Stories about Governance from August, 2019
Winning a literary award won't set you free: An interview with author and asylum-seeker Behrooz Boochani
Australia's detention camps whistleblower describes conditions as hellish
Months after pledge to open internet, Ethiopia disrupts connectivity amidst communal violence, tension
Ethiopian authorities have resorted to shutting down entire networks in response to recent ethnic and political tensions. A lack of transparency makes it impossible to challenge.
In Nigeria, disability activists say social stigma is greatest obstacle to human rights
“Many people see disability as a charity issue rather than a human rights issue, says Ekaete Umoh, a disability rights activist in Nigeria.
An effect of rising deforestation in Brazil, Amazon fires turn into a global crisis
Besides Jair Bolsonaro's policies, experts point to deforestation, seasonal burnings, lack of funding and inspection as the main causes to a record-breaking year in number of wild fires.
As a top government official is arrested in Trinidad & Tobago, the corruption debate rages
Why was McDonald fired and reappointed so many times? Does Trinidad and Tobago have a culture of enabling corruption? The minister's arrest has prompted a wider debate.
Tonga threatens to ban Facebook over anti-monarchy posts
"By trying to impose a ban the government will simply make itself look foolish or ineffective."
Pakistan's government suspends relations with India in show of solidarity with Kashmiris
After Narendra Modi's government in India scrapped Article 370, many Pakistanis asked the ruling party to take action.
Indian government asks Twitter to remove accounts ‘spreading rumours’ about Kashmir
With the communication blackout inside Kashmir, netizens elsewhere resorted to Twitter to speak out against India's revocation of the region's autonomous status.
Indian-administered Kashmir is like an ‘open prison’, says observers
"What is happening in Kashmir is 'normal' in the sense that state-backed violence, deceit and lies, gag on civilian voices, and govt propaganda have always been a 'normal' in Kashmir."
Cambodia reduces number of public holidays to attract jobs, but activists are concerned it could undermine democracy
"Omitting the Paris Peace Agreement and Human Rights days from the public-holiday list reflects that the government is unwilling to promote democracy any longer."
Talking trash: Lebanese citizens continue to mobilize to solve the garbage crisis
A solution for Lebanon’s garbage problem is yet to be made after the government held off on a decision to build incinerators during talks that took place within Beirut.
Four possible explanations for Turkmenistan's presidential hide-and-seek
Turkmenistan's publicity-loving president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, has been unusually scarce lately, prompting rumours of political upheaval in the Central Asian republic.
Kenyan MP and her baby ordered out of parliament: ‘What was I supposed to do? Miss my duties?’
"I had an emergency, so what was I supposed to do? Miss parliament and my duties — just because I have a baby?"
Tanzanian journalist faces trumped-up charges after abduction and detention
Freelance ournalist Erick Kabendera has written critically of Tanzanian President John Magufuli's increasingly repressive administration. Yesterday, authorities charged him with economic crimes, but critics say his only "crime" is journalism.
China’s hunger for minerals stirs resistance in rural Thailand
Chinese efforts to obtain a cheap source of a crop-boosting mineral are raising fears of an environmental crisis among farming communities in Thailand.
Mozambique criminalizes child marriage
According to one study, Mozambique is the 11th country in the world with the highest rate of child marriages.
Security forces in Guinea now have the right to use deadly force
Human rights and opposition groups fear the law could be used to grant impunity and target dissent ahead of 2020 elections when President Alpha Condé will seek a third term.
Netflix's ‘The Great Hack’ highlights Cambridge Analytica's role in Trinidad & Tobago elections
Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie may visit Trinidad and Tobago to talk to a parliamentary Joint Select Committee about campaign election interference — and who hired and paid the company.
Mozambique, Cote d'Ivoire make legal strides for women and children’s rights
In July 2019, Mozambique and Cote d'Ivoire were the latest countries in sub-Saharan Africa to strengthen marriage laws to empower girls and women. But implementation and enforcement remain a challenge.
Ugandan feminist Stella Nyanzi deploys nude protest to challenge free speech sentence
Feminist scholar Stella Nyanzi, known for "radical rudeness" as protest, flashed her breasts and shouted obscenities in protest in court after receiving 9 more months in prison for cyber harassment.
The Gambia's truth commission continues to confront abuses under past president's regime
"Between 1994 to 2016, under President Yahya Jammeh’s regime, Gambian citizens suffered numerous human rights violations. These included murder, extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, physical assaults..."
