Category: Dictatorships

Why Sudan is shutting down its Internet

     

Sudan’s military authorities are shutting down the Internet in an effort to suffocate the current pro-democracy protest movement. Internet shutdowns are not new, but they have become increasingly popular instrument… Read more »

Democratic solidarity can curb China’s export of repression, Senate told

     

Chinese artist Badiucao, whose anonymous political satire infuriated Beijing and earned him comparisons to Banksy, on Thursday announced a protest campaign against Twitter over what he says is its pandering… Read more »

Tiananmen: The People Versus the Party

     

An exiled Uighur leader called for more concerted international pressure on China to end its mass detention of the ethnic group as he received a US award. Dolkun Isa, president of… Read more »

Russia Scenarios 2030: don’t neglect ordinary citizens

     

The hope for a more viable democratic political force in Russia depends on resilience of Western democracies, according to a new report. The façade of stability and strength of the… Read more »

‘Father of North Korean human rights movement’ will be recognized by history

     

North Koreans remain trapped in a “vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption, repression” and endemic bribery, according to a report from the UN human rights office. The analysis titled “The Price… Read more »

Kremlin playbook exposed: ‘stealing news to shape views’

     

Nationalists and populists are attempting to exploit frustrations with the European Union to question fundamental democratic values in Central and Eastern Europe, while such external forces as Russia or China… Read more »

Violent repression of Sudan’s civilian movement sends ‘ominous message’ for region’s democratic ambitions

     

At least 13 protesters were killed and several others injured on Monday when the Sudanese military opened fire to break up a sit-in, according to a local doctors’ union, CNN reports:… Read more »

‘Rule By Fear’: China’s democracy movement faces new challenges

     

The 30th anniversary of the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests has brought the realization that a prosperous middle-class China will not necessarily turn against the ruling Communist party, as many outside… Read more »

New Tiananmen documents expose power games behind massacre

     

In hindsight, the crushing of the 1989 democracy movement was a clear indication that China’s leadership understood and rejected the cost of moving onto “the right side of history” and… Read more »

Link trade & human rights to democratize China, says Tiananmen veteran

     

In May 1989, Wang Dan was 20 years old. With a megaphone held up to his thin face, which was in part masked by his large glasses, he rallied the… Read more »