By: The Irrawaddy, September 14, 2009
An imprisoned female activist of the 88 Generation Students group faces additional anguish after being put in solitary confinement in a remote prison, a human rights group said on Monday. Thailand-based Burmese human rights group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said that prison authorities incarcerated Nobel Aye (aka Hnin May Aung), 28, in a solitary confinement cell in Monywa Prison in Sagaing Division recently. Tate Naing, the secretary of the group, told The Irrawaddy by telephone that political prisoners in Burma have often faced additional punishments or solitary confinement if they complain about human rights violations or prison condition.
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China’s shadow sector – power in pieces
By: Kerry Brown, Open Democracy, September 14, 2009
I spent the month of August 2009 travelling around China and looking at the state of democracy (in the sense of “village elections”), the rule of law, and civil society. It was a sobering experience full of disturbing revelations. There was an auspicious moment on the very day of my arrival, when Xu Zhiyong – who heads Gongmeng (Open Constitution Initiative), a small legal-aid NGO – was detained for “non-payment of taxes” (the grey zone in which independent NGOs exist in China means that this charge is often a convenient pretext for official persecution). Xu Zhiyong was released on 23 August, but may still face prosecution.
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Indonesia arrests West Papua peace activist
By: Judy West, Religious Intelligence, September 14, 2009
A peaceful resolution to West Papua’s long-standing conflict with Indonesia has suffered a serious set-back with the arrest by Indonesian authorities of leading pro-peace activist Jonah Wenda. Wenda was detained in the western part of West Papua, on September 6, and was formally arrested on September 11. Wenda is a spokesperson for the military wing of the West Papua liberation movement, the West Papua National Liberation Army. However, despite working for peace, Wenda is now being held pending being charged with undermining the Security of the State.
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Chinese dissidents committed to mental hospitals
By: Sophie Beach, China Digital Times, September 13, 2009
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Hong Kong: TVB’s beaten journalists and brave new voice
By: Henry C., Global Voices, September 13, 2009
Widespread anger over the recent beating up and detention of three Hong Kong journalists as they reported on ethnic unrest in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region came to a head this weekend with a high profile protest outside the Chinese central government liaison office in Hong Kong. The strong condemnation delivered by Cantonese-language channel TVB Jade of the way the journalists were treated spurred certain criticism and ridicule online, and the antagonistic stance taken towards the mainland Chinese authorities in recent days struck some as such a shift in character as to seem hypocritical…
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Papuan given two years jail for involvement in demo
By: RNZI, September 11, 2009
A Papuan man in Indonesia has been sentenced to two years in prison for his involvement in a demonstration in Jayapura last October. Sebby Sambom has already been in custody for nine months after taking part in a peaceful rally to show support for the launch of International Parliamentarians for West Papua in the British parliament. As he was led from the court, Sambom rejected the subversion-related conviction and asked for international intervention in his case.
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Indonesia: Victims report to UN special rapporteur
By: Jakarta Post, September 11, 2009
In another attempt at justice, families and victims of the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre sent a letter to a United Nations special rapporteur Friday pleading for an intervention in the unresolved case. The Human Rights Working Group and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) assisted in sending the letter to Gabriela Carina Knaul de Albuquerque e Silva, the UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. Yetti, whose father fell victim to the bloody incident, told The Jakarta Post that she hoped sending the letter would lead to a new investigation, and in turn, a review of the case.
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Burma: Monks’ movement still growing
By: RFA, September 11, 2009
Burma’s Buddhist monks, who led the “Saffron Revolution” of September 2007, are better organized since the military crackdown that killed unknown numbers, with more prominent religious figures joining their movement, according to a key overseas activist. U Awbasa, leader of the Thailand-based Exiled Burmese Buddhist Monks Association, fled Burma amid thousands of arrests in the crackdown on the 2007 monk-led protests. He said Burma’s revered Buddhist monks are still highly politically active despite the military crackdown.
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CENTRAL ASIA
Kazakhstan’s president-for-life prepares to chair the OSCE
By: Jeni Mitchell, The International Centre for the study of Radicalization and Political Violence, September 2009 One of the least free and most corrupt states in the world will be chairing an organisation meant to promote human rights and democracy? But what practically guarantees a year of rueful eye-rolling is the fact that despite international concern over the Kazakh chairmanship, the Nazarbayev regime continues to pursue repressive domestic policies and practices, even those which violate its commitments to the very organisation it is meant to lead. Read full article…
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EUROPE
Russia: To protect freedom of expression
By: CIVICUS, September 2009 The modern world cannot exist without modern art. And the language of modern art is as important as the language of the daily news – the daily news for the protection of rights and freedoms, and the language of modern art for protection of the spiritual freedom of a human being. Two Russian art curators – Yuri Samodurov and Andrei Erofeev – could face up to five years’ imprisonment after they organized a contemporary art exhibition entitled “Forbidden art 2006” at the Andrei Sakharov Museum in Moscow. Read full article… Kosovo: 22 NGOs of Albanians to stage protest on Monday Germany: Just when is the right time for Balibo justice? Belarus: Viasna Human Rights Center – authorities again demonstrated total disregard for human rights ‘Women Without Men’ brings dissident Iran to Venice
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MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA
Iraq: Following in shoe thrower’s footsteps
By: BBC News, September 15, 2009 The journalist whose name has become synonymous with a new style of public protest has been released from jail in Iraq. Last December, Muntadar al-Zaidi threw his shoe at the former US President George Bush – an act that left an indelible mark on the collective consciousness of protesters the world over. Since that protest, “shoe-ing” appears to have become the favoured protest statement from Ahmedabad to Latvia. Such incidents have inspired comedy shows, video games and social networking groups. Even the month-long Indian general election in April succumbed to what one commentator described as the “ultimate non-violent weapon”. Read full articles… Pakistani artists persevere amid increasing militancy Iraq Burin villagers meet to organize demonstrations Morocco: Government uses torture to silence Sahrawi activists West Bank: A different kind of activism Kuwait & Egypt: Censors pull plug on shows that mock politicians
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OCEANIA
Fiji: Bloggers debate Amnesty International findings
By: Michael Hartsell Global Voices, September 14, 2009 Bloggers in Fiji and around the Pacific are debating a recent Amnesty International report chronicling the island nation’s human rights record since the country’s president abrogated the constitution April 10. The report, titled Fiji: Paradise Lost, contends that since the constitution was nullified, Fiji’s military government has limited freedom of expression, movement, assembly, the right to a fair trial and the freedom of arbitrary detention. Also, the government has briefly imprisoned up to 40 people, including lawyers, opposition politicians, high-ranking members of the Methodist church and 20 journalists. The report tallies alleged arrests and other violations through July. Read full article…
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International Democracy Day – work to do
By: Halina Ward and John Elkington, Open Democracy, September 15, 2009 An annual event founded in 2007 is already an established part of the global calendar. This is the International Day of Democracy, created by a resolution of the United Nations general assembly and first marked on 15 September 2008. This second occasion is again a moment both to celebrate democracy and to recall that the need to protect and support democracy is as important as ever. Both parts of this “mandate” are vital. Read full article… Notion that violence is animalistic reduces support for war Coming of age? The significance and limits of transnational activist networks today
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Youth Speak Out!
By: Annie, Peace and Collaborative Development Network, September 11, 2009 The World Youth Movement for Democracy (www.wymd.org), a youth network of the World Movement for Democracy (www.wmd.org), is pleased to announce the launch of its Global Essay Contest. Fifteen winners (3 in each region: Asia, Central/Eastern Europe & Eurasia, Middle East & North Africa, Latin America & Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa) will be invited to participate in the upcoming 6th Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Jakarta, Indonesia, in April 2010. Read full article…
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By: Pavel Antonov, APCNews, July 28, 2009
News that the Bulgarian national security agency (DANS) had raided the offices of the State forestry agency in Sofia back in March caught green activists by surprise. Particularly because news suggested that reports by “ecologists” were the reason for the Hollywood-style action in Bulgaria’s Ministry of Agriculture. Indeed, members of the For the Nature coalition had been campaigning for months against the non-transparent practice of exchanging cheaper forests for state-owned green areas along the Black Sea coast and in the high mountains, which would immediately be turned into construction development sites.
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Mexico: The Rosendo Radilla case – an Open Wound from Mexico’s “Dirty War”
By: Rose Anderson, The Hub, July 14, 2009
In 1974, Rosendo Radilla Pacheco disappeared at a military checkpoint in southern Mexico. As a prominent activist and mayor, Rosendo fought for health and education in Atoyac, in the state of Guerrero – a region historically plagued by hardship and neglected by authorities. Decades later, Radilla’s unresolved case reached international courts and is an emblematic example of government activities during the ‘Dirty War’ – a period when the authoritarian regimes of the 1960’s and 1970’s employed military tactics to crush opposition movements. Now Mexico faces charges of crimes against humanity.
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