Cares act for employees rights defenders
Human rights defenders are identified above all by what they do and it is through a description of their actions section A below and of some of the contexts in which they work section B below that the term can best be explained. To be a human rights defender, a person can act to address any human right or rights on behalf of individuals or groups. Human rights defenders seek the promotion and protection of civil and political rights as well as the promotion, protection and realization of economic, social and cultural rights. Human rights defenders address any human rights concerns, which can be as varied as, for example, summary executions, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, female genital mutilation, discrimination, employment issues, forced evictions, access to health care, and toxic waste and its impact on the environment. Defenders are active in support of human rights as diverse as the rights to life, to food and water, to the highest attainable standard of health, to adequate housing, to a name and a nationality, to education, to freedom of movement and to non-discrimination.
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What Kind of Support Do Human Rights Activists Need During COVID-19?
We the undersigned human rights organizations strongly condemn the ongoing persecution and reprisals by Sri Lankan authorities against student leaders, labour union leaders, teachers, academics, and others involved in recent protests against education policies in the country. Sri Lankan authorities have responded to the expression of dissent, protests and the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly with arbitrary arrests, intimidation, and a campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting the work of students, teachers, academics, and union activists.
Key demands of the protests advocating for education rights since July include addressing long-standing salary anomalies of teachers and principals, and seeking the withdrawal of the Kotelawala Defence National University KDNU Bill, [ 1 ] which protesters contend promotes the privatization and militarization of education and threatens the future of free education and the university system in Sri Lanka.
Several other activists and people connected with or supporting education rights defenders have faced arrest, threats and intimidation. At least seven people who transported protesters and provided loudspeakers to the protest were arrested and released on bail in the same case. Galwewa Siridamma Thero , Ven. Tampitiye Sugathananda Thero and Ven. Thenne Gnanananda Thero. Although no arrest warrants have been issued those named have suffered intimidation and threats from police including through multiple visits to their homes, threatening telephone calls and the intimidation of family members.
As a result, some have gone into hiding and have been unable to carry on their usual work or to continue to protest. In July , close to a hundred trade union leaders, political activists and teachers participating in protests were arrested and released on bail.
Sixteen defenders were forcibly detained and sent to Covid quarantine despite being granted bail by court and despite the magistrate refusing to order mandatory quarantine. Since then, teachers and principals engaged in trade union action to resolve salary anomalies for more than two months have faced intimidation by the police, who went to their houses and collected information about those participating in protests.
In one area, police had formally written to government officials to ask for such information. The minister in charge of the police sought to undermine the trade union actions stating that some of those participating are doing so under duress.
He also threatened to investigate union leaders, and accused them of making death threats. Union leaders have denied making threats while asserting their right to request others to participate in trade union actions, which even a cabinet sub-committee engaged in negotiations has acknowledged as legitimate. We are especially concerned for the health and safety of the five jailed activists who have been denied bail under provisions of the Offences Against Public Property Act No.
This law denies bail except in exceptional circumstances if the alleged offence is damage to public property estimated to be above Rs. In a letter addressed to the Magistrate on August 4, police claimed damages of Rs. Lawyers for the activists have argued that the allegations are baseless, politically motivated and a clear misuse of the law. Bail has been denied despite lawyers arguing exceptional circumstances due to the Covid pandemic, upcoming university examinations and underlying health conditions.
The denial of bail is particularly concerning in light of the health risk posed by the Covid pandemic and the surge in cases and deaths in Sri Lanka. Detainees are at heightened risk of contracting Covid due to severe overcrowding in detention centres and prisons. Four of the activists currently detained tested positive for Covid after two weeks in an overcrowded quarantine facility.
Although Koshila Hansamali, who has tested positive, suffers from a pre-existing respiratory condition, she has been denied the medication she urgently needs. Repeated calls for information have not resulted in more information being shared.
The five human rights defenders arbitrarily detained have been denied access to their lawyers and family members. Safeguards such as access and transparent and effective communication by prison authorities, are critical. Detainees have a right to read, examine, give instructions and approve documents being filed in courts on their behalf.
To obstruct this process is a violation of the right to a fair trial and equality before the law. We call for an end to the repression, arbitrary arrests, and intimidation against protestors advocating for education rights and peacefully expressing their dissent to government policy.
We urge the Sri Lankan authorities to:. Human Rights Defenders. Sri Lanka.
Paid Leave
Recent research by Front Line Defenders has revealed that sex worker activists are among the most at-risk defenders of human rights in the world, and face multiple threats and violent attacks. The four-year investigation is the first to document attacks on sex worker activists that are perpetrated in retaliation for their human rights work. On fact-finding missions in Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and El Salvador, Front Line Defenders, an Ireland-based human rights organization, spoke with more than sex workers and sex worker rights defenders SWRDs about the risks, threats and lack of protection faced by those who become visible advocates for human rights. The research found that their visibility as both sex workers and rights advocates makes them more vulnerable to violations. In addition, they risk unique targeted abuse for their human rights work. This persecution includes arrest, sexual assault in detention, physical attack, police surveillance, extreme financial burden, raids on homes and offices, threats from managers and clients their own and those of the workers they defend , public defamation campaigns, and discriminatory exclusion from policy making in areas in which they have clear, demonstrable and unmatched expertise.
Our approach to human rights
An Open Letter to States and Development Financiers on the need to ensure that development interventions support the realization of human rights, safeguard human rights defenders and guarantee meaningful public participation. These instruments have been key to recognising fundamental rights globally and affirming the role that human rights defenders HRDs play in protecting these rights and ensuring sustainable and equitable development for all. While development interventions can be a powerful tool for the realization of human rights, too often activities undertaken in the name of development fail to adequately consider human rights conditions and impacts, and end up exacerbating the risks for defenders. In light of this, the Defenders in Development Campaign [1] is calling on development finance institutions DFIs and their shareholder governments to ensure that development interventions support the realization of human rights, avoid causing or contributing to rights abuses, promote an enabling environment for public participation, and safeguard HRDs. Human rights defenders are a critical force for the protection of human rights and integral to the success of other global initiatives like the Agenda for Sustainable Development. The important work of HRDs has been repeatedly recognised at the international and national levels and their contributions have been vital to protecting the land and the environment, securing just and safe conditions of work, combating corruption, and respecting indigenous cultures and rights [2]. HRDs play a key role in enabling the realisation of the right to development. Despite the growing awareness of the role of HRDs in sustainable development, the human cost of defending rights remains unacceptably high. They are also more likely to be killed than defenders in other sectors. Since the adoption of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in , an estimated 3, human rights defenders have been killed because of their peaceful work defending the rights of others.
Human rights
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Protecting the Rights of People with Disabilities
While, increasingly, commitment to upholding human rights standards has been faltering all over the continent for several years, the COVID pandemic has accelerated the erosion of the democratic fabric of our society, on which protection of human rights ultimately depends. I think it is not exaggerating to say that we are at a crossroads. The direction we decide to take now will shape the type of society we want to live in and pass on to future generations. That choice will determine whether we bolster our freedoms or relinquish them, promote participation or undermine democracy, empower people or marginalise them. Predicated on the principle of equality of all human beings, it became the alma mater of many legally binding human rights conventions, national constitutions and a huge body of human rights standards. Over the past 72 years much progress has been achieved.
Fighting for Workers’ Rights: 20 Labor Activists to Follow on Social Media
In addition to the direct health impacts, government efforts to stem the spread of the virus, such as travel bans, mandatory business closures, and stay-at-home orders, have had an economic impact estimated to result in some million lost jobs. By applying a business and human rights BHR lens to the COVID pandemic, teachers can highlight the relevance of human rights to business operations and illuminate how international human rights standards, as well as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights UNGPs , [5] should guide business enterprises as they address the pandemic. Critically assessing corporate responses to the pandemic is an opportunity for students to survey business practices available to manage human rights impacts. Considering the role of the private sector in pandemic response allows teachers to explore public health policy approaches and the respective responsibilities of government and business enterprises. The actual and potential human rights impacts of the pandemic include all human rights, ranging from the rights to health and to education, to labor rights, to freedom from discrimination, the right to privacy, and civil and political rights. The disparate racial, ethnic and demographic impacts of the pandemic raise concerns of unlawful discrimination universally prohibited by international human rights standards. For example, in many countries, the vast majority of nurses are women. Pandemic responses create human rights risks beyond the direct impact of exposure to the virus.
It did not begin in when the first ADA was introduced in Congress. The ADA story began a long time ago in cities and towns throughout the United States when people with disabilities began to challenge societal barriers that excluded them from their communities, and when parents of children with disabilities began to fight against the exclusion and segregation of their children. It began with the establishment of local groups to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. It began with the establishment of the independent living movement which challenged the notion that people with disabilities needed to be institutionalized, and which fought for and provided services for people with disabilities to live in the community.
We believe our trade is a force for good, creating jobs and opportunities for people and communities across the world. We are committed to ensuring the jobs we create and support are good jobs. It is important that clear standards are upheld on issues such as: working hours, health and safety, no child or forced labour, freedom of association and ensuring that discrimination does not take place. We have a responsibility to respect the human rights of, and an opportunity to make a difference to, our colleagues, our customers, the communities we operate in and the people who work throughout our supply chain. We recognise that labour rights violations in global supply chains can be systemic.
Zimbabwe is constitutionally a republic. The country elected Emmerson Mnangagwa president for a five-year term in in general elections. Despite incremental improvements from past elections, domestic and international observers noted serious concerns and called for further reforms necessary to meet regional and international standards for democratic elections. The election resulted in the formation of a government led by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front Party with a supermajority in the National Assembly but not in the Senate. The Zimbabwe Republic Police maintain internal security. The Department of Immigration and police, both under the Ministry of Home Affairs, are primarily responsible for migration and border enforcement.
New laws guarantee paid leave to workers who need to stay home to care for themselves or others due to COVID, and they greatly expand unemployment insurance eligibility and benefits. Cartoon: Nick Thorkelson. Note: this article was updated on April 22, to reflect new guidance from the Department of Labor -Editors.
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