UN Special Rapporteurs call for the release of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja

I have just seen today that four United Nations Special Rapporteurs issued a statement last week calling for Abdulhadi's release. Amongst them was Margaret Sekaggya, who I worked for during my days in Uganda. The other signatories are the Special Rapporteurs on torture, on the rights to freedom of assembly and association, and on the independence of judges and lawyers. 

The main call is that “in view of the urgency of the matter", the experts "strongly call on the Government to seriously reconsider the offer by Denmark to transfer Al-Khawaja, a dual citizen of Denmark and Bahrain, on humanitarian grounds, for medical treatment to Denmark.”

Bahrain: UN human rights experts urge immediate release of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja

GENEVA (13 April 2012) – Four United Nations human rights experts on Friday urged the Government of Bahrain to immediately release human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja who is serving a life sentence handed down by a military court on terrorism-related charges. The call comes amid serious concerns about the lack of due process and fair trial guarantees.

The National Safety Court, a military court, sentenced Al-Khawaja to life imprisonment on 22 June 2011, after his trial alongside a group of more than 20 human rights defenders. An appeal was rejected by the National Safety Court of Appeal on 28 September 2011. Al-Khawaja’s case is now being reviewed by the Court of Cassation which is due to deliver its verdict on 23 April.

“I am seriously concerned that Mr. Al-Khawaja’s trial and sentence are linked to his legitimate work to promote human rights in Bahrain,” said Margaret Sekaggya, the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders. “This case is sadly emblematic of the overall treatment of human rights defenders in Bahrain.”

Maina Kiai, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of assembly and association expressed similar concerns about Mr. Al-Khawaja’s detention being directly linked to his human rights activities in the context of the on-going protests in Bahrain.

“Any restriction to the exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly must be proportional and must be closely reviewed with respect to its necessity and reasonableness,” Mr. Kiai.

“Restrictions on the right to peaceful assembly on the grounds of national security should not be used to suppress the legitimate activities of human rights defenders and activists.”

Gabriela Knaul, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, expressed grave concern about the trial of Al-Khawaja and other human rights defenders who were collectively tried before a military court despite being civilians. It is alleged that the group was held for a significant period of time in incommunicado detention before being allowed to seek legal counsel. Allegations that the defendants made confessions under duress have reportedly not been investigated and evidence obtained under torture was reportedly not excluded from the trial – in contravention of international law.

“The lack of due process which was alleged during the trials must be addressed by the court where his case is currently under review,” Ms. Knaul stated.

The Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Mendez, added that: “The Government of Bahrain has failed to take necessary measures to ensure the physical and mental integrity of Mr. Al-Khawaja in accordance with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.”

Mr. Al-Khawaja has been on hunger strike since 8 February 2012. Despite assurances expressed by Bahraini authorities, reports and photos documenting his poor state of health continue to emerge.

“In view of the urgency of the matter, we strongly call on the Government to seriously reconsider the offer by Denmark to transfer Al-Khawaja, a dual citizen of Denmark and Bahrain, on humanitarian grounds, for medical treatment to Denmark,” the experts urged. 

ENDS

For media requests please contact Amanda Flores (            +41 22 917 91 86 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            +41 22 917 91 86      end_of_the_skype_highlighting       / aflores@ohchr.org) or write to defenders@ohchr.org

OHCHR Country Page – Bahrain :

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/MENARegion/Pages/BHIndex.aspx

Armenia: UN expert urges Government to address ongoing obstacles faced by human rights defenders

The extended version of this kept us up late last night....!

Armenia - UN expert urges Government to address ongoing obstacles faced by human rights defenders

YEREVAN (18 June 2010) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, urged the Armenian authorities to publicly acknowledge the role and importance of human rights defenders, and to address the ongoing obstacles faced by them in the country.

The Special Rapporteur welcomed Armenia’s commitment to promoting respect for human rights, as demonstrated by its ratification of a wide number of international human rights instruments, and acknowledged the challenges faced by the Government of Armenia and its law enforcement officials.

“I am worried by documented cases of ongoing violence, assaults, intimidation, harassment and stigmatization of defenders, in particular journalists,” the UN independent expert said at the end of a five-day fact-finding mission to Armenia*, which was the first visit to the country by a UN Human Rights envoy since 2000.

Ms. Sekaggya noted that “these cases would seem to illustrate an apparent culture of impunity in Armenia which impinges upon the work of human rights defenders. This impunity appears to be closely related to the deep-rooted problems within the police system as well as with the shortcomings of the justice system.”

The human rights expert urged the authorities “to undertake prompt, thorough and transparent investigations of all human rights violations, in particular attacks against journalists, in order to create a safe and enabling environment in which human rights defenders can carry out their activities.”

“I would like to reiterate a request I made to the Prime Minister during my meeting with him asking him to publicly acknowledge the role and importance of human rights defenders in achieving a flourishing, pluralistic and democratic society,” she said.

The UN Human Rights Council envoy also drew attention to “the significant constraints imposed on the exercise of freedom of assembly in Armenia,” noting that “in a democratic society, the right to hold peaceful, open and public demonstrations, including indoor assemblies, should be available to all individuals without undue restrictions.”

“I also add my voice to those who have already expressed serious concerns about the amendments to the Law on Television and Radio. If signed into law by the President of Armenia, these amendments will further restrict and seriously hamper the plurality of voices and opinions available to Armenian society,” Ms. Sekaggya stressed.

In this context, Ms. Sekaggya recommended the Government “to implement a comprehensive programme of reform within the police service, to immediately take steps to address the shortcomings of the justice system.” In her view, “this should be carried out in conjunction with the implementation of an extensive anti-corruption strategy in order to ensure accountability within government structures.”

The UN independent expert emphasized the need to fully consult, include and incorporate the views of civil society and human rights defenders in decision-making processes; as well as addressing the specific needs of human rights defenders, including women defenders and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) defenders within the National Action Plan on Human Rights.

The Special Rapporteur will present her report to the United Nations Human Rights Council at its sixteenth session in March 2011, and will make further recommendations for the consideration of the Government and other stakeholders.

Margaret Sekaggya, a lawyer from Uganda, was appointed Special Rapporteur in March 2008 by the UN Human Rights Council. She is independent from any Government and serves in her individual capacity.

(*) Read the full statement by the Special Rapporteur:

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10168&LangID=E

OHCHR Country Page

–

Armenia: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/AMIndex.aspx

Real Armenian Kitchen

Top Five Things About Armenia

• Long days: at 10pm it's still bright, 27 degrees, and people are swimming and lounging around on sunbeds beside the pool (In Kampala it gets dark at 7pm all year round)
• No mosquitoes!!! In Uganda, lounging around a pool after 6pm would involve so many mozzie bites that it wouldn't make life worth living
• Strong showers. Showers in Africa dribble, for obvious reasons
• Fast internet. My god, its life changing. In Kampala I usually read newspaper articles or go off and watch the kettle boil while waiting for emails to open or attachments to download...
• Coffee. Coffee, and wonderful bread. And mezze. And dolma. Fruit. Salad. Fresh cherries. Cheese. Copious amounts of vegetables, in all the colours of the rainbow. And did I mention the coffee?

We had lunch Sunday, our only free day, at "Real Armenian Kitchen", a restaurant recommended to us near the hotel. Because it was Sunday and we're in the government/business district it was very quiet so we were the only people there besides some people who knew the owners - everyone was sitting around watching the football on a flat screen tv. We had an overwhelmingly warm welcome and service from them, but the problem is we have no idea why. There were three possibilities:

• Armenians are genuinely lovely, warm people who treat guests with great generosity
• The restaurant owners were good businessmen who were upselling hard and wanted us to come back and bring more business
• They don't see many Africans around here (we have two - Margaret, who is Ugandan, and Nabou, who is from Senegal)

Which do you think is more likely?!

It was quite endearing, they were so excited to see us. They kept bringing us food. As we tried to decipher the menu and decide what to order, they just started bringing food to the table ("Appetizer! Is appetizer!") and they kept on going. Plate after plate, after plate. ("Is ok, is appetizer!").

First an overflowing basket of four types of that wonderful bread (flat, white, black and plaited). A plate of three different types of cheese (sheep, goat and a yellow one, cow I guess). A plate piled high with cucumber, oddly phallic hot green peppers and fat, rich, ripe tomato - made me think straight away of pomidori, almost exactly the same as the great Polish summer tomatoes, which make you realise that we've forgotten what real tomatoes taste like in Ireland. A plate of two types of dried/cured beef ("Is Armenian. Is good!"). A bowl of cold stewed aubergine, tomato and sweet peppers, sort of a pepperonata or ratatouille ("Is homemade!"). A plate of "greens", but what a lovely plate - radishes, spring onions, bunches of parsley and other herbs, and a mix of dark and green leaves.

We didn't order any of this: when the first plates began to arrive ("Is appetizer!") we thought, ok, that looks nice - no harm to have something to pick on, to start with. But as the table started to fill up and we began to run out of room to fit all the bowls and dishes, we had to start turning them away. Another plate of cured meat for example. Pyramids of asparagus. And they were very upset that we refused soup ("Chicken soup - is very good! No? Asparagus soup? Bean soup? No? No? Yoghurt soup then").

On top of all this - and it would have more been more than enough - we had main courses coming. I had beautiful dolma - meat and rice mixed with herbs, onion and garlic and wrapped up in vine leaves, with a yoghut and garlic sauce. Yum yum yum. Orsi had the dolma filling stuffed into vegetables like courgette and cabbage rather than vine leaves. Nabou had veal stew with flat bread. Margaret had the brilliantly-named "domestic chicken". Domestic chicken turned out to be tiny, not much bigger than a pigeon, spatch-cocked and laid out on the plate with its little legs thrown up in surrender. She said it was tasty but labour-intensive in terms of deconstruction.

Then the presents began. A jug of strawberry wine, which was ludicrously delicious, like a concoction from a fairy tale or a children's movie where they drink something utterly scrumptious that couldn't seem to possibly exist in real life. Also a jug of dark red juice, half full of cherries soaked and bloated which were put out in a bowl for us when the jug of juice was drained. I think it was cherry juice but I'm not sure if it was a mix - it was slightly dry and tart like cranberry ("This from us, this present - you try!").

Halfway through our main courses he arrived with another plate of cured meat. No, no, we couldn't possibly - we already had more than enough food. "No, you try," he insisted, putting one piece on each of our plates. "Is from chef. Is Armenian! Is very good. You try." As if it was of such good quality that we really had to try it for our own good, he knew better than we did that we needed to taste it, it'd be good for us. He seemed terribly relieved when we all brightened and smiled and agreed it was very nice.

Dessert? Absolutely not - we couldn't possibly. Full stomach gestures all round the table, comical and absurd. No! That wouldn't do. He dashed enthusiastically over to a table in the centre of the room where a few dishes of cakes were covered with cling film. "No no, you try, you try!"

No, really, we were full (we also had no idea at this point how much anything cost or whether they were just ripping us off).

"Is present!" he cheered, full of excitement and joy, like a child giving a gift he has made himself. Plates were whipped away, new ones appeared from cupboards, and a dish of pastries was placed in front of us. We didn't have a chance to pick up our spoons before a second guy was bringing over plates of stiff yoghurt and a bowl of honey. ("Is Armenian. Is natural. Is homemade!"). The yoghurt was really like ricotta, stiff as ice cream so that a spoonful sat up by itself, pert on the plate. I can't bear dairy but even I thought it was lovely; with the honey in fact it was almost immaculately beautiful. There was something ancient and ancestral about it. Just a spoonful made you think of the farmers and the hills and the countryside, and of the timelessness of so simple and perfect a recipe must be unchanging, of all the generations and the peoples over all the hundreds of years who must have eaten food just exactly like this.

And in fairness to them, everything was a present. They didn't charge us for drinks or desert or the things they had pressed upon us as gifts. And after fierce hand shaking and wild gesturing and profuse, broken English, we stumbled outside laughing and tottered back to the hotel to fall into a happy food coma.

Human rights defenders:UN expert launches fact-finding mission to Armenia

Woohoo!

About to run to the airport, to face a 32 hour journey to Yerevan....

Media Advisory

10 June 2010

Human rights defenders: UN expert launches fact-finding mission to Armenia

GENEVA – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, will undertake her first fact-finding mission to Armenia from 14-18 June 2010, in what will also be the first visit to the country by a UN Human Rights envoy since 2000.

“The recent review of Armenia’s human rights record in the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council,” the independent expert said, “provides a good opportunity to discuss the recommendations pertinent to the human rights defenders mandate and to assess the mechanisms the Government has already and intends to put in place in the future in order to implement them.”

“The aim of the mission is to evaluate in person, in an objective and impartial manner, the situation of human rights defenders in the country, and to initiate a process of constructive cooperation with the authorities,” added Mrs. Sekaggya, who will visit Armenia at the invitation of the Government.

In order to gather first-hand information, the Special Rapporteur will meet with State officials, representatives of the legislative and judicial branches, a broad segment of civil society and the press, representatives of UN agencies and regional human rights organizations, and the diplomatic corps.

A press conference will be held in Yerevan at the conclusion of the Special Rapporteur’s visit on 18 June 2010 at xx pm, in the UN Conference Hall.

A final report on the visit will be presented to the Human Rights Council in 2011.

ENDS

Margaret Sekaggya, a magistrate from Uganda, was appointed Special Rapporteur in March 2008 by the UN Human Rights Council. She is independent from any Government and serves in her individual capacity.

For more information about the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, log on to: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/defenders/index.htm

OHCHR Country Page – Armenia:

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/AMIndex.aspx

DRC: UN experts call for reinforcement of investigation into killing of prominent Congolese human rights defender

GENEVA (9 June 2010) – A group of UN independent experts* welcomed the announced suspension of the chief of the Congolese National Police, General Inspector John Numbi, and the arrest of several police officers in the investigation of the killing late last week of human rights defender Floribert Chebeya Bahizire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the disappearance of his driver, Fidele Bazana Edadi.

“This killing not only deprives the DRC of one of its most vocal and effective human rights defenders, but also sends a message of intimidation and brutality to the entire DRC human rights community“, said the experts. “Failure to identify and prosecute the perpetrators would constitute a huge step backwards, and risks undermining many of the Government’s other efforts”, they noted. “Urgent efforts should also be deployed to locate Mr Edadi, whose whereabouts are still unknown.”

While welcoming the arrests that have been made, the experts urged the DRC authorities to invite independent forensic experts to assist in the investigation and ensure that any prosecutions that are brought are solidly supported by all available forensic and other evidence.

The experts welcomed the call by the UN Secretary-General for a thorough, transparent and independent investigation, and the commitment by the Congolese Minister of Interior in relation to the investigation. “Bringing in international expertise to reinforce the domestic investigation would show clearly and unmistakably the Government’s commitment to solving this terrible crimem,” the experts said.

In addition, the experts recalled the previous recommendation contained in reports of several Special Procedures mandate-holders to adopt national and provincial laws on the protection of human rights defenders, developed in consultation with civil society. Such laws would certainly enhance and give legitimacy to the work of defenders.

In the ongoing context of attacks and threats against defenders and journalists, and the prevailing impunity in most cases, the Special Rapporteurs further recalled that there can be no democracy without human rights defenders, including journalists. “The Government of the DRC has the prime responsibility under international human rights law to ensure the protection of human rights defenders against any violence, threats, retaliation, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a result of their human rights work,” they concluded.

(*) The Special Procedures mandate-holders are Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Frank La Rue, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; and Margaret Sekaggya, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders

http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10133&LangID=E

A Brief Means of Introduction

I arrived in Kampala, Uganda just over a week ago. About three weeks' ago I had very little idea that this was going to happen. There were lots of people who I didn't get to speak to before I left, and there are lots of people who have no idea what I'm doing here (I've been getting some very shocked reactions on Facebook). So here goes as a brief means of explanation – those of you who've already heard this tale of delay, denial and confusion can skip down a few paragraphs...

In September last year I began a 12-month contract with an international human rights organisation in Dublin called Front Line (FL). Front Line works on and with human rights defenders; people around the world who work in various capacities to improve the rights of others, and who face risk as a result of speaking out or challenging vested interests. Not all defenders are the civil and political activists so beloved of student unions and celebrity endorsements, and not all of them are people who work for human rights organisations. Defenders are journalists, lawyers, trade unionists, teachers, academics, writers, doctors, community activists and village leaders – many of them don't even know themselves that they are human rights defenders. You'll hear me banging on about defenders quite a bit here – once you become aware of the concept you begin to see the defenders all around, behind every newspaper headline, within every volunteer and within every community initiative.

The arrangement was that I would spend a total of 6 months in Front Line's Dublin office, but would also be seconded abroad on an internship. This was originally intended to take place in Geneva. Front Line had previously been sending interns to the office of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, essentially a special expert on the topic appointed by the UN, which operates with the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR), with a staff of three (“the Mandate”). As two specialised agencies working in this field, the Mandate and Front Line have a relatively close working relationship.

For reasons I won't go into, plans changed and things were delayed. It was nothing personal, just bad luck that it happened to take place around the time I was supposed to leave. Fast forward three months and I was still in Dublin waiting to see what would happen. This actually worked out pretty well for me. Work was good; I was involved with an international conference hosted by Front Line - the Dublin Platform - which was an amazing experience, and went to Geneva for a week to attend the Human Rights Council and assist the Mandate during one of their busiest weeks. I stayed with a succession of kind friends who gave me various welcoming homes, treated every week like it would be my last, and saw Dublin for what it really is: a social city which needs to be discovered with a bit of time, effort and a few good friends.

Margaret Sekaggya herself (the SR) is in fact based in Kampala, Uganda, her native city. As Special Rapporteurs are working experts in their field, most if not all of them have many commitments and full-time positions, whether as lawyers, academics or otherwise, and they travel so frequently that its usually not feasible to have them based full time in Geneva. To cut a long story short, Front Line have seconded me to assist the SR in her office in Kampala. Given that a few months had already been lost, we didn't waste any time about it. I had my vaccinations, booked my flights and left within two weeks.

So here I am. I am now Research Assistant to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders (try getting that mouthful out after a few drinks), and will be here for three months, until the start of July. Although I'm working with Margaret in her capacity as SR, I'm hosted in the office of the NGO which she runs in a leafy suburb of Kampala; the Human Rights Centre Uganda. The Centre also works on human rights defenders, although solely in a Ugandan context.

I had in fact toyed with the idea of blogging once or twice before, but never had a good enough excuse to indulge myself in inflicting my unsolicited views on the rest of the world. Now that I'm away and without the kind of implanted internet access I'm addicted to, it seems like the easiest way to stay in touch. Before I left the amount of people who also inquired and actively encouraged me to start writing was both encouraging and exciting. It seems like some of you might actually read these aforementioned inflicted views! And if not – well then they'll stay safely out of your way here in cyberspace.

I'll also use the opportunity to thank everyone for the alternatively well-wishing, encouraging, kind, helpful, shocked and confused emails and messages I've been getting lately from people near and far, especially from those folks I haven't talked to in a while – its always touching to see you're still making the effort to take an interest in my wanderings. I haven't had time to write back to everyone but take it that I was delighted to hear from you, and will try and drop you a line soon.

That's it, introduction completed! Find below a few things I've written since I arrived. Some are a bit long, but what can an over-excited new blogger do...