Special Features

Protection of Human Rights Defenders — November 2015 New Tactics in Human Rights Newsletter

November Conversation:

Evaluating the Human Rights Defender ‘Protection Regime’

Since the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in 1998, there has been considerable effort to recognize and protect the rights of people to defend their own and others’ human rights. Over time an international protection regime for human rights defenders has emerged, aimed at protecting and supporting defenders in the face of threats and risks. Based upon the international human rights framework, this protection regime focuses on human security, and consists of a variety of actors and mechanisms operating at national, regional, and international levels.

In a Special Issue in the International Journal of Human Rights on ‘Critical Perspectives on the Security and Protection of Human Rights Defenders’, scholars and practitioners critically appraise the construction and functioning of this protection regime, examining: (i) the definition and use of the term ‘human rights defender’; (ii) the effectiveness of protection mechanisms; and, (iii) the complex relationship between repression, activism and risk.

In this conversation, we explore these areas, asking: How do we define who is and who is not a ‘human rights defender’? What are the effects of these decisions? How effective are current protection mechanisms for defenders? How do defenders manage their security as they face risks? How should ‘protection’ work in practice?

Join New Tactics and the authors of the papers in this Special Issue from November 16-20, 2015.
Copies of these papers are available for free here: http://explore.tandfonline.com/page/pgas/ijhr-volume19-issue7 until December 31, 2015.

The Latest From New Tactics

Blog: Evaluating the Development of the Human Rights Defender Protection Regime. Read More >

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Voices for Sudan: Focus on outcome of the UN Human Rights Council 30th Session in Geneva, Role of U.S, U.K and A.U

VRS Round table Discussion Forum
  Focus on the Outcome of UN Human Rights Council 30th Session.
Role of U.S, U.K and A.U

(Disappointment over Sudan & South Sudan)

Thursday October 22, 2015

10:30 a.m – 12 noon

 

1400 16th Street N.W # 430

Washington, DC 20036

Conference Room, 4th Floor

 Special Guest Speakers 

Hannah Watson, Foreign and Security Policy (Africa and Conflict issues),British Embassy Washington

Clement Nyaletsossi Voule,Program Manager States in Transition, Head of African Diplomacy (Via Skype)

Office of United States Special Envoy to

Sudan & South Sudan (invited):

 

 
Featured Speakers 

Hanadi Elhadi Board Member
(Focus on Sudan and women empowerment)
Emanuella Bringi, VFS Executive Assistant and Diaspora Progrm Coordinator
(Focus on youth engagement and role of new generation to end impunity)
(Via Skype from Canada)

 

Moderator

 

Katie Campo

Program Officer

Africa Team

National Endowment for Democracy

 

Opening Remarks

Jimmy Mulla

President & Co-Founder, Voices for Sudan.

RSVP: E-mail at ebringi@voicesforsudan.org. For further information e-mail info@voicesforsudan.org
                                              
Bio of Speakers

JIMMY MULLA

Jimmy Mulla’s professional career has shifted between the technical field, research, and important Sudanese human rights advocacy work. He is an engineer by trade. Currently Jimmy is the president and Co-founder of Voices for Sudan (VFS), formerly known as the Southern Sudanese Voice for Freedom (SSVF). Mr. Mulla is a long time Sudan activist and has led a wide range of advocacy and awareness-raising efforts for the North-South conflict including Nuba Mountains & Blue Nile, Darfur genocide, Eastern Sudan and other Sudan issues. He was the founding member and president of Southern Sudanese Voice for Freedom (SSVF). SSVF played an instrumental role in the passage of the U.S. Sudan Peace Act and the appointment of a U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, which re-energized the civil war peace talks; helped raise awareness of the genocide in Darfur; and helped facilitate an aggressive and successful divestment campaign that raises awareness of companies that do business with Sudan. Mulla has been on CNN, Voice of America TV and Radio, Al-Jazeera, Al-Hura and other major news networks.

Katie Campo Program Officer on the Africa team at the National Endowment for Democracy. Katie manages NED’s grant-making programs in both Sudan and South Sudan. Prior to joining NED, Katie was a Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, where she specialized in Darfur. Katie holds a BA in International Relations from Brown University and an MA in Journalism from Columbia University. She speaks French, Arabic, and Chinese.

Hanadi Elhadi
Hanadi Elhadi, VFS Board Member
Hanadi Elhadi is a trained Chemist with a degree in pharmacology from Cairo University in Egypt, and an Associate degree from Howard Community College in Maryland. She served as a Quality Control chemist, and a student advisor. She is bilingual in English and Arabic, a skill that used in her work as interpreter and an activist on the issues of women empowerment, child protection and political lobbying for democracy and human rights in her country of origin, Sudan.  She helped found the Broad National Front, a coalition of Sudanese parties and organizations working on change in Sudan.

Emanuella Bringi.
Emanuella Bringi is Voices for Sudan’s Executive Assistant & Diaspora Training Program Coordinator. Ms. Bringi is also currently a National Youth Advisory Board member for a project titled Voices against Violence: Youth Stories Create Change; & a Leader for an initiative titled: Generation of Leaders: South Sudan.As a young leader in her community, Emanuella’s vision is to empower the Sudanese people from a youth perspective. As generations come and go, the need for support from all angles does not change; the visionaries of today and the experts of yesterday must collide and create a powerful force to bring peace to our regions.Emanuella holds a diploma in Social Service Work – Immigrant and Refugees from Seneca College, and a degree in Multicultural and Indigenous Studies from York University. During her studies at York University she held both the Student Life & Advocacy as well as the President position for the York United Black Students’ Alliance; YUBSA is a student run Pan-African organization established to help foster unity and togetherness in the Black community at York University and surrounding areas.

Special Guest Speaker


Clement Voulé – Programme Manager (States in Transition) and Head of African Advocacy
Clement leads our work to support defenders in States in transition and at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Before joining ISHR in 2006, Clement was Secretary-General of Amnesty International Togo and head of the Togolese Coalition of HRDs. Clement is Vice-Chair of the West African HRDs Network and a member of the African Commission Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment & Human Rights Violation. “Mr. Voule “a long time activist and lawyer, completed his postgraduate studies at the University of Nantes in France. Before joining ISHR in May 2006, he was Secretary General of Amnesty International in Togo (2000-2002) and has occupied several other positions within the organization, such as head of the training program, head of the lobbying team and coordinator of the jurists network and of the campaign for the International Criminal Court in Togo. He was a founding member and Secretary General of the Togolese Coalition of Human Rights Defenders from 2002 and program coordinator of the West African Human Rights Defenders network from April 2005.” [1]

New Tactics in Human Rights: October 2015 New Tactics Newsletter

Join New Tactics in Human Rights for an online conversation on Influencing Policy to Create Inclusive Societies for Persons with Disabilities from October 26 to 30, 2015.

People living with disabilities are the world’s largest minority group. Fifteen percent of the world population or one billion people are unable to fully engage in family, community and politics due to their disability. According to the World Bank, twenty per cent of the world’s poorest people live with a disability. Disability is more prevalent in the most vulnerable societies and further perpetuates disadvantage and poverty. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), eighty percent of persons with disabilities live in developing countries, where they are often denied equal access to health care, education and employment opportunities. Consideration of social determinants is central to creating inclusive and comprehensive policies. Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognizes the equal right of all persons with disabilities to make choices equal to all members of society and requires governments to take effective steps to facilitate the full enjoyment of this basic right by persons with disabilities.

In this conversation, we seek to share tactics and success stories of ways organizations and individuals influence governments to develop and implement socially inclusive policies for people living with disabilities. We aim to investigate local, regional, and national policy issues, including: defining disability under the law, developing partnerships to advocate policy change or legislation, applying international platforms to local and national contexts, drawing public support for disability legislation through grassroots campaigns, including individuals with disabilities advocacy efforts and more.

War Crimes Prosecution Watch Volume 10, Issue 16 – October 19, 2015

War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. To subscribe, please email warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org and type “subscribe” in the subject line.

Opinions expressed in the articles herein represent the views of their authors and are not necessarily those of the War Crimes Prosecution Watch staff, the Case Western Reserve University School of Law or Public International Law & Policy Group.

Contents

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Central African Republic & Uganda

Darfur, Sudan

Democratic Republic of the CongoKenyaLibya

Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

AFRICA

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Mali

Chad

Nigeria

MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Iraq

Syria

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

War Crimes Investigations in Burma

TOPICS

Terrorism

Piracy

Gender-Based Violence

 

Voices for Sudan: Focus on outcome of the UN Human Rights Council 30th Session in Geneva

VRS Roundtable Discussion Forum
  Focus on the Outcome of UN Human Rights Council 30th Session 

(Disappointment over Sudan & South Sudan)

Thursday October 22, 2015

10:30 a.m – 12 noon

 

1400 16th Street N.W # 430

Washington, DC 20036

Conference Room, 4th Floor
 Special Guest Speakers (invited):

Clement Nyaletsossi Voule,Program Manager States in Transition, Head of African Diplomacy (Via Skype)

Office of United States Special Envoy to

Sudan & South Sudan

Hannah Watson, United Kingdom Counselor to the United States

 
Featured Speakers 
Hanadi Elhadi Board Member
(Focus on Sudan and women empowerment)
Emanuella Bringi, VFS Executive Assistant and Diaspora Progrm Coordinator
(Focus on youth engagement and role of new generation to end impunity)
(Via Skype from Canada)

 

Moderator

 

Katie Campo

Program Officer

Africa Team

National Endowment for Democracy

 

Opening Remarks

Jimmy Mulla

President & Co-Founder, Voices for Sudan.

RSVP: E-mail at ebringi@voicesforsudan.org. For further information e-mail info@voicesforsudan.org
                                              
Bio of Speakers

JIMMY MULLA
Jimmy Mulla’s professional career has shifted between the technical field, research, and important Sudanese human rights advocacy work. He is an engineer by trade. Currently Jimmy is the president and Co-founder of Voices for Sudan (VFS), formerly known as the Southern Sudanese Voice for Freedom (SSVF). Mr. Mulla is a long time Sudan activist and has led a wide range of advocacy and awareness-raising efforts for the North-South conflict including Nuba Mountains & Blue Nile, Darfur genocide, Eastern Sudan and other Sudan issues. He was the founding member and president of Southern Sudanese Voice for Freedom (SSVF). SSVF played an instrumental role in the passage of the U.S. Sudan Peace Act and the appointment of a U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, which re-energized the civil war peace talks; helped raise awareness of the genocide in Darfur; and helped facilitate an aggressive and successful divestment campaign that raises awareness of companies that do business with Sudan. Mulla has been on CNN, Voice of America TV and Radio, Al-Jazeera, Al-Hura and other major news networks.

Katie Campo Program Officer on the Africa team at the National Endowment for Democracy. Katie manages NED’s grant-making programs in both Sudan and South Sudan. Prior to joining NED, Katie was a Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, where she specialized in Darfur. Katie holds a BA in International Relations from Brown University and an MA in Journalism from Columbia University. She speaks French, Arabic, and Chinese.
Hanadi Elhadi
Hanadi Elhadi, VFS Board Member
Hanadi Elhadi is a trained Chemist with a degree in pharmacology from Cairo University in Egypt, and an Associate degree from Howard Community College in Maryland. She served as a Quality Control chemist, and a student advisor. She is bilingual in English and Arabic, a skill that used in her work as interpreter and an activist on the issues of women empowerment, child protection and political lobbying for democracy and human rights in her country of origin, Sudan.  She helped found the Broad National Front, a coalition of Sudanese parties and organizations working on change in Sudan.

Emanuella Bringi.
Emanuella Bringi is Voices for Sudan’s Executive Assistant & Diaspora Training Program Coordinator. Ms. Bringi is also currently a National Youth Advisory Board member for a project titled Voices against Violence: Youth Stories Create Change; & a Leader for an initiative titled: Generation of Leaders: South Sudan.As a young leader in her community, Emanuella’s vision is to empower the Sudanese people from a youth perspective. As generations come and go, the need for support from all angles does not change; the visionaries of today and the experts of yesterday must collide and create a powerful force to bring peace to our regions.Emanuella holds a diploma in Social Service Work – Immigrant and Refugees from Seneca College, and a degree in Multicultural and Indigenous Studies from York University. During her studies at York University she held both the Student Life & Advocacy as well as the President position for the York United Black Students’ Alliance; YUBSA is a student run Pan-African organization established to help foster unity and togetherness in the Black community at York University and surrounding areas.
Special Guest Speaker


Clement Voulé – Programme Manager (States in Transition) and Head of African Advocacy
Clement leads our work to support defenders in States in transition and at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Before joining ISHR in 2006, Clement was Secretary-General of Amnesty International Togo and head of the Togolese Coalition of HRDs. Clement is Vice-Chair of the West African HRDs Network and a member of the African Commission Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment & Human Rights Violation. “Mr. Voule “a long time activist and lawyer, completed his postgraduate studies at the University of Nantes in France. Before joining ISHR in May 2006, he was Secretary General of Amnesty International in Togo (2000-2002) and has occupied several other positions within the organization, such as head of the training program, head of the lobbying team and coordinator of the jurists network and of the campaign for the International Criminal Court in Togo. He was a founding member and Secretary General of the Togolese Coalition of Human Rights Defenders from 2002 and program coordinator of the West African Human Rights Defenders network from April 2005.” [1]