threats

Human rights defenders Ms Ingrid Vergara and Mr Juan David Díaz Chamorro have repeatedly received threats against them, and Ingrid Vergara was the subject of an assassination attempt on 5 February 2010. Ingrid Vergara is the spokesperson for Movement of Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE) in Sucre and Juan David Díaz Chamorro is a member of the same organisation. MOVICE has recently denounced several politicians for having links with paramilitary groups. Its work in this respect has lead to the arrests of several high level politicians. 

One hundred and thirty-three supporters of human rights defender, Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, have come under investigation by the Sri Lankan Criminal Investigation Division (CID) after they signed a petition that was published in several newspapers on 27 August 2009. 

Human rights defender, Mr Gopen Chandra Sharma, has been subjected to a series of threats via mobile telephone calls and picture and text messages from 22-24 August 2009. Gopen Chandra Sharma is the district human rights monitor for the Murshidabad region of Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM). His work focuses on the documentation of human rights abuses, in particular human trafficking on the Indo-Bangladesh border. 

Human rights defender, Mr Konstantin Baranov, has been threatened on several occasions since 15 July 2009. Konstantin Baranov is the head of the Rostov branch of a public youth organisation, Molodaya Evropa (Young Europe), which is an international network of organisations from Western and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, promoting European values such as tolerance, intercultural exchanges and human rights. 

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports of ongoing and increasing threats and harassment against Mr Waleed Sami Abu-Alkhair, most recently on 10 July 2009. Waleed Sami Abu-Alkhair is the supervisor of the website “Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia” and the coordinator of a team of lawyers for a group of ten detained prominent human rights defenders.