Stories about Human Rights from February, 2008
Russia: Lev Ponomarev; Solovetskiy Stone
Robert Amsterdam reports on an investigation launched against human rights activist Lev Ponomarev, who has been “accused of committing slander against the Russian Federation, and is currently being prevented from leaving the country.” Also, Amsterdam writes about the Solovetskiy Stone memorial and the authorities’ plans to remove it from Lubyanka...
Russia, U.S.: The New York Times’ Russian LJ
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow provides a comprehensive review of the New York Times‘ Russian-language LJ community, a platform for a “translator-assisted online dialog” between Russian bloggers and the newspaper's regular readers and its Moscow bureau staff: “a very interesting and creative step, with the potential to realize the full...
Turkmenistan: Either Gas or Human Rights
Maciula writes about the European Parliament’s rejection of the trade agreement with Turkmenistan, concluding that if the West wants to buy Turkmen gas then it cannot exert pressure on Ashgabat for improved human rights.
Serbia: Anglophone Bloggers on Belgrade Rally, Riots, Kosovo
Below is a selection of the English-language posts about last week's events in Serbia and Kosovo, which appeared on Feb. 21-23.
Brazil: Human rights groups united against extermination groups
Vera Mattos [pt] publishes a statement by various human right groups denouncing the work of extermination groups, protesting against the ineffective public security and demanding that the authorities investigate the execution of young, poor black people resident of the outskirts of Salvador, capital of Bahia, Brazil.
Saudi Arabia: Cairo Visit
Saudi Jeans attended a two-day Human Rights conference in Cairo, Egypt, and shares his impressions of the country and event in this post.
Cuba: More Reactions to Castro's Retirement
Four days after Fidel Castro announced that he would not accept another term as a president after almost half a century in power, the Cuban blogosphere continues to be abuzz with the news. Adding to Janine Mendes-Franco's roundup collecting the first reactions after the announcement, here are more reactions from Cuba and abroad.
Egypt: Informer Kills Officer
“A police informer entrapped and shot dead an officer, after the pig tortured and sodomized him just like what happened with Emad Kabeer…,” writes Hossam Al Hamalawy from Egypt.
Serbia: Bloggers Discuss Rally and Rioting in Belgrade
Yesterday, Kosovo is Serbia rally was held in Belgrade. According to unofficial sources, 150,000-200,000 people attended it to protest against unilateral proclamation of independence of Kosovo. The rally went peacefully but was followed by rioting. Buildings of the American, Croatian and Turkish embassies were set on fire. Many people were injured, at least one person was killed. Sinisa Boljanovic translates reactions by several Serbian bloggers who blog at B92's blog portal.
Iran:Three workers were whipped
According to [Fa] several bloggers including Salam Democrat,three workes who had been arrested last year for participating in May Day( Workers’ Day) ceremonies,were whipped in city of Sanandaj in Kurdistan.The blogger says we are all workers ,whip us all!
China: Hu Jie
Zhai Minglei posted an interview with Hu Jie (zh), a documentary film maker, who lives with the poor with his camera.
Barbados: Hair Them Out
“Why should these young men be barred from finishing their studies and leading productive lives because they made a hairstyle choice?”: Cheese-on-bread! blogs about the latest controversy in Barbados – students being banned from classes because of how they choose to wear their hair.
Serbia: Political Unrest, Now and 17 Years Ago
Anegdote watched the rioting in Belgrade from his balcony and wrote about how history seems to be repeating itself: “Many people were injured in Belgrade today, and one person died. But that feels like nothing compared to knowing that lunatics are once again politicians and that people are capable of...
Serbia: “People's Protests”
Hugh Griffiths writes on his B92 blog about the history of the “so-called ‘people’s protests'” in Serbia – “which are in actual fact not organised by the people themselves, but by those working in state institutions.”
Serbia: Belgrade Riots
Limbic Nutrition on the situation in Belgrade: “The violence tonight was fully expected. Western embassies were texting and emailing their citizens all week warning us to stay away from the demonstrations. Since Monday, the day after rioters attacked the US and Slovenian embassies in response to Kosovo’s declaration of independence,...
Serbia: Twitter Updates from Belgrade
Mini-updates on Twitter from Belgrade 2.0 blogger Viktor Marković are here.
Iran:14-Year-Old Girl Stoned to Death by Father
According to[Fa] Varesh, the authorities say that when a man found out about his 14 years old daughter’s relationship with a boy, he took her to the mountains around the city of Zahedan in Iran and killed her by stoning.Read more in English here.
Slovenia: The Erased
Sleeping with Pengovsky writes about the plight of Slovenia's “erased” residents.
Barbados, Cuba: Castro's Legacy
As David Thompson praises the Castro legacy, Barbados Free Press says: “A damned shame. We had hoped for better from the new Prime Minister.”
Japan: Gov't to admit Burmese refugees
At the Glocom blog, there is news that the Japanese government is planning to admit refugees from Burma now staying in Thailand.
China: Tiananmen 2.0
Feng37 set up a blog called Tiananmen 2.0. It is a fan blog for Hu Jia and Zheng Jinyan.
