#front line defenders

[humanrightsupdates]

Singapore: Human rights defender and lawyer Ravi Madasamy suspended from practice for five years for accusing the attorney-general’s office

On 21 March 2023, the Court of Three Judges issued a five year suspension order against prominent human rights lawyer and human rights defender Ravi Madasamy (M. Ravi) for making "grave and baseless accusations of improper conduct" against the Attorney-General of Singapore. The five-year suspension is the maximum allowable sanction for a lawyer’s misconduct.

M. Ravi has been an international human rights lawyer in Singapore for the last 20 years. He has argued in favour of landmark human rights and consitutional law cases concerning issues of the constitutionality of the mandatory death penalty, freedom of expression, defamation laws, freedom of assembly, contempt of court and access to legal representation. M. Ravi is also the founding member of the Anti‐Death Penalty Asia Network and the Singapore Anti‐Death Penalty Campaign (S.A.D.P.C.) community group.

The case and misconduct charges stem from an October 2020 online interview M. Ravi gave regarding the case of Malaysian national Gobi Avedian, who was sentenced to death in 2018 after being convicted of importing 40.22 grams of heroin into Singapore. In the interview, the human rights defenders expressed that the public prosecutor "has been overzealous in his prosecution and that has led to the death sentence of Gobi". On 19 October 2020, M. Ravi received a letter from the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) demanding an apology and to unconditionally retract allegations as they were "baseless assertions".

The hearing of M. Ravi regarding the contempt of court allegations will take place on 31 March 2023. M. Ravi is a vulnerable human rights defender having bipolar disorder. Such actions taken against his expressed dissent towards the authorities and his work for human rights has a significant impact on his mental health. Singapore has ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that specifically protects not only the physical, but mental integrity of vulnerable persons and their fundamental freedoms. The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers has also expressed her concern on the suspension order against the human rights defender.

Front Line Defenders believes that the charges filed against M. Ravi are directly related to his work in defence of the human rights of people in Singapore. Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned for the psychological wellbeing of the human rights defender.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Singapore to:

1. Immediately drop all charges against M. Ravi as it is believes that they are solely motivated by his legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights;

2. Reverse the suspension of M. Ravi, as Front Line believes the human rights defender has been targeted solely as a result of its legitimate human rights activities;

3. Cease targeting all human rights defenders in Singapore and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment

[sukibenders]

Anthony doesn't get enough flack from this fandom if I'm being honest, like most of it is pushed onto other female characters while he gets the "he was struggling," excuse. And while he was struggling, there's definitely validity to that, he also should not have his actions (eg. playing with Kate's feelings, putting her and Edwina in a difficult situation, etc) excused because of that.

[fromtheseventhhell]

Fandom when Arya, who has never wanted to be a sailor or a warrior, doesn't become a sailor or a warrior

[catchascatchcn]

I say this with. an emotion. in my heart but I’m blown away by the lack of reading (viewing?) comprehension in the fandom for the most unsubtle show I’ve ever watched. what are some of y’all talking about ever

[bulldog-butch]

if the olympics has really proven one thing it is Black Excellence

[enobariasteeth]

i wish i could gatekeep them from all the bitches who don't get it

[mx-paint]

I'm being so sincere when I say this: you can like bad shit. Not Everything you like is inherently going to be good, nor does it have to be. You do Not need to defend it as the wokeist feminist queerest piece of media out there just by virtue of you being a fan. It is okay.

[loki-zen]

still cackling/crying about having invented an incredibly Autistic-Coded Alien (classic archetype) species in my sci fi LARP but nobody clocks this immediately because two of its most visible traits are

1. friendly and sociable

2. good at, and desirous of, ‘fitting in’/‘belonging’ socioculturally/as part of groups

edit:

3. it is not mechanically or culturally particularly geared towards playing a ‘Nerd archetype’ such as a Scientist; rather its mechanics easily make for a good (somewhat unusual) combat build.

[timoswerner]

should have put the ball in the back of the net then shouldn’t you

[whitehartlane]

hope hkane knows that spurs fans would never let him get cooked like he currently is 😭

[owtenen]

was watching an indie game streamer and he said “i guess i’m washed up too” IM SORRY WHAT? TOO? WASHED UP TOO? YOU DONT EVEN PLAY MINECRAFT WHAT IT THIS

[humanrightsupdates]

Statement - India: Escalated repression against the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan, human rights defenders Madhuri Krishnaswami, Nitin Varghese, Antaram Awase, and community leaders campaigning for forest and land rights in Madhya Pradesh

Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the rising threats, including legal persecution, against human rights defenders, community leaders, and those associated with the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS) in Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh. Since October 2022, around 50 land and environmental rights defenders, all of whom are members of or associated with JADS, have faced systematic reprisals. The reprisals directly violate their right to peaceful assembly, and the majority are in the form of multiple false cases, and arbitrary arrests and detention. Madhuri Krishnaswami, a woman senior human rights defender and organiser of JADS, is facing up to 21 legal cases and has been expelled from her residential district. The Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan is a collective which has been working for over 20 years to advocate for the rights of Dalit and Indigenous communities in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh. Both communities are traditionally persecuted and discriminated against, and face violations of their rights to land, livelihood, access to resources and the right to live with dignity. Key issues taken up by JADS include illegal deforestation, forced eviction of local communities, and the denial of access to land and forests which are common property resources critical to their life and livelihood. JADS also documents and campaigns against violations such as state violence and arbitrary arrests and detention of community members on false charges in reprisal for peaceful protests against state policies. In 2022, JADS joined a protest by indigenous communities in the Burhanpur District, Madhya Pradesh against illegal deforestation and environmental destruction by local groups who function with the support and tacit protection of state authorities. Since October 2022, approximately 15,000 acres of forest have been cleared by these groups with the support of the police, state officials and the timber mafia. Communities fear that the land is being cleared to make way for mining projects and for profit through the timber trade. They have been protesting since October 2022 against the destruction and are facing reprisals from the state including arbitrary arrests and legal action.

Send a message of solidarity and download the urgent appeal

[asiogie]

u being an ex army makes so much sense /POSITVE

as you can see i tend to stan hot men who are the standard in their respective fields and are hated because of it

[ququoquaw]

tbh so long as hybe artists keep on putting out bops i couldnt care less about how they cant sing

[brokenhardies]

tbh as a six fan i feel so bad for thirteen fans

bc there are a lot of thirteen fans who are willing to defend shitty writing and poor decisions bc thirteen's their favourite doctor and there's no other way to say she's their favourite bc thirteen has only been off the air for 2 years at this point. thirteen also has the bonus problem of being the first female doctor which means a lot of her criticism is clouded by misogyny and other icky incel alt right shit

meanwhile with six, a lot of his problems had the benefit of the wilderness years, big finish, the expanded universe, and even people looking back at his doctor and realising that there was some good in his episodes. a lot of his fans didnt become his fans until recently and even most of his haters are quite clear that they hate the writing decisions and not the actor himself

like until jodie gets some good material - maybe big finish? theyre doing fugitive doctor and dhawan master stuff that might improve the problems with those - a lot of thirteen fans are going to be clutching at straws and trying to figure out why they like her and how to say so in a way that won't upset the predominantly male fandom, as well as won't disagree with common and very bloody obvious criticisms of chibnalls era

[yomiurinikei]

oh my god. i’ve been having a lot of trips recently over people new to the sdra fandom talking abt it (saying it’s very nice and peaceful, etc), but like. im just now realizing that i can think of… four? five? people, three of which i’ve spoken to in like… the last month. who were there when chapter 6 dropped

everyone saying like “well i guess all ships are over for all time now”, people arguing on whether or not you had to accept the age twist, and then. of course. the next, infamous stage in this conversation. “i loved ch6 these two are so cute together 🥺. *cutely ignores the age gap*”