ISHR NEWS
Here you will find the latest on human rights topics and events from the worldwide network of the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR), as well as the ‘ISHR Newsletter’. Photo: UN Photo/Marie Frenchon
Despite change of office in Cuba, the Castro clan continues to rule
President Miguel Díaz-Canel has been elected chairman of the Communist Party of Cuba. This officially ends an era on the Caribbean island in which the Castro brothers were at the head of the all-determining state party for six decades. The International Society for Human Rights (ISHR), which is represented by a section in Cuba, points out that a "change" has only taken place externally.
Falun Gong movement now under persecution pressure in Hong Kong too
Step by step, the unification of Hong Kong is moving forward. Until recently, it was civil rights and opposition activists who were persecuted in Hong Kong for their work on behalf of freedom and the rule of law, but the CCP has now also started to massively attack the Buddhist-oriented meditation movement Falun Gong, according to the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR).
Cuba: Blockade of news regarding hunger striker
Luis Otero Alcántara has been on a hunger and thirst strike since April 26th, 2021. On May 2nd, 2021, he was forcibly taken to a hospital. Critics of the regime already died in comparable situation.
ISHR Newsletter • April 2021
Great events are coming up – next year our International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) will celebrate 50 years of existence – a great anniversary. I would like to take this as an opportunity to call on all national sections and actors of the ISHR in this newsletter to review on these decades of working for human rights as well as look forward for ways to strengthen and expand the ISHR even further.
Blockade of the soup kitchen lifted – Hunger strike ended
On April 9, officials of the Ministry of the Interior ended the 26-day blockade of the soup kitchen of the civil rights movement UNPACU in Santiago de Cuba. As a result, 30 civil rights activists ended their hunger strike, which had been going on for 21 days, according to the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR).
EU-Cuba Council to take position on human rights violations
No happy Easter for regime critics: As the Frankfurt-based International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) has learned, Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was arrested on Easter Monday in the San Isidro neighborhood of Havana.
Report from Guatemala
San Pedro Carchá, Guatemala. At the end of 2020, hurricanes ETA and IOTA doubly hit Guatemala and its villages, leaving more than 900,000 children without homes and schools. It is estimated that today, more than 3,000 children and teenagers are living in shelters. The International Society for Human Rights Guatemala Chapter, Cofraternidad Carcelaria de Guatemala (Prison Fellowship Guatemala) joined forces to help the victims of this terribly affected area.
Swiss Human Rights Award
The Corona pandemic has affected the lives of many people. However, the Corona pandemic has also affected the International Society for Human Rights - Swiss Section (IGFM-CH). For the first time in decades, the Swiss Human Rights Award could not be presented in 2020. The awarding of the prize to the already chosen laureate had to be postponed to 2021. However, the board of IGFM-CH has now decided to award a special prize. The prize is to go to an organization that has been particularly active in preserving human rights during the Corona pandemic.
“Tell me about the war” – Audience responses
The joined video project "Tell me About the war", that was created by various ISHR sections and published for the 75 years end of the Second World war has gained considerable attention. After being showcased in our last newsletter, the project has been picked up in international newspapers and shown several times on Belarusian television in a 7-minute feature that is still available in the media library..
NEWS FROM THE PRESIDENT
Cottbus Declaration on GDR Forced Labor of September 13, 2020: “Serious injustice has been done to these people”
The Union of Victims’ Associations of Communist Tyranny, the Human Rights Center Cottbus, the International Society for Human Rights and the Memorial Foundation Victims of Communism organized a tribunal on “Forced Labor in Political Prison in the GDR”.
Global Evangelical and Muslim organizations launch major joint religious freedom project
Leaders from the world’s largest independent Muslim organization and the world’s largest Evangelical Christian organization are beginning a joint effort to respond globally to threats to religious freedom coming from religious extremism and secular extremism.
Schirrmacher visits Memorial Hall in Nanjing
The President of the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR), Thomas Schirrmacher, visited the Memorial Hall for the victims of the Massacre of the Japanese invaders 1937/1938 in Nanjing (China).
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