Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Human Rights Update April 13-20


Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012




HE WHO PERMITS OPPRESSION PERMITS CRIMES.-Erasmus (1466-1536)

Holbein-erasmus.jpg
Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 as depicted by Hans Holbein the Younger. The Greek and Latin words on the book translate to "The Herculean Labors of Erasmus of Rotterdam".

 

EMBASSY FINDER 

Survival International provides a useful tool for locating the embassy of any country in your country. http://embassy.goabroad.com/ You can also find embassies at https://embassy-finder.com/

CHARITY CORNER

This week we refer you to the Ecuador Earthquake Relief Fund by GlobalGiving. A 7.8 earthquake has caused significant damage along the central coast of Ecuador. More than 350 people were killed and thousands have been displaced as numerous homes, buildings, and roads were damaged or destroyed. 
 Ecuador Earthquake Relief Fund
Survivors need access to emergency supplies like food, water, and medicine in addition to longer-term recovery assistance. All donations to this fund will exclusively support locally driven relief and recovery efforts from this disaster.  It has a high rating with Charity Watch. Please pitch in for these heavily afflicted people. You may also check out a list of active early responders provided by Huffington Post.

Good News!

MYANMAR


Prominent student unionist Kyaw Ko Ko was released from prison on 8 April after courts in Myanmar dropped charges against scores of student protesters. Thank you to all those who sent appeals. No further action is requested from the UA network.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Survival International provides a long list of cases in which a letter from you can and will make a difference. Please open this link and write at least one letter. This link will be a permanent feature on our blog and we would be grateful if you gave it a bit of attention each week. We suggest going down the list in the order given. The letters are pre-written for you. All you need to do is send them. It would be nice also if a donation to Survival International could be forthcoming. This week we call your attention to the Enxet people of Paraguay. The Enxet were once self-sufficient hunter-gatherers, but most now live as exploited labourers on the vast cattle ranches which have engulfed their lands. Nearly all provide for themselves at least partly by hunting and gathering, especially of capybaras (the world’s largest rodent), deer, iguanas and wild honey; and some still manage to live entirely off hunting and gathering and growing a few vegetables. Please act as best you can to help them get their land back. If you live in the USA or UK write to you Congressperson or MP. Otherwise, write to your local Paraguay embassy.

THE STRUGGLE AGAINST SLAVERY 


We have added a new section to the blog in order to join the struggle against slavery worldwide. This week we refer you to the site of the CNN Freedom Project  where you can find a large number of campaigns against manifestations of slavery in different countries. The number of people living in slavery is of the order of 35 million, which indicates the extent of the problem. We suggest that you look up the Fair Trade movement in your country and make an effort to avoid buying slave-produced products.   Look for these logos:
 


 









This week we refer you to the struggle against child slavery. For children around the world, war, violence and disaster are part of everyday life. With their schools being attacked and destroyed, many are unable to seek education and are left at risk of exploitation, trafficking and being forced into armed conflict. Please join the call to world leaders to take steps to protect these vulnerable children. Check out #UpForSchool

WORLDWIDE THUNDERCLAP 

There is a safety crisis in the mining industry. 
 Ratify ILO C176 on Mine Safety
But a solution exists: ILO Convention 176 on Safety and Health on Mines.
This safety convention works by:

  •     Getting countries to create a legal and inspection framework for mine safety
  •     Requiring companies to create a safe working environment
  •     Giving workers the right to independent safety representatives, and to refuse unsafe work

But ILO C176 has only been ratified by 31 countries - and many countries with the worst safety record have not signed up.

28 April is International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers.

On this day, mourn the dead, but fight for the living: tell your government to make mining safer by ratifying ILO Convention 176.

PERU 

According to news sources, every August during la Fiesta de la Virgen de la Asunción in the village of Chalhuani, which is located in the Apurímac region of central Peru, villagers strap a local dog who they believe has "misbehaved" to the back of a bull. The bull is then released into a bullfighting ring, where both animals are killed in a bullfight. Not only would such a sadistic "tradition" arguably violate Peru's animal welfare laws, it also is a stain on the country's beauty and international reputation. Please urge Peruvian officials to intervene, then forward this alert far and wide!


RUSSIAN FEDERATION  

Librarian Natalya Sharina has been under house arrest since 30 October 2015 for the library holding “extremist literature”. She was charged with a new offence on 5 April which makes it possible to extend her period of house arrest for up to a year. She is a prisoner of conscience. Please call for her immediate and unconditional release.

LIBERIA 

Public Service International (PSI) calls on all its affiliates to support the reinstatement of of two union leaders dismissed in February 2014 with 22 other workers, following a nationwide strike in protest of working conditions and the lack of protective equipment and medication. Although twenty were later reinstated, NAHWAL President, Joseph S. Tamba and Secretary General George Poe Williams have not yet been reinstated. Health workers in Liberia risked their lives against Ebola, now they need your support.

SWEDEN 

Swedish foodworkers fighting Findus factory closure by asset strippers Nomad Foods


The Swedish Food Workers Union (Livs) is fighting plans to shut down the Findus frozen food factory in Bjuv, which would throw 450 workers out of a job and devastate the many hundreds of farmers who supply the plant. Please join the protest. Unfortunately this is a too common practice, especially in the US where the economy is a true jungle.

 

 

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Human Rights Action Update April 6-13

HE WHO PERMITS OPPRESSION PERMITS CRIMES.-Erasmus (1466-1536)

Holbein-erasmus.jpg
Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 as depicted by Hans Holbein the Younger. The Greek and Latin words on the book translate to "The Herculean Labors of Erasmus of Rotterdam".

 

EMBASSY FINDER 

Survival International provides a useful tool for locating the embassy of any country in your country. http://embassy.goabroad.com/ You can also find embassies at https://embassy-finder.com/

CHARITY CORNER  

This week we refer you to the One Acre Fund
 
Stated Mission
"To empower chronically hungry farm families in East Africa to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty; method is to work through self-help groups in rural villages to deliberately reach the most severely hunger-affected." It has a high rating with Charity Watch. Please pitch in for these hungry people.


Good News!

MYANMAR


The new Myanmar government led by Aung San Suu Kyi has released nearly 200 political prisoners, and is expected to free others after the Buddhist New Year holidays that start this week. 




Cheers we say!


INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Survival International provides a long list of cases in which a letter from you can and will make a difference. Please open this link and write at least one letter. This link will be a permanent feature on our blog and we would be grateful if you gave it a bit of attention each week. We suggest going down the list in the order given. The letters are pre-written for you. All you need to do is send them. It would be nice also if a donation to Survival International could be forthcoming.  
This week we call your attention to forced evictions of tribal people in India from their land in the name of tiger conservation.The big conservation organizations are guilty of supporting this. They never speak out against evictions. But many Indian tribes actually revere the tiger, and have lived peacefully alongside them for generations. There is no evidence that evictions protect tigers; in fact they’re more likely to harm them by alienating local people from conservation efforts. 
Baiga are barred from returning to their home after brutal evictions 

Tribal peoples are the best conservationists and guardians of the natural world. They should be at the forefront of tiger conservation, but instead, they are being excluded. There is even evidence of more tigers living in areas where the people have not been thrown out.

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said: “We hope that this film helps bring some attention to the suffering currently being inflicted on tribal people across India in the name of tiger conservation. When India’s tiger population crashed in the last century it had nothing to do with tribes. It happened thanks to rapid industrialization and the wholesale slaughter carried out by colonial hunters and Indian elites. Yet all over India, tribes are paying the price for this: They’re kicked off their ancestral land to be replaced by tourists in their thousands.”
Please put this story out on all your social media. The new Jungle Book film is being released now and we hope people will pay some attention and the Indian government will relent.



THE STRUGGLE AGAINST SLAVERY 

We have added a new section to the blog in order to join the struggle against slavery worldwide. This week we refer you to the site of the CNN Freedom Project  where you can find a large number of campaigns against manifestations of slavery in different countries. The number of people living in slavery is of the order of 35 million, which indicates the extent of the problem. We suggest that you look up the Fair Trade movement in your country and make an effort to avoid buying slave-produced products.   Look for these logos:
 


 








This week we refer you to The International Labor Organization's 2011 Convention concerning decent work for domestic workers (Convention No. 189) was adopted in June 2011 to protect the rights of domestic workers across the world.

Countries ratifying the Convention agree to ensure fair and decent conditions for domestic workers by protecting their fundamental labor rights, preventing abuse and violence and establishing safeguards for young domestic workers.

Only a few countries have ratified the Convention, the UK being one of those refusing to do so (check here which countries completed the ratification procedure). That is why we ask you to put pressure on any government of your choice to ratify it and make the protection of domestic workers a reality. Please call upon your government to ratify the Convention. Think of Cyprian below-
Cyprian, 17, from Tanzania, has been a domestic worker since he was eleven.
Read Cyprian's story
©Anti-Slavery International

Cyprian, former child domestic worker, Tanzania 



RUSSIAN FEDERATION 

Khusein Betelgeriev, a well-known songwriter and performer from Chechnya, Russian Federation, was taken away by two uniformed men from his home in Grozny on 31 March. He has been missing since and his life may be at risk. Please demand information on his whereabouts and fate.

COLOMBIA 

Free academic and unionist Miguel Ángel Beltrán who has been unjustly sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment in a high security prison in Bogota. Dr Beltrán was recently on a hunger strike to demand a fair review of his case, and the improvement of detention conditions for all prisoners in general. Dr Beltrán is an outspoken critic of the Colombian government and has dedicated much of his research to conflict and turmoil within the country. Colombia has one of the highest rates of violence against teachers and trade unionists. Please protest on his behalf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 MEXICO 

Public officials in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua have intimidated relatives of disappeared people and are pressuring them to allow government-chosen forensic experts to examine human remains found in the area. If carried out, these tests will make subsequent independent testing impossible. The authorities must guarantee the safety of victims and adequate protection of all forensic evidence.  Please call for justice in these cases.   
 

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Human Rights Action Update March 31-April 6

HE WHO PERMITS OPPRESSION PERMITS CRIMES.-Erasmus (1466-1536)

Holbein-erasmus.jpg
Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 as depicted by Hans Holbein the Younger. The Greek and Latin words on the book translate to "The Herculean Labors of Erasmus of Rotterdam".

 

EMBASSY FINDER 

Survival International provides a useful tool for locating the embassy of any country in your country. http://embassy.goabroad.com/ You can also find embassies at https://embassy-finder.com/

CHARITY CORNER   

This week we will be parochial rather than universalist. The Passover/Pesach holiday is approaching and MOT's and their friends will be sitting down to Seder tables groaning under the weight of the delicacies on them. There is a tradition of charity called Kamcha d'Pascha  (קמחא דפסחא) or flour of Passover designed to enable the poorest amongst us to share the joy of freedom from slavery.  In Israel you can donate via the Reform Movement or just phone 1-700-50-19-19. Elsewhere, contact your local synagogue and they will be glad to help you do the right thing for the holiday.

Good News!

INDONESIA: Prisoner Granted Medical Care (UA 289/15).  

Malukan prisoner of conscience, Johan Teterissa, was granted medical treatment by prison authorities for a condition affecting both his legs and hindering his movement. Many thanks to those who sent appeals. No further action is requested of the UA network.

MYANMAR

Kachin peace activist Patrick Kum Jaa Lee has been released on 1 April after serving his 6 months sentence. He was imprisoned for a Facebook post mocking the Myanmar army. Many thanks to those who sent appeals. No further action is requested of the UA network.

HONDURAS


Mexican human rights defender Gustavo Castro Soto, sole witness to the murder of Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres, has returned to Mexico. Honduran authorities had previously ordered him to remain in the country until 6 April.  Many thanks to those who sent appeals. No further action is requested of the UA network.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Survival International provides a long list of cases in which a letter from you can and will make a difference. Please open this link and write at least one letter. This link will be a permanent feature on our blog and we would be grateful if you gave it a bit of attention each week. We suggest going down the list in the order given. The letters are pre-written for you. All you need to do is send them. It would be nice also if a donation to Survival International could be forthcoming.  
This week we call your attention to the struggle for survival of the Kawahiva, an uncontacted tribe in Brazil. In the Brazilian Amazon, the uncontacted Kawahiva Indians teeter on the brink of extinction. For years Survival has been pressing for their land to be recognized, but now loggers are invading.

The tribe is forced to live on the run, fleeing violence from outsiders. Attacks and disease have killed their relatives. Please call upon the Brazilian government to demarcate and protect their land and forest habitat.
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THE STRUGGLE AGAINST SLAVERY 

We have added a new section to the blog in order to join the struggle against slavery worldwide. This week we refer you to the site of the CNN Freedom Project  where you can find a large number of campaigns against manifestations of slavery in different countries. The number of people living in slavery is of the order of 35 million, which indicates the extent of the problem. We suggest that you look up the Fair Trade movement in your country and make an effort to avoid buying slave-produced products.   Look for these logos:
 

 







This week we refer you to ECPAT, a global network dedicated to protecting children. They coordinate research, advocacy and action to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Read their message and find a way to help them, if only by putting out the word on your social media.
 

UKRAINE 

Last week we called for a search for missing Ukrainian lawyer, Yuri Grabovski. His body  was discovered on 25 March in a shallow grave in woods, about 100 km outside of Kyiv. The authorities must guarantee the safety of his colleague, Oksana Sokolovskaya, and the new lawyer who has replaced Yuri Grabovski, and ensure that they can defend their clients without any hindrance. Please call for a thorough investigation of the murder and protection for the surviving lawyers.

ANGOLA

Release 17 Youth Activists. 

Seventeen Angolan youth activists have been sentenced to jail terms of between 2 years and 8 years six months. They are all in prison, except for Nuno Dala who is on hunger strike and in hospital. Please call for their release.

USA Execution--thanks to Guy for calling our attention. 

Ivan Telguz was scheduled to be executed in Virginal on April 13. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has issued a temporary stay of execution for Ivan Teleguz, a Ukrainian national who was convicted of ordering the 2001 murder of his girlfriend, Stephanie Sipe. He was scheduled to be put to death on April 13. Please write to call for a commutation of the death sentence.

ISRAEL

Demand justice for Palestinian circus performer held in Israel

23-year-old Mohammad Faisal Abu Sakha has been held by the Israeli military without any contact with his family since late last year. He hasn’t been charged with a crime and the authorities refuse to give a reason for his detention. Please act for him.  You can also sign an email petition. 31,382 actions  taken. Help us reach 50,000
 

EUROPE

Anyone who can make a European politician listen should join the call against  renewed authorization in the European Union of the toxic herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup and the world's most widely-used herbicide.