· January, 2010

Stories about Human Rights from January, 2010

Belarus: LGBT Issues

BelarusDigest quotes from a chapter on Belarus that was included in the Greenwood Encyclopedia of LGBT Issues Worldwide earlier this year.

31 January 2010

Iran: Two Bloggers in Danger of Death

Two Iranian bloggers, who are also human rights defendants, are behind bars under serious charges. Mehrdad Rahimi and Kouhyar Goudarzi have been accused of wanting to wage “a war against God,” and charged as being “Mohareb” (enemies of God). Their charges are similar to those against the two men who were executed this week in Tehran.

31 January 2010

Sri Lanka: ‘Lanka E news’ Banned

Journalists For Democracy In Sri Lanka blog informs that “the office of the ‘Lanka e news’, a prominent news website operating from Sri Lanka, has been sealed off by the...

30 January 2010

Russia: CJR Piece on the Media

Robert Amsterdam recommends Adam Federman's article on the Russian media, published in Columbia Journalism Review: “[…] Federman focuses on the remaining mechanisms and political dynamics for freedom of press and...

29 January 2010

Azerbaijan: Democracy is…

Önər Blog [AZ] posts a video [EN] made by the OL! Azerbaijani Youth Movement for the Democracy Video Challenge. OL! has been exemplary in its use of new media in...

29 January 2010

Africa: On Homophobia in Africa

Responses to Homophobia in Africa by Sokari: “I’m writing this post in response to number of articles on the prevalence of homophobia in Africa and to try and give some...

29 January 2010

Eritrea: Remove current regime quickly

According to Mohammed Hagos, democracy project in Eritrea has to start with the removal of the current regime: “The hurdle preventing the Eritrean people from having their say is the...

29 January 2010

Egypt: The Right to Speak Up

Egyptian bloggers and activists held a conference on January 22 in defense of their right to speak up after more than 20 Egyptian bloggers were arrested when their train arrived in the village of Naga Hammady where the Coptic massacre took place. Marwa Rakha sums up their reactions to their detention in this post.

28 January 2010

Russia: Prosecution Against Opposition Blogger Stopped

RuNet Echo

The first criminal case against a blogger in Russia with a happy ending unfolded over a long period of time. After two years of investigation and three socio-linguistic assessments, experts didn't find any evidence of "incitement hatred against police and Russian Security Service officers." But the blogger's victory, however, is rather an exception than a rule.

28 January 2010

Belarus: Politics and Economy Update

Belarus Digest reports on the ongoing political repressions in Belarus; the governement's plan “to introduce censorship on the Internet about a year before the next presidential election”; the new price...

28 January 2010

Japan: Peace walkers

TenThousandThings from Kurashi reports on a 4-month peace walk from Okinawa to Tokyo calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

27 January 2010

Philippines: “Renewable Marriage Bill”

A partylist group in the Philippines wants to introduce a law that would put a ten-year expiration date on marriage contracts. As expected this unique proposal generated an intense reaction in the blogosphere.

26 January 2010