Funding human rights activism

One way activists fund their human rights projects is through performance art.http://www.reclaimyourcity.net/

This is a current Berlin art and activism project, Dr. Nathanson will be interested in that I bet, so feel free to tell people about it. I am not involved in it.

How else to fund human rights? Crowdfunding
https://www.kickstarter.com/
https://www.gofundme.com/

or stock market investing
http://www.investorguide.com/article/11632/valuation-methods-used-in-fundamental-analysis-of-stocks-igu/

Its sometimes possible to get funding through private foundations and government grants, glwt, everyone wants free money so it is tough to get a grant.

Social Media and Human Rigths / Foreign Policy
Social media obviously became big in the last decade, and by now all the embassies have their own youtube, they often twitter, and have a facebook page. I have not pointed that out because I think you already see that for yourselves. Emailing lists are another example. So e.g. the German foreign ministry has an email list which I am subscribed to. This recent post of theirs is an example of how human rights and diplomacy interact and how the international system “self-regulates” by invoking human rights, here, the ICCPR.<br />
Auswärtiges Amt
www.auswaertiges-amt.de

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Human Rights Commissioner Strässer on the release of Vietnamese blogger Ta Phong Tan

21.09.2015

The Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid, Christoph Strässer, issued the following statement on 21 September on the release of the Vietnamese blogger Ta Phong
Tan:

“I am very pleased that Vietnamese blogger Ta Phong Tan has been released. We worked very hard in favour of this outcome. At the same time, I regret that she has apparently only been released from
prison on the condition that she leaves the country immediately.

It is incongruous that Viet Nam has committed to upholding human rights in its new constitution and yet at the same time is not respecting freedom of opinion as enshrined in the ICCPR, ratified by
Viet Nam. All those in prison for having exerted their right to freedom of opinion or demonstration should be released without delay.”

Background information:

On 19 September 2015, blogger Ta Phong Tan obtained early release from prison after three years of incarceration. From Hanoi she travelled directly to the United States. In 2012, Ta Phong Tan was
sentenced to ten years of imprisonment and five years of house arrest for “propaganda against the state”. She had written online about topics such as widespread corruption.

Together with its partners from the EU and other countries, the German Government had been working to achieve her release for a long time. In an expert report, the United Nations Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention had classed the incarceration of Ta Phong Tan as “arbitrary”.

In the past year, two human rights defenders have already been released from prison under similar circumstances (Mr Cu Huy Ha VU and Mr Dieu Cay). In both cases the sentence was simply suspended.
They had to promise to travel to the US immediately. That means that, de facto, returning to Viet Nam is not an option as they would have to serve the remainder of their sentence.

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