Actions realised within the framework of the sponsorship project

Up to now, severalsponsors have spoken publicly about the situation of “their” human rightsdefenders during press conferences or through letters they addressed to therelevant authorities, in particular when the situation of some of the humanrights defenders taken in charge by the project required an urgent reaction.Several other actions have been carried out and notably:

2013

• January-March: Dissemination of anurgent appeal and public call for action about the judicial harassment ofRussian authorities against Stanislav Dmitrievsky, Chairman of the Russian Chechen Friendship Society(RCFS). On thisoccasion, a portraitof Stanislav was published and 900postcards to the attention of the Russian Embassy in Geneva distributedduring the Swiss tour clown Dimitri, Stanislav’s sponsor.
• 29 March: Screening of Amazonian Indians on borrowed time during theWorld Social Forum in Tunis (26 to 30 March 2013) in the presence ofrepresentatives of the OMCT Tunis office of OMCT and Lawyers without bordersBrazil.
• April: Screening of Amazonian Indians on borrowed time in Boa Vista, Brazil, on the occasion of the national Indigenous Peoples Day on 19 April.
• August: Distribution of 1000 DVD of Amazonian Indians on borrowed time at the 66thedition of the Locarno Film Festival (7 to 17 August 2013).
• 14 September: Participation ofdefender Justine Justine Masika Bihamba to a panel on violence against women as part of the OHCHR Open day at Palais Wilson in Geneva. On this occasion, three documentariesproduced by OMCT were screened and over 300 DVD of Amazonian Indians on borrowed time weredistributed.
• 16 to 25 September: OMCT Solidaritymission OMCT IN Cambodia to meet land and housing rights defenders. Adocumentary following the mission is in preparation.
• 22 November: Publication of a joint pressrelease on the release on bail of Cambodian defender Yorm Bopha, met inprison by OMCT during its solidarity mission in Cambodia.
• 29 November: Screening of Amazonian Indians on borrowed time at the AMPHIOPÉRA in Lyon (France) during the 7th edition of Documental.

2012

• November 2012: Screenings of Amazonian Indians on borrowed timein Bern and in Geneva during the Film Festival Filmar en Latin America. This thirddocumentary is now available on DVD for free upon request to parrainagedefenseurs@omct.org.
• 26 and 28 May 2012: AmazonianIndians on borrowed timewas screened in Buenos Aires during the Internationalfilm festival on human rights.
• March 2012: Meetings organisedby OMCT for human rights defender Davi Kopenawa during the Human RightsCouncil session. Davi Kopenawa was able to meet with UN SpecialProcedures, representatives of the OHCHR, journalists, and delegates ofthe Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The third OMCT documentary,Amazonian Indians on borrowed time,on the human rights situation of indigenous peoples was screened inSion and in Berne followed by debates with human rights defender DaviKopenawa.
• 4 March 2012: Screening of "Indiens en sursis" atAlhambra theatre in Geneva during the International film festival andforum on human rights (FIFDH). This documentary produced by DanielSchweizer for Swiss TV show Temps présent follows the OMCT mission inBrazil. A debate on how indigenous peoples' rights are jeopardized by theeconomic development was organised in presence of Davi Kopenawa and NoémieKocher.

Petitionsto the Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff were published.

2011

• November/December2011: mission of solidarity in Brazil to support indigenous peoplesleaders and defenders Megaron and Davi Kopenawa
• August2011: Screening of OMCT film Indifferenceand Impunity on the occasion of a public event on sexual violenceagainst women organized by the Department of Development and Cooperationof the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the presence of defenderJustine Masika Bihamba and her sponsor Swiss clown Dimitri
• March/April2011: Mobilisation for the safety of Mrs. Justine Masika Bihamba with the publication of an urgentalert on threats against Mrs. Bihamba and calls from her sponsors Dimitriand Dick Marty to Congolese and Swiss authorities. An audiovisualtestimony of Mrs. Bihamba was released and alunch briefing at OMCT premises in presence of Mrs. Bihamba organised for representativesof diplomatic missions to sensitize them to the risks faced by Mrs. Bihamba andother Congolese human rights defenders and to call them to take action fortheir security.

2010

• Solidaritymission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to support human rightsdefenders helping victims of sexual violence and production of the film Indifference and Impunity.

This mission, whoseaim was to alert the public to the fate of the Congolese human rights defendersstruggling against impunity for the perpetrators of sexual violence committedagainst women in the east of the country, profited from the presence of two Swisspersonalities, Mr. Dimitri, one of the greatest clowns of his generation, andMr. Dick Marty, who has earned international renown for his work in thepromotion and protection of human rights and his role as Rapporteur of theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in particular his denunciationof CIA secret prisons, the UN Security Council blacklist, the human rightssituation in the North Caucasus and, more recently, his report on traffickingin organs in Kosovo and Albania.

• Theshort film, produced by Mr. Daniel Schweizer and recently awarded a prizeat the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, premiered inBern and Geneva where it was accompanied by an exhibition of photographstaken in the field.
• Kenyanhuman rights defender Stephen Wetheo Musau, sponsored by PatrickChappatte, was temporarily relocated in Switzerland following seriousthreats after he published a report on extrajudicial killings in Kenya.

2009

• OnMarch 6, 2009, the Swiss clown and actress Ms. Gardi Hutter met theBrazilian defenders Ms. Conçeicao Paganele, at the headquarters of herNGO, the Organisation of Mothers and Friends of Adolescents at Risk(AMAR), in the presence of the Swiss General Consul Mr. Hans Hauser. Afundraising collaboration was decided between AMAR, Gardi Hutter and OMCT.
• OnApril 1, 2009, Mr. Rolf Bloch sent a letter to the Dutch authorities, inorder to demand the release of Mr. Azer Samedov who was temporarilyarrested that same day at the Amsterdam airport. Following international reactionsand after the officer in charge learned about the refugee status of Mr.Azer Samedov, he was released from custody the same day. The Dutchauthorities subsequently sent a letter to OMCT, and assured that Mr.Samedov was safe in their country and that he would not be sent back toAzerbaijan.
• Thepublication of 12 poems written by the Indian human rights defender Ms.Irom Sarmila was to be carried out thanks to the collaboration with hersponsor Mr. Lars Müller. Due to problems with the Indian partner, thispublication could unfortunately not come into reality.

2008

• OnFebruary 4, 2008, the entrepreneur and Swiss chocolate seller Mr. RolfBloch sent a letter to the Prosecutor General of Georgia, in order toprevent the extradition of Mr. Azer Samedov to Azerbaijan. Following theintervention of the UNHCR and other actors, Mr. Azer Samedov and hisfamily obtained the refugee status in the Netherlands on May 21, 2008.
• OnMarch 13, 2008, the famous Swiss clown, Dimitri, met Ms. OksanaChelysheva, colleague of Mr. Stanislas Dmitrievsky, at the time of herstay in Geneva. A press conference was organised on this occasion andDimitri publicly expressed his support for the journalist and Russianhuman rights defender. Subsequently, Dimitri sent a letter to PresidentMedvedev on April 4 to remind him the importance of freedom of expressionand fundamental rights for Mr. Dmitrievsky.
• OnJune 7, 2008, the former National Councillor Mrs. Rosmarie Zapfl sent aletter to the Shanghai prison authorities, asking that Mrs. Mao Hengfeng’shusband be authorized to visit his wife. Moreover, a testimony written byMrs. Zapfl on her commitment as a sponsor for Mrs. Hengfeng was publishedin the Tribune de Genève of August 15, 2008, during the OlympicGames of Beijing.
• Accompaniedby a film director, a member of the European Committee for the Preventionof Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) and OMCTSecretary General, Ms. Noémie Kocher, actress and sponsor of the Mexicanhuman rights defender Mrs. Marisela Ortiz Rivera, carried out a solidaritymission in Ciudad Juárez (Mexico). This mission was thereafter the subjectof a documentary, "la lutte des femmesde Juarez" which was shown for the first time in December 2008.This permitted to raise the awareness of a large public in favour of thecause defended by Mrs. Marisela Ortíz Rivera and, more generally, of thework of human rights defenders. The documentary was furthermore presentedat the following occasions:
• InParis, during the 10th EU-NGO forum on Human Rights, organised inDecember 2008 by the French EU Presidency, in the presence of NoémieKocher and of a representative for OMCT.
• InApril 2009 in Madrid, during the reunion of Lawyers fighting for thedefence of the victims of the Feminicide in Ciudad Juárez, in thepresence of Mr. Emilio Ginés Santidirán