Tag Archives: Civil Liberties

Age, Ideology + Affiliation

Myanmar News | Youth Activists

New Myanmar government pardons almost 200 imprisoned activists

  • Among the 113 released so far were 69 student activists, many of whom had been charged and convicted following major student protests in March 2015.
  • Aung San Suu Kyi, who led the National League for Democracy (NLD) party to victory, had herself been under house arrest for 15 years of the military’s rule.
  • Of the remaining 345 facing political charges, 298 are on bail and 47 on remand in jail.

Read more:
“New Myanmar government frees scores of jailed activists” (Reuters)
“Myanmar Court Drops Charges Against Student Detainees” (Radio Free Asia)
“Myanmar drops charges against nearly 200 political activists” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

Ideology + Affiliation, Religion + Belief

Bangladesh News | Secular Writers

Protests planned after secular Bangladeshi blogger killed by suspected Islamist militants in Dhaka
  • Nazimuddin Samad, a law student at a Dhaka university, was attacked at night by a group of machete-wielding men while returning home from class.
  • An online activist group described Samad as “a loud voice against all injustice and also a great supporter of secularism,” and students at Jagannath University have called for demonstrations in protest of his murder.
  • The murder follows six similar killings in 2015 and attacks on foreign nationals in Bangladesh.

Read more:
“JnU student killed in suspected militant attack” (Dhaka Tribune)
“Liberal Bangladeshi blogger killed by machete-wielding attackers” (Reuters)
“Strike at Jagannath University on Sunday to protest Nazim murder” (bdnews24.com)

(Image Credit: via Dhaka Tribune)

Age, Ideology + Affiliation

Portugal & Angola News | Activists & Dissidents

Protests over jailing of youth activists in Angola spread to Portugal
  • Advocates in Lisbon have expressed dismay that the Portuguese government has so far refused to condemn the jailing of 17 youth activists in its former colony.
  • Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos warned Portugal against stepping into what he considers to be an Angolan domestic matter.
  • Demonstrations in Lisbon castigated the conviction of the book-club activists as well as Angolan businessmen’s investment in Portugal’s news and telecommunications industries.

Read more:
“Anger as Lisbon fails to condemn jailing of Angola book club dissidents” (The Guardian)
“Tensions high after Angolan activists sentenced in ‘show trial’” (The Observers)

(Image Credit: Joao Relvas/EPA, via The Guardian)

Ideology + Affiliation, Race + Color + Ethnicity

China News | Tibetan Activist

Tibetan education activist charged with inciting separatism
  • Tashi Wangchuk has been detained in Yushu, Qinghai Province, for months in secret and faces up to 15 years in prison.
  • While Tashi’s writings promote widely accepted Tibetan autonomy, the Tibetan entrepreneur has publicly opposed Tibetan independence.
  • Tashi has been a vocal advocate for Tibetan-language education in line with constitutional guarantees to ethnic autonomy.

Read more:
“China Charges Tibetan Education Advocate With Inciting Separatism” (The New York Times)
“Inciting Separatism Charge for Tibetan Education Advocate” (China Digital Times)
“Tibetans Fight to Salvage Fading Culture in China” (The New York Times, November 2015)

(Image Credit: Gilles Sabrie/The New York Times)

Gender, Ideology + Affiliation

Sudan Feature | Women Activists

Video

The Embattled Women Activists of Sudan

A new Human Rights Watch report details the threatening conditions faced by women activists in Sudan. Women have reported being subjected to abuse, sexual violence, and arbitrary detention by Sudan’s security forces, while local media have slurred them as “lesbians and prostitutes.” As international agencies have called for more women in conflict resolution and men have continued violating women activists without impunity, women seeking to invest in their country’s future have struggled to find ways to include their voices while protecting their well-being.

Read more:
Good Girls Don’t Protest (Human Rights Watch)
Sudan: Silencing Women Rights Defenders (Human Rights Watch, YouTube)
“‘Good girls don’t protest’: report exposes attacks on Sudan’s female activists” (The Guardian)

Ideology + Affiliation

China News | Writers & Dissidents

More than a dozen detained in Chinese witch-hunt for Xi-critical letter author
  • After a letter calling for President Xi Jinping’s resignation was published by Wujie News, Chinese security forces detained four members of the staff.
  • The secret detentions have expanded to suspected writers and their families, though all have denied writing the letter and knowledge of its origins.
  • After a period of silence, Wujie has returned to publishing, although only articles from the main state-run news agencies now appear.

Read more:
“China Said to Detain Several Over Letter Criticizing Xi” (The New York Times)
“China ‘detained 20 over Xi resignation letter’” (BBC)
“People ‘taken away’ as investigation into letter calling for Xi resignation widens” (The Washington Post)

(Image Credit: Damir Sagolj/Reuters, via The New York Times)

Nationality + Migration

Nauru News | Refugees

Dozens of refugees held in Nauru while seeking asylum in Australia protest their detention
  • Protests have continued for more than a week as some of the asylum-seekers have been detained in the open-air center Nauru runs for Australia for 1,000 days.
  • The demonstrations coincided with Australian protests decrying Australia’s controversial offshore detention policy sending refugees who attempted to enter the country without authorization almost 2,800 miles away to Nauru.
  • Despite reports to the contrary, Australian and Nauruan authorities argue facilities are well-maintained, have good healthcare and activities, and, except during times of protest, allow for detainees to travel into the surrounding community.

Read more:
“Locked gates and erected fences contain Nauru asylum seeker protests” (The Guardian)
“Asylum seekers on Nauru determined to keep up protests” (Radio New Zealand)
“Rapes and fears for safety on Nauru uncovered by independent Moss review” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: via The Guardian)

Ideology + Affiliation

Azerbaijan News | Activists & Dissidents

Human rights lawyer freed as Azerbaijan continues amnesties
  • Intigam Aliyev, an Azeri human rights advocate, had his 7.5-year prison sentence commuted to five years of probation after serving a year in jail.
  • Aliyev had been convicted of tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, and abuse of office.
  • President Ilham Aliyev, unrelated, pardoned nearly 150 prisoners this month, including political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, while Amnesty International says seven remain imprisoned.

Read more:
“Azerbaijan frees human rights advocate from jail” (Reuters)
“Prominent Azerbaijani Lawyer To Be Released From Prison” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
“Azerbaijan frees prominent right activist” (AFP via GlobalPost)

(Image Credit: via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Age, Ideology + Affiliation

Angola News | Youth Activists

1 Comment
Youth activists sentenced in Angola for anti-government demonstrations
  • Seventeen activists were arrested in Luanda last June after an organized reading of Gene Sharp’s From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Democracy, a text promoting non-violent resistance.
  • The group has been sentenced to between two and eight-and-a-half years in jail after conviction on charges of rebellion, planning mass civil disobedience, and producing fake passports.
  • President José Eduardo dos Santos has been in power for 37 years, and despite his pledge to step down in 2018, rampant inflation, public spending cuts, a public health crisis, and human rights infringements have increased anti-government sentiment in the lead-up to elections.

Read more:
“Angola Sends a Rapper and 16 Activists to Prison for Plotting Rebellion” (VICE News)
“Seventeen activists sentenced for rebelling against Angolan government” (Reuters)
“Angola: 17 youth activists jailed for anti-dos Santos rebellion” (Africanews with AFP)

(Image Credit: via Africanews)

Ideology + Affiliation, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel News | Arab-Israelis & Dissenters

Law to suspend legislators accused of terrorist sympathies passes first round in Israeli parliament
  • Arab-Israeli and other opposition lawmakers fear the law will be used to silence opposition to anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian measures in the Israeli parliament.
  • Tabled for two additional readings, the proposed law comes as PM Benjamin Netanyahu has indefinitely suspended the return of the bodies of Palestinians killed by security forces after killing Israelis.
  • Last month, three parliament members were suspended for supporting families of Palestinian assailants killed after attacking Israelis.

Read more:
“Israeli law to allow suspension of Arab legislators passes first hurdle” (Reuters)
“Controversial MK suspension bill passes first Knesset reading” (The Times of Israel)
“Netanyahu Orders Defense Minister Not to Return Terrorists’ Bodies to Palestinian Authority” (Haaretz)
“Ethics C’tee suspends Arab MKs from Knesset discussions” (Ynetnews)

(Image Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90, via The Times of Israel)

Ideology + Affiliation

Mexico News | Journalists

Sharp uptick in attacks on journalists in Mexico in 2015
  • There were 397 attacks against journalists reported in Mexico in 2015, a 22% increase over 2014 and the most violent year on record, according to a report by an international media advocacy group.
  • Most prevalent in Mexico city and the southern state of Veracruz, the attacks, which included seven murders, involved public officials 41.5% of the time.
  • The year was also a record for attacks on women journailsts, with 84 incidents having been reported.

Read more:
“A Mexican Journalist Is Attacked Every 22 Hours: Report” (teleSUR English)
“Mexico’s Media Faced a Record Number of Violent Attacks in 2015” (VICE News)
“Media group: Attacks on Mexico journalists up 22 pct in 2015” (AP via Yahoo! News)

(Image Credit: Reuters, via teleSUR English)

Ideology + Affiliation

DRC News | Activists

DR Congo activists go on hunger strike as detention without trial continues
  • Fred Bauma and Yves Makwambala, members of the group Struggle for Change (Lucha), began their strike after the Supreme Court refused to release them from jail, despite their having been held for more than a year without trial following their arrest at a pro-democracy workshop.
  • An additional 30 members of Lucha have been arrested as the group has held demonstrations to move elections in the country up and secure basic resources for their neighborhoods.
  • Founded in 2012 on the principle of non-violent demonstration, Lucha has no centralized organization except that necessary to maintain communications, strategy, ideology, and funding, and the group, part of a growing constellation of youth movements across Africa, have so far refused external funding.

Read more:
“Congolese activists on hunger strike after court refuses release” (The Guardian)
“Law and disorder in the DRC: Who is Fred Bauma, Congo’s jailed Mahatma Gandhi?” (International Business Times)
“Congo police arrest 18 pro-democracy activists: U.N.” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: via The Guardian)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Ukraine News | LGBT

Far-right protesters in Ukraine attack LGBT festival attendees after officials ban event
  • Police and city officials in Lviv refused to give official permit to the equality-themed event, whose program included film screenings, literary discussions, and a public march.
  • After a last-minute court hearing banned the festival’s public events, far-right protesters descended on the hotel housing festival attendees, throwing stones and allegedly shouting “kill, kill, kill” as attendees were evacuated.
  • Although Lviv’s mayor admonished both victims and attackers, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack and announced police had begun an investigation.

Read more:
“LGBT festival in Ukraine abandoned after far-right protest” (The Guardian)
“U.S., Canadian ambassadors condemn attack on LGBT activists in Lviv” (Ukraine Today)
“Ukrainian LGBT festival cancelled as far-right groups surround venue, chant ‘kill’” (PinkNews)

(Image Credit: Mykola Tys/EPA, via the Guardian)

Ideology + Affiliation

Cuba News | Dissidents

Protesters arrested as Cuban government “cleans house” ahead of Obama’s historic visit
  • Dozens of members of the dissident group Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) were arrested in the hours before President Barack Obama’s historic visit to the Caribbean nation, protesting the lack of democratic reform as Castro’s Cuba reconnects with the U.S.
  • Although the group holds weekly protests, this week’s drew a large pro-government counter-demonstration as foreign media descended on Havana ahead of Obama’s visit.
  • Obama is expected to meet with dissident leaders during his visit and raise human rights issues, including free expression, during his meeting with President Raúl Castro.

“Everyone wants to know how we Cubans feel about Obama coming. … I’m frankly just happy that giant pothole finally got filled in, so if I have him to thank for it, thanks Obama!”

Read more:
“‘The oppression is high’: Cuban police break up protest ahead of Obama’s visit” (The Guardian)
“Cuba’s Message to Its People: Be on Your Best Behavior for Obama” (The New York Times)
“Cuba breaks up weekly dissident march hours before Obama visit” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA, via the Guardian)

Religion + Belief

Russia News | Atheists

Leave a comment
Russian man faces possible year in jail after denying the existence of God online
  • Viktor Krasnov was charged in response to an online exchange in which he described the Bible as a “collection of Jewish fairy tales” and said “there is no God.”
  • Following the jailing of punk rock group Pussy Riots in 2012, lawmakers passed legislation that criminalized “insult[ing] the religious convictions or feelings of citizens.”
  • Despite Russia’s constitutional status as a secular state, President Vladimir Putin has led a campaign to promote traditional religious values to consolidate Russian national identity, long tied to the Russian Orthodox Church prior to the rise of the Soviet Union.

Read more:
“Russian Man Could Be Jailed For Saying God Doesn’t Exist” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
“Russian Faces Up to Year in Prison for Denying Existence of God” (NBC News)
“Russian man in court for ‘no God’ Internet exchange” (AFP, via GlobalPost)

(Image Credit: via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)