Issue No 15

May-June 2006

 

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
PHILIPPINES: A dangerous place for an activist

Interview with Sixdon Macasaet, Director of CODE-NGO in the Philippines

 

WORLD ASSEMBLY 2006

CIVIL SOCIETY BEHIND BARS: World Assembly to highlight imprisoned activists

WORKSHOPS: CSW to host six special presentations

 

CIVICUS ALERTS!

ETHIOPIA: Release civil society activists in prison

 

ANALYSIS

CIVICUS:The UN Human Rights Council

ZIMBABWE: At war with human rights

 

GOOD NEWS

NEPAL: Government quashes repressive media law

KUWAIT: Law restricting public gatherings declared unconstitutional

 

CSW COUNTRY UPDATES
AZERBAIJAN: Civil society on alert following journalist's beating

BAHRAIN: Law restricts freedom of assembly

BELARUS: Partnership activists in jail for over 100 days

CAMEROON: Government bans press conference

CHILE: Police tear gas, arrest student protesters

COLOMBIA: Civil society threatened ahead of elections

COSTA RICA: Union office attacked

EGYPT: Police severely beat pro-democracy activists

IRAN:Women's protest violently dispersed

KAZAKHSTAN: Amendments used against unregistered religious activity

MOLDOVA: Gay rights demonstration banned

RUSSIA: Gay pride march participants violently harassed

SRI LANKA: Humanitarian aid workers attacked

SUDAN: Ban on refugee organisation lifted

SYRIA: Imprisoned activists call for hunger strike

TURKEY: Anti-terror law used against protesters

UZBEKISTAN: Another NGO forced to close

ZIMBABWE: Communications bill to legalise state spying

 

RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS

MARTUS: Software facilitates human rights reporting

IHF: Annual Report 2006 released

Amnesty International: State of the World's Human Rights

CIVICUS What do you think? Have your say on the CIVICUS Blog

FRONT PAGE

 

PHILIPPINES: A dangerous place for an activist

Interview with Sixdon Macasaet, Director of CODE-NGO in the Philippines

 

The Philippines is becoming an increasingly precarious place for political and civil society activists. Killings of activists and recent moves by the government to curtail civic space are threatening to erode the gains made by civil society over the last 20 years. From January 2001 to May 2006, the Philippines human rights group Karapatan has reported 607 killings of activists - 75 in this year alone. Of those, 257 have been identified as activist leaders, members and supporters of civil society groups. “They are workers, farmers, lawyers, teachers, students, pastors, priests and even human rights advocates,” reports Karapatan.

 

Sixdon Macasaet, the Director of CODE-NGO in the Philippines describes some of the current challenges facing civil society in his country. 

 

To read the full interview, visit: http://www.civicus.org/csw/FRONT_PAGE-Philippines.htm

 

WORLD ASSEMBLY 2006

 

CIVIL SOCIETY BEHIND BARS: World Assembly to highlight imprisoned activists

 

This World Assembly, to be held 21-25 June 2006 in Glasgow, will be a valuable venue for advocating on behalf of civil society activists detained around the world. From a labour unionist in China to a founder of a national umbrella organisation in Cuba, World Assembly participants will hear the courageous stories of peaceful activists who have risked their freedom, and even lives, to advocate for justice in their countries.

 

For more information, visit: http://www.civicus.org/csw/CIVICUS_WA-Civil_society_behind_bars.htm

WORKSHOPS: CSW to host six special presentations

During the World Assembly, the CIVICUS programme Civil Society Watch will host six workshops. These interactive sessions will raise awareness and look at strategies for fighting violations of civil society rights in Belarus, Cuba, Eritrea, Russia and Zimbabwe.

 

For more information, visit: http://www.civicus.org/csw/CSW_workshops.htm

 

CIVICUS ALERTS!

 

ETHIOPIA: Release Civil Society Activists in Prison

 

28 May 2006 - Ethiopia celebrates National Day today, marking the 15th anniversary of freedom from military dictatorship. While saluting Ethiopia for the gains it has made, CIVICUS joins seven organisations and individuals from 10 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe in reminding the government of the commitments it made to foster democracy, freedom, development and human rights 15 years ago.

 

To read the full alert, visit: http://www.civicus.org/csw/ETHIOPIA_FINAL_appeal_national_day.htm

ANALYSIS

 

CIVICUS: The UN Human Rights Council

 

Like a mythical phoenix, the United Nations Human Rights Commission has witnessed a rebirth in the name of United Nations Human Rights Council after its demise due to defective operational frameworks. Does this rebirth signal a new dawn for human rights protection? Or, do the results of recent Council elections demonstrate the proverb; the more things change the more they remain the same? In addition, what role can civil society play for the Council to be successful?

 

To read the full article, visit: http://www.civicus.org/csw/ANALYSIS-HR_Council.htm

 

ZIMBABWE: At war with human rights

Otto Saki, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

 

Otto Saki, a courageous Zimbabwean lawyer, was awarded the Reebok Human Rights Award along with three other activists during a ceremony in New York City on 17 May 2006. CIVICUS and Conectas had co-nominated him for the award because of his tireless commitment to human rights and passion for positive change in Zimbabwe. 

 

To read Otto Saki's speech, visit: http://www.civicus.org/csw/ANALYSIS-Human_Rights_Award.htm

 

GOOD NEWS

 

NEPAL: Government quashes repressive media law

24 May - Reporters Without Borders has welcomed a Supreme Court ruling on 18 May 2006 suppressing article 8 of the 1992 National Broadcasting Act and article 15 (1) of the 1991 Publications and Newspapers Act as incompatible with a constitutional provision guaranteeing press freedom. The first article reportedly gave the government the right to cancel the licences of radio and TV stations that broadcast news. The second allowed the government to restrict or censor coverage of sensitive issues.

http://www.rsf.org

 

KUWAIT: Law restricting public gatherings declared unconstitutional

1 May - Kuwait's Constitutional Court revoked 15 clauses of the Public Gatherings Law No. 65 of 1979, which restricted public gatherings without prior permission from the authorities, reports the Arab Times. The court ruled the law unconstitutional because it contradicted item No. 44 of the Constitution. The abolition of the law means that Kuwaitis now need only to notify authorities of a public meeting or march, but no longer require a prior permit.

http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/kuwait/view.asp?msgID=7826

 

CSW COUNTRY UPDATES

 

AZERBAIJAN: Journalist's beating has civil society on alert

6 June - The recent beating of an opposition journalist in Azerbaijan has dealt a severe blow to President Ilham Aliyev’s efforts to improve the country’s human rights image, reports EurasiaNet. Bahaddin Haziyev, editor-in-chief of the Bizim Yol newspaper, was abducted on May 19 as he was driving. Haziyev reportedly told journalists that his abductors expressed displeasure over newspaper articles that were supposedly critical of First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, even though the editor insisted “we wrote nothing insulting about her.”

http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav060506.shtml

 

BAHRAIN: Law restricts freedom of assembly

8 June - The Bahraini government’s draft legislation on public meetings and demonstrations undermines the right of peaceful assembly, Human Rights Watch said in a letter urging Bahrain’s king not sign the bill into law. The elected 40-member Council of Deputies (Majlis al-Nawwab) has approved it, and the appointed 40-member Consultative Council (Majlis al-Shura) is expected to do so soon. The bill requires approval of the king to become law.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/06/08/bahrai13529.htm

 

BELARUS: Partnership activists in jail for over 100 days

31 May - The friends and family of Tsimafei Dranchuk, an election observer with the NGO Partnerstva (Partnership) appealed for his release on 31 May, 100 days after his arrest, reports Charter 97. Dranchuk was reportedly arrested along with other observers - Enira Branitskaya, Mikalay Astrejka and Alyaksandr Shalajka - and placed in a pre-trial detention centre of the KGB. They were charged with violation of Article 193 Part 2 of the Criminal Code (participation in an unregistered organisation, infringing upon rights of citizens). Their trial is due to take place in July.

http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2006/05/31/akrivist

 

CAMEROON: Government bans press conference

15 May - The government banned a press conference organised by the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon in Yaounde May 12, reports All Africa. The press conference was reportedly aimed at launching a report on the conduct of the 2004 Presidential elections and proposals on the amendment of electoral law. Some speculations put such a move on claims that government might have lost its temper on fact that the Episcopal Conference chose to launch their report on the same day as the National Election Observatory

http://allafrica.com/stories/200605151017.html

 

CHILE: Police tear gas, arrest student protesters

31 May - Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of secondary school students in Santiago who are pressing for education reforms, reports the BBC. More than 600 students were reportedly arrested in the capital, Santiago, and hundreds of schools were closed across Chile as some 500,000 pupils staged a strike. Their demands allegedly include a new curriculum, free bus fares and no exam fees.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5032012.stm

 

COLOMBIA: Civil society threatened ahead of elections

26 May - Civil society observers faced threats ahead of the 28 May Presidential Elections, reports Spero News. For the first time in Colombian history the law authorised civil society to monitor the electoral process. CODHES (Consultoría para los derechos humanos y el desplazamiento) along with other independent organisations, set up a network of observers. A group of paramilitaries known as Colombia Libre is reportedly suspected to be responsible for the threats.

http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=135&id=3736

 

COSTA RICA: Union office attacked

1 May - Serious threats were made against Costa Rican trade union representatives from the Confederación de Trabajadores Rerum Novarum (CTRN) when their office was attacked in on 24 May, reports the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Five CTRN representatives were held at gunpoint by assailants who burst into their offices in the morning of the 24th.

http://www.icftu.org/www/PDF/CTRN30mayo2006.pdf

 

EGYPT: Police severely beat pro-democracy activists

31 May - President Hosni Mubarak should immediately order an independent judicial investigation into last Thursday's severe beatings by security agents of political activists Karim al-Sha'ir and Mohamed al-Sharqawi, Human Rights Watch said. On May 25, agents of the State Security Investigations (SSI) bureau of the Interior Ministry arrested al-Sha'ir and al-Sharqawi as they were leaving a peaceful demonstration in downtown Cairo. Both men said they were beaten in custody.

www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/05/31/egypt13482.htm

 

IRAN: Women's rights protest violently dispersed

13 June - Iranian police violently dispersed a women's rights gathering in one of Tehran's main squares on June 12, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. More than people were reportedly detained shortly after the gathering started. One former reformist legislator, several students, and women's rights activists are reportedly among the detainees. Several activists were reportedly arrested and summoned to court ahead of the announced gathering. Activists say several hundred demonstrators of both genders attended the peaceful gathering, which was held to protest legal obstacles for women.

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/06/b80b8cee-f7b7-44f3-8822-84c508c1e24e.html

 

KAZAKHSTAN: Amendments used against unregistered religious activity

1 June - Two Protestants in western Kazakhstan are facing prosecution for belonging to an unregistered religious community, which has tried to register five times in five years, reports Forum 18. This is reportedly the latest instance in which new "national security" amendments to the Administrative Code have been used against unregistered religious activity.

http://www.forum18.org/

 

MOLDOVA: Gay rights demonstration banned

20 May - Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the mayor of Chisinau to affirm human rights by overturning his ban on a lesbian and gay-rights demonstration. HRW called on the mayor and on the Moldovan government to ensure that peaceful demonstrations proceed without interference, and approve legislation outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/05/19/moldov13432.htm

 

RUSSIA: Gay pride march attacked

2 June - Russian authorities should launch a full investigation into the violent attacks on peaceful gay pride activists in Moscow on May 27 and prosecute those responsible, urges Human Rights Watch (HRW). The investigation must also encompass the police response to the attacks. HRW called on the authorities to drop charges against participants in pride events for taking part in “an unsanctioned demonstration.”

http://hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/russia0606/index.htm

 

SRI LANKA: Humanitarian aid workers attacked

22 May - A senior United Nations officer in Sri Lanka has reportedly called on the government and rebels fighting in the north and east of the country to ensure the safety of all humanitarian aid organisations there following grenade attacks on three NGOs and the shooting dearth of a Norwegian aid worker, reports the UN News Service.

http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=446d98ff4

 

SUDAN: Ban on refugee organisation lifted

5 June - The international humanitarian organisation Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has resumed its relief operations in the troubled western Sudanese region of Darfur, following the lifting of a ban on its work, reports IRIN News. The NRC was forced to suspend its work in the region after being evicted on 5 April.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53703

 

SYRIA: Imprisoned activists call for hunger strike

6 June - Over a dozen of the country's highest-profile imprisoned activists – including ten people arrested in the past three weeks following a public appeal to Syria to improve relations with Lebanon – are to call a hunger strike, reports IRIN News.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53751

 

TURKEY: Anti-terror law used against protesters

7 June - Three Kurdish activists are on trial under anti-terrorism charges after they attempted to stage a peaceful protest near the Iraq border, Human Rights Watch reports. The men are being charged under the Anti-Terror Law for “making propaganda for the PKK” (the Turkish acronym for the Kurdish Workers’ Party, a prominent illegal armed opposition group).

www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/06/07/turkey13521.htm

 

UZBEKISTAN: Another NGO forced to close

9 June - A court in Tashkent ordered the closure of US-based Global Involvement through Education on 8 June, because of its activities related to Protestant missionary work, reports IRIN News. The court reportedly said the NGO was attempting to convert students at local colleges from the traditional faiths of the country (Islam and Orthodox Christianity) to Protestantism, under the guise of English language courses.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53832&SelectRegion=Asia

 

ZIMBABWE: Communications bill to legalise state spying

30 May - In a Government Gazette released on 26 May 2006, the government has "gazetted" [made public] its proposed Interception of Communications Bill, 2006, reports the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). The bill, if passed by parliament, will make it legal for state agencies to spy upon and intercept telephone conversations, postal items and e-mail messages of private citizens. MISA appealed to the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights during it's 39th Ordinary Session in late May to urge the Zimbabwe government not to pass the bill.

http://www.misa.org/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?category=4&id=1149089810

RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS

 

MARTUS: Software facilitates human rights reporting

Martus is a software tool that allows users to document incidents of abuse by creating bulletins, uploading them at the earliest opportunity, and storing them on redundant servers located around the world. Using built in encryption to safeguard data, the Martus system allows activists to easily create text-based bulletins about violations of human rights with both confidential and publicly accessible sections.

 

The Martus software is available free at http://www.martus.org

 

IHF: Annual Report 2006 released

The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights has released their annual report Human Rights in the OSCE Region: Europe, Central Asia and North America, Report 2006.The report covers major human rights events in 39 countries in Europe, Central Asia and North America during 2005. The report addresses issues such as: What were the outcomes of the 2004-2005 “coloured revolutions” in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan from a human rights perspective and how did they affect developments in the former USSR? How effective an incentive has possible future EU membership been in bringing about genuine improvements in the Balkans and Turkey? What effects have anti-terrorism measures had on fundamental human rights in established democracies?

 

The report is available at http://www.ihf-hr.org/documents/doc_summary.php?sec_id=3&d_id=4255

 

Amnesty International: State of the World's Human Rights

Amnesty International (AI) released its Annual Report 2006 on 3 May, documenting human rights abuses in 150 countries during 2005. In releasing the report, AI's Secretary General Irene Khan, said "Governments collectively and individually paralysed international institutions and squandered public resources in pursuit of narrow security interests, sacrificed principles in the name of the "war on terror" and turned a blind eye to massive human rights violations. As a result, the world has paid a heavy price, in terms of erosion of fundamental principles and in the enormous damage done to the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people."

 

View the the report at http://web.amnesty.org/report2006/index-eng

 

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.

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CIVICUS House, 24 Gwigwi Mrwebi Street (formerly Pim), 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

www.civilsocietywatch.org

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.