian Rights Defender Expelled | Human Rights Watch.
Posted in HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Andrei Yurov, barring, Council of Europe, expulsion, HRW, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch, International Human Rights Defenders’ Group on the Situation in Ukraine, Kiev, Nils Muižnieks, non-cooperation, Russia, Ukraine, visa denial
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 