Russian repression hits close to home
Anyone who has paid attention to Russia in the last several years is well aware that the regime of Vladimir Putin has seriously cracked down on civil society and freedom… Read more »
Category: Civil Society
Kremlin deploying new tactics against NGOs
Russia’s Justice Ministry has deployed another tactic to shut down NGOs it says aren’t in compliance with the foreign agent law, Charles Digges reports: suing them in court and demanding… Read more »
U.S.-ASEAN summit needs more than symbolism
Human rights and democracy advocates are calling on President Barack Obama to use the occasion of this week’s U.S.-ASEAN summit at California’s Sunnylands retreat to publicly raise concerns about… Read more »
Russian accused of silencing activists up for top U.N. NGO liaison post
A Russian diplomat accused of playing a role in President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on foreign human rights and pro-democracy activists has emerged as a frontrunner for a top job overseeing… Read more »
Khomeini poll exclusion, consultant’s jailing send chilling message from Iran’s hardliners
After months of political maneuvering, the scion of the powerful Khomeini family and the projected figurehead of Iran’s ailing reform movement was definitively barred Wednesday from participating in parliamentary elections… Read more »
Baransu case prompts Turkey to lift media bans?
In a move that confirmed the growing restrictions and pressure on the Turkish media, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş has said his government is ready to remove bans that… Read more »
‘Political activity’ an existential issue in Russia
Defining “political activity” may seem like an academic exercise, but in Russia, it is an existential one, notes Tanya Lokshina, Russia program director at Human Rights Watch. The definition is… Read more »
Thousands demand inquiry into Cairo death of labor researcher Regeni
More than 4,600 academics from across the globe have signed an open letter protesting against the death of Giulio Regeni, a Cambridge PhD student from Italy whose body was found… Read more »
Pragmatic Engagement Amidst Global Uncertainty: How to Advance Democracy
The outcomes of American interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya during the last fifteen years suggest that in many countries the active promotion of American values, democracy, and human rights… Read more »
Obama visit must not boost Cuba’s neo-Castroism
Communist-governed Cuba imports more than two-thirds of its food, despite having rich farmland and hundreds of urban farms sprouting up in old parking lots, rooftops, or other small plots of… Read more »