Front Line News Archive

Human Rights Watch reported that Repressive New Legislation Should Be Amended or Scrapped in Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s government should immediately abandon plans to impose strict government controls and draconian criminal penalties on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said on July 1st. The two groups called on donor governments, whose behind-the-scenes efforts to see the bill reformed appear to have failed, to speak out publicly against the de facto criminalization of most of the human rights, rule of law and peace-building work currently being carried out in Ethiopia.  

Front Line is deeply concerned following the sentencing of women's rights defender Hana Abdi to five years' imprisonment.  

Front Line is deeply concerned following the arrest of nine women's rights defenders during peaceful demonstration outside the Rahe Abrisham Gallery in Tehran, on 12 June 2008. The women's rights defenders, Aida Saadat, an online journalist for Etemad and Change for Equality; Nasrin Sotoode, a women's rights lawyer; Jelve Javaheri, an online journalist for the Change for Equality website; Jilla Baniyagoub, an online journalist with Sarmayeh and the Canon Zeman Irani; Sarah Loghmani and Farideh Ghaeb, both online journalists for Canon Zeman Irani; Alieh Motalbezadeh, a journalist and photographer; and women's rights defenders, Nahid Mirhaj and Nafiseh Azad, were meeting to celebrate the National Day of Solidarity of Iranian Women in objection to discriminatory laws against women in Iran and to review the achievements of the women's rights movement through similar meetings over previous years.  

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that members of the police have raided the home of human rights defender Yelena Urlayeva on 29 May 2008. The police, acting on orders from a judge of Tashkent’s Mirzo-Ulugbek district, broke into her apartment, carried out a thorough inventory of her belongings and cut off her water supply and electricity due to a reported payment of $30 that was pending on her utility bill. During their search, which was carried out in a disrespectful manner, damaging much of her property, the police paid particular attention to documents that she had in her apartment.  

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports of death threats made via mobile phone against human rights defender Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi and members of the People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) between 25 April 2008 and 18 May 2008, calling for them to cease their human rights work, in particular their work with the Dalit communities in the Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh. Dr Raghuvanshi is the convener of the PVCHR and also a member of the District Vigilance Committee on Bonded Labour in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi's human rights work focuses on hunger and death due to starvation.  

Front Line welcomes the announcement that imprisoned Uzbek human rights defender Mutabar Tadjibaeva of Uzbekistan is the winner of the prestigious Martin Ennals Award 2008. Mutabar Tajibaeva was arrested on 7 October 2005 while en route to the Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders and subsequently sentenced to 8 years in prison on 6 March 2006. She is currently being detained at Tashkent Prison.  

A new report by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran documents how the Iranian authorities have systematically thwarted peaceful and legal civil society efforts to advocate for women’s rights in Iran, abusing the legal system and gravely violating internationally protected civil rights in the process.