United Nations Special Rapporteurs and national governments
Re:
Your Excellencies,
We the undersigned, representing civil society organisations from around the world, write to bring to your urgent attention the continued detention of human rights defender Abdul-Hadi Abdulla Hubail al-Khawaja. As you may be aware, al-Khawaja, who is a dual Bahraini-Danish citizen, is currently serving a life sentence for his peaceful human rights activities. As he marks his 10th
year in prison and commemorates his 60th birthday on 5 April 2021, we urge the United Nations through its Secretary General, governments around the world and representatives of the diplomatic community to urgently call on Bahraini authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally.
April 9, 2021
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, has received new information and requests your intervention in the following situation in
Azerbaijan.
New information:
The Observatory has been informed about the ongoing arbitrary detention and deteriorating health conditions of Mr.
Elchin Mammad, human rights lawyer, President of the Social Union of Legal Education of Sumgait Youth (SULESY), an NGO providing free legal assistance to low income families and non-profits, as well as the Editor-in-chief of the newspaper
Yukselish Namine, which publishes articles on human rights concerns in the country.
Aleh Hrableuski. The director of the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Siarhei Drazdouski remains under house arrest, while the lawyer of ‘Viasna’ HRC
Dzmitry Salauyou is under a restriction order.
The Observatory urges the Belarusian authorities to put an end to any acts of harassment against human rights defenders, local human rights organisations, public associations and their members, and to immediately and unconditionally release the above-mentioned human rights defenders.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of Belarus to urge them to:
Guarantee in all circumstances the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Natallia Trenina, Tatsiana Hatsura-Yavorskaya, Yuliya Semenchanka, Hanna Sakalouskaya, Volha Shapakouskaya, Enira Branitskaya, and all other human rights defenders in Belarus;
Belarus: Judicial harassment of six human rights defenders
09/04/2021
Judicial harassment /
Arbitrary detention
April 9, 2021
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Belarus. Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed about the judicial harassment against
Enira Branitskaya, lawyer and human rights expert, having cooperated with Human Constanta [1], as well as of the arbitrary detention of
Natallia Trenina,
Hanna Sakalouskaya, and the arbitrary detention and subsequent release of
Volha Shapakouskaya, five members of the Belarusian public association ‘Zvyano’ (“Chain” in English) [2] , amid the ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders and organisations in Belarus.
A Bahraini girl holds up a placard with a portrait of jailed human rights activist Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja, that reads in Arabic “Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, will and determination, hunger strike”, during an anti-government protest in the village of Jannusan, 5 September 2014, MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH/AFP via Getty Images IFEX joins civil society organisations from around the world in urging the UN, governments, and the diplomatic community to urgently call on Bahraini authorities to release human rights defender Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja.
To: United Nations Secretary General and diplomatic Missions
United Nations Special Rapporteurs/Targeted Governments
Re: Urgent call to release Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja on his 60
th birthday and 10