Category: Human rights

Kazakhstan’s ‘authoritarian lite’ regime hints at cosmetic change

     

Kazakhstan’s leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev, is the country’s only president since independence — elected five times with 97.5 percent of the vote. Nazarbayev has created a kind of “authoritarian lite” system… Read more »

North Korea’s crimes against humanity demand justice

     

A rare piece of fiction from one of the world’s most repressive regimes reaches English speakers for the first time this week, Reuters reports: The Accusation is thought to be the… Read more »

Bahraini activist’s family targeted

     

Bahraini authorities are apparently targeting the family members of a prominent Bahraini activist in retribution for his human rights work, Human Rights Watch said today: Since March 2, 2017, authorities… Read more »

Cuba: appeasement never works

     

Rosa María Payá will be presenting an appeal for a judicial review of the conviction of Angel Carromero for the events that caused the death of her father, Oswaldo Payá, and… Read more »

Venezuela opposition parties fear election ban

     

United States Treasury sanctions have now brought international scrutiny on Venezuela’s vice-president Tareck El Aissami, reportedly involved in narcotics rackets from Colombia to Mexico, who went from being an unknown… Read more »

Rights groups anxious as Saudi activist summoned for interrogation

     

Saudi women’s rights activist Samar Badawi has been summoned for interrogation, according to reports: In January 2016, Badawi faced charges of “incit[ing] public opinion against the state” for speaking out… Read more »

Democracy and Human Rights: The Case for U.S. Leadership

     

U.S. Senate Hearing. Thursday, February 16, 2017. Panel One Mr. Carl Gershman, President, National Endowment for Democracy (left) The Honorable Mark Green, President, International Republican Institute Mr. Kenneth Wollack, President, National Democratic Institute Panel… Read more »

Cyber spies target Egyptian rights activists

     

American-Egyptian author Mona Eltahawy is one of many activists and human rights advocates targeted in a sweeping cyber-espionage campaign blamed on Egypt’s government, The Associated Press has found: A booby-trapped… Read more »

Anti-torture group’s closure highlights Egypt’s civil society crackdown

     

Egyptian police on Thursday shut down the offices of an organization that treats victims of torture and violence in the latest escalation of a harsh government crackdown against human rights defenders and… Read more »