Category: Media Monitoring
Overwhelming Majority of States support a Universal Moratorium on the Death Penalty
(Paris, 20 December 2016) FIDH applauds the adoption of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution to establish a global moratorium on the death penalty, endorsed by an overwhelming majority on 19 December 2016. A record number of 117 States voted in favor of the text; 40 voted against it, and 31 abstained. “This vote […]
The Philippines: Congress should block effort to reintroduce death penalty
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, express serious concern over the rapid efforts by members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines to adopt a bill restoring the death penalty in the country. On 29 November 2016, the Sub-Committee on Judicial Reforms of the House Committee on Justice, which is chaired by Congressman Marcelino […]
FIDH draws attention to violence against women in Africa in a comic strip
(Paris, 24 November 2016) Every day, everywhere, women are victims of sexual violence. FIDH and its members and partners are fighting daily to end this scourge. To this end, States must be held accountable: they have the obligation and the means to take measures to eliminate violence against women. On the occasion of the International […]
BANGLADESH: Mahmudur Rahman finally freed after more than three years in arbitrary detention
Paris-Geneva-Hong-Kong, November 24, 2016 – After 1,322 days in arbitrary detention, journalist Mr. Mahmudur Rahman has been finally released on bail this afternoon. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) welcome his long-overdue release, and urge authorities to drop all pending charges against him. […]
Philippines: Plans to reinstate the death penalty must be abandoned
and its member organization in the Philippines Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) Joint press release Philippines: Plans to reinstate the death penalty must be abandoned (Paris, Manila, 18 November 2016) Philippine parliamentarians must shelve proposed draft legislation aimed at reinstating the death penalty in the country’s legal system, FIDH and its member […]
Egypt: Newly adopted NGO Bill to annihilate the human rights movement
Geneva-Paris, November 18, 2016 – The Egyptian Parliament has approved a new NGO bill which, should it come into force, will eradicate associations in the country, said the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders today. Even more restrictive than the one put forward in September, this new legislative initiative is the latest attempt to […]
ALERT: HUMAN RIGHTS IN DANGER!
ALERT: HUMAN RIGHTS IN DANGER! REPRESSION AND GENOCIDAL DYNAMICS IN BURUNDI FIDH and its Burundian member organisation, the ITEKA League, have just published a new report on Burundi. This 200-page document is the result of 18 months of investigation and analysis. It shows how far President Nkurunziza’s government has advanced in its criminal actions to […]
Canadian lawyers’ group calls for probe into Rashid’s murder
The Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, a group of lawyers and human rights defenders enjoying special consultative status with ECOSOC, has called upon the government of Pakistan to get the Rashed Rehman murder investigated by an independent agency. The group has also recommended the creation of a mechanism for providing protection to lawyers and other human […]
Syria: Free Human Rights Lawyer Khalil Ma’touq Held for 4 Years
Geneva, New York, 4 October 2016 – Syria should immediately release the Human Rights Lawyer Khalil Ma’touq and his assistant, Mohamed Thatha, 31 human rights organizations said today, on the fourth anniversary of their enforced disappearance. On October 2, 2012, the two men are believed to have been arrested at a government-operated checkpoint on their way from Ma’touq’s home in the Damascus suburb […]
The DRC under scrutiny: the Human Rights Council places the country at the center of its attention
Geneva, Paris, 30 September 2016 — The UN Human Rights Council placed the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) under scrutiny today by adopting a resolution that puts the country at the center of its attention. This strong political move was essential to respond to the human rights crisis that is unfolding in the DRC […]
