Talk Up "Talk Up" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake from his album, ''Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, o ...

The Movement for Equality, Support, Anti-Racism ( el, Κίνηση για Ισότητα, Στήριξη, Αντιρατσισμό, abbr. ΚΙΣΑ – KISA), is a

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

Non-Governmental Organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

. The organisation has two main remits: campaigning against discrimination in all forms on the island, including racism and sex trafficking, including running the annual Action Week against Racism within the framework of the

European Network Against Racism The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) is an EU-wide network of anti-racist NGOs. ENAR aims to end structural racism and discrimination and advocates for equality and solidarity for all in Europe. It connects local and national anti-racist ...

, and operating Support Centres which provide free legal and social services, guidance and advice to migrants,

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

and

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...

in Cyprus.

History

It was founded in 1998 in response to changes in Cypriot society, which saw large waves of immigration from Eastern European and

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

countries. KISA has frequently served to bring issues concerning third country migrants to national attention. Examples might include the suicide of a refugee in 2013 after his claim for asylum was mishandled, attacks on gay men and residents from other EU countries. In June 2020, the organisation was fined 10 000 € for defamation over a 2010 report which called for the Cypriot government to withdraw the appointment of Christos Clerides to the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. The organisation had accused Clerides of inciting hate against Makarios Drousiotis, a journalist investigation far-right extremism in Cyprus.

Rainbow Festival Riot and aftermath

KISA organizes the annual "Rainbow Festival," the only festival celebrating multiculturalism and ethnic diversity in Cyprus. In November 2010, the festival was involved in a riot between anti-immigration protesters and festival attendees. Subsequently, the Executive Director of KISA, Doros Polycarpou, was arrested and charged with rioting, a police action that drew protests from human rights groups across the EU as well as significant media coverage. Polycarpou was acquitted after the judges found police witnesses not to be credible.

2020 deregistration

In December 2020, the Cypriot government deregistered KISA as a charity and froze its bank accounts for missing a paperwork deadline. After the Administrative Court ruled against KISA's appeal of the decision, the organisation announced it intended to file a case to the Supreme Court. The deregistration attracted significant controversy.

Dunja Mijatović Dunja Mijatović ( sr-cyr, Дуња Мијатовић; born 8 September 1964) is a Bosnian human rights expert and activist, serving as the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. She was elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Co ...

, the

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent and impartial non-judicial institution established in 1999 by the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, to promote awareness of and respect for human rights in the council's 46 member states. Th ...

wrote a formal letter to the Cypriot government over the move, noting that KISA had filed the paperwork shortly after the deadline and calling the government's response disproportionate.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

stated that international human rights organisations depend on collaboration with local groups and that KISA "should not face deregistration for a technicality."

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

KISA homepageEuropean Network Against Racism
KISA 1998 establishments in Cyprus Political organisations based in Cyprus Anti-racist organizations in Europe Organizations established in 1998