harassment

Upsurge of violence against human rights organizations in Guatemala

On 20 May 2007 intruders broke into the office of ActionAid in Zone 13 of Guatemala City and stole computer hard-drives containing files on ActionAids work in Guatemala. No other items of value were taken. ActionAid is the fifth member of the International Forum of NGOs to be attacked in the last month.

Guatemala

Ongoing persecution of human rights defenders in Tunisia

On 24 May 2007, Mohammed Abbou one of Tunisian leading human rights defenders was forcibly dragged from a meeting with his family simply because his wife Samia mentioned that she had met a joint Front Line and Human Rights First mission in Tunisia to investigate the situation for human rights defenders

Túnez

Zeinab Peyqambarzadeh released from detention

Zeinab Peyqambarzadeh a human rights defender and leading member of the One Million Signatures Campaign was freed on 16 May 2007 after 9 days imprisonment in Evin prison and having paid a bail sum of 20, 000, 000 Iranian Toman

Irán

Front Line mission to DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya

A Front Line mission visited Rwanda, Burundi, the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Kenya between 8 and 16 of April 2007. Front Line Director Mary Lawlor and Protection Coordinator Natacha O’Brien met with human rights defenders at risk and national authorities to discuss the protection and security of human rights defenders in the region

República Democrática del Congo

Ongoing harassment of human rights lawyers in Zimbabwe

In Zimbabwe Human rights lawyers and their families have faced a surge in violent harassment, including arbitrary arrests, detention and violent physical assaults during April and May 2007.

Zimbabwe

Preocupa la seguridad de defensor de los derechos humanos de Uzbekistán y su familia.

Según ha sabido Front Line, la salud de Mutabar Tadjibaeva, presidenta de la organización de derechos humanos Fiery Hearts Club, detenido durante siete meses en la unidad psiquiátrica de un centro de detención de mujeres se deteriora rápidamente, a la vez que se ha intensificado el hostigamiento hacia su familia.

Mutabar Tadjibaeva fue vista por su familia por última vez el 9 de enero del 2007, pese a numerosos intentos de visitarla en su lugar de detención. De acuerdo con lo dicho por Rasul Tadjibaev, su hermano, y su hija, Malillo Akramova, ha Mutabar Tadjibaeva ha perdido alrededor de 25 kilos y tiene problemas en el hígado causados por las condiciones y el frío de la celda de aislamiento donde se encuentra. El parte del médico jefe de la presión niega que su salud esté desmejorando y afirma que se encuentra “en buenas condiciones de salud”.

Las autoridades vigilan constantemente a Rasul Tadjibaev, quien además no puede regresar a su departamento desde el 22 de marzo del 2007. También recibió advertencias de que si persiste en protestar contra la detención de su hermana se le hará difícil continuar trabajando y será expulsado de Tashkent.

Uzbekistán

Russian human rights defenders face on going harassment

On 22 March 2007, police officers arrived at the office of the Nizhny Novgorod Foundation to Support Tolerance in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia with the suspected intent of detaining two of its leaders, Stanislav Dmitrievsky and Oksana Chelysheva.

The two human rights defenders managed to obstruct the police officer’s plans by immediately contacting international human rights organizations and western diplomats in Moscow officers. The attack on the office is the latest in a series of police actions against the leaders of human rights organizations over recent days. Both Stanislav Dmitrievsky and Oksana Chelysheva have been subjected to heavy police surveillance, and uninvited visitors have presented themselves at their residences.

On January 23, the Federal Supreme Court of Russia denied an appeal of a lower court's order to close the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS). The RCFS, based in Nizhny Novgorod, was one of the few remaining organizations in Russia that was reporting on human rights conditions in Chechnya and the North Caucasus.

Rusia

Oksana Chelysheva: The slow, painful death of journalism in Russia

For a while, we are not going to be acting as a clearing house for news about Chechnya

Published: 05 February 2007

Did you read about the death of press freedom in Russia the other day? Well, probably not. Independent journalism doesn't expire in a single, dramatic moment. It's more like a series of small blows, leading not to out-and-out demise but suffocation and a life-sucking loss of morale. Another significant punch was landed last month. Russia's Supreme Court in Moscow closed the Russian Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS) on 23 January. This non-governmental organisation, which I helped run in Nizhny Novgorod, was the home for independent journalism on Chechnya. So, they closed us down and - for a while at least - we're not going to be acting as a clearing-house for journalism about Chechnya.

Rusia

Matan a defensor de los derechos humanos camboyano

Hy Vuthy, presidente del Sindicato Libre de Trabajadores del Reino de Camboya (Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia – FTUWKC) fue muerto de un disparo por dos atacantes no identificados, al regresar a su hogar, el 24 de febrero del 2007.

El asesinato de Hy Vuthy es el más reciente de una serie de actos intimidatorios contra miembros FTUWKC en las fábricas de indumentaria Suntex y Bright Sky, en Phnom Penh. Se trata del cuarto miembro de la FTUWKC que es muerto en relación con su trabajo en el sindicato. Chea Vichea y Ros Sovannareth, ex presidentes del FTUWKC, fueron muertos en ataques similares en el año 2004. Según se informa, la viuda de Hy Vuthy ha sido víctima de intimidaciones desde el asesinato de su esposo. La misma noche en que mataron a Vuthy, su domicilio fue rodeado por hombres no identificados que montaban motocicletas, y que arrojaron piedras contra su casa. El 25 de febrero un grupo de motociclistas volvió a rodear el domicilio.

Camboya

1st March 2007 - International Day of Action for Mohammed Abbou, Front Line, Human Rights Defenders

Two years of detention for denouncing torture in Tunisia

SIMPLY PRINT THE LETTER (OR YOU CAN USE IT AS A GUIDE FOR COMPOSING YOUR OWN CORRESPONDENCE) AND SEND IT TO THE TUNISIAN AUTHORITIES: EMBASSY IN YOUR COUNTRY

Find the address of the Embassy in your country here

PRESIDENT BEN ALI

Président M. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Président de la République Palais Présidentiel Tunis

1 March 2007

Re: Mohammed Abbou, two years of detention for denouncing torture in Tunisia

Your Excellency,

Túnez

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