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Пресс-релизы
 Akifa Aliyeva, Gégé Katana, Jackeline Rojas, Radhia Nasraoui, Riza Fanilag
Front Line is pleased to announce the short list of nominees for the 2007 Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk. Bono will present the award on 01 May 2007 at a breakfast ceremony in Dublin’s City Hall. 
 Aini Abukar Ga’al, Ahmadjan Madmarov, Mohammed Abbou and Soraya Gutiérrez Arguello
2 May 2006
Front Line is pleased to announce its four nominees on the short list for the 2006 Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk. Mr Peter Sutherland, United Nations Special Representative for Migration and former EU Commissioner will present the award on Friday 16 June at a breakfast ceremony in Dublin City Hall. The four nominees are:
Soraya Gutierrez Arguello, Colombia
A jailed blogger from Egypt, a murdered journalist from Lebanon, a documentary maker who recorded Israel's removal of settlers from Gaza, a ‘barefoot lawyer’ from China, and a champion of HIV/AIDS victims in Swaziland have all been honoured with a prestigious Freedom of Expression Award from Index on Censorship.
The 7th annual Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards were presented at LSO St Luke's, London, on 14 March by Anna Ford, with a keynote speech from Jung Chang, bestselling author of Mao:The Untold Story and Wild Swans.
Index on Censorship/Hugo Young Award for Journalism 2007
This award, given in memory of Guardian columnist Hugo Young, goes to a journalist who has shown an outstanding commitment to journalistic integrity in defence of freedom of expression.
• Winner: Kareem Amer (Egypt): Kareem Amer is the pseudonym of 22-year old blogger Abdul Kareem Suleiman Amer, who was recently sentenced to four years imprisonment for criticising Islam and President Mubarak.
After careful consideration, the Martin Ennals Award jury made up of eleven of the world’s leading non-governmental human rights organizations decided on the shortlist for the 2007 Award. The award for Human Rights Defenders is presented annually to individuals who display exceptional courage in combating human rights violations in their countries.
2007 Shortlist
Pierre Claver Mbonimpa (Burundi) Mr. Mbonimpa set up his own human rights organization (APRODH) to address the plight of the 9,000 detainees waiting for trial for years in the country’s overcrowded jails. He is often on the radio, speaking out about violations of the rights of Burundians. The government has threatened him and rumors of his arrest or death often circulate in the capital.
Brussels, 22 January 2007.
The King Baudouin Foundation has awarded the 2006-2007 King Baudouin International Development Prize to Front Line, the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (Ireland). Front Line is the only international NGO that is exclusively dedicated to the support and protection of human rights defenders, particularly those at risk.
Front Line’s specific aim is to work for the protection of human rights defenders at immediate risk and to provide practical means to improve their security. Since its creation in 2001, Front Line has worked on behalf of more than 600 human rights defenders in over 100 countries. Front Line combines “round-the-clock” practical support with international advocacy, which promotes visibility and the recognition of human rights defenders as a vulnerable group.
Front Line marked the 8th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders on Saturday 9 December, by hosting a talk by three leading human rights defenders. Kasinather Sivapalan, a lawyer and human rights defender from Sri Lanka, Abdujalil Boymatov, a human rights defender from Uzbekistan and Claudia Samayao, a human rights defender from Guatemala and author of a new Front Line report on Guatemala gave their personal testimonies of working at risk in hostile environments.
The OSCE Chairman, Belgian Foreign Minister, Karel De Gucht, marked Human Rights day by calling for increased awareness of the difficulties many human rights defenders face. "Protecting those who, in civil society or within their governments, promote human rights on a daily basis must be a duty for us all," said Minister De Gucht. "All too often, human rights defenders face harassment, persecution, and even death as a result of making the very same statements that us more fortunate take for granted. This situation is, sadly, deteriorating." Read full press release
Front Line welcomes the long awaited decision by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), to grant consultative status to three lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) NGOs addressing human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender.
The three organizations include; the European section of the International Lesbian and Gay Association,the Danish National Association for Gays and Lesbians and the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany. This consultative status will provide the NGOs with access to UN meetings, delivery of oral and written reports, contact with country representatives, and allows the organization of events to facilitate understanding of the abuse and discrimination that LGBT people face around the world.
The granting of consultative status to these three NGOs is illustrative of the UN’s recognition for LGTB organizations. LGTB defenders are very often subjected to various forms of reprisals because of their work in favour of homosexuals’ and transexuals’ rights and they often face obstacles to their freedoms of association and peaceful assembly in many parts of the world.
To mark the 8th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, Front Line, the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in association with FOUR will host ‘Stories from the Frontline” at 3.00 pm, Saturday 9, December.
Kasinather Sivapalan, a prominent lawyer and human rights defender from Sri Lanka and Abdujalil Boymatov, a leading human rights defender and nuclear physicist from Uzbekistan will give their personal testimonies of working at risk in hostile environments.
Sivapalan is the former President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka and Coordinator of Legal Aid Center; he is a lecturer in Law at the Eastern University in Sri Lanka and member of the Ceasefire Monitoring Commission.
Abdujalil is the vice – president of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan an organization with over 600 members. For over 15 years he has reported and documented the human rights violations committed by the Uzbek government.
Press Statement
EHAHRDN Index: UGA 033/008/2006 (Public)
27th November 2006
KAMPALA: GOVERNMENTS IN THE EAST&HORN OF AFRICA MUST OBSERVE MEDIA FREEDOM-A CALL FOR REDRESS
As the year 2006 draws to its close, the human rights movement in the East and Horn of Africa continues to nurse the shocking reports relating to infringement on press freedom by governments and government agencies within the sub-region. This infringement is despite the fact that press freedom is recognized in national, regional and international legislation as a key factor in ensuring transparency and democratic governance.
From Djibouti and Eritrea to Ethiopia, from Kenya to Somalia and Somaliland, from Sudan including Southern Sudan to Tanzania and Uganda, journalists continue to be subjected to a wide range of violations including harassment, intimidation, banning of media houses or restriction of their activities, unlawful arrests, incommunicado detention, imprisonment on unclear charges, torture, ill-treatment and extra-judicial killings. Such is the misery inflicted on persons supposed to undertake the role of watchdogs of society to ensure due accountability in public offices.
Front Line is deeply concerned by reports that police have arrested seven organizers of the upcoming international LGBT conference scheduled for the 10 -12 November in Minsk. Police broke up a committee meeting and seized conference material. Those arrested were interrogated on the conference program in Zheleznodorozhnyi Borrow Police station. Three of the organizers remain in prison. These arbitrary arrests point to a climate of intolerance and intimidation by authorities towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, these actions violate basic freedoms of association and assembly.
Human Rights Watch Honors Human Rights Defenders Human Rights Watch issued a press release on 31 Ocober to announce the winners of the 2006 Human Rights Defender Awards. Omid Memarian from Iran, Salih Mahmoud Osman from Darfur and Beatrice Were from Uganda will be awarded the prestigious award at a ceremony on 7 November Read the Human Rights Watch Press Release here
 Global Day for Darfur
Protect the People of Darfur - solidarity action by Irish Non-Governmental Organisations
To mark the international day of solidarity for the people of Darfur, a coalition of Irish and Sudanese organisations will be taking part in a solidarity event at 1pm in Dublin this Friday 15th September with the Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Vincent Jackson.
26 July 2006
Front Line is gravely concerned with reports that some member states of the UN Economic and Social Council Committee (ECOSOC) on NGOs are attempting to block or stall three human rights organisations from gaining UN consultative status because their human rights work concerns violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The three human rights organisations in question are the Danish National Association for Gays and Lesbians; the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany and the International Lesbian and Gay Association Europe.
UN Consultative status allows international, regional, sub regional and national NGOs to contribute to the programs and goals of the UN. The 2,700 NGOs that currently have consultative status with the UN serve as technical experts and advisors and can attend UN international conferences.
Consultative status is given to NGOs by UN-ECOSOC upon recommendation by the 19 member states of the UN-ECOSOC committee on NGOs.
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