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Cuba: Increased repression against human rights defenders and violent assault on women human rights defenders posted on: 2011/08/11

Several members of human rights organisations Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) were assaulted by pro-Government groups and police officers on 7 August 2011 in Santiago de Cuba and Palmarito de Cauto in the eastern province of Cuba. Similar attacks have taken place each Sunday since mid-July, as members of Damas de Blanco have been leaving mass throughout the province of Santiago de Cuba. Damas de Blanco is a human rights organisation which was established in 2003 in Havana by a group of women demanding the release of political prisoners in Cuba.In 2005, Damas de Blanco was awarded the Sakharov Prize for freedom of conscience by the European Parliament.

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On 7 August 2011, at approximately 11.00 am, pro-Government groups armed with steel bars and stones, as well as some members of the Ministry of the Interior, gathered outside the cathedral in Santiago de Cuba waiting for members of Damas de Blanco to leave following Sunday mass. The women had planned a peaceful march through the streets of Santiago de Cuba, holding flowers, calling for the release of political prisoners.

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Malawi: Violent assault of, and death threats against, human rights defender Mr Benedicto Kondoweposted on: 2011/07/27

Human rights defender Mr Benedicto Kondowe was violently assaulted and received death threats following his involvement in the organisation of demonstrations which were held throughout Malawi on 20 July 2011. The event, which was organised under the banner of “Uniting for Peaceful Resistance Against Poor Economic and Democratic Governance – A Better Malawi Is Possible”, was intercepted by police who opened fire, resulting in the deaths of 18 persons. Benedicto Kondowe is the Executive Director of Civil Society Coalition for Quality Basic Education (CSCQBE), a coalition of NGOs that was created in 2000 with the objective of bringing together a number of organisations in the common pursuit of quality basic education.

On 25 July 2011, human rights defender Benedicto Kondowe gave an interview to the Malawi Institute of Journalism (MIJ) in which he discussed the violence surrounding the demonstrations that took place across Malawi on 20 July 2011. The interview was broadcast at 6.00pm on the MIJ news bulletin and directly afterwards, at 6.10pm, Benedicto Kondowe received a phone-call from an unknown number.

India – Fear of arrest and violent assault of human rights defenders Mr Thulasi Thambirajan, and Mr Dharuman Ramasamy in Tamil Naduposted on: 2009/07/24

Two human rights defenders Mr Thulasi Thambirajan and Mr Dharuman Ramasamy were assaulted and are now facing prison charges for their exposure of corruption within the local Panchayat in their implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Thulasi Thambirajan is a human rights teacher in the Adi Dravida Welfare Middle School in Varakoor and Dharuman Ramasamy is an organiser in the Citizens for Human Rights Movement (CHRM).