News Archive
Page 41 of 134 (1332 articles)
Updates from January 2021
Dear friends and colleagues, Internet shutdowns are becoming increasingly wide-spread tools of oppression in the East and Horn of Africa. Cutting access to the internet violates a multitude of human rights, including rights to freedom of expression, access to information, association, peaceful assembly, political participation, health, and education. Internet shutdowns impede development and can have […]
Human Rights Defender of the Month: Chantal Mutamuriza
Chantal Mutamuriza does not wait for problems to be solved. When the Burundian woman human rights defender (WHRD) encounters a problem, she will seek a solution there and then. When hundreds of thousands Burundians had to flee from political unrest in 2015, many of them were stranded in refugee camps with little economic opportunity or access to education. In her problem-solving spirit, Chantal felt compelled to act: she quit her job to put her skills and network to use and founded the NGO Light For All.
Uganda: Data on internet blocks and nationwide internet outage amid 2021 general election
Amid its 2021 general election, Uganda was disconnected from the internet entirely. The country experienced a widespread internet blackout that lasted 4 days, starting on the eve of the election (13 January 2021) and ending in the morning of 18 January 2021. In the days leading up to the election, access to major social media platforms and circumvention […]
Rwanda: UN rights review should shed light on civic space restrictions
A United Nations review of Rwanda’s human rights record is an opportunity to shed light on civic space restrictions in the country, DefendDefenders and CIVICUS said ahead of Rwanda’s third Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which will take place on Monday 25 January 2021 in Geneva. These restrictions include attacks on civil society actors and citizens […]
Call for applications for Monitoring and Evaluation Associate
Job Title: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Associate Reports to: Monitoring and Evaluation Expert Responsible for: None Directorate: Programmes Location: Kampala with frequent travels to field locations BACKGROUND DefendDefenders (the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project) is the secretariat of East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, which represents thousands of […]
Human Rights Defender of the Month: Foni Joyce
Foni Joyce has engaged in humanitarian work since the age of 20, when she joined a refugee student organisation to amplify the voices of refugees. Originally from South Sudan, Foni grew up as a refugee in Nairobi, Kenya, but she makes it clear that ‘refugee’ is merely a legal definition: “I firstly define myself as a human being who has been uprooted.”
Updates from December 2020
Dear friends and colleagues, Happy new year! As we leave 2020 behind us, I wish to reflect on our activities and events that had an impact on the situation of human rights defenders (HRDs) in the East and Horn of Africa sub-region in December of last year. Together with the National Coalition of Human Rights […]
Annual Report 2020
Throughout 2020, further shrinking of civic space was witnessed across the region, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Human rights defenders (HRDs) were disproportionately affected by increased restrictions on freedom of peaceful assembly, expression, and access to information. While new regulations were enacted to curb the spread of the virus and misinformation, they were also used to silence opposing voices and curtail protest movements, spurred on by increased police violence during COVID-19 lockdowns in countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Uganda: Call for Immediate Release of prominent human rights defender- Nicholas Opiyo and two others.
The undersigned organisations strongly condemn the arbitrary arrest of renowned human rights defender Nicholas Opiyo. On 22 December, Opiyo in the company of two other lawyers Odur Anthony and Esomu Simon were arrested at about 4.buy viagra oral jelly online www.lifefoodstorage.store/wp-content/themes/astra/languages/en/viagra-oral-jelly.html no prescription 00pm by plain clothed security agents at Lamaro restaurant in Kamokya suburb, […]
End of year statement 2020
Dear friends and colleagues, This year was overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected our normal way of operating. With offices closed, our technology set up allowed us to rethink and adapt quickly to the restrictive pandemic measures. We always made it clear that while it is legitimate to weigh public health concerns against the protection of fundamental rights, any such restriction must be temporary, lawful, non-discriminatory, strictly necessary, and […]