JBI Human Rights

JBI Concerns About Israeli Bill That Would Limit Defense of Human Rights

The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI) has sent a letter to Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him to oppose a bill before the Knesset which, if adopted, would undermine such basic freedoms as speech, association, and assembly.  In addition, the bill would hinder the promotion and protection of human rights for all by civil society, a longstanding aim of democratic societies and a principal Jewish value. 

 The bill, made public on November 30, would prohibit donations from foreign state entities to six categories of “restricted associations” and impose a 45% tax on donations from foreign state entities to public institutions that do not receive funding from the State of Israel. As a result of the broad terms used in the bill, it could be interpreted to categorize as "restricted associations" civil society organizations that call for accountability of government officials, including military officials, for human rights violations and for changes to unfair or discriminatory government policies and actions.

2011 Nobel Peace Prize Speeches Emphasize Women’s Human Rights on UN Human Rights Day

The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in Oslo on December 10, 2011 to three women "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work."  The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights salutes the recipients, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkol Karman.

JBI calls for a rededication of individuals and governments worldwide to the effort to protect women from violence and other abuses of their human rights. JBI reiterates its call for the United States government to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which 186 states have ratified. Excerpts from the inspiring Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speeches are below, in each case emphasizing the universality of the struggle for the human rights of women—and the importance of women in the struggle for human rights for all. The full speeches can be found at the Nobel Prize site.

 

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

In its selection this year, the Nobel Committee has brought here three women linked by their commitment to change, and by their efforts to promote the rule of law and democracy in societies riven by conflict. The fact that we – two women from Liberia – are here today to share the stage with a sister from Yemen speaks to the universality of our struggle….

I also honor the memory of countless women whose efforts and sacrifice will never be recognized, but who, in their private and silent struggles, helped to shape our world. …[T]his award belongs to the people whose aspirations we have the privilege to represent, and whose rights we have the obligation to defend. We are but their reflection.

UN Special Session on Syria Endorses Commission of Inquiry Report and Establishes Special Rapporteur

On Friday, December 2, the UN Human Rights Council held a special session on the human rights situation in Syria.  The impetus for the urgent session was the release on Monday, November 28 of a significant report by the UN on the ongoing serious human rights abuses being perpetrated by the Assad regime in Syria.  The report was the product of an independent international commission of inquiry (CoI) established by the UN Human Rights Council on August 22 and mandated to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law in Syria since March 2011. 

The Human Rights Council session resulted in the adoption of a resolution on Syria welcoming the Commission of Inquiry report and taking other actions to address the gross and systematic violations of human rights that the report found to have been committed by the Syrian authorities since March 2011. The vote on the resolution was 37 yes, 4 no (China, Cuba, Ecuador, Russia), and 6 abstentions (Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, India, Philippines, Uganda).

This was the third special session convened by the Council on the human rights situation in Syria in the past year.  The first such special session, held in April 2011, resulted in the creation of a fact-finding mission on Syria by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the report of which was published in August.  The second special session resulted in the creation of the Commission of Inquiry. 

The CoI report concludes it is "gravely concerned that crimes against humanity of murder, torture, rape, or other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty, enforced disappearance of persons, and other humane acts of a similar character have occurred in different locations in the country since March 2011, including, but not limited to, Damascus, Dar’a, Duma, Hama, Homs, Idlib and along the borders.” 

The CoI arrived at this conclusion on the basis of its findings that on multiple occasions the Syrian authorities have indiscriminately fired at unarmed demonstrators and on occasion without warning; that Syrian authorities are engaging in large-scale arbitrary, unlawful arrest and detention intended to intimidate protesters and anyone sympathetic to them (including human rights defenders, the family members of human rights defenders, and members of the security forces suspected of sympathizing with the demonstrators); and that the authorities are engaging in the widespread and systematic torture of those detained, including children.

The CoI report also contains a number of striking observations not highlighted in previous human rights reports on the ongoing abuses in Syria.  These include:

• "[P]rior to operations to stop civilian demonstrators, military commanders told their units, falsely, that they were going to fight ‘terrorists,’ ‘armed gangs,’ or Israelis.  Television sets in barracks and soldiers’ cellular phones were confiscated… Different pretexts were used to create the impression that the civilian protesters were ‘terrorists’ or ‘armed gangs’: for example, in the Saqba suburb of Damascus, security forces circled behind protesters and fired towards the soldiers deployed there to create the impression that the soldiers were being fired upon.”
• In a number of cases, injured people who were taken to military hospitals were subsequently beaten and tortured during interrogation, including by security forces dressed as doctors in Homs.
• Arbitrary arrests and unlawful detentions were widespread and occurred at an alarming rate in a number of places regarded supportive of the protest movement. 
• Syrian forces allegedly used live fire against individuals trying to flee the country and targeted individuals who succeeded in crossing the border but later approached the border while still on the territory of a neighboring state.  Syrian forces have allegedly placed mines at the border with Lebanon to prevent people from fleeing over the border.
• According to “extensive reports,” Syrian security forces committed torture in the form of sexual abuse against men and boys in detention, and found that "the pervasive nature, recurrence and reported readiness of Syrian authorities to use torture as a tool to instill fear indicate that State officials have condoned its practice."

The COI report directs recommendations to Syria regarding immediately halting all gross violations of human rights and ensuring prompt, independent, and impartial investigations and accountability.  It also recommends that the Human Rights Council establish a special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Syria and to "take urgent steps, through the General Assembly, the Secretary-General and the Security Council, to implement the recommendations in the report."