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.
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
Lands grabs and other destructive environmental practices in Cambodia test the International Criminal Court
by Katie Surma
Farm workers cut a tree in the Cardamom Mountain rainforest in Cambodia in 2002. Photo: Peter Charlesworth/LightRocket via Getty Images
Five years ago, the ICC’s prosecutor said she would consider environmental crimes. Now, environmentalists and human rights activists want her to deliver.
Three leading climate and human rights nonprofits have asked the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in the Hague to pursue rampant “land grabbing” by the government of Cambodia and its commerce partners as a crime against humanity under the court’s jurisdiction.
Daily Times
April 7, 2021
Once again, the United States Department of State, 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, issued on March 30, 2021 has reproached India on her human rights record
The country report contains graphic documentation of human rights violations being committed by the Indian military and paramilitary forces in Jammu & Kashmir. This is a significant step towards greater international recognition of the serious abuses committed against Kashmiris at the hands of Indian army. This report may take the veil of secrecy off of India’s crimes against humanity.
The country report cites various examples where the authorities intimidate and threaten the media. The report says, “Journalists working in Jammu and Kashmir continued to face barriers to free reporting through communications and movement restrictions. Criminal prosecutions were often used to gag journalists critical of the authorities, including the use of a section of the penal code that includes s