Front Line News Archive

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that the Bahrainian authorities have refused to disclose the whereabouts of human rights defender, Mr Abdul-Redha Hassan Al-Saffar, who was arbitrarily arrested, early in the morning of 21 December 2008, from his residence in Mahooze village by state security forces despite there being no arrest warrant against him. No reason has been given for his arrest and his whereabouts are as yet unknown.  

On Tuesday 23 December 2008, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) began to receive piecemeal information that various individuals, including civil society activists and members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) who had been abducted over the last 7 weeks, were believed to be held in various police stations around Harare.  

We are delighted to announce that Ms. Cherifa Kheddar of Algeria was successfully nominated as the winner of the 2009 International Service Human Rights Award for the Defence of the Human Rights of Women. We are so pleased that her tireless and important work has been recognized and we hope that this international visibility helps in her current situation, where the local government is putting pressure upon her livelihood and residence. For background to the alerts issued regarding Cherifa please see here

Five UN and regional human rights mechanisms and representatives launch a joint warning on the persistent challenges facing human rights defenders on the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on Human Rights defenders  

To coincide with events organised in Ireland by Front Line to mark the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders I am pleased to issue a statement to mark this significant milestone.

The 10th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders offers us the opportunity to renew our support for this important document. The adoption of the text in 1998 was the culmination of years of negotiations and the final result was a strong, useful and pragmatic text. The Declaration is not just addressed to States and to human rights defenders, but also reminds us that we all have a role to play in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.  

Front Line welcomes the decision of a Lebanese Criminal Court to dismiss charges of criminal slander against Muhammad Mugraby on 27 November 2008. The charges had arisen from a speech that Muhammad Mugraby gave to a European Parliament delegation in Brussels on 4 November 2003 which criticised the Lebanese government for its abuse of the judiciary. Despite the dismissal of charges against Muhammad Mugraby, Front Line is concerned about numerous other legal actions pending against Muhammad Mugraby.  

Case Update

Front Line welcomes the release of Osman Hummaida from detention in the office of the National Security Service (NSS) in Northern Khartoum on 28 November 2008 at around 12.30 am. Abdelmoneim Aljak and Amir Mohamed Suliman, who were arrested with Osman Hummaida and redetained several times, have not been rearrested. Despite the release of the human rights defenders from detention, Front Line condemns the torture and ill-treatment that Osman Hummaida and Abdelmoneim Aljak were subjected to in the course of interrogation.  

The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project/Network has launched a new website at http://www.defenddefenders.org. The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP) seeks to strengthen the work of human rights defenders (HRDs) throughout the region by reducing their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and by enhancing their capacity to effectively defend human rights.