Rebecca Vincent | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | April 28, 1983 |
| Occupation | Human Rights Campaigner |
| Employer | Reporters Without Borders |
Rebecca Vincent (born April 28, 1983) is an American-British human rights campaigner, who is currently the Director of Campaigns for Reporters Without Borders. [1]
Vincent began her career with the U.S. Department for State, which she joined in 2005, immediately after completing her bachelor's degree in political science from the University of North Texas. [2] From 2006 to 2008, Vincent was posted to the US Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan, as a political officer covering the democracy and human rights portfolios. Vincent also spent time as a political reporting officer at the US Mission to the United Nations in New York in 2008, covering proceedings of the 63rd General Assembly and the Third (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural) Committee.
After leaving the State Department, Vincent completed an MA in Human Rights at the University College London. [2] She then worked with Article 19 as the coordinator of the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan, a coalition of 20 international organisations which came together in 2010 to join their efforts to promote and protect freedom of expression and media development in Azerbaijan. [3]
In 2012, the Azerbaijani Government banned Vincent from the country after she helped launch the Art for Democracy campaign, which sought to use all forms of artistic expression to promote democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan. Campaign staff and supporters were subjected to a number of forms of pressure by the Azerbaijani authorities following the revocation of Vincent's residence permit. [4] [5]
After her expulsion from the country, Vincent continued to work on human rights issues in Azerbaijan, building up campaigns for the releases of jailed human rights defenders and journalists in the country, including Rasul Jafarov and Khadija Ismayilova. [6] [7] Vincent coordinated the Sport for Rights campaign, which worked to draw attention to the human rights situation in Azerbaijan around the Baku 2015 European Games [8] [9] and the 2016 Formula One Grand Prix. [10] Vincent organised a series of 40 parallel protests to mark Khadija Ismayilova's 40th birthday shortly before Ismayilova's release from prison in May 2016. [11]
In 2016, Vincent joined Reporters Without Borders to open and run its London bureau. [12] In June 2020, she was appointed to the new global role of Director of International Campaigns. [13] Vincent has led the organisation's campaigning in the cases of Daphne Caruana Galizia, [14] Christopher Allen, [15] Julian Assange, [16] Jimmy Lai, [17] and others. She is a member of the steering committee of the Hold the Line Coalition, which was launched to campaign in support of Maria Ressa and independent media in the Philippines. [18]
Vincent faced extensive barriers in monitoring extradition proceedings against Julian Assange in London courts. [19] [20] In April 2023, Vincent and Reporters Without Borders' Secretary-General Christophe Deloire were barred access from Belmarsh Prison, where they attempted to visit Assange. [21] [22]
Vincent is a member of the Magnitsky Human Rights Awards Committee [23] and the Advisory Council of the Foreign Policy Centre. [24]
Reporters Without Borders is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as founded on the belief that everyone requires access to the news and information, in line with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that recognises the right to receive and share information regardless of frontiers, along with other international rights charters. RSF has consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the International Organisation of the Francophonie.
Maria Angelita Ressa is a Filipino and American journalist. She is the co-founder and CEO of Rappler. She previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in Southeast Asia for CNN. She will become Professor of Professional Practice in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University on July 1, 2024, and has been a Distinguished Fellow at Columbia's new Institute of Global Politics since fall of 2023.
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Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev is an Azerbaijani politician who is the fourth and current president of Azerbaijan. The son and second child of former Azerbaijani president Heydar Aliyev, Aliyev became the country's president on 31 October 2003, after a two-month term as prime minister of Azerbaijan, through a presidential election defined by irregularities shortly before his father's death. He was reelected for a second term in 2008 and was allowed to run in elections indefinitely in 2013, 2018 and 2024 due to the 2009 constitutional referendum, which removed term limits for presidents. Throughout his electoral campaign, Aliyev was a member of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, which he has headed since 2005.
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Khadija Rovshan qizi Ismayilova, alternatively spelled Ismailova, is an Azerbaijani investigative journalist and radio host who is currently working for the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, until recently as the host of the daily debate show İşdən Sonra. She is a member of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
The Free Thought University project in Baku, Azerbaijan was launched in 2009 by the OL! Movement. as an alternative education institution and a platform for discussions to educate Azerbaijani youth on human rights and democratic values through weekly interactive lectures and free debates. The institution has been supported by the U.S. and British embassies in Baku, the United States Agency for International Development, the National Endowment for Democracy, and The German Marshall Fund of the United States and other Western organizations.
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Most Azerbaijanis receive their information from mainstream television, which is unswervingly pro-government and under strict government control. According to a 2012 report of the NGO "Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS)" Azerbaijani citizens are unable to access objective and reliable news on human rights issues relevant to Azerbaijan and the population is under-informed about matters of public interest.
Leyla Islam qizi Yunusova, better known as Leyla Yunus, is an Azerbaijani human rights activist who serves as the director of Institute of Peace and Democracy, a human rights organisation. She is particularly known for her work helping citizens affected by forced evictions in Baku, on whose behalf she organized several small protests.
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Arif Seyfulla oghlu Yunusov, also known as Arif Yunus, is an Azerbaijani author, historian, and human rights activist. He is the head of the Department of Conflict and Migration of the Institute of Peace and Democracy. Arif Yunusov along with his wife Leyla are supporters of a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. On 28 April 2014, Arif Yunusov and his wife Leyla were jailed on charges of extortion and treason for allegedly spying for Armenia. After being detained, Arif Yunusov was sentenced to 7 years in jail; his wife, Leyla Yunus, was sentenced to 8.5 years in jail. Their sentences were suspended 15 months later and the couple was allowed to leave for the Netherlands.
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