11 Dec 2015 | Asia and Pacific, Campaigns, Malaysia, mobile, Statements
Dear Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali,
We write to you as organisations that are deeply concerned by the decision of the Malaysian authorities to prosecute Lena Hendry for her involvement in the screening of the award-winning human rights documentary, “No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka,” in Kuala Lumpur on July 9, 2013. The charges against her violate Malaysia’s obligations to respect the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, notably to receive and impart information. We respectfully urge you to drop the charges against Hendry. Her trial in Magistrate Court 6 in Kuala Lumpur is slated to begin on December 14, 2015.
As you know, Hendry is being charged under section 6 of the Film Censorship Act 2002, which imposes a mandatory prior censorship or licensing scheme on all films before they can be screened at any event, except films sponsored by the federal government or any state government. If convicted, she faces up to three years in prison and a fine up to RM 30,000.
The prosecution appears intended to restrict the activities of Hendry and members of the KOMAS, the human rights education and promotion organisation with which she works, by hindering their efforts to provide information and share their perspectives on human rights issues.
International human rights law and standards, such as found in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, states that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
Malaysia has committed to ensuring that all human rights defenders are able to carry out their activities without any hindrance or fear of reprisals from the government. In November, Malaysia voted in favor of a resolution on “Recognizing the role of human rights defenders and the need for their protection” in the 3rd Committee of the United Nations General Assembly. The resolution set out the urgent need for governments to protect human rights defenders worldwide. Article 1 of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted unanimously by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels.” Article 12(2) provides that the government shall “take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of his or her rights.”
In addition to dropping the charges against Hendry, we also urge you, as attorney general, to seek to repeal provisions of the Film Censorship Act 2002 that allow unnecessary and arbitrary government interference in the showing of films in Malaysia. This policy denies Malaysians the opportunity to benefit from a range of viewpoints on issues of importance to Malaysian society and that affect Malaysia’s role in the world.
Sincerely,
Brad Adams
Director, Asia Division
Human Rights Watch
Gail Davidson
Executive Director
Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada
Jodie Ginsberg
Chief Executive
Index on Censorship
Karim Lahidji
President
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Mary Lawlor
Director
Front Line Defenders
Edgardo Legaspi
Executive Director
Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
Marie Manson
Program Director for Human Rights Defenders at Risk
Civil Rights Defenders
Champa Patel
Interim Director, South East Asia and Pacific Regional Office
Amnesty International
Amy Smith
Executive Director
Fortify Rights
Oliver Spencer
Head of Asia
Article 19
Gerald Staberock
Secretary General
World Organization Against Torture (OMCT)
Sam Zarifi
Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific
International Commission of Jurists
Cc:
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Minister of Home Affairs
Joseph Y. Yun, Ambassador of the United States of America to Malaysia
Luc Vandebon, Ambassador of the European Union to Malaysia
Victoria Treadell, British High Commissioner to Malaysia
Christophe Penot, Ambassador of France to Malaysia
Holger Michael, Ambassador of Germany to Malaysia
Rod Smith, Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia
Judith St. George Canadian High Commissioner to Malaysia
Dr John Subritzky, New Zealand High Commissioner to Malaysia
Ibrahim Sahib, Sri Lanka High Commissioner to Malaysia
27 Nov 2015 | Campaigns, Middle East and North Africa, mobile, Palestine, Statements
We, the undersigned organisations, all dedicated to the value of creative freedom, are writing to express our grave concern that Ashraf Fayadh has been sentenced to death for apostasy.
Ashraf Fayadh, a poet, artist, curator, and member of British-Saudi art organisation Edge of Arabia, was first detained in August 2013 in relation to his collection of poems Instructions Within following the submission of a complaint to the Saudi Committee for the Promotion of Virtue. He was released on bail but rearrested in January 2014.
According to court documents, in May 2014 the General Court of Abha found proof that Fayadh had committed apostasy (ridda) but had repented for it. The charge of apostasy was dropped, but he was nevertheless sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes in relation to numerous charges related to blasphemy.
At Ashraf Fayadh’s retrial in November 2015 the judge reversed the previous ruling, declaring that repentance was not enough to avoid the death penalty. We believe that all charges against him should have been dropped entirely, and are appalled that Fayadh has instead been sentenced to death for apostasy, simply for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and freedom of belief.
As a member of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), the pre-eminent intergovernmental body tasked with protecting and promoting human rights, and the Chair of the HRC’s Consultative Group, Saudi Arabia purports to uphold and respect the highest standards of human rights. However, the decision of the court is a clear violation of the internationally recognised rights to freedom of conscience and expression. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that, “[e]veryone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief”. Furthermore, under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”. Saudi Arabia is therefore in absolute contravention of the rights that as a member of the UN HRC it has committed to protect.
There are also widespread concerns over an apparent lack of due process in the trial: Fayadh was denied legal representation, reportedly as a result of his ID having been confiscated following his arrest in January 2014. It is our understanding that Fayadh has 30 days to appeal this latest ruling, and we urge the authorities to allow him access to the lawyer of his choice.
We call on the Saudi authorities to release Ashraf Fayadh and others detained in Saudi Arabia in violation of their right to freedom of expression immediately and unconditionally.
List of signatories:
AICA (International Association of Art Critics)
Algerian PEN
All-India PEN
Amnesty International UK
Arterial Network
ARTICLE 19
Artists for Palestine UK
Austrian PEN
Banipal
Bangladesh PEN
Bread and Roses TV
British Humanist Association
Bulgarian PEN
Centre for Secular Space
CIMAM (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art)
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain
Croatian PEN
Crossway Foundation
Danish PEN
English PEN
Ethiopian PEN-in-Exile
FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights)
Five Leaves Publications
Freemuse
German PEN
Haitian PEN
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
International Humanist and Ethical Union
Iranian PEN in Exile
Jimmy Wales Foundation
Lebanese PEN
Ledbury Poetry Festival
Lithuanian PEN
Modern Poetry in Translation
National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC)
Norwegian PEN
One Darnley Road
One Law for All
Palestinian PEN
PEN American Center
PEN Canada
PEN International
PEN South Africa
Peruvian PEN
Peter Tatchell Foundation
Portuguese PEN
Québec PEN
Russian PEN
San Miguel PEN
Scottish PEN
Slovene PEN
Society of Authors
South African PEN
Split This Rock
Suisse Romand PEN
School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing, University of East Anglia
The Voice Project
Trieste PEN
Turkish PEN
Wales PEN Cymru
20 Nov 2015 | Campaigns, Middle East and North Africa, mobile, Syria
You can show your support for Bassel Khartabil by signing a solidarity petitions to the Syrian government and to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon calling for his release. You can also find more information about his situation at freebassel.org and on Facebook and Twitter. Tweets can be tagged #freebassel.
Bassel Khartabil, a defender of freedom expression being held in conditions amounting to enforced disappearance may be facing a death sentence, 36 local and international organizations said today. His wife has received unconfirmed reports that a Military Field Court has sentenced him to death. His whereabouts should be disclosed immediately, and he should be released unconditionally, the groups said.
Military Intelligence detained Khartabil on March 15, 2012. He was held in incommunicado detention for eight months and was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment. He is facing Military Field Court proceedings for his peaceful activities in support of freedom of expression. A military judge interrogated Khartabil for a few minutes on December 9, 2012, but he had heard nothing further about his legal case, he told his family. In December 2012 he was moved to ‘Adra prison in Damascus, where he remained until October 3, 2015, when he was transferred to an undisclosed location and has not been heard of since.
Reports that his wife received from alleged sources inside Military Intelligence suggest that since his disappearance he has been tried by a Military Field Court in the Military Police headquarters in al-Qaboun, which sentenced him to death. Military Field Courts in Syria are exceptional courts with secret closed-door proceedings that do not meet international fair trial standards. Defendants have no legal representation, and the courts’ decisions are binding and not subject to appeal. People brought before such courts who were later released have said that proceedings are perfunctory, often lasting only minutes.
Khartabil is a software developer who has used his technical expertise to help advance freedom of speech and access to information via the internet. He has won many awards, including the 2013 Index on Censorship Digital Freedom Award for using technology to promote an open and free internet. His arrest and on-going detention are apparently a direct result of his peaceful and legitimate work, the groups said.
Demands for his release have been published by this group since his arrest and have been echoed by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in April 2015.
The authorities in Syria should:
1. Immediately disclose the whereabouts of Bassel Khartabil and grant him access to a lawyer and to his family;
2. Ensure that he is protected from torture and other ill-treatment;
3. Immediately and unconditionally release him;
4. Release all detainees in Syria held for exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression and association.
List of signatories:
1. Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT)
2. Amnesty International (AI)
3. Arab Foundation for Development and Citizenship (AFDC)
4. Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)
5. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
6. Centre for Democracy and Civil Rights in Syria
7. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
8. EuroMed Rights (EMHRN)
9. Fraternity Foundation for Human Rights
10. Front Line Defenders (FLD)
11. Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
12. HIVOS Humanist Institute for Co-operation with Developing Countries
13. Human Rights Watch (HRW)
14. Index on Censorship
15. Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR)
16. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) under the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
17. Iraqi Association for the Defence of Journalists’ Rights (IJRDA)
18. Lawyer’s Rights Watch Canada (LRWC)
19. Maharat Foundation
20. Metro Centre to Defend Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan
21. PAX
22. PEN International
23. Rafto
24. Reporters Without Borders(RSF)
25. Rethink Rebuild Society
26. Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF)
27. SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom
28. Syrian American Council (SAC)
29. Syrian Association for Citizenship
30. Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)
31. Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)
32. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
33. Syrian Women Association
34. The Day After Association (TDA)
35. Violations Documentation Center in Syria (VDC)
36. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) under the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
17 Nov 2015 | Campaigns, Statements, Turkey, Turkey Letters
H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
President of the Republic of Turkey
T.C. Cumhurbaşkanlığı Genel Sekreterliği
06689 Çankaya, Ankara
Turkey
Dear President Erdoğan,
We, the undersigned free expression organisations, call for the immediate and unconditional release of Mohammed Ismael Rasool, a Kurdish fixer for VICE News. Rasool has remained imprisoned in Turkey on charges of “aiding a terrorist organization” for over two months despite the release of two British colleagues with whom he was initially detained.
Rasool, correspondent Jake Hanrahan, and cameraman Philip Pendlebury were all taken into police custody in the city of Diyarbakir, on 27 August while covering the current conflict in southeastern Turkey for VICE News. Specifically, they were reporting on clashes between Turkish security forces and the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement, the youth wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The lawyer representing Rasool, Hanrahan and Pendlebury has stated that the police responded to a tipoff by an anonymous caller who alleged that they were assisting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Following their detention, the journalists were questioned by anti-terrorism police, and on 31 August, all three were charged on baseless and false accusations using Turkey’s broad anti-terrorism laws. On 3 September, Hanrahan and Pendlebury were released, while Rasool continues to languish in prison.
We add our voice to communities, organisations and governments around the world calling for Rasool’s immediate release. A petition created by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has obtained over 80,000 signatures so far, and PEN International, along with almost 80 writers, journalists and press freedom organisations, have published an open letter to President Erdoğan. The United States Department of State has also called on Turkey to uphold due process for Rasool.
From 19 to 21 October 2015, a joint emergency mission to Turkey was conducted to investigate the status of press freedom and free expression in the country. Representatives from international, regional and local groups involved in the mission found that the pressure on journalists operating in Turkey has sharply escalated in the time between the 7 June parliamentary elections, which resulted in a hung parliament, and the recent election held on 1 November. The mission determined that such pressure has severely affected the ability of journalists to report independently and freely, which may in turn have had a critically negative effect on the ability of voters in Turkey to share and obtain important information, and therefore engage fully in the democratic process.
Broadly worded anti-terror and penal code statutes have allowed Turkish authorities to conflate the coverage of banned groups like the PKK with terrorism or other ‘anti-state’ activity. As a result, journalists seeking to objectively cover PKK activities have often beenimprisoned or obstructed. The use of these anti-state offense charges is just one way that the Turkish media is being intimidated and silenced in an increasing and long-term crackdown on legitimate journalism.
Media personnel must be allowed to operate freely without fear of unfounded persecution. We express solidarity with all of the journalists operating in Turkey, including Rasool and the other journalists imprisoned in the country. We, the undersigned, call on President Erdoğan and the Turkish authorities to drop all charges against Mohammed Ismael Rasool and ensure his immediate release. We further call for increased efforts to hold those responsible for violations of, and attacks on, free expression rights, and press freedom in the post-election environment and beyond.
Signed,
ARTICLE 19
Albanian Media Institute
Association for Civil Rights
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Cartoonists Rights Network International
Child Rights International Network
Committee to Protect Journalists
Freedom Forum
Fundamedios – Andean Foundation for Media Observation and Study
Independent Journalism Center – Moldova
Index on Censorship
Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information
International Federation of Journalists
International Publishers Association
Maharat Foundation
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
Media Institute of Southern Africa
Media Watch
Pacific Islands News Association
Pakistan Press Foundation
PEN American Center
PEN Canada
PEN International
Privacy International
Public Association “Journalists”
Reporters Without Borders
Social Media Exchange – SMEX
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
Canadian Association of Journalists
Canadian Media Guild
Centre for Law and Democracy
International Partnership for Human Rights
Newspapers Canada
Openmedia
Platform London
VICE
VICE News
