Tag: defend the defender

FoRB on the Frontlines: “If I can kill a priest then I can kill anyone”

Posted on by cswpress

In several Latin American countries, religious leaders often take on the roles of community leader and human rights defender. As a result, these leaders often face harassment, intimidation and even violence at the hands of state and non-state actors. Over the next few weeks CSW will be presenting interviews with religious leaders working in the region to highlight their experiences on the frontlines of freedom of religion or belief.

Father Omar Sotelo Aguilar works in Mexico for the Catholic Multimedia Centre (CCM) documenting attacks against Catholic priests.

“In recent years Mexico has been a dangerous place for journalists, priests and other religious leaders. I have been a Catholic priest and a journalist for about 25 years now, so I face a double risk. But even without taking this into account, we are as exposed as any other person.

I decided to approach this work from a journalist’s perspective as it is an issue that was not very visible, but was a very harsh reality. Good journalism, like good advocacy, is based on facts, figures and documentation.

Continue reading “FoRB on the Frontlines: “If I can kill a priest then I can kill anyone”” →

En la línea de fuego frente a la LdRC: “Salimos de la ciudad para no volver”

Posted on by cswpress

En algunos países latinoamericanos, líderes religiosos frecuentemente desempeñan papeles como líderes comunitarios y defensores de los derechos humanos. Como resultado, estos líderes se enfrentan al acoso, la intimidación e incluso la violencia en las manos de actores estatales y no estatales. Durante las próximas semanas CSW presentará entrevistas con líderes religiosos quienes trabajan en la región para destacar sus experiencias en la línea de fuego frente a la libertad de religión o creencia (LdRC).

Otto es un pastor Protestante quien huyó de Tuluá, Colombia.

“Si dice algo va a terminar como esos dos…

Era un domingo en la mañana, y todo iba como de costumbre, pero en ese día iba a cambiar nuestras vidas.

LEE MÁS

FoRB on the Frontlines: “We left the city and did not return”

Posted on by cswpress

In several Latin American countries, religious leaders often take on the roles of community leader and human rights defender. As a result, these leaders often face harassment, intimidation and even violence at the hands of state and non-state actors. Over the next few weeks CSW will be presenting interviews with religious leaders working in the region to highlight their experiences on the frontlines of freedom of religion or belief.

Otto is a Protestant pastor working in Tuluá, Colombia.

“If you say anything you will end up like those two…

It was a Sunday morning, everything was normal, but it was a day in which our lives would change.

Continue reading “FoRB on the Frontlines: “We left the city and did not return”” →

FoRB on the Frontlines: It’s Time to Defend the Defender

Posted on by cswpress

Over the past month CSW has been speaking with HRDs across South Asia to find out what it means to be a FoRB defender in the region. Today, International Human Rights Day, we present a guest blog post by Michel Forst, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders.

“Human rights defenders are those community and religious leaders, journalists, activists, lawyers, trade unionists and others who take on the plight of the most marginalised in their society. These defenders of human rights represent people in the face of oppression, violence and harassment, doing what they can to hold perpetrators to account, and uphold the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), among many other resolutions that states across the world are committed to upholding. Many of these defenders face the same intense persecution as those they seek to defend, with many facing threats and risks of violence, torture and even death on a daily basis.

That is why, this year, I joined calls to award the Nobel peace prize to the global community of human rights defenders – especially as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders on 10 December.

As the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, I believe that this declaration must be given foremost importance amongst the international community moving forward, with regards to the protection and sanctity of all human rights worldwide. Indeed, this year the recipients of the Nobel peace prize were human rights defenders Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, further proof that the work of HRDs worldwide helps to bring about lasting change, peace and reconciliation.

Continue reading “FoRB on the Frontlines: It’s Time to Defend the Defender” →

FoRB on the Frontlines: An atmosphere of self-censorship

Posted on by cswpress

In the run-up to Human Rights Day on 10 December and the 20th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders on 9 December, CSW has been speaking with HRDs across South Asia to find out what it means to be a FoRB defender in the region.

Julfikar is a human rights defender working in Bangladesh:

“When friends, well-wishers and colleagues frequently advise me to restrict my movement and leave my country for safety elsewhere, it becomes an indescribable mental pressure. I have been facing this reality for many years now, but it has intensified over the last one year as Bangladesh heads to the national election on December 30.

I have spent 28 years as a professional journalist. During this period, I have witnessed horrific political, religious violence, and brutal terror attacks in the name of Islam. I have investigated and covered many of those traumatic events and closely observed others. There are many more to investigate, but the situation is gradually becoming more difficult for people like me. 

In my career, I have exposed violations of human rights, religious persecution, atrocities, intimidation, war crimes of 1971 and criminal activities, abuse of law, corruption, hate campaign, propaganda and fake news on the social media with ill motives.

Continue reading “FoRB on the Frontlines: An atmosphere of self-censorship” →