Kazakhstan: The Legend of Batyrs

September 18, 2018

“Do heroes exist today?”

📢 [Story] – Discover the story of #HRDs Max Bokayev and Talgat Ayanov, two Kazakh lawyers and activists sentenced to five years imprisonment following a trial that did not live up to the internationally accepted standards of #justice.

In May, 2016, Max et Talgat participated in public demonstrations and published posts on their FB accounts criticizing the reforms of the #landcode and were sentenced to five years in prison. In February 2017, Max and Talgat were put on the list of people linked to #terrorist and extremist activities in Kazakhstan.

OMCT with Kadyr Kassiyet (Dignity) and the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law is submitting an Individual Communication to the Human Rights Committee on behalf of Max Bokayev and Talgat Ayanov.

The video-campaign has been organized by the Coalition for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Pana Defenders, supported by the @Netherlands Helsinki Committee

(OMCT Facebook, 18/09/18)

 

https://www.fidh.org/en/issues/human-rights-defenders/kazakhstan-un-body-declares-the-detention-of-max-bokayev-and-talgat

 

https://www.fidh.org/en/issues/human-rights-defenders/kazakhstan-ongoing-arbitrary-detention-of-max-bokayev-and-talgat

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Saudi Arabia/Canada: Arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention of prominent women human rights defenders Samar Badawi and Nassima Al-Sadah

August 14, 2018

URGENT APPEAL – THE OBSERVATORY

SAU 005 / 0818 / OBS 103

Arbitrary detention /

Judicial harassment /
Incommunicado detention

Saudi Arabia

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Saudi Arabia.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention of Ms. Samar Badawi[1] and Ms. Nassima Al-Sadah [2], two prominent women human rights defenders[3].

According to the information received, on July 30, 2018, security forces arrested Ms. Samar Badawi and Ms. Nassima Al-Sadah. No information is available about neither the circumstances nor the reasons of their arrests. The two human rights defenders are currently held in an unknown location and no information has been provided on their whereabouts and conditions of detention.

The Observatory recalls that over the past years, Ms. Samar Badawi has been repeatedly harassed, interrogated and arrested by the authorities for her human rights activities. Prior to her arrest, Ms. Samar Badawi appeared before the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution, on February 15, 2017, regarding previous issues related to her human rights and civil activities, including women’s campaign against male guardians. On January 12, 2016, she was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Authority of Jeddah without any reason, and released on bail the next day. On December 2, 2014, while on her way to participate to the 16^th European Union NGOs Forum on Human Rights in Brussels, Belgium, she was informed by a staff from the airport that she was under a travel ban, without any reason given or prior investigation.

The Observatory condems in the strongest terms the arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention of Ms. Samar Badawi and Ms. Nassima Al-Sadah and urges the Saudi authorities to immediately disclose their whereabouts as well as to insure unhindered access to their families and lawyers.

The Observatory further recalls that ahead of the official lift of the driving ban the Saudi authorities launched a crackdown on human rights defenders – and especially women human rights defenders[4]– in the country. As of publication of this Urgent Appeal, Ms. Hatoon Al-Fassi, Ms. Nouf Abdulaziz, Ms. Mayya Al-Zahrani, Ms. Eman al-Nafjan , Ms. Aziza al-Youssef, Ms. Loujain al-Hathloul, Mr. Mohammed al-Rabiah, Mr. Mohamed al-Bejadi, Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Mesha’aland Mr. Ibrahim al-Mudaimeegh remain detained. While pro-governmental media outlets reported that they have been arrested under vague accusations of “suspicious contacts with foreign entities” and “financial support to enemies overseas”, no formal charges have yet been reportedly pressed against them. Moreover, they are reportedly all detained in solitary confinement, without access to their lawyers and they could only speak with their families once or twice since their arrests.

…

http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/saudi-arabia/2018/08/d24993/

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/12/saudi-arabia-spat-canada-mohammed-bin-salman-true-colours

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/badawi-saudi-trudeau-freeland-1.4785075

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2159135/saudi-arabia-brings-gun-knife-fight-canada-over-samar-badawi

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

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

http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2018/08/10/01003-20180810ARTFIG00216-rien-ne-va-plus-entre-le-canada-et-l-arabie-saoudite.php (FRANCAIS)

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waleed_Abu_al-Khair (FRANCAIS)

Chile: FIDH envía carta a Piñera denunciando hostigamientos de Carabineros a conocida abogada de comuneros mapuche

17/7/18

La Federación Internacional de Derechos Humanos pide a las autoridades chilenas resguardar y garantizar la seguridad de Karina Riquelme, quien fue fotografiada por funcionarios de civil durante la formalización del caso Huracán.

A través de una carta dirigida al presidente Sebastián Piñera, los ministros Gonzalo Blumel, Andrés Chadwick, Hernán Larraín y Roberto Ampuero, además de la directora del INDH Consuelo Contreras, la Federación Internacional de Derechos Humanos (FIDH) solicita que se tomen medidas ante distintos actos de hostigamiento que ha sufrido la abogada Karina Riquelme, conocida abogada de La Araucanía en causas que enfrentan comuneros mapuches.

La defensora es parte del Centro de Investigación y Defensa Sur (Cidsur), ONG que ha tomado la defensa penal de comuneros mapuche durante años, logrando emblemáticas absoluciones.

La carta, de la que hicieron parte también el Observatorio para la Protección de los Defensores de Derechos Humanos y la Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura, denuncia que Riquelme fue hostigada los días 9 y 10 de julio de 2018 por funcionarios de civil de Carabineros de Chile, mientras se realizaban las jornadas de formalización del caso Huracán, que involucra el montaje de distintos funcionarios policiales que quisieron inculpar a comuneros mapuche de atentados incendiarios.

…

http://www.eldesconcierto.cl/2018/07/17/fidh-envia-carta-a-pinera-denunciando-hostigamientos-de-carabineros-a-conocida-abogada-de-comuneros-mapuche/

http://www.omct.org/es/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/chile/2018/07/d24965/

http://www.eldesconcierto.cl/2018/08/09/pruebas-ilicitas-persecucion-a-abogados-y-discriminacion-el-analisis-de-amnistia-internacional-de-los-casos-luchsinger-e-iglesia/

https://radio.uchile.cl/2018/07/04/karina-riquelme-hoy-criminalizar-al-mapuche-sale-gratis/

http://kaosenlared.net/chile-mapuche-amnistia-internacional-condenas-a-mapuche-son-injustas-y-no-respetan-garantias/

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karina_Riquelme_Viveros

Belarus: Control over lawyers threatens human rights

June 29, 2018

Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT)

Paris Bar

Human Rights Centre “Viasna”

Joint Press Release

​Publication of a mission report

Minsk-Paris-Geneva, June 29, 2018 – The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership between FIDH and OMCT, in collaboration with the Paris Bar and Human Rights Centre “Viasna”, today released a report documenting restrictions on the independence of lawyers in Belarus. Based on an investigation conducted in January 2018, the report criticises the executive power’s stranglehold on the capacity of lawyers defending cases which the authorities consider to be ‘sensitive’ to practise their profession.

In Belarus, lawyers defending cases considered by the authorities to be ‘troublesome’ are generally exposed to retaliatory measures, which can culminate in their expulsion, against a background of changes to the legal framework that have gradually placed Belarusian bars, and lawyers themselves, under the direct authority of the Ministry of Justice. Such retaliatory measures are often initiated following repression by the authorities of large-scale protests, as in 2010 and 2017.

In the course of the past few years, the bars have been stripped of their primary function, which is to guarantee independence and ensure the regulation of the profession. Access to the profession and its organisation now fall under the almost exclusivecompetence of civil servants in the Ministry of Justice.

“Today in Belarus, lawyers can have their right to practise withdrawn for any reason, as soon as they take on cases considered by the authorities to be ‘troublesome’”, said the Observatory and the Paris Bar.

…

http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/belarus/2018/06/d24947/

Niger: A peine libérées, quatre figures de la société civile nigérienne déclarent vouloir « continuer le combat »

le 25 juillet, 2018

Un vingtaine de personnes avaient été arrêtées en mars après une manifestation, interdite par Niamey, contre la loi de finances jugée « antisociale » par les militants.

Trois figures majeures de la société civile nigérienne ont été libérées, mardi 24 juillet, après une condamnation à quatre mois de prison avec sursis. Ils ont promis de poursuivre le combat contre la loi de finances qu’ils jugent « antisociale ».

Les militants étaient détenus depuis mars, après une manifestation interdite, a rapporté un de leurs avocats, M^e Boudal Effred Mouloul. Le ministère public avait requis trois ans de prison ferme contre Ali Idrissa, Moussa Tchangari, Nouhou Arzika et M^e Abourahamane Lirwana.

Lire aussi :   Au Niger, trois ans de prison requis contre des figures majeures de la société civile

Cependant, selon une source judiciaire, M^e Lirwana devra rester en prison après avoir été condamné lundi à deux ans de prison dont un avec sursis pour « outrage à magistrat » lors du procès.

…

https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2018/07/25/niger-quatre-figures-majeures-de-la-societe-civile-condamnees-a-trois-mois-de-prison-avec-sursis_5335903_3212.html

http://www.omct.org/fr/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/niger/2018/07/d24980/

http://www.omct.org/fr/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/niger/2018/07/d24958/

http://www.jeuneafrique.com/605236/societe/niger-trois-mois-de-prison-avec-sursis-pour-les-activistes-anti-loi-de-finances/

https://www.justiceinfo.net/fr/en-continu/38111-niger-3-mois-de-prison-avec-sursis-contre-des-figures-de-la-societe-civile.html

http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20180716-niger-proces-activiste-societe-civile-avocat-lirwana-abdourahamane

Belarus: Controls on lawyers endangering human rights

June 29, 2018

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, an FIDH-OMCT partnership, in collaboration with the Paris Bar and Human Rights Centre “Viasna”, today released a report documenting restrictions on the independence of lawyers in Belarus. Based on an investigation conducted in January 2018, the report criticises the executive power’s stranglehold on the capacity of lawyers defending cases which the authorities consider to be ‘sensitive’ to practise their profession.

 

In Belarus, lawyers defending cases considered by the authorities to be ‘troublesome’ are generally exposed to retaliatory measures which can culminate in their expulsion, against a background of changes to the legal framework that have gradually placed Belarusian bars, and lawyers themselves, under the direct authority of the Ministry of Justice. Such retaliatory measures are often initiated following repression by the authorities of large-scale protests, as in 2010 and 2017.

In the course of the past few years, the bars have been stripped of their primary function, which is to guarantee independence and ensure the regulation of the profession. Access to the profession and its organisation now fall under the almost exclusive competence of civil servants in the Ministry of Justice.

…

https://www.fidh.org/en/issues/human-rights-defenders/belarus-controls-on-lawyers-endangering-human-rights

http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/reports-and-publications/belarus/2018/06/d24946/

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/25/un-rights-body-strengthen-scrutiny-human-rights-belarus

https://www.fidh.org/fr/themes/defenseurs-des-droits-humains/belarus-le-controle-des-avocats-met-en-peril-les-droits-humains (FRANCAIS)

Iran/OMCT: Incommunicado detention of human rights lawyer Zeinab Taheri

June 22, 2018

​IRN 002 / 0618 / OBS 088

Incommunicado detention /

Ill-treatments / Judicial harassment

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Iran.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) about the arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention and judicial harassment of Ms. Zeinab Taheri, a human rights lawyer.

According to the information received, on June 19, 2018, Ms. Zeinab Taheri was summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office for Culture and Media in Tehran and detained on charges of “disturbing the public opinion”, “spreading propaganda against the system” and “publishing lies”. Tehran Prosecutor Mr. Jafari Dolatabadi subsequently said during a press conference organised on the same day that Ms. Taheri had “incited the public opinion and mobilised the counterrevolution against the judiciary”, and that “the hostile media used her remarks to published reports against the judiciary”.

Later on the same day, Ms. Zeinab Taheri was transferred to the Qarchack women’s prison in Sharhr-e Rey, southern Tehran, where she has been detained incommunicado since. Ms. Taheri would allegedly have been subjected to ill-treatments during her detention and subsequently transferred to a hospital. She has also reportedly started a hunger strike to protest her detention.

Ms. Zeinab Taheri’s arrest came a day after one of her clients, Mr. Mohammad Salass, a Sufi dervish, was executed, for allegedly driving a bus that killed three members of the security forces near the house of a Sufi Order’s leader four months ago. Ms. Taheri took over the case in its final stage and applied for a retrial at the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court did not invite her to a hearing and did not seem to take notice of her application. In the final week leading to the execution of her client, Ms. Zeinab Taheri said that he had been coerced to confess under torture and had voiced her objections and criticism of the unfair proceedings against her client, including on Twitter, where she had vowed to “reveal for public opinion all possible” evidence of her client’s innocence. Ms. Taheri also wrote an open letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to ask him to intervene in the case. The international community voiced its concerns about the judicial proceedings that led to the execution of Mr. Mohammad Salass[1].

…

http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/iran/2018/06/d24937/

https://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32818:iran-defence-lawyer-arrested-for-saying-that-her-executed-client-was-innocent&catid=5&Itemid=110

https://en.qantara.de/content/iranian-lawyer-arrested-after-claiming-executed-man-innocent

https://www.amnesty.fr/presse/iran-une-avocate-arrte-aprs-avoir-protest-contre-l

http://lepersoneeladignita.corriere.it/2018/06/21/iran-arrestata-lavvocata-del-sufi-messo-a-morte-lunedi/?refresh_ce-cp (ITALIANO)

http://iranprobe.com/al/index.php/drejtat-e-njeriut/item/1085-zeynab-taheri-%E2%80%93avokatja-iraniane-arrestohet-pasi-protestoi-ndaj-torturave-t%C3%AB-klientit-t%C3%AB-saj (ALBANIAN)

#ZeynabTaheri

#FreeZeynabTaheri