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Welcome to Civil Society Watch Monthly Bulletin, an e-newsletter of updates and analyses concerning civil society's rights to freedom of association, assembly and expression around the world. The Bulletin is compiled by the staff at Civil Society Watch, a programme of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. Please feel free to forward the Bulletin to friends and colleagues. We welcome your comments and contributions!
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
FRONT
PAGE An interview with Virisila Buadromo, Executive Director, Fiji Women's Rights Movement
Global Civil Society Urges Review of Russia’s NGO Law
GOOD NEWS
GUINEA: Parliament rejects request to extend martial law ALGERIA: Conference banned and activist barred from entering country
ANGOLA: Civil society campaigner arrested
AUSTRALIA: Stifling public debates
BAHRAIN: Civil society activists arrested
BURMA: Literacy event organisers detained
COLOMBIA: Civil society leader killed
EGYPT: Military tribunal for Muslim Brotherhood
GUATEMALA: Attacks on human rights defenders
NEPAL: Activists under threat
PHILIPPINES: Anti-terrorism Act passed
RUSSIA: NGO raided
SAUDI ARABIA: Travel ban on government critics
UZBEKISTAN: Human rights defender detained
ZIMBABWE: Crackdowns on dissent RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS
Reporters Without Borders:
2007 press freedom survey released
NCVO:
Security and Human Rights report released
Alliance for Essential Liberties in the Middle East:
New website
Universal Human Rights Index:
Resource on the UN human rights system
CIVICUS: What do you think? |
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Civil Society in Fiji: The effects of the 2006 coup An interview with Virisila Buadromo, Executive Director, Fiji Women's Rights Movement The last twenty years has been a turbulent period in Fiji’s political history, with alternating periods of democratic governments and military coups. The latest coup occurred in December 2006 and since then a number of civil society activists have been detained, warned not to publicly express their views, and/or had travel bans imposed on them. CSW interviewed one such activist, Virisila Buadromo, Executive Director, Fiji Women's Rights Movement to hear her experiences.
The full interview, visit: http://www.civicus.org/csw/FRONTPAGE_Fiji_02.07.htm
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Global Civil Society Urges Review of Russia’s NGO Law CIVICUS has joined ten other international non-governmental organisations in writing to President Putin regarding amendments to Russia’s NGO law. The organisations encouraged President Putin to conduct a thorough review of the law and its implementation, thereby demonstrating his commitment to civil society and human rights both in Russia and globally.
Read the letter of appeal, visit: www.civicus.org/new/media/Global-civil-society-letter-to-PresidentPutin-february-2007.pdf
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GUINEA: Parliament rejects request to extend martial law 26 February - The National Assembly of the Republic of Guinea decided on 23 February 2007 to reject President Lansana Conte’s demand to prolong the state of martial law in place since 12 February 2007, reports the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. The country’s military had received orders from President Conte to take all necessary measures to restore order in the country after a peaceful strike had been called in January by Guinea’s national trade unions to pressure the government concerning several economic and social claims. Since the declaration of martial law on 12 February, all meetings have been banned, movement heavily restricted and an information blackout imposed, according to Human Rights Watch, IFEX and other human rights groups. http://allafrica.com/stories/200702210655.html http://www.tarpy.net/2007/WORLD/africa/02/23/guinea.strike.reut/index.html
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ALGERIA: Conference banned and activist barred from entering country 7 February – Algeria.com website has reported that police broke up a conference titled “For Truth, Peace and Conciliation”, which was organised by five human rights organisations to promote reconciliation after the country’s years of violence. In addition, international experts invited to speak at the conference were barred from entering the country.
ANGOLA: Civil society campaigner arrested 19 February – Anti-corruption civil society group, Global Witness, is demanding the immediate release of an employee who was arrested in Angola and charged with espionage.
AUSTRALIA: Stifling public debate 27 January – A new book “Silencing Dissent: How the Australian government is controlling public opinion and stifling debate” highlights the shrinking space for public debate and dissenting opinion, reports the Australian newspaper, The Age. In particular, it notes that recent years have seen an unprecedented attack upon non-government organisations. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/01/26/1169788690664.html
BAHRAIN: Civil society activists arrested
6 February – Frontline Defenders raised concerns that activists from the
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and HAQ Movement for Liberty and Democracy have been arrested. They have been released on bail following demonstrations in response to their arrests.
BURMA: Literacy event organisers detained 23 February - Eight people who organised a pubic literacy seminar have been detained without charges by military authorities for over two weeks, reports IFEX. They were reportedly arrested after the completion of the seminar in a Buddhist monastery in Paungtalei on 8 February 2007. http://www.mizzima.com, http://www.ifex.org
COLOMBIA: Civil society leader killed
1 Febrauary – Human rights organisation, Rights and Democracy, has reported that Kimy Pernia Domico, an indigenous leader who won the 2003 John Humphrey Freedom Award, has been abducted and killed.
EGYPT: Military tribunal for Muslim Brotherhood 15 February - Hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood who face military tribunals should be released, argues Human Rights Watch in a press release. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/02/15/egypt15329.htm
GUATEMALA: Attacks on human rights defenders
7 February – Prensa Latina, the Latin American
press agency, reports increasing intimidation of civil society activists working in human rights. These include personal threats, attacks on offices of human rights organisations and the kidnapping of a human rights worker who was assaulted
and threatened with death but later released.
NEPAL: Activists under threat 4 February - Aid workers and human rights defenders have been threatened in the continued unrest in Nepal's south-eastern Terai region, reports the Integrated Regional Information Network. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=69916
PHILIPPINES: Anti-terrorism Act passed 7 February – Civil liberties activists have condemned the new Human Security Act, reports the International Herald Tribune. It was recently passed by the Senate and would need to merged with a previous version before being signed into law, but fears have already been expressed that the law will be used to stifle dissent. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/07/asia/AS-GEN-Philippines-Anti-Terrorism.php
RUSSIA: NGO raided 22 February – The Vladikavkaz office of the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) was raided by police and computers and documents seized, reports The Moscow Times. IWPR see the raid as part of a campaign of intimidation which they say started after the implementation of the new NGO law in April 2006.
SAUDI ARABIA: Travel ban on government critics 9 February - In a letter to King Abdullah, Human Rights Watch has called for the lifting of bans on foreign travel which the Ministry of Interior has imposed on prominent government critics. They argue that the bans are politically motivated and are used to punish critics and prevent their views from reaching a foreign audience.
UZBEKISTAN: Human rights defender detained 15 February - Human rights defender and journalist, Umida Niyazova, has been detained upon her return to Uzbekistan from Kyrgyzstan where she was seeking protection, reports Article 19. This follows previous incidents where she has been detained and her passport and computer confiscated, which appear to be as a result of her human rights work. http://www.ifex.org/alerts/layout/set/print/content/view/full/81141/
ZIMBABWE: Ban on protests 23 February – Civil society groups have condemned the recent escalation of harassment and arrests of human rights defenders, with many student leaders, representatives of women’s organisations and union leaders among those arrested. Many, including the International Bar Association, have particularly condemned a three-month ban on rallies and protests issued under the Public Order and Security Act in parts of Harare. http://www.ibanet.org/iba/article.cfm?article=107
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Reporters Without Borders: 2007 press freedom survey released This annual survey, published on 1 February, reports on press freedom in 98 countries and includes the main violations of journalists' rights during 2006 and regional trends related to media and internet freedom. It is available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. For more information, visit: http://www.rsf.org
NCVO: Security and Human Rights report released The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has released a report that analyses the impact of counter-terrorism measures on civil society organisations in the United Kingdom. For more information, visit: http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/?id=3906
Alliance for Essential Liberties in the Middle East: New website This website is a collaborative effort to highlight the plight of human rights activists in the Middle East. It includes profiles of detained activists in the region and action alerts on their situations. For more information, visit: http://www.aelme.org
Universal Human Rights Index: Resource on the UN human rights system The Universal Human Rights Index facilitates access to human rights documents issued by the UN human rights treaty bodies and the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and assists in searching for their observations and recommendations. For more information, visit: http://www.universalhumanrightsindex.org
CIVICUS: What do you think? Have your say on the CIVICUS Blog Civil society must regularly confront controversial issues which affect both what we do and how we do it. Here is an opportunity to share your thoughts on these topics, to speak out and to make a difference! Help CIVICUS develop its vision of a global community of active, engaged citizens committed to the creation of a more just and equitable world. Have your say, visit http://civicus.civiblog.org
| CONTACT US
| We hope you enjoyed the Bulletin! If you would like to send an appeal or share information with us regarding issues affecting civil society in your region, please contact the Civil Society Watch (CSW) team at, cswatch@civicus.org To subscribe or unsubscribe please e-mail , cswcommunity@civicus.org CIVICUS House, 24 Gwigwi Mrwebi Street, Newtown, Johannesburg, 2001, PO Box 933, Southdale, Johannesburg, 2135, South Africa, tel +27 11 833 5959 / fax +27 11 833 7997, info@civicus.org
| CIVICUS is an alliance of approximately 1000 members in 105 countries, dedicated to strengthening civil society and citizen action around the world. Civil Society Watch is a programme of CIVICUS, which seeks to expose, address and prevent threats to civil society's rights to freedom of association, expression and assembly. For more information, visit www.civicus.org and www.civilsocietywatch.org
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| DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this bulletin are a reflection of those contained in the original reports to which they are linked here, and are not necessarily those of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. |