Ruling by Ethiopia’s Supreme Court in Eskinder Nega Case Another Missed Opportunity

May 3, 2013
Today, Freedom Now, Amnesty International, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, the Committee to Free Eskinder Nega, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, English PEN, the International Press Institute, the International Women’s Media Foundation, Media Legal Defence Initiative, the National Press Club, PEN American Center, PEN Canada, and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, condemned the decision by the Ethiopian Supreme Court upholding the 18-year sentence imposed against independent journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega. “By upholding the sentence, the Ethiopian government has missed yet another opportunity to respect its freely undertaken obligations under international law,” the groups said. “This failure is particularly striking in light of today’s World Press Freedom Day celebrations.”

“By misusing anti-terror legislation to stifle the peaceful work of journalists like Mr. Nega and his colleagues Reeyot Alemu and Woubshet Taye, the government has, unfortunately, demonstrated that it is willing to disregard the legitimate rights of the Ethiopian people and undermine the credibility of international efforts to address real security threats in the region, all in an attempt to silence critical voices in the country. It is time for the international community to make it clear to the government in Addis Ababa that such violations will no longer be tolerated.”

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Global development efforts undermined by rising threat to civil society

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International development efforts are being undermined by the rising tide of legal restrictions, funding cuts and violence faced by civil society around the world, according to a new report from CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance.

The new report - The State of Civil Society 2013 - catalogues the experiences of activists and non-governmental organisations across the world. It concludes that the optimism within civil society of 2012 has evaporated.

The report argues that new post-2015 international development goals should include an aim of improving the 'enabling environment' for civil society, so that other goals of poverty reduction, conflict prevention and inequality are not undermined.

The report, which draws on around 50 expert contributions from around the world, also shows that while civil society is increasingly using social media to mobilise citizen action and scrutinise governments, restrictions on websites and social media are increasingly being used as tools to keep citizens in the dark. The report shows that around a third of all internet users globally have experienced some kind of national-level restriction on their freedom to communicate, with over 45 states, most notably China, having imposed restrictions of some kind.

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Maldives: Stop the harassment of NGOs

Global civil society alliance, CIVICUS, the Voice of Women and the Maldives NGO Federation to urge the Government of Maldives to put in place measures to ensure free and fair elections later this year. CIVICUS also joins Maldivian civil society in opposing the unprecedented pronouncement by Maldives Minister of State for Home Affairs (Registrar of NGOs), Abdulla Mohamed, to dissolve nearly 70 percent of the country's NGOs. The decision represents yet another setback for independent dissent and democratic freedoms in the run-up to presidential elections in the country scheduled for September 2013.

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Global Civil Society Alliance condemns growing authoritarianism in Azerbaijan

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Global civil society alliance, CIVICUS and the Azerbaijan-based Center for National and International Studies (CNIS) are concerned about the increasingly hostile climate for civic activists in Azerbaijan as the October 2013 presidential elections approach. Since Azerbaijan is due to undergo its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council on 30 April 2013, the two organisations urge democratic governments to focus attention on the continuing government crackdown on the freedoms of expression, association and assembly.  

The following are some recent restrictions on civil society space and democratic freedoms in Azerbaijan.

• On 8 March 2013, three members of the non-violent pro-democracy movement NIDA were arrested by the police on charges of possession of illegal narcotics and explosives and inciting violence and civil disobedience. The arrests were carried out in advance of an upcoming protest on 10 March 2013 where the law enforcement agencies used excessive violence against protestors. The three activists, Bakhtiyar Guliyev, Shahin Novruzlu, and Mahamad Azizov have been ordered to serve three months pre-trial detention. In their joint UPR submission CIVICUS and CNIS have highlighted that a routine tactic used by law enforcement agencies against government critics is to charge them with drug related and security offences.  On 29 September 2012, Zaur Gurbanli, a NIDA member active in the ‘Sing for Democracy Campaign,’ launched in the run up Azerbaijan’s hosting of the Eurovision 2012 contest was also detained and charged with “possession of illegal documents.”

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Global civil society alliance celebrates adoption of UN resolution on protecting human rights defenders

Johannesburg, 27 March 2013. Global civil society alliance, CIVICUS welcomes the landmark adoption of UN Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/22/L.13, “Protecting Human Rights Defenders”, as a vital step in creating a safe and enabling environment in which human rights defenders and civil society organizations (CSOs) can operate free from unwarranted restrictions.

The resolution, spearheaded by the government of Norway, was adopted at the 22nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on 21 March 2013 with broad cross-regional support from 70 UN Member States. CIVICUS highlights the following provisions of the resolution codifying a number of essential protections for human rights defenders:

• The Council has called on UN Member States to guarantee that national regulations and legislation affecting human rights defenders are clearly defined, non-retroactive and consistent with international human rights law. To this end, the Council urges UN member states to immediately amend national anti-terrorism legislation to protect against the criminalisation or stigmatisation of human rights defenders including the use of arbitrary detention and detention without due process guarantees.
  

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CIVICUS urges BRICS to show leadership on Syria, corporate accountability and civil society

Johannesburg. 25 March 2013. Global civil society alliance, CIVICUS, urges the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) to focus attention on the humanitarian crisis in Syria, corporate accountability and creating an enabling environment for civil society when they meet in Durban for the Fifth BRICS Summit from 26-27 March 2013.

The BRICS mechanism claims to “achieve peace, security, development and cooperation” and contribute significantly to “the development of humanity and establish a more equitable and fair world.” With the agenda of the BRICS meetings widening considerably to encompass various global issues and political developments,

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Global body speaks out against suppression of Ethiopian media and Civil Society

The Ethiopian government's recent decision to prosecute several independent journalists and forcibly dissolve three civil society groups represents yet another blow to democratic freedoms under Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, says global civil society alliance, CIVICUS.

CIVICUS calls attention to the following instances of unwarranted restrictions on freedoms of expression and association in Ethiopia:

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Civil Society: Put human rights at the centre of the post 2015 agenda

Civil Society groups strongly urged decision makers to tackle the global democratic deficit, rising inequality and abuses by transnational corporations at the recently concluded global thematic consultation on governance and the post 2015 development agenda in Johannesburg.

The consultation, organised by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Development Programme from 28 February–1 March, brought together 170 participants representing civil society, academia, international organisations, grassroots movements, indigenous groups and the private sector.

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