Stories about Human Rights from March, 2007
Egypt: Arrested Activists and Bloggers Released in the Desert
Bloggers Roam the Desert Egypt today released bloggers and other activists arrested in an anti-Mubarak rally in Cairo held the previous day in the desert, according to bloggers. Blogger and journalist Hossam El Hamalawy, who has been closely following the developments, writes: Police released the remaining Kefaya activists in custody...
Belarus: A Roundup
TOL's Belarus Blog covers these subjects: silly pretexts used to arrest opposition activists; the Constitution Day; Belarusian “market socialism“; some of the effects of the recent “gas war” with Russia.
The Balkans: War Criminals Abroad
Neretva River writes about five war criminals living abroad; Bosnia Vault writes about the one who had just been spared extradition by a British judge: “How much time needs to pass before a crime is no longer worthy of being dealt with in a court of law? In other words,...
Russia: Deportation of Kalmyks
J. Otto Pohl posts a note on the deportation of the Kalmyks 63 years ago.
India: Nandigram, it could get worse
Even as the media appears to be forgetting about Nandigram, SacredMedia Cow has a post by a journalist who says that the real carnage is yet to come. “Though the report is yet to be made public, CBI sources very clearly detail out the following – a. police did not...
Egypt: Free Kareem Rallies and What Kareem Wrote
A call has gone out for a second round of worldwide rallies to pressure the Egyptian government to free detained blogger Abdulkareem Nabeel Sulaiman, a 22-year-old former Al Azhar University student, who has been sentenced to four years in prison for articles he wrote on the Internet. On February 22,...
Egypt: Tunisian Prisoner's Health Deteriorating
“The health of the Tunisian prisoner of conscience Reda Boukadi is reportedly deteriorating again due to the diseases that hit him in Tunisian prisons; he should be released or moved immediately to hospital to be hospitalized before it is too late. the doctor who hurriedly examined him in Charles Nicolle...
Ethiopia: political prisoner needs urgent medical care
A petition for political prisoner Hailu Shawel: “Petitioning the agency to pressure the government of Ethiopia–its primary regional ally in the Horn–to allow Engineer Hailu access to immediate and proper medical care is not a political demand. It is a purely human rights concern.”
China: Journalist file: Zhang Jianhong
Angry Chinese bloggers opened a file for Zhang Jianhong, a freelance journalist, who was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, plus a further years suspension of political rights, by the Ningbo Intermediate court on 19 of March.
Egypt: Bloggers Among Egyptian Demo Detainees
It is happening all over again..and may recur in a bigger way tomorrow (Monday March 26) as more Egyptians are threatening to take to the streets in protest against proposed amendments to the Constitution. Incidentally, a referendum on the amendments which are to be implemented tomorrow, which aim to –...
The Oldest Blogger in the Balkans
In the evening, Radmilo Ristic, a 74-year-old retired high school professor, likes to attend theater plays, gallery openings, literary nights, round-table discussions and other similar events that take place around Kragujevac, the city in Central Serbia. When Ristic comes back home, instead of the traditional paper and pen, his computer...
Kuwait: Are Bloggers Such a Threat?
This was the question posed by a Kuwaiti blogger following the sudden axing of a popular television programme The Diwaniya, which was aired on government-run Kuwait Television Channel One (Arabic). The Diwaniya literally translates to a room common in Kuwaiti homes, in which people gather to discuss their everyday lives,...
Dominican Republic: Haitian Discrimination?
The Latin Americanist refers to an Amnesty International report on widespread discrimination against Haitians in the Dominican Republic.
The Balkans, U.S.: General Veljko Kadijevic
Neretva River writes – here, here, here, and here – about a Serbian war criminal who has allegedly been advising the United States on Saddam's bunkers and other strategic facilities in Iraq.
Croatia, U.K.: The Spanovic Decision
A UK court's decision “undermines the effort to bring to trial all defendants currently suspected of war crimes committed during the 1991-1995 conflict,” Neretva River reports.
Egypt: Pressure on to Release Sulaiman
Pressure is mounting on Egypt to release jailed blogger Abdulkareem Nabeel Sulaiman. The latest pressure tactics are an op-ed article in the New York Post and a call to US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to raise Kareem's issue in her meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, according to Free...
Cayman Islands: Plight of the Disabled
Mighty Afroditee shares her thoughts on the plight of the disabled: “My environment needs further education and enlightenment…if buildings and sidewalks are not properly outfitted for handicap access…then we are taking away the ability of those with special needs to be independent.”
Bulgaria, Libya: Tripoli Six in the Economist
The Economist's Edward Lucas reposts his piece on the “Tripoli Six”: “Bulgaria has tried hard to make the scandal an international issue, and has also raised money to help the AIDS-infected children. But Libya appears to want to do a deal, involving freedom for the Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi,...
Part Two: Inside the school of the Egyptian blogosphere
Source: original image from Baheyya (photoshopped), text in Arabic from Misr Digital (Read Part One of this article here) In order to better understand this highly organized Egyptian blogosphere and how bloggers perceive their role in this new, turbulent phase in their country's history, on March 15, 2007, I talked...
Part One: Inside the school of the Egyptian blogosphere
Source: original image from Baheyya (photoshopped), text in Arabic from Misr Digital It is being made clear almost daily that the dynamism of the Egyptian bloggers isn’t just online; the country's activist bloggers are also highly engaged on the street as well. They've been playing an active part in the...
India: For Nandigram
Cuckoo's Call on Nandigram – “Nandigram is a symbol of humble people’s defiance, protest, militant resistance and sacrifice against the globalising local state. It has broken the stupor, apathy, cynicism and mute, opportunistic acceptance defining the intelligentsia and middle classes in Calcutta and West Bengal.”. This comes at a time...
