Author Archive for HQ Insider

Iran Censorship Extends to Golden Globes Stage

Published by
HQ Insider
- at January 17, 2012 in Freedom of Expression and Iran. 0 Comments

The contrast couldn’t have been any clearer at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony Sunday when it came to presenting the prize for Best Foreign Language Film.

Host Ricky Gervais’s irreverence for authority, and Madonna’s unrestrained immodesty were – for better or for worse – testaments to the universal right to express oneself freely.

Then came the solemnity of Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s acceptance speech after Madonna announced that his film “A Separation,” which he made in Iran and is still showing there, had won the category. Continue reading ‘Iran Censorship Extends to Golden Globes Stage’

Released Burma Dissident: We’re On a Leash

Published by
HQ Insider
- at January 15, 2012 in Burma (Myanmar) and UN Watch News. 0 Comments

Two Burmese dissident journalists spotlighted during UN Watch’s September human rights summit in New York are among political prisoners just released by the Burmese government.

The plights of Sithu Zeya, 21, and Hla Hla Win, 27, featured in the We Have a Dream presentation of Dr. Thaung Htun, United Nations representative of the opposition-in-exile National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma.

They were serving lengthy prison terms – 18 years for Sithu Zeya; 27 years for Hla Hla Win – for dispatching news video to the exiled Democratic Voice of Burma news service (DVB).

The freeing Friday of more than 300 political prisoners prompted the United States to pledge it would restore full diplomatic ties with Burma as U.S President Barack Obama called the move a “substantial step” towards democracy. Continue reading ‘Released Burma Dissident: We’re On a Leash’

After Embracing PLO, UNESCO Lobbies to Circumvent U.S. Funding Penalty

Published by
HQ Insider
- at January 13, 2012 in Palestinian UN membership bid and UNESCO. 8 Comments

UNESCO officials are braced for “months” of back-and-forth with the United States as they seek restoration of U.S. funding following mandated cuts in response to the Paris-based agency’s embrace of “Palestine” as a member, diplomatic sources report.

One confirmed that the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has been seeking ways to effect a waiver of the law that mandates immediate cessation of Washington’s contributions to any UN agency that allows Palestinian membership. But this official added that the one key person holding out is Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Indeed, the Florida Republican launched a call this week for the United States to “strengthen and preserve” the funding prohibition law. In a press release, she says that the Obama administration has “failed” in what she describes as efforts to “gut” the law and restore Washington’s UNESCO contributions. Continue reading ‘After Embracing PLO, UNESCO Lobbies to Circumvent U.S. Funding Penalty’

Islamic States Pledge Tolerance as Report Says They Practice Persecution

Published by
HQ Insider
- at January 13, 2012 in "Defamation of Religion", Freedom of Religion, General Assembly, Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). 2 Comments

Concerns about an Islamic-sponsored “combating intolerance” initiative at the United Nations are brought into sharp relief by results of a new world survey on religious persecution.

Muslim nations make up nine out of the top ten countries where Christians face the “most severe” persecution, and 38 of the top 50, reports U.S.-based Open Doors in its 2012 World Watch List.

Topping the list is North Korea, where the Stalinist regime enforces cult worship of its leaders.

The results lay bare the sheer incongruity of the idea that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), whose 56 member states control more than a quarter of the votes in the UN General Assembly, can be serious about promoting religious tolerance.

Yet that is what it claimed by successfully pushing for an assembly resolution titled “Combating intolerance, negative stereotyping, stigmatization, discrimination, incitement to violence and violence against persons, based on religion or belief.” The measure, which passed last month, mirrored an almost identical resolution in the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva last March. Continue reading ‘Islamic States Pledge Tolerance as Report Says They Practice Persecution’

China-Uyghur Clash: UN Watch Summit Speech Prescient

Published by
HQ Insider
- at January 8, 2012 in China, Terrorism and Xinjiang. 0 Comments

In an operation aimed at countering “violent terrorists,” Chinese government authorities killed seven “kidnappers” who were trying to leave the country to attend “foreign jihad camps” – but had stopped along the way to take two hostages.

That’s the official Chinese backstory – presented at a press conference this week – to a Dec. 28 shootout in the restive province of Xinjiang, where indigenous Muslim Uyghurs are struggling to preserve their culture in the face of a still-rising presence of Han Chinese.

Uyghur exiles give a different account of the shootout, which also left one police officer dead. They say police opened fire when locals clashed with officers during a demonstration outside the police bureau to protest a recent security crackdown.

Branding Uyghurs as “terrorists” when they’re involved in clashes with China’s authorities fits a pattern that Rebiya Kadeer, a prominent Uyghur businesswoman and human rights activist, outlined in detail when she spoke at UN Watch’s “We Have a Dream” human rights summit in New York in September. Continue reading ‘China-Uyghur Clash: UN Watch Summit Speech Prescient’

Burma Receives High-Level Visitors, but Reforms Slow

Published by
HQ Insider
- at January 6, 2012 in Burma (Myanmar). 0 Comments

Burma’s government is getting a lot of attention for being a so-called “reformist dictatorship,” but activists are warning there is a disconnect between what is being promised, and what is happening on the ground.

An order to cut jail terms and release some prisoners has been slammed as focusing too much on “common criminals.”

The League for Democracy Party of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader, highlighted that only about a dozen of up to 1,700 political detainees were among 900 prisoners the nominally civilian, but military-sanctioned government released Tuesday as it seeks an end to decades of economic sanctions. Continue reading ‘Burma Receives High-Level Visitors, but Reforms Slow’

UN Watch Congratulates Human Rights Activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam

Published by
HQ Insider
- at January 6, 2012 in Children's Rights, Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and Iran. 0 Comments

UN Watch sends congratulations and warm wishes to  Nazanin Afshin-Jam, a devoted activist and cherished colleague in the cause of universal human rights, and to Peter MacKay, Canada’s Minister of Defence, on their recent marriage.

Iranian-born Afshin-Jam has earned international recognition for her tireless advocacy on behalf of human rights victims in the Islamic Republic of Iran, deepening her activism after she rose to prominence in Canada and beyond as a beauty queen, singer, model and actress.

UN Watch gave Afshin-Jam its Human Rights Hero Award in 2009 in recognition of her activism, including as president and co-founder of Stop Child Executions, which fights for minors facing execution in Iran.

Appearing together with dissident and former political prisoner Ahmad Batebi,  Afshin-Jam represented UN Watch in a dramatic speech before the UN Human Rights Council in 2009, reproduced below.

Continue reading ‘UN Watch Congratulates Human Rights Activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam’

UN Indifferent to Gaza Rocket Attacks on Israel: Ambassador

Published by
HQ Insider
- at January 4, 2012 in Israel, Middle East, Security Council, Terrorism and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 1 Comment

The absence of any United Nations condemnation of the ceaseless Gaza-sourced rocket attacks on southern Israeli cities is highlighted in a letter Israel has sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council.

“This is a dangerous trend,” Ambassador Haim Waxman, Israel’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, says in comments reflecting the letter’s content.

“During the past month, more than 40 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israeli cities. Israel holds Hamas fully responsible for all acts of terrorism emanating from Gaza. We will continue to exercise our right to self-defense and take all measures necessary to protect our citizens.” Continue reading ‘UN Indifferent to Gaza Rocket Attacks on Israel: Ambassador’

UN Member States Denounce Burma Rights Record – With Exceptions

Published by
HQ Insider
- at December 25, 2011 in Burma (Myanmar), General Assembly and Human Rights Council (UNHRC). 0 Comments

Twenty countries voted with Burma Dec. 24 in opposing the UN General Assembly’s majority support for a resolution denouncing the  human rights record of the Burmese government. The resolution, titled Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar (Burma), expresses the assembly’s “grave concern about the ongoing systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Myanmar.”

As 83 countries endorsed the measure, 39 abstained from the vote, and 50 were absent, the 20 backing Burma’s opposition were:

Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nicaragua, Oman, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Viet Nam.

Iran, Syria, N. Korea Condemned, But Not By All

Published by
HQ Insider
- at December 20, 2011 in General Assembly, Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Iran, North Korea (DPRK) and Syria. 0 Comments

Roll calls detailed below reveal which countries voted with Iran, Syria and North Korea as the UN General Assembly passed resolutions Dec. 19 denouncing the human rights records of those three regimes. As in past years, Afghanistan, where NATO-led forces continue to battle on behalf of the country, split with the alliance’s members for the vote on Iran, and voted with the Islamic republic.

1. Situation of Human Rights in Iran: 89 in favour, 30 against, 64 abstentions.

Against:  Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Brunei Darussalam, China, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ecuador, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe. Continue reading ‘Iran, Syria, N. Korea Condemned, But Not By All’