Protect Defenders NOW - ProtectDefenders.eu DIGEST November 2016



	URGENT APPEALS - NOVEMBER 2016 Share on Twitter

HONDURAS - RECENT KILLINGS AND OVERALL DEGRADATION OF THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

ProtectDefenders.eu partners are expressing their deep concern about the recent killings and the constant plight of human rights defenders in Honduras. In October 2016:

Two Human Rights Defenders were killed by unidentified men: José Ángel Flores and Silmer Dionisio George, members of Movimiento Unificado Campesino del Aguán (MUCA) .

Fernando Alemán Banegas, the son of the woman Human Rights Defender, Esly Emperatriz Banegas, who has been denouncing for years the situation of human rights in Bajo Aguán, was killed.

Two defenders survived assassination attempts: Alexander García Sorto and Tomás Gómez Membreño, members of Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras (COPINH)

A burglary was reported at the offices of the LGBTI organisation AJEM / Somos CDC, adding to the repeated harassment and death threats against its members.

Honduras is ranked 137th out of 180 countries in the RSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom Index.

In the last twelve months, ProtectDefenders.eu has supported Human Rights Defenders from Honduras through :

- 12 emergency grants to implement individual security measures and urgently relocate away from danger;

- a twelve-month relocation grant to a human rights defender and his family;

- two grants to fund the advocacy activities of local human rights organisations;

- six trainings or capacity-building initiatives for Honduran defenders.

ProtectDefenders.eu has carried out a fact-finding mission and a trial monitoring in the country and carries out monitoring and advocacy activities in the field on an ongoing basis, with a strong focus on land and environmental defenders as well as indigenous peoples.

DRC - SEVERE THREATS AND JUDICIAL ABUSES

During the last month, ProtectDefenders.eu partners have reported about several cases of intimidation, threats and judicial harassment against human rights defenders in the Democratic Republic of Congo:

Two Human Rights defenders received death threats: Bernadette Ntumba -coordinator of the Association des Mamans Chrétiennes pour l’Assistance aux Vulnérables- in link with her intervention in a rape case involving a minor and Jean-Marie Kabengele Ilunga, a human rights lawyer involved in the case of the killings of Floribert Chebeya and Fidèle Bazana.

Judicial harassment is ongoing against Jean de Dieu Kilima, member of collective « Front Citoyen 2016 », after his conditional release.

The DRC is ranked 152nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index. while its president is on RSF’s list of press freedom predators because he allows attacks on journalists to take place with complete impunity.

In 2016, ProtectDefenders.eu has provided 14 emergency grants to defenders from DRC to cover emergency relocation measures and medical and legal expenses related to the threats and assaults they face, as well as two temporary relocation grants for defenders to relocate at the regional level for a longer duration. ProtectDefenders.eu also provided a journalist organisation in DRC with a grant to consolidate their capacities.

KAZAKHSTAN - JUDICIAL HARASSMENT AND ARBITRARY DETENTION

In October 2016, ProtectDefenders.eu has alerted about the judicial harassment and criminalisation against human rights defenders in Kazakhstan:

Two defenders are facing a trial after eight months of arbitrary detention: Max Bokayev, a human rights defender working for the protection of the environment, freedom of expression and the fight against torture, and Talgat Ayan, a lawyer and activist. Both played a crucial role in the social protests that took place last April and early May against the amendments to the Land Code of Kazakhstan.

Two defenders were forcefully detained and a civic activist and blogger was severally beaten and threatened by unidentified men in the context of protests against the ongoing judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of the two above-mentioned activists: Elena Semenova, Shattik Tazkenova and Rinat Iskaliev.

Kazakhstan is ranked 160th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom Index.

ProtectDefenders.eu is supporting the monitoring of the trial against Max Bokayev and Talgat Ayan in Atyrau (Kazakhstan), carried out by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and several local and national and international human rights organisations.