Global Network for Rights and Development explained

Global Network for Rights and Development
Abbreviation:GNRD
Vat Id:(for European organizations) -->
Headquarters:Stavanger, Norway
Owners:-->
Leader Title:President
Leader Name:Loai Deeb

Global Network for Rights and Development (commonly known as GNRD) is a Norwegian non-governmental human rights organization established in June 2008.[1] It was declared bankrupt in 2016.[2] While operational, the organization focused on advancing the rights of refugees, poverty eradication, women's empowerment, and good governance, most notably in the Middle East and North Africa.[3]

Organization

GNRD operated as a research and advocacy organization that worked to advance the rights of disadvantaged and vulnerable persons, primarily by organizing roundtables, debates, and exhibitions at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, and at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. After establishing its office in Brussels in 2013, GNRD organized of a series of roundtables with Members of the European Parliament focusing on poverty eradication, the rights of children in conflict zones, the role of women in democracy, and the impact of counterterrorism policy on human rights.

According to the European Parliament register, the Brussels office implemented the following consultative committee meetings:[4]

GNRD's headquarters were located in Stavanger, Norway, on Kvalaberg Road in the borough Hillevåg.[5] More than 20 employees, mostly of foreign origin, worked in the Stavanger office. In addition to its offices in Norway and Belgium, GNRD also had offices in Amman, Jordan; Dubai, UAE; Geneva, Switzerland; and Valencia, Spain.

The board of directors consisted of Hassan Mousa, Ali Ahmad Abdalla Alananzeh, Shawqi Abdelmajid Issa, Tamam Khalil M J Abushammala, Magdy Elsayed Aly Salim Kaoud, Vice Chairman Abozer Elmana Mohamed Elligai, and Chairman Loai Deeb. In 2014 the website levant.tv claimed that GNRD's Goodwill Ambassador is Carole Samaha.[6]

Funding

It is "funded – to the tune of 3.5 million euros a year".[7] According to the European Parliament transparency register, the operational costs of the Brussels office were between €200,000 and €299,999 for the year 1 January 2014 - 1 December 2014.

In 2014 Brian Whitaker said that "GNRD says most of its funding comes from donations, and its website includes the logos of five "sponsors" who presumably provide at least some of this money. The first of these sponsors is an Emirates-based business called Deeb Consulting and the company's website says its sole proprietor is Loai Mohammed Deeb. It is difficult to identify the four other sponsors since no details are given – only the logos. The logos say "Advance Security Technology", "Kaoud Law", "My Dream" (with the words transliterated into Russian beneath) and "Action Design". Attempts to trace these companies through a Google image search have so far drawn a blank.But as its knowon, 34 % only of UAE companies have website."

Controversy

In 2015 The Jerusalem Post said that "The Palestinian Authority has plans to use an international human rights organization [GNRD] as a front for intelligence gathering and discrediting Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, according to documents leaked to a number of Palestinian news websites".[8]

2014 arrests in Qatar and claim of links to UAE government

In August 2014, two British men of Nepalese origin were arrested in Qatar after travelling there on behalf of GNRD to investigate the living and working conditions of Nepalese migrant workers. The men, Krishna Upadhyaya, a researcher, and Gundev Ghimire, a photographer, were detained without charge for nine days and had to wait a further 11 days for permission to leave Qatar.[9] [10] [11] [12]

Some reports suggested the Qatari authorities had arrested the men because Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were engaged in a dispute at the time and the Qataris believed GNRD was funded by the government of the UAE. In al-bab's online blog Brian Whitaker wrote "While it's possible the men were arrested because Qatar wanted to suppress their findings, it's also possible (and perhaps more likely) that they became unwittingly caught up in a squabble between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in which their employer, GNRD, is suspected by the Qataris of playing a part". The blog further goes on to criticise GNRD's activities and its leader in detail.[13]

2015 police raid and criminal charges in Norway

On May 27, 2015, Norwegian police raided the headquarters of GNRD in Stavanger, Norway. The same day Loai Deeb was arrested and held for interrogation for 48 hours.[14]

Following this Økokrim charged both GNRD and Deeb with money laundering and receiving stolen goods.[15] The vice president of GNRD, Abozer Elmana Elligai, denied the charges.[16]

Following the police raid GNRD and Deeb said they would sue the Norwegian state for financial compensation.[17]

Claims regarding publishing of a fake human rights index

In a 2014 The World Post article James M. Dorsey said that "an Emirati human rights activist told Middle East Eye: They are supported by the UAE government for public relations purposes. The GNRD published a fake human rights index last year that wrongly praised the UAE".[18]

Cooperation with other organizations

On 13 December 2013 the African Union Commission and GNRD signed a Memorandum of Understanding "to strengthen co-operation and integration".[19]

GNRD is registered with the Transparency Register of the European Parliament and the European Commission.[20] (The website of Gender Concerns International says that on 17 March 2014 at the European Parliament, Eija-Riitta Korhola MEP and GNRD hosted "a roundtable and an interactive dialogue on “International Observation of Egypt’s Referendum - Challenges Ahead".[21])

In 2015 media said that GNRD "has also entered into agreements with the University of Tromsø and the University of Stavanger, but that now both agreements have been cancelled".[22]

Conferences

International observer at elections

GNRD was officially accredited to monitor the following elections and referendums as an international observer:

Staff

GNRD's "founder and president, Loai Deeb, previously set up a fake university in Norway[29] which closed under threats of legal action from the Norwegian authorities. Deeb also uses hundreds of fake Twitter accounts to promote himself and his activities.

In 2012 at the NGO Committee of the United Nations Economic and Social Council the Israeli delegate pointed out that "Dr. Loai Deeb had provided answers to questions posed to three organizations: GNRD, in which he is listed as President; International Coalition against War Criminals (ICAWC), in which he is registered as Executive Director; and The Scandinavian Institute for Human Rights. The groups GNRD and ICAWC were registered with the same address. He asked for an explanation for the relationship between those three organizations and how one individual could manage all three groups".Deeb answered that he cofounded the Scandinavian Institute as a Norwegian citizen, but resigned from the Institute in Nov 2014, and ICAWS had nominated another President in 2011 after the Arab Spring[30] [31]

Anne-Marie Lizin, (d. October 2015) GNRD's "High Commissioner for Europe" was "a discredited Belgian politician" with a March 2015 conviction in appeals court in Liège for electoral malpractice.[32] She appealed the conviction to the Supreme Court; in 2009 she was expelled from the Socialist Party.[31]

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Registration on Norwegian authority . Brønnøysundregistrene . 23 June 2008.
  2. Web site: Menneskerettighetsorganisasjon slått konkurs . Hegnar.no . 4 July 2016 . 13 July 2017.
  3. Web site: Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) LobbyFacts Database. lobbyfacts.eu. en. 2018-11-25.
  4. Web site: Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) LobbyFacts Database. lobbyfacts.eu. en. 2018-11-25.
  5. Web site: Siktet for hvitvasking av 100 millioner - har reist til Dubai på møtevirksomhet. Aftenbladet.no. 2015-06-18. 2015-06-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20150618084823/http://www.aftenbladet.no/nyheter/lokalt/stavanger/Siktet-for-hvitvasking-av-100-millioner---har-reist-til-Dubai-pa-motevirksomhet-3718067.html. dead.
  6. Web site: GNRD Goodwill Ambassador Carole Samaha . Levant TV - Middle Eastern Entertainment in English . 29 June 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140912212208/http://levant.tv/carole-samaha-as-goodwill-ambassador-for-gnrd/ . 12 September 2014 .
  7. http://www.al-bab.com/blog/2014/september/an-odd-organisation.htm#sthash.f2IfRRou.dpbs An odd organisation
  8. Web site: PA plans to use human rights group for espionage. The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com.
  9. Web site: Qatar returns detained human rights researchers to UK. BBC. 20 September 2014.
  10. Web site: Human rights workers go missing in Qatar. CNN. 4 September 2014.
  11. Web site: Qatar returns detained human rights researchers to UK. The Guardian. 9 September 2014.
  12. Web site: British human rights investigator detained by Qatari authorities for two weeks speaks out. The Independent. 22 September 2014.
  13. Web site: an odd organisation. al-bab.com. 6 September 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140910001050/http://www.al-bab.com/blog/2014/september/an-odd-organisation.htm. 10 September 2014. dead.
  14. Web site: Truer Norge med milliardsøksmål. Sæter. Kjetil. Madsen. Lars Backe. 2015-06-17. www.dn.no. 2019-06-06.
  15. Web site: Den mystiske rettighetsforkjemperen. Madsen. Lars Backe. June 12, 2015. DN.no. Dagens Næringsliv. The Mysterious Human Rights Activist. June 18, 2015.
  16. Web site: Får ikke inn penger fra kriminalitet. Magnus. Anders. June 18, 2015. NRK.no. Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Do not receive money from crime. June 19, 2015.
  17. Web site: Hvitvaskingssiktet organisasjon saksøker Norge for milliarder. Svendsen. Christine. June 17, 2015. NRK.no. Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Organization charged with money laundering sues Norway for billions. June 19, 2015.
  18. Web site: Brits' Disappearance Casts Shadow Over Qatari World Cup Efforts and Shines Light on UAE. The Huffington Post.
  19. Web site: GNRD AUC Cooperation-2 . African Union . 13 December 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402194604/http://www.au.int/en/content/african-union-commission-and-global-network-rights-and-development-sign-mou-strengthen-co-op . 2 April 2015 .
  20. Web site: GNRD EU Cooperation . European Union Transparency . 22 September 2013.
  21. Web site: GNRD Event at EP. Gender Concerns International. 17 March 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402113812/http://genderconcerns.org/article.php?id_nr=3992&id=Gender%20Concerns%20speech%20at%20EU%20Parliament%20in%20Brussels. 2 April 2015.
  22. Web site: GNDR forsøkte å rekruttere forsker. NRK. NRK.
  23. Web site: Egypt return Conference. Al-Ahram. 6 June 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402123415/http://arabi.ahram.org.eg/NewsQ/8100.aspx. 2 April 2015. dead.
  24. Web site: Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) International Conference in Geneva Introduces a New Convention on Collective Cooperation in Counter-Terrorism. CNBC. 17 March 2015. 27 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200427011540/https://www.cnbc.com/id/102444444. dead.
  25. Web site: Geneva observers to monitor Egyptian elections - Constitutional Referendum 2014. Le News. 15 May 2014.
  26. Web site: Global Network For Rights And Development: Presidential Election in line with international standards . https://archive.today/20150316003215/http://www.aps.dz/en/folder-presidential-election-2014/2218-global-network-for-rights-and-development-presidential-election-in-line-with-international-standards . dead . 16 March 2015 . Algeria press service . 19 April 2014 .
  27. Web site: GNRD observation mission to Egypt - Presidential Elections 2014. Daily News Egypt . 16 August 2014.
  28. Web site: POLLS IN TUNISIA STARTED THIS MORNING WITHOUT INCIDENT. NAM News Network. 17 March 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402181638/http://www.namnewsnetwork.org/v3/read.php?id=Mjg1NDIw. 2 April 2015. dead.
  29. Web site: 'University' moves under threat. newsinenglish.no.
  30. Web site: NGO Committee Recommends 11 Organizations for Special Consultative Status with Economic and Social Council, Postpones Consideration of 19 Others Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. www.un.org. 2019-06-06.
  31. http://www.al-bab.com/blog/2015/march/gnrd-high-commissioner-sentenced.htm#sthash.n4tp0ZAt.dpbs GNRD's 'High Commissioner' sentenced
  32. Web site: GNRD-topp dømt for valgjuks. Madsen. Lars Backe. 2015-06-15. www.dn.no. 2019-06-06.

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