08/05/2012

FRONT LINE DEFENDERS: CAMPANHA DE SOLIDARIEDADE COM DEFENSORES DE DIREITOS HUMANOS

April 27 marks the 2nd anniversary of the assassination of Mexican human rights defender Bety Cariño, killed by paramilitary forces while she was part of a humanitarian convoy to San Juan Copala in Oaxaca, Mexico.
A few weeks before she was killed, Bety spoke at the 2010 Front Line Defenders Dublin Platform.  She stirred the audience with her testimony:
“Today we want to live another history; we are rebelling and we are saying enough is enough…Despite their threats, despite their slanders, despite their harassment, we continue to walk towards a sun which we think shines strongly. We think the time of the peoples is coming closer, the time of unrepressed women, the time of the people at the bottom.”
Front Line Defenders remembers Bety, and continues to call for Mexican authorities to take action to bring her killers to justice.  For a tribute video, click here, and for the 2010 Dublin Plaform Book of Testimonies, including Bety's on page 34, click here.

Also, today, in China, human rights defender Chen Guangcheng has released a video after he escaped from his home in Linyi.  Chen had been placed under 24-hour surveillance and imprisoned in his home, with his wife, mother and 6-year old daughter, after he had already completed his prison sentence (which itself was the result of a targeted campaign against him for bringing forced abortions and sterilizations in Shangdong Province).
Front Line remains deeply concerned about reports that Chen's family has already been attacked and that other human rights defenders suspected of aiding him in his escape have been detained.
Visit www.lighthonestyhrd.org/act_now to take immediate action to support Chen and his family, and to get the latest news on the case. You can also watch the first few minutes of his video here, with English subtitles.

Finally, Front Line Defenders remains deeply concerned about the health and well-being of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who remains on hunger strike in Bahrain.  Visit http://www.bahrainhrd.org/ for more information and to take action to urge Bahraini authorities to allow for his immediate release to Denmark.


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