News

On behalf of IMADR and Franciscans International, Mr. Hiroji Yamashiro delivered the statement on “Japan’s arbitrary arrests and detention of Okinawan human rights defender” at the 35th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or download here (English/ 日本語).  ——— Joint Oral Statement: 35th session of the Human Rights Council Item 4: General Debate 15 June 2017 Delivered by: Hiroji Yamashiro On behalf of IMADR   Thank you Mr. President. I am Hiroji Yamashiro. I lead the peaceful protest movement against human rights violations by the U.S. military bases in Okinawa, Japan. The Governments of Japan and the U.S. are building military bases in Okinawa despite the strong […]

IMADR delivered its oral statement on “Multiple discrimination and violence against Dalit and Buraku women and girls” at the 35th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or downloaded here.  ——— IMADR Oral Statement: 35th session of the Human Rights Council Item 3: General Debate, the High Commissioner’s Report on “Impact of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence in the context of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance on the full enjoyment of all human rights by women and girls” 13 June 2017 Speaker: Taisuke Komatsu Thank you Mr. President, IMADR welcomes the High Commissioner’s report to address multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and […]

IMADR delivered its oral statement on “Freedom of expression in Okinawa/ Japan” at the 35th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or downloaded here.  ——— IMADR Oral Statement: 35th session of the Human Rights Council Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression 12 June 2017 Speaker: Taisuke KOMATSU Thank you Mr. President, We welcome the Special Rapporteur’s country visit report and endorse his recommendations to the Government of Japan. Although we acknowledge the Government’s positive step in facilitating his visit, it is regrettable that the Government has failed to consider his recommendations constructively. We are concerned by […]

Together with All Okinawa Council for Human Rights, Amnesty International and Franciscans International, IMADR is holding a side event on “Freedom of Expression in Okinawa, Japan” at the 35th session of the Human Rights Council from 12:00 pm, Friday 16th June at Room XXIV in Palais des Nations. The event will be webcasted in Japanese at: https://goo.gl/n6s12l For further information, click on the flyer below.  

UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Mr. David Kaye, expressed concerns on undue restrictions on public protest and dissent in Okinawa, in his report released today. The report is an outcome of his first official visit to Japan in April last year. In his comprehensive report on wide-ranging issues of freedom of expression in Japan such as: media independence; interference in the communication/ expression of history; access to information; discrimination and hate speech; and restrictions on election campaigns, the Special Rapporteur dedicated whole two paragraphs to address the situation in Okinawa as below. “The Special Rapporteur also shared his concerns about public protest, in particular in Okinawa, with the […]

At its 93rd session from 31st July to 25th August 2017, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) will consider the situation of racial discrimination in following 8 countries. Civil society organisations (CSOs) are encouraged to submit information on Canada, Djibouti, Ecuador, Kuwait, New Zealand, Russia, Tajikistan and UAE.  During the session, the Committee will also adopt the list of issues prior to reporting (LOIPR) for Bahrain. If you are a CSO participating in the forthcoming session and wishes to receive practical advice on advocacy at the CERD, contact us at: geneva[@]imadr.org (remove “[]” when you send e-mail)  Practical Information Deadline for submission of NGO reports: 7th July 2017 Information Note for NGOs  for the submission of reports, accreditation […]

IMADR Director, Theo van Boven, shares his in-depth analysis on threats of the current rise of populism to an inclusive social and international order and the principles of human rights. – – – – – Trends and Developments In Europe, the United States of America and elsewhere in the world there is a notable trend in political and social mentality that turns away from an inclusive society. It alienates itself from the opening preambular paragraph of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which recognizes “the inherent integrity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”. […]

IMADR Director, Michael O. Sharpe, raises an alarm over the recent U.S. President’s executive orders on immigration as a challenge to the foundation of democracy and human rights. – – – – – US President Trump has attempted to game the system with two controversial executive orders that test the resilience of US democratic principles and institutions with far reaching internal and international consequences.  These executive orders appear to establish a religious test for entry into the US and violate the bedrock US founding constitutional principles of religious liberty, equal protection, and due process of law. Executive orders allow US presidents to direct officers and agencies of the US federal government and […]

On 12th May, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) concluded its 92nd session. At the session, the CERD adopted concluding observations of Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Kenya and Moldova. *Recommendations with asterisks [*] are one-year follow-up recommendations Concluding observations, reports of the State parties and other stakeholders are available at the OHCHR website . You can also watch the video archives of the public meetings with the States parties at UN Web TV . _ Armenia While welcoming the country’s ratification to almost all international human rights instruments, the Committee encouraged the State party to allow the individual communications procedure under Article 14 of the ICERD and sign the ILO Convention No.189 on domestic workers. In regard to asylum […]

In June 2017, the Sri Lankan government’s implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will be reviewed at the 61st session of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) .  The last review took place in 2010, a year after the conclusion of the internal conflict. In order to reflect the current situation of minorities in Sri Lanka, IMADR, Minority Rights Group International (MRG) and Women Development Innovators (WDI) made a joint submission to the Committee. The joint submission illustrates the impacts of land and sea grabbing on minority fishing communities, ranging from forced displacement and militarisation, the loss of livelihoods, poverty and to the lack of compensations from the […]

IMADR delivered its oral statement on “Racial discrimination in migration” at the 1st Informal Thematic Discussion of the Global Compact on Migration on “Human rights of all migrants, social inclusion, cohesion, and all forms of discrimination, including racism, xenophobia and intolerence” . Whole text can be read below or downloaded here.  ——— Oral Statement: First Informal Thematic Discussion of the Global Compact on Migration PANEL 3: All forms of discrimination, including racism, xenophobia and intolerance        9 May 2017 Speaker: Taisuke KOMATSU Thank you Mr. Moderator, We welcome the decision to make the first GCM thematic discussion to address discrimination, in particular racial discrimination. As an international human rights NGO working on this area […]

IMADR joined the GQUAL Campaign and other civil society organisations around the world in encouraging the 2017 Consultative Group of the Human Rights Council to adopt “Guidelines on Gender Parity” for the selection process of special mandate holders. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that, as of December 2016, women represented 41 percent of mandate holders. Yet, according to the GQUAL campaign, 20 out of the 56 current thematic and country mandates have never been held by a woman as of April 2017, including those on torture, freedom of expression, racial discrimination, and the right to health. Read the full text of the joint letter […]

In response to the recent reprisals against two Sri Lankan human rights defenders, Ms. Nimalka Fernando (IMADR Co-Chairperson) and Mr. Sunanda Deshapriya, who participated in the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council in March, 9 human rights organisations submitted a joint letter to the Government of Sri Lanka. Read the letter below or download here .    ——— TO: H.E. Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka H.E. Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka CC: H.E. Mr. Mangala Samaraweera, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka H.E. Mr. Ravinatha Aryasinha, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN, Geneva H.E. Mr. Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli, President of the Human Rights […]

For the 28th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), IMADR prepared civil society submissions with national and international partners on the human rights issues in Japan and Sri Lanka. Reports can be downloaded below. Single submission: Racial Discrimination in Japan: Braku People and Minority Women  Joint submissions: Human Rights Situation in Japan: With specific focus on human rights in Okinawa  Human Rights Situation in Japan: with specific focus on the right to self-determination of indigenous people of Ryukyu/Okinawa  Discrimination against minority children in Japan in the provision of educational opportunities – focusing on children attending Korean schools in Japan Joint Civil Society Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review (Sri Lanka) 

On 3 April, we have issued our new issue of E-CONNECT. If you have not subscribed to our newsletter, you ca do it from here! Back number is also available. Feature story “Minority women’s voices should be heard for transitional justice”, joint message to Sri Lanka At the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council, IMADR held a joint side event which invited three Sri Lankan women from different ethnic and religious communities, and Ms. Anastasia Crickley from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and Ms. Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues. From the perspectives of minority women’s human rights, the event identified key challenges […]

IMADR delivered its oral statement on “Sri Lanka’s transitional justice and reconciliation at a crossroads” at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or downloaded here.  ——— IMADR Oral Statement: 34th session of the Human Rights Council Item 2: Interactive Dialogue on the High Commissioner’s Report on Sri Lanka 22 March 2017 Speaker: Nimalka FERNANDO Thank you Mr. President, I speak as a survivor of the former authoritarian regime. The present democratic space for transitional justice was made possible, because civil society actors and human rights defenders worked hard risking their lives together with this Council and the international community to bring the resolution 30/1 in […]