The Human Rights Blog

Scholars at Risk calls for action against murders of Iraqi professors

Scholars at Risk calls for letters demanding urgent government actions in response to the ongoing murders of professors in Iraq, including the recent murders in separate incidents of Baghdad University Professor Issam al-Rawi, Department of Geology, and Professor Jassim al-Asadi, Dean at the School of Administration and Economics.

Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network of universities and colleges dedicated to promoting academic freedom and defending threatened scholars and universities worldwide.

In issuing this release, Scholars at Risk joins many international academic organizations, including the Middle East Studies Association, the American Association of University Professors, and the Network for Education and Academic Rights, in demanding that Iraqi and international officers in Iraq make every effort to investigate thoroughly attacks on academics and universities and to provide improved security to the Iraqi higher education sector and its constituents.

According to published news reports, Professor al-Rawi, head of the University Professors' Union, was shot outside of his home on October 30, 2006 by unknown gunmen and three days later on November 2 Professor Jassim al-Asadi, a dean at the university was shot along with his wife and son while driving in northern Baghdad. Professor al-Rawi was from the Sunni community and Professor al-Asadi was from the Shiite community. It is believed that Professor al-Asadi’s murder was in retaliation for the death of Professor al-Rawi.

The killings are merely the latest examples of a campaign of violence currently undermining Iraq’s higher education sector. According to international monitors and the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education itself, hundreds of Iraqi academics have been killed and thousands forced to flea the country because of fears of kidnapping and assassination. Scholars at Risk is gravely concerned for the well being of Iraqi institutions and scholars still in Iraq, as well as those fleeing into exile. Recognizing the vital role that the higher education sector must play in building any better future for Iraq and its people, Scholars at Risk joins in calls for letters, emails and faxes respectfully calling on Iraqi and relevant international authorities to:

- investigate the circumstances of the deaths of Professor al-Rawi, Professor Jassim al-Asadi and other murdered professors;

- make the results and procedures of those investigation public as soon as possible;

- make every effort to identify the individuals responsible and bring them to justice in accordance with Iraqi law and internationally recognized fair trial principles;

- make a firm commitment to protecting Iraq’s higher education institutions, including the physical space of the universities as well as their administrators, faculties, staff and students, including efforts to insulate higher education institutions from sectarian politics and violence; and

- provide open, firm and public support for principles of freedom of thought, free exchange of ideas, and academic freedom as central to the mission of higher education and to the role of higher education institutions in society and in a better future for Iraq.

Please send letters, emails and faxes to:

Honorable Nuri Kamal al-Maliki
Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq
c/o The Embassy of Iraq
1801 P Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036 USA
Fax: (202) 462-5066

Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie
The Embassy of Iraq
1801 P Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036 USA
Fax: (202) 462-5066

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520 USA

Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad
US Ambassador to Iraq
Embassy of the United States
APO AE 09316
Baghdad, Iraq USA

H.E. Dr. Salah Al-Shaikhly
Ambassador of The Republic of Iraq
Embassy of Iraq in London
9 Holland Villas Road
London
W14 8BP, UK

The Honorable Dominic Asquith CMG
Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Republic of Iraq
c/o Iraq Policy Unit
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH, UK

Please send copies to:

Scholars at Risk
c/o New York University
194 Mercer Street, Rm 410
New York, New York 10012
1-212-995-4402 (fax)
scholarsatrisk@nyu.edu

Belarusian human rights activist, 60, sentenced to two-year imprisonment

On October 23, Minsk court sentenced Belarusian citizen, human rights activist Yekaterina Sadovskaya to two-year imprisonment and a fine of $1,800 for criticizing Belarusian authorities, Radio Liberty informs.

Investigator of Minsk public prosecutor’s office demanded a three-year imprisonment for the 60-year-old woman. However, the court took into consideration that 84-year-old mother and disabled husband are dependent on Sadovskaya for support.

Appeals to boycott March elections, at which Alexander Lukashenko was presidential contender for the third time, as well as to carry out the president’s psychiatric examination were contained in document, written by Sadovskaya. The court ascertained that the appeal was sent to nobody, being kept in her computer.

Sadovskaya does not admit guilt. She stated that people were sentenced even for thoughts in Byelorussia, adding that Lukashenko transformed human rights into mere empty words. She called her sentence prosecution, caused by political motives per sample of trials of people’s enemies during the Soviet times.

Permanent news address: www.regnum.ru/english/726715.html

-Philippines: Eduardo Millares (50), who was an active member of an urban poor group named Samahan ng Magkakapitbahay sa Tabing-Riles (SMTR-Association of Neighbours along the Railroad) was murdered, while his companion Victoriano Cariño (42) who was also shot, survived the attack. The SMTR is a local chapter of a national group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay-Timog Katagalugan). Send a letter about it

-Thailand: Mr. Muhammad Dunai, a village headman who had been assisting villagers who have been persecuted by the state and assisting the 58 Takbai protesters who are facing trial was shot to death near his home, after he received a phone call and went out.

Mr. Hassan Yamalae, the village headman of Village no.3, Talo of Yata sub-district in Raman district, Yala province, was shot dead together with his colleague Euramae Lehmoh (39) while returning on a motorcycle on the main road from shopping in Raman district. He and his villagers had reportedly complained during a meeting with staff of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand about the brutality of the security personnel during the raid on his village on September 13.

Send letters about it.

-Ethiopia: Ms. Yalemzewd Bekele, a lawyer working for the European Commission Delegation in Addis Ababa, and a volunteer for the Ethiopian Women Lawyers’ Association (EWLA), who has been involved in several human rights and civil society projects, has been arrested.

-Syria: Writer and journalist Michel Kilo remains jailed on trumped-up charges, after a court ordered his release.

US activist held in Vietnam

I've received this article from the daughter of Cong Thanh Do, a Californian pro-democracy activist in Vietnam. He was arrested on August 14th on charges of conspiring to attack the US consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. He's been held every since and is on a hunger strike. We will keep you updated as to his condition.

Please contact your congressional representatives as well as the Vietnamese embassy closest to you to express your concerns about his case.

A Vietnamese-born US citizen and pro-democracy activist has been arrested during a return visit to the country, his family, dissidents and a human rights group said yesterday.

Cong Thanh Do, a 47-year-old computer engineer from California, was detained on Aug. 14, accused of conspiring to launch a terrorist attack against the US consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, and has been held ever since, they said.

During a meeting with US consular officials on Friday, Do said he was a senior member of the banned People's Democratic Party of Vietnam and said he would start a hunger strike that day until his freedom or his death, the relatives said.

He "stated his opposition to the current political status of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and that his mission is to promote a multi-party democratic system strictly through non-violence," the family said in a statement. "He has denied all terrorist accusations, including any attempts to bomb the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City."

US diplomats and Vietnamese declined to comment on the case.

The Vietnamese dissident-run "Dialogue" Web site said Do, who had used the alias "Tran Nam," had been arrested along with two other key members of the banned party, Nguyen Hoang Long and Huynh Viet Lang.

A spokesman for the New York-based group Human Rights Watch said: "We are aware of Cong Thanh Do's arrest and are monitoring the case closely."

He said Do's alias "Tran Nam" had been mentioned in the indictment of prominent dissident Pham Hong Son.

Son was released last week after serving four-and-a-half years in prison on espionage charges, for communicating with overseas dissidents and publishing pro-democracy writings online.

AFP , HANOI
Monday, Sep 04, 2006,Page 5

UA: Human Rights Defender Disappeared in Colombia

The following is an Urgent Action concerning the disappearance of Walter Alvarez, a human rights defender in Colombia. He may still be alive which makes your action all the most important and urgent. Please read it and contact the suggested authorities and distribute the action through your networks. Thank You.

Walter Alvarez Ossa, a human rights activist and founder of the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos - CPDH) in the city of Buga, Colombia, has been disappeared. He was walking back to his house on August 16th, 2006, at 11:30 PM, but never arrived. There were intense searches made for him to no avail.

In February 2006, flyers were distributed in Buga threatening Mr. Alvarez' life. They were signed by the paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), which has been responsible for killing and disappearing human rights activists. On August 2nd, the office of the CPDH was subjected to a warrantless search by police agents, who said it was “a suspicious building.” There are strong links between government forces and the paramilitary groups and they’ve been known to work together.

It is likely that Mr. Alvarez’ human rights activities are linked to his disappearance. It is also possible that he is being detained and he’s still alive, which makes your actions all the more important and urgent.

Please write to the authorities below and ask them to do everything they can to find Walter Alvarez and to guarantee his life and physical integrity. You can also ask that they take the necessary security measures to assure neither Mr. Alvarez' family nor other members of the CPDH suffer a similar fate.

Addresses:

-Carolina Barco, Ambassador to the United States, Embassy of Colombia 2118 Leroy Place, NW, Washington, DC 20008, Phone: (202) 387 8338. Fax: (202) 232 8643

- S.E. Álvaro Uribe Vélez, President of Colombia, Cra. 8 # 7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santa Fe de Bogotá.Fax:+57.1.566.20.71 : auribe@presidencia.gov.co

- Sr. Francisco Santos, Vicepresident of Colombia, Phone. (+571) 334.45.07, (+573) 7720130, E-mail: fsantos@presidencia.gov.co ; buzon1@presidencia.gov.co

- Human Rights Program of the Vice President’s Office: ppdh@presidencia.gov.co

- Human Rights Observatory of the Vice President’s Office: obserdh@presidencia.gov.co

- Doctor Mario Hernán Iguarán Arana, Attorney General, Diagonal 22-B # 52-01, Bogotá. Fax: + 57.1.570.20.00 ; +57.1.414.90.00 Extensión 1113, E-mail: contacto@fiscalia.gov.co; denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co

Please also contact your congressional representatives and ask them to show their interest on this matter to the Colombian government.
Thank you.

If you receive any answers, please let us know.

Why Journalists Should Be Worried By The Rwanda Tribunal Precedents

By Thierry Cruvellier*

For Reporters Without Borders
10 July 2006

The contempt of court proceedings against several Croatian journalists before the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) are a new development
in the history of the international courts that were created in the early 1990s to try senior
officials suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity. Nonetheless, there have been
at least two attempted prosecutions of a similar kind before the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), an identical court set up in Arusha, Tanzania, to try crimes
committed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. And these precedents are a disturbing
illustration of the dangers of arbitrariness and perversion when journalists are accused of
violating orders issued by these courts.

1. The attempted prosecution of the online newspaper Diplomatie Judiciaire

The Diplomatie Judiciaire case is the only real precedent for the current proceedings against
several Croatian journalists. An online newspaper then based in France and specialising in the
coverage of international justice (especially the ICTY and ICTR trials), Diplomatie Judiciaire
published an article on 26 April 2002 entitled “The Karangwa trap” revealing that a potential key
prosecution witness in the most important trial scheduled to be heard before the ICTR – the trial
of Col. Théoneste Bagosora – was himself now suspected by prosecutors of participating in the
Rwandan genocide1.

This development was disturbing for two reasons, the article said. Firstly, the witness, Maj.
Pierre-Claver Karangwa, had until then had a reputation for good behaviour during the genocide,
which explained why investigators had approached him about become a prosecution witness.
Despite his high-level responsibilities in the former Rwandan army, no suspicion had ever
emerged, not even on the part of the Rwandan authorities, of his having played any criminal role
during the preceding eight years.

Secondly, ICTR administrators were confidentially notified that their own prosecutors were
investigating Karangwa only eight days before he was due to arrive at ICTR headquarters in
Tanzania, this time not to work on the case against certain Rwandan senior officers but, on the
contrary, as an investigator for the defence of another Rwandan general accused before the ICTR
– a development that clearly had not pleased some of the senior prosecutors.

The Diplomatie Judiciaire article revealed the danger of the situation in which the prosecutor’s
office now found itself, suddenly suspecting one of its own witnesses of being a criminal. It said
the initiation of a prosecution against Karangwa by the interim chief prosecutor caused serious problems within the prosecutor’s office, then headed by Carla del Ponte. The article also
questioned that the office was being run in a coherent fashion, describing its leadership as
“fragmented.”

Less that two weeks after the article came out, the chief prosecutor sent the newspaper a
confidential letter telling it to withdraw the article at once because it “flagrantly violates” a
witness protection order issued by the ICTR (presumably protecting Karangwa as a prosecution
witness) and warning that this “violation” would be brought to the tribunal’s attention “in an
appropriate fashion.” The prosecutor’s office did indeed ask the tribunal on 22 May to initiate
contempt of court proceedings against Diplomatie Judiciaire for revealing that Karangwa was a
witness.

Contrary to the most elementary rules of due process, the prosecutor’s request was sealed and
was filed with the utmost secrecy without the newspaper ever being told and, consequently,
without it ever being given the right to defend itself. It was only several days after the tribunal
had ruled on the request on 5 July 2002, rejecting it in its entirety, that the newspaper discovered that it had been threatened by a prosecution. The newspaper was never officially notified about either the public ruling or the prosecutor’s confidential request, learning about them indirectly afterwards.

The case is significant for several reasons, some of them relevant to the case of the Croatian
journalists, even if Diplomatie Judiciaire is completely apolitical and innocent of any
misconduct while the Croatian journalists are politically engaged and – formally at least – did
commit a violation.

The circumstances surrounding the prosecution

The 2002 offensive against Diplomatie Judiciaire came at time when it had published a number
of reports highlighting the ICTR’s shortcomings. It ran an article in November 2001 about a
hearing in which the three judges had joked in the presence of a witnesses who was a rape victim while she was being aggressively cross-examined by the defence. The report caused a stir and sparked a crisis between the tribunal and organisations representing Rwandan genocide
survivors. One the judges involved stopped one of the article’s authors in a corridor of the court
building and insulted him. The defence lawyer mentioned in the articles announced his intention
during a public hearing to accuse the newspaper of contempt of court, but did not make good on
his threat.

In March 2002, the newspaper ran an article giving the inside story on a deadlocked internal UN
investigation into presumed corruption involving defence lawyers and the section of the office of
the clerk of the court that deals with the defence. As a result, one of its reporters was interrogated by UN internal investigators and persons close to him were subjected to intimidation. Finally in May 2002, two days after a prominent former Rwandan general was arrested at the behest of ICTR prosecutors, Diplomatie Judiciaire began publishing a series of investigative articles that played a decisive role in his release and the withdrawal of all the charges against him three months later. In short, the legal offensive against Diplomatie Judiciaire was launched at a moment when the ICTR, and its prosecutor’s office in particular, were being wrong-footed by its critical coverage. And the person responsible for initiating the legal proceedings against the newspaper, the head of the prosecutor’s office, had just been directly criticised in the 26 April article. So the legal
grounds for the proceedings – contempt of court for violating an ICTR witness protection order –
were clearly not what really motivated it. The prosecutor’s office was in no way concerned about
Maj. Karangwa’s safety. On the contrary, it was threatening to prosecute him for genocide in
reprisal for what it considered to be a lack of loyalty. Furthermore, he was living legally in the
Netherlands and had agreed to be interview by Diplomatie Judiciaire before the article came out.
The contempt of court procedure was just a way to silence a newspaper that had become very
critical of the court.

The case of the Croatian journalists accused of contempt of court before the ICTY is
different. The openly partisan and political nature of the publications involved is clear, as
was their ill-will towards the tribunal. But the ICTY prosecutor’s office decided to initiate
proceedings at a fraught moment, which raises questions about its real motives. They were
not initiated at the time of the first alleged violations of the court protection order but
much later, at a particular moment in the Gotovina case. This did not escape the attention
of one of the ICTY judges who, in a separate opinion issued on 20 June of this year,
stressed that it “could be important to explain during the trial why [Josip Jovic] was not
charged until 2004 for an action dating back to 2000.”

The witness protection argument

In their decision of 5 July 2002 rejecting any proceedings against Diplomatie Judiciaire, the
ICTR judges noted that the confidential request from the prosecutor’s office had argued that the
disputed article was evidence not only of “a clear case of ill-considered contempt towards the
tribunal but also a deliberate readiness to embarrass it or to obstruct the course of justice in this
tribunal.” The judges thereby highlighted the fact that the request contained the seed of a desire
to restrict the work of the media.

According to this ruling, the prosecutor’s office had asked that no one should be allowed to
reveal “any information to the public, media or any other party not directly involved about the
drafting of the request, the chamber’s decision on the request or any other impact the request
might have.” This implied not only that the newspaper would be forced to withdraw the
offending article from the public domain but that it should have to do so secretly, without talking
about it or giving any explanation. It is yet further evidence that the aim of the prosecutor’s
office was to suppress the article’s subject matter rather than punish an alleged violation of a
court order that had put a witness in danger.

Significantly, the grounds for the very few cases of prosecutions of this kind so far initiated has
always been the disclosure of the identity of a protected witness or witnesses. The offending
articles have never posed any objective danger to their security. Even the protection of their
identity as witnesses has at the very least been questionable at the time when these proceedings were launched. There was never any threat to the security of either Maj. Karangwa in the 2002 case before the ICTR nor to the security of Croatian President Stipe Mesic or UN peacekeeper Johannes van Kuijk in the case of the Croatian journalists before the ICTY.

This means the very grounds for these prosecutions are tainted by suspicion. It is
acknowledged that none of the witnesses named by the news media were endangered by the
disclosure of their identity at the time it occurred. Also, the safety of the witness or witnesses
was not the first and only concern of those who initiated the prosecutions in the 2002 case before
the ICTR and the 2005 case before the ICTY. This is disturbing because it implies in practice
that the prosecutions were brought by officials whose motives were revenge or the protection of
their own interests rather than a strict and scrupulous concern for the interests and safety of
people who could have been put in danger for being their witnesses. The motives and context
surrounding these prosecutions are decisive in determining their legitimacy. In both cases,
however, the motives and context are deeply disturbing.

Just as the prosecutors in the Diplomatie Judiciaire case in 2002 gave a disturbing indication of
the extent of the silence they wanted to impose on the media, today there is reason for concern
about the potential scope of the proceedings against the Croatian journalists before the ICTY.
One of the prosecutions concerns not only the disclosure of a witness’s identity but also the
disclosure of confidential court documents including records of closed hearings and confidential
interrogations by one of the tribunal’s investigative branches. Here there is a clear danger of an
attempt to prevent the press from doing its job. It is the duty of the media to expose the
functioning of the courts created by the international community to public debate, especially
when their functioning – at the very least – raises questions. An essential part of a journalist’s
work is to seek information that some of the parties in a trial want to keep secret.

The concern is not just theoretical. The international criminal courts have gradually become
extremely extensive in their use of witness protection, resulting at the ICTR in particular in its
almost systematic application to people who come forward as witnesses. This has clearly resulted
in Arusha in abuses in which the aim is to conceal questionable or shaky aspects of the trials
from the public rather than to protect witnesses as such. (It is worth noting that the protection
accorded witnesses in both Rwanda and the Balkans is purely theoretical after they have returned to their communities.)

The holding of closed hearings with the stated aim of protecting witnesses has also been
seriously abused by both prosecutors and defence lawyers for their own tactical interests,
significantly reducing the number of public hearings. In one recent example, an entirely secret
hearing was held before the ICTR in Arusha on 15 March to let Joseph Serugendo, the former
technical editor at the notorious Radio-Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), plead guilty
after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors. This was the first time ever that it was decided not
only that such a hearing should be closed but also that it should be omitted from the tribunal’s
published calendar. The grounds given for these exceptional measures in the absence of any
protected witness were simply “security,” with no further explanation. No reason for the closed
hearing emerged when Serugendo was sentenced at a public hearing two months later, on 2 June.

Even more disturbing is the threat of prosecution that is now used by tribunal officials against
journalists covering its work. Asked to explain his refusal to write about the Serugendo case, a
journalist who covers the trials in Arusha told us on 22 March: “Whenever I ask a question I am
warned: you will incur the sanctions envisaged in the tribunal’s regulations if you violate the
confidentiality of a closed hearing.” A coincidence? This was 12 days after the ICTR ruling of
10 March finding a journalist in contempt of court for the first time. On the basis of the rulings
being issued by the ICTR, there is clearly reason to fear that there will be more and more
intimidation and harassment of journalists covering these tribunals at one point or another,
especially those who are isolated and not linked to major news organisations.
Sanctions

The ICTR’s judges discreetly and wisely terminated the 2002 proceedings against Diplomatie
Judiciaire by throwing out the prosecutors’ request. So it is impossible to know how far the
prosecutor’s office would have gone with its request for sanctions against this newspaper. At the
point where the proceedings came to a halt, the prosecutor’s office had requested the withdrawal
of the offending article and a ban on its publication in any form, without mentioning a fine.
Four years later, the ICTY sentenced Croatian journalist Ivica Marijavic on 10 March 2006 to a
fine of 15,000 euros. For the judges who issued the ruling, this represented about a month’s
salary. But by Croatian standards, the fine was much heavier.

2. The case of the Radio Rwanda journalist

A defence team accused Radio Rwanda’s Arusha correspondent, Jean-Lambert Gatare, before
the ICTR in June 2005 of naming two protected witnesses on the air. In this case the accusation
was made publicly. The tribunal ruled three days later that Gatare was not in contempt of court
because the witnesses’ names “had been disclosed in a public hearing” by one of the parties and there was therefore no case against him. The presiding judge concluded by inviting the parties to be more prudent.

There are interesting aspects to this case although it did not get very far. Firstly, it confirmed that the parties to a trial – the prosecution and defence – may try to have a journalist sanctioned when they dislike his coverage for reasons that are much more than just legal in nature. In this case, the defence lawyer described the journalist as “an agent” of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front. So his accusation seems to have also been targeted at a news organisation regarded as being linked to a hostile political tendency.

Secondly, the judges’ ruling was surprising and smacked of arbitrariness as well as a possible
concession to an influential news media. The argument that the naming of the witnesses by one
of the parties in a public hearing sufficed to absolve the journalist of any responsibility is
completely contradicted by many other tribunal rulings that insist that journalists have a
permanent responsibility in this respect, even if a witness’s identity is disclosed during a trial by
mistake or inadvertently or as a result of the incompetence of one of the parties, as has happened many times.

Thirdly, it is impossible not to suspect the tribunal of being swayed by the impact that a warning
or sanction against a Rwandan public radio journalist would probably have had on its already
extremely fraught relations with the Rwandan government. The danger of arbitrariness is
therefore far from being excluded in the proceedings against journalists covering the work of the
international criminal courts. And it could mean that only the least prominent news media are
exposed to sanctions.

Journalists’ organisations have for the most part said little about the of the proceedings
against the Croatian journalists. Aside from the nature of the alleged offences, the silence
of these organisations has clearly been sustained by the poor reputation of the media and
journalists involved, the nationalist politics that motivated them and their openly partisan
character. All these factors have also encouraged human rights groups to steer clear of the
case. But there is a danger that it will set a judicial precedent that will apply to all
journalists covering the work of these courts.

* Thierry Cruvellier is a journalist who covered the work of the International Criminal Tribunal
for Rwanda from 1997 to 2002, the Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2003 and the start of the
trials before the War Crimes Chamber for Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2005-2006. He has been the
editor of the International Justice Tribune, a specialised newspaper, since 2004. His book, Le
Tribunal des Vaincus, un Nuremberg pour le Rwanda?, was published by Calmann-Lévy this
year.
-----
1 The article was written by Thierry Cruvellier. It is available at the website of the International Justice Tribune
newspaper (www.justicetribune.com).

Indian PM apologizes

And now for some "good" news. The Indian Prime Minister has apologized to human rights activist Asma Jahangir of Pakistan for the search of her hotel room by police without a warrant.
--------------

PM says sorry to Asma Jahangir
Rajeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 3
Significant positive gestures were made by the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan today which may not well be purely coincidental.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today telephoned Ms Asma Jahangir, arguably one of the best known names among Pakistani women in contemporary period, and apologised to her for the �ill treatment� meted out to her by the Delhi Police.

Ms Jahangir, who was here briefly on a private visit on the invitation of an NGO, was shocked when a team of Delhi Police personnel searched her room and questioned her yesterday. Dr Manmohan Singh apologised for the conduct of the Delhi Police and flatly told her that it happened because there was an increased surveillance on Pakistanis in India, the Prime Minister�s Media Adviser Sanjaya Baru told this correspondent.

The Prime Minister�s conversation with Ms Jahangir lasted five minutes. Ms Jahangir left for Pakistan this evening. Apart from being a prominent human rights activist, she has also been Special Rappoteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions.

On the other side of the picture, the Pakistani Prime Minister, Mr Shaukat Aziz, did not use the K-word during his long speech today at Kuala Lumpur on the occasion of an Extraordinary Summit of the Executive Committee of the Organisation of the OIC.

Not mentioning Kashmir at an OIC forum is indeed a departure from the Kashmir-obsessed Pakistani leadership even if the event in the Malaysian capital was Lebanon-specific.

Today�s twin developments, if juxtaposed, may portray a picture of a thaw that is waiting to take place between the two nuclear neighbours. Whether that actually happens, remains to be seen.

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, who returned today from Dhaka where he had met his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammed Khan on the margins of a SAARC officials� meet, has spoken positively about the dialogue process between the two countries.

Mr Saran went on record to say at a news conference in Dhaka that �Concerning terrorists, we have agreed that we will remain in touch and there is also a common understanding that the peace process between the two countries is very important and that we should try and take this process forward.

Travel Restriction of HR Defender

Derechos Human Rights sent a letter today to the Syrian Ambassador to the US regarding the violations of freedom of movement of Mr. Radwan Ziadeh, a human rights defender who was not allowed to leave the country in order to present a paper at a human rights conference in Jordan. Human rights defenders in Syria have often been the subject of restrictions and harassment.

Please write similar letters to the Syrian authorities.

June 29, 2006

DERECHOS HUMAN RIGHTS
46 Estabrook St.
San Leandro, CA 94577
USA
510-483-4005

Mr. Imad Moustapha
The Embassy of Syria
2215 Wyoming Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
syrembas@syrembassy.net

Dear Mr. Moustapha,

I am writing to express my organization's concern with the treatment of Radwan Ziadeh, Director of the Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies. Mr. Ziadeh was prevented by security forces from leaving Syria on June 26, 2006. He was to attend the conference "Human rights within the framework of Criminal Justice: current challenges and needed strategies in the Arab World" in Amman, Jordan.

As you know, this restriction on Mr. Ziadeh's freedom of movement is a violation of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, which guarantees the right of human rights defenders to freely associate with others and to publish, disseminate and discuss information and views on human rights at the national and international level.

We request that the Syrian government put an end to all forms of harassment and restrictions against Mr. Ziadeh. We also request that the rights of all human rights defenders in Syria to research, analyze and report on issues of human rights and human rights abuses be respected. Finally, we request that the Syrian government respect and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Syria in accordance with international human rights standards.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Margarita Lacabe
Executive Director
Derechos Human Rights

Other authorities:

- M. Bashar al-ASAD, President of the Republic, Presidential Palace, Abu Rummaneh, Al-Rashid Street Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic. Tel/ Fax : + 963 11 33 23 410

- G�n�ral Basam ABD AL-MAJID, Ministry of the Interior, Merjeh Circle, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic. Tel/Fax : +963 11 222 34 28; Email: admin@civilaffair-moi.gov.sy

- M. Muhammad al-GHAFRI, Ministry of Justice, Al Nasr street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic. Tel/Fax : +963 11 224 62 50

- M. Walid MU�ALLIM, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, al-Rashid Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic. Fax: + 963 11 332 76 20

- His Excellence Ambassador Mr. Bashar JA�AFARI, Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations in Geneva, Rue de Lausanne 72 (3rd floor), 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 715 45 60, Email: mission.syria@ties.itu.int

- Ambassador Mr. Badi Khattab, Diplomatic Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic in Brussels, 1 avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Tel: + 32 2 554 19 22; Fax: + 32 2 648 14 85

Statement on Human Rights Defenders

Joint oral statement of the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in the framework of their joint programme, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

UN Human Rights Council First Session (19-30 June 2006)

Item 4 : Implementation of General Assembly Resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006 entitled �Human Rights Council�

Pressing issue (5): Role of Human Rights Defenders

Geneva - Paris, June 26, 2006

Mr. Chairman,

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in the framework of their joint programme, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, express their deep concern about the fact that the repression human rights defenders are subjected to worldwide continues and indeed is growing and, consequently, point out the ongoing importance to widely recognise the legitimacy of their action and their increasing need for further protection.

In all regions of the world, in a context when human rights suffer a serious setback in the name of the fight against terrorism, human rights defenders continue to pay a heavy price for their commitment to the defence of universal rights, and the variety of means of repression against them is wide: assassinations, forced disappearances, acts of torture, ill-treatments, death threats, arbitrary arrests and detentions, judicial proceedings, adoption of restrictive legislation, etc.

Indeed, techniques of repression against defenders are becoming more and more widespread, while the authors of such violations enjoy complete impunity. Thus, in 2005, human rights defenders continued to face multiple acts of reprisals because of their activities: in its Annual Report[1], the Observatory documented the situation of 1,172 defenders repressed in about 90 countries around the world.

In 2005, human rights defenders involved in the fight against impunity were more than ever subjected to acts of retaliation. This repression is multifaceted, from assassinations (Brazil, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), etc.), death threats (Central African Republic, Guatemala, Peru, Uzbekistan) to arbitrary detentions (Ethiopia, Iran, Tunisia).

In many countries, defenders of economic, social and cultural rights were not spared by acts of violence, in particular trade union leaders (Colombia, which continued to hold the sad world record for the number of trade activists assassinated, Djibouti, Philippines) and defenders of indigenous communities and of environmental and land rights (Chile, China, Zimbabwe). Furthermore, defenders of sexual minorities remained subjected to repeated acts of harassment and intimidation, such as in China, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda.

Furthermore, once again, in 2005, many States made extensive use of legislation in order to control the independent civil society, and in particular to toughen conditions for NGO registration, facilitate their suspension or dismantling, or limit their access to foreign financing (such as in Belarus, Iran, Nepal, Rwanda, Russian Federation, Sudan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan).

Finally, defending human rights during political or armed conflicts remained extremely dangerous: not only general insecurity rendered the defenders� activities of monitoring and investigation very risky, but also their denunciations and protective efforts were also increasingly considered as being opposed to the government or to one of the parties to the conflict (Afghanistan, Chechnya, Colombia, C�te d�Ivoire, DRC, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian Occupied Territories, Nepal, Philippines, Sudan).

Mr. Chairman, as no continent is immune from the phenomenon of repression against defenders, an increased mobilisation, in particular at the regional and international levels, is more than ever necessary in order to save what lies at the heart of human rights: respect for the dignity of all.

After six years of remarkably rigorous and extensive activity, Ms. Hina Jilani�s mandate as Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations on Human Rights Defenders is coming to an end. Much has been achieved, yet much remains to be done: two reasons to not only renew the mechanism, but also to strengthen it with increased resources for fulfilling its mission.

Mr. Chairman, the Observatory would like to conclude by urging the Human Rights Council to:

- Support the mandate of the United Nations Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders by renewing it and providing necessary material and financial support, and ensure that there is no protection gap within the review process;

- Strengthen the role and functions of the UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders, notably by allowing more interaction and cooperation with the Human Rights Council, including interactive dialogues and special sessions;

- Encourage States to invite to country visits and co-operate with the UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders. In particular, all States that are members of the Human Rights Council should abide by their responsibilities and commitments by extending standing invitations to all Special Procedures, including the UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders;

- Call upon States to fully implement the principles included in the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom through the adoption of the Declaration by national parliaments, the dissemination of the Declaration, the implementation of awareness-raising and solidarity campaigns with defenders, and the developments of mechanisms that provide safe havens for those under threat;

- Urge States to ensure that national security measures, including those taken in the name of the fight against terrorism, comply with international human rights norms and standards and are not used to justify disproportionate limitations on freedoms or impair the legitimate work of human rights defenders;

- Ensure the dissemination of the Declaration at the international level by including it in the United Nations plans and training programmes for State officials, with a particular focus on the issue of women human rights defenders.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

[1] The 2005 Annual Report of the Observatory, entitled Steadfast in Protest, was published in March 2006.

Human Rights Activists in Bahrain seek Help

Attacks against human rights groups have been in the increase worldwide. As more and more governments push towards a global estate of exception, human rights defenders and other political activists who throw a light onto and investigate the repression are often the first target. If Martin Niem�ller was alive today he might well start his poem with "First they came for the human rights defenders".

Let us not be silent! Contact your representatives in your own government expressing your concerns about human rights defenders and write letters to the governments in question. I'm including some addresses, which I hope are still accurate :).

The Embassy of Bahrain in your country
http://www.helplinedatabase.com/embassy-database/country-in-other-countries/bahrain.html

The Royal Council
His Majesty the King, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain
Fax: +973-17664587

Crown Prince Council
Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain
Fax: +973-17664587

-----

URGENT APPEAL
FOR THE PROTECTION OF ACTIVISTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
IN BAHRAIN

Sexual Assaults, Threats of Killings, Harassment At Work

In order to intimidate, silence and prevent them from perusing their role in disseminate, reinforce and defend human rights values, activists and human rights defenders in Bahrain are still facing all sorts of repression [1] , tyranny and threats [2] by the State Security Authorities. This systematic approach also aims to demean the defenders and their activities as well as contribute in deterring attention to the violations and issues raised by them. In addition to the police (security) trailing and privacy infiltration through communications techniques like telephones, emails, etc [3] , the following represent some of the tactics employed by the Authorities to contest activists;
Arbitrary detention [4]
Legal measures and deployment of non independent judiciary to lead fierce attack on activists and defenders of rights [5].
Physical attacks [6] , sexual assaults and blackmail of sexual attack on families of activists [7]
Framed criminal allegations [8]
Allegations of politicized activities [9]
Defamation and smear [10]
Job harassment and dismissal [11]

We, the under named, activists and defenders of rights in Bahrain, whose rights have been violated by the Authorities during our work in the promotion of human rights values. We see your swift intervention against the Authorities attacks and persistent violations to our rights. We call upon your action on the basis of the rights and responsibilities of individual, groups and civic societies in reinforcement of human rights and its basic freedoms, legitimized and protected by the UN charter for the protection of Activists and defenders of rights. We also seek your support in calling upon the reviewing Bahrain's record of human rights and the need the State to abide by the universal declarations, its pledges and treaties concerned with promotion and protection of human rights and its defenders.

Names of suffering activists:

1
Mr Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja
Trainer
Human Rights Activist
Bahrain Center for Human Rights

2
Mr Nabeel Rajab
Self-employed
Human Rights Activist
Bahrain Center for Human Rights

3
Mr Hasan Mushaima
Retired
Political Activist
HAQ Movement

4
Dr Abduljalil Alsingace
Academician
Activist
HAQ Movement

5
Mrs Layla Dashti
unemployed
Activist
Committee of Activists & Detainees of Conscience

6
Mr Nader Ebrahim
Teacher (imprisoned)
activist
Committee of Activists & Detainees of Conscience

7
Mr Hasan Abdulnabi
Employee (imprisoned)
Activist
Unemployed Committee

8
Mr Mosa Abdali
Unemployed (imprisoned)
Activist
Unemployed Committee

9
Mr Ali Mushaima
unenmployed
Activist
Unemployed Committee

10
Mr Abdulameer Madan
Student (imprisoned)
Activist
Unemployed Committee

11
Mr Hasan Al-Haddad
Nurse (imprisoned)
Independent Activist

12
Mr Abdulghani Khanjar
Teacher
Activist
National Committee for Martyrs & Victims of Torture
13
Mr Abdulraoof Al-Shayeb
Self-employed
Human Rights Activist
National Committee for Martyrs & Victims of Torture
14
Mr Abbas Omran
Engineer
Labour Activist
National Committee for Martyrs & Victims of Torture
15
Mr Jalal Fairooz
Ex-engineer at BANAGAS
Political Activist
Alwefaq Society
16
Mr Mohsen Muqdad
Self- Employed
Activist
Committee of Families of Detainees
17
Mr Ali Qamber
Technician
Activist
Committee of Families of Detainees
18
Mr Abdulla Zain
employee
Activist
Committee of Families of Detainees

[1] Front Line Press Release "Bahrain's candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council must mean better protection for human rights defenders"- 24 April 2006, http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/news/2781

[2] Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor- US State Department- March 8, 2006-http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61686.htm

[3]A report "Targeting Activists"- Bahrain Center for Human Rights- January 2006

[4] Prisoners and detainees of Bahrain airport and subsequent protest incidents

[5]Abdulhadi Al-khawaja's case

[6] Attacks on unemployed near the Bahrain Royal Court on June 19th and the Elected House on July 15 th 2005.

[7] Physical and sexual attacks on unemployed committee activists Mosa Abdali and Hasan Abdulnabi

[8] Prisoners of Bahrain Airport incident, and case of Activist Abdulraoof Al-Shayeb- president of National Committee of Martyrs and Victims of Torture

[9] Members of Bahrain Center for Human Rights

[10] Defamation cases of Activists: Hasan Mushaima (HAQ Movement), Abdulraoof Al-Shayeb (National Committee of Martyrs and Victims of Torture), Nabil Rajab and Abduhadi Al-khwaja ( Bahrain Center for Human Rights), Shaikh Ali Salman (Alwefaq Society), and Ali Hasan Mushaima (Unemployed Committee)

[11]Dismissal of Dr Abduljalil Alsingace from the chairmanship of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bahrain, and sacking of Jalal Fairooz, senior engineer at Bahrain National Gas Company-BANAGAS

Bahrain: King Should Reject Law on Public Gatherings
Government Must Revise Draft Law That Undermines Freedom of Assembly

(Washington, D.C., June 8, 2006) � The Bahraini government�s draft legislation on public meetings and demonstrations undermines the right of peaceful assembly, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter urging Bahrain�s king not sign the bill into law.
The draft law will be the first significant human rights-related legislation to come before Bahrain�s king, Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for final approval since the country was elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council last month. In its letter, Human Rights Watch urged the king to instruct the Ministries of Justice and Interior to revise the legislation to bring it in line with international human rights law.

�Shaikh Hamad and other Bahraini officials claim that the country is on the path to democracy, but this legislation would move Bahrain in the opposite direction,� said Joe Stork, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch. �This badly flawed law has no place on the statute books of any state, much less a member of the new U.N. Human Rights Council.�

Freedom of assembly is essential to forming and expressing public participation in political affairs and a crucial component of any democratic order, Human Rights Watch said. International law allows some limitations on the exercise of this freedom, but the limitations cannot compromise the essence of the right.

In the draft law, known as Amendments to Law 18/1973, Article 6 forbids �any speech or discussion infringing on public order or morals.� But it leaves �public order and morals� undefined, inviting security officials to restrict free expression and peaceful assembly at will. Article 7 authorizes police presence at any public meeting and allows security officials to break up meetings if any crime listed in the Penal Code is committed.

�Bahrain�s Penal Code still has provisions that contradict international human rights standards,� Stork said. �This new law says the police can lawfully disrupt a public meeting even if the participants are simply exercising basic rights like freedom of expression and freedom of association.�

The draft legislation originated with the government. The elected 40-member Council of Deputies (Majlis al-Nawwab) has approved it, and the appointed 40-member Consultative Council (Majlis al-Shura) is expected to do so soon. The bill requires approval of the king to become law.

To read the letter, please visit:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/06/08/bahrai13529.htm

In Memoriam: Tom Fox

American peace activist Tom Fox has been killed. His body has been found.

Tom Fox was a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams and had been working with Iraqi human rights organizations. He was kidnapped along with other 3 activists last November. He was 54 years old and had two children.

Tom was realistic about the dangers he faced working in Iraq. He left instructions that in case of being taken hostage, ransom should not be paid for his freedom. He also asked that his abductors not be vilified but that their actions be understood. But as he said "Too many are willing to die for war and too few are willing to die for peace."

Tom Fox's courage and dedication awes me personally. I didn't know him but as a human rights activist I mourn his death.

I'm adding to this entree the press release issued by Christian Peacemaker Teams

Statement, Christian Peacemaker Teams, 10 March 2006

In grief we tremble before God who wraps us with compassion. The death of our beloved colleague and friend pierces us with pain. Tom Fox's body was found in Baghdad yesterday.

Christian Peacemaker Teams extends our deep and heartfelt condolences to the family and community of Tom Fox, with whom we have traveled so closely in these days of crisis.

We mourn the loss of Tom Fox who combined a lightness of spirit, a firm opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone.

We renew our plea for the safe release of Harmeet Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember. Each of our teammates has responded to Jesus' prophetic call to live out a nonviolent alternative to the cycle of violence and revenge.

In response to Tom's passing, we ask that everyone set aside inclinations to vilify or demonize others, no matter what they have done. In Tom's own words: "We reject violence to punish anyone. We ask that there be no retaliation on relatives or property. We forgive those who consider us their enemies. We hope that in loving both friends and enemies and by intervening nonviolently to aid those who are systematically oppressed, we can contribute in some small way to transforming this volatile situation."

Even as we grieve the loss of our beloved colleague, we stand in the light of his strong witness to the power of love and the courage of nonviolence. That light reveals the way out of fear and grief and war.

Through these days of crisis, Christian Peacemaker Teams has been surrounded and upheld by a great outpouring of compassion: messages of support, acts of mercy, prayers, and public actions offered by the most senior religious councils and by school children, by political leaders and by those organizing for justice and human rights, by friends in distant nations and by strangers near at hand. These words and actions sustain us. While one of our teammates is lost to us, the strength of this outpouring is not lost to God's movement for just peace among all peoples.

At the forefront of that support are strong and courageous actions from Muslim brothers and sisters throughout the world for which we are profoundly grateful. Their graciousness inspires us to continue working for the day when Christians speak up as boldly for the human rights of thousands Iraqis still detained illegally by the United States and United Kingdom.

Such an outpouring of action for justice and peace would be a fitting memorial for Tom. Let us all join our voices on behalf of those who continue to suffer under occupation, whose loved ones have been killed or are missing. In so doing, we may hasten the day when both those who are wrongly detained and those who bear arms will return safely to their homes. In such a peace we will find solace for our grief.

Despite the tragedy of this day, we remain committed to put into practice these words of Jim Loney: "With the waging of war, we will not comply. With the help of God's grace, we will struggle for justice. With God's abiding kindness, we will love even our enemies." We continue in hope for Jim, Harmeet and Norman's safe return home safe.

Christian Peacemaker Teams has been present in Iraq since October 2002, providing first-hand, independent reports from the region, working with detainees of both United States and Iraqi forces, and training others in non-violent intervention and human rights documentation. Christian Peacemaker Teams is a violence reduction program. Teams of trained peacemakers work in areas of lethal conflict around the world.

For more information and to learn on ways to support the hostages still held in Iraq, visit the website of the Christian Peacemaker Teams at: http://www.cpt.org

Jail term has not diminished protester's resolve

The Columbus' Ledger-Enquirer has an article on Priscilla Treska, one of the people who was arrested for trespassing at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas. The institute changed names to try to cover its bloody past.

Treska is a 66-year-old mother and grandmother who waited until her oldest child was grown before taking this step. She has refused bail - poor people can't afford bail, why should she have that privilege? - and has been in jail since the November protest. She went to trial last Monday and was sentenced to time served.

I find her example a great inspiration. Even though I live in liberal California, sometimes it's easy to get exasperated about my American compatriots lack of concern about the massive violations of human rights the US engages in. The example of the men and women of all ages who year after year cross the line and go to jail to protest US actions, reminds me that at least there is a core of Americans who have not forgotten what this country is supposed to stand for.

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/living/13729677.htm