Category: Civil Society

‘Beyond the Veneer of Reform’: Ricardo Bofill, an icon of the Cuban resistance, R.I.P.

     

Pro-democracy activists are mourning the loss of a leading architect of Cuba’s civil society and human rights movement. “The seed of this civil society was planted on January 28, 1976,… Read more »

‘China is not an enemy’? Barefoot lawyer’s death puts focus on CCP regime

     

Ji Sizun received the news that he had won a prestigious human rights distinction, the Cao Shunli Memorial Award, in honour of the veteran Chinese activist who died in 2014… Read more »

Ukraine’s ‘unsung heroes’: NGOs leading democratic renewal

     

Ukraine’s citizens have high hopes for the recently-elected president, are less pessimistic over the country’s trajectory and support the Donbas region remaining part of Ukraine, according to a nationwide poll from… Read more »

Russia protests target a system ‘chemically incompatible with democracy’

     

Police in Moscow detained 39 protesters at a rally calling for opposition candidates to be allowed to run in September’s elections to the Russian capital’s parliament. Opposition leaders cried foul… Read more »

Can civil society help ‘re-wire politics to Africa’s advantage’?

     

The European Union this week announced a Call for Proposals to Support Civil Society Initiatives to Promote Democracy and Human Rights in Equatorial Guinea. How timely. The authorities in Equatorial Guinea should immediately… Read more »

China ‘normalizing and enabling’ global authoritarianism

     

Thirty years have passed, yet China’s Communist Party is only becoming more authoritarian and cruel, notes Xiao Qiang, the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of China Digital Times, a bilingual  website launched… Read more »

Algeria’s divided democracy movement seeks end to impasse

     

In April 2019, Algerians ousted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, becoming the fifth Arab country to topple a president since 2011, the Brookings Institution reports. Though successfully deposing the head of state,… Read more »

Iran’s reformist movement – threatened or already dead?

     

Veterans of Iran’s reformist movement – Mohsen Aminzadeh, Mohammadreza Khatami, Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, and Mostafa Tajzadeh – are concerned about the “mortal blow that even a limited military conflict with the United States of… Read more »

Strengthening resilience to online disinformation

     

Russia’s return to the global stage as a major power relies on an array of diplomatic, information, security, and economic tools that help the Kremlin punch above its weight, notes… Read more »