French Language Workshop Reports

Analysing the different types of attacks against Human Rights Defenders, including the specific challenges that Women Human Rights Defenders have to face.

« When you commit yourself to put out a blaze, the flame threatens you, this is the work of the Human Rights Defender”. Yacoubou Blaise, MDDHL, Cameroon.

« Regimes change their repressive methods, like an antibiotic or a virus would.” Naziha Rjiba Om Zied, Journal Kalima on line, Tunisia.

The different types of attacks encountered by the participants are listed below:

(1) Shadowing, police supervision (counterespionnage), phone tappings : These are common practices in Tunisia. Abdul Raouf Ayadi, CNLT, Tunisia says that there is no more privacy. Even his sons’ phones are tapped. Policemen wearing civilian clothes, are on watch in front of his house permanently. They read and write down the visitors cars registration number in order to intimidate/scare them and to isolate the Human Rights Defenders.

The Mauritanian Participation says that she noticed she was watched :in front of her house, a floor is inhabited by Policemen, and from time to time, new lodgers move in, but they are all the time Policemen.

(2) -Anti terrorist laws that can be used against the Human Rights Defenders (ex. From Tunisia)

(3) - Seizure of the judiciary system by the public authority. Legal action that has been invented against Human Rights Defenders. Brainwashing of justice: example of Mohamed Abou in Tunisia. Creation of tax litigation (Tunisia). Ex, Yacoubou Blaise, MDDHL, Cameroon :The members of his organisation are convened monthly to appear before the court, for fallacious reasons. Judiciary harassement. For a fact, even one which is justified/founded ( for instance: Rioting than should be normally punished by an infringement/contravention), the sentences are heavier for Human Rights Defenders.

(4) - Administrative retaliation and intimidations towards Human Rights Defenders relatives, especially children (most of participants encounter these problems):In Tunisia, children don't have easy access to jobs or to national exams. Even getting an equivalent rating of a national or foreign diploma is becoming a problem (retaliation). Students who have passed the baccalauréat are automatically refused to national scholarship (e.g. in Mauritania). The participant from Togo says that on the 13th of May 2005, a few day after he had criticized the president in a national TV show, his son had been assaulted in the street, wounded with broken glass, while he was hanging around with some friends.

The participant from Haiti says that her 9-year old son had been traumatized by the harassments of former president Aristide’s private militia : The private militia went to her home, shot on her house, and threatened his child by phone. They even shot on the gate of his son’s school. The little boy had to flee in a foreign country where he now lives without his mother. He is seeing a psychotherapist while in exile.

The participant from the Ivory Coast says that the headmaster of the school where he is teaching has been abducted and killed by young patriots. He has been deeply concerned by this murder and is afraid that this could have some links with his denunciations of human rights breaches.

(5) -Physical intimidations and assaults : The participant from Togo says that he has been threatened by a man carrying a weapon, after the presentation of the preliminary report oh his organisation on the elections of May 2005. A Togolese journalist was savagely assaulted and slightly wounded by several armed men during the night of the 9th of October 2005.

The participant from Haiti, who lives 5 min from her office can not go there on foot because she is scared of being assaulted. She is always accompanied when she goes somewhere. The Ivorian participant says that an attack has been launched upon the building of his organisation and that the secretary was beaten. In July 2005, people shot on the gate of his house during a police intervention. Neighbours heard policemen speaking about the fact they were currently looking for him. The participant from Equatorial Guinea says that in his country Human Rights Defenders are killed (a militant priest was killed in January 2004).All the members of his organisation have experienced being in jail, tortures and threatens to relatives

- The Non Recognition of Human Rights NGO : The Togolese league of Human Rights didn’t receive its acknowledgement of receipt for 15 years, until the International Foundation For Human Rights intervened during a mission in Togo in 2005. A NGO which is prohibited is then deprived of its office and does not have the right to receive fundraising from foreign countries, otherwise it will have to cope with penal sanctions (ex:SOS slaves in Mauritania).

-Denigration of Human Rights Defenders :Human Rights Defenders are usually few and well-known, and they are stigmatized by the authorities (ex of the Mauritania). In Ivory Coast, the Human Rights Defenders are publicly attacked and directly by the politicians, in public statement and in the media:They are accused of having links with opposition parties.

-“Pauperization” by deprivation of salary or job:The Togolese participant explains that he and his colleague haven’t received any salary for several months. Groundless Dismissals. The participant from Equatorial Guinea has also been deprived from his salary. He is doctor and cannot work in a state hospital any more. The participant from Guinea, teacher at university has been retired before having reached the legal age.

- Non State-controlled violence :Private militia.In Brazil, violence doesn’t come from the State but by private militias. Private militias also launch attacks upon HRD in Haiti.

-Difficulties encountered to find an accomodation : The participant from Haiti says that it took her one year to find a house, after having been forced to leave hers. The participant from Equatorial Guinea and his five children have been kicked out of their home because the owner was afraid of retaliations from the authorities.

-Frustrating redtapes : In Guinea, the State has changed his practices. Less people are arrested but the number of frustrating redtapes has increased: HRD phone line and electricity are cut without any reason. The participant from Equatorial Guinea says that in his country the HRD are subject to personalised taxes and from administrative discrimination (“whenever we want a certificate, we are always refused o get it”)

-Flatteries, use of the African tradition (respect) by the government in order to silence the HRD (for instance in Guinea).

- Fake Human Rights Defenders organisations created by governments, alternative NGO that are actually screen organisations for the states.

-Conscience purchases, HRD corrupted by the governments: The authorities proposed to the HRD work positions in the government, with a higher salary, in order to make them leave their NGO and so, to silence them.

-The threats of the mediatization : The state-owned medias can be used by the governments in order to criticize the HRD, and to attack them. The use of media by the HRD in order to testify can put them in jeopardy. Joël Bisubu from the Democratic Republic of Congo says that one of his HRD colleagues, Pascal Kabungulu, gave an interview to the BBC and to RFI a few weeks before he was murdered. The armed groups listen more to the international radio than to the other local medias. Media like to deal with sensitive topics. The HRD mediatization includes many risks. He says that a German radio publicly said that his organisation, Justice Plus, was taking part with the CPI. This has aroused threatens among the members, and two of them had to flee. Another participant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, confirmed that one has to be careful with media. -Ambiguous role of the United Nations on the ground. The HRD have to be suspicious of it (remarks from Ivoirian and Congolese participants).

-Cut of organisations financial help :The participant from Burundi says that her government has blocked the direct contributions of the members of the trade unionist organisations during 7 months (impossible for the organisations to withdraw money).

-Watching of Internet communications/email by the authorities : The participant from Equatorial Guinea received the confirmation by yahoo that his mailbox was under surveillance.