Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Human Rights Action Update May 18-25

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

HE WHO PERMITS OPPRESSION PERMITS CRIMES.-Erasmus (1466-1536)

Holbein-erasmus.jpg
Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 as depicted by Hans Holbein the Younger. The Greek and Latin words on the book translate to "The Herculean Labors of Erasmus of Rotterdam".

 

EMBASSY FINDER 

Survival International provides a useful tool for locating the embassy of any country in your country. http://embassy.goabroad.com/ You can also find embassies at https://embassy-finder.com/

CHARITY CORNER 

This week your attention is drawn to Human Rights Watch whom we last featured just a year ago. This is a most effective human rights organization. We quote:

MISSION STATEMENT

Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all.
They have a very high rating with Charity Navigator and are certainly worthy of support of all people of good will. We might also mention that Charity Navigator who supply us with the information we need to donate intelligently are a nonprofit and need support as well.


Good News! - Oman: Sulaiman Al-Ma'mari Released 

 Omani writer, journalist and human rights activist Sulaiman al-Ma’mari was released without charge on 19 May, following 22 days detained in solitary confinement. The Omani authorities have yet to give a reason for Sulaiman al-Ma’mari’s arrest.  No further action is requested from the UA Network. Many thanks to all who sent appeals. 

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Survival International provides a long list of cases in which a letter from you can and will make a difference. Please open this link and write at least one letter. This link will be a permanent feature on our blog and we would be grateful if you gave it a bit of attention each week. We suggest going down the list in the order given. The letters are pre-written for you. All you need to do is send them. It would be nice also if a donation to Survival International could be forthcoming. This week we call your attention to the forest people of Central Africa, the so-called Pygmy people. They are very diverse, but all of them share the problem of their homes being taken away from them and the denial of their ability to maintain their traditional hunter-gatherer culture. 
Elders report that they cannot teach their children the traditional skills - because they cannot go into the forest.
Elders report that they cannot teach their children the traditional skills - because they cannot go into the forest.
© Salomé/Survival
Please blast this story out on all your networks and write to the World Wildlife Foundation calling on them to cease their persecution of the people of the forests.

THE STRUGGLE AGAINST SLAVERY  

We have added a new section to the blog in order to join the struggle against slavery worldwide. This week we call your attention to the end slavery now campaign. There you can download a slave-free buying guide and also sign up for action updates.The importance of checking your sellers' supply chains cannot be overemphasized.
Look for these logos:
 

 










In addition, we call your attention to the exploitation of children in the tobacco farming industry in Indonesia. Thousands of children in Indonesia, some just 8 years old, are working in hazardous conditions on tobacco farms, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Indonesian and multinational tobacco companies buy tobacco grown in Indonesia, but none do enough to ensure that children are not doing hazardous work on farms in their supply chains.
A young girl ties tobacco leaves onto sticks to prepare them for curing in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.
A young girl ties tobacco leaves onto sticks to prepare them for curing in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

BELARUS 

Halt Execution of Siarhei Khmialeuski

Siarhei Khmialeuski, who was sentenced to death in Belarus in February, is at imminent risk of execution. Please act.

RUSSIA 

Prominent human rights defender Valentina Cherevatenko has been repeatedly summoned by an investigator and may become the first to be criminally prosecuted under the “foreign agents law”. If convicted, she could face up to two years in prison. Please act on her behalf.


CHINA

Imprisoned Chinese human rights campaigner Yang Maodong (better known by pen-name Guo Feixiong) started a hunger strike on 9 May to protest his humiliating and threatening treatment by the authorities. He is in ill health and is desperate need of adequate medical care.  Please act for him.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 

Tens of thousands of people remain stateless in the Dominican Republic. They have no country. They have no rights. Imagine one day you wake up and discover that YOUR country took away your nationality. Your past erased, your rights snatched away. Please sign the petition.

TURKEY 

In February thousands of people gathered to protest against the mining plans of the company Cengiz Holding. The demonstration was violently beaten down by police and authorities are threatening union members at the local forestry directorate who joined the protests to be transferred to other regions of the country if they don’t give up. The forestry union TARIM ORMAN-IS has now turned to us with an urgent request for help. Please click and lend your support
People of the Cerattepe region in Turkey are fighting to stop their land from being destroyed by a mining company that wants to cut down the forests and pollute the water to mine gold, silver and copper.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Human Rights Action Update May 11-18

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

HE WHO PERMITS OPPRESSION PERMITS CRIMES.-Erasmus (1466-1536)

Holbein-erasmus.jpg
Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 as depicted by Hans Holbein the Younger. The Greek and Latin words on the book translate to "The Herculean Labors of Erasmus of Rotterdam".

 

EMBASSY FINDER 

Survival International provides a useful tool for locating the embassy of any country in your country. http://embassy.goabroad.com/ You can also find embassies at https://embassy-finder.com/

CHARITY CORNER 

This week your attention is drawn to NALA, a foundation devoted to fighting Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD's) in Africa.
NALA Foundation - Bringing Hope to Africa

It was founded by Professor Zvi Bentwich of Ben Gurion University and has had great success. Two years ago  Prof. Zvi Bentwich, head of the Center for Emerging Diseases, Tropical Diseases and AIDS (CEMTA), of Ben Gurion University, and its executive arm, the NALA Foundation, were awarded the grand challenges grant for their initiative that promotes behavioral change in order to eradicate parasitic worm infections in Ethiopia. This past week Prof. Bentwich lost his beloved wife, Tirza. It would be nice if you would donate to NALA in memory of Tirza Bentwich.

Good News!

Russian Federation: Activist Released Dimitry Vorobyovsky (UA 109/16)

 Activist Dmitry Vorobyovsky, who had been taken to a psychiatric hospital on 6 May and subjected to involuntary psychiatric treatment, was released following a court order on 12 May. No further action is requested from the UA Network. Many thanks to all who sent appeals.

 BRAZIL


 A small group of Amazon Indians has been celebrating success after a 30-year quest to protect their lands from thousands of illegal settlers and loggers. Brazil’s president signed the decree establishing the Arara tribe’s reserve earlier this month.
Survival has been campaigning for the rights of the Arara for decades
Survival has been campaigning for the rights of the Arara for decades
© John Miles/Survival
Survival has campaigned for the Arara tribe since 1993, and legal recognition of the territory was a condition of the controversial Belo Monte dam being built further downstream.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Survival International provides a long list of cases in which a letter from you can and will make a difference. Please open this link and write at least one letter. This link will be a permanent feature on our blog and we would be grateful if you gave it a bit of attention each week. We suggest going down the list in the order given. The letters are pre-written for you. All you need to do is send them. It would be nice also if a donation to Survival International could be forthcoming. This week we call your attention to the events in India surrounding the preservation of wildlife  and the possible connections between the guards and the poachers. Locals, many of them tribespeople who were illegally evicted from their land to create the reserve, report that people have been killed while entering the park in search of stray cattle, or to collect firewood.
Park guards in Kaziranga, India, are armed and encouraged to shoot intruders in the reserve.
Park guards in Kaziranga, India, are armed and encouraged to shoot intruders in the reserve.
© Survival

Others allege that some are murdered as scapegoats to cover up the failure of the park guards to catch the real poachers – criminals conspiring with corrupt officials. Please blast this story out on all your networks.

THE STRUGGLE AGAINST SLAVERY  

We have added a new section to the blog in order to join the struggle against slavery worldwide. This week we call your attention to the end slavery now campaign. There you can download a slave-free buying guide and also sign up for action updates.The importance of checking your sellers' supply chains cannot be overemphasized.
Look for these logos:
 


 










RUSSIA

Overturn Yekaterina Vologzheninova’s Conviction (UA 232/15)


Yekaterina Vologzheninova’s appeal was rejected on 26 April and she must serve 320 hours of “corrective labour”. She was convicted for criticizing online the Russian annexation of Crimea and Russia’s military involvement in Donbass, eastern Ukraine. She will be appealing her sentence. Please act for her and demand respect for freedom of expression

UZBEKISTAN 

Defend human rights activist Uktam Pardaev. He is a labor rights and human rights activist and has been arrested on trumped up charges. Please click to join the protest.

Uktam Pardaev

Malawi: Stop the Killing of People with Albinism

Thousands of people with albinism live in fear of being abducted or killed in the country, where their body parts are being sold for use in rituals and witchcraft. Authorities do little to protect people with albinism or prosecute perpetrators of attacks against them. Speak up against this crime.

SINGAPORE 

Halt Kho Jabing’s Execution (UA 103/15)  

The execution of Kho Jabing has been set for 20 May. The Court of Appeal in Singapore rejected the appeal of Kho Jabing on 5 April and upheld his death sentence. Please call urgently for clemency and the abolition of capital punishment.

RUSSIA 

Investigate the abduction of film producer and asylum-seeker

Mirsobir Khamidkariev, a young film producer, was seeking asylum in Russia when he was abducted in broad daylight and sent back to Uzbekistan where he was tortured. Please act and call for an investigation

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Human Rights Update April 21-May 11


Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012




HE WHO PERMITS OPPRESSION PERMITS CRIMES.-Erasmus (1466-1536)

Holbein-erasmus.jpg
Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 as depicted by Hans Holbein the Younger. The Greek and Latin words on the book translate to "The Herculean Labors of Erasmus of Rotterdam".

 

EMBASSY FINDER 

Survival International provides a useful tool for locating the embassy of any country in your country. http://embassy.goabroad.com/ You can also find embassies at https://embassy-finder.com/

CHARITY CORNER

This week call upon you to help with a major killer in the third world, malaria. We recommend the Anti Malaria Foundation, which is highly recommended by GiveWell Their mission:AMF provides funding for long-lasting insecticide-treated net distributions (for protection against malaria) in developing countries.

 Malaria

  • More than a million people die each year
  • 70% of them are children under 5
  • #1 killer of pregnant women
  • Malaria is preventable










Malaria 

Does it work? There is strong evidence that distributing nets reduces child mortality and malaria cases. AMF has relatively strong reporting requirements for its distribution partners and provides a level of public disclosure and tracking of distributions that we have not seen from any other net distribution charity. AMF has begun building a track record of funding and tracking fairly large-scale (100,000 nets or more) distributions. Please open the link, your heart and your pocket.


Good News!

OMAN  

Omani poet, writer, film critic and human rights defender, Abdullah Habib was released without charge on 4 May. No further action is requested from the UA Network. Many thanks to all who sent appeals

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Unfortunately, we cannot link to Survival International because of technical issues with their website. We are pleased to note that Canada has finally adhered to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Tuesday, almost a decade after it was adopted by the General Assembly.  We refer you to Cultural Survival for information and opportunities for action on behalf of indigenous communities.
Proud to be indigenous week began May 9

THE STRUGGLE AGAINST SLAVERY 


We have added a new section to the blog in order to join the struggle against slavery worldwide. This week we refer you to the site of the CNN Freedom Project  where you can find a large number of campaigns against manifestations of slavery in different countries. The number of people living in slavery is of the order of 35 million, which indicates the extent of the problem. We suggest that you look up the Fair Trade movement in your country and make an effort to avoid buying slave-produced products.   Look for these logos:
 


 








 
This week we refer you to the the ILO’s Protocol on Forced Labor which is all about modern slavery. 
hands pressed against fogged class


New rules: companies that cannot prove they are slavery-free will lose business Credit: Alamy


We call your attention to the 50forFreedom campaign. On this site, you will find a wealth of information and a detailed debunking of conventional beliefs and myths. All should push their governments to ratify and enforce the Protocol. The UK government has passed and revised its Modern Slavery Act 2015 and it is to be enforced. It is intended to force companies to eradicate all traces of forced labor – not only from their own business but every supplier they buy from. There is also much that you can do as an individual by demanding information about the supply chain from sellers.

WORLDWIDE 

International press freedom day came this month on May 4 and we wish to refer you to ten egregious cases documented by Amnesty International. Please open and act as you feel is appropriate.






RUSSIAN FEDERATION Quash the Sentence Against Darya Poliudova (UA 160/15)



On 20 April political activist and blogger Darya Poliudova arrived in the open prison colony in Novorossiisk, Krasnodar Krai, where she will be serving her sentence after her appeal was rejected on 30 March. She has submitted another appeal. Darya Poliudova is a prisoner of conscience. Please raise your voice.







INDIA 

Global drink and snacks giant PepsiCo is complicit in ongoing human rights violations by a warehouse provider in the Indian state of West Bengal. Since 2013, IUF members have been supporting a courageous group of warehouse workers who are unemployed as a consequence of insisting on their right to form a trade union .












The company which dismissed them - Radhakrishna Foodland Pvt. Ltd (RKFL) - operates a warehouse contracted exclusively to PEPSICO. Please let PepsiCo know that you do not accept this behavior.