By: Matthew Day, Scotsman, May 14, 2009
Russian gay rights groups have said they will defy a ban from city authorities and go ahead with a demonstration in central Moscow on the day of the final in an effort to draw attention to the discrimination and violence they say the country’s gay people face every day. Already, one Eurovision contestant has said he will walk out of the competition if violence flares at the proposed demonstration.
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Armenia: Free speech under assault in Yerevan
By: Marianna Grigoryan, Eurasianet, May 14, 2009
Journalists in Armenia, both opposition and pro-government in orientation, indicate that they are increasingly wary of trying to fulfill the press’ traditional role of government watchdog. “It is really dangerous to work as a journalist in Armenia,” commented Ashot Melikian, head of the Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression. The Committee has recorded four attacks already for 2009, compared with seven for all of 2003, a presidential election year.
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France: Film co-scripted by Saberi screened in Cannes
By: Golnaz Esfandiarai, RFERL, May 14, 2009
A film co-scripted by Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi and directed by her fiance, Iranian-Kurdish filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi, was screened in the “Un Certain Regard” section of the Cannes Film Festival today. Saberi was released from Tehran’s Evin prison on May 11 after her eight-year prison sentence on charges of espionage was reduced to a two-year suspended prison term. She shares screenwriting credits with Ghobadi and Hossein M. Abkenar.
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Spanish protesters demand protection for jobless
By: CNN, May 14, 2009
Tens of thousands of protesters marched on the streets of Spain’s capital Thursday to demand better protection for workers hit hard by the economic crisis. Dressed in funeral black to mourn the estimated four million jobless in Spain, demonstrators had a simple message for the government: Enough corporate bailouts; it’s time to focus on the workers.
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India: Villagers seeking security threaten to boycott polls
By: The Hindu, May 13, 2009
Residents of two villages in Marampadi Panchayat alleged that an unruly mob often raided their villages at night and stole cattle, chicken, farm pump motors and wires. They flayed that the police did not initiate any action against the anti-social elements so far. They attempted to attack even the police, they charged. “The police should take immediate action and arrest the accused who intimidated Ilayaperumal within two days. Otherwise, all 750 voters in both villages will boycott polls.”
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Russia: Revise NGO law to protect rights
By: Human Rights Watch, May 13, 2009
President Dmitry Medvedev’s newly announced working group on non-commercial organizations should bring the restrictive law governing the operation of these groups into line with Russia’s international human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said today. The new group will hold its first official meeting on May 14, 2009. A coalition including Human Rights Watch and Russian human rights organizations urged the working group to adopt proposed reforms in order to guarantee the right to freedom of association.
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Georgia: Opposition present Saakashvili with deadline to go
By: Tamar Kadagidze, IWPR, May 8, 2009
Opposition leaders in Georgia have again demanded the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili, following days of turbulence marked by clashes with police and an alleged mutiny. The demand was lodged on May 7, just short a month since the opposition launched street protests in Tbilisi. “We repeat once again that we see a peaceful, constitutional replacement of Saakashvili and his regime, to be carried out through early presidential and parliamentary elections, as the only real way to end the political crisis,” said the leaders in a joint statement, read out to a crowd of protesters outside the parliament building.
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Georgia needs a different path to democracy
By: Lincoln Mitchell and Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff, RFERL, May 7, 2009
As bipartisan supporters of the Republic of Georgia’s aspirations to become a fully functioning, Western-oriented democracy, we have followed with dismay the increasingly unproductive “dialogue” attendant to demonstrations against the current regime that began on April 9. Both sides — government and opposition — bear responsibility for the resulting rhetorical and political stalemate, which if left unresolved could escalate into violence or instability. We urge an alternative course, one that requires both sides to offer something to the other and to acknowledge that neither side has all the answers.
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MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA
Death in Libya, betrayal in the west
By: Andy Worthington, Guardian UK, May 15, 2009 News of the death, in a Libyan jail, of Ibn al-Shaikh al-Libi, a US terror suspect who was the subject of an extraordinary rendition, then tortured in Egypt and Jordan as well as CIA prisons in Afghanistan and Poland has, understandably, raised questions about whether he committed suicide – as the Libyan authorities claimed – or whether he was murdered. Just two weeks ago, representatives of Human Rights Watch saw him in Tripoli’s Abu Salim prison, and although he refused to speak to them, they reported that he “looked well.” Read full article… Egyptians in US urge Obama to raise issues of reform with Mubarak By: Abdel-Rahman Hussein, Daily News Egypt, May 14, 2009 Egyptian groups in the US urged Barack Obama to tackle issues such as political reform as well as the continuation of the emergency law with counterpart Hosni Mubarak when he visits the US on May 26. They also called for “the release of political prisoners and the creation of a true democracy based on the allowance of general and religious freedoms,” in a statement released May 12 under the umbrella of the Egyptian American Organizations Coalition. Read full article… Tiny Saudi democracy movement sends king blueprint for reform Iran presidential debates to be televised Obama administration renews Bush-era sanctions on Syria Bahrain: Abduction, beating of rights activist |
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OCEANIA
Fiji plans to extend curbs on media
By: New Zealand Herald, May 15, 2009 Fiji’s military Government plans to issue a decree extending indefinitely its news censorship and controls over the country’s media, according to documents seen yesterday. The regime posted censors in newsrooms last month as it extended its grip on power, and has forced publishers to supply “positive” news and barred criticism of the Government and its actions. Read full article… Fiji: Bloggers debate media censorship |
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Taking democracy to the people
By: Joseph Nye, Globe and Mail, May 13, 2009 Democracy remains a worthy and widespread goal, but it is important to distinguish the goal from the means used to attain it. There is a difference between assertive promotion and more gentle support of democratization. Avoiding coercion, premature elections and hypocritical rhetoric should not preclude a patient policy that relies on economic assistance, behind-the-scenes diplomacy and multilateral approaches to aid the development of civil society, the rule of law and well-managed elections. Read full article… Report: Foreign Assistance for Peace By: Dane F. Smith Jr., Center for Strategic and International Studies, May 13, 2009 This second of two related reports looks at the peace-building function at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). It examines the evolution of reconstruction and stabilization (R&S) in the Bush administration’s foreign assistance strategy and describes the effort to integrate the State Department-USAID budget process for foreign operations, including peace building. Read full article… Mobilization for climate justice: Open letter to the grassroots By: Toward Freedom, May 12, 2009 The Mobilization for Climate Justice is a North America-based network of organizations and activists who have joined together to build a North American climate justice movement that emphasizes non-violent direct action and public education to mobilize for effective and just solutions to the climate crisis. The Mobilization for Climate Justice invites communities, organizations and activists across North America to join us in organizing mass action on climate change on November 30, 2009. Read full article… Essay: “A Dialogue on Nonviolent Resistance and Liberation Theology” By: Terry Messman, Pace e Bene, May 11, 2009 The following essay by Terry Messman puts nonviolent resistance in dialogue with liberation theology. It presents a “conversation” between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Archbishop Oscar Romero, Gustavo Gutierrez, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Father Daniel Berrigan, Dorothee Sölle, Mohandas Gandhi, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Lynne Shivers, Gene Sharp, Thomas Merton, Fernando Cardenal, Miguel D’Escoto, members of a base community in Brazil, and Sister Ita Ford, who was assassinated in El Salvador in December, 1980. Read full article… How to plan and conduct a teach-in By: Viet Tan, April 21, 2009 This toolkit is intended as a guide to help you plan every aspect of your teach-in and includes everything you need to make it a success. The purpose of a teach-in is to educate the attendees on a particular issue and to motivate them to join your campaign. Emphasize the overreaching human rights issue and the opportunity to demonstrate democracy in action. A successful teach-in will get the message across and illustrate that we all have a chance to do something about it. Read full article… Transnational agrarian movements: Struggling for land and citizenship rights By: Saturnino M. Borras Jr. and Jennifer C. Franco, TNI, April, 2009 Rural citizens have increasingly begun to invoke perceived citizenship rights at transnational level, such that rural citizen engagements today have the potential to generate new meanings of global citizenship. La Vía Campesina has advocated for, created and occupied a new citizenship space that did not exist before at the global governance terrain – a public space distinct for poor peasants and small farmers from the global South and North. Read full article… |
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Promotores de la campaña ‘Con la misma moneda’ logran que una tienda en dólares ya acepte el pago en pesos
By: Cubaen Cuentro, May 15, 2009 Los promotores de la campaña “Con la Misma Moneda” dijeron haberse anotado “una rotunda victoria” en la ciudad de San Germán, al “imponer el pago en moneda nacional en un establecimiento de la corporación estatal Cubalse, “que sólo aceptaba pago en pesos convertibles (CUC)”, informó la Federación Latinoamericana de Mujeres Rurales (FLAMUR). Magdelivia Hidalgo, representante internacional de FLAMUR, afirmó que “esto demuestra el poder de la lucha no violenta, cuando los ciudadanos se organizan con visión estratégica.” Read full article… Zhao Ziyang sur Tian’anmen By: Courrier International, May 14, 2009 Vingt ans après sa destitution, et quatre ans après sa mort, l’ancien Premier ministre chinois Zhao Ziyang livre son témoignage sur les événements qui ont conduit au massacre de Tian’anmen, le 4 juin 1989. Le livre The Secret Journal of Zhao Ziyang, qui paraît le 19 mai aux Etats-Unis, contient la transcription des mémoires enregistrées sur cassette audio par l’ancien Premier ministre et secrétaire général du Parti, entre 1999 et 2000, et discrètement passées à l’étranger. Read full article… Read full article… Des ONG réclament la poursuite de l’instruction sur les disparus du Beach By: Jeune Afrique, May 14, 2009 Des ONG de défense des droits de l’homme ont réclamé mercredi “vérité et justice” sur l’affaire des “disparus du Beach” de Brazzaville, il y a dix ans, et appelé la justice française à poursuivre de façon “effective” son travail sur ce dossier. Read full article… Inde : les plus grandes élections du monde By: Jeune Afrique, May 11, 2009 714 millions d’électeurs sont, du 16 avril au 13 mai, appelés à renouveler la Chambre basse du Parlement. Entre le parti du Congrès, les extrémistes hindous du BJP et la « troisième force », l’issue du scrutin est très incertaine. Read full article… |
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Freedom for those who defend it: Journalists – a film from Belarus
By: Ethical Martini, showing May 15 and May 19, 2009 The documentary Journalists, by Belarusian film director Aleh Dashkevich, is screening twice on the programme of the Auckland Human Rights Film Festival. Journalists tells about how freedom of expression was destroyed in Belarus over the 15 years of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s rule. Lukashenka came to power in the 1994 election promising to allow freedom of the press. Unfortunately, like most politicians, he was lying at the time. Read full article… Call for applications: Soliya Facilitator & Facilitation & Conflict Resolution Training By: Peace and Collaborative Development Network, deadline May 29, 2009 Once again, Soliya is offering a volunteer facilitator position including a free-of-charge facilitation and conflict resolution training. Are you interested in the relationship between the “West” and the “Arab & Muslim World”? Passionate about connecting students from different parts of the world?? Eager to facilitate dialogue, break stereotypes and promote understanding among students from diverse cultural backgrounds??? Read full article… |
The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict is pleased to circulate this daily selective digest of world news related to past, present and potential nonviolent conflicts, including active civilian-based struggles against oppressive regimes, nonviolent resistance, political and social dissidence, and the use of nonviolent tactics in a variety of causes. We also include stories that help readers glimpse the larger context of a conflict and that reflect on past historical struggles.
If you have specific items that you would like us to include in the daily digest, please send them to us. If there is a news or information source that you believe we may not be accessing, for purposes of selecting items, please bring that to our attention. Thank you.