The Philippines: Lawyer: Armed men seen outside offices of NUPL, Bayan, Karapatan

December 20, 2018

Armed men in motorcycles and cars, along with military trucks, have reportedly surrounded the offices of National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, and Karapatan, a lawyer said on Thursday.

Citing reports reaching the NUPL, lawyer Edre Olalia said men in uniform and civilian attire were seen outside a building in Diliman, Quezon City, which houses the offices of the three organizations.

“Reports reaching NUPL: Armed men in motorcycles, cars & a military truck, both uniformed & in civilian attire, are presently surrounding & within vicinity of building housing Bayan, Karapatan & NUPL offices at No. 1 Matatag cor. Maaralin St., QC,” Olalia said in a message to reporters.

He also said that one National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant told them that unknown elements are following him and monitoring his movements.

“Last night, an NDF consultant sent an SOS that he was being tailed & that a riding-in-tandem was posted outside the place he was staying. Lawyers are on their way,” Olalia added.

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https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1064844/lawyer-armed-men-seen-outside-offices-of-nupl-bayan-karapatan?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2y77efq88RI83_ztZjfIELahk2mCFeUHYC3BzQqr7RpJiWY9aZ9niM6Fw#Echobox=1545274045

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1065045/lawyers-group-cries-out-vs-surveillance?fbclid=IwAR36iGOujBPybxxTdmAjoYVzI5sxJOgNHgMkH05XGALqvgzbXiLEx7Uhudo

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/12/20/1878588/un-experts-call-end-attacks-vs-rights-advocates-irks-palace

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1779574/Manila/Local-News/UN-rapporteur-hit-lauded-for-call-to-end-attacks-vs-rights-defenders

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/12/20/1878526/philippines-urged-end-attacks-vs-human-rights-defenders

https://nupl.net/

https://www.facebook.com/nuplphilippines/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagong_Alyansang_Makabayan

https://www.facebook.com/BAYANnational/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karapatan

http://www.karapatan.org/

Nicaragua: Political upheaval in Nicaragua leaves scientists under siege

December 19, 2018

Ongoing protests against the Nicaraguan government have led to violent clashes, and the crackdown by security forces has engulfed the country’s scientists, causing some to flee their homes in fear for their lives.

The student-led protests started in April in response to a decree from President Daniel Ortega that increased social security taxes and reduced pensions. Ortega’s increasingly authoritarian administration tried to quell the protests with deadly force, which sparked demonstrations across Nicaragua. Since then, fierce confrontations between protesters, police and activists supporting the government have resulted in more than 300 deaths.

Universities have fired faculty members who have criticized the administration’s response to the demonstrations, and scientific conferences have been moved or postponed. In early December, the government shut down the offices of nine non-governmental organizations (NGO), including the Fundación del Río, which focuses on environmental protections for the southeastern region of Nicaragua. The state seized the property of all 9 NGOs and they can no longer operate legally in the country.

An economic crisis that has proliferated in the wake of the political unrest resulted in emergency cuts to the 2018 budget in August. They included a roughly 7% reduction to the National Council of Universities, Nicaragua’s governing body for higher education institutes.

The trouble has even affected the Nicaraguan National Academy of Sciences, which released several statements in April, May and June in support of students and academic freedom. Its president, lawyer María Luisa Acosta, fled the country in May after receiving death threats. The threats stemmed from those statements of support and her long-standing criticism of government projects that would impact Indigenous groups and the environment.

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https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07837-5

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/12/universities-held-hostage-nicaragua-s-political-crisis

https://www.laminute.info/2018/12/20/accuses-dingerence-des-organismes-de-defense-des-droits-de-lhomme-expulses-du-nicaragua/ (FRANCAIS)

Iran: Iran rights lawyer Sotoudeh to face new trial

December 19, 2018

Imprisoned Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh will go on trial again on December 23, her lawyer Payam Derafshan told official news agency IRNA.

Sotoudeh, an award-winning activist, was arrested in June and told she had already been found guilty “in absentia” on spying charges and sentenced to a six-year prison term by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.

It was not clear what charges she would face in the new trial, which will be heard at Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.

Prior to her arrest in June, 55-year-old Sotoudeh had taken on the cases of several women arrested for standing in public areas without their headscarves, which are mandatory in Iran.

She had also criticised a new criminal code that allows only a small number of lawyers to represent individuals charged with national security offences, including a list of just 20 for Tehran.

In September Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, was also arrested and charged with conspiring against national security, propaganda against the system and campaigning against Iran’s Islamic dress code.

Sotoudeh won the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov human rights award in 2012 for her work on high-profile cases, including those of convicts on death row for offences committed as minors.

She spent three years in prison after representing dissidents arrested during mass protests in 2009.

https://www.france24.com/en/20181219-iran-rights-lawyer-sotoudeh-face-new-trial

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-6511819/Iran-rights-lawyer-Sotoudeh-face-new-trial.html

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/iran-human-rights-lawyer-sotoudeh-to-face-new-trial/

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/jailed-iranian-lawyer-to-stand-trial-as-condemnation-grows/5068728.article

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/afp/2018/12/iran-rights-justice.html#ixzz5a8QUqHOx

https://irannewsupdate.com/news/human-rights/5616-tehran-continue-to-deny-while-facing-pressure-over-human-rights-violations.html

Nasrin Sotoudeh 21.12.18 Iran intervention letter 2

https://pen.org/advocacy-case/nasrin-sotoudeh/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-pug

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasrin_Sotoudeh

https://www.hra-news.org/2018/hranews/a-18351/ (FARSI)

https://www.i24news.tv/fr/actu/international/moyen-orient/191295-181219-iran-nouveau-proces-en-vue-pour-une-avocate-des-droits-de-l-homme (FRANCAIS)

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasrin_Sotoudeh (FRANCAIS)

https://www.fffi.se/2018/12/19/nytt-atal-mot-nasrin-sotoudeh-medan-ep-kraver-att-hon-friges/ (SWEDISH)

#FreeNasrin

Reza Khandan, imprisoned in #Iran since September for posting updates about the imprisonment of his wife, prominent attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh, was released today. Sotoudeh said she would end her hunger strike after hearing the news. #FreeNasrin pic.twitter.com/lbDtQRs6mm

— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) December 23, 2018

Prominent rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh, imprisoned on a 5 year sentence issued in absentia, will go on trial December 23rd on bunch of new bogus charges. pic.twitter.com/aqqVbxbrH2

— Persian Banoo (@persianbanoo) December 19, 2018

The #European Parliament has overwhelmingly passed a motion urging #Iran to “immediately and unconditionally release” prominent #HumanRights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh. #IranUpdate #PrisonersofIran @Europarl_EN @ICHRI https://t.co/wFdGm2gInl

— FDD's Iran Program (@FDD_Iran) December 18, 2018

The former director of NASA's Solar System Exploration program Dr. @Firouz_Naderi urges #Iran to release all political prisoners including Nasrin Sotoudeh, Farhad Meysami and Reza Khandan. Join us in calling for #Rights4Iran #FreeNasrin pic.twitter.com/Dcfz3jw2Zh

— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) December 18, 2018