· June, 2007

Stories about Human Rights from June, 2007

Latvia: Another Mournful Date

“Only three days after we marked the June 1941 deportations, the flags again fly with black tassels attached — today we observe the 67th anniversary of the occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the USSR,” writes Marginalia.

Tamil Blogosphere: Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India

  22 June 2007

Back in Nov 2006, Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie was in India and had showered praises on India for giving shelter to displaced people from a number of countries. She also said that India's action of providing shelter to refugees from various countries, though it had needy people of its own...

Croatia: “Feral Tribune” Shuts Down

Last week, Croatian finance ministry froze bank accounts of the region’s legendary political weekly, Feral Tribune, due to 68,000 Euros of tax debt, forcing the publication to close. "The only independent journal on the Balkans has now been silenced," wrote one Serbian blogger. Sinisa Boljanovic has more on the causes and the significance of this loss.

Cuba: New Rules for UN Human Rights Council

  19 June 2007

Even as members of the European Union seek “to forge a fresh relationship with the government in Havana”, the United Nations announced that it has dropped independent expert monitors of alleged human rights abuses in Cuba. Uncommon Sense shares his perspective.

Iran:Appeal for Iranian Students

In CityBoy we read “this is an appeal by bloggers against the detention of 9 Iranian students from the Amir Kabir Polytechnic University in Tehran who are been kept and repeatedly tortured at the notorious Evin prison.”The blogger has published the photos of these 9 jailed students too.

China: Chen Guangcheng beaten, on hunger strike

  19 June 2007

It's Dragon Boat time, nearly a year to the day since blind reproductive rights advocate Chen Guangcheng was taken in by police, and civil rights blogger Hu Jia makes his blogging return with news that Chen has been beaten while in prison.

Romania: GayFest 2007 in Bucharest

Plenty of pictures and a report from the GayFest 2007 in Bucharest by Romerican: “Perhaps a statement of solidarity, the Romanian Jandarmeria had stationed a large number of attractive men in uniform alongside the gay paraders.”

Iran:Abbas Amir Entezam, most senior political prisoner

You can see in Kosoof a photo of Abbas Amir Entezam who is the most senior political prisoner.Abbas Amir Entezam was deputy prime minister and government spokesman of Iran's provisional government after the revolution in 1979. In December 1979, he was charged with “treason” and spying for foreign governments.

Zimbabwe: The Interception of Communications Bill

  18 June 2007

Last week, Zimbabwean parliament passed “The Interception of Communications Bill” that will allow the government to monitor telephones, emails and the Internet. Zimbabwean ISPs are condemning this law, which is waiting the approval of the Senate, because it will require them to purchase expensive monitoring equipments they cannot afford. Transport...