Stories about Human Rights from April, 2014
Global Voices Partners with Melton Foundation on New Round of Mentoring
Over the next four months, we're coaching Fellows of the Melton Foundation to write stories about inequality and discrimination in their countries for Global Voices.
Syria: From Inventor to Laborer
The story of Ismail al-Shimali exposes the Baathist mechanisms of diminishing any possibility for scientific or cultural development in Syria.
The State Of Women In The Present Indian Society
Transhuman Collective (THC), a brainchild of Soham Sarcar & Snehali Shah, is a multidisciplinary collaborative project based on the philosophy of Transhumanism. In this moving video created and uploded to YouTube by Transhumanism.in it is revealed that there is lack of basic respect for women in Indian patriarchal society. To...
Baidu Censors New Citizens Movement Website
After Chinese court affirms Chinese lawyer and activist Xu Zhiyong’s conviction of four-year sentence in prison for assembling a crowd to disrupt order in public places, New Citizens Movement website, of which Xu was one of the founders, disappeared from Baidu search results. This is not the first time that information relating...
20-40% of Water Sector Finances Are Lost to Corruption in Africa
Mustapha Sesay, West Africa Water Integrity Ambassador wrote about corruption in the water sector on the West Africa WASH Journalists Network : The issue of accessing pure and affordable water is a fundamental human right but this is not given the much needed attention. Corruption in the water sector is ripe...
Will Russia Regulate Blogs Like Mass Media?
The regulations would require fact-checking, age restriction warnings, and obeying election laws, among other responsibilities.
Chinese Court Upholds Activist Xu Zhiyong's Prison Sentence
The ruling rejected Xu Zhiyong's appeal of his January conviction on charges of "gathering crowds to disrupt public order", a charge often used to clamp down on dissidents.
Trinidad & Tobago Mourns Former Prime Minister & President, A.N.R. Robinson
Twitter users are paying their respects to the late A.N.R. Robinson, former Prime Minister and President of Trinidad and Tobago, who is being hailed as a visionary and a patriot.
Last Week 337 Workers Fainted at Garment Factories in Cambodia
Poor working conditions probably led to another mass fainting case involving 200 workers in a garment factory in Cambodia.
Jailed Iranian Blogger's Letter Speaks of Torture
The blogger known as Siamak Mehr writes an open letter from a small cell with 40 inmates. He is serving a 4-year sentence for writing a blog.
The Kidnapping Industry Takes Hold in Cameroon
The Matango Club blog reflects upon the kidnapping of two italian priests and a canadian nun [fr] on April 4, 2014 in Northern Cameroon: Pour l’histoire, les kidnappings de ce genre ne datent pas d’aujourd’hui. Rappelons que dernièrement, le rapt du prêtre français Georges Vandenbeusch, 42 ans, a fait beaucoup de bruit....
Russian Internet Hipsters Are Out For Blood
A cautionary tale about the dangers of ill-conceived Facebook status updates, or perhaps about the growing threat of RuNet's epistemic closure.
Exploring Trinidad & Tobago's Digital Divide (Part 1)
A progressive new company is changing the face of data collection in the Caribbean, starting with a project in Trinidad and Tobago that examines the country's digital divide.
PHOTOS: Massive Art Installation in Pakistan Targets American Drone Operators
The initiative aims to give civilian casualties in US drones attacks a human face.
Inmate at Greece's Infamous Korydallos Prison Commits Suicide
Prisoners have used Twitter to publicize the conditions at the prison, so horrible that a prosecutor once refused to enter and inspect the hospital ward because she “has family”.
Spies Like US: “Fake Twitter” Violated Cubans’ Privacy Rights
The USAID-created "Cuban Twitter" revealed last week in an AP report stemmed from a shortsighted and condescending idea about what happens when repressed populations get their hands on communications technologies.
“It's a Girl”: Campaign Against infanticide Feminicide in India and China
The website MujeresMundi, directed by Peruvian Belgium-based communication specialist Xaviera Medina, is involved with the awareness campaign It's a girl against infanticide feminicide in India and China: Girls are killed in a gendercide routine in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the twentieth century....
Why Rwanda Accuses France of Aiding 1994 Genocide
As Rwanda pays tribute to the victims of the genocide 20 years after the tragedy, President Kagame states again that France must “face up to the difficult truth” of its role in the 1994 genocide [fr]. As a result of this statement, France has pulled out of the commemorative events...
Controversy and Outrage in Spain Over the Presence of Teodoro Obiang
The president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang, has been the protagonist of a huge controversy in Spain.
Shanghai Eclipses Beijing as Top Destination for Chinese University Graduates
The report also revealed that many Chinese companies are becoming more popular with would-be university graduates.
GV Face: The USA's Secret “Cuban Twitter”
A secret US plan to support regime change in Cuba with a Twitter-like messaging service called ZunZuneo has now come under the spotlight with news reports that thousands of Cubans were duped into signing up for the service under false pretenses. Will there be consequences for digital activists worldwide? Some...
