News

14 February 2022 JOINT NGO STATEMENT IN SOLIDARITY WITH SRI LANKAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER AMBIKA SATKUNANATHAN We the undersigned human rights organizations, express our deep concern about the statement issued by the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry on February 4, 2022, in which the government denounced testimony given by Ambika Satkunanathan, a leading human rights lawyer, to the European Parliament on January 27. The government statement clearly constitutes an act of harassment and intimidation. We condemn the Sri Lankan government’s tactics to intimidate human rights defenders, and express our full solidarity with Ms. Satkunanathan, a well-known, respected and courageous human rights defender. Targeting her for providing accurate testimony about the human […]

IMADR joined the call of international NGOs and coalitions to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to immediately adopt a comprehensive antidiscrimination law that prohibits discrimination based on gender, disability, medical history, age, origin, ethnicity, race, skin color, physical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Letter in English and Korean ——— December 20, 2021 National Assembly of the Republic of Korea 1 Uisadang-daero, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul 07233 Republic of Korea   Re: Protect marginalized groups in South Korea Dear members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and other members of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea:   On behalf of the 30 signatory […]

IMADR delivered the oral statement on “Role of civil society in conflict prevention and minority rights protection” at the 14th session of the Forum on Minority Issues. Whole text can be read below or download here.  ——— Oral Statement: 14th session of the Forum on Minority Issues Item 5: Towards a lasting peace: positive initiatives to better protect the rights of minorities to prevent conflicts 3 December 2021 Thank you, Madam Chair, We thank the Special Rapporteur for adopting this year’s Regional Forums to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Forums’ online format serves as a good practice of the UN human rights system which brought minority representatives and […]

Together with the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), the joint oral statement with IMADR and Minority Rights Group International on “Racial discrimination in Brazil” was delivered at the 48th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or download here. ——— Joint Oral Statement: 48th session of the Human Rights Council – 48th Session 4 October, 2021 Item 9: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance   Madam President, We thank the Special Rapporteur for her presentation. We welcome her continuing engagement with the Government of Brazil, civil society and racialised […]

IMADR delivered the joint oral statement on “Accountability and enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka” at the 48th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or download here.  ——— Joint Oral Statement: 48th session of the Human Rights Council Item 3: Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence 16 September 2021 Madam President, We thank the Special Rapporteur for presenting the follow-up report on Sri Lanka. The response of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) fails to share a concrete action plan to address the challenges identified by the Special Rapporteur. Almost all the activities of […]

IMADR delivered the oral statement on “High Commissioner’s oral updates on Afghanistan and Sri Lanka” at the 48th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or download here.  ——— Oral Statement: 48th session of the Human Rights Council Item 2: General Debate on the High Commissioner’s oral updates 14 September 2021 Madam President, At the outset, we echo the High Commissioner’s concerns on the deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan and regret that this Council failed to adopt a robust resolution at the special session. We joined the open appeal[1] for the creation of an independent investigative mechanism on Afghanistan to protect the rights of […]

Release Hejaaz Hizbullah and Others Denied Due Process under Abusive Law 28 July 2021 We, the undersigned organisations express deep concern for the ongoing detention of lawyer and minority and civic rights activist Hejaaz Hizbullah, who has been held under Sri Lanka’s notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for 15 months. In the absence of any credible evidence presented before a court of law, Hejaaz Hizbullah should be released immediately and unconditionally. Hejaaz Hizbullah was arrested on April 14, 2020 under the PTA. He was accused by the police of aiding and abetting Inshaf Ahamed (who was involved in the April 21, 2019 bombings), an accusation that has since been […]

IMADR is co-sponsoring the online side event on “African, Extracontinental and Afro-descent Migration in Latin America” at the 47th session of the Human Rights Council from 17:00 (CET), Wednesday 7th July. This event is organised by Franciscans International and Franciscan Network on Migration and co-sponsored by IMADR and CONNECTAS. Register in advance to receive a Zoom link For further information, click on the flyer below. The flyer is also available in Spanish and Portuguese  

Together with Marielle Franco Institute and the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), the joint oral statement on “Police violence against the Afro-Brazilians” with IMADR and Minority Rights Group International was delivered at the 46th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or download here.  ——— Human Rights Council – 46th Session Thursday 18th March 2021 General Debate – item 9   Speaker: Anielle Franco   Madam President, Black Lives Matter. This statement is jointly submitted by IMADR and MRG, together with the Race and Equality and the Marielle Franco Institute. We welcome the High Commissioner’s oral update on systemic racism […]

IMADR delivered the oral statement on “Hate speech against minorities in social media” at the 46th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or download here.  ——— Oral Statement: 46th session of the Human Rights Council Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on minority issues 15 March 2021 Madam President, We thank the Special Rapporteur for his presentation of the reports including the country visit report on Kyrgyzstan. As shown in the online regional forums in 2020, we welcome his continued active engagement with stakeholders, especially with minorities, despite the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this respect, we regret to learn […]

IMADR delivered the oral statement on “Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka” at the 46th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or download here.  ——— Oral Statement: 46th session of the Human Rights Council Item 2: Interactive Dialogue on the OHCHR report on Sri Lanka 24 February 2021 Madam President, We welcome the High Commissioner’s report on Sri Lanka. Human rights in Sri Lanka are now threatened by the centralisation of executive powers and weakening of the independence of the judiciary and key commissions including the Human Rights Commission and the Office on Missing Persons (OMP). With the rubber-stamping Parliamentary Council, […]