These are some of the success stories, milestones, and big and small steps forward that we and our partners have achieved.
Three United Nations independent human rights experts express serious concern at the “obstructive, intimidating and stigmatizing effects” brought about by the implementation in the Russian Federation of the law on ‘non-commercial organizations’. “Our fears seem to have been confirmed,” said the Special Rapporteur on the rights to peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai.
Civil Rights Defenders welcomes the ruling of the Constitutional Court of Serbia, stating that the ban on the Pride Parade 2011 was a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of assembly. The court awarded the Pride Parade Belgrade association €500 for immaterial damages.
The Civil Rights Captcha was awarded one Golden Egg and two Silver Eggs in the competition for Sweden’s best and most creative communication solutions. “This year’s winner managed to fight both trolls and bots by asking a simple question: Are you human?”, the jury says in the motivation.
Henrik Steska’s team from Ljubljana, is the winner of the 7th Regional Moot Court Competition, held in Ljubljana, 19-21 April. In the finale Henrik Steska met the team Zoran Kompanjet from Rijeka. Both of the teams presented their case in front of judges from the European Court of Human Rights and the higher courts of Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
On July 15, 2009, Natalia Estemirova was abducted and later found murdered because of her committed human rights work. In honour of her memory and with your participation we are proud to present a personal assault alarm for human rights activists at risk.
In late March, Civil Rights Defender’s partners Coming Out and the Russian LGBT Network submitted their alternative reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, offering their commentary on the most recent state report. In the official report, the Russian Federation completely ignores the existence of people under 18 who identify as homosexual, bisexual, and transgender.
Civil Rights Defenders is organising a unique forum to enhance capacities of human rights lawyers and encourage them to exchange lessons learnt. Around 50 participants, mainly lawyers, staff and volunteers from human rights organisations, are gathered in Durres, Albania, to attend the first Lawyers for Lawyers Forum 14-16 March.
After 15 years of struggle, Civil Rights Defender’s Moldovan partner GenderDoc-M was finally able to exercise its legitimate right to assembly on 14 February. All previous attempts have been banned or in different ways hindered by the authorities. Freedom of assembly is not only a human right, guaranteed by major international and European instruments, but also expressed in the Constitution of Moldova.
The European Court has handed down the first judgement of a case stemming from Chechnya under Ramzan Kadyrov’s rule. The case regards Tamerlan Suleymanov, who was abducted in spring 2011. This shows that grave human rights violations and impunity in Chechnya has not ended with the armed conflict.
In December, Civil Rights Defenders wrote a letter to the Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and urged him to demand stronger protection for human rights defenders in Kosovo. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has replied that “we are discussing these important issues on a political level. When Prime Minister Hachim Thaci visited Sweden in October, EU integration and the necessary reforms, including human rights, were major themes.”
Theoretical and practical insight into national media legislation and European standards in the field make law students better prepared to handle human rights issues in their future work as legal professionals. That is why Civil Rights Defenders, together with one of its long-term partners, the Press Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is conducting trainings for law students in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Today, on the International Human Rights Day, Civil Rights Defenders starts a collaboration with the human rights campaign Art for Democracy. The campaign is launched by the Baku-based Human Rights Club and aims at promoting democratic reform and respect for human rights in Azerbaijan, by bringing together the country’s artistic and human rights communities.
28-30 November, Civil Rights Defenders is organising a workshop on hate crimes and hate speech. The aim is to build the capacities of local human rights organisations to deal with hate crimes in a more consistent and comprehensive way. Another goal is to build a coalition that will monitor and report on hate speech and hate crimes.
The Roma population in Serbia is continuously exposed to severe discrimination and persistently threatened or actually victimized by acts of forced eviction from their homes. To raise the awareness of their situation and to discuss what can be done to tackle discrimination, Civil Rights Defenders organised three round table discussions and street actions in October and November 2012.
On 22 November two police officers were sentenced to two years in prison for power abuse in Dagestan. “Although these cases have numerous shortcomings, the mere fact of court hearings against police officers is a positive step forward”, said Joanna Kurosz, at Civil Rights Defenders.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Russian Federation violated the right to education in the cases of Moldovan schools using Latin in the region of Transnistria. The court has sentenced Russia to pay one million and twenty thousand EUR in respect of non-pecuniary damage and fifty thousand EUR for costs and expenses.
On 8 November, Russia’s leading NGOs present their alternative report, as part of the United Nations Committee Against Torture’s official hearings on Russia’s compliance with the UN Convention against Torture. In another report, the Russian LGBT organisations Coming Out and Russian LGBT Network, specifically pointed out several problems related to torture and ill treatment of LGBT people.
On 3 November, the fifth conference for LGBT rights opened in Moscow. The conference, organised by Civil Rights Defenders and the Russian LGBT Network, gathers around 100 activists from Russia. “This year we have to decide how we will continue counteracting the rapidly spreading homophobic legislation and the growing pressure on the civil society”, says Igor Kochetkov, Chair of the LGBT Network.
In Russia the recently introduced regional laws on the so-called “promotion of homosexuality among minors” have been condemned by the human rights community. According to a report by Civil Rights Defenders partner, the Russian LGBT Network, they are also in conflict with the federal legislation. Read more in the report that also includes an overview of discrimination and hate crimes.
On 18 October the human rights organisation Mothers of Dagestan celebrates five year as an organisation. This organisation places itself on the victim’s side in the armed conflict between the Russian government forces and the separatists and has been a partner of Civil Rights Defenders for several years.
In cooperation with Kosovo Rehabilitation Center for Tortured Victims (KRCT), Civil Rights Defenders is conducting a comprehensive monitoring of institutions for persons with mental disabilities in Kosovo. Small improvements of the living conditions have been observed during the year but large structural problems still remain.
A court in Belgrade has delivered a judgment requiring Serbia to pay RSD 360,000 to Sead Rovčanin for the torture inflicted on him in 1993 by members of the Interior Ministry. This is a great result of Civil Rights Defenders work together with Humanitarian Law Centre on providing legal representation to victims of grave human rights violations in the 1990s.
Drastic deviations from European standards on freedom of expression and media exist in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A new report by Civil Rights Defenders, and local partners Press Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina and BH Journalists’ Association, reveals. The report is the first comprehensive analysis of the media scene in the country.
On 21 September, the opening of House of Equality in Murmansk marked another stage of Civil Rights Defenders´ work for LGBT rights in Russia. House of Equality is a project made possible due to a newly established cooperation between the LGBT organisation Maximum in Murmansk and Civil Rights Defenders.
In reaction to the poor human rights situation in the penal-correctional institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Civil Rights Defenders and the Bosnian Helsinki Committee have conducted eight monitoring missions in the country. Their findings show a lack of basic hygiene conditions to detainees being subjected to ill treatment.
During Stockholm Pride we invited Anastasia Smirnova from our partner the Russian LGBT Network in St Petersburg. Anastasia Smirnova was interviewed in Swedish media about the negative development för lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender peoples rights in Russia and she also raised the topic in a seminar.
Only 4 of the European Council’s 27 principles for press freedom have been fully implemented in Serbia, the first comprehensive report on the media situation in the country: Serbian Media Scene VS European Standards, suggests. Free press is a cornerstone for democratic development; in this report the challenges lying ahead of the Serbian media scene become evident. This report is a result of a yearlong cooperation between Civil Rights Defenders and local partners.
11 July is the 17th Anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, when around 8 000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian-Serb forces. Together with Youth Initiative for Human Rights, Civil Rights Defenders has created Srebrenica Mapping Genocide, that aims at increase the awareness and foster conditions for further dealing with the past.
On April 20-22, we are organising the sixth moot court competition for law students in the Western Balkans. Since 2007, about 460 law students have gained practical knowledge on cases, rules and procedures of the European Court on Human Rights.
In March 2005, 22-year-old Daniel Franklert Murne was shot dead by police in his parents’ home in Lindesberg, Sweden. The subsequent police investigation was defective and, with reference to self-defense, no one was held responsible. Daniel’s parents and sister are now suing Sweden before the European Court with our assistance.
Several Roma families have recently been evicted and denied alternative accommodation. In a letter to the Albanian authorities we demanded them to protect the families from forced evictions. Read the answer from the Office of Prime Minister.
The situation of press in Moldova has improved in the past year, as a positive effect of a general improvement of the legal and political situation in the country. That is the conclusion of the media report that we are publishing together with Independent Journalism Centre.
Within our collaboration with the Albanian organisation Aleanca we are launching a campaign against homophobia. Together with them we have produced a video clip to highlight the wide spread discrimination, that will be followed by several events connected to the International Day againt Homophobia on May 17.
In December, Civil Rights Defenders organised a workshop on the new freedom of expression law for judges in Moldova. The aim was to improve understanding of how the new legislation should be interpreted and applied by magistrates who work with these types of cases. “Strengthening the legal system is central, because that’s where the rights are protected”, commented Percy Bratt, chairman of Civil Rights Defenders board and one of the trainers, afterwards.
The legislative assembly of St. Petersburg has decided to postpone the hearing of the anti-gay bill for the second time. “Protesters all over the world have shown that this is not a bill that belongs in a European country in 2011″, said Ninke Liebert, at Civil Rights Defenders.
A court in Chisinau has convicted a website for hate speech against LGBT people. The case is an important step forward in the work for equal rights in Moldova, and demonstrates that incitement to discrimination and violence will not be tolerated.
The right to a fair hearing and access to court are the most frequent problems regarding the right to fair trial in Serbia, according to a report published by Civil Rights Defenders in collaboration with Youth Initiative for Human Rights.
Dragan Markovic Palma, Mayor of Jagodina and President of the parlamentary party United Serbia has been convicted of hate speech. Civil Rights Defenders welcomes the verdict but worries about the fact that the Mayor’s reaction to is was new hate speech.
The EU has demanded from the Cambodian Government to ensure that a law on NGOs encourages, rather than restricts, the growth of civil society, says Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
In 2009-2010 Moldova saw improvements in terms of human rights. However, several grave problems remain. Moldova has no law against discrimination and persons with disabilities, sexual minorities, elderly, women and ethnic and religious minorities often face discrimination.
The European Court of Human Rights has found Russia responsible for the enforced disappearance of a Chechen man in October 2004. The judgment is an important result of our cooperation with Russian Justice Initiative.
September 15, the Third International Queer Culture Festival opened in St. Petersburg. The ceremony attracted many visitors, despite protests from religious youth groups.
Together with our partner, Coming Out, we arrange the third international Queer Culture Festival, September 15-25. The festival takes place in St Petersburg with the goal to support the right to self-expression, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The number of threats and attacks on journalists have increased in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the past years. In 2009 Civil Rights Defenders and the Association of Journalists established a Free Media Help Line, which provides legal aid and counselling to people working in media organisations.
Kosovo 2.0 is a web portal and a magazine available in English, Albanian and Serbian. Since the launch in July 2010, it has had around 257,760 unique visitors and more that 1,000 unique visits a day. Civil Rights Defenders collaboration with Kosovo Glocal aims at building up Kosovo 2.0, a comprehensive and vibrant media platform, offering interesting and current news, commentary and information that will contribute to an overall respect of freedom of expression in Kosovo.
Together with Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) in Serbia Civil Rights Defenders provide work to raise public awareness on the importance of confronting the past, by compiling and disseminating a comprehensive record of human losses in Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro in the wars of the 1990s. The “Interactive Online Map of Human Losses” provides user-friendly information and access to relevant documents on human losses in Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia.
On May 18, 2011, Civil Rights Defenders held a conference in Skopje together with Macedonian Young Lawyers Association and the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation. The main purpose of the event was to instigate a discussion among civil society actors about the recently passed Law against discrimination.
In 2009 Civil Rights Defenders and Regional Centre for Minorities arranged the first LGBT conference “Justice in Balkans: Equality for sexual minorities” in Podgorica, Montenegro. It provoked a fierce discussion and for the first time brought the LGBT matter into the public debate.
Every year Civil Rights Defenders organise trainings for our partners. This year our partners in Albania and Kosovo received training in public speech.
The European Court has found Russia responsible for the deaths of two Chechen men and the disappearance of one. These two latest verdicts mean that Russia has been convicted of serious human rights violations in 100 cases, as a result of our cooperation with Russian Justice Initiative.
Between 2001 and 2007 Zivota Milanovic from Jagodina, Seriba, member of Hindu Vaishnava religious community, was attacked five times because of his religious beliefs. We have been working actively on the case together with our partner.
The right to liberty and security was violated when 72 persons were unlawfully held in detention, says the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) in a case submitted by our partner, the Macedonian Helsinki Committee in co-operation with Civil Rights Defenders.
Human rights defenders in the North Caucasus live under constant threat. They fear for their lives and the lives and health of their families. Civil Rights Defenders has initiated the Stockholm Process so that they can continue their important work.
A Pride parade was held today, for the first time ever in Serbia. Great efforts where required from the police in order to guarantee security for the participants. The Serbian authorities have sent a clear signal that the rights of LGBT persons are taken seriously.
Despite all the obstacles, the International Festival of Queer Culture opened successfully on September 16. In the last minute, the organisers had been forced to find a new location for the opening ceremony and the photo exhibition.
A law on the prohibition on discrimination has adopted in Montenegro, much because of the work of Civil Rights Defenders and our partners Youth Initiative for Human Rights and Center for Democracy and Human Rights.
The European Court of Human Rights has found Russia responsible for the disappearance and torture of a Chechen man detained at his home by Russian federal troops in year 2000. The victims family was awarded 106,000 EUR in respect of material and moral damages.
On Sunday July 11th it is the 15th remembrance day of the genocide in Srebrenica. Together with our partners we have created an educational material that describes the crime.
On April 20 the European Court of Human Rights condemned Albania for having violated the right to a fair trial and the prohibition against torture in the case Lika and Laska vs Albania.
Civil Rights Defenders continue the cooperation with the radio show Pescanik (hourglass) in order to help stimulate the public debate on vital issues in the Serbian society. The show attracts 400.000 listeners every week and covers issues such as; transitional justice, corruption, and many more topics related to civil and political rights.
Team Prima Iustiniana from the law faculty at the University of Skopje in Macedonia was the winning team of this year’s moot court competition. Team Radomir Lukic from Novi Sad in Serbia was ranked second in the competition.
The court in Podgorica has sentenced the Montenegrin government to pay 20 000 Euros in damages to Saban and Arif Rizvanović, who were tortured by Yugoslav soldiers in 1993. The case is a great success for our partner HLC.
2009 was an important year for the LGBT movement in Serbia. For the first time cooperation between LGBT organisations and other human rights organisations was established to integrate LGBT issues in all human rights work, Civil Rights Defenders partner, Gay Straight Alliance, says in its Annual Report.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Russia must pay a record compensation to a man with mental disabilities who has been illegally detained. This is a great victory for us and our partner Mental Disability Advocacy Center.
Civil Rights Defenders have cooperated with the Macedonian Helsinki Committee for more than a decade, with the main focus to enhance awareness and respect for human rights and the rule of law in Macedonia. By providing free legal aid we not only improve people’s access to justice but also monitor the respect of human rights by authorities, and put pressure on authorities to comply with international and national human rights standards.
Since 2006 Civil Rights Defenders has cooperated with Tirana Legal Aid Society, TLAS, in assisting Roma families to register their children, but also other members of the families, in order to help them get access to some of the most fundamental human rights; such as the right to education, health care, social allowances, as well as the possibility to get a legal employment and the right to vote in general elections. Hundreds of families have been assisted through our joint efforts so far.
Albanias new all-inclusive anti-discrimination law bans discrimination on the grounds of various characteristics, such as political, religious or philosophical beliefs, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against Russia to pay EUR 120,000 in damages to the families of two Chechen men, Zurab Iriskhanov and Abu Aliyev, who were arrested in their homes in Samashki and Grozny in 2002 and have not returned since.
In Kosovo the situation for media and individual journalists has worsened. In cooperation with YIHR, Civil Rights Defenders decided to produce a comprehensive report on Freedom of Expression, with a particular focus on media freedom and on documented statements from journalists who have been subjected to threats and pressure.
Civil Rights Defenders cooperate with Kosovo Media Association to provide professional, balanced and unbiased news primarily to the Serbian population in Kosovo. The network reaches almost the entire Serbian community, as well as the Albanian population, in Kosovo.
On January 7, 2010, a new law on legal aid came into force in Macedonia. The adopted law represents a major step forward in improving access to justice for vulnerable social groups.
The purpose of Civil Rights Defenders support to the Human Rights House in Vilnius is to provide Belarusian human rights defenders a safe place to plan and carry out activities. In the house in exile they can have seminars, meetings and other activities that cannot be conducted inside Belarus due to the difficult political situation.
Civil Rights Defenders partner Albanian Disability Rights Foundation (ADRF), has received the “Albanian Leadership Award 2009″ for its efforts within civil society. The prize is awarded to highlight positive role models and innovations that strengthen ethical standards in Albanian society.
Russia has ratified protocol 14 of the European Convention, which aims at making the work of the court more effective. This is an important step which, in the long run, will shorten processing times for the hundreds of thousands that have turned to the court asking for justice.
One of the most significant achievements for Civil Rights Defenders in 2009 is our contribution to resolving the housing situation for one of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in the region of Gjakova, Kosovo.
According to the European Court of Human Rights Russia bears responsibility for six forced disappearances in Chechnya in 2003. All six men were detained illegally and must be presumed dead.
-We welcome the accreditation of European Radio for Belarus. We hope this will mark a breach in the Belarusian authorities policy of clamping down on independent media and that they will take further steps towards ensuring freedom of expression in Belarus, said Robert Hårdh, executive director at Civil Rights Defenders.
The Moldovan Supreme Court has decided that the Main Tax Inspectorate has to disclose information to the media organisation Association of Independent Press. It is a positive trend that Moldovan courts to a greater extent defend the right to information.
Russia is urged by the UN Human Rights Committee to strengthen the protection for persons with disabilities. An important source of information was the shadow report that our partner Mental Disability Rights Foundation presented in October.
Russia has been convicted for the hundredth time for human rights crimes committed in Chechnya. Four of five cases, decided on April 23, have been run by the Swedish Helsinki Committee in collaboration with Russian Justice Initiative or Memorial and concern disappearances or murder. On April 23 the European court for human rights announced verdicts [...]
An all inclusive law against discrimination was finally adopted by the Serbian Parliament on Thursday March 26. It is a great result for the Swedish Helsinki Committee and for all the local NGOs that have been pushing for the adoption of this law for years. The whole process of adopting the law is a symbolic [...]
The LGBT organisation Coming Out, partner of the Swedish Helsinki Committee, has been officially registered by the government. This is the first case in Russian history when an organisation openly announcing as its goal advocacy for the interests of the LGBT community is registered by the government on the first try without any court intervention. [...]
Of the 163 cases reported up until now by The Swedish Helsinki Committee and The Russian Justice Initiative (RJI) to The European Court of Justice , 36 have been resolved, 25 of them in 2008. In all the cases, the judgement has been that Russia is guilty of gross violation of human rights in northern [...]
On November 7th the popular film festival “Free zone” opens in Belgrade for the fourth year running. Civil Rights Defenders (by then, The Swedish Helsinki Committee) together with REX, has helped promote the festival and over the years it has become a significant part of Serbian culture.
Chancellor of Justice Göran Lambertz has ruled that Sweden must pay SEK 3 million in compensation to Ahmed Agiza who was expelled from Sweden on 18 December 2001. The decision follows conciliation talks between the Chancellor and the Swedish Helsinki Committee, which was representing Agiza.
Natasha Jevtic Esbjörnson
Phone: +46 76 576 27 62
His burnt body was returned to the family in a plastic bag. The European Court has found Russia responsible for human rights violations in the North Caucasus, in more than one hundred cases, as a result of our work.
(Photo: Joanna Kurosz)
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