By: Democratic Voice of Burma, January 18, 2010
Torture in Burma is “now more widespread than at any time in recent decades”, according to an open letter sent by an Asian rights group to the UN’s torture rapporteur.
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Burma’s Supreme Court hears final Suu Kyi appeal
By: BBC News, January 18, 2010
Burma’s Supreme Court has heard a final appeal against the extended house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Her sentence was extended by 18 months last year after a US man swam uninvited to her lakeside home in Rangoon.
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EAST ASIA
Hong Kong approves China rail link
By: Jonathan Cheng, WSJ, January 19, 2010 The government here won a tough battle to fund a controversial railway project, but an ugly showdown Saturday between protesters and riot police wielding pepper spray could signal more conflict to come over highly contested political reforms. Read full article… Chinese attack on Google seen as cybertheft Journalists in China face e-mail hijacking China: Leading human rights attorney is missing China appoints ex-soldier as Tibet governor Scaling the digital wall in China Censors back on Google as China defends internet actions China: Human rights activists tell of cyber attacks Tibet: Stanford student was targeted in Google cyberattack South Korea’s “comfort women” stage 900th weekly protest China: Do no evil South Korea: Seoul gives in to Beijing and expels Uyghur dissident
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SOUTH ASIA
India can move the needle on Burma
By: Kelley Currie, WSJ, January 18, 2010 Burma is back in the news amid reports that the ruling military junta has set its upcoming “elections” for October 2010 and is making serious efforts to secure short-range ballistic missiles. Taken with the lack of results from the Obama administration’s attempted engagement with the junta, these developments highlight the need for stepped-up regional activism in favor of democracy in Burma, especially from its democratic neighbors. Read full article…
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OCEANIA
Free Papua Movement appoints new military commander
By: Radio New Zealand International, January 19, 2010 The Free Papua Movement, or the OPM, has approved the appointment of a new Supreme Commander of its military wing to replace the late Kelly Kwalik. Jeck Kemong has been appointed head of the West Papuan National Liberation Army, or the TPN, and will also take over the regional command of Nemang Kawi. Read full article… Fiji cancels pensions of regime critics Fiji expels ‘apolitical’ Canberra woman Fiji regime bans church conference until 2014
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AFRICA
Guinean human rights group hails junta leader’s stand on elections
By: Africa News, January 19, 2010 The chair of the Guinean Human Rights Organisation (OGDH), Thierno Madjou Sow, has expressed satisfaction at the speech delivered last week-end in Ouagadougou by junta leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, urging his compatriots to support the acting president, Gen. Sekouba Konate. Read full article… Human rights trainings in Nigeria Africa ‘bleakest’ in freedom: survey Kenya: Muslim youth group denied license to demonstrate Angola arrests a third rights activist in Cabinda Kenya protest turns deadly UN rights chief criticizes proposed Uganda legislation against homosexuality Uganda: Demonstration not bad for democracy
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By: Kristin Collins, News Observer, January 19, 2010
Just hours before his death, King told LaFayette that he wanted to take the philosophy of nonviolent resistance beyond the American civil rights movement, to institutionalize it around the world. More than four decades later, LaFayette is director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, which has taught the tactics of peaceful resistance to militants in Nigeria, prisoners in Colombia and police officers, gang members and students across the United States.
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Martin Luther King Jr. built on American tradition of organization and protest
By: Johann N. Neem, Seattle Times, Jauary 17, 2010
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other Americans who participated in the civil-rights movement had to defend their right to organize and to speak in the face of intense, often violent resistance, writes Johann Neem. A free civil society is critical for citizens in a democracy.
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US: Thousands protest sheriff’s immigration efforts
By: Jacques Billeadap, Washington Post, January 17, 2010
Thousands of immigrant rights advocates marched in front of a county jail in Phoenix Saturday in a protest that was aimed at Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s immigration efforts and was marked by a clash between a small group of protesters and police officers.
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US: A new immigrant revolution takes shape
By: Jane Guskin, Huffington Post, January 12, 2010
On January 1, five residents of South Florida stopped eating in a protest action. They are demanding that the Obama administration take measures now to put an end to the deportations that are separating families — at least until Congress can provide more permanent relief by fixing our harsh immigration laws.
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US: Jail for soldier writing rap song to protest his deployment to Iraq
By: Dave Lindorff, First Ammendment Coalition, January 10, 2010
In the ironically named Liberty County Jail since December 11 sits Army Specialist and Iraq War veteran Marc Hall, a rap musician who had the audacity to write a song attacking the Pentagon for subjecting him to a so-called stop-loss order after he had finished his Army tour and had returned from a posting in Iraq.
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