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Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor
FoundedNovember 2011; 13 years ago (2011-11)
FounderRamy Abdu
TypeNon-profit
INGO
HeadquartersGeneva, Switzerland
Location
ServicesProtecting human rights
FieldsLegal advocacy, Media attention, direct-appeal campaigns, research, lobbying
LeaderRichard Falk
Websiteeuromedmonitor.org

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (commonly known as Euro-Med Monitor and sometimes as Euro-Med HRM[1][2][3][4]) is an organization founded by Gaza-born Ramy Abdu. It is self-declared as an independent, nonprofit organization for the protection of human rights. In the European Union’s transparency register it appears in a list of ‘interest representatives’ (those who carry out activities to influence the EU policy and decision-making process).[5]

Richard Falk, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,[6][7] serves as the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.[8][9][10]

Foundation

Euro-Mediterranean Human Right Monitor was founded by Ramy Abdu in November 2011 in Geneva, where it maintains its headquarters.[11][12][13]

Objectives

According to the organisation, its main objective is to raise awareness about human rights law in Europe and the Mediterranean-North Africa area and to influence the international community to take action against human rights violators.[14][15]

Management

Ramy Abdu, Gaza-born Palestinian, is the founder of Euro-Med Monitor and serves as the chairman of the organisation.[16] After the Hamas attack on October 7, he expressed strong support for the terrorists' actions on his social media[17]:

“In this battle, Palestine presented its elite young men and women on the path to freedom and dignity. Successive generations will remember you, and history will immortalize you as heroic knights who created for us pure glory, not stained with mud. Remember their names well and teach the stories of their eternal heroism to your children and grandchildren.” (October 8)
“The scenes of clashes in the Ofakim and Majin Hollywood colonies are amazing. How did the youth of the resistance reach this level of craftsmanship and boldness? amazing!” (October 8)

He also rejected reports of sexual assaults during the Hamas attack, calling them “a fabricated lie.”[18]

Euro-Med Monitor's strategic direction is guided by its Board of Trustees, which, as it claimed, includes human rights professionals including professors, academics, lawyers, advisors and international activists. Richard A. Falk, the former UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, is the chairman of the board of trustees.[19] As a Special Rapporteur, he was severely criticized by many countries for his inappropriate behavior. According to the U.S. State Department, it included “despicable and deeply offensive comments, particularly his anti-Semitic blog postings, his endorsement of 9/11 conspiracy theories, and his deplorable statements with regard to the terrorist attacks in Boston.” He also praised Hamas for its “spirit of resistance” and stated that Hamas' goal is “long-term peaceful co-existence.”[20]

Euro-Med Monitor's Board Chairs appear on a list of Hamas’ “main operatives and institutions” in Europe, published by Israel in 2013.[5]

Members of the Board of Trustees are: Christine Chinkin, Noura Erakat,[21] Celso Amorim, Lisa Hajjar,[22] Tareq Ismael,[23] John V. Whitbeck[24] and Tanya Cariina Newbury-Smith.[25][26]

Special Consultative Status

The group has applied for consultative status, but action on the application has been postponed several times due to queries from Libya, Bahrain, and Israel.[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]

Work

Women's Leadership Incubator (2017-2019) project was funded by the Swedish Kvinna Till Kvinna[35] organization and aimed to empower women in the Gaza Strip to defend their rights and create their own sources of income. The project was based on funding and training local non-governmental organizations staff through capacity-building programs to support women and enhance their social and economic participation.[36]

In September 2022, Euro-Med Monitor reviewed the case of Farah Maraqa, one of seven Arab employees of Deutsche Welle fired in February for allegedly anti-semitic social media posts; Euro-Med Montitor found that her statements had been taken out of context.[37][38][39]

We Are Not Numbers

Main article: We Are Not Numbers

We Are Not Numbers is a project launched by Euro-Med Monitor international secretary Pam Bailey and Ramy Abdu in February 2015 to provide workshops for young writers from Gaza on writing English-language articles and stories, as well as producing English-language content material for social media, in order to reach Western audiences.[40][41] The programme provides each participant with six months' training with native English-speaking mentors,[42] and began with around 40 young people from Gaza writing on an English-language blog while receiving mentoring from experienced authors and journalists. The aim was to open a window to "the people behind the numbers in the news".[43]

A year later, the project had grown to involve more than 75 writers from Gaza, and was supported by mentors including Susan Abulhawa, Miko Peled, Alice Rothchild and Ben Norton.[44] In August 2016, Bailey was denied entry to Israel, despite having a permit to enter Gaza, on account of her 'illegal' work. A lawyer suggested she had been added to a blacklist of Palestinian and international NGOs involved with human rights advocacy.[45]

In 2019, a collection of works from the project was published in German as the book We Are Not Numbers: Young Voices from Gaza (Template:Lang-de).[43]

WANN also launched a Hebrew-language website called We Beyond the Fence in 2020 to provide Israelis with access to Palestinian articles, poems, and personal essays about life in Gaza.[46] As of 2021, WANN was involved with 30 NGOs and other organizations,[47] and in 2023, the programme accepted its 17th cohort of prospective Palestinian writers.[48]

Publications

Euro-Med Monitor regularly publishes reports on many different topics relating to the human rights situation in Europe and MENA, including,

Summary executions

OHCHR stated on 20 December 2023 that according to witness accounts circulated by media sources and Euro-Med Monitor, Israeli soldiers summarily killed eleven unarmed men in Rimal.[49] Subsequently in January 2024, Al Jazeera reported that the number of deaths was 19. Euro-Med Monitor told Al Jazeera they believe there is a pattern of "systematic" killing, that "In at least 13 of field executions, we corroborated that it was arbitrary on the part of the Israeli forces." On 26 December, 2023, Euro-Med Monitor submitted a file to the International Criminal Court and United Nations special rapporteurs documenting dozens of cases of field executions carried out by Israeli forces and calling for an investigation.[50][51][52]

Migrants and refugees

In September 2021, Euro-Med Monitor and ImpACT International documented widespread state-sponsored violations of human rights against African migrant workers in the UAE. The two organizations released a report based on about 100 interviews with migrant workers from African countries who confirmed that the authorities carried out a massive campaign of arrests against about 800 African workers in the country.[53][54][55]

In January 2021, Euro-Med Monitor released a report indicating that the Frontex was involved in illegal pushbacks of migrants and asylum seekers in the Mediterranean.[56]

In December 2020, Euro-Med Monitor released a study in cooperation with the York University to address the risks that refugees with disabilities in Turkey face, including lack of adequate care and social services.[57]

In December 2017, Euro-Med Monitor and Amsterdam International Law Clinic issued a report on the legal position of ‘Stateless Persons’ in the EU, shedding light on the EU's laws concerning stateless persons.[58]

In September 2014, Euro-Med Monitor revealed information about the fate of hundreds of migrants after their ship wrecked in the Mediterranean.[59]

Arbitrary detention

In April 2021, a group of 22 influential academics signed a Euro-Med Monitor petition demanding that the government of Saudi Arabia release former minister Abdulaziz Al-Dakhil.[60]

In July 2020, Euro-Med Monitor released a report on Jordanian government measures against teachers, including arresting teachers’ syndicate leaders and shutting down the syndicate.[61]

In March, 2021, the group sent a letter to UK authorities signed by 15 UK MPs and peers to highlight the case of Michael Smith who is detained in Dubai. The Independent quoted Dr. Tanya Newbury-Smith, a Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor trustee, as saying: "There has been strong backlash against Dubai over its detention and treatment of Princess Latifa, and her case is one of many."[62]

Treatment of civilians during armed conflict

On May 24, 2022, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor and UN Women Palestine organized an art exhibition, titled "I am 22, I lost 22 people," showing paintings made by a survivor of an Israeli airstrike on Gaza during the Israeli military attack on the Strip in May 2021. The survivor, Zainab Al-Qolaq, displayed the suffering she had experienced from the moment her house was bombed and her 12-hour stay under the rubble until she found out that she had lost 22 members of her family, in addition to the internal struggles she has been facing since that time.

Euro-Med Monitor and UN Women Palestine released a booklet that gathered al-Qolaq's paintings and texts describing the psychological impact of the incident and presenting information about the targeting of the al-Qolaq family house.[63][64]

References

  1. ^ "Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. January 20, 2024.
  2. ^ "EURO-MEDITERRANEAN HUMAN RIGHTS MONITOR (EURO-MED MONITOR)". Moneyhouse.
  3. ^ "Euro-Med HRM: Saudi Arabia has forcibly disappeared 3 Libyans". Middle East Monitor. December 11, 2018.
  4. ^ "Euro-Med HRM calls for disclosure of maps for mine sites in Libya". Marsad Libya.
  5. ^ a b "Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor on NGO Monitor". ngomonitor. December 27, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  6. ^ "OHCHR | Special Rapporteur on Palestinian territories occupied since 1967". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  7. ^ "Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Richard Falk (A/HRC/25/67) [EN/AR] - occupied Palestinian territory". ReliefWeb. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  8. ^ The New Arab Staff (April 9, 2021). "Israel's refusal to cooperate with ICC 'admission of war crimes', says rights group". english.alaraby.co.uk.
  9. ^ "No more family visits for Gazans imprisoned in Israel". Mondoweiss. 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  10. ^ Observer, Euromid. "Euro-Med announces changes in its administrative and executive structure". Euro-Mid. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  11. ^ Monitor, Euro-Med Human Rights. "Euro-Med Monitor's 8th anniversary: Falk: Let's work so that the protection of human rights outweighs its violations". Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  12. ^ "- Who We Are". Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Watering the Seeds, a project that empowers budding human rights groups". Europe Brief News. 25 October 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-10-03.
  14. ^ "Who We Are". Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  15. ^ "Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor | UIA Yearbook Profile | Union of International Associations". uia.org.
  16. ^ "Management team". Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  17. ^ https://unwatch.org/un-human-rights-office-amplifies-blood-libel-by-terrorist-sympathizers/
  18. ^ https://unwatch.org/un-human-rights-office-amplifies-blood-libel-by-terrorist-sympathizers/
  19. ^ "Dead Zone: Euro-Med documents breakdown of life in Gaza during 14 years of blockade". WAFA Agency.
  20. ^ https://unwatch.org/un-human-rights-office-amplifies-blood-libel-by-terrorist-sympathizers/
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  29. ^ "Non-Governmental Organizations Committee Recommends 7 Groups for Status, Defers Action on 123 Others, as Resumed Session Continues | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org.
  30. ^ "Continuing 2022 Resumed Session, Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations Recommends 4 Entities for Consultative Status, Defers Action on 95 Others | UN Press". press.un.org.
  31. ^ "Continuing Its 2023 Session, Non-Governmental Organizations Committee Recommends 1 Group for Status, Defers Action on 103 Others". press.un.org.
  32. ^ "Continuing Session, Non-Governmental Organizations Committee Defers Action on 33 Groups Seeking Special Consultative Status". press.un.org.
  33. ^ "Continuing Its 2023 Resumed Session, Non-Governmental Organizations Committee Recommends 4 Entities for Status, Defers Action on 80 Others". press.un.org.
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  35. ^ "Palestine". The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  36. ^ "Gaza civil society organizations aim to empower women - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East". www.al-monitor.com. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  37. ^ Alsaafin, Linah. "'We are scapegoats': Arab journalists fired by Deutsche Welle". www.aljazeera.com.
  38. ^ Alsaafin, Linah. "German court rules Palestinian ex-DW journalist sacking unlawful". www.aljazeera.com.
  39. ^ "Berlin court backs Palestinian journalist fired by DW". The New Arab. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  40. ^ "The Many Faces of Nonviolence - We Are Not Numbers". Nonviolence International. October 2020.
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  42. ^ "Euro-Med Monitor's We Are Not Numbers project celebrates graduation of new batch of writers". WAFA Agency. 5 April 2022.
  43. ^ a b We Are Not Numbers: Junge Stimmen aus Gaza [We Are Not Numbers: Young Voices from Gaza] (in German). Translated by Oehler, Lorenz. Lena Verlag. 2019. p. 2. ISBN 9783857874925.
  44. ^ "'We Are Not Numbers' shares the daily struggles and triumphs of Palestinian life". Mondoweiss. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  45. ^ "Israel bans right activist from entering Gaza". Days of Palestine. Archived from the original on 24 August 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  46. ^ "Palestinians in Gaza are bringing their stories of siege to Israelis". +972 magazine.
  47. ^ "Euro-Med Monitor's We Are Not Numbers project celebrates graduation of new batch of writers". Wafa.
  48. ^ "Euro-Med Monitor's project We Are Not Numbers launches 17th cohort of writers". Euro-Med Monitor.
  49. ^ "UN Human Rights Office - OPT: Unlawful killings in Gaza City". ReliefWeb. OHCHR. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  50. ^ "Euro-Med submits findings on Israeli army executions in Gaza to ICC, UN, calling them 'genocide' – Middle East Monitor".
  51. ^ "Watchdog Submits Evidence of Israeli Executions of Gaza Civilians to UN, ICC". www.commondreams.org.
  52. ^ "جريدة القدس".
  53. ^ Gebeily, Maya. "Hundreds of Africans detained, deported from Abu Dhabi". news.trust.org. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  54. ^ "'They told us they hate Africans': Hundreds detained, deported from Abu Dhabi". Reuters. 2021-09-03. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  55. ^ "Report show how UAE 'brutalise and deport' some Nigerians and oda Africans". BBC News Pidgin. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  56. ^ Williamson, David (2021-01-17). "EU's border force accused of breaking human rights laws on migrant boat actions". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  57. ^ "The Risks That Refugees with Disabilities Face in Turkey: How to Mitigate Risks and Challenges to Shape an Apt Humanitarian Response - Turkey". ReliefWeb. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  58. ^ "Euro-Med Monitor report on 'stateless persons' in Europe". BriefEurope. 2017-12-09. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  59. ^ Akram, Fares; Kershner, Isabel (2014-09-20). "Fleeing Gaza, Only to Face Treachery and Disaster at Sea". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  60. ^ David Maddox, ed. (2021-05-18). "Academics demand Saudi releases an ex-minister who complained about human rights abuses". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  61. ^ Amman, Jassar al-Tahat. "Jordan arrests hundreds of teachers after violent clashes". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  62. ^ "MPs demand government action to help Briton with HIV locked up in UAE for a decade despite pardon". The Independent. March 7, 2021.
  63. ^ Al-Mughrabi, Nidal (2022-05-26). "Gaza war survivor commemorates victims in paintings". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  64. ^ "Zainab Al-Qolaq, a Survivor of an Israeli Airstrike on Gaza in May 2021 Tells Her Story". UN Women – Palestine Country Office. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
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