Constructive resilience: the Baha’i way to respond to human rights abuses

In ‪Iran‬, followers of the Baha’i faith face discrimination, arrest and arbitrary detention, some have even been executed because of their religion. But the Baha’i community has chosen to respond to the oppression through ‘constructive resilience’, while taking an active part in the life of the Iranian society.

Please find the summary of my event dedicated to the Baha'i religious minority here.

>>TAKE ACTION! Please join us in urging the Iranian authorities not to persecute Baha’is, but to respect their right to freedom of religion and to education. Please send the below tweet to the authorities.

Tweet #EducationIsNotACrime

The most powerful tool against repression: educating people about their rights

Former Amnesty prisoner of conscience Fred Bauma about human rights and democracy Fred Bauma about the human rights situation in the DRC (c) Amnesty International UK I could not have dreamt of anything more exciting than meeting former Amnesty prisoner of conscience Fred Bauma . Together with thousands of activists, I had been campaigning for him and his colleague Yves Makwambala for the past few years. So, I was floating on air when I heard about Fred and Yves’ release on bail in August 2016. I felt extremely honoured to be able to organise an event where Fred could meet the Amnesty UK activists who had been standing in solidarity with him. Struggle for change in the Congo On 11 March, just a few days before the anniversary of his detention in 2015, Amnesty UK hosted a speaker event with Fred Bauma. During the evening, the young Congolese activist talked about his experiences and the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Fred explained ...

Hidden from critical view: the disappeared of Cameroon

As the number of military personnel deployed to fight Boko Haram in the Far North Region of Cameroon has increased, the number of people detained without trial on suspicion of supporting the armed group has gone up, as well. Families and communities torn apart Since 2014, Cameroon’s security forces have arrested hundreds of people without charge during security operations. One man from the village of Double told us how security forces raided the village in search of suspected Boko Haram fighters: “Early in the morning, we heard gunshots and thought it was Boko Haram. We were scared and fled to the bush; then people called us to say it wasn’t Boko Haram, but the security forces, so we came back thinking we were safe. However, to our great surprise, those forces made us suffer even more than Boko Haram.” During this operation carried out in Double and in the neighbouring community, Magdeme, nine people were killed and more than 200 boys and men arbitrar...

Is sharing a joke enough reason to jail someone?

Fomusoh Ivo Feh, a 29-year old Cameroonian student was about to start university when he was arrested by six plain-clothes men in the South-West region of Cameroon on 13 December 2014. His arrest followed a sarcastic SMS message that he sent to a friend , Azah Levis Gob who also shared it with his friend, Afuh Nivelle Nfor, a secondary-school student. The SMS was sent as a joke about how difficult it is getting into university or finding a good job without being highly qualified in Cameroon – suggesting it was easier to get into Boko Haram. The message read: ‘Boko Haram recruits young people from 14 years-old and above. Conditions for recruitment: 4 subjects at GCE, plus religion.’ After a teacher saw the message on Afuh Nivelle Nfor’s phone and showed it to the police, Ivo and his friends were arrested in late 2014. Subsequently, all three were charged with several offences, including attempting to organise a rebellion. A military court in Yaoundé sentenced Ivo and his ...

Crumbs of human rights

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