February 22, 2021
Re: Coalition of 22 Organizations Calls for New UN Human Rights Council Resolution to Protect Human Rights, Justice, and Accountability in Sri Lanka
To the Member States of the Human Rights Council:
We, the undersigned organizations, urge the Member States of the Human Rights Council to pass a strong resolution at the upcoming 46th Session, affirming an international commitment to protect human rights and justice in Sri Lanka, with a particular focus on victims. The deteriorating human rights and accountability context in Sri Lanka is documented in detail in the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ damning January 2021 report[1] as well as a joint assessment released by ten UN Special Procedures mandates earlier this month.[2] The High Commissioner highlighted that “nearly 12 years on from the end of the war, domestic initiatives for accountability and reconciliation have repeatedly failed to produce results.”[3] Just as concerning, the High Commissioner str
Kazakhstan: Withdrawal of charges against KIBHR and ILI Foundation
22/02/2021
Withdrawal of charges
February 22, 2021
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your intervention in the following situation in Kazakhstan. New information:
The Observatory has been informed about the withdrawal of the charges against the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR) and the International Legal Initiative (ILI Foundation), two FIDH member organisations working in Kazakhstan, which were prosecuted for alleged violations of financial reporting procedures.
On February 4, 2021, the representatives of the KIBHR, the ILI Foundation as well as four other NGOs [1] announced that all charges brought against them by the district office of the Almaty City Department of the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the R
19 February 2021
On 3 March, KISA, a leading non-governmental organisation fighting for equality in Cyprus, will have a hearing that has implications for their very survival.
In December 2020, the Cypriot Minister of Interior abruptly removed KISA, and many other civil society organisations, from the Register of Associations. He did so using his new, self-attributed powers[1] to start a dissolution process for NGOs if certain regulatory requirements were not met within a two-month notice period. In KISA’s case, they informed the authorities of a delay in organising their general assembly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite KISA indicating that all formal requirements would be met within a short time period, and appealing against the Minister’s decision, they were nonetheless deleted from the Register of Associations.
Egypt: Escalating Reprisals, Arrests of Critics’ Families
Format
End Hostage-Like Arrests
(Beirut) The Egyptian authorities targeting of families in Egypt of activists and human rights defenders living abroad has been escalating, demonstrating a clear pattern of intimidation and harassment, 22 Egyptian, regional, and international organizations said today. Since August 2020, the authorities have targeted the families of four critics who live in the United States, as well as one in Turkey, one in Germany, and one in the United Kingdom.
These cases are among dozens reported in recent years. The authorities try to intimidate critics with unlawful home raids, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and prolonged detention of family members without trial or charges.
Ahmed Samir
Santawy, a master’s student in Sociology and Social Anthropology at the Central European University (CEU) of Austria, in Vienna, whose academic work focuses on women’s rights in Egypt, particularly on the history of reproductive rights. His main concern is the protection of women’s reproductive rights and their access to legal and safe treatments in order to preserve their lives.
On December 15, 2020, Ahmed Samir Santawy was briefly interrogated[1] at Sharm Elsheikh International Airport in Cairo upon his arrival to Egypt on a study holiday to visit his family, before being allowed to leave the airport.
On January 23, 2021, at 2:00 am, heavily armed and masked officials from the Central Security Forces broke into Ahmed Samir Santawy’s house in Cairo, conducted a search without presenting any warrant, and seized CCTV video footage.