· May, 2011

Stories about Human Rights from May, 2011

“Shame for Brazil” Forest Defender Couple Murdered

  31 May 2011

Six months after he predicted his own murder in TEDx Amazônia, the environmentalist José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva was assassinated together with his wife in an ambush possibly articulated by loggers of the region. Bloggers mourn the loss on the eve of the approval of the new Forestry Code.

CEE Bankwatch Network campaign against EBRD practices

The CEE Bankwatch Network, an NGO monitoring activities of international financial institutions, has just released a video sharply criticizing the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's 20th anniversary of activities in former Soviet Bloc countries, and its intentions to extend to north Africa. “The EBRD has in fact a poor...

Vietnam: Ben Tre activists convicted

  30 May 2011

Seven land rights and non-violent democracy activists were found guilty of attempting to overthrow the government of Vietnam. The closed-door trial was held in Ben Tre, Vietnam. Supporters of the activists held a vigil in Saigon before the trial.

Australia: SlutWalks Spread the Word

  30 May 2011

Following Toronto’s lead, Australians have started a series of SlutWalks with Melbourne’s first march on 28 May. The catchphrase: Make it known that those who experience sexual assault are never the ones at fault.

Serbia: Mladic Arrest Update

Bill Kralovec of Bill's Blog and Kirk Johnson of Americans for Bosnia share thoughts on the arrest of Ratko Mladic; YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett is posting links to English-language media stories on the issue.

Kenya: Catholic Church Should Cleanse Its House

  30 May 2011

The Catholic Church in Kenya should cleanse its house, argues Sue at Jamii Ya Kenya blog: “The recent accusation of a priest Renato Kizito of sexually abusing his secretary is shocking but not strange, because this is not the first time he is accused of sexual abuse. In 2009 he...

China: Detained Rights Lawyer Interrogated About Sex Life

  30 May 2011

After three months in detention, Chinese lawyer Li Tiantian described on Twitter how her interrogators used intimate details of her personal life to harass her. In the past months, more than a hundred human right lawyers, activists, writers and artists have been arrested or prosecuted in China as a result of the crackdown on the Jasmine protests.

Zimbabwe: On Journalism and Sexual Harassment

  30 May 2011

Beven Takunda blogs about journalism and sexual harassment in Zimbabwe: “A number of young female journalists coming from college have raised complaints that they are being asked to go out with some of the editors of these newly established newspapers if they want to get employed. This is vey sad...

Lebanon: Mapping sexual harassment

An interactive map of incidences of harassment in Lebanon has been launched. Featured testimonies can in no way be considered official, verified or comprehensive; the map shows only personal reports published on Qaweme Harassment -Fighting Harrassment on Lebanon Streets [en, ar] by women who decided to break the wall of...

Syria: Light a Candle for Syria

Musician Devin Rhode shared a video entitled Light a Candle for Syria, where we can see touching footage of some major events of the uprising continuing in the country for more than two months. Writing about the objective behind the clip, Rhode says: “I hope this becomes a good tool...

Indonesia: Tweeting a trial on religious violence

  29 May 2011

The twitter account @cikeusiktrial was created to monitor the trial of a mob attack against an Ahmadi congregation in Cikeusik Sub District in Indonesia. The attack was witnessed by 30 police officers who did nothing to prevent the religious violence.

Azerbaijan: Twitter as a tool for activism

Global Voices co-founder Ethan Zuckerman comments on the use of Twitter in last week's campaign by Amnesty International to call for the release of prisoner of conscience Eynulla Fatullayev. Although the imprisoned journalist was released, argues Zuckerman, several questions have been raised by the online action and not least in...

Russia: Moscow Pride 2011

This year's Moscow Gay Pride event ended in clashes almost as soon as it began, at least 18 gay rights activists and 14 of their opponents are reported to have been arrested, and a journalist who had blogged about her reasons for attending the rally ended hospitalized with a concussion.

Uganda: Police Raid Newspaper Printing Press

  28 May 2011

Police raid newspaper printing press in Uganda: “The police have raided and searched premises of Prime General Supply limited a company which offers printing services to Ggwanga news paper, barely hours after the newspaper premises were raided. The Ntinda based company also prints for the Razor – a daily publication...