arrested

Lydia Cacho Ribeiro a leading Mexican defender of children’s and women’s human rights narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by means of sabotage of an official vehicle she was traveling in from the city of Juarez in Mexico City on 7 May 2007.  

Gégé Katana is a leading human rights defender working in Uvira, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. She is the president of Solidarite des Femmmes Activistes pour la Defense des Droits Humains, SOFAD (Solidarity Movement of Women Human Rights Activists) an organisation that works through a grassroots network of 625 women to research and campaign against sexual violence, and provide counselling and help to rape survivors. SOFAD also educates local communities on women and children’s rights, and lobbies the government to deliver justice and reform discriminatory laws.

Gégé Katana has worked with several non-governmental organisations including; IDEA/Afrique - Institut pour le developpement et l’education des adultes. She is a network member of the Global Fund for Women and Coordinator for the Synergie des Femmes Defenseurs des Droits de le l'Homme du Sud-Kivu en RDC (SYFEDH).  

Human rights defender and journalist Umida Niyazova was released from custody on 8 May 2007 and given a suspended sentence following her appeal hearing against the seven-year prison sentence handed down to her on 1 May 2007.  

Umida Niyazova, Uzbek journalist and human rights defender, was arrested on 22 January 2007 and taken to the pre-trial detention unit in the Uzbek city of Andijan. She was detained for four days before being handed over to the Office for Prosecution of Transport Offences in Tashkent on 26 January. On 21 December 2006, Niyazova's computer and passport were confiscated upon her arrival from Kyrgyzstan to the Tashkent airport in Uzbekistan. The customs officials said her computer contained illegal material. She was forced to flee Uzbekistan. Umida Niyazova turned to the UN in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) for protection. The Kyrgyz immigration services registered her as a person in need of protection. She was informed that all charges against her would be dropped on her return to Uzbekistan; however, she was arrested upon her arrival. The Office for Prosecution of Transport Offences in Uzbekistan initiated a criminal case against Niyazova for violation of articles 233 ("illegal border-crossing") and 246 ("illegal transportation of information material") of the criminal code. Umida Niyazova has worked for CJES since 2000 and with the Central Asian Internet magazine "Oasis" since 2005.