Derechos Humanos / Human Rights

The World Movement for Democracy is concerned to learn about the widespread repressive actions taken by the Azerbaijani government in response to peaceful protests on October 19-20, 2019. These measures include arbitrary arrests, police brutality, and an internet and mobile shutdown. Such actions show the government’s flagrant disregard for its citizens’ basic human rights, including the right to peaceful assembly, the right to access information, and the right to free expression. We join organizations around the world in reminding the government of Azerbaijan of its international obligations to uphold these basic human rights.

Oct.22.– Prior to the protests, the government preemptively arrested and charged two protest organizers with politically motivated criminal cases. Additionally, organizations estimate that anywhere between 60-100 people were detained during the October 19 protest against political imprisonments and the country’s repressive government. Many videos show violent treatment of protesters, who are visibly unable to defend themselves, by police. In a separate protest regarding violence against women on October 20, police engaged in similarly brutal tactics.

Más de 200 personas habían logrado huir previamente del supuesto centro islámico de Daura en un motín

En Lagos, capital de Nigeria, rescatan a 19 mujeres y 4 niños de «fábricas de bebés» ←Pulse aquí 

Katsina, Oct.15.– La Policía de este Estado norteño de Katsina, en Nigeria, ha rescatado a 67 personas encadenadas y sometidas a «condiciones inhumanas y degradantes» en una «escuela islámica» en la ciudad de Daura, fronteriza con Níger, según fuentes policiales.

Madrid, Oct.11.– El Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos (OCDH) acusó al Consejo de Derechos Humanos de Naciones Unidas de ignorar permanentemente la represión del Gobierno de Cuba, que busca "criminalizar, acosar y destruir cualquier manifestación de descontento, utilizando sin recato el calabozo y la amenaza y despojando de sus estudios o trabajo al que piensa de otro modo, a estudiantes o trabajadores incómodos".

"Todo esto ha sido denunciado por diversas organizaciones de derechos humanos, sin que el Consejo haya hecho público su desacuerdo con tan arbitrario proceder", afirma el OCDH en una carta dirigida a Michelle Bachelet, Alta Comisionada para los Derechos Humanos de la ONU.

 Harare, Oct.1 (DP.net).– The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, Clement Voule, ended his 10-day visit to Zimbabwe on September 27, 2019, and issued a statement calling for the government to do more to reduce the recent series of attacks on civil society activists and to encourage dialog between political leaders and activists. Voule’s trip was the first official visit by a UN human rights expert to Zimbabwe, providing a unique opportunity for international engagement in a long closed-off country. 

Voule urged the government to do more to investigate and prevent abuses committed by government forces. He remarked that “to foster impunity is to foster distrust among the population, alienating them from the government, and quashing their hopes of meaningful change in the future.”

Three days before Voule’s arrival, Dr. Peter Magombeyi, the leader of an ongoing strike by Zimbabwe’s union of doctors and nurses, was abducted by what Douglas Coltart of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights believes were government affiliated forces. During Voule’s visit, Dr. Magombeyi was released, but since he had been poisoned during this capture he needed to be flown out of the country for medical treatment, thus preventing him from participating in the Rapporteur’s visit. Voule noted the seriousness of this incident and other issues in his report: