IUSY urges for the protection of human rights of people in Jammu and Kashmir

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The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) is condemning the outrageous developments in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, a provision in the Indian constitution granting autonomy to the state, by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

After the abrogation of the state’s autonomous status in August 5, the state was put on lockdown. Communication services have been cut off in the early days of the abrogation, preventing residents from connecting with people outside of the area. The press in the region have also been clamped down arbitrarily. There have been alarming reports of harassment and detention of political leaders in the region as well.

We express concern over reports of minors, young people and elderly citizens who have experienced violence in the days following the abrogation. IUSY calls for a fair and swift probe on reports of human rights violations and urge law enforcement in the region to exercise maximum restraint.

As a long-term objective, IUSY urges all parties of the Kashmir conflict to work on stable agreements about peaceful solutions for the region and especially to elaborate a binding frame to exclude the use of nuclear weapons as an option.

IUSY urges for the Indian government to review its decision on Article 370 to allow a multitude of voices to be heard and to prevent an escalation of the conflict in the region. The Indian government must lift all restrictions on the right to freedom of expression, speech, and protest, which should include the restoration of the communication lines and the reported gag on the free press in the region. IUSY urges for a peaceful settlement of the issue between India and Pakistan, with a framework of justice for the poor and oppressed as priority.

Image Credit: two.circles via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

No to Extradition Law! IUSY supports the Hong Kong protests for democracy and human rights

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 The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) is in solidarity with the people of Hong Kong in their struggle for their civil and political rights after weeks of protest, calling for the full withdrawal of the Extradition Bill.

Civic groups critical of the bill warn that Hong Kong citizens will be subjected to mainland China’s courts despite a special autonomous status that is effective until 2047. Hong Kong citizens fear that safeguards placed in the law won’t shield people especially political activists and critics of Beijing from being extradited to China, especially political activists and critics of Beijing. There have been reported cases of abduction disappearances of people critical to the mainland government before, increasing the fear and tension felt by citizens over the proposed bill.

IUSY condemns the police brutality against the protesters. We express alarm over documented cases of abuse: the irresponsible use of tear gas in confined spaces, the serious injury to protesters with indiscriminate firing of rubber bullets, and dangerous tactics against members of the media covering the marches. We also condemn the presence of armed thugs in public stations that have attacked protesters and passengers in July. The police officers were unable to intervene in the violence, adding to the list of failure of the Hong Kong government to protect its citizens.

IUSY condemns the detention of protesters in peaceful demonstrations. It is alarming that peaceful protesters, mostly young people, are charged with cases of rioting which could subject them to 10 years of imprisonment. IUSY believes that the Hong Kong government should heed the demands of the protesters to put an end to several weeks of marches instead of filing political charges to the activists.

IUSY invokes all sides of conflict to avert violence and create a frame for equal negotiations with focus on the democratic interests of the Hong Kong people in order to come to a peaceful solution. Hong Kong is still an autonomous region from China. There is no other way than dialogue to settle the tensions without further damages.

IUSY supports the demands of the Hong Kong citizens:

1. Complete withdrawal of the extradition bill;

2. Withdraw the ‘riot’ characterisation of the June 12th protests;

3. Unconditional release of all arrested protesters;

4. Establish an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the police’s use of force in handling anti-bill protests;

5. The right to direct elections for the Hong Kong people.

Photo taken from Wikimedia commons

El gobierno de Nicaragua debe reconsiderar su postura y reanudar el diálogo en el marco de la inclusión y respeto de los DDHH 

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[ES]
Los nicaragüenses  aspiran libertad, restablecimiento de la democracia y justicia.
Después de meses de negociaciones, el gobierno de Ortega, aún mantiene más de cien presos políticos, represiones y persecuciones  todos los días a los disidentes de este régimen, mientras muchos se encuentran en el exilio y las familias de más de 300 asesinados demandan justicia. El gobierno ha incumplido los compromisos que ha firmado, burlándose del pueblo y de la comunidad internacional.
Recientemente, el régimen anunció la cancelación de la mesa de negociaciones con la Alianza Cívica, cerrando las puertas a una salida dialogada a la  crisis que vive el país.
Desde la Unión Internacional de Juventudes Socialistas (IUSY por sus siglas en inglés) reiteramos nuestro llamado al cese de violaciones de Derechos Humanos, a la liberación urgente de todos los presos políticos, al cese de las persecuciones contra los disidentes y líderes de la oposición, al igual que insistimos en nuestro llamado a que debe abrirse una negociación que permita una salida pacífica al conflicto que hoy viven en Nicaragua.
[EN]
The Nicaraguan government must reconsider its position and return to the dialogue respecting Human Rights.
Nicaraguans are fighting and waiting for freedom, democracy and justice.
After months of negotiations, Ortega´s government still maintains more than one hundred political prisoners, repressions and persecutions every day, while many families are exile and there are more of 300 murdered demand justice. The government has breached the commitments it has signed, mocking of people and the international community.
Recently, Ortega´s government announced the end of the negotiating with the Civic Alliance, closing doors to a dialogue exit to the crisis in Nicaragua.
From IUSY we call out for the cessation of Human Rights violations, the urgent release of all political prisoners, the end of persecutions against opposition leaders, as well as a call to open a negotiation that allows a peaceful exit to the conflict of Nicaragua.

IUSY-IFLRY Joint Statement on India Study Visit

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In July, delegations of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) and the International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) visited India on a joint field visit. The aim of the mission was to get a better grasp of the political climate and the state of civil society in India after the 2019 General Elections—and the landslide victory of the governing party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The delegation visited several democratic parties, political foundations, NGOs, and civil society actors throughout the duration of the mission.

The delegation made the following observations:

  • India maintains its vivid democratic culture and still shows an incredible diversity in civil society actors, ranging from research-based advocacy to hands-on political action. This is why we would like to express our deep concern that the increasing pressure of the current government on civil society could jeopardize this vivid political culture. The indicators for our concerns are rooted the in the increasing difficulties in registration procedures for NGOs, the vague policing of violations to the “interests of the Indian state”, the centralization of social service programs to government-friendly agencies, and the structured harassment and intimidation of media organizations reporting critically about the work of the prime minister and/or government
  • Yet, due to the lack of education, the mission observed a general lack of political education across all sectors and classes of Indian society. This manifests in the practical absence of the classical ideological divisions (socialism, liberalism, etc.) amongst the mainstream democratic parties. 
  • Moreover, the delegations noted the following:
    • The rise of so-called “Hindu Nationalism”—which actively undermines democratic pluralism and viewpoint diversity. We see this as the biggest threat to the promotion of minority rights and social stability in India.
    • The worrisome rise of fake news, public outrage, and mob culture as an electoral tool. These tools do not only threaten the secular foundations of India’s democracy; but also contribute to political and religious polarization —and therefore to the dangerous social environment that all minorities (especially women and LGBTIQ) in India are facing.
    • Increasing bureaucratization of processes (e.g. registration, accessing foreign funds, etc.) in civil society might hinder the preservation of viewpoint diversity in India’s democratic and social discourse.

This field visit has been part of the Global Youth Programme—a global cross-party initiative based on the cooperation between the two political families represented by IUSY and IFLRY—funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and with the support of the Olof Palme International Center (OPC) and the Center Party International Foundation (CIS).

Members of the Delegation

Ana Pirtskhalava (IUSY), Secretary General

Justine Balane (IUSY), Vice President & Asia Coordination

Roland Gur (IUSY), Control Commission

Sven Gerst (IFLRY), Secretary General

Olha Tsurkan (IFLRY), Treasurer & Asia Coordination

Daan Looij (IFLRY), Financial Coordinator

 

Call for participants: Struggle for equality continues: mapping the road to gender equality in youth organisations (13-18 Oct, Berlin)

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Description of the activity
With this activity IUSY is planning to expand and strengthen the reach of gender mainstreaming policies, to provide space for young people and youth organisations to set up goals that go further than gender parity and develop tools that will allow their organisations and the youth sector to assure true gender equality. This strategy does not end by electing young women in leadership (while this in itself represents an important step forward) – the further challenge is the empowerment of all young people to assume even more active roles in working towards achieving a truly inclusive culture in our organisations and parties and reinforcing our efforts in combating exclusion, discrimination and violence.

IUSY will in this way return to focus on gender equality as one of the core requirements foran inclusive organisational culture and a fundamental basis for open and democratic youth organisations. This represents our next step in reaching beyond the policies and mechanisms for ensuring gender parity, to work on establishing an environment in which young people of all genders work together in a respectful and sensitive atmosphere, enabling each of them to give their best contribution to the shared goals and aspirations.

The participants in this activity will have the chance to give their contribution to this struggle. They will outline an advanced strategy for gender mainstreaming in youth organisations to bring about equal participation and visibility at all levels of the organisational structure, including leadership, representation and decision-making and unite young people and youth organisations in joint efforts for equality and against gender-based stereotypes, disrespect, harassment and violence. The participants will have the chance to explore the gender issues in their own organisations and our movement, getting an open view of the actual situation concerning gender equality and the impact of gender mainstreaming policies so far. They will investigate the understanding of the terms of gender identity and the extent to which gender diversity is respected in youth organisations. They will explore the reach of gender equality, while on the other side recognizing the challenges, including any type of gender-related discrimination and researching the mechanisms that the organisations are putting into action to face these threats and combat all types of inequality. Finally, they will set advanced goals for gender equality in youth organisations and design tools (guidelines and methods for concrete cases and situations) to carry them out – the IUSY toolkit for gender equality in youth organisations, which will be shared in our global movement and with our partner youth organisations, as well as a series of regional workshops to be realized by the IUSY Feminist Working Group in order to get additional input and approaches and rise the reach of the activity to global level in our movement.

Aim

The main aim of this activity is to design an advanced strategy for gender mainstreaming in youth organisations in order to assure equal representation and visibility of all actors and a joint struggle against all types of gender-based discrimination, including gender-based bias and stereotypes, disrespect and harassment and gender-based violence. The activity will contribute to reinforcing our ongoing struggle for inclusion and against discrimination and violence, starting from youth organisations active in our global movement and expanding further among the youth sector.

Objectives

• To strengthen the understanding of gender identity and recognize the importance of gender equality in youth organisations and our movement

• To comprehend the current situation in youth organisations regarding gender equality and the main challenges and issues to address in order to improve further

• To set short- and long-term goals for improvement of gender equality in youth organisations and design an advanced strategy to reach the defined goals

Participants profile

• 18-30 years old

• Grass root youth activists from IUSY partner/member organizations

• Interested in the topic of gender equality, feminism, youth activism, political participation, youth empowerment

• Interested in and strong motivation in being part of the follow up of the activity

Daily programme

How to apply

To make sure that everyone has equal chance in participating, participants must apply via online application form by clicking here or copy pasting the following link

https://forms.gle/FQFfvUqPqarH8has6

DEADLINE for registration is 8th of August, 2019.

DEADLINE for receiving application result is 12th of August, 2019.

Selection of the participation will be based on several criteria, such motivation for taking part in this activity, readiness to continue working towards expanding youth participation and their commitment and readiness to take part in the follow-up activities as well as age and gender.

Eligible member/partner organisations per country

According to the rules of the project, participants coming from Council of Europe member countries are eligible to apply.

Costs

There is a 30-euro participant contribution. All other costs such as travel, accommodation, meal will be fully covered by the project.

Travel information

Arrivals and Departures

Day of arrival for the activity is the 13th of October and day of departure is the 18th of October.

Please make your travel arrangements accordingly and do not forget that IUSY will not be able to cover accommodation or any other additional expenses for participants who need to stay additional nights. You should contact the project coordinator to confirm your flight ticket before purchasing it.

Travel reimbursement

As soon as your participation is confirmed, we strongly advise you to communicate with the project coordinator in order to organise your travel and buy your tickets as early as possible to avoid high costs. All travel reimbursements will be made in euro via bank transfer after the activity.

Cost of travels must be proven by original documents. Therefore, please do not forget to keep and hand in ALL of the following documents at the activity:

Flights:

1. Booking confirmation, itinerary and ticket (if the amount is not mentioned, you should provide an invoice or a bank statement)

2. Original boarding passes for all flight segments for both ways

3. Local travel tickets, where relevant

4. Your bank account details

Train/coach:

1. Booking confirmation, itinerary and ticket

2. Original, stamped tickets for all journey segments

3. Local travel tickets, where relevant

4. Your bank account details

Car:

1. Petrol receipts and a calculation of the kilometric allowance (itinerary showing the number of kilometers and kilometric rate used)

2. Origin address and route map

3. Your bank account details

Car sharing:

1. A statement signed by both by the driver and the traveler including the name of the traveler, the name of the driver, the dates of the journey, the itinerary and the number of kilometers and the amount paid.

2. Your bank account details

Visas

The IUSY Secretariat will support visa applications for the activity. If you require a visa for Germany, please send a copy of your passport to iusy@iusy.org as soon as possible, so the secretariat can draft a visa invitation letter for you. You need to make an appointment at the embassy/consulate and prepare required documents by yourself.

Accommodation and meeting venue

The accommodation and project venue will be sent to all participants nearer the time, at least one month in advance of the activity.

IUSY_EYF_invitation_october2019

Contact

Gohar Ghandilyan | IUSY Project Manager

Email: iusy@iusy.org or gohar.ghandilyan@iusy.org

Phone: +43 699 135 32 960

We are looking forward to receiving your application!

Statement of IUSY Feminist Working Group’19: Gender Mainstreaming in Youth Organisations

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Young activists of IUSY member organisations have met 27-30 June 2019, at Salvador Allende Haus in Germany to reflect on the theme Gender mainstreaming in youth organisations.

The IUSY Feminist Working Group has further discussed on women empowerment, intersectionality, representation and prevention of sexualized violence with a unique left perspective. We believe the fight against patriarchy must be the fight against all privileges and exploitations. Therefore, we have highlighted the difference from right and liberal feminism and have stressed for the need to:

  1. change the structure of society in order to achieve real equality. It’s not enough to cancel limitations;
  2. consider other struggles requiring attention and association with the needs in pursuing for gender equality;
  3. emphasise that the only feminism is intersectional feminism;
  4. analyse the reality through the lens of socialist intersectional feminism and to bring the left perspective to the centre of the table;
  5. have internal tools and common understanding of topics related to feminism in order to implement gender equality in the MO’s & in IUSY;

The Feminist Working Group has resolved to develop and publish a toolkit in December in order to inform, form and transform the knowledge.

No feminism without socialism, no socialism without feminism

Salvador Allende Haus, Germany, 29thJune 2019

 

 

IUSY exige justicia con el caso del joven venezolano Rufo Chacón Parada

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Spanish

IUSY exige justicia con el caso del joven venezolano Rufo Chacón Parada

La Unión Internacional de Juventudes Socialistas, (IUSY por sus siglas en inglés),exige a los organismos competentes se haga justicia con el caso del joven Rufo Antonio Chacón Parada, de 16 años de edad, quien perdió la vista luego de que funcionarios policiales le dispararon 52 perdigones en la cara cuando se encontraba en medio de una protesta por gas doméstico en Táriba, estado Táchira.

Rechazamos, que estas acciones contra el derecho a la protesta en Venezuela sigan ocasionando daños a jóvenes y familias, donde las necesidades que hoy enfrentan los venezolanos no pueden pretender taparlas con represiones al margen de

English

IUSY demands justice in the case of young Venezuelan Rufo Chacón Parada

The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) is demanding justice for Rufo Antonio Chacón Parada, 16 years old, who lost his sight after police officers shot 52 buckshot in his face while he was in the middle of a domestic gas protest in Táriba, Táchira state.

We reject the fact that these actions against the right to protest in Venezuela continue to cause harm to young people and families, where the needs faced by Venezuelans today cannot be covered up with repression outside the law.

French

L’IUSY demande justice dans l’affaire du jeune vénézuélien Rufo Chacón Parada

L’Union internationale de la jeunesse socialiste (IUSY) demande justice pour Rufo Antonio Chacón Parada, 16 ans, qui a perdu la vue après que des policiers lui aient tiré 52 balles dans le visage alors qu’il se trouvait au beau milieu d’une manifestation domestique de gaz à Táriba, dans l’Etat de Táchira.

Nous rejetons le fait que ces actions contre le droit de manifester au Venezuela continuent de causer du tort aux jeunes et aux familles, où les besoins auxquels les Vénézuéliens sont confrontés aujourd’hui ne peuvent être couverts par une répression illégale.

Call for Registrations: Global Seminar 2019 3-6 October 2019

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Overview

What:             IUSY Global Seminar

When:            3-6 October 2019

Where:           Stockholm, Sweden

 

Overview of the event

The Olof Palme International Centre’s Global Project finances the IUSY Global Seminar. The IUSY Global Seminar 2019 will gather together IUSY member organisations and representatives from the districts of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League (SSU). New to this year is that the second day will be spent having a joint programme together with IFLRY, The International Federation of Liberal Youth. The aim of the seminar will be to provide to the Member Organisations and to the SSU representatives a platform to discuss and come up with ideas on how we can battle shrinking civil society space and support civil society organisations and activists across the globe. A secondary aim is also to strengthen collaboration with IFLRY on topics that we agree on. The seminar will be an opportunity for us to learn and reflect upon new ideas and partnerships in our work for a fairer and more equal world.

Theme

A cornerstone of a democratic society is an empowered and independent civil society. Civil society organiations (CSOs) are the voice of the people and ensure that decision-makers make policies that respond to the needs of its citizens. In the last couple of years civil society has been under attack. CIVICUS has documented that civil society space is attacked in 111 countries and that only four per cent of the world’s population live in countries where our fundamental civil society freedoms such as freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression are respected. The shrinking space has presented itself as restrictive legislation, restricted access to funding for CSOs, and attacks such as threats, violence and murders have been committed to human rights defenders and civil society representatives and organisations. The Global Seminar will tackle the topic of shrinking civil society space and the role of political youth organisations. Together we will learn more about the attacks on civil society but also discuss what our roles are as political youth organisations in a more democratic world by ensuring that we have a free and independent civil society.

For more information about the state of civil society during 2018 read CIVICUS 2019 report.

For any questions or remarks please don’t hesitate to contact the IUSY Secretariat at iusy@iusy.org, put Global Seminar 2019 in the subject line.

With best regards,

Johanna Ortega                                                Ana Pirtskhalava

IUSY President                                            IUSY Secretary General

Participation Profile & Selection Process

Each member organisation may register up to one participant for the meeting.
The selection criteria will be based on
1. The questions listed in the application form

  1. Gender Balance (both IUSY statutes and the global project require gender balance)
  2. Regional Balance

Participants must be able to attend the entire programme of the seminar.

It’s preferable that participants have an interest in working with civil society and has knowledge about the threats against civil society today as well as previous experience working with liberal youth.

All participants must be aged 18-35 years old, with no exceptions.

How to apply

Participants must apply by filling in the registration form that you can find here. Or copy paste it to your browser: https://forms.gle/tLWevqnbTkXqbsA26

Please note that a thought out answer to the questions are required as it is part of the selection process.

The deadline for application is 05 of August.

Participation fee

The participation fee for the event is 50€ per person and must be paid with bank transfer by Wednesday 15th September 2019.

Please note that you will have to be selected before you pay the participation fee.
The participation fee will cover accommodation, meals, refreshments and programme for the duration of the event. Any additional nights’ accommodation must be arranged and paid for by participants.

Payment should be via bank transfer to IUSYs account.

Once you have made the bank transfer, please send a payment receipt to iusy@iusy.org. Please be aware that IUSY cannot take responsibility for any bank fees.

Visas

The IUSY Secretariat will support visa applications for the event. Please note that the Secretariat will support you with a visa invitation letter. Participants themselves must apply for the visa and book appointments with the embassies/consulates.

Travel Reimbursement

Travel reimbursement is available up to a fixed reference price. Only economy tickets will be reimbursed. Please note that as this event is open to all IUSY’s regions the amount of Travel Reimbursement available to the different organisations will become available after the selection process has finished.

Cancellations

Each organisation whose participant withdraws after the 25th of September without a valid reason will be charged the participation fee.

Contacts

Amanda Lilliefeldt

Amanda.lilliefeldt@iusy.org or

iusy@iusy.org / +4369913532970