Syrian opposition activists arrested on international Human Rights Day

Dozens of opposition activists – including the brother of political prisoner Anwar Bunni – were arrested in Syria on international Human Rights Day, according to human rights groups, Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday.

Approximately 30 people who signed the 2005 Damascus Declaration, which called for “radical change,” were targeted in the crackdown, the groups said, adding that the activists also took part in a protest on December 1.

Akram Bunni, who was elected as secretary of the National Declaration of Damascus Council on December 1, was one of the activists visited by security officials on Monday. His brother, Anwar Bunni, was sentenced to five years in jail earlier this year after signing the declaration on relations between Lebanon and Syria.

“It is a flagrant violation of international treaties on human rights,” said the Syrian Human Rights League, adding that they condemned the actions which coincided with international Human Rights Day on Monday.

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U.N., Viet Nam commit to sustained cooperation on human rights

On International Human Rights Day, the United Nations pledged continued support to Viet Nam to help implement its human rights commitments, Mathaba.net reported Monday, citing the state-run Vietnam News Agency.

“Viet Nam has made tremendous social and economic progress, and shown leadership by ratifying several key international human rights treaties,” said U.N. Resident Coordinator John Hendra. He added that it is important that future growth be inclusive so all Vietnamese can benefit from the country’s progress.

“The UN system stands ready to both assist Viet Nam in meeting its international commitments and in its continued efforts to enable all Vietnamese people to enjoy their rights enshrined nearly 60 years ago in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” he said.

While Viet Nam has made progress in complying with the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), U.N. officials said that more needs to be done in both areas so that women and children are able to participate more fully in Vietnamese society. United Nations Development Fund for Women official Suzette Mitchell said the circumstances of rural and ethnic minority women in particular must be addressed as part of complying with CEDAW.

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Cambodians mark International Human Rights Day by protesting forced evictions

Many in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, are protesting against forced evictions, which have already resulted in the displacement of thousands of urban families, BBC News reported today.

The protests occurred on the final day of a visit by Yash Ghai, the United Nations Special Representative for Human Rights in Cambodia,. He said that poor people are losing land to the elite throughout Cambodia, and that a weak judicial system allows land-grabbers to act with impunity.

“There’s an enormous amount of suffering,” Ghai said. “People are extremely anxious and fearful of the police and the courts, who are very much part of this system for the appropriation of land. So the whole legal system has become enormously corrupt.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen has stepped in on several occasions to order well-connected people to hand back land. He has also promised to sack any government officials involved.

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Africa-EU summit will sidestep human rights, analysts say

There is agreement that human rights needs to be an issue addressed at the Africa-EU summit being launched in Portugal this weekend, however, analysts and academics from both Europe and Africa doubt that any real progress will be made on the matter, AllAfrica.com reported Thursday, citing Inter Press Service.

“It is an unavoidable truth that human rights and democratic values are one level below strategic interests,” said researcher Manuela Franco at the Portuguese Institute of International Relations.

The summit, being held Saturday and Sunday in Lisbon, will include 52 government delegations from Africa and 27 from EU member states, as well as observers from the African Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

The official aim of the summit was summed up by Portuguese Foreign Minister Luís Amado, who said that what is important is that “problems are tackled in a multilateral manner, since they are not limited to a single state.”

According to Angolan Ambassador Assunção Afonso de Sousa dos Anjos, cooperation between Africa and Europe “is essential for fomenting development,” but “we must be our own architects.”

The relationship between Europe and Africa is being promoted in large part due to the increasing influence of China in Africa, Franco said.

Pointing to China, political analyst Eugenio Costa Almeida argued that when economic interests are at stake, the EU forgets about human rights.

“It is China that most protects the African countries I mentioned, due to its interest in fossil fuels and minerals, while Europe continues to see Africa as a market for its products, rather than a partner on an equal footing,” he said.

The issue of human rights first came up when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced he would not attend the summit if Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe did.

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Vietnamese-American activist group calls for release of prisoners in Viet Nam

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a U.S.-based group, released a protest letter Tuesday regarding the sentences of human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan. The sentences for both Dai and Nhan were reduced during an appeals trial, but upheld by the court. Dai and Nhan were sentenced for spreading propaganda under “article 88” of the criminal code.

The letter states: “The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) strongly protests the sentences of lawyers Le Thi Cong Nhan and Nguyen Van Dai’s appeal trial and the use of brutal force to attack and prevent pro-democracy activists who came to attend the appeal trial…”

The PDP also mentions the recent arrest of democracy activists, saying the arrests “have confirmed to the international community that Vietnam is still under a totalitarian regime where the freedom of expression is neither respected nor tolerated.”

The group also called for the release of other “article 88” victims, including Dr. Le Nguyen Sang, Journalist Huynh Nguyen Dao, Lawyers Nguyen Bac Truyen, Tran Quoc Hien, Father Nguyen Van Ly, Nguyen Phong, and Nguyen Binh Thanh.

To read the full letter, click here.
For the AFP article on the case, click here.

Campaign against gender-violence launched in Africa

November 23 marked the beginning of a 16-day campaign against gender violence, which for 2007 has the theme: “Demanding Implementation, Challenging Obstacles: End Violence Against Women,” IRIN reported Monday.

At the launch of the campaign in Nairobi, Kenya, Fartun Abdi Ahmed, a Nairobi-based community outreach worker, described her personal experience with female genital mutilation, which she underwent while living in Somalia. “One cannot imagine the pain, the fear and the stress I went through; thank God it was a rural area and so we did not get some of the infections that are common nowadays,” such as HIV. She called FGM the most prevalent form of gender-based violence in Somalia, and said the practice leads to complications such as infections and the need for additional surgery during childbirth, which may lead to the death of the baby or mother.

Men and boys “must be engaged at the grassroots level in order to come up with community-based solutions” to gender-based violence, said Eddie Gedalof, the acting representative of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Besida Tonwe, the head of U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ regional support office in Nairobi, said that: “Sexual violence is widespread in central and eastern Africa; in conflict areas such as eastern [Democratic Republic of] Congo, it has reached almost grotesque proportions.” She added: “Sexual and gender-based violence should be addressed robustly on several fronts simultaneously, not least because the violence does not end when armed conflict ends – it must be addressed also in post-conflict settings.”

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, in a statement made Sunday (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women), said: “Violence against women is always a violation of human rights; it is always a crime; and it is always unacceptable. Let us take this issue with the deadly seriousness that it deserves – not only on this International Day, but every day.”

The campaign ends on December 10, International Human Rights Day, to reinforce the message that violence against women is a human rights abuse.

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House Foreign Affairs subcommittee holds hearing on human rights concerns in Viet Nam

The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight held a hearing Tuesday regarding human rights concerns in Vietnam. The hearing was chaired by Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA). The subcommittee heard from three panels of witnesses.

Delahunt began the hearing by outlining the current situation in Viet Nam. He said that the economic relationship between the United States and Viet Nam is growing. When it comes to human rights, however, he said that the U.S. “should not be influenced by economic gains or other enticements to lose [our] values.”

Viet Nam’s lack of religious freedom was discussed often, with many of the witnesses and committee members saying that Viet Nam should be put back on the U.S. State Department’s Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) for religious freedom list. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) said that “no real progress has been made” in the area of religious freedom despite claims from the Vietnamese government.

Scot Marciel, Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, defended the State Department’s decision to remove Viet Nam from the CPC list, saying that the removal did not mean all religious freedom problems have been solved. He explained that “the promotion of human rights continues to be one of our highest priorities.”

Sophie Richardson, Deputy Director for Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division, said that Viet Nam was experiencing the harshest crackdown on dissent in 20 years, with the government moving to suppress all opposition. This statement was in agreement with the testimony of Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), who said that since Viet Nam became a member of the World Trade Organization, there aren’t any Vietnamese dissidents who are actually residing outside of prison. Cong Thanh Do, spokesman for The People’s Democratic Party, highlighted the United States’ role, saying funding provided by the U.S. for counterterrorism training was being used to suppress the Vietnamese people.

Many recommendations were made on what procedures the United States should take in dealing with Viet Nam. LCHR President Kathryn Cameron Porter emphasized the need for expanded dialogue between American and Vietnamese leaders. Mentioning a recent LCHR-hosted NGO roundtable with a delegation from Vietnam’s newly-elected National Assembly, Porter urged Members of Congress to hold similar exchanges to help promote reform. “I believe you all hold a key to this,” Porter told Subcommittee Chairman William Delahunt and his colleagues, adding, “out of dialogue comes discourse.”

ASEAN charter drafted that would protect human rights

Southeast Asian leaders are expected to sign a landmark charter that would promote human rights and democracy in the region, although it is uncertain how members such as Myanmar (Burma) will be brought into line, Agence France-Presse reported today.

The charter would commit Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members “to strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Although ASEAN was founded 40 years ago as an anti-communist bloc, the charter would be the first time its codes and principles were codified.

The charter maintains, however, the principle of non-interference into internal affairs of its member states. The draft also does not mention the possibility of expulsion or suspension as punishment for ASEAN members in breach of the charter.

“The content of the charter is likely to be impressive, especially because ASEAN's international legitimacy and reputation are very important,” said Hiro Katsumata of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. “But this does not mean that some of the provisions of the charter will be implemented, especially in relation to human rights and democracy in Myanmar.”

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Amnesty International says detained Kurdish human rights defender at risk

Amnesty International says detained Kurdish human rights defender at risk
According to a press release from Amnesty International, Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand, head of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan (HROK), is being mistreated by authorities in prison, Scoop Independent News reported today.

Kabudvand has been detained since July in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. He reportedly said that he was being charged with “acting against national security,” “propaganda against the system” and “cooperating with groups opposed to the system,” although it is believed no formal accusations have been brought against him.

Suffering from high blood pressure, a skin disorder, and a kidney ailment, Kabudvand reportedly needs to be able to urinate frequently in order to prevent damage to his kidneys, according to the report. He has been told by authorities, however, that he needs to ask for formal permission in writing to use the toilet.

If three members of HROK turn themselves in, on the other hand, Kabudvand will be allowed access to a toilet whenever he needs it.

Amnesty International believes the treatment of Kabudvand is an attempt by the Iranian authorities to force board members of the HROK to present themselves to authorities, which may result in their arrest and eventual closing of the organization.

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U.N. human rights expert granted permission to visit Burma after 4 years of refusals

The military junta in Burma will allow United Nations human rights expert Paolo Sergio Pinheiro to visit the country after four years of persistent requests, BBC News reported Monday.

Pinhiero said the invitation is “an important sign that the government wants to engage again in constructive dialogue with the UN and the Human Rights Council.”

The U.N. received a written invitation from Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win indicating that Pinheiro could arrive before mid-November. This is significant due to the fact that a summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is set to begin on November 17. ASEAN has been highly critical of the situation in Burma, and the BBC’s U.N. correspondent reports that cooperation with the U.N. “could take the sting out of further criticism.”

Louise Arbour, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, says it is necessary to unearth the scale of the junta’s crackdown.

“We have to find out what has happened to these people who demonstrated,” Arbour said. “Where are they? How many – credibly – have been killed? How many are still detained [and] under what conditions?”

The U.N.’s special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, is also hoping to return to the country soon.

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New human rights treaty means EU can be sued for rights violations

A new European Union treaty endorsed earlier today means that EU institutions can be sued for human rights violations, The Associated Press reported.

The EU Reform Treaty includes terms that hold the EU, as a legal entity, to the European Convention on Human Rights. According to the Council of Europe, the treaty allows EU institutions to be taken to court for civil liberty breaches.

The 27 members of the EU have joined the convention previously; however, the EU and its institutions cannot currently be taken to a human rights court.

Europe’s human rights court is open to citizens of the 47 member states in the Council of Europe, as well as any third country citizens who believe their rights have been violated by one of the European countries.

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Economic progress key to securing human rights in Viet Nam, U.S. Ambassador says

The newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to Viet Nam, Michael Michalak, said on Sunday that he would push for human rights in the country, the Los Angeles Times reported today.

The ambassador, speaking at a town hall meeting in Westminster, California, said his focus on encouraging foreign investment to boost Viet Nam’s economy and strengthening the education system will enable greater human rights and political reform in the country.

“There are some things in an open society that are needed to attract large amounts of investment in Vietnam,” Michalak said. “The Vietnamese government will be forced to be more transparent.”

“Human rights will follow when people have a better life, and that comes from a better economy,” said Peter Duong, president of Westminster-based Vietnamese Federation of Labor in Overseas.

Michalak warned, however, that change cannot be expected to occur overnight. He urged Vietnamese Americans – some of whom have called on the U.S. to increase pressure on Hanoi before engaging in more trade – to have patience.

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Urgent appeal made to U.N. official regarding execution of Arab-Iranians

The Ahwazi Human Rights Organization (AHRO) has made an appeal to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour regarding six Ahwazi-Arabs facing execution in Iran. The organization is asking Arbour to call upon the Iranian authorities to stop the executions, as well as to urge the country to ensure due legal process in accordance with internationally recognized standards and to uphold its obligations with regard to civil and political rights

According to AHRO, the six men face charges of hoisting the Ahwazi flag, naming their children Sunni names, converting from Shi'ism to Sunnism, preaching Wahabbism and being “Mohareb” or enemies of god, which carries the death sentence. Other charges include “destabilizing the country,” “attempting to overthrow the government,” “possession of improvised explosives,” “sabotage of oil installations” and being a “threat to national security.”

Last year, Emadeldin Baghi, a leading human rights activist in Iran, called the trials of Ahwazi Arabs flawed, with baseless charges, sentencing that was based on spurious interpretation of the law, and a lack of substantial evidence.

A statement made in January by a team of independent experts appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council urged the Iranian government to “stop the imminent execution of seven men belonging to the Ahwazi Arab minority and grant them a fair and public hearing.” Nevertheless, seven Ahwazi-Arab men were killed between January and February, bringing the number of Ahwazi-Arab political and human rights activists executed in the past 9 months up to at least 13.

Ahwazis face many troubles in Iran, including repression, racial discrimination, land confiscation, forced displacement, and forced assimilation. Moreover, the Ahwazi community suffers from extreme levels of poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy, despite the fact that Khuzestan Province, their traditional homeland, produces 90 percent of Iran’s oil.

The upcoming executions are part of an ongoing crackdown on Ahwazi protestors against ethnic discrimination and persecution, AHRO says.

To access the full letter on AHRO’s site, click here.

Rights groups in Paris denounce executions in Iran through mock hangings

Rights groups in Paris marked World Day against the Death Penalty on Wednesday by staging a mock hanging to denounce executions in Iran, Agence-France Presse reported Thursday.

According to the article, “The Paris-based League of Human Rights (LDH) and the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) joined in a call Wednesday by 64 rights groups worldwide for a moratorium on the death penalty.”

The groups staged the mock hanging by hoisting an effigy masked in black on a crane above a crowd of a few dozen people, also wearing black. The hanging was set in front of a poster depicting the same technique used in real-life hangings in Iran.

“We decided to focus our protest on Iran, where the number of executions skyrocketed this year,” said organizer Emmanuel Maistre. He also argued that capital punishment had become “a weapon of political and social repression in Iran, where accusations such as adultery lead to hanging, or stoning for women.”

There have been 210 executions in Iran since the beginning of the year.

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Iranian human rights lawyer believes military intervention would lead to domestic crackdown

Iran’s top human rights lawyer, Shirin Ebadi, said that although the human rights situation in Iran has deteriorated over the course of the past year, with executions of minors and media censorship, military action is not the solution to Iran’s domestic problems, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported today.

“A military attack will under any circumstances worsen our situation,” Ebadi said on the sidelines of an international conference in Prague this week. “It'll give the government the opportunity to use defense of national security as a pretext to increase its suppression of defenders of freedom.”

She added that Iranians speaking out for democracy and human rights are accused of receiving financial aid from the U.S. government in order to begin a “velvet revolution.” Ebadi believes, however, that this is the time human rights defenders need to be the most active.

Speculation has increased over the past months about the U.S. using military force against Iran. Washington has said it would rather settle the dispute over Iran’s nuclear policy diplomatically, but U.S. officials have also said that all options are open.

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Council of Europe takes on human rights in Egypt

The Council of Europe has released a statement concerning the deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt. The statement, which appears below, specifically addresses the case of Amr Tharwat, a researcher at Cairo’s Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies (ICDS) who was arrested in May on dubious charges.

The Council is concerned by the deterioration of the human rights situation in Egypt.

The relevant Council bodies as well as the Heads of Mission in Cairo have discussed this worrying situation and are coordinating their further action, in the course of which the Tharwat case could also be addressed.

Egypt should be urged to comply with its international commitments on human rights and fundamental freedoms, not least also in the light of its recent election to the UN Human Rights Council and its expressed willingness to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights.

A formal dialogue on human rights and democracy issues is envisaged under the Association Agreement and the ENP Action Plan through the relevant sub-committee whose first meeting is scheduled in November 2007. In its terms of reference, it is mentioned that the “sub-committee aims to facilitate dialogue, within a context of mutual understanding and respect for the positions of both parties, on all aspects of human rights and democracy, international and regional issues, in a comprehensive and non-exclusive way.”

People around the world protest human rights violations in Iran

Protestors recently gathered in various cities around the world to rally against the recent wave of executions in Iran, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Banners held by the protestors featured such phrases such as “Youths face execution in Iran,” and “Support democratic change in Iran.”

One of the protests was led by the supporters of the Iranian Resistance in Montreal, Canada on September 29. This was the third protest by the group in recent weeks, and the demonstrators campaigned for democratic change in Iran.

On September 30, protestors in Vancouver, Canada signed a petition declaring their solidarity with the Iranian Resistance.

In Germany, protestors gathered on September 28 and 29 to bring public attention to the repression of youth in Iran, and the execution of minors occurring under the pretext of public morals.

Demonstrations also took place in Denmark and Italy.

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Billboard raises issues of human rights in Viet Nam

A billboard campaign by a Houston-based Vietnamese human rights group condemns human rights violations occurring in Viet Nam, the Houston Chronicle reported on September 22. The image shows Father Nguyen Van Ly, a former “prisoner of conscience,” being muzzled by a plainclothes Vietnamese guard for speaking out against the Communist Party during a government trial on March 30.

The billboard campaign emerged because of concern that Viet Nam’s growing economy and new international standing is overshadowing human rights conditions. The country joined the World Trade Organization earlier this year.

Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, says that since Viet Nam joined the WTO, human rights violations have become worse in the country. The U.S. House of Representatives has condemned the recent repression in Viet Nam, and passed a bill to promote human rights there, although it remains to be seen if the Senate will pass it.

On the contrary, Cuong The Nguyen, press attaché for the Vietnam Embassy, says there have been talks about human rights between the United States and Viet Nam, and that “progression in human rights, freedom of religions, freedom of speech in Vietnam is an undeniable fact.”

For the full article, click here.

Cairo tightens grip on dissent

There has been a turbulent atmosphere in Egypt the past few months and The Washington Post reported on Sunday that the doors have been closed at an Egyptian human rights law group that was at the forefront of court battles over accusations of torture in Egypt's jails, after the group was accused by the government of illegally receiving funds from abroad.

The past month has seen, among other arrests, the conviction of the four journalists for defaming President Hosni Mubarak.

“What I am feeling is there is a kind of nervousness. They are very nervous within the regime,” said Diaa Rashwan, a political analyst at Cairo’s al-Ahram Centre. “Now there is an effort to prepare for the post-Mubarak era. Nobody knows what is the arrangement, what is already done, what are the chances of his son Gamal Mubarak (taking over).”

Other cases also attest to Cairo’s tightened grip on free expression. According to the article: “Some 40 Brotherhood members, including a top leader, are on trial in a military court on charges including terrorism and money laundering in proceedings rights groups including Amnesty International have dismissed as unfair. More than 120 other Brotherhood men are in jail, unrelated to that case.”

In addition, Egypt faced pressure in 2002 over the arrest of sociologist Saad Eddin Ibrahim and in 2005 over the detention of opposition politician Ayman Nour.

Other recent cases have also drawn condemnation. According to the article: “A government-appointed panel of forensic experts cleared police of wrongdoing earlier this month in the case of a 13-year-old boy, arrested on suspicion of stealing packets of tea, who died shortly after being released from police custody.” According to an internationally respected Egyptian anti-torture group, the El-Nadim Centre, the boy had been beaten and subjected to electric shocks, and then received inadequate care.

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Human Rights Watch calls for action from international community in Darfur

Human Rights Watch released a report on Thursday calling on the 26,000-strong U.N. and African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur to ensure the safety of the Sudanese people and to work to restore their confidence, Voice of America reported the same day.

The group says the Sudanese population still suffers from atrocities such as beatings, rapes, robberies and murders at the hands of the government supported Janjaweed militia and rebel forces. Since 2003, more than 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and as many as two million people have been displaced.

Peter Takirambudde, the Africa Director of Human Rights Watch, says that the mission requires the “absolute commitment” of the international community in working to ensure the benchmarks are met by all actors. He believes there has not been enough done so far, and states that “The international community has been virtually in a slumber for the past four years when pervasive abuses were all over Darfur. Finally, they appear to be waking up, and they’re talking a good game. The question is whether or not they are going to be able to pass the test.”

“The people of Darfur cannot wait any longer,” says Takirambudde. “We have waited too long. Change must occur sooner rather than later.”

The UN and AU forces will take over the mission by the end of the year. Peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebels are scheduled to begin in Libya on October 27.

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