Stories about Human Rights from November, 2006
Belarus: Lukashenko Rigged Election
According to TOL's Belarus Blog, Aleksandr Lukashenko admits to having rigged the last election. Well, sort of.
This week in the Kenyan blogosphere
Jamaapoa writes about the allegation that the boom in the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) is a result of drug money as claimed by a local politician – Mr. Raila Odinga. Jamaapoa refutes this assertion and writes: There is nothing to stop a drug dealer from using the exchange to cleanse...
Russia: Litvinenko's Death
Aleksandr Litvinenko, a 43-year-old ex-KGB/FSB lieutenant-colonel and a harsh opponent of the Kremlin, died Thursday night of radiation poisoning in London, where he lived under asylum since 2000. In his deathbed statement read out by his friends, Litvinenko was addressing (and implicating) Vladimir Putin: […] You may succeed in silencing...
China: Videos emerge of clashes between police and students in Jiangxi
Hot on the heels of the Chinese government's claim of a 22.1% reduction in “mass incidents” (read “protests”), here's some more video of “mass incidents” from China, in case you missed this portion of John Kennedy's latest Beijing bulletin: Backing up to China late last month, students at one technical...
Sudan: Democratic victory, Darfur's loss
John Akec argues that the control of both the Senate and House by the Democratic majority after the US mid-term elections is a loss for South Sudan and Darfur, “I am very concerned that the good days of handshake by Sudan opposition leaders with the US president in the Oval...
Kazakhstan: Religious Tolerance
KZBlog reports on religious and ethnic tolerance in Kazakhstan in the wake of the destruction of the only Hare Krishna community in the country.
Iran:Syndicate Leader Arrested
Kosoof, a leading photo blogger and journalist has published a photo of Mansour Osanlou, president of Tehran’s bus drivers syndicate. Kosoof reports that Osanlou was arrested in the streets of Tehran, near Resalat Square, following some shootings by undercover agents.
China: Three Rules for Foreign Tourists at Three Gorge Dam
ESWN translates and puts together articles about the arrest of tourists at Three Gorge Dam. To prevent from getting arrest, tourists have to follow the three princples: You must not meet, mention or take photos of the 1 million people displaced by the Three Gorge Dam project.
Bahrain: Two Political Activists in Jail
Babbling Bahrania calls upon journalists in Bahrain to cover the parliamentary and municipal council elections being held on November 25 to look at issues more pressing than the voting process, including the arrest of two political activists.
China: police state
Ai Wei Wei reports on a police operation in Beijing Fengtai district in which 500 polices had arrested 800 people for checking their identities. The blogger criticizes the police state practice as violation of harmony and human rights (zh).
China: harmony rights
The President of China University of Political Science and Law claimed that harmony rights is the fourth generation human rights concept, the first three stages are: liberation, survival and development (zh). Wang Xiao feng said that such claim looks like a political spoof (zh).
Egyptian blogger released
Rantings of a Sandmonkey reports the release of Egyptian blogger Rami Siam, who was in jail for four days “for no crime and without justifiable cause.” Meanwhile, blogger Abdul Karim Nabeel is still in jail for articles he posted on his blog.
Balkan Blog Roundup: Focus on the Positive
The Balkans need reconciliation, confidence and positivism to change and become the winning region of Europe with happier citizens. You can see that in the inspirational words from the Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian blogospheres. Toshiba posts some thoughts of the late Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic during his motivational meetings...
Pakistan: An abducted journalist and the Freedom of Press
The Glasshouse on the abduction and release of a BBC Journalist Dilawar Khan, and why freedom of the press is crucial in Pakistan. “As one of those Musharraf derided ‘extremist liberals’ your Blogger believes Press Freedom to be sacrosanct. In a country where you have a historically enfeebled parliament and...
Shock and Tragedy in UCLA, Murder in Iran
According to reports in the media, Mostafa Tabatabainejad, a UCLA student, was repeatedly stunned with a taser and then taken into custody after he failed to exit the CLICC Lab at the Powell Library at UCLA in a timely manner. Community Service Officers had asked Tabatabainejad to leave after he...
Arabisc: Plagiarism, Arrests, Bans and Democracy!
The Arabs are as usual busy this week debating anything and everything, from plagiarism to the arrest of bloggers, and from banning public meetings to embarrising George Bush Senior at a conference held in the UAE. Ahmed from Egypt had always wanted to become a journalist. But because not all...
Egypt: Cairo's women speak out against violence
In the run-up to the annual global campaign for 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, Egypt's First Lady, Suzanne Mubarak, addressing a meeting of the Arab Women's Organisation, issued a heartfelt plea: What shall we do to face challenges of discrimination, extremism and religious fanaticism? It's a vexing question...
Ukraine: Orange Revolution 2 Years On
Leopolis writes about the meaning and the second anniversary of the Orange Revolution.
African Diaspora: color or appearance?
An anonymous reader responds to Black Looks’ post, “You are a blackman, you have to leave”: “Service was refused to this man based on his appearance not his race. If anyone has strong enough evidence than I to contest this statement I would like to know. We are a tolerant...
Ukraine: Maidan's Second Anniversary
Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Kyiv, Ukraine: two years since the beginning of the Orange Revolution – by Veronica Khokhlova Nov. 22 marks the second anniversary of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, but little orange has been visible on the streets of Kyiv today. A crowd gathered at Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti), but...
