By: Richard Lloyd Parry, Times ONline, October 6, 2009
Kim Jong Un, 26, is apparently being groomed to succeed Kim Jong Il in the only hereditary communist dictatorship in history. North Korea likes to present itself as an unchanging place, a socialist workers’ paradise where the conundrums of good governance have been solved by the supernatural brilliance of Mr Kim and his late father and founder of the country, the “Great Leader”, Kim Il Sung. However, it is a place of tension and anticipation. Fed on propaganda and lies, North Koreans are usually the last to learn what is happening behind the scenes in their country – but these days, in Pyongyang at least, even they can sense that change is in the air.
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Nepal to deploy police on Tibet border
By: Google News, October 4, 2009
Nepal is to deploy armed police along its northern border with Tibet, the country’s home minister has said, days after nearly 80 Tibetans were arrested in the capital Kathmandu. The move is part of a plan to make Nepal’s border with neighbouring China more secure, Bhim Rawal said in an interview published Sunday, but he denied the government was acting under pressure from Beijing. On Thursday police in Kathmandu arrested around 80 Tibetans as they tried to stage a protest outside a Chinese embassy building to mark the 60th anniversary of communist rule.
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Maldives: Dictator Gayyoom’s fate should be the same as Fujimori’s
By: Dhivehi Observer, October 4, 2009
On 28th October 2008, the people of the Maldives brought an end to 30 years of oppression by voting out dictator Gayyoom and installing a fully-fledged democracy. However, it has not been an easy ride for the new administration, mainly because of the greed and arrogance of the ousted dictator and his followers. Whilst it is a noble attitude to breakaway from the past and work for transitional justice, the cost of inaction is now a clear obstacle for progress and the importance of consolidating democracy.
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Maldives calls for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and holding of democratic elections in Burma
By: Dhivehi Observer, October 4, 2009
The Maldives on Friday cosponsored a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council calling for the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy in Burma and elected leader of the country who has nevertheless spent most of the past twenty years in detention. Since assuming Office in November last year, President Nasheed, himself a former prisoner of conscience, has, on a number of occasions, called for the release of Ms. Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, most recently at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
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Burma: Rejection of Aung San Suu Kyi’s appeal ‘legally flawed’
By: Mungpi, Mizzima, October 2, 2009
Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyer on Friday said the Rangoon division court’s decision to reject the appeal against her sentence is “legally flawed” as the court arrived at its verdict on a constitution that it acknowledges being non-existent. Kyi Win, a member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s legal team, said the divisional court acknowledged that the 1974 constitution is no longer in effect, but said the 1975 law, which is based on the constitution, is still in effect and under which the lower court’s verdict on August 11 is legally binding.
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Thailand: Performance of persistence- a march for gender justice in climate justice
By: Nina Somera, Isis International, October 2, 2009
Despite the midday showers, more than three hundred people led by indigenous women joined the women’s march on 1 October 2009, heading to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) building here in Bangkok, Thailand. Chanting “No Climate Justice without Gender Justice”, the participants, mostly coming from Armenia, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand stressed that women are among the hardest hit by climate change despite their minute carbon footprint.
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Online reporters in Malaysia struggle against jail, fines and filters
By: Clothilde Le Coz, Media Shift, October 1, 2009
Malaysia ranked No. 132 out of 173 countries on last year’s edition of Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, which means it’s already a hostile place for reporters. Thanks to recent initiatives aimed at controlling the flow of online information, the country appears ready to tighten its grip on the Internet, too. But bloggers and web journalists continue to fight bravely against new and existing constraints.
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EUROPE
France: Naked crowd gathers for climate change
By: BBC, October 4, 2009 Hundreds of naked people gathered in a French vineyard to pose for photographer Spencer Tunick and illustrate the threat of global warming through art. The famous photographer teamed up with Greenpeace to create a “meaningful message” on climate change, concentrating on the vulnerability of wines and agriculture in France. Read full article… UK: London protest to end 60 years of oppression in China Italy: Big protest in Rome against Berlusconi media grip A dissident in the USSR, a dissident in Putin’s Russia Investigation presses on political prisoner Autukhovich’s wife
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MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA
Pending legality: The growing politicization of Egypt’s labor
By: Saif Nasrawi, Almasry Alyoum, October 5, 2009 Egyptian political activists often joke that their country has only five organized groups: the state’s civil and military bureaucracy, Sufi orders, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Orthodox Church, and the Ahly football club. But a new group might be added to that list soon. With rising labor militancy, the Egyptian workers are increasingly searching for their own free unions to institutionally address their deteriorating economic conditions. Read full article… Palestine: Tens suffer breathing difficulty following IOF quelling of peaceful march in Bil’in Protest at Azhar over Aqsa Mosque raid
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Argentine dissident singer Mercedes Sosa dies
By: Vicente Panetta, Yahoo News, October 4, 2009 Legendary Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa, the “voice of Latin America” whose music inspired opponents of South America’s brutal military regimes and led to her forced exile in Europe, died Sunday, her family said. She was 74. Her remains lay in state at the National Congress, where thousands of people – many with flowers or Argentine flags – lined up to pay respects to one of the region’s most iconic voices. Read full article… Nonviolent action: Can there be a second act?
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¿Cuántas muertes necesitará Obama en Honduras?
By: Atilio A. Boron, Transnational Institute, September 28, 2009 En el día de ayer el Comité por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos de Honduras (CODEH) hizo público un informe en el que responsabiliza al presidente de facto de ese país y líder de los golpistas, Roberto Micheletti, por las más de 101 muertes extralegales y sumarias perpetradas desde el 28 de Junio hasta la fecha. La dura lucha de la CODEH y su intransigente defensa de los derechos humanos hizo que recién en noviembre de 1994 el gobierno de Honduras le otorgara un status jurídico legal. Read full article…
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By: Mike McCall, The Sentinel Online, October 5, 2009
Rafael Coicue, indigenous leader and human rights coordinator from southern Colombia, will address the war on drugs, Free Trade Agreements and the non-violent social movements organizing for sovereignty and justice in Colombia at noon Tuesday, Oct. 13, in Todd Hall Auditorium in Molstead Library. Hosts are Publications Club and Witness for Peace Northwest, a politically independent, nationwide grassroots organization of people committed to nonviolence. The speech is free to anyone interested.
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Learn…engage…showcase
By: Sangonet, August 24, 2009
The annual Sangonet “ICTs for Civil Society” Conference is the premier ICT event dedicated to the work of the NGO sector in Southern Africa. The 2009 event will be held in two parts – from 15-16 October 2009 in Johannesburg, and 20-21 October 2009 in Cape Town. Following the success of the previous four annual SANGONeT conferences, the 2009 event will focus on the relevance of social media tools to the South African NGO sector.
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