Tag Archives: Civil Liberties

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Moldova News | LGBT

Anti-LGBT protesters disrupt LGBT Pride festivities in Moldova

Video Credit: Campania socială Fără Frică

  • Hundreds demonstrated against a Pride march taking place in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital, by chanting, singing, and reportedly throwing eggs and holy water at participants.
  • The protests appeared to have been led by Orthodox Christian demonstrators, who carried Moldovan and Orthodox flags symbolizing the close ties of religion and national identity in the predominantly Orthodox country.
  • Under heavy police protection, more than 150 participated in the parade, including German, French, and Swedish diplomats, before having to be escorted to safety.

Read more:
“Protesters disrupt Moldova Pride march” (The Washington Blade)
“Activists, Police Fend Off Counter-Protestors At Moldova’s First-Ever LGBT March of Solidarity” (Unicorn Booty)

 

Age, Ideology + Affiliation, Nationality + Migration

Eritrea Feature | Eritreans

25 Years of Independence and Suppression in Eritrea

As it celebrates the 25th anniversary of the overthrow of Ethiopian rule, Eritrea continues to hemorrhage citizens under one-party, anti-democratic rule. Indefinite military conscription, mobility restrictions, and the absence of civil liberties have greatly diminished prospects for Eritreans, driving youth from the country in droves and into trans-Mediterranean trafficking networks in which thousands have died. Some estimates put the emigration rate at 5,000 people per month, second only to Syrians in contributing to the swelling of the Mediterranean migration crisis in 2015.

The Eritrean government has been particularly unfriendly to journalists and other writers, who have faced high insecurity following the 2001 roundup of independent newspaper editors in a push by the Eritrean president to crack down on public dissent. In the diaspora, Eritreans have found themselves involuntarily bound to the government as attempts to access documents and send remittances has subjected them to taxes international monitors liken to extortion. Amidst independence celebrations, both native and diasporan Eritreans continue to work to organize an effective opposition against the presidential regime and bring about a democratic renaissance for the country’s disenfranchised citizenry.

Read:
“Eritreans still denied freedom 25 years after independence” (The Guardian)
“A quarter of a century after independence Eritreans still yearn for freedom” (The Conversation)
“How to End the Eritrean Refugee Crisis” (The Nation, December 2015)
“‘If we don’t give them a voice, no one will’: Eritrea’s forgotten journalists, still jailed after 14 years” (The Guardian, August 2015)
“Outside Eritrea looking in: a diaspora that stands divided” (The Guardian, August 2015)
“UN Inquiry reports gross human rights violations in Eritrea” (UNHCR, June 2015)

Watch:
25 years of independence in Eritrea: Thousands continue to flee repressive regime (France 24 English)
Eritrea: Delving into a Sealed-Off Country (Deutsche Welle, April 2015)

Follow:
Eritrea profile: Timeline (BBC)
2015 prison census: 199 journalists jailed worldwide (The Committee to Protect Journalists, December 2015)

Connect:
Eritrean Solidarity Movement for National Salvation (Simret)

(Image Credit: Boris Roessler/EPA, via The Guardian)

Ideology + Affiliation

Vietnam News | Political Dissidents

Political activists muzzled in Vietnam during visit by President Obama
  • Several activists reported having been detained or otherwise barred from meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to Hanoi.
  • President Obama met with a group of civil society leaders and spoke to ongoing concerns over the suppression of free expression and assembly in the country.
  • International human rights groups estimate more than 100 political prisoners languish in Vietnamese prisons, while most of the more than 100 who attempted to run as independents in recent elections were excluded from the ballot.

Read more:
“As Obama Presses Vietnam on Rights, Activists Are Barred From Meeting” (The New York Times)
“Obama prods Vietnam on rights after activists stopped from meeting him” (Reuters)
“In shadow of Obama’s visit, Vietnam cracked down on protests over dead fish” (The Washington Post)

(Image Credit: Kham/Reuters, via The Washington Post)

Ideology + Affiliation

Myanmar News | Labor Activists

More than 70 arrested in Myanmar after labor demonstration
  • Police reportedly detained 71 protesters and charged 51 after they attempted to march from their wood-processing factory in Sagaing State to Naypyitaw, the capital.
  • Protesters organized to call for organizing rights and the re-hiring of terminated factory workers.
  • Myanmar’s government has come under fire from rights groups for a proposal to retain junta-era restrictions on assembly and free speech, including the exclusion of non-citizens (including the Rohingya minority) from demonstration rights.

Read more:
“More than 50 people charged in Myanmar after protest: police” (Reuters)
“New Myanmar government proposes keeping some junta curbs on protests” (Reuters)
“Protest law changes fail international standards: Amnesty” (Frontier Myanmar)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Seychelles News | LGBT

Seychelles overturns sodomy law in victory for LGBT rights
  • The Seychelles National Assembly voted in favor of abolishing a colonial-era law criminalizing sodomy, effectively legalizing same-sex relations in the archipelago nation.
  • Seychelles joins fellow African Union members São Tomé e Príncipe and Mozambique in recent pro-LGBT legal reform.
  • As in most countries around the world, the debate over decriminalization was dominated by religious concerns, with Catholics comprising 76% of the Seychellois population and Anglicans, the second largest religious community, comprising 6%.

Read more:
“Seychelles parliament passes bill to decriminalize sodomy“(Seychelles News Agency)
“Seychelles repeals colonial-era law banning gay sex” (PinkNews)
“Tiny African victory: Seychelles repeals ban on gay sex” (Erasing 76 Crimes)

(Image Credit: Patrick Joubert/Seychelles News Agency)

Ideology + Affiliation, Nationality + Migration

Kyrgyzstan News | Foreign NGOs

1 Comment
Kyrgyzstan Parliament blocks bill targeting foreign NGOs for increased government oversight
  • The controversial bill, modeled after Russia’s, originally sought to have foreign-funded organizations labeled “foreign agents” and increase bureaucratic oversight of international NGOs, deterring their operation in the country.
  • International or internationally funded NGOs in the country support public health and human rights development—particularly for vulnerable minorities—and serve as monitors of government corruption.
  • The bill had been revised to excise the “foreign agent” label and decrease financial reporting requirements, but the persistence of other large bureaucratic burdens led to the bill’s defeat as legislators worried over the bill’s impact on Kyrgyzstan’s international reputation.

Read more:
“Kyrgyzstan: Foreign Agent Bill Nixed, NGOs Rejoice” (EurasiaNet)
“Kyrgyzstan scraps bill to bring NGOs under tighter control” (Reuters)
“NGOs Avert Russian-Inspired Restrictions in Central Asia’s Only Democracy” (Foreign Policy)

(Image Credit: Igor Kovalenko/EPA, via Foreign Policy)

Gender, Ideology + Affiliation

Gambia News | Women Dissidents

Six women charged as Gambian authorities crack down on growing dissent
  • The six were among at least 25 arrested in Banjul for protesting the prosecution of some 45 members of the United Democratic Party (UDP).
  • As demonstrations have continued calling for electoral reforms, protests increased following the death of UDP leader Solo Sandeng in police custody.
  • Public demonstration is rare in Gambia, where President Yahya Jammeh has taken a zero tolerance approach to dissent since taking power in 1994.

Read more:
“Gambia charges six women for protesting trial of opposition figures” (Reuters)
“Fifty-five Gambia UDP opposition members arrested in government crackdown, says party executive” (Radio France Internationale)
“Protests signal serious challenge to Gambia’s ‘billion-year’ president” (Global Voices via The Guardian)

(Image Credit: SEYLLOU/AFP/Getty Images, via The Guardian)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Europe & Eurasia Research | LGBTI

The State of LGBTI Security in Europe

ILGA-Europe recently released its annual report on the state of LGBT rights and security across the Europe. Covering developments in individual countries and transnational institutions from 2015, the report notes increasing legal protections for gender minorities and family and partnership rights for sexual minorities in Southern and Western Europe as well as ongoing political exclusion, persecution, and violence in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Here are some of the highlights:

Malta

Rated the most progressive European country, Malta’s groundbreaking law prohibiting surgical intervention into a person’s sex characteristics without consent and inclusive education policies for trans, intersex, and other gender minorities were cited as distinctive policies.

Finland, France, Greece, Ireland

Other countries with significant judicial or policy victories regarding the rights of gender minorities.

Ireland, Luxembourg

Countries extending marriage rights to same-sex couples

Cyprus, Greece

Countries extending civil partnership rights to same-sex couples

Austria, Portugal

Countries extending adoption rights to same-sex couples

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia

Bottom three countries for LGBTI security

Armenia, FYR Macedonia, Slovenia

Countries blocking same-sex marriage rights

Hungary, Montenegro, Russia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine

Countries denying, limiting, or antagonizing organization and assembly rights of LGBTI civil society groups

Read:
Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People in Europe 2016 (ILGA-Europe)

Additional:
Rainbow Europe
“Azerbaijan worst place to be gay in Europe, finds LGBTI index” (The Guardian)
“Which EU states are out of touch on gay marriage?” (euronews)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Kyrgyzstan Feature | LGBT

Kyrgyzstan’s Anti-LGBT Vigilantism

Caught in the orbit of Russia’s anti-LGBT political campaigns, Kyrgyzstan has seen increases in the persecution of its LGBT citizens as the former Soviet state’s realignment with Russia has led to the adoption of some of its most socially conservative policies. Much as in Russia, nationalism and anti-LGBT sentiment have gone hand in hand, with LGBT rights construed by reactionary nationalists as Western encroachment on Kyrgyz values and sovereignty. Amidst a floundering economy, anti-NGO and anti-LGBT bills have found significant support in Kyrgyzstan’s parliament, and though they have yet to be signed into law, police and citizens have used them as excuses to target the LGBT community and antagonize the few advocacy organizations that exist. Coda Story highlights Kyrgyzstan’s politicized homophobia and the stories of victims’ suffering under police extortion and indifference, sexual assault, and relentless threats.

Read:
“‘We’ll cut off your head’: open season for LGBT attacks in Kyrgyzstan” (Coda Story via The Guardian)

Additional reading:
“Kyrgyzstan’s NGO and LGBT Crackdown” (The Diplomat, March 2016)
“LGBT advocates from Kyrgyzstan visit D.C.” (Washington Blade, March 2016)
“Kyrgyz Group Wrecks Day Against Homophobia” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 2015)
“Kyrgyzstan’s Anti-Gay Bill: Just Following in Russia’s Footsteps?” (EurasiaNet, October 2014)

Resources:
Labrys

(Image Credit: Andrew North/Coda Story, via The Guardian)

Nationality + Migration, Religion + Belief

Germany News | Muslims

German anti-immigrant party adopts anti-Islam manifesto
  • The manifesto from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) states Islam is incompatible with the German Constitution and calls for bans on minarets, full-body veils, and calls to prayer.
  • The AfD holds no seats in the German Parliament, but has members in half of Germany’s state assemblies and polls as high as 14% nationally, causing concern ahead of the country’s 2017 federal elections.
  • Some 2,000 protesters descended on Stuttgart to disrupt the AfD conference, clashing with police during demonstrations.

Read more:
“Anti-immigrant AfD says Muslims not welcome in Germany” (Reuters)
“Germany’s AfD party adopts anti-Islam manifesto” (euronews)
“AfD manifesto criticized as ‘unconstitutional’ for statements on Islam” (Deutsche Welle)

(Image Credit: F. von Erichsen/picture-alliance/dpa, via Deutsche Welle)

Class + Socioeconomics, Ideology + Affiliation

Kazakhstan News | Citizens

Suspicion of land privatization policies erupts into rare protests across Kazakhstan
  • Despite the Kazakhstani government’s low tolerance for dissent, thousands rallied across the cities of Aqtobe, Semei, and Atyrau to protest proposed land privatization policies that will put 1.7 million hectares of public land up for auction beginning on July 1.
  • Kazakhstanis have expressed concern that land will be sold to foreigners (particularly the Chinese) or will end up in the hands of the elite, inflected by centuries of redrawn borders that have seen ethnic Kazakhs divided between Kazakhstan, Russia, and China.
  • Government officials have stated that the legislation only extends the foreign lease period cap from 10 to 25 years foreigners and have threatened to punish those who say otherwise.

Read more:
“Kazakhstan’s land reform protests explained” (BBC)
“Protesters In Kazakhstan Rally Against Land-Privatization Plan” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
“Land Sales Unearth Kazakhs’ Love For The Motherland” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

(Image Credit: Sania Tolken/RFE-RL)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Russia Feature | LGBT

Homophobia in the Heartland

As international media attention to the plight of LGBT Russians has waned, advocates have found themselves stretched thin trying to support embattled community members while responding to declining visibility and police intimidation. From ongoing violence against transgender Russians to attacks on private clubs and homes, support organizations like Avers have struggled to create stopgaps for the deteriorating conditions plaguing the Russian LGBT community. A Coda Story report highlights the difficulties the community faces in attempts to organize and resist both ongoing state persecution and everyday threats that burden life in Russia’s hyper-conservative heartland.

Read more:
“Gay clubbing and stoic activism in Russia’s homophobic heartland” (Coda Story, via The Guardian)

Additional:
Russian LGBT Network

(Image Credit: Zuma/Rex Features, via The Guardian)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

China Feature | LGBT

The Silver Lining of Loss for China’s LGBT Community

The recent dismissal of China’s first case challenging the government’s ban on same-sex marriage would seem to be a disheartening moment for LGBT activism, but advocates point to evidence of a changing culture as reason for celebration. Hundreds traveled to Changsha for the ruling, and rights activists say young Chinese are becoming more cognizant of the need to push for legal recognition.

The encouraging developments continue: a 2014 court ruled against a gay conversion clinic, state media coverage of LGBT issues has increased, an anti-trans discrimination case recently became the first of its kind to be heard in Chinese legal history, and LGBT rights advocacy has grown in the country. Despite the legal loss for partnership rights, advocates have enjoyed the increased visibility of their movement for equal rights and hope to convert it into future legal victories and social acceptance.

Read more:
“China court refuses to allow gay marriage in landmark case” (The Guardian)
“Despite Court Ruling, China Gay Rights Movement Makes Gains” (The New York Times)
“Guizhou court hears China’s first-ever case on transgender discrimination at the workplace” (Shanghaiist)
“China rights: Gay people pledge not to enter into sham marriages” (BBC)

(Image Credit: Darwin Zhou/EPA, via The Guardian)

Gender, Nationality + Migration, Religion + Belief

Latvia News | Muslim Women

Latvian ministry plans proposal to ban niqab despite paucity of affected individuals
  • The Ministry of Justice is crafting legislation to ban the niqab, though only a handful of women among the country’s estimated 1,000 practicing Muslims wear the full-body veil.
  • The proposed legislation is a part of Latvia’s widespread anti-immigration reaction to the surge of migration to Europe, framed as a preventative measure as the country prepares to take in 776 refugees over two years (of whom only six have arrived).
  • The legislation does not criminalize the wearing of hijab, but Latvian Muslims have reported public discrimination and vocal prejudice despite the absence of explicitly discriminatory laws.

Read more:
“Latvia Wants to Ban Face Veils, for All 3 Women Who Wear Them” (The New York Times)
“Latvia mulls face veil ban – but only 3 women wear them” (Al Arabiya)
“Latvia wants to become the third country in Europe to ban the face veil” (Al Bawaba)

(Image Credit: Reinis Hofmanis/The New York Times)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Bangladesh News | LGBT

Four LGBT activists detained in Dhaka after attempting to join new year festivities
  • The four members of Roopbaan, a Bangladeshi LGBT rights group, were arrested for attempting to join Bengali New Year processions under suspicion of illegal assembly.
  • The four were released after their families arrived to retrieve them, when police reportedly told their families they were gay.
  • Roopbaan had attempted to arrange a “rainbow rally” weeks earlier but police had denied permission after fundamentalists issued threats of violence.

Read more:
“Bangladesh: Police Detain LGBT Members at Pahela Boishakh Rally” (BenarNews)
“Boishakh ‘rainbow rally’ cancelled” (Dhaka Tribune)
“Four gay activists freed in Bangladesh” (Firstpost)

(Image Credit: AFP via BenarNews)