Stories about Human Rights from April, 2009
Haiti: Senate Elections
Alice Smeets posts a series of photographs of Haiti's senatorial elections this past weekend, while My Life, an Open Book… says: “It turned out to be a terrible election…not because...
Russia: Bakhmina's Parole; Khodorkovsky's ‘Not Guilty’ Plea
Former Yukos lawyer Svetlana Bakhmina has been granted parole today, while former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has pleaded not guilty before court, Robert Amsterdam's Blog reports.
Israel: Reflections on the Holocaust Memorial Day and Durban II
Yesterday was the national holocaust memorial day in Israel. Coincidentally, it was also the opening day of the highly contested UN Durban II conference on racism in Geneva. Gilad Lotan updates us with reactions from Israeli bloggers, who link both occasions.
China: Free Wu Baoquan
A netizen has been sentenced to 2 year imprisonment for criticizing Ordos city government (in Inner Mongolia) for illegal land requisition. Spontaneous Online campaign calling for justice to Wu has...
Mexico: Theater Documentary Recounts Testimonies of Relatives of Women Killed
Women of Sand is a theater documentary that chronicles the testimonies of relatives of victims of the feminicides of Juarez, Mexico and has been performed by more than 30 groups...
Iran: Diplomats walk out at Ahmadinejad's speech
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today made headlines once more, when he referred to Israel as a “racist state” during a address at United Nations conference on racism in Geneva, Switzerland. Delegates...
Americas: 5th Summit Reactions
The much-hyped Fifth Summit of the Americas is now over, culminating with the Hemispheric leaders' adoption of the Declaration of Commitment of Port of Spain - albeit with one signatory - the Prime Minister of host country Trinidad and Tobago, who purportedly signed on behalf of all participating leaders. This signaled to many a clear lack of unanimity on the final declaration, hardly surprising given the differing agendas of the 34 participating nations. Bloggers were quick to post their impressions of the three-day engagement.
Haiti: Election or Selection?
Repeating Islands reports that Haiti's Senate elections this past weekend were “marred today by sporadic violence, forcing authorities to cancel polling in parts of the country”. Pwoje Espwa notes: “Fanmi...
Jackie Chan: Chinese need control
“I'm mot sure if it's good to have freedom or not, I'm really confused now. If there is too much freedom, like the way Hong Kong is today, it is...
China: Gangster in the Government
Chinageeks translated an article written by Yang Licai (via Ai Weiwei) about his experience in various local town while collecting names of the earthquake school kid victims.
Kyrgyzstan: Elections and patron-client syste
Elina Galperin analyzes the political landscape in Kyrgyzstan on the eve of the presidential elections, marred by several political murders.
Moldova: “Making Sense of Recent Events”
Below is a follow-up to the three earlier GV posts on the blog coverage of the protests and rioting in Chisinau, Moldova, that followed the April 5 election.
China: Our right to be spared from fear
Blogger Lan Xiaohuan （兰小欢）, in his post ‘Bitter Smile’, reflects on how a nation permeated with fear has muzzled people's voice. Lamenting that the cost to claim the rights of...
Kuwait: Election rhetoric, arrests and the whole shebang
Greetings fellow global bloggers and readers! My name is Amer Al-Hilal and I am the new 'Global Voices' co-author covering Kuwait; a vibrant, highly passionate and astute blogging community, one that has throughout the years encompassed all sorts of interests and events, from consumer-oriented services and products to politically charged calls for protecting freedom of speech, culminating with and leading the 'Orange' 5 for Kuwait movement, which has led to the government redistricting five political constituencies instead of 25.
Iran: 19 year old blogger was released
Amir Kabir News site says [fa] that Ali Reza Firouzi, 19 year old blogger and student activist was released from jail in Iran.Read more here.
Iran: Ahmadinejad says jailed blogger must have right of defense
According to[fa] the Iranian media President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Hossein Derakhshan, an Iranian jailed blogger and Roxana Saberi, an American-Iranian journalist who was sentenced to 8 years of prison,...
Iran: Journalist sentenced to 8 years prison
Calibor2000, an Iranian blogger, writes [fa] that Iranian government sentenced Roxana Saberi, American-Iranian journalist to 8 years prison in order to use her for a prisoner swap deal.
Azerbaijan: Youth activist expelled from university
According to information spread by the Dalga Youth Movement, Parviz Azimov, the head of its Southern Regional Office, has been expelled from university. Both inside and outside Azerbaijan, bloggers are concerned by the action taken against the student activist.
Caribbean: 5th Summit Begins
As the heads of member states of the Fifth Summit of the Americas gather today in Trinidad and Tobago, bloggers Caribbean-wide are eager to discuss the pros and cons of the event.
Australia: Playing Political Bingo with Boat People
An upturn in the arrival of refugees to Australia by boat has brought tragedy and controversy. The issue of border protection that dominated the 2001 Federal election has re-emerged with extra venom. A refugee boat has exploded off the north west coast.Three people are dead, two are missing and more than thirty have been injured, some with very serious burns.
Haiti: Mounting Tensions
The Haitian Blogger identifies what he calls “the Forces aligned against Haiti's political, agricultural and economical sovereignty”, while My Life, an Open Book… is concerned about the mounting tension on...