From the Director

Early next month we will be meeting at The Carter Center in Atlanta with leading human rights defenders from some twenty countries for the fourth Human Rights Defenders Policy Forum.  This unique event, co-chaired by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, brings human rights defenders directly into contact with senior policy makers from governments and intergovernmental organizations to discuss policy issues of pressing concern to human rights defenders.

This year, our substantive focus will be on the role played by human rights defenders in addressing mass violations of human rights, including crimes against humanity. Activists from Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala and the former Yugoslavia have direct experience of responding to these most serious of human rights crises.  We will work together to produce recommendations for governments and multilateral organizations that we hope will contribute to improved international mechanisms to put an end to these all too frequently recurrent crises.

At this year’s Forum, we will be seeking to engage with faith communities, especially in the U.S., to encourage their support for those around the world who are working to uphold respect for human dignity through the promotion and protection of human rights.  Please check our website for updates about our activities in Atlanta and the follow up efforts in Washington D.C. and elsewhere.

Best Wishes,

Neil Hicks
Director of the Human Rights Defenders Program

Spotlight on…

Human Rights First Awards Colombian Iván Cepeda Roger Baldwin Award

In June 2007, Human Rights First awarded Colombian human rights defender Iván Cepeda the 2007 Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty. Motivated into activism by the brutal assassination of his father, Iván is currently the Spokesperson for the National Movement for Victims of State Crimes.
The Award recognizes the importance of Iván’s human rights work in Colombia and his extraordinary courage in carrying it out. Like other human rights defenders, he is subject to unjust criminal charges of slander and libel for exposing human rights violations. More than 1,300 of you took action on our alert about such charges in June. Before the award ceremony, we organized meetings for Iván with international organizations and U.S. policymakers. Following those meetings, 28 members of the US Congress wrote to the Colombian Attorney-General asking for the charges against Iván to be dropped. The letter received widespread media attention in Colombia. In a letter of thanks, Iván wrote that the advocacy measures taken on his behalf are “positively influencing Colombia to find paths and mechanisms which respect human rights.”
Your advocacy efforts have made a difference. For example, on August 14, 2007 the Colombian Attorney-General announced that he has moved the case against Iván to Bogota, as we had asked. A Bogota-based prosecutor is far more likely to give Iván a fair hearing and acquit him of the charges.

Watch Democracy Now TV interview with Ivan Cepeda and HRF’s Andrew Hudson>>

Watch Latin Pulse TV interview with Ivan Cepeda and HRF’s Andrew Hudson>>

Human Rights First’s long running campaign to establish an international commission of experts to help investigate and prosecute organized crime in Guatemala came to a successful culmination on August 1, 2007. The Guatemalan Congress voted to establish the commission which will hopefully reduce levels of violence and create a safer environment for human rights defenders. Many of you have taken action on our alerts on this topic over the last year. Most recently, just prior to the Congressional vote, over 1,000 of you signed a petition urging the Guatemalan Congress to establish the commission. On August 2, we issued a press release welcoming the groundbreaking decision.

On July 24, 2007, the Tunisian President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali ordered the release on parole of human rights lawyer Mohamed Abbou. He was arrested on March 1, 2005 following the publication online of articles in which he denounced the use of torture in Tunisia. After an unfair trial in April 2005, Mr. Abbou was sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment and detained at el-Kef, a town that is more than 100 miles from his family home in Tunis. Human Rights First (HRF) has followed the case of Mohamed Abbou since his arrest, has repeatedly called for his release and issued several Alerts in which many of you participated. On a recent joint mission to Tunisia with the Ireland-based organization Front Line in May, HRF focused on calling for Mr. Abbou’s release. During a meeting with a representative of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, our delegation demanded the immediate release of Abbou. The delegation also visited his family in Tunis and accompanied his wife in her weekly trip to el-Kef to visit her husband. On July 18, 2007 during a meeting with the Tunisian ambassador in Washington D.C., HRF called again for his release. Mohamed Abbou’s release is a welcome step by the Tunisian government. However, Human Rights First hopes that it will be followed by further positive moves by the government to put an end to its practice of restricting and harassing human rights defenders.

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Case Updates

COLOMBIA:
In August, many of you took action on an alert to send a petition to the Colombian government urging them to investigate recent paramilitary threats and attacks against Rigoberto Jimenez and other organizations working to protect displaced victims of Colombia’s civil war. In response the Colombian government reports that it is now providing a range of protective measures to the two organizations Rigoberto works with as well as formally investigating one of the attacks.  Click here to take action>>

INDONESIA:
In August, there were two important legal developments in the Munir case. After long delays , the attorney general submitted a request to the Supreme Court to review its decision to overturn the only conviction in the case. The hearing to consider the request was postponed when the accused, Pollycarpus, reported being too ill to attend. In another development, police handed over the dossiers of two airline officials to prosecutors in early August, recommending that they be charged with murder and forgery for their alleged role in Munir’s death.

IRAN:
In May and July, we asked you to take action on behalf of Iranian women’s rights activists Zeinab Peyghambarzadeh and Bahareh Hedayat, who were imprisoned by Iranian authorities.  These arrests are two of dozens in recent months, part of a growing government crackdown on Iranian human rights defenders.  We are pleased to report that both have been released from prison.  As a leader of the women’s rights campaign in Iran who wrote to HRF after the release of Ms. Peyghambarzadeh noted: “Thanks again to you and your colleagues for your support of the activists in the Campaign. I hope you don’t get tired, as I assume there will be many more of us you will have to support–but hopefully I will be proven wrong.”

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