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Urgent Cases

Ethiopia – Charities and Societies Bill threatens the work of human rights defenders

Front Line is deeply concerned about the provisions of the forthcoming Charities and Societies Proclamation (draft law) which according to reports received is scheduled for discussion in the Ethiopian parliament on 24 December 2008. This is the fifth draft of a law to regulate all domestic and international civil society organisations (CSOs) operating in the country. The provisions of the new law would seriously curtail the already-limited work of human rights defenders in Ethiopia and would drastically reduce their ability to criticise or act independently of the government, through the imposition of arbitrary restrictions on their work, complex bureaucratic procedures, severe criminal penalties and escalated government surveillance of their activities.  Read More

Kenya – Arbitrary detention of over 60 civil society activists and journalists

Update

Front Line is concerned by the reported arbitrary detention of over 60 civil society activists and journalists in Kenya who were taking part in a peaceful demonstration on the occasion of Kenya's Jamhuri Day celebrations on 12 December 2008. Activists who arrived outside the Nyayo National stadium in Nairobi wearing t-shirts condemning the failure of MPs to pay taxes were reportedly targeted for detention. The majority of those detained were released without charge.

Mr Mwalimu Mati, Chief Executive of Mars Group Kenya (marsgroupkenya.org), and his wife, Jane Mati, remained in detention for two nights. An investigation against them on the grounds of “incitement to violence” is currently pending. Mars Group Kenya describes itself as a leadership, governance, accountability and media watchdog organization whose "goal is to create awareness and to generate an effective demand, by Kenyans, for accountability from Kenya’s leadership and to encourage Kenyans to hold to account those who have committed improprieties."  Read More

Cameroon - Violent repression and arrests of human rights defenders following a peaceful demonstration by the ACDIC

Front Line is deeply concerned by the arrest of Mr Bernard Njonga, Mr. Isaac Difakoué and two other members of the Association Citoyenne de Défense des Intérêts Collectifs - ACDIC (The Citizens Association for the Defence of Collective Interests) who were amongst nine protesters arrested during a peaceful protest on 10 December 2008 in Yaoundé. Two other ACDIC members, Mr Nono Theophile and Mr Mowha Franklin, were severely beaten by the police during the demonstration. Bernard Njonga is the National President of the ACDIC and Isaac Difakoué is the Vice-President of the same organisation. The ACDIC is a citizen´s movement which defends the rights of citizens in Cameroon.  Read More

Zimbabwe – Abduction of human rights defender, Ms Jestina Mukoko

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports received of the abduction of Ms Jestina Mukoko by Zimbabwean security forces from her home in Norton Harare in the morning of 3 December 2008, at approximately 5:00 am. Jestina Mukoko is the Project Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), an organisation monitoring and documenting violence and human rights abuses across the country through a network of peace observers.  Read More

Cameroon – Charges pending against human rights defender, Mr Mamsour Hamadou

Front Line is concerned following reports of charges of “impersonating a lawyer” and “threats” pending against human rights defender Mamsour Hamadou, following his arrest on 22 November 2008 in Maroua, Far North Province. Mamsour Hamadou is a member of the Mouvement pour la Défense des Droits Humains et des Libertés – MDDHL (Movement for the Defence of Human Rights and Liberties).  Read More

Democratic Republic of Congo - Murder of human rights defender and journalist, Didace Namujimbo

Front Line strongly condemns the murder of human rights defender, Didace Namujimbo. Didace Namujimbo was a journalist with Radio Okapi in Bukavu, the capital of Southern-Kivu Province. Radio Okapi is jointly run by the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) and the Hirondelle Foundation, a Swiss non-governmental organisation (NGO), to promote access to information as part of the peace building efforts in the region.  Read More

Al-Amin Kimathi - Kenya

Al-Amin Kimathi is the Executive Coordinator of the Muslim Human Rights Forum which was set up in 2005 to work on human rights issues relevant to the Muslim community in Kenya. With the escalation of the war in Somalia, the influx of Somali refugees and the clamp down on members of the Muslim community in the name of the “war on terror”, rendition became the key issue.  Read More

Njeri Kabeberi - Kenya

Njeri Kabeberi is the Executive of Director for the Centre for Multi Party Democracy in Nairobi. The CMD-Kenya works to build the capacity and organisational structure of political parties as a way of underpinning democracy and human rights.  Read More

Human rights defenders continued to face harassment, assault and unlawful detention for denouncing human rights violations or criticizing their governments across the region. In some countries human rights defenders have been tortured or killed. The AU Assembly continued to make efforts to address human rights problems in the region, but its failure to respond firmly to the human rights crisis in Zimbabwe illustrated the need for the AU to apply its human rights principles consistently. read more

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In East Africa human rights defenders have found themselves under attack either because of ongoing conflicts or because of political tensions linked to elections.

Human rights defenders working on behalf of women's and LGBTI rights have continued to be the target of harassment. Given the work being done by these groups on the issue of HIV/Aids this has had a serious negative impact on the response to the pandemic. In Nigeria a proposed law would outlaw same sex relations and marriage and would also ban the registration of any NGO seeking to work on this issue, including the provision of lengthy terms of imprisonment for attempting to do so. The Executive Director of the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria was dismissed for criticising the government and denouncing a series of attacks on journalists.

In Equatorial Guinea it remains almost impossible for human rights defenders to operate given the complete hostility of the government. In Congo Brazzaville human rights defenders who campaigned for accountability re monies paid to petrol companies have been sentenced to one years imprisonment.

A very positive development has been the continued growth in activism by human rights defenders and in particular the development of regional networks. New regional networks have been established in Pretoria in the eastern Horn region and in central and west Africa

While there have been some improvements in DRC the situatiion remains volatile and human rights defenders remain at risk – in July 2005 Pascal Kabungulu, Executive Secretary of the human rights organization Heritiers de Justice, was shot dead and the investigation and prosecution of those involved has been stalled. The situation for human rights defenders has dereriorated in Burundi, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic

In Zimbabwe the government of President Mugabe continued to harass and violently attack human rights defenders while in Rwanda the government has sought to silence independent voices and some human rights defenders have had to go into exile to escape the risk of being attacked. The government of Sudan has continued to use the legal system to intimidate human rights defenders who have also been threatened and attacked in Darfur.

In Eritrea the space for human rights defenders to operate has been severely restricted and human rights defenders and independent journalists have been detained for years in secret prisons without charge or trial. In Uganda journalists and environmentalists have been targetted while in Somalia and Somaliland journalists have also been attacked. Attacks on human rights defenders have varied from the introduction of repressive legislation to prevent them going about their work to arbitrary arrest and unfair trials in Angola, Cameroon and Somalia.

Life for human rights defenders is made even more difficult by the ongoing conflicts in countries like Sudan, Chad and Somalia or the instability of recently post conflict situations in DRC and Ivory Coast. In the Central African Republic human rights defenders who highlight human rights abuses by the various rebel factions have been targetted.