GENEVA – A group of United Nations independent experts, including Maina Kiai, today expressed deep concern about the critical health condition of prominent Chinese human rights defender Yang Maodong, known by his pen-name Guo Feixiong. They called on the Government of China to urgently provide Mr. Guo with specialized medical care, based on his full and informed consent, and stop all forms of ill-treatment. “We are concerned about repeated incidents of degrading and humiliating treatment suffered by Mr Guo in detention, both at the hands of other inmates and prison guards at Yangchun Prison in Guangdong province,” they said. Mr. Guo has been on a hunger strike for almost three months demanding to be transferred to another prison where he would be free from ill-treatment. “His public profile as a human rights defender seems to have been the cause and aggravating factor for the denial of appropriate medical care and ill-treatment, which included sleep deprivation, harassment, and humiliating medical procedure filmed by prison officials for public release,” the experts stated. The human rights defender was arrested in August 2013 for taking part in a public protest against official censorship of a Guangzhou newspaper. In November 2015, he was sentenced to six years of imprisonment on charges... Continue reading →
GENEVA – United Nations independent experts today expressed grave concerns at continued reports that human rights defenders are being subjected to physical attacks, harassment, arrest and detention, and death threats, particularly in Hebron in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), in an apparent bid by Israeli authorities and settler elements to stop their peaceful and important work. “Amidst a charged and violent atmosphere over past months in the OPT, Palestinian and international defenders are providing a ‘protective presence’ for Palestinians at risk of violence, and documenting human rights violations,” said the UN Special Rapporteur the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst. “The continued harassment of human rights defenders in the OPT, who are exercising their rights to freedoms of expression and association, is simply unacceptable. It should cease immediately,” Mr. Forst stressed. Earlier this month, a group of UN human rights experts urged the Israeli Government to ensure a protective environment where human rights defenders in the Occupied Palestinian Territory can work without unlawful restriction and without fear of retaliatory acts. “We recently addressed concerns to the Israeli Government regarding retaliatory acts by Israeli authorities against... Continue reading →
GENEVA – A group of United Nations human rights experts, including Maina Kiai, today condemned the recent prison sentencing of prominent Azerbaijani human rights activists Leyla and Arif Yunus as “manifestly politically motivated and representative of the continuing repression of independent civil society in Azerbaijan.” On 13 August 2015, the Baku Grave Crimes Court sentenced Ms. and Mr. Yunus to eight and a half and seven years’ imprisonment respectively on charges of fraud, tax evasion, and illegal entrepreneurship. They also face charges of treason. “The authorities of Azerbaijan must put an end immediately to all forms of persecution against human rights activists in the country,” the experts said. “Leyla and Arif Yunus are two of many activists in Azerbaijan, which include Anar Mammadli, Rasul Jafarov and Intigam Aliyev, who have been targeted because of their legitimate human rights work.” “Criminalization of those working for the promotion and protection of human rights in the country is deeply disconcerting,” the experts said, reiterating a call on the authorities they made one year ago “to reverse the trend of repression, criminalization and prosecution of human rights work in the country.” “Silencing these prominent voices is having a devastating impact on the... Continue reading →
