Posts Tagged ‘Syria’

End of year reports differ but show sharp increase in journalists killed

December 21, 2012

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters without Borders (RSF) have just released their annual counts of killed journalists. Although their figures differ somewhat: 67 killed for CPJ and 88 for RSF, both organizations show a sharp increase in the number of killings.The main reason is Syrian where journalists are also directly targeted by the governemnt security services or jihadist fighters.

For more information:

CPJ report http://www.cpj.org/reports/2012/12/journalist-deaths-spike-in-2012-due-to-syria-somal.php

RSF report  http://en.rsf.org/2012-journalists-netizens-decimated-19-12-2012,43806.html

via Media and human rights: End of year: a sharp increase in the number of killed journalists.

Blogger and symbol of Syria uprising, RAZAN GHAZZAWI, wins Front Line human rights award

June 11, 2012

MARY FITZGERALD, Foreign Affairs Correspondent of the Irish Times, did an excellent profile on this courageous woman, who is on trial in a military court for her part in the anti-regime protest. It is worth reading in full: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0609/1224317568749.html

IN HER OWN WORDS: THE POSTINGS OF RAZAN GHAZZAWI:

“Do you understand, that I was scared to protest, but now I am no longer scared? Do you understand that I was scared of detention and now we don’t even think about it? ‘Fuck it all. My people are being killed,’ is what everyone is saying.”

“There is a common feeling that is generally discussed in Syria, well, at least in Damascus where I live. It has to do with the question: ‘What can I do more for the revolution?’”

“I can write about those amazing revolutionaries who left their families and children and [are] living solely for this revolution . . . some were detained and tortured, you stand listening to them speak about their experience with detention, and you know that what you witnessed from detention is nothing compared to theirs, those unknown activists, the unprivileged, who don’t have Facebook nor Twitter, but they are the very ones who inspire you and make you truly believe that there is hope.”

“People who do not live in a country that is living a revolution may not know that time is revolutionaries’ biggest enemy . . .

“I have a 10-to-5 job, after that I go to do some other work till 9, sometimes till 11.

“I get home to check my email and

Facebook to discover new massacres, new statements, and further escalations on many levels.”

“Yesterday, regime army bombed the neighborhood of Karm El- Zeitoun in the city of Homs and destroyed several buildings, two whole streets were evacuated, and 27 civilians killed, many were injured . . . [the] regime’s violence keeps surprising us. Last night when I saw this picture I froze for a moment before I ‘shared’ it on my [Facebook] wall. I didn’t cry, I didn’t have room for more anger, I just felt helpless, I felt time was, is, not on my side . . . After last night’s massacre, Syrians now feel more outraged and will cry for the right to self-defense, even if they didn’t agree with the term the day before.

“That’s precisely how regime violence is pushing the country to more violence, that’s precisely how time moves very rapidly, and leaves you back in history.”

Syria: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights does not mince words before General Assembly

February 16, 2012

While many of us are in despair over the inaction by the Security Council due to the exercise of a veto on geopolitical grounds, one high level official, Mrs Pillay, at least speaks out relentlessly, recently at the General Assembly of the UN in New York. The short video here embedded was uploaded by the UN:

States must “act now” to protect Syrian people, UN human rights chief tells General Assembly – YouTube.

Blogging Human Rights Defender in Syria Razzan Ghazzawi arrested

December 8, 2011

Amidst the many violations and massive repression reported from Syria, there is the risk that individual cases will go unnoticed. Therefore your attention is drawn to the arrest on 4 December of 31-year old Razan Ghazzawi at the Syrian-Jordanian border. She was arrested  by the Syrian immigration police while she was heading to Amman in order to attend the “Forum of defenders of freedom of expression in the Arab region” in her capacity of media officer of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), a non-recognized Syria-based human rights organization. On her blog <http://razanghazzawi.com/> note that she courageously uses her real name !– Razzan Ghazzawi has been advocating for freedom of opinion in Syria and in the Arab region. Since the beginning of the unrest in Syria, Razzan has extensively covered violations of freedom of expression, including arbitrary arrests of journalists, bloggers and covered the political situation from a cultural perspective.

The Euro-Mediterrean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) fears that Razzan Ghazzawi may be subjected to ill treatments or acts of torture.

For more information, please contact:
In Brussels, Hayet Zeghiche hze@euromedrights.net <mailto:hze@euromedrights.net>
In Cairo, Shaimaa Abou Elkhir shy@euromedrights.net <mailto:shy@euromedrights.net

Martin Ennals Award ceremony 2011 now on-line: martinennalsawrd.org

October 16, 2011

Last Thursday, 13 October, the ceremony for Kasha, the Ugandan 2011 laureate of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, took place in Geneva, again in the beautiful Victoria Hall. There was a large audience of 600 people. Moreover, the 2010 MEA laureate, Muhannad al-Hassani from Syria, also made a surprise appearance. The True Heroes Foundation made a 8-minute summary of highlights of the ceremony and this overview gives an excellent impression of the whole evening. Please go to our newly designed website: http://www.martinennalsaward.org. 

US Assistant Secretary Posner’s Testimony on Syria

July 13, 2011

 

On July 12 Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Mike Posner, gave a elaborate statement before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the House of Representatives. Of course, we are biased because Mike was for many years the founder-leader of the NGO Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, now called Human Rights First. It is clear that he has not lost his sharpness in this overview of the Syrian situation..

 

 

 

Assistant Secretary Posner’s Testimony on Syria « humanrights.gov.

Confirmed: MEA Laureate 2010 Muhannad al-Hassani freed

June 3, 2011

It is now official: MEA Laureate Muhannad Al-Hassani (or al-Hasani), who spent the last 22 months in jail, was released today 3 June. He was among a large number of other ‘political prisoners’ which the Syrian regime has been releasing over the last days. He thanks all of you who have continued to support him while he was in detention.

MEA Laureate Muhannad Al-Hassini soon free?

May 31, 2011

There is good reason to think that Muhannad Al-Hassani will finally be out of jail soon!. Let’s see what the morning brings…

Amnesty International’s Secretary General addresses Syrian massacres on You Tube

May 31, 2011

AI Secretary General Salil Shetty on Syria

Syrian Human Rights defender Anwar Al – Bunni released from prison on Monday 23 May 2011

May 23, 2011

Anwar Al-Bunni

Anwar Al-Bunni winner of the 2008 Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk has been released today. He finished serving his sentence on the 17th of May 2011 but was taken initially to a branch of the security apparatus before being finally released today. Anwar Al-Bunni was originally sentenced to a five year prison sentence because of his courageous work defending human rights defenders and opposition activists facing charges before the State Security Court, now slated to be abolished by a regime under pressure from the protests. He had also set up a human rights centre in Damascus to support the work of human rights defenders and publicly denounced the use of torture in Syrian prisons. This is very similar to the work and condemnation of Muhannad Al-Hassani the 2010 MEA Laureate which is still in prison.

The good news re Al-Bunni is tempered by the consideration that he was not released before he had served his time and that the Syrian regime still holds hundreds of human rights defenders in detention or under threat.