Category: News Clips

September 01, 2017

News Clips- September 1, 2017

Civil Society On Friday, the German government shut down a left-wing extremist website connected to violence at the Group of 20 summit meeting in July. [New York Times] On Wednesday, human rights groups called for the establishment of an independent inquiry into alleged abuses taking place in Yemen. [Guardian] Corruption On Sunday, the Constitutional Court in Guatemala issued a temporary injunction blocking President Jimmy Morales’ order to expel Iván Velásquez, the head of the United Nations International Committee against Impunity in Guatemala. [Al Jazeera] This week, it was reported that the government of Mexico has allegedly made ongoing attempts to […]

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August 25, 2017

News Clips- August 25, 2017

Civil Society Protesters in Hong Kong demonstrated last weekend to call for the release of three pro-democracy activists who were imprisoned last week. [Guardian] Maina Kiai, a former United Nations Special Rapporteur and a human rights activist, was detained at the Nairobi airport for two hours before allowed to leave the country last Sunday. [Guardian] A Chinese human rights lawyer plead guilty on Tuesday to charges of inciting subversion of state power, but civil society is calling the trial a sham and believe he was forced to confess. [VOA] Activities of Human Rights Bodies & Experts and Intergovernmental Bodies The […]

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August 18, 2017

News Clips- August 18, 2017

Civil Society On Thursday, three young activists in Hong Kong, China were sentenced to six to eight months in prison for their participation in the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests. [Washington Post] On Wednesday, the president of the Philippines encouraged police officers to shoot activists who obstruct justice. [Guardian] Last week, Amnesty International reported that at least 66 people detained during protests in Morocco reported being subject to torture and ill-treatment. [AI] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Thursday, at least 13 people were killed when a van drove into a crowd in Barcelona, Spain. [Guardian] On Wednesday, police found mass graves […]

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August 11, 2017

News Clips- August 11, 2017

Civil Society In Kenya, five people have been killed since Raila Odinga, an opposition leader, declared the recent presidential election fraudulent. [Al Jazeera] On Thursday, authorities in Turkey issued 35 detention warrants for journalists and other individuals connected to Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused of involvement in the attempted coup last year. [Washington Post] On Sunday, Russia passed a law with increased restrictions on virtual private networks (VPNs), reducing user anonymity. [Guardian] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch reported that Israel’s transfer of Palestinians in Jerusalem out of their homes may amount to war crimes. [Al […]

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August 04, 2017

News Clips- August 4, 2017

Civil Society This week, a source confirmed that the government of Syria executed activist and Internet entrepreneur, Bassel Khartabil Safadi, in October 2015. [Washington Post] On Thursday, it was reported that activists launched a public appeal asking the prince of Saudi Arabia to dismiss terrorism-related offenses against 14 Shiite men. [Washington Post] On Tuesday, two Venezuelan opposition leaders were taken into custody by security forces as a part of an alleged “expanded crackdown on dissent.” [Washington Post] On Wednesday, the European Court of Human Rights rejected a request for release from prison by two Turkish teachers with reportedly grave health […]

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July 28, 2017

News Clips- July 28, 2017

Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Wednesday, several international aid organizations in the Central African Republic halted operations due to violence between armed groups and the targeting of aid workers. [Reuters] On Monday, suicide attacks targeted two camps for internally displaced persons in Nigeria resulting in the deaths of at least eight people. [UN News Centre] On Monday, at least 24 people were killed when a suicide bomber hit a minibus in Kabul, Afghanistan; the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. [Washington Post] On Monday, an attack claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan group targeted police in Lahore, Pakistan and killed […]

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July 21, 2017

News Clips- July 21, 2017

Civil Society Around the world, people went to the ocean this week to commemorate the death of Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident who recently died in custody, after his ashes were spread in the sea. [Guardian] A journalist in Russia reported this week that he received threatening text messages demanding he halt his current work. [CPJ] A court in Turkey issued an order this week for the formal arrest of six human rights defenders, including Amnesty International’s Turkey director. [Washington Post] Opposition parties in Venezuela hosted a vote on Sunday in which Venezuelans opposed President Nicolás Maduro’s constituent assembly. [New […]

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July 14, 2017

News Clips- July 14, 2017

Civil Society Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident who previously won the Nobel Peace Prize, died from cancer on Thursday. [New York Times] On Wednesday, protesters in Zimbabwe demonstrated in favor of fair elections but were met with tear gas and water cannons. [Al Jazeera] Last weekend, tens of thousands of protesters in Istanbul, Turkey demonstrated against the state of emergency that has been ongoing since July 2016. [Washington Post] Politics The President of Colombia granted amnesty this week to an additional 3,600 Farc members, following the completion of the Farc’s disarmament last month. [BBC] A court in Kenya last week […]

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July 07, 2017

News Clips- July 7, 2017

Civil Society On Thursday, Turkish police arrested nine human rights activists, including Amnesty International’s Turkey director, Idli Eser. [BBC News] On Thursday, a student activist in Hong Kong pleaded guilty to a contempt of court charge related to his participation in pro-democracy protests in 2014. [Al Jazeera] On Sunday, anti-G20 summit protesters clashed with local police in Hamburg, Germany. [Guardian] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Tuesday, civil society reported that murder, torture, rape, severe hunger, and cholera outbreaks in South Sudan have led to major crises in the region. [Guardian] On Monday, the Syrian army announced a temporary halt to […]

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June 30, 2017

News Clips- June 30, 2017

Civil Society On Tuesday, Amnesty International joined a boycott protesting the mandatory reporting rules for foreign-funded groups recently put into force in Hungary. [Washington Post] On Monday, Mexican reporter Salvador Adame was found dead in Mexico; seven journalists have been murdered in the country this year. [Guardian] Over the weekend, police forces in Istanbul, Turkey detained 44 people attending LGBT marches that were banned by the governor of Istanbul. [Washington Post] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Tuesday, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia fully disarmed, ending a half-century long armed struggle that has killed more than 220,000 people. [Washington Post] […]

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June 23, 2017

News Clips- June 23, 2017

Civil Society On Thursday, several civil society organizations urged for the prompt and independent investigation into the “barrage of assaults and threats” against human rights lawyers in Pakistan. [ICJ] On Saturday, thousands of protesters in Madrid, Spain marched to demand that the government fulfill its pledge to take in 17,000 refugees. [Al Jazeera] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Thursday, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack, allegedly targeting security forces, that killed 29 people in Afghanistan. [Washington Post] On Tuesday, it was reported that 3,300 people have been killed in the Kasai provinces of central Congo since August […]

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June 16, 2017

News Clips- June 16, 2017

Civil Society On Monday, courts in Russia began sentencing anti-corruption demonstrators arrested during protests led by an opposition leader. [Guardian] On Tuesday, the parliament of Hungary approved regulations requiring certain foreign-funded civil society groups to register with the government. [Al Jazeera] International Criminal Law On Thursday, the International Criminal Court unanimously affirmed its jurisdiction over the charges of war crimes of rape and sexual slavery of child soldiers lodged against former Democratic Republic of the Congo military leader Bosco Ntaganda. [ICC Press Release] On Monday, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report claiming […]

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June 09, 2017

News Clips- June 9, 2017

Activities of International Human Rights Bodies and Experts Independent experts from the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a joint statement condemning recent attacks in Brazil on indigenous peoples’ rights and on environmental rights. [OHCHR Press Release] This week the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances announced its first visit to the Gambia to take place June 12 to 19, 2017. [OHCHR Press Release] The European Court of Human Rights ruled this week that Bulgaria violated the right to freedom of assembly and of association for refusing to register an organization that promotes […]

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June 02, 2017

News Clips- June 2, 2017

Civil Society On Wednesday, a court in Bahrain ordered the dissolution of the last major opposition group in the country. [Washington Post] This week, it was reported that labor activists investigating alleged abuses at a Chinese factory producing Ivanka Trump shoes were detained or missing. [Guardian] On Friday, hundreds of Palestinians protested Israeli troops across the West Bank and Gaza to support the prisoners’ hunger strike that began in April. [Times of Israel] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Thursday, the United Nations peacekeeping camp in Mali was attacked. [Washington Post] On Tuesday, a car bomb claimed by ISIS killed 13 […]

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May 26, 2017

News Clips- May 26, 2017

Civil Society On Wednesday, after eight weeks of protests, the death toll in Venezuela rose to 56 people. [LA Times] On Wednesday, anti-government protesters in Brazil set fire to a ministry building, and in response, President Michel Temer gave the army policing power to restore order. [Reuters] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Wednesday, a bombing in Somalia, claimed by al-Shabaab, killed five and injured six civilians. [Reuters] On Tuesday, two United Nations peacekeepers were killed in Mali. [Washington Post] On Monday, at least 22 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a concert in Manchester, Britain. [Guardian] On Friday, […]

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May 19, 2017

News Clips- May 19, 2017

Civil Society On Friday, an estimated 11 activists were detained in Moscow while reading aloud Russia’s constitution. [Guardian] On Wednesday, the government in Venezuela announced it will deploy 2,000 soldiers in response to the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators that have been protesting the government since April. [Guardian] Freedom of Expression & Access to Information On Thursday, independent experts from the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the killing of Javier Valdez Cárdenas, a prominent journalist in Mexico. [OHCHR Press Release] On Friday, a local court in Baku, Azerbaijan upheld the government’s decision to block access […]

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May 12, 2017

News Clips – May 12, 2017

Civil Society On Thursday, five LGBT activists in Russia were detained while trying to submit a petition, requesting an investigation into the crackdown against gay men in Chechnya. [Guardian] On Monday, Xie Yang, a human rights lawyer in China, was tried for inciting state subversion. [Guardian] This week, the President of Tunisia deployed the army to protect businesses from sit-ins, and other demonstrations, that are protesting unemployment and corruption in the country. [Washington Post] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Thursday, two civilians were killed, and three were injured, during gunfire attacks between Indian and Pakistani soldiers at the Kashmir border. […]

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May 05, 2017

News Clips – May 5, 2017

Civil Society Hundreds of people protested in Belarus on Monday in opposition to the current government, despite officials banning the demonstration. [Washington Post] On Tuesday, an estimated 2,000 students demonstrated outside of the West Rand campus in Johannesburg, South Africa in protest of alleged nepotism, racism, and intimidation tactics on campus. [IOL] On Monday, May Day marches took place all over the world – including in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cuba, France, Germany, Greece, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey – to demand improved pay and working conditions. [Washington Post] Protesters continued to demonstrate in Venezuela in opposition to […]

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April 28, 2017

News Clips- April 28, 2017

Civil Society On Thursday, Palestinians organized a strike, which closed down schools, institutions, and transportation, to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strikes in Israeli jails. [Al Jazeera] On Thursday, 30 people in Turkey were detained and charged with membership in an armed terror organization as a result of their ties to a newspaper that was run by a woman accused of leading a coup attempt in the country. [Washington Post] Activities of International Bodies On Tuesday, the United Nations and the governments of Sweden and Switzerland held a one-day conference in Geneva, Switzerland focused on the humanitarian crisis […]

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April 21, 2017

News Clips- April 21, 2017

Civil Society On Wednesday, anti-government protesters marched in the streets of Caracas, Venezuela amid riot police while the government held counter-demonstrations. [Washington Post] On Tuesday, the Human Rights Commission in Ethiopia reported 669 deaths resulting from anti-government protests in the country. [BBC News] On Saturday, a United States aid worker was released from pretrial detention in Egypt after three years. [Washington Post]  Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Monday, the government of Turkey announced it would extend Turkey’s state of emergency for an additional three months. [Al Jazeera] On Saturday, a suicide bomb attack in Syria killed 126 people; there are […]

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April 14, 2017

News Clips – April 14, 2017

Civil Society This week, Thai authorities warned that the online dissemination of information from two academics and a journalist critical of the government could violate Thailand’s Computer Crime Act. [Guardian] On Wednesday, an Egyptian criminal court sentenced a human rights lawyer to ten years in prison for using Facebook to “harm national unity.” [Washington Post] Last week, a TV reporter in Uganda was kidnapped, threatened, and beaten in relation to her coverage of the president of Uganda’s family. [Reporters Without Borders] Last week, law enforcement officials opened fire on protesters, killing six, as thousands demonstrated at polling stations near Srinagar, […]

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April 07, 2017

News Clips- April 7, 2017

Civil Society This week, authorities in Chechnya, Russia initiated an anti-gay campaign that resulted in more than 100 detentions and three deaths. [Guardian] On Friday, two women’s rights activists in China, who were originally detained in 2014 for supporting pro-democracy protests, were convicted of inciting subversion of state power. [Washington Post] Thousands participated in protests in Serbia this week to denounce the allegedly fraudulent election of Aleksandar Vucic. [Al Jazeera] On Tuesday, thousands protested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan Supreme Court’s decision to seize power from the legislature. [New York Times] Armed Conflict, Violence, & Humanitarian Crises On […]

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March 31, 2017

News Clips- March 31, 2017

Civil Society This week, hundreds of people in Johannesburg, South Africa protested recent xenophobic attacks. [Al Jazeera] On Tuesday, 17 anti-deportation protesters locked themselves to an aircraft due to remove asylum seekers from the United Kingdom to Nigeria and Ghana. [Guardian] Lawyers and activists allege Russian authorities in Crimea are detaining and abusing human rights activists in psychiatric hospitals. [Guardian] Armed Conflict, Violence, & Humanitarian Crises On Thursday, United Nations officials reported a resurgence of violence in the Central African Republic and called for the protection of civilians. [UN News Centre] On Tuesday, the Red Cross reported three million Kenyans […]

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March 24, 2017

News Clips- March 24, 2017

Civil Society On Thursday, a civil society organization called for an end to the targeting, prosecuting, and detention of journalists in Belarus. [Committee to Protect Journalists] On Wednesday, activists, politicians, and religious leaders protested unfair elections in Zimbabwe. [Fox News] This week in Macedonia, an estimated 50,000 individuals protested a potential coalition government, which includes Social Democrats and ethnic Albanians. [DW News] Armed Conflict, Violence, & Humanitarian Crises On Thursday, two bombs detonated, targeting security personnel in Egypt and killing ten. [Al Jazeera] On Thursday, an officer killed nine policemen in an “insider attack” in Helmand, Afghanistan. [Al Jazeera] On Tuesday, rebels […]

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March 17, 2017

News Clips – March 17, 2017

International Criminal Law The Colombian Senate voted to approve the establishment of a court with jurisdiction over war crimes, fulfilling one part of the recent peace deal with the FARC. [VOA] A court in Poland issued an arrest warrant for a man living in the United States for war crimes committed during World War II. [Washington Post] Civil Society After reaching an agreement that doctors in public hospitals in Kenya will only work 40 hours a week, the doctors’ strike in the country ended this week after three months. [Al Jazeera] An activist in Thailand was arrested for stating online […]

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March 10, 2017

News Clips- March 10, 2017

Civil Society On Wednesday, to mark International Women’s Day, women demonstrated around the world for equality. [Reuters] On Tuesday, in Argentina tens of thousands joined in a march protesting job cuts and other policies initiated under President Mauricio Macri. [Al Jazeera] On Monday, Israel passed a law denying entry visas to foreign nationals who support boycotts against Israel or its West bank settlements. [Washington Post] Armed Conflict, Violence, & Humanitarian Crises On Thursday, a human rights organization reported it is likely that a United States-led coalition is responsible for air strikes on an ISIL controlled village in Syria that resulted […]

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March 03, 2017

News Clips- March 3, 2017

Civil Society On Wednesday, Russian security officials raided the home of well-known journalist and human rights defender Zoya Svetova. [Committee to Protect Journalists] On Tuesday, hundreds protested the evacuation of settlers from homes in the West Bank settlement of Ofra, after courts found the homes were built on Palestinian land in violation of the law. [CNN] Last Friday, United States President Trump blocked media organizations, including the New York Times, CNN, Politico, and Al Jazeera, from participating in a press briefing. [Al Jazeera] Armed Conflict, Violence, & Humanitarian Crises On Wednesday, a Russian airstrike accidentally targeted Syrian Arab fighters that […]

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February 24, 2017

News Clips- February 24, 2017

Civil Society This week, civil society reported that journalist Shamael Al-Bur has been attacked and threatened by radical Islamists in response to her column criticizing Sudan’s spending on health and education. [Reporters Without Borders] On Wednesday, ten protesters in the United States were arrested during the closure of the Dakota Access pipeline central camp. [Guardian] On Thursday, eight demonstrators were arrested in France as hundreds of students protested police brutality related to the alleged rape of a young black man with a police baton. [Al Jazeera] On Wednesday, journalist Muhammad Bekjanov was released after serving 18 years in prison for his […]

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February 17, 2017

New Clips- February 17, 2017

Civil Society On Wednesday, the Court of Appeals in Kenya released seven imprisoned doctors’ union officials who had been jailed in relation to a strike demanding promised wage increases. [Washington Post] On Sunday, more than 60,000 Romanians protested for the 13th consecutive day in Bucharest, Romania, prompting the Romanian parliament to agree to a national referendum on anti-corruption reforms. [Al Jazeera] On Sunday, over 10,000 Mexicans protested against the United States President Trump and the Mexican government. [Washington Post] International Criminal Law According to the UN Secretary General, a new unit in Geneva will be tasked with organizing information on international […]

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February 10, 2017

News Clips-  February 10, 2017

Civil Society On Wednesday, four protesters were arrested in the United States while protesting the Dakota Access pipeline at a bank in Chicago. [Chicago Tribune] On Wednesday, human rights groups in Israel petitioned a high court to block a law that enables the seizure of private Palestinian land for Jewish settlements. [Washington Post] Following recent mass protests in Romania, the country’s justice minister resigned this week. [Al Jazeera] Armed Conflict, Violence, and Humanitarian Crises On Wednesday, six International Committee of the Red Cross aid workers were killed in Afghanistan by unknown attackers, prompting ICRC to suspend its operations in the region. […]

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February 03, 2017

News Clips – February 3, 2017

Civil Society This week hundreds of thousands of protesters demonstrated across Romania in response to an emergency ordinance that decriminalizes certain cases of misconduct of allegedly corrupt officials. [Guardian] Two human rights activists who were arrested last month and charged with terrorism for organizing peaceful protests to support Anglophone rights in Cameroon continue to be imprisoned, and may face the death penalty. [Guardian] Armed Conflict, Violence, and Humanitarian Crises Fighting over the weekend and into Monday in the Donetsk region of Ukraine disrupted access to electricity and water for thousands. [UN News Centre] On Friday, a representative of al-Shabaab claimed […]

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January 27, 2017

News Clips – January 27, 2017

Civil Society Academics and activists warn that the “global gag rule,” which prohibits funding for organizations that provide abortion services and was implemented by United States President Trump on Monday, will have a chilling effect on civil society programs in Latin America offering family planning, contraception, HIV/Aids, and abortion services. [Guardian] This week, United Nations experts called for the release of five human rights defenders in Cambodia, who were allegedly detained for politically motivated reasons in May 2016. [UN News Centre] Migrants & Displaced Persons This week, interior ministers in the European Union moved forward with a plan to set […]

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January 20, 2017

News Clips- January 20, 2017

Civil Society In Jordan this week, a military court arrested and charged eight activists with “insulting the King,” and “incitement to spread chaos,” through social media posts. [Al Jazeera] On Wednesday, Turkish authorities denied entry to New York Times correspondent Rob Nordland allegedly based on Nordland’s prior coverage of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. [Al Jazeera] In Mexico, environmental and land activist Isidro Baldenegro Lopez was shot dead. [Guardian] Migrants & Displaced Persons On Saturday, a ship transporting over 180 people from East Africa to Italy  capsized in the Mediterranean near Libya. [Al Jazeera] This week the United Nations migration agency […]

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January 13, 2017

News Clips- January 13, 2017

Civil Society On Thursday, Human Rights Watch launched its World Report 2017, a 687-page report that chronicles the situation of human rights and identifies impediments to human rights protections, such as the rise of demagogues. [Human Rights Watch] In Israel, Palestinian citizens launched a nationwide strike in response to government demolitions of Palestinian homes on Tuesday. [Al Jazeera] This week, indigenous rights activists in the United States protested the Trans-Pecos pipeline, which will transport fracked natural gas to Mexico, citing damage to the environment and sacred sites. [Guardian] Politics This week in the United States, the Obama administration approved a […]

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January 06, 2017

News Clips- January 6, 2017

Civil Society The United Nations requested the government of Burundi to remove a ban placed this week on a prominent rights group in the region, and to lessen other restrictions waged against civil society organizations in the past three months. [Washington Post] This Thursday, Bahrain reinstated arrest powers within its domestic spy service in a move that diverges from reforms recommended by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and that may have negative implications for activists and protesters in the region. [New York Times] In Lebanon, women’s rights activists continue to protest a law commuting sentences of rapists that marry […]

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December 30, 2016

New Clips – December 31, 2016

Civil Society In Argentina this week, human rights advocate Milagro Sala, and other members of the organization Tupac Amaru, were sentenced to 2-3 years probation, or suspended prison, for “aggravated damage” after participating in a protest. [Telesur] A United Nations agency condemned the murder of journalist, Larry Que, of the Phillippines, and called for an investigation into the death as a means of ensuring the safety of other journalists, and protecting freedom of information. [UN News Centre] Bahrain released and re-imprisoned activist Nabeel Rajab for comments he made on social media about the war in Yemen and acts of torture […]

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