Sex Slavery from the Inside: a documentary on human trafficking

reporter: what thoughts crossed your mind while you were there? (she means where she was kept in captivity)
Jenea: I have the same thoughts now: it would have been better for me not to be born...

...in a dark closed tunnel

Jafar Pahani is Free

Jafar Pahani is Free, Jafar Pahani is Free, Jafar Pahani is Free, Jafar Pahani is Free, Jafar Pahani is Free...

Free Jafar Pahani

Jafar Panahi was due to take his place on the Cannes jury this year. Instead, he is incarcerated in Tehrans notorious Evin prison, after he was arrested for unspecified crimes. The festival has left an empty chair on the jury panel. Stephen Frears, in Cannes for the premiere of Tamara Drewe, added his voice to the protests today, saying reports of the hunger strike were terrible news.

The director has made several films critical of the Iranian regime. All are banned in his own country. Last year, the government imposed a travel ban after he appeared wearing green the colour worn by opposition Green Movement supporters at the Montreal Film Festival.

Binoche is in Cannes to promote Certified Copy, a film directed be another Iranian film-maker, Abbas Kiarostami.

She sobbed as reports filtered through that Panahi had begun a hunger strike. Sitting beside her, Kiarostami called for his release.

The fact that a film-maker has been imprisoned is itself intolerable, he said. If the Iranian government continues to refuse to release Jafar, then we need explanations.

Jafar Panahi was inclined to make his films under clandestine, illegal circumstances, but thats not his responsibility alone. The responsibility is that of the authorities who prevent him from carrying out his profession.

When a film-maker, an artist, is imprisoned it is art as a whole that is attacked, and it is against this that we should react.

Panahi, who won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film festival in 2000 for Dayereh, was arrested in March by plain clothes police who burst into his home.

Tehran has denied that his incarceration is because he is an artist or for political reasons, but opponents of the government believe he was arrested over plans to make a new film criticising the government.

Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone and Steven Spielberg are among the high-profile directors petitioning for Panahis release.

 

sοurse 

see also FREE JAFAR PAHANI PETITION

and       Free Jafar Pahani

send the Nazis home!

Urgent request for help from Milan, Italy: we are experiencing an incredible presence of neo-nazi and neo-fascist organisations in our city from the past weeks throughout all May 2010.

Please take voice against this attempt, help us to ask for the immediate cancellation of the neo-nazi and neo-fascist events and demos, from the 2nd of May to the "European Hammerfest" scheduled in Milan on May 29, 2010. From your country and from Europe help us to ask for a stop to this dangerous initiatives, and help us to ask to the local and national italian politicians of Berlusconi's coalition to stop immediately to support this extreme right wings organisations.

We ask to european organisation, ngos, movements and european institutions to take voice and take action:

> Sign this call
> Spread this call for help

> Contact us directly if you think you can do something more from your country and/or give pressure on european institutions and european parliament
> Send us documents / dossiers about european neonazi/neofascist groups to unmask them and denounce the danger they represent
> Send us press release / spread them to local and national mass-media / publish them on website / spread the by mailinglists and newsletters

Our contacts: milanoamalaliberta@gmail.com, phone +390236511380, http://www.cantiere.org


European institutions, Italian government, Municipality of Milan: From all Europe we all say no to the neo-nazi and neo-fascist italian and europe an events and demos scheduled from May 2nd to May 29th in Milan, Italy.

Many italian and european neo-nazi and neo-fascist groups are organising several  conventions/events/demos in Milan, Italy for all this month May 2010. The local coalition of Berlusconi it is absolutely majority on the local government of the municipality and county of Milan, those institutions are giving political and economical support to those organisations, despite many democrats and anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations (http://www.cantiere.org; http://lombardia.indymedia.org; http://www.osservatoriodemocratico.org).

The italian extreme right wing organisations involved are different groups, all have been recently officially admitted to be part or partner of the Berlusconi's party called PDL/Partito delle Liberta? so called "freedom's party". The italian national and local government of Berlusconi is doing nothing against those groups, their ideas and symbols and celtic crosses are spreading more and more and so their violence. In the last 2 years Italy is experiencing many dangerous attacks to the freedom and growing and growing escalation of historic rehabilitation of fascism and xenophobic violence against minorities: migrants, romas people, GLBTQ communities.

On our days, both for economical and political reasons, Berlusconi's government is more and more evolving like an authoritarian government which represents a growing alarm for the italian democracy and for all Europe. We all ask to italian Berlusconi's national and local government of Milan to stop the coalition with this extreme right-wing groups.

During the whole last week, from 24th April 2nd May they were scheduled a big neo-nazis and neo-fascists convention in Milan. Thanks to several initiatives, demos and actions made in Milan by many democratic, antifascist and antiracist organizations, some of their events have been blocked or posticipied, but fascists could do a demonstration in the streets of Milan with celtic crosses and fascist slogan, and even with support and participation of Berlusconi's PDL councilors. They also could do a day full of events form the morning of 2nd May untill the night. All this happened in Milan under the complete silence of insitutions, because of their connivance with neofascist movement, and neither the majority of mass-media took explicity part against it.

In the next weeks of May there are still other events organized by extreme right wing, in particularly we ask to stop immediately the support of following conventions:

- the 2nd tattos conventions with groups from Italy, France, Portugal, Spain and Belgium scheduled in Milan on May 8 and 9 organised from the Hammerskin (http://www.skinhouse.info/index1.htm)

- the national italian neo-fascist demonstration scheduled in Milan on 22nd May organized by Forza Nuova and its leader Roberto Fiore (http://forzanuova.org/articoli/il-22-maggio-milano-forza-nuova-contro-le-banche) in which will take part also european delegations from spanish and french neonazis, but expecially from Hungary: in fact Laszlo Toroczkai will come to Milan, he's th leader of HVIM and of the Jobbik party from the Hungarian nazi-extreme-right-wing

- the european neo-nazi convention, so-called "European Hammerfest 1990-2010, 20 years of European Brotherhood" scheduled in Milan on 29th May, 2010 (http://www.skinhouse.info/index1.htm).

Expecially about this we ask european organization to take voice and denounce with us the danger that extreme right wing groups represent: in all europe right wing is growing stronger and in Italy this is happening with the complete support and connivance of goverment parties and institutions.
We all united ask to european organisation, ngos and european institutions to take voice and take action in order to stop those events and generally this alliance extremely dangerous for democracy and freedom, not just for Italy but for all Europe.

Sign this call, Spread it, Contact us directly if you think you can do something more from your country and/or by giving pressure on european institutions and european parliament | to send us press release or documents/dossier

our contacts: milanoamalaliberta@gmail.com, phone +390236511380, http://www.cantiere.org

Please help Hussein Karimyon (Benjamin)

Benjamin was known to many Calais Migrant Solidarity activists when he was in Calais last September / October. Benjamin was interviewed by the BBC last September.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8274508.stm

Hussein Karimyon, known as Benjamin to his friends was detained on Tuesday 2nd March 2010 whilst reporting at the Home Office in Glasgow. He was given removal directions to Greece for this coming Wednesday, 10th March.

His flight details are, 08:00 on British Airways flight BA640.

Hussein is a 37-year old man from Iran who has been in the UK since October 2009. He fled his home country after being imprisoned and tortured for 1 ½ years for being a member of the Gaben – Mali (International Front Party). Hussein could be again in serious danger if returned to Iran.

Hussein was tortured not only in Iran but also in Greece, where he was imprisoned in 2 different places for 3 months. During this time he was beaten and denied essential medication. HE HAS STATED THAT HE WOULD RATHER DIE THAN BE SENT BACK TO GREECE, WHICH IS WHERE THE HOME OFFICE ARE PLANNING TO REMOVE HIM TO ON WEDNESDAY. Hussein suffers from many health problems due to his mistreatment and is reliant on heart medication (which was previously confiscated during his time in Greece). Since being in Glasgow he has been to hospital 3 times, for treatment of spinal problems, loss of eye sight and fainting.

Hussein is challenging the removal under rule 39 of the ECtHR Rules of the Court . Recently, there has been an increase in the number of cases in which the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has, under its Rule 39, instructed State governments not to carry out Dublin transfers (1.). Greece is one of the countries to which numerous Dublin transfers have been halted by the ECtHR. Numerous concerns have been raised about the situation for asylum seekers in Greece. In December 2009, the UNCHR stated that they had ‘no choice but to continue to recommend against transfers to Greece under the Dublin II Regulation or otherwise’ until reforms were made to procedures (2.) A report by Human Rights Watch also raised concerns about the asylum procedure, and the potential human rights abuses faced by people transferred under the Dublin Regulations, concluding that ‘Greece has taken the approach of using noxious detention conditions, procedural obstacles to lodging claims, and illegal summary removals and abusive police and Coast Guard conduct to deter asylum seekers from entering Greece or, if they do succeed in entering, to dissuade them from staying or from seeking asylum there’ (3.). The report also highlighted the risk of return to countries of origin through indirect refoulement (4.).

In February 2009, a report by Human Rights Commissioner Hammarberg carried considerable weight with the Court, who made a judgment against Greece in for unlawful detention of a Turkish asylum applicant. It ruled that Greece had violated article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights through arbitrary detention and lack of legal remedy, and article 3 in that the conditions of detention amounted to degrading treatment. (5.). Sending Hussein to Greece would mean a very real threat of human rights abuses, and of removal to Iran.

In a case heard in the House of Commons on 2nd March 2010 Mr Ivan Lewis stated that “Iranian authorities continue to suppress legitimate protest, restrict civil liberties and threaten violence, even execution, to silence dissent, but the Iranian people continue to demand their fundamental rights. We urge the authorities to respect the right of their citizens to be heard… Amnesty International says that it is the worst human rights situation for 20 years" (6.). To send Hussein back to Iran is a death sentence.

Hussein's life will be in serious danger, as will the life of his family, if he is returned to Iran.

Myself and many other activists know Hussein from his time spent sleeping rough in Calais. While in Calais, Hussein instigated a hunger strike against the level of repression he faced, and to highlight the life-threatening situation he was in. The hunger strike was violently stopped by the French riot police and Hussein was put into a detention center in Calais.

Hussein has many friends in the UK and has begun a life in Glasgow, where he is attending English classes, is a regular member of a church, and is an active member of the community. He has traveled for many years to reach the UK, being persecuted along the way, and we ask that he is given the opportunity to make his asylum claim in the UK. He came to the UK through Calais and is known well to people from the Unity Centre, the Migrant English Project and Calais Migrant Solidarity. His solicitor has been unable to visit him as he has been moved from the detention centre in Glasgow to Manchester, and is due to be moved to London today. His representatives have had little time to prepare a case.


Please help by contacting the Home Secretary asking that Hussein’s flight be stopped and that he be released from detention immediately.

What can you do?
1) Contact British Airways to stop the flight. Please quote flight number BA640 to Athens , Greece, on Wednesday 10th March 08.00.

Email/Phone Willie Walsh, Chief Executive Officer British Airways and urge him not to carry out deportation flights, including the forced removal of Hussein Karimyon.
Please do not remove Hussein Karimyon Ref K1307066/2, due to be forcibly removed from the UK on Wednesday 8 March 2010 @ 08:00 on British Airways flight BA640.
Email: willie.walsh@ba.com

Customer Relations phone: 0844 493 0 787 Monday-Friday 08:00-18:30 (hold line till operator answers)
2) Contact Alan Johnson, Home Secretary, asking him to exercise his discretionary powers to stop the flight, to release Hussein Karimyon from detention and to grant him protection in the UK. A letter is attached If you are writing your own letter or email, please include Home Office Reference number: K1307066/2
Phone: +44 (0)20 7035 4848 or 0870 606 7766
Fax: + 44 (0)20 7219 5856 and (0)20 8760 3132
By Email : johnsona@parliament.uk
Or: public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk


References:
1. ECtHR Interim Measures (Rule 39) to stop Dublin transfers 19 Jun 2009 http://cmr.jur.ru.nl/cmr/docs/ecre.rule39.pdf
2. UNCHR ‘Observations on Greece as a country of asylum’ December 2009 http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=4b4b3fc82&page=search.
3. Stuck in a Revolving Door, Human Rights Watch, November 2008 http://www.hrw.org/en/node/76211/section/1
4. Stuck in a Revolving Door, Human Rights Watch, November 2008 http://www.hrw.org/en/node/76211/section/14
5. http://www.ecre.org/files/ECRE_Weekly_Bulletin_19_June_2009.pdf
6.http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmhansrd/cm100302/debtext/100302-0002.htm#10030263000022

Dresden - Nazi Free! A city puts its foot down against neo-nazis

On 13 February 2010 more than 10,000 protesters gathered in Dresden (D), determined to stop the annual biggest neo-nazi march in Europe.
The civil society alliance 'Dresden - Nazi Free', a broad initiative of the antifascist movement 'No Pasaran!', successfully stopped about 5,000 neo-nazis with an enclosing blockade strategy.

Finally, in 2010 antifascists succeeded to stop the annual neo-nazi march in Dresden that is organised under the guise of commemorating the victims of the air raids against the city of Dresden, 13-15 February 1945.
The 'Nazi Free' alliance - including different NGOs, political parties, labor unions, artists and individuals - called to blockade strategically important streets around Dresden's Neustadt train station, the gathering point of the neo-nazi manifestation. Despite the strong ambitions of the authorities to hinder the antifascist mobilizations under the slogan 'Blockade Together' already beforehand, thousands of anti-fascists came into Dresden's Neustadt to block all possible routes of the neo-nazi march with peaceful sit-ins. The police tried several times to clear the anti-fascist blockades, but their efforts failed and so the police ultimately was forced to cancel the neo-nazi march.

The aim of the protesters was to prevent the annual 'mourning march' of thousands of neo-nazis in Dresden and to discourage them from planning future marches. 'It was not easy - there were people injured in nazi attacks and it was horribly cold, but it was worth it' stated the Alliance spokeswoman.

Beside the 'Dresden - Nazi Free' alliance a second initiative, 'Remember - Remind - Act' under the patronage of Dresden's mayor Helma Orosz, called for a human chain as a symbolic wall around the city centre of Dresden to set a sign against right-wing extremism. Ms Orosz openly condemned the neo-nazi thugs and their misuse of the commemoration date for their revisionist propaganda, describing the allied bombardment as a 'bombing Holocaust'.

It was the diversity of protest actions that mobilized so many people from a broad spectrum of society, which was crucial to the success of stopping the neo-nazis.

More information:

http://www.euronews.net/newswires/157187-german-neo-nazis-mark-wwii-raid-in-dresden
http://jta.org/news/article/2010/02/14/1010617/neo-nazi-march-blocked-in-dresden
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5245414,00.html
http://www.demotix.com/news/250733/neo-nazis-dresden-during-65th-anniversary-world-war-ii-bombing

Alliance 'Dresden - Nazi Free': http://www.dresden-nazifrei.com
Initiative 'Remember - Remind - Act': http://www.13februar.dresden.de

Greece: Initial steps to improve refugee policy, police conduct and minority rights, says Commisioner for Human Rights

Strasbourg, 11.02.2010 – The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, concluded yesterday a three-day visit to Greece during which he held discussions with a number of authorities including the Vice-President of the Government, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Citizen Protection. He also met with national, international and non-governmental organizations.

The Commissioner welcomed the willingness of the Greek government to tackle long-standing, structural problems in the field of asylum and police misconduct. “If implemented rigorously, systematically and in conformity with international standards, the planned changes have the potential of coping successfully with serious human rights challenges in Greece”, Commissioner Hammarberg said.

The Commissioner noted with deep concern that asylum seekers in Greece continue to face enormous difficulties trying to gain access to the asylum procedure, and do not always enjoy basic safeguards such as interpretation and legal aid. He welcomed the current plans to proceed with an overhaul of the system and move towards a fair, accessible and swift asylum procedure. This includes in particular the establishment of an independent asylum agency and screening centers at entry points. During the visit, the Commissioner stressed that asylum and immigration are issues that can only be tackled effectively by a concerted effort at European level and that solidarity by other EU countries must therefore be increased.

The Commissioner was pleased to note the ongoing reform of nationality legislation, which aims to facilitate acquisition of Greek citizenship, inter alia, by children born in Greece to non-Greek parents. The reform will also grant long term residents the right to vote in local elections. “In this way, Greece will move towards greater compliance with European standards, and benefit from enhanced participation of people of migrant background to society”, Commissioner Hammarberg stated.

As regards police misconduct, the Commissioner welcomed current plans to establish an office to deal with police complaints. He appreciated the openness of the Minister of Citizen Protection to draw on the expertise of other European countries and the guidance of the Commissioner himself, reflected notably in his Opinion concerning determination of complaints against the police.

Finally, as concerns the protection of the human rights of minorities, Commissioner Hammarberg stressed that the Greek authorities need “to show greater receptiveness to diversity in their society and to take further measures that would allow minority groups to express their identity on the basis of self identification”. To this end, full and effective implementation of the relevant judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities are particularly important measures.

Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights
Communication Unit
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 35 38
Fax:+33 (0)3 90 21 50 53

The case of Alicjia Tysiac

Women’s rights activists, reproductive rights activists and activists for the separation of Church and State in Europe are invited to support Alicjia Tysiac against Catholic fundamentalists in Poland, by sending letters of support (Amicus Curiae) to the Polish Court of Appeal in Katowice, where a first audience has been scheduled for February 19.

 

The facts:


Alicjia Tysiac won litigation against Poland after a long struggle, when the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg) decided that Poland had not respected its own laws by denying her an abortion for health reasons. As a consequence this working class woman has since to live with a severe handicap (becoming almost blind). Since the Court published the verdict, Alicjia has become the target of a terrible defamation campaign. From pulpits and through Catholic media, Alicjia is called a “potential child murderer” who sued her country for hindering her to kill her own child. Photos and the names of her children were published in a diocesan weekly that opened its pages for a hate debate. She and the European Court of Human Rights have been compared to nazi criminals., etc.. In the past exacerbating Polish Catholic fundamentalists about a justice system that does not pronounce the sentences they wish to hear has had lethal consequences.
She sued the editor of Gosc Niedzielny, the Silesian diocesan weekly, and its owner, the archdioceses for defamation and won. On September 23, the court condemned the wekkly to publish formal excuses to Alicjia Tysiac and pay her a compensation of Euro 10 000. But the bishops decided to appeal.
An appeal process will deal with formal errors.

An analysis of the arguments of the bishops (they have published them on the internet and are seeking support) by Alicjia’ lawyers show the following strategy:

1.     The ECRH sentence is not relevant for Polish jurisprudence as not published in Polish (the ECHR only publishes its verdicts in French and English)

2.     Freedom of expression allows to comment sentences of the ECHR

3.     The Concordat has legal preeminence as an international treaty, and article 20 of the Concordat would be violated by the verdict of the local tribunal

4.     The young woman judge at the local Court misinterpreted the ECHR verdict. She is anyhow decried as totally incompetent

5.     The sentence of the local Court did not take into account that the Polish public opinion condemns Alicjia and the ECHR verdict

6.     EU institutions have no say concerning Churches as the relationship with these depends on the national State (principle of subsidiarity)

The main arguments of Alicjias lawyers are:

1.     Poland signed the European Convention of Human Rights and is consequently submitted to the jurisdiction and jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights.

2.     It is unacceptable to instrumentalise the Shoah for opposing abortion

3.     It is unacceptable to compare the ECHR with nazi criminals.

4.     A Court needs to make decisions independently from public opinion.

5.     Freedom of expression has limits, in particular when the one attacking is a very powerful institution and the one attacked a weak individual.


Monika Karbowska, French-Polish feminists prepared a synthesis of the 80 pages of Alicjias lawyers. If you wish to receive it (in Polish, French or Spanish), please do not hesitate to request it.

This case is emblematic for the struggle of religious fundamentalism against the separation of religion and politics. Alicjia’s victory at the local tribunal was a huge victory. For the first time the Polish hierarchy was condemned to publicly apologize to a woman for not respecting her decision to have an abortion, in conformity with the laws of her country.

A victory of Alicjia’s at the Katowice Court of appeal would go further. Not only would it be a victory for women’s reproductive rights in Poland and in Europe but also and above all it would be a victory of the Lay
State over the ultraconservative Catholic hierarchy in Poland. It would show that the European Court of Human Rights is a guardian of the universality of Human Rights in Europe against the privileges of a powerful faith based institution.

The support received by Alicjia for the trial at the local Court was very helpful. It showed that the international community was watching. Of particular importance was the letter of support addressed by the progressive
European Catholics (European Network Church on the Move). It allowed for Polish media and the public opinion to learn that Catholics in other European countries disagree with the bishops on women’s rights.

Amicus Curiae letters (letters of the Friends of the Court) should be addressed:

MENTIONING Gosc Niedzielny vs. Alicjia Tysiac

Via snail mail to:

Sad Apelacyjny
Al.W.Korfantego 117/119
40-156
Katowice
Poland

An electronic copy of your letter should be sent by February 10 to Elfriede Harth (e.harth@yahoo.com) to be included in a file to be handed out to journalists at a press conference organized by the Committee of Support on February 19.

Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee holds talks in Greece

Strasbourg, 21.01.2010 - A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has just returned from two days of talks in Athens, Greece (18-19 January 2010).

The main objective of the talks was to gauge the commitment of the Greek authorities to combating impunity within the police, to improving the conditions of detention of irregular migrants and to addressing long-standing problems in the prison system. In this context, the delegation was keen to learn about the measures already taken or being considered by the new Government to tackle the problems found by the CPT in the course of its visits in recent years. The talks were carried out in a spirit of openness and all parties expressed their desire to improve cooperation.

In the course of the visit, the delegation had meetings with the Minister of Citizen’s Protection, Mihalis Chrysochoidis, the Alternate Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dimitrios Droutsas, the Deputy Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights, Aspostolos Katsifaras, and the Deputy Minister of Citizen’s Protection, Spyros Vougias. Further, it met the Secretary Generals of the Ministries of Citizen’s Protection, Foreign Affairs and Justice, Transparency and Human Rights, as well as the Special Secretary for Correctional Policy and the Chief of Police, and other senior officials. The delegation also met the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Ioannis Tentes and the Ombudsman, Yorgos Kaminis.

The CPT’s delegation was composed of Mauro Palma, President of the CPT, Mario Felice, the Head of the delegation which carried out the CPT’s 2009 visit, and Hugh Chetwynd, Head of Division in the CPT's Secretariat.

More information on the CPT

Roma women urge European governments to respect their human rights

Athens, 12.01.2010 – The increased and alarming human rights violations against Romani women and ways of ensuring full enjoyment of their rights topped the agenda of a two-day conference of Roma women, which ended today in Athens.

In a final declaration of the conference, the participants unanimously called on European governments to uphold their obligations and ensure that Romani women enjoy their fundamental rights, to put an end to a climate of impunity around atrocious abuses of their rights, to take unequivocal measures to punish perpetrators and compensate Romani women victims.

Romani women also urged the governments of European countries, where forced sterilisation is an ongoing practice, to take active measures to compensate the victims, sanction perpetrators and initiate state medical reform in the area of patients’ rights.

The conference’s conclusions stressed the need to prevent de facto segregation in housing and education, while promoting the principles of equality and integration.

Participants also encouraged Roma activists and human rights communities to actively engage with Roma communities to raise awareness on their human rights and facilitate access to public services and law enforcement mechanisms.

The declaration invites the governments to take steps to monitor and evaluate the situation of Romani women at national level through developing specific methodologies for data collection based on gender and ethnicity as a basis for targeted and comprehensive measures including all areas of life.

Finally, participating Roma women discussed the negative perceptions of Roma women in the media and called on international organizations to support Roma journalism in order to facilitate a learning process with mainstream journalists about Romani women’s realities and promote an objective journalism.

The conclusions of the conference, organized by the Council of Europe, the Greek Ministry of Interior, Decentralization and E-Government, the Greek Inter-Municipal Rom Network (ROM Network) and the International Roma Women’s Network (IRWN),will be available on the Council of Europe website shortly.

Finland will host the next conference of Roma women in 2011.

a poem...

REFUGEE

So I have a new name – refugee.
Strange that a name should take away from me
My past, my personality and hope.
Strange refuge this.
So many seem to share this name – refugee
Yet we share so many differences.
I find no comfort in my new name.
I long to share my past, restore my pride,
To show, I too, in time, will offer more
Than I have borrowed.
For now the comfort that I seek
Resides in the old yet new name
I would choose – friend.

Rubimbo Bungwe, from Zimbabwe, 2002

 

you can read more poems here

Everything is OK

Everything is OK is a collaborative art project aimed at provoking people to more critically consider the status quo.




more info here

Israel continues to violate rights of human rights defenders and peaceful activists

Addameer * Al-Haq * Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights* Al Dameer Association for Human Rights * BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights DCI – Palestine Section * ENSAN Center * Jerusalem Legal Aid Center * Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling

Ramallah, 30 December 2009

Israel has for too long been allowed to violate the rights of human rights defenders and activists. As an occupying power and State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Israel is obliged to respect the rights of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) as guaranteed under the ICCPR. Palestinian human rights defenders must be guaranteed their right to  freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and their right to liberty and security of person.

Since September 2009, Israel has intensified a repression campaign against Palestinian human rights defenders, activists and demonstrators protesting against the Annexation Wall. As part of their repression campaign, which coincided with the release of the Goldstone Report, the Israeli forces have re-launched daily dawn raids in villages affected by the Wall, arresting youths and children, for the purpose of extracting confessions about prominent community leaders advocating against the Wall, and continued to intimidate activists by destroying their private property and threatening them with detention. Finally, Israel has directly targeted the Grassroots "Stop the Wall" Campaign by arresting and intimidating its leaders.

With the recent arrests of Jamal Juma', a prominent Palestinian human rights defender and coordinator of the "Stop the Wall" Campaign, Abdallah Abu Rahma, the Head of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Bil'in and the administrative detention of Mohammad Othman, a youth coordinator with "Stop the Wall", it became increasingly clear that Israel is seeking to hinder human rights defenders from carrying out their peaceful work, exercised within the framework of international humanitarian and human rights law.

Additionally, in the villages of Bil'in, Ni'ilin, Beit Duqqu, Jayyous and Al-Ma'sara, Israeli soldiers have been reported to throw stones at activists' houses, storm their homes in the middle of the night, fire tear gas at them and destroy their personal belongings. Seemingly, these measures are implemented to deter Palestinian activists from attending weekly demonstrations against the Annexation Wall. The Israeli authorities have also summoned for interrogation a number of youth activists engaged in organizing peaceful demonstrations and solidarity events involving international supporters. Similarly, they launched an intimidation campaign against witnesses of human rights violations. On 17 December, for example, the Israeli soldiers raided the family house of eighteen-year old Salam Kanaan in Ni'lin, who became famous after she filmed an Israeli soldier shooting blindfolded and handcuffed Ashraf Abu Rahma in the foot and released it through the Israeli NGO's, B'Tselem's "Shooting Back" project. The soldiers came looking for the tape and when they did not find it, they left a notice, in which they summoned Salam's family members for interrogation. In Al-Ma'sara, members of the Popular Committee Against the Wall, including Mohammad Birjiyah, Hassan Birjiyah and Mahmoud Zawahreh, who were arrested in May 2009 for their participation in demonstrations and subsequently released on bail, now face not only restrictions on their community work, but are also subject to constant delays and humiliation at Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank.

It is common Israeli practice to interrogate and detain Palestinians without charge and prevent lawyers from visiting their clients. Arbitrary detention violates the rights of human rights defenders and Israel must stop these illegal practices. Israel's history of subjecting detained Palestinians to torture, inhumane and cruel treatment must also be noted. As Palestinian human rights organizations we demand that such practices are not used against any detained Palestinian, including Jamal Juma', Mohammad Othman and Abdallah Abu Rahma. Importantly, tarrest of Jamal Juma', Mohammad Othman and Abdallah Abu Rahma constitutes a violation of various international human rights instruments, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. The Declaration provides for the right of everyone to meet or assemble peacefully, which includes the right to form, join and communicate with non-governmental organizations, associations or groups. The Declaration further emphasizes the right of an individual to the lawful exercise of his or her profession, to participate in peaceful activities against violations of human rights and to solicit, receive and utilize resources for the purpose of protecting human rights. Additionally, the Declaration declares that people have the right to express concern about the policies and actions of individual officials and governmental bodies with regard to violations of human rights.

Although not legally binding, the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders served as a basis for the drafting of the EU and Norwegian Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, which follow the Declaration in recognizing everyone's right to promote and strive for the protections and realization of human rights, both individually and collectively. protection of human rights defenders has thus been recognized not only a moral obligation, but also as a social, individual and collective right and responsibility and became an important element of the European Union's human rights external policy.

As Palestinian human rights organizations, we call upon the international community, including diplomatic missions in the occupied Palestinian territory and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to intervene with Israel for:

• the immediate release of Jamal Juma', Mohammad Othman and Abdallah Abu Rahma, and all other local activists;

• an end to the Israeli practice of arbitrary detention;

• full adherence to the ICCPR as applied to the Palestinian population in the OPT; and

• full respect of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

In addition, we call upon members of the European Union and Norway to fully comply with the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders and the Norwegian Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders; develop and adopt an effective strategy aiming to provide protection to Palestinian human rights defenders working in the OPT and Israel, by:

• Regularly attending trials of Palestinian Human Rights Defenders (HRD) who are held in detention. Exert pressure on the Israeli Military Court of Administrative Detainees to attend closed hearings of HRD held in administrative detention. Additionally, establish rotation routines for trial observation on behalf of the local Presidency.

• Regularly visit HRD in custody prior to trial.

• Ensure a permanent and institutionalized presence of EU monitors in areas where human rights are violated on a regular basis to prevent the arbitrary arrest of Palestinian HRD. These areas include:

villages affected by the Annexation Wall; parts of East Jerusalem, where houses are at risk of demolition and families are at risk of eviction; and, Palestinian villages located near settlements. Additionally, ensure EU presence at all house demolitions or evictions in East Jerusalem.

• Issue public statements condemning the arbitrary arrest and detention of HRD.

• Raise specific cases of HRD in detention with the Israeli authorities under the EU-Israel political dialogue.

BACKGROUND ON THE ARREST OF "STOP THE WALL" ACTIVISTS

1. Mohammad Othman, who is a youth coordinator with the "Stop the Wall Campaign", was arrested by the Israeli soldiers on 22 September 2009 at the Allenby Border Crossing as he returned home to the West Bank from an advocacy tour in Norway where he attended several advocacy meetings and spoke about the Wall, and its associated unlawful regime. Since then, he has been held for 61 days in interrogation, and barred from access to his attorney for two weeks. After his two months of interrogation proved nothing, no external evidence was brought to the attention of the court and the military prosecution was unable to formulate substantiated allegations or charges against him, he was placed under administrative detention a day after the Military Court of Appeals decided to release him on bail. On 22 December, Mohammad's administrative detention order was renewed for another month, ending on 22 January 2010.

2. On 15 December 2009, Jamal Juma', a prominent Palestinian human rights defender, coordinator of the "Stop the Wall" campaign and a founding member of several Palestinian civil society networks and non-governmental organizations, was summoned for interrogation by the Israeli Police. He was asked to go to the Qalandia checkpoint, where he was subsequently handcuffed and taken to his home. His home was searched for two hours in the presence of his wife and three young children where his cell phone and computer were confiscated. Jamal was then brought to Moskobiyyeh Interrogation Center in West Jerusalem, where he was subjected to interrogation. Two subsequent court hearings, on 21 December and 24 December extended Jamal's detention period for the purpose of interrogation based on "secret information" that was made available to the military judge by representatives from the Israeli Security Agency (ISA). The content of the "secret information" was not however disclosed to Jamal's attorney. Although a resident of occupied East Jerusalem, Jamal is currently being interrogated under the Israeli military orders, with no access to the outside world, and until 27 December, without any access to his attorney due to a court's decision to implement a ban on lawyers' visits. Practice shows that the military court always allows the interrogation of East Jerusalemites under the military orders in order to extend the interrogation period to the maximum, allow the outmost flexibility for Israeli Security Agency (ISA) officers in their conduct of the interrogation and reduce legal safeguards to the minimum. Prior to his arrest, Jamal has been actively campaigning for the protection of Palestinian human rights defenders and activists protesting against the Annexation Wall, including his colleague, Mohammad Othman.

3. On 10 December 2009, the Israeli forces arrested Abdallah Abu Rahma, a high school teacher and the Head of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements, in the village of Bil'in, where the Israeli authorities have annexed close to 55 percent of the village's land for the construction of the Wall and the expansion of Israeli settlements. Abdallah is currently tried on three charges, namely incitement, stone throwing and the possession of arms. It is clear from Abdallah's indictment that he was arrested for his leading role in mobilizing a non-violent resistance movement against the Annexation Wall and its associated, unlawful regime. Among the accusations under the banner of "incitement", the military prosecution listed Abdallah's instrumental role in organizing and leading demonstrations against the Wall and distributing Palestinian flags to participants of the demonstrations, which sixteen years after the signing of the Oslo Accords is still considered a "security offence" under Israeli military regulations. In relation to the last charge, the Israeli army accuses Abdallah of collecting empty sound and gas grenades, as well as M16 bullets used by the soldiers to disperse the crowds at demonstrations and showing them as an exhibit in the village's museum to raise awareness of Israeli practices against unarmed civilians. However, documenting human rights violations, collecting evidence, providing support and assistance to victims seeking remedies, combating cultures of impunity and mainstreaming human rights culture and information on an international and domestic level have been recognized by the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders as legitimate activities that need to be not only protected but also promoted. Further, the non-violent character of the demonstrations has been, amongst others, recognized by the Elders organization, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former president Jimmy Carter and former Irish President, Mary Robinson, who visited Bil'in and met with Abdallah Abu Rahma during their mission to the OPT in August 2009.