Let’s stand together against torture: Join #HumansAgainstTorture

Cambodia:  Joint statement: CSOs condemn discriminatory denial of medical care to #FreeThe5KH detainees

We, the undersigned, condemn the discriminatory and arbitrary denial of medical care to three of the five ‘#Freethe5KH’ detainees at Phnom Penh’s CC1 (Prey Sar) prison facility. Mr. Ny Sokha, Mr. Nay Vanda, and Mr. Yi Soksan have finally been granted access to doctors from the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), after such access had been arbitrarily restricted since April 2017. All three detainees experienced a serious deterioration in their health while the restrictions were in place. They have now been held in pre-trial detention for 426 days, along with their colleague at the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), Ms. Lim Mony, and Deputy Secretary General of the National Election Committee and former ADHOC staff member, Mr. Ny Chakrya.​

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Egypt:  Arbitrary detention, release on bail and judicial harassment against Ms. Esraa Fehead and Mr. Mahmoud Naguib

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary arrest, detention, release on bail and judicial harassment of Ms. Esraa Fehead, Founder and Executive Director of Horeya for Human Rights Organization in Port Said and a member of the Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in MENA as well as of Mr. Mahmoud Naguib, a former member of the April 6 Youth Movement[1].

 

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China: Joint Letter: EU Summit Should Make Rights A Priority

Our organizations have documented and advocated solutions to human rights violations in China for decades.  We write ahead of the June 2, 2017 European Union (EU)-China Summit in Brussels to urge you to use that occasion to lead the EU and its member states in demonstrating unified and unambiguous commitment to promoting human rights in China.  We note that the summit will be held two days before the 28^th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. It is an important reminder of your responsibility to raise in private and public interactions EU and member states’ concerns about human rights violations in China in all exchanges with your Chinese counterparts.

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OMCT E-Bulletin – May 2017

This E-Bulletin is part of OMCT’s “Convention Against Torture Programme”. OMCT mobilizes and coordinates activities of civil society organizations during the sessions of the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT). It facilitates the engagement of civil society by building coalitions, sharing information, ensuring timely and effective report submissions, advising on advocacy opportunities and supporting effective access to the CAT. Find out more on our work on our website. 

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Azerbaijan: Time for Justice for Ilgar Mammadov - The Council of Europe’s Legitimacy at Stake over Azerbaijan’s Persistent Non-compliance with European Court Judgment

Today three years have passed since the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment on the case of political prisoner Ilgar Mammadov, concluding that the Azerbaijani authorities had detained him to punish him for his criticism of the government. In spite of this ruling, and repeated calls for his release by Council of Europe bodies in follow-up to the ruling, the Azerbaijani authorities have persistently refused to execute the decision of the Court and free Ilgar Mammadov. In view of this, we, members of the Civic Solidarity Platform and the Sports for Rights Coalition call on the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to refer the case back to the ECtHR on the grounds of non-execution of the judgment. This is crucial to ensure justice for this wrongly imprisoned government critic, who has already spent more than four years behind bars, as well as to safeguard the legitimacy of the Council of Europe as the guardian of human rights and the rule of law in the region.

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