SRW’s Six Month Accomplishments
Dear SRW members, interns, volunteers, followers and subscribers,
While you were busy supporting us, we were working hard defending Shia minority rights. This is a brief summary to thank you for your help, hard work and support. Because of you, SRW has been able to defend Shia rights through various advocacy methods, research based reports, and presentations in Geneva and the New York UN and other human rights committees. The following shows only some of our accomplishments. Your trusted SRW representatives have:
- Participated in an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Internally Displaced Persons and the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary executions under Item 3- Clustered ID at the United Nations in Geneva in June 2016,
- Attended and participated in interactive dialogue with candidates for the Presidency of the 71st General Assembly in New York UN that was hosted by the World Federation of United Nations Associations,
- Took part in the sixty-sixth Department of Public Information (DPI)/Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Conference hosted by South Korea in Gyeongju in May 2016. The conference is held under the theme “Education for Global Citizenship: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Your SRW Representative to the United Nations attended series of moderated debates for candidate Member States running for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council in order to highlight Shia rights violations in May 2016.
- SRW New York representative Mr. Akhwand attended 66th Session of UN DPI/NGO to emphasize on the importance of education and its availability and accessibility for Shia children who have lost their right to education, in March 2016.
- Shia Rights Watch’s UN representative Mujtaba Akhwand with cooperation from the Freemuslim Association participated in an item 3 Interactive Dialogue on Minority Issue regarding discrimination against Shia Muslims in Malaysia at the 31st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Oral and written statements of the NGO were presented in the meeting and published on the UN website in five languages.
- The NGO advocated for the rights of Saudi, Malaysian, and Azerbaijani Shia through oral and written statements presented at UN Human Rights Council- 31st Session.
- SRW presented its concern regarding the misuse of the term, “terrorism” by many governments and urged the UN to adopt a universal definition for terror and terrorism at UN Human Rights Council- 31st Session.
- The SRW Women’s Rights Wing has hosted a Women’s Empowerment; A Major Step in Peace, Reconciliation & Capacity Building seminar at UN to advocate for Shia women and their struggles.
- SRW’s Saudi Arabia expert participated in an item 3 Interactive Dialogue on Freedom of Religion or Belief, addressing GCC discrimination toward Shia Muslims at the 31st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva
SRW’s Executive Director, Mustafa Akhwand presented as an expert on Bahraini Shia rights violations at “Persecution of Shia in Bahrain”, a two day summit in Brussels. The summit was organized by SALAM for human rights and justice and No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), to promote and protect human rights and democracy in the Middle East and in Bahrain in particular.
SRW’s expert in de-radicalization, Mujtaba AKhwand, actively participated in a roundtable debate focusing on Prevention of Violent Extremism through Education in the Trusteeship Council Chamber in New York as part of The UNSG Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) advocates global citizenship education (GCED).
SRW Women’s Rights Wing has hosted a side event at the UN to highlight specific struggles of Shia women under the topic of Women’s Empowerment: A Major Step in Peace, Reconciliation & Capacity Building.
On 6/12 SRW volunteers and members celebrated International Shia Day by hosting flower and peace message distribution in Washington DC, launched http://internationalshiaday.com and also took pledge to stand for Shia rights through a pledge page on the official website, using hashtags #612 and # 612ShiaDay.
Watch videos of International Shia Day here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0YcrzIDiBU.
Shia Rights Watch staff would like to thank you all for making Shia rights watch possible with your support. Stay in touch
