Luc Agblakou is a human rights defender who founded Hirondelle Club International, an organisation that has become a beacon of hope and solidarity for the LGBTIQ+ community in Benin and Africa. Luc has dedicated his life to building a society where every person, regardless of their identity or sexual orientation, can live with dignity, safety, and equality.In 2010, Luc’s friend was murdered by his own father simply because of his sexual orientation, in a society that rejected him. This became a defining moment for Luc as an activist, and in his grief he decided that he could not sit by and watch anyone else die.

Luc’s approach to his work is holistic. Hirondelle Club International offers peer-led therapy, psychosocial assistance, nutritional support, and empowerment workshops for young LGBTIQ+ people. His work has led to the inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people in the strategic plan to combat HIV/AIDS in Benin as well as court rulings promoting the protection of the LGBTIQ+ community.

However, Luc’s work has come with challenging consequences, in a context where there are few legal safeguards for LGBTIQ+ people and defenders. He has faced regular defamation of his character, and faced serious threats and intimidation from both community members and state actors.

Luc’s greatest joy is hearing LGBTIQ+ youth say they finally feel seen, safe, and supported. From Benin’s still-conservative society to the broader context, this is a huge achievement for him. He always remembers his friend that he lost – through his work he may have saved many other lives.

To date, The Movement for Human Rights, Peace and Global Justice (MONDHA) has helped more than 10,000 vulnerable Haitian people obtain their identity documents in the Dominican Republic: the first step towards accessing rights in the neighbouring Caribbean country. Founded by Haitian migrants in 2005, MONDHA was created in response to the structural discrimination and racism towards the Haitian migrant population and Dominicans of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic. In an attempt to restrict these communities’ access to rights, the Dominican Republic’s constitutional court has stripped the nationality of Dominican-born people with Haitian ancestry which has had serious consequences for thousands of people of Haitian descent.

MONDHA has actively supported those affected by legal rulings by providing legal and social support. By participating in civil society spaces and promoting dialogue for democracy and human rights, MONDHA also raises awareness and educates society about the importance of these issues in both countries.

However, MONDHA’s defence of human rights comes at a price. In the Dominican Republic, the organisation’s members face multiple layers of risk. Many face the threat of detention and deportation due to their immigration status as Haitians; if they are deported to Haiti, they are at risk of losing their lives or being forcibly disappeared due to their human rights work.

Despite the constant risk they face and the emotional impact their work entails, MONDHA has been working for 20 years for their greatest inspiration to continue their human rights work: the people they support.

Arnon Nampa is an imprisoned human rights lawyer and activist, highly regarded for his deep commitment to social justice and pro-democracy work in Thailand. In spite of his political persecution, the potential of a lifetime behind bars and proposed penalties of disbarment from the profession to which he has dedicated his life, he has never wavered in offering himself in service of others and his country.

Arnon co-founded Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, an organisation established to provide legal assistance to alleged violators of lèse-majesté (insulting the monarchy) and human rights defenders targeted by the authorities following the military coup of May 2014.

On 7 August 2020, Arnon was arrested from his home in Bangkok, after he took part in a peaceful pro-democracy gathering. He spent no fewer than 300 days in prison before the court found him guilty of lèse majesté and sentenced him to four years in prison in September 2023. Arnon has been subjected to relentless judicial harassment and persecution, facing a barrage of politically motivated charges. At present, he has been convicted in seven Section 112 cases, resulting in a cumulative prison sentence of 22 years, 1 month, and 20 days.

In spite of his political persecution, it is clear that no matter the changing tides of his country, his resolve and purpose remain the same: to protect the human rights of those around him.

Sharifa is a woman human rights defender, journalist and respected community leader from Uzbekistan. She grew up in a rural village in the Uchkuprik district of Fergana Region, in a conservative society. Inspired by her talent for writing from a young age, she later made a name for herself through her work as an independent journalist writing about issues impacting her community. Through her work, Sharifa advocates for social change in the region, striving to promote justice and equitable decision-making by authorities.

The death of President Islam Karimov in 2016 paved the way for improved transparency and freedom of speech in Uzbekistan. Sharifa took advantage of this and extended her voice to various social media networks. As a highly trusted voice by vulnerable people, she was increasingly approached by people asking her to write about their issues; such as forced labour, disability rights, and abuses by district and regional officials.

She has faced a range of obstacles to her journalistic and public activities. Those who want to silence her resort to spreading lies about her through social media, and threaten her family and children, which has also impacted her ability to find work.

Despite the challenges, Sharifa derives deep satisfaction from her work, engaging directly with individuals, sharing their stories and making a positive impact on people’s lives. She has been an inspiration and an example for other young women in her society to break through the glass ceiling and pursue their dreams.

Mhamed Hali is a Sahrawi human rights defender living and working in the occupied territories of Western Sahara. To be a human rights defender in Western Sahara means that you have chosen a life of danger and hardship, which extends to your family.

In 1975, Morocco annexed the territory of Western Sahara through a military invasion. Since then, Sahrawis have lived under oppressive rule in their own lands, subjected to discrimination, violence, and severe limitations on their civil and political rights, often likened to Apartheid.

Mhamed’s organisation, The League for the Protection of Sahrawi Prisoners in Moroccan Prisons, monitors, reports on, and follows up on the situation of Sahrawi political prisoners. It accompanies detained activists from the first stages of arrest until their release, follows their trials and coordinates with international lawyers and observers, as well as monitoring conditions inside prisons and reporting on them.

The cost of Mhamed’s human rights work has been high. He has suffered violent attacks, as well as vicious defamation campaigns facilitated by the Moroccan government. In 2007, in response to his student activism and human rights work, he was forcibly disappeared by Moroccan intelligence services, and detained for eight days without being brought to trial. He was subjected to various cruel types of torture, the horrific memories of which he says are still with him now.

Mhamed reflects that the humanity of this work makes him and others capable of enduring these dangers. He says that the most meaningful part of his work is when he sees a smile on the faces of victims of human rights violations and their families. This is when he feels the deep impact of his human rights work – that he has done his duty towards his people, because they deserve to live with dignity.

Mary Moynihan MA

Writer of Novels, Poetry, Films, Plays

Creator of Art and Photography

Creative Reflections on Arts, Creativity, Equality, Leadership and Self-Esteem

Mary Moynihan, MA, she/her, is an award-winning author of novels, poetry, films and plays, and a creator of art and photography. Mary is from Dublin, Ireland. Mary embarked upon her award-winning career as a writer in theatre and film and has garnered much acclaim for her plays, poetry and short film scripts, and for creating interdisciplinary artworks combining writing and photography presented in galleries and online. She established and became Artistic Director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and is Artistic Curator for the annual Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival. Mary has an honours BA in Drama and Theatre Studies from Trinity College Dublin and an honours Masters in Film Production from TU Dublin.

After raising four children, now adults, Mary dedicated her time to becoming a writer. She writes fiction for young people and adults featuring stories of courage, laughter, tragedy, happiness, love, death and action-packed adventures. Mary is the author of a young adult fantasy novel Amergin and the Warriors of Zen. In her adult fiction, Mary’s characters are clever, fearless, vulnerable, crazy, strong, and dangerous, looking for love, fun, success and happiness. Her work promises enthralling plots, dramatic lives, lots of laughs, serious flirting and sexual intrigue and insights into love, happiness, creativity and meaning in life.

Mary pens a series of articles titled Creative Reflections on Arts, Creativity, Leadership and Self-Esteem which appear in the Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality newsletter and on Mary’s website marymoynihan.ie

In her free time Mary loves to spend time with her four adult children and hang out with friends.  She swims in the sea all year round. She loves the ocean, sky and moon and has a spiritual connection to the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea, to the environs of Dublin bay and to the mystical landscapes of Valentia Island and the surrounding Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry, her spiritual home. She is a big fan of the Dublin Gaelic football and hurling teams.

Smashing Times

Mary is Artistic Director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality working collaboratively with artists and over fifty organisations across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Europe and internationally, using the arts to promote rights and values for all. Company patrons are Sabina Higgins; Joan Freeman, founder of Pieta House; Ger Ryan, actor and Tim Pat Coogan, writer and historian. Founding patrons were writers Maeve Binchy and Brian Friel.

Mary is Artistic Curator for the annual, international Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival implemented by Smashing Times and Front Line Defenders with Amnesty International, Fighting Words, ICCL, NWCI, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Trócaire, Poetry Ireland and Irish Pen, and funded by The Arts Council. The festival highlights the extraordinary work of human rights defenders in Ireland and around the world, past and present, and the role of the arts and artists in promoting human rights today.

Awards

Mary’s work has won a number of awards, including the Allianz Business to Arts Special Judges DAA Arts Award at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, the international and prestigious #ArtsAgainstCovid award from the Arts in Health International Foundation and an Arts Council Agility Award. Mary was awarded a Project Award from The Arts Council to write a new work with a range of collaborators titled The Feeling Soul, inspired by stories of women poets from ancient and modern Ireland.   

Writer of Novels, Poetry, Films and Plays

Mary is the author of the epic spoken word poem  ‘Ode to a Coolock Queen’’, written from a female perspective and exploring identity, gender, violence, passion, self-destruction and possible redemption. An attempt as Sylvia Plath says  ‘to be true to my own weirdnesses’. It is an oral storytelling narrative that is about a broader reflection on what it is to be born out of a working class environment.  This poem is in homage to all people from working-class communities who find their strength and become their own kings and queens like warriors from an ancient past.

Mary is the author of a young adult fantasy novel Amergin and the Warriors of Zen. As a playwright, Mary’s work includes the highly acclaimed The Woman is Present: Women’s Stories of WWII co-written with Paul Kennedy, Fiona Thompson and Féilim James; Memorial Monologues: The Path of Memory; Tales of Love and Loss featuring two monologues selected by President Michael D Higgins for performance at Áras an Uachtaráin, Constance and Her Friends and Grace and Joe for performance in 2023; In One Breath from the award-winning Testimonies(co-written with Paul Kennedy); Shadow of My Soul and May Our Faces Haunt You.

Plays for children and young people include Gathering on the Pond, a comedy play on the environment by Mary Moynihan and Aoife Reilly;  Love the Earth by Mary Moynihan – A Change-Makers Storytelling session for ages 5 to 12 years adapted from three stories – The Water Princess, The Hummingbird, and The Salmon of Knowledge – from Goal’s Global Citizenship Education Resource; and Four Great Plays for Young Children, a series of short plays suitable for performance by children ages 5 to 12 years – The Children of Lir, The Three Bears, The Princess Play and Legend of the Dragon Kings

Mary has a focus on using historical memory in her artistic practice as inspiration for the creation of original artworks. A number of her writings highlight stories of ordinary yet extraordinary women who stood up for the rights of others with a focus on the Holocaust, WWII and the revolutionary period in Irish history.

Mary’s documentary film work includes The Shoah: A Survivor’s Memory – The World’s Legacy, adapted from the writings of French woman Simone Veil (1927-2017), a French lawyer, politician and feminist, Holocaust survivor and first female President of the European Parliament; the creative documentary Women in an Equal Europe; the short film Letter to a Human Rights Defender based on words by Mary Lawlor, a Human Rights Defender, founder of Front Line Defenders and UN Ambassador on Human Rights Defenders; the hour-long documentary Stories from the Shadows reflecting on the arts in peacebuilding in Northern Ireland (co-directed with Mark Quinn);  You Matter, a filmed interview with social justice campaigner Dil Wickremasinhge and the short documentary Acting for the Future on the role of the arts to promote positive mental health and well-being and suicide prevention for Travellers in Ireland.

Keep in touch with Mary on:

Tel: + 00 353 (0) 87 7438722

Email: marymoynihanarts@gmail.com

Website: MaryMoynihan.ie

Follow Mary on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn

Aisha is a multidisciplinary artist who uses storytelling in photography, film, and and poetry to explore themes of love, inter-generational trauma, justice, and power—illuminating both wounds and the possibilities of healing. Contact on aishahamdulay@gmail.com/IG @aishahamdulay