Human Rights Action Update Nov.8-14

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

JUSTICE IN BANGLADESH
In 1996 the Pahari activist, Kalpana Chakma, from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, disappeared. At 23 years old, she was abducted from her home in Lallyagona village, Baghaichari, Rangamati district. Since then the police have done little or nothing to bring her abductors to justice. The courts have rejected the feeble "reports" and excuses of the police. Please click to sent a letter to the Home Minister demanding justice for Kalpana Chakma.

ETHIOPIA-RELEASE FREE SPEECH ACTIVIST ESKENDER NEGA
Eskinder is serving an 18 year prison sentence in Ethiopia for ‘incitement to commit terrorist acts’ and ‘treason’ - but he is neither a terrorist nor a traitor. He is a firm believer in free speech and an honest journalist, which frightens dictators. . Please sign the petition to bring him home.

 

 He is a brave activist who wrote:

‘Individuals can be penalised, made to suffer (oh, how I miss my child) and even killed. But… I will live to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It may or may not be a long wait. Whichever way events go, I shall persevere.’
Eskinder Nega

MURDER AND THREATS TO TRADE UNION ACTIVISTS IN COLOMBIA
Oscar López Triviño was murdered on November 9 in the Colombian city of Bugalagrande a day after he and other members of his union, SINALTRAINAL, received death threats from paramilitaries. The union had been on hunger strike at Nestlé beginning November 5. Please join the protest of the  IUF against this anti-union terrorism and the call for action on the part of the Colombian government.

ILLEGAL UNION BUSTING IN NEW ZEALAND












Sean Bailey has been fired by McDonald's in New Zealand as punishment for testifying before a Parliamentary committee about labor abuses by his employer. This is not only immoral and unjust, but also illegal since penalties for testimony in Parliament are a violation of the law. Please click and join the protest against this action and demand Sean Bailey's reinstatement. 

Human Rights Action update Nov. 1-7

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

CHINA
We have an update on the case of the human rights defender Cao Shunli who is in detention for her
human rights activities. A template letter to the authorities is provided Feel free to edit and personalize it. While we have acted on her behalf in the recent past, Amnesty International is calling on all of us to keep up the pressure on the Chinese authorities with respect to Cao Shunli. Please help put in this terrible case.

MYANMAR(BURMA)
Human rights defender Kyaw Hla Aung remains arbitrarily detained in Myanmar over three months after he was arrested in connection with his peaceful activities. He has been charged with multiple offenses and is facing a lengthy prison sentence. There are serious concerns regarding his lack of access to his lawyer. Please act.  A template letter is available which you may edit and personalize.

TIBET
 Human rights abuses by the Chinese government continue unabated in Tibet. 
 
 China’s leaders are mounting an intense campaign to draw a veil over their rights abuses and persuade governments to vote them onto the UN Human Rights Council. So if enough of us shine a light on what’s going on in Tibet -- squashing an ancient religion, banning journalists, dawn arrests --we can get China to back away from its hard-line policy in order to be sure of getting the 97 votes it needs. Please sign the AVAAZ petition.

Human Rights Action update Oct. 26-31

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

BOTSWANA: PERSECUTION OF BUSHMEN
The indigenous people of Botswana are being subject to systematic persecution by the government of Botswana. Despite court orders to enable them to maintain their hunting-gathering life style, the government is pushing them out of their ancestral lands under the bogus claim of conservation. The truth is that their lands happen to be rich in diamonds and the DeBeer Corporation is using various blandishments to obtain mining concessions from the government. Please act on behalf of the Bushmen.
 


Survival International is calling for protests and a tourist boycott of Botswana.

Botswana attracts tourists with images of the Kalahari Bushmen, whilst driving them off their lands

© www.botswanatourism.co.bw

WORKERS' RIGHTS IN TURKEY

Since Jun e 2012 aviation workers in Turkey have been in dispute with Turkish Airlines (THY) over their right to strike and the dismissal of 305 workers who took industrial action on May 29, 2012 to protest the government's plan to ban strikes in the aviation sector. Turkish Airlines responded by sacking these workers via text message and email. CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO TURKISH AIRLINES.

WORK SAFETY IN BANGLADESH AND DELAYS IN COMPENSATION

Over six months have passed since the Rana Plaza disaster and compensation has been paid to only a tiny fraction of the victims.The INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS FORUM  is calling for protests. We quote them:
"Since 2005, over 1,800 workers have been killed in preventable factory fires and building collapses in the Bangladesh garment industry. Now over 100 companies have joined together in the Accord on Fire and Building Safety to prevent further tragedies. But most US companies are still refusing to join the Accord and to pay their fair share of compensation to the victims of factory disasters. 
This week marks six months since the Rana Plaza building collapse - read our new report: Still Waiting: Six months after history's deadliest apparel industry disaster, workers continue to fight for compensation. "
Please act and think twice before enjoying the low prices of Walmart and Gap. Those prices represent blood.If the petition comes up with my details, just erase and put in your own.

Human Rights Action Update Oct. 18-24

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

This month we mark the passing of a year since the death of our beloved Miriam. Her daughters marked the event with a memorial that included a lecture by a linguist on the influence of foreign languages on Hebrew. This was an appropriate memorial for Miriam's career as a translator. Her efforts on medical translation in which she strove to bring medical services to marginalized populations merged her professional persona with her human rights defender aspect. Her attitude towards human rights defense was that it was something to do and not to talk about too much. This blog is dedicated to her memory and we hope we are getting someone somewhere to do something for human rights. Now to work:

CHINA
The pattern of forced evictions goes on.  Demolition without any warning took place in Bagou village, Haidian district, Beijing. Please act on this. A template letter is available. Just remove my formatting and use it freely.

MEXICO
AWID calls our attention to a series of death threats against community activists in Oaxaco State in Mexico. Please respond to the request for actions. A template letter is available.

UNITED STATES
Nearly 2 years ago, 14-year-old Daisy Coleman* was raped at a party by a high school football star and grandson of a powerful local politician in Maryville, Missouri. But now, he’s walking free while Daisy and her family struggle to survive with what happened to her. Please sign the petition to put an end to the cover up. It is a repeat of the Steubenville rape story.

Human Rights Action update Oct. 11-17

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

BANGLADESH WORK PLACE SAFETY
Death and disaster have again struck the garment industry in Bangladesh. On October 8 hundreds of workers were inside the Aswad Composite Mills factory when the fire broke out. Eight workers were killed and 50 were injured, some critically. Walmart and Gap are the chief clients. of this factory and despite the eloquent declarations in the wake  of the building collapse that took so many lives. Walmart has low prices in the West because of execrable and dangerous working conditions in the East. Please join in the protest to the Walmart owners. The form will come up with data from Yosefa, just type in your own details and click to send.

CHINA

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER ARBITRARILY DETAINED

Human rights defender Cao Shunli, who was taken away by police on 14 September at Beijing Capital International Airport, has been arbitrarily detained. She is a prisoner of conscience and may have been subjected to enforced disappearance. Her whereabouts and legal status are unconfirmed. Please act on her behalf.

RIGHTS OF WOMEN
We have some cases from the Web site AWID for Association for  Women's Rights in Development. The actions come with prepared template letters. The Take Action tab is at the bottom of the page and is hilghlighted.

The first is from Cuba: :Human rights defender Ms Damaris Moya Portieles physically attacked at her home and arrested Please take action on behalf of human rights defender Damaris Moya Portieles.Copy the enclosed letter and send it to the address provided.

In Colombia 14 women human rights defenders have been killed this year in the rural region of Cauca. On 30 September 2013, human rights defender and campesina leader Ms Adelinda Gómez Gaviria was killed in Almaguer, Cauca region. Please act to obtain justice for her and other victims and to call for an end to these killings.

Cuba: Human rights defender Ms Damaris Moya Portieles physically attacked at her home and arrested

Take action on behalf of human rights defender Damaris Moya Portieles.
Copy the enclosed letter and send it to the address provided.
Thank you for taking action.

- See more at: http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/24003/action#sthash.iaKNG9h9.dpuf

Cuba: Human rights defender Ms Damaris Moya Portieles physically attacked at her home and arrested

Take action on behalf of human rights defender Damaris Moya Portieles.
Copy the enclosed letter and send it to the address provided.
Thank you for taking action.

- See more at: http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/24003/action#sthash.iaKNG9h9.dpuf

Human Rights Action Update Oct. 3-10

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

First CHINA
Human rights defender Cao Shunli, who was taken away by police on 14 September at Beijing Capital International Airport, has been arbitrarily detained. She is a prisoner of conscience and may have been subjected to enforced disappearance. Her whereabouts and legal status are unconfirmed.  Please act on her behalf.

MEXICO 
Social activist Adela Gómez Martínez’s health is at risk while she is in a prison in El Amate de Cintalapa, Chiapas State, Mexico. There is fear for her safety and that the detention could be a reprisal for her activism.   Please act for her.

SOUTH KOREA
The teachers' union is in danger of being decertified. Their crime? Allowing retirees and employees who have been dismissed to remain members of the union. The government is using this tactic, which violates all union practices in the world, to try to break public sector unions. Please join the protest.
       


THAILAND

Andy Hall is a researcher who defends the rights of migrants in Thailand, including migrants from Burma. Instead of investigating his charges, a case has been trumped up against him. Please join the call from the UK Burma campaign to have the charges against him dropped.

Human Rights Action Update, Sept. 29-Oct. 3

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

 INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
We start this week with two calls from Survival International, the organization that fights for the rights of indigenous, uncontacted people and tribes whose native habitat is under attack by economic interests and who are abused systematically. Since they usually have no immunity to the diseases that we carry around with us, contact can be lethal. All they want is to be left alone.

The people of the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean have become objects of a most degrading type of tourism. The Jawara tribe are treated like safari animals. Please sign the petition to the Indian government to put a stop to this outrage and join the boycott.

Vehicles queue to enter the Jarawa reserve along the Andaman Trunk Road

© G Chamberlain/ Survival

.The Penan people in Malaysia are suffering from logging in their forest habitat.
The trees come down, the rivers become silted and the fish and game upon which they live are driven out. Please write to the Chief MInister of Sawarak to protest this persecution.















KENYA FORCED EVICTIONS
Over half the population of Nairobi are living in squalor caused by the failure of the government to deal with the housing issues of the population. Housing is a human right. Please join the Amnesty International call to stop this practice in Kenya.

The remains of City Carton settlement in Nairobi, after bulldozers flattened the area. May 2013. © Amnesty International

CANADA-LABOR ISSUES     

Please join a campaign to support Canadian workers who are being bullied by their employers and whose hard-won rights are being taken away.