Join us for the webinar, “Nonviolent Action in the Islamic World” next Thursday, March 11th at 12:00pm – 1:00pm EST. Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, will present on the long history of nonviolent action throughout the Islamic world, in the Middle East and beyond. Professor Zunes will look at case studies including Iran, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Mali, Western Sahara, Indonesia, Pakistan, and others.
Register here…
FSI 2010
ICNC is now accepting applications for the 2010 Fletcher Summer Institute for the Advanced Study of Nonviolent Conflict at Tufts University. This week-long Institute, now in its fifth year, will run from June 20 – 26 and brings together international professionals and journalists from around the world to learn from top practitioners and scholars about strategic concepts and present applications of civil resistance.
The application deadline has been extended to March 15, 2010 !
View the flyer…
Download the application form…
FAQs…
CENTRAL ASIA
Kyrgyzstan: Activists plan protest on International Women’s Day
By: RFE, March 4, 2010 Women’s rights activists in Kyrgyzstan say they plan a public protest on International Women’s Day next week. They said they would focus on the socio-economic problems faced by Kyrgyz women, the government’s gender policies, and domestic violence. Read full article… Uzbekistan’s hidden trials Tajikistan: Opposition disputes election of President Rakhmon Kazakhstan tightens control over Internet Kyrgyzstan: Human rights activist reported missing |
SOUTH ASIA
Indian women peacekeepers hailed in Liberia
By: Moni Basu, CNN, March 2, 2010 They are trained in sophisticated combat tactics and weaponry, crowd and mob control, counter-insurgency. They patrol the streets of the Liberian capital, expected to keep the peace after years of war. Most of them are also mothers and form an all-women unit from India, policing in a country where a 15-year conflict was characterized by sexual violence. Read full article… Gunmen shoot Nepal publisher dead in southern town |
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Thai premier plans trip to Australia despite mass protests
By: Monster and Critics, March 5, 2010 Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Friday he would not cancel a planned trip to Australia and New Zealand next week despite the threat of mass anti-government protests in Bangkok. Read full article… Burma: Karen activist wins international acclaim Vietnam’s religious living in fear Rights group concerned by Australian bank’s Cambodian army partnerships |
EAST ASIA
Desperate North Koreans “riot” over food
By: Chosun Ilbo, March 6, 2010 Violence is growing in North Korea amid a worsening food shortage after the disastrous currency revaluation last December, according to sources in the hermit country. Read full article… North Korean defector tells of leaders’ luxury Tibet: First he appeared in an Apple advert, now Dalai Lama joins Twitter Internet cafe ban call draws Chinese hacker wrath Tibetan rights group condemns China’s launch of “strike hard” campaign ahead of sensitive anniversary Irked by Dalai Lama-Obama meeting, China warns world about interfering in Tibet China: Clampdown ahead of parliament China: Evicted artists protest after attack in Beijing |
OCEANIA
Fiji jails eight over plot to kill Bainimarama
By: BBC News, March 5, 2010 Fiji has jailed eight men for between three and seven years for attempting to kill the country’s military leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, in 2007. Sentencing the men, Justice Paul Madigan said had the men’s plot succeeded the consequences for the Pacific island were “unthinkable”. Read full article… West Papuan group asks Australian prime minister to press Indonesia West Papuan demands can’t be fulfilled with money |
AFRICA
Zimbabwe: Civil society appeals for government protection
By: Charles Tembo, ZimOnline, March 4, 2010 Zimbabwean civic society on Wednesday appealed for protection from President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s unity government in the wake of rising threats and harassment of human rights activists by state security agents. Read full article… UK: Brown says too early to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe Zimbabwe: Dramatizing the constitution Zimbabwe: Political and security challenges to the transition |
NORTH AMERICA
US: When hate comes to town
By: C. Douglas Smith, Virginia Inter Faith Center, March 4, 2010 Hate is meant to incapacitate righteousness; literally cut its head off. We witnessed hate this week in Virginia when the Westboro Baptist Church came to the Commonwealth. They’re the jewskilledjesus.com and godhatesfags.com crowd. While we rarely use protests to draw attention to an issue, the fact that the Kansas-based anti-Semites sought to protest the Virginia Holocaust Museum motivated us to turn out folks to that sacred space. Read full article… US: Numerous student protests aimed at extensive cutbacks by universities US facing surge in right-wing extremists and militias U.S. floats plan to lift ban on training Indonesia’s Kopassus unit US: Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on internet freedom |
By: Mark Weisbrot, The Guardian, March 5, 2010
Hillary Clinton’s Latin America tour is turning out to be about as successful as George W Bush’s visit in 2005, when he ended up leaving Argentina a day ahead of schedule just to get the hell out of town. The main difference is that she is not being greeted with protests and riots.
Read full article…
Clinton urges Latin America to restore Honduras ties
By: Andrew Quinn, Reuters, March 4, 2010
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday urged reluctant Latin American countries to normalize ties with Honduras, saying it was time to “move forward” after last year’s coup that toppled President Manuel Zelaya.
Read full article…
Cuban dissident on hunger strike rushed to hospital
By: Juan O. Tamayo, Miami Herald, March 4, 2010
Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas, who has refused food and water for a week, was back home Wednesday after he lost consciousness and was rushed to a hospital for intravenous liquids, his doctor said.
Read full article…
Honduran journalist’s murder denounced
By: IANS, March 4, 2010
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has denounced the murder of Honduran television journalist Joseph Ochoa, who was gunned down earlier this week in Tegucigalpa.
Read full article…
Honduras: Investigate attacks on coup opponents
By: Human Rights Watch, March 3, 2010
Honduran authorities should ensure that recent killings and other attacks on opponents of the 2009 coup are promptly and thoroughly investigated, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubí.
Read full article…
Cuba TV report denies government let hunger striker die
By: AP, March 2, 2010
Cuba devoted nearly a third of its official newscast Monday night to denying that state doctors purposely let a jailed dissident die from a hunger strike. It claimed the case, which sparked an international outcry, began because the victim wanted television and other comforts in his prison cell.
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Cuba: Coverage comes with price of self-censorship
By: Juan O. Tamayo, Miami Herald, February 28, 2010
Foreign correspondents covering Cuba admit they soften the critical edges on their stories to keep the government from kicking them out. One Spanish journalist based in Cuba for five years wrote that “rare is the journalist who does not soften his reports, to avoid being expelled from the country.”
Read full article…