protest restrictions

  • Nicaragua: Cese de la violencia en contra de los manifestantes pacíficos

    Inglés

    La alianza global de la sociedad civil CIVICUS y la Coordinadora Civil de Nicaragua hacen un llamamiento al gobierno de Nicaragua para que detenga la violencia contra las personas que se manifiestan de manera pacífica y para que respete su derecho a manifestarse libremente y de forma pacífica. Después de 54 días de protesta, 135 personas han sido asesinadas, más de 1000 han resultado heridas y 400 detenidas. Mientras tanto, estas personas manifestantes piden al presidente Daniel Ortega que renuncie.
  • Persecution of rural protest movement leaders continue as crisis deepens in Nicaragua
    • Three campesino environmental activists mistreated in detention, awaiting trial
    • UN report confirms continued targeting of campesino leaders by government
    • UN staff expelled from Nicaragua after UN report on protesters’ rights abuses
    • More than 320 people killed since violent crackdown on protests began in April
    • Global rights groups urge authorities to drop all charges, release campesinoleaders
    • Polish authorities must stop persecuting and intimidating protesters

      Read the statement in Polish

      • Civil society organisations express serious concerns over civic space restrictions in Poland
      • Detention and intimidation of protesters by authorities a huge concern
      • Protests sparked by decision to impose a near-total ban on abortion
    • Rights group condemns arbitrary detention of protesters in Pakistan and the police killing of activist
      • Global rights alliance condemns the prison detention of protesters of the ethnicPashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) in Pakistan and killing of one of their leaders
      • More than 80 PTM activists were arrested on 5 February for protesting the death of Arman Loni in police custody three days earlier.
      • The PTM is a social movement demanding equality for Pakistan’s Pashtun community, which has suffered systemic discrimination and human rights violations
      • State of civil society in Equatorial Guinea: An interview with CEID

        Spanish

        CIVICUS speaks to Alfredo Okenve, board member in charge of the International Cooperation and Good Governance Programmes of the Centre for Development Studies and Initiatives (CEID). Since 2012 Okenve coordinates the network of national CSOs in Equatorial Guinea. Trained as a physicist, he is a human rights defender and social activist with more than 20 years’ experience in consulting and management of development and civil society projects in Equatorial Guinea. He has worked as a professor of Mathematics and Physics and held a managerial position at the National University of Equatorial Guinea.

        1. The government of Equatorial Guinea is among the worst human rights abusers in the world. How would you describe the environment for civil society activity in the country?
        Civil society is still fledgling in Equatorial Guinea. It dates back to the nineties, and it faces internal difficulties such as a lack of tradition and experience in development and human rights work. It does not have much institutional support either - neither external nor domestic. However, the greatest among its current challenges lies with Equatorial Guinea’s government system. The ruling regime does not uphold any fundamental right, including the right to freedom of association enshrined in our Constitution. The environment is unfavourable, even hostile, to civil society work in every respect (the law, actual practices, lack of respect for human rights, funding, etc.). And it is particularly so for independent groups such as our NGO. There is a long list of legally recognised organisations in the country, but this basically serves the government to show that it respects the right to free association. In practice, however, the Ministry of the Interior stigmatises those organisations that want to work for the country’s development without following its orders, by arbitrarily attributing them uncivil actions. It has even suspended by decree the activities of NGOs like CEID, our organisation, or AGECDEA, another organisation dedicated to the “dangerous” task of providing solidary support to the elderly.
        The situation has not improved in spite of the many civil society initiatives directed at the government to foster dialogue, improve the environment for civil society and promote human rights and the fight against poverty. On the contrary, in recent years Equatorial Guinea has been increasingly militarised, as if we were living under a state of siege.

        2. What are the obstacles limiting the freedom of association in Equatorial Guinea? How have they affected you and your organisation?
        Domestic laws and administrative practices are very restrictive. On one hand, the process for the legalisation of an organisation is long and full of obstacles. For example, it requires the organisation’s promoters to submit to the Ministry of the Interior an affidavit certifying that it will submit to its control on a quarterly basis, plus a favourable report from the Ministry of the area in which the organisation wishes to work, and another report from the governor or provincial government delegate. It also requires them to formalise the constitution of the entity before a notary public, who in turn must obtain an authorisation from the Ministry of the Interior to validate this act. No legally constituted association is allowed to receive any donation, whether local or foreign, private or public, above a hundred US dollars without prior authorisation from the Interior Minister. Another example: no legally constituted organisation, that is, no organisation that has been allowed by the government to function, can deal directly with a beneficiary community without an additional authorisation or credential; this is not what the law says, but it is “customary”.

        Additionally the government routinely threatens the members of those organisations that are considered to be “enemies of the fatherland”, that is, those that are not aligned politically with the government. Last December, the governor of the Litoral province, where our headquarters are located, gathered all regional and provincial authorities and urged them not to interact with our NGO since their Ministry is in charge of the third sector, and the Minister had decreed our suspension.
        Personally, as a professor and staff of the National University, I have not received my salary and have been arbitrarily and illegally banned from doing my job since June 2010, despite a shortage of teachers –all because of my condition as a social leader, human rights defender and good governance activist. What they are trying to do is condemn me to social exclusion and thereby send a warning to forcefully discourage civil society.
        From 2015 on, the country’s CSOs have submitted to the government joint proposals to reform the laws of associations, indicating the limitations that the current law imposes on our social work; we have also raised the need for a national forum or conference on the role of civil society in the country. We have not yet received any official response.

        3. Equatorial Guinea has one of the lowest Internet penetration rates in Africa, and online censorship is routine. How do you manage to get your work done when the freedom of expression and information is so restricted?
        Internet access remains a problem for us, either because of the low technology level or the lack of telematics capabilities of the country, or because of blockages imposed on critical websites or social networks such as Facebook or Twitter –coupled with electricity supply problems in most of the country.
        Internally, we have no choice other than try to bypass and endure these obstacles, but it is indeed difficult and it restricts our work capacity. At the organisational level, we have adopted the strategy of opening spaces for information and coordination among our country’s civil society organisations, notably the National Coordination of CSOs, a platform and meeting point for the solidarity action of civil society.

        4. Are protests allowed in Equatorial Guinea? How are citizens treated when the try to protest?
        Our Constitution recognises the right to strike and demonstrate. The written rules state that a notification to the government authorities would suffice to exercise this right. In practice, however, the only demonstrations that are allowed and that are actually taking place in our country are those of support and praise to the President of the Republic and his policies –that is to say, those that are summoned by the government or the PDGE (Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea), the ruling party. Anyone promoting a demonstration against the government policies or any other form of expression, even the mere distribution of information leaflets in the streets, generally ends up under interrogation, tortured, imprisoned and/or dismissed from their jobs. Any claim or remedy that is filed with the competent authority in this regard is either denied or ignored. I think the situation is similar to that of closed regimes such as North Korea’s.

        5. What are CEID’s aims? How does the organisation do its work within this context?
        CEID is a not-for-profit, non-denominational and independent organisation. It began to form in 1996, at a time when our country was, despite its plentiful resources, among the most underdeveloped countries in Africa. It originated out of the concerns of a group of young graduates from several European universities (mostly Spanish and Russian), coming from fields as diverse as International Cooperation, Journalism, Economics, Engineering and Medicine. All of us wanted to contribute from civil society to improve the living conditions and the prospects for development of their fellow citizens, and were convinced that fostering a responsible, conscious, participative and enabled citizenry was of the utmost importance. And we shared the idea that the only real form of development is human, inclusive, sustainable and integral development. We wanted to dedicate our time to volunteer but professional work to fight against poverty and marginalisation through research and cooperation. The NGO was set up in Malabo in April 1997, and only by the end of 1998 did we obtain the authorisation to operate in the country.

        We started working to identify the development problems of our country, analysing possible solutions from civil society. As a result, we set out at the grassroots level with two important programmes: the Civil Society Strengthening Programme and the Local Community Development Programme. A large part of our interventions were designed around these programmes. But we found out that international funding was in retreat because Guinea had become, thanks to its fossil fuel production, a middle-income country –even though our government had no intention or will to use any of that income to fund development through non-governmental entities. The ruling regime, which is totalitarian and based on monolithic thinking, never liked the sight of actors out of its orbit venturing on the national stage. There were plenty of attempts to co-opt our leaders, with diverse degrees of success. For all of these reasons, two years after we were granted legal personality we went through a crisis that led us to total hibernation lasting for about six years. We resumed our activities in 2007-2008, and now our priorities include human rights and good governance, issues that were prohibited to us by law until 2006. We also found some timid international support.
        In sum, our work has focused on the introduction of new information technologies in education, local community and rural development, good governance and, above all, the strengthening of civil society. Since its inception five years ago, CEID leads the National Coordinating Network of Civil Society Organisations. We have also done consultancy work with international development and cooperation organisations and programmes.

        We have a Board of Directors that is renewed every three years, and we gather in members’ assemblies every 18 months. Our headquarters are located in Bata, the country’s second capital. We cover our operating expenses and minor projects with the fees paid by our members-partners and the odd consultancy job; for development projects of a certain magnitude, of which we have already executed (or are in the process of implementing) fourteen, we seek external funds. So far all of these funds have come from the few international cooperation agencies that are still active in the country, or from occasional consortia with extractive industries fulfilling their commitment to corporate social responsibility. We have never received a single dollar from the State of Guinea.

        Most CEID members are public servants and our dedication to NGO work is voluntary. This leaves us in a situation of great vulnerability, as we appear as easy prey for harassment, threats and blackmail. Nevertheless, we try to find courage in the conviction that we are doing something that is very necessary and, generally speaking, unprecedented. So far we have managed not to deviate from our ideas.
        Unfortunately, we don’t have any self-protection strategy in place. The constant restrictions we face, plus the challenge of overcoming them while working on the ground in order to fulfil our commitments have left us no time or capacity to establish much-needed contingency policies. We therefore just try to always work within the legal framework and to appeal to the legality of all our actions.

        As we lack the capacity to directly execute many of our initiatives, we usually submit them as suggestions to the institutions that are in a position or whose job it is to implement them. That is why we are always encouraging meetings and advocacy with government institutions such as those in the good governance sector (human rights, transparency) and in social sectors such as education, health and children’s care. We take a similar stance towards other NGOs that we have been providing training to. In 2011 we founded the Coordinating Network along with sectorial sub-networks to join efforts and promote collective initiatives. CEID plays a very active part in the tripartite EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) National Commission, created in 2007, in representation of civil society. It is a challenge for Guinean civil society to have its own space recognised and for NGOs to be treated as development actors in their own right.

        6. What can domestic actors do to promote respect for human rights and a healthy civic space in Equatorial Guinea?
        We believe that the steps that we are already taking are the right ones and we need to work to improve them, because they are based on participatory strategies. Despite the obstacles and restrictions faced by Guinean civil society, we struggle to conquer spaces. Lobbying, advocacy and perseverance are as necessary as increased cohesion and solidarity. An example of the steps we have taken is the creation, within the Coordinating Network, of sectorial groups and specifically one for Human Rights and Transparency. On the same line of action, through the national information media CEID has been able to keep over the past four years a one-hour weekly radio space from which to promote respect for human rights, social involvement and public spiritedness. Likewise, we have proposed to the Ministry of Education the introduction of the subject of civic and social education within the national school curriculum.

        7. How can external actors, including regional organisations and international solidarity movements, support civil society in Equatorial Guinea?
        Civil society organisations in Equatorial Guinea need not just financial but also human, technical and institutional support from regional and international organisations. We need management tools and training on issues related to the development of civic spaces in restrictive environments, and to the role of civil society in the struggle for the rule of law and against poverty. We need to be wrapped up in solidarity and not be left alone; we need international actors to integrate us into their sub-regional, regional and global networks and to advocate for us with their governments, which maintain relations with Equatorial Guinea, so they put pressure on ours to provide a favourable environment for civil society.

        Civic space in Equatorial Guinea is rated as ‘closed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor.
        Get in touch with CEID through their website or visit their Facebook page.
      • Thailand: Government must respect and protect the rights of demonstrators

        GettyImages 1229088941 Thailand Oct 2020

        We, the undersigned organizations, condemn the Thai police’s unnecessary and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters marching to the national parliament in Bangkok on November 17, 2020. We are concerned that authorities could employ similar measures when facing protesters who have declared they will march to the Siam Commercial Bank headquarters on November 25.
      • The situation in Sudan since the coup is critical, and risks further escalation

        Statement at the 49th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
      • Tunisia: release LGBTQI+ activist Rania Amdouni and stop violence against peaceful protesters

        Arabic

        The sentencing of human rights defender and LGBTQI+ activist Rania Amdouni to six months in prison by a court in Tunis on 4 March 2021 for participating in peaceful protests calling for social and economic justice is an attack on the rights to freedom of expression and assembly in Tunisia. Rania is a member of Damj,

        the Tunisian Association for Justice and Equality, and was sentenced on charges of “insulting police and abuse of morals,” after participating in ongoing protests. 

        A decade after the Arab Spring spread across the Middle East, Tunisia is still suppressing fundamental democratic freedoms.  Ongoing protests that have swept Tunisia since 15 January 2021, calling for an end to corruption and policy brutality, and urging the government to implement social and economic reforms. More than 1600 protesters have been arrested so far with major concerns that security forces are specifically targeting members of the LGBTQI+ community.  

        Rania had been monitored and targeted by security forces after she became a visible part of the protests, before finally being arrested on 27 February 2021.

        “Ten years after the Arab Spring that led to major changes in the political dynamics in Tunisia, the Tunisian authorities are still trampling on the same rights protesters demonstrated.  The arrests of protesters and unlawful sentencing of activists like Rania Amdouni is an indication that not much has changed in terms of human rights over the last ten years,” said Masana Ndinga-Kanga, CIVICUS Advocacy Lead for the Middle East and North Africa, “Rania Amdouni and all those arrested in relation to the protests should be released immediately.”

        Many of those arrested for their role in the protests have been subjected to physical abuse, threats and intimidation during the protests or in detention centers.  Those in detention centers are kept in crowded and unsanitary conditions, exposing them to COVID-19. Many others have fled the country or have been forced to self-censor to avoid violent repercussions.

        Global civil society alliance CIVICUS calls on the Tunisian authorities to release Rania Amdouni and other activists immediately, and to stop violently suppressing protests.

        Background

        Demonstrations in Tunisia started on 15 January 2021 as protesters raised concerns over increasing levels of corruption and inequality and called for social and economic reforms.  The protests spread in response to the violent attacks against demonstrators by security forces.  Some activists have resorted to self-censorship due to an increase in online harassment and civil society groups are calling on the Tunisian authorities to investigate all allegations of violence against protesters.

        For more information on civic space violations, visit the Tunisian country page on the CIVICUS Monitor

        Photo: Flickr/Amine GHRABI
      • UK: Stop the violence against protesters and amend the Policing Bill

        The use of violence against peaceful protesters in the United Kingdom (UK), who are protesting against the draconian police, crime, sentencing and courts bill, is a major assault on the right to peaceful assembly in the UK and indicative of how peaceful protesters will be treated if this bill is eventually passed into law.
      • Venezuela: ‘Ante la profundización de la crisis económica y social, el descontento solo puede ser acallado mediante maniobras político-electorales y represión’

        English

        Al final de un año en que Venezuela ha pasado por crisis económica, desorden político y protestas masivas, CIVICUS conversa con Nizar El Fakih, abogado de derechos humanos y director de Proiuris. Proiuris es una organización de la sociedad civil venezolana centrada en el estudio y la defensa del estado de derecho y en la denuncia de sus violaciones.

        1. ¿Qué fue lo que condujo a la fundación de Proiuris en 2015, y qué objetivos persigue la organización?

        Proiuris se constituyó formalmente en 2015, luego de la oleada de detenciones arbitrarias masivas de manifestantes que tuvo lugar durante el año 2014. El objetivo original de su constitución fue sumar voluntades para ayudar legalmente a personas detenidas arbitrariamente por ejercer legítimamente sus derechos, entre ellos el derecho a la protesta. Posteriormente Proiuris fue ampliando su ámbito de trabajo para abarcar la investigación, la documentación y la divulgación tanto de violaciones de derechos civiles y políticos como de violaciones de derechos económicos y sociales, obligado por las circunstancias de un país donde la problemática de derechos humanos es seria, sistemática y transversal.

        1. ¿Cuáles han sido las causas principales del descontento y las protestas de abril-junio de 2017 en Venezuela?

        Las protestas han tenido su causa principal en una enorme crisis económica y social, que tiene su expresión más dramática en la escasez de alimentos y medicinas que afecta con mayor fuerza a los sectores más empobrecidos de la población venezolana. Hombres, mujeres, ancianos, niños, niñas y adolescentes hurgan en la basura en busca de comida, y el desabastecimiento de medicinas alcanza el 85% (y 95% para los tratamientos de enfermedades crónicas) según cálculos de los representantes de la industria farmacéutica en el país. Los pacientes de enfermedades crónicas mueren de mengua, pues los fármacos que requieren son de muy alto costo y el Estado no se los suministra oportunamente. La escasez de antirretrovirales para personas que viven con VIH/Sida, por ejemplo, es la peor en 20 años. Esta es una crisis que no tiene precedentes en el país y ante la cual el gobierno presenta como excusa una supuesta “guerra económica” promovida desde el exterior.

        La tragedia social y económica se ha profundizado por la ineficiencia del gobierno para dar respuestas a las contingencias. Pero más allá de la coyuntura, la crisis humanitaria compleja que atraviesa el país tiene causas estructurales, pues es el resultado de la progresiva destrucción del aparato productivo del país y la creciente dependencia de las importaciones, las cuales a su vez han disminuido sustancialmente a causa la caída de los precios internacionales del petróleo.

        En definitiva, el Estado venezolano actualmente no es capaz de garantizar el derecho a la alimentación. En materia de salud, asimismo, la situación es sumamente grave. Por ejemplo, epidemias como el paludismo y la difteria, que habían sido erradicadas en el país hace 50 años, han regresado y causado muertes que solo se conocen de manera extraoficial, porque las autoridades, de manera ilegal, insisten en ocultar los informes epidemiológicos que demuestran la gravedad de la situación.

        El progresivo deterioro en la prestación de servicios básicos alimentó el deseo de un cambio en la conducción política del país. Entre marzo y junio de 2017 miles de personas tomaron las calles de ciudades y pueblos de Venezuela para expresar su descontento.

        1. ¿Cómo ha reaccionado el gobierno ante las protestas? ¿Ha seguido movilizándose la ciudadanía venezolana?

        Lejos de atender las legítimas demandas de la población, el gobierno venezolano reaccionó con violencia extrema, una violencia mucho mayor que la empleada durante las protestas de 2014. El reporte oficial del Ministerio Público indica que hubo 121 muertos, muchos de ellos a manos de funcionarios de los cuerpos de seguridad del Estado y de grupos violentos y en algunos casos armados autodenominados “colectivos”, los cuales operan con el apoyo o la aquiescencia estatal. Extraoficialmente se registraron más de 7000 detenidos, muchos de los cuales fueron sometidos a la jurisdicción militar a pesar de ser civiles.

        Las manifestaciones de marzo-junio de 2017 fueron claramente protestas contra el gobierno. De más está decir que el gobierno ha hecho todo lo posible por desvirtuarlas, por ejemplo calificándolas de actos terroristas y tipificando lo ocurrido en ellas como delitos militares. En un auténtico sistema democrático habría contrapesos institucionales que evitarían que esta clase de excesos presidenciales, pero en Venezuela la cooptación oficialista de todas las instituciones y el empeño en censurar cualquier forma de disidencia ha sido un componente determinante de la crisis.

        El derecho a la manifestación pacífica y sin armas está consagrado en el artículo 68 de la Constitución de Venezuela, que establece la obligación del Estado en garantizar que las manifestaciones se desarrollen sin desbordar los límites establecidos. Sin embargo, el Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, a través de su Sala Constitucional, ha desdibujado las garantías de este derecho a través de una interpretación regresiva de la referida norma, al extremo de condicionar el derecho a manifestar a una previa autorización de la primera autoridad civil de la jurisdicción correspondiente. Ello, en la práctica, ha hecho del centro de Caracas, donde se encuentran las sedes de los principales organismos públicos, territorio vedado para manifestaciones antigubernamentales, ya que está ubicado en el municipio Libertador, cuyo alcalde es oficialista.

        La represión brutal del gobierno, junto con la falta de un liderazgo que canalice el malestar ciudadano, acabaron debilitando las protestas. Sin embargo, la crisis económica y social se ha profundizado y las razones del descontento y la disidencia no han podido ser acalladas sino mediante maniobras políticas y electorales. Entre esas maniobras, una especial referencia merece la instalación de una autodenominada “Asamblea Nacional Constituyente” plenipotenciaria, convocada, elegida e instalada al margen de la Constitución, que ha vaciado de competencias a la Asamblea Nacional, el único órgano del poder público controlado por la oposición.

        1. ¿Experimentaron los medios independientes y las organizaciones de la sociedad civil restricciones a la hora de documentar lo ocurrido en las protestas?

        Periodistas y medios, nacionales e internacionales, han sido víctimas de la censura y de las represalias gubernamentales por informar sobre la conflictividad social en Venezuela. El 25 de junio de 2017, el Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Prensa reportó que desde el 31 de marzo hasta el 24 de junio, 376 trabajadores de los medios de comunicación fueron agredidos, y que en el 60% de los casos los responsables fueron funcionarios militares adscritos a la Guardia Nacional Bolivariana.

        El asedio a la prensa durante las protestas de 2017 constituye una evidencia adicional de la política sistemática de represión ejecutada por el gobierno, mediante el uso desproporcionado de la fuerza en el control de las manifestaciones.

        Pero la libertad de expresión es un derecho humano y, por lo tanto, todos los ciudadanos deben tener garantías para ejercerla. En el contexto de las protestas, muchos ciudadanos fueron brutalmente reprimidos por el hecho de registrar y difundir lo que ocurría en las calles de Venezuela. Y no solamente fueron detenidos, sino que también padecieron agresiones físicas y el robo de sus cámaras y teléfonos celulares.

        1. ¿Cómo ha respondido la sociedad civil antes estas violaciones de derechos?

        La sociedad civil organizada y con visión de incidencia reaccionó de diversas formas: desde formalizar las denuncias, a pesar de ser conscientes de los mecanismos de impunidad que operan en un sistema de administración de justicia genuflexo ante el gobierno, hasta el desarrollo de formas de expresión creativas, entre ellas el “Muro de la Vergüenza”, en el cual se identificó públicamente a los personeros del gobierno responsables de la represión y la violación de derechos humanos. Diversas formas de expresión artística - canto, danza, teatro - también se incorporaron a las protestas y se desplegaron en lugares públicos tales como plazas y centros comerciales.

        Otras reacciones importantes fueron la formación de alianzas con los medios de comunicación para divulgar los atropellos y la organización de protestas de grupos de vecinos focalizadas cerca de sus sitios de residencia.

        1. ¿Considera que las respuestas de la comunidad internacional ante la situación de Venezuela han sido adecuadas? ¿Qué apoyo necesita hoy la sociedad civil venezolana de sus contrapartes extranjeras, regionales y globales?

        Ante la indiferencia del gobierno, los sectores de oposición que promueven un cambio político han dedicado esfuerzos a llamar la atención de la comunidad internacional sobre lo que sucede en Venezuela. Por su parte, el movimiento de derechos humanos venezolano ha desarrollado una labor valiosísima a efectos de documentar las violaciones y denunciarlas ante los organismos internacionales. Sin embargo, no ha sido fácil competir con el aparato de propaganda oficialista que se esfuerza por mostrar que en Venezuela hay una democracia vigorosa y que el caos que resuena en la prensa internacional es parte de la supuesta “guerra” contra Venezuela orquestada desde centros imperiales.

        Lo prioritario, en este momento, es lograr que los organismos internacionales admitan que en Venezuela hay en curso una crisis humanitaria compleja que el Estado no puede o no quiere resolver. En ese sentido es auspicioso, por ejemplo, que la Organización Mundial de la Salud haya reconocido, por primera vez y con todas las letras, que en el país hay una crisis humanitaria, a propósito de su Informe Mundial sobre el Paludismo 2017. Y más allá del reconocimiento de la crisis humanitaria, es vital que allí donde sea necesario los organismos internacionales flexibilicen sus protocolos para hacerle frente, de modo de brindar a los venezolanos la ayuda que necesitan, sobre todo en lo que se refiere a alimentos y medicamentos.

        Venezuela no es el primer país del mundo que padece un gobierno autoritario que pretende perpetuarse en el poder. La sociedad civil venezolana agradecería que sus pares en América Latina y en el mundo compartan su experiencia organizativa acumulada para luchar contra el sistema que nos oprime y que contribuyan a denunciar y visibilizar los atropellos sistemáticos que se cometen en Venezuela. Los venezolanos sabríamos agradecer que desde el exterior se examine la crisis humanitaria compleja que nos afecta con un enfoque de derechos humanos, es decir, a partir de la reivindicación de la dignidad humana mediante un efectivo ejercicio de solidaridad. Estamos seguros de que los auténticos promotores y defensores de derechos humanos en cualquier parte del mundo no serán indiferentes ante el hecho incontrovertible de que en Venezuela hay niños que están muriendo de hambre.

        • El espacio cívico en Venezuela es clasificado como ‘represivo’ en elCIVICUS Monitor, lo cual indica la presencia de restricciones serias de las libertades de asociación, reunión pacífica y expresión.
        • Visite elsitio web o el perfil deFacebook de Proiuris, o siga en Twitter a @Proiuris_Ve y a @nizarUCAB
      • Zimbabwe government must respect the right to protest and investigate abduction and torture of activists

        The government of Zimbabwe must respect the right of its citizens to peacefully protest and must allow demonstrations, planned for Friday, August 16, to go ahead without violence from security forces.

        Global civil society alliance, CIVICUS, has called on Zimbabwean authorities to uphold fundamental freedoms, including the right to protest. The government has banned public rallies called to protest its handling of the country’s economic crisis.

        CIVICUS has also strongly condemned the abduction and torture of human rights defenders, including Tatenda Mombeyarara, earlier this week.

        Mombeyara was one of at least six rights activists who were abducted by suspected state agents on August 13 and 14 from his home this week, brutally assaulted, tortured and left for dead at a stone quarry in the capital, Harare. The unidentified men accused him of being involved in organizing today’s planned protest marches. Mombeyara, who is recovering from injuries including broken bones, damaged kidneys and chemical burns, is one of seven activists arrested in May on their return from peacebuilding workshops in the Maldives and charged with plotting to overthrow the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

        “We are also deeply concerned about a continued repression of fundamental freedoms in Zimbabwe and what appears to be a culture of impunity and a general lack of investigations into human rights violations,”, said Paul Mulindwa, Advocacy and Campaigns Officer at CIVICUS.

        “The abduction and torture of activists comes amid an ongoing military operation and restrictive environment for human rights defenders in the country,” Mulindwa said.

        The human rights situation in Zimbabwe continues to deteriorate, despite earlier promises from the Mnangagwa administration of an end to Mugabe-era repression tactics. Civic freedoms, including freedoms of association, peaceful assembly, and expression, are routinely and violently repressed by Zimbabwean authorities. The CIVICUS Monitor, an online platform that tracks threats to civil society around the globe, rates civic space – the space for civil society – in Zimbabwe as “repressed”. State authorities continue to harass, and arbitrarily arrest those exercising their rights to assemble and voice dissent. Human rights defenders have been subjected to assaults, arbitrary arrest, and enforced disappearance.

        "The occurrences are deeply hurting,” said Nyaradzo Mashayamombe, with Zimbabwean rights NGO, Tag a Life International (TaLI).

        “The security forces does not need to beat and dehumanise people but to monitor and guide peaceful activities of citizens.,” said Mashayamombe.

        CIVICUS has called on the Zimbabwean security forces to avoid using excessive force against protesters as well as for a quick, fair, and independent investigation into the cases of abduction and torture of Mombeyarara and other activists.

        ENDS.

        For more information, please contact:

        Paul Mulindwa

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450 Lexington Ave
Nueva York
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