Stories about Protest from October, 2020
Tanzanian poll is likely to usher in a new era of authoritarianism. Here's why.
"Any resemblance that Tanzania has borne to a liberal democracy seems to be slipping away. Not only is the apparent scale of election manipulation unprecedented," writes Dan Paget.
Outrage in Hong Kong after top university appoints two mainland Chinese scholars as vice-presidents
Both men hold positions at Beijing's Tsinghua University -- and cached pages of Tsinghua's websites shows that one of them was elected to the CCP committee of his department.
Silencing the media won't stop the student-led protests in Thailand
"...while protesters rely mainly on media and other forms of communication to mobilize, these organizations have nothing to do with the students’ communication, coordination, and management of the protests."
In the heat of political crisis, Belarus launches first nuclear power plant
Next month, the Astravets nuclear power plant commences operation with fanfare. But in a country which suffered greatly from the Chernobyl disaster, not everybody shares the government's optimism.
How Facebook derailed Nigeria’s #EndSARS movement
Online free speech advocates insist that Facebook’s flagging of #EndSARS content was neither a “mistake” nor a “bug,” but rather due to sparse investment in content moderation.
From Belarus to Thailand, Hong Kong’s spirit of resistance is nurturing grassroots protests elsewhere
While Hong Kong protests have influenced organisational and protest tactics in anti-authoritarian movements abroad, the current wave of grassroots uprisings, in turn, prompts Hongkongers to develop a transnational solidarity.
President Buhari’s contempt for Nigerian youth-led #EndSARS movement
President Buhari emphasized state power over the human rights demands of citizens. “As far as Buhari was concerned, the youths who were killed at Lekki did not count for anything.”
Failing to portray protesters as violent, Thai government lifts severe state of emergency
The government failed to portray the protesters as aggressive and violent, causing a political backfire and pressuring authorities to step back.
Official obfuscation trails the Lagos shooting of anti-police protesters
To cover their tracks after the gunning down of unarmed, peaceful protesters, some Nigerian state institutions are promoting false information and propaganda on social media.
In Belarus, tech workers fear for their industry’s future
Longtime Belarusian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka boasts that he has created a "paradise" for Belarusian IT. So why are young tech workers protesting against him — or even moving their businesses overseas?
Nigerian military opens fire on peaceful protesters in Lagos
Nigerian security officials opened fire on protesters in Lekki, Lagos, reportedly killing at least three people. Civil society groups say the government has "declared a war on the people."
#EndSARS protest movement at a crossroads as government evades the issue
The Nigerian government has shown zero commitment to protesters’ demands for police reform but wallows in self-deluding verbal platitudes that are as ineffectual as they are dishonest.
Ending police brutality in Nigeria: A festival of lights to honor the dead
Protesters from the #EndSARS movement agreed to hold a festival of lights on Friday night in honor of heroes who lost their lives due to police brutality.
Undaunted by the October 16 crackdown, protestors once again take to Bangkok’s streets
"There is no more staying neutral, either you side with democracy or side with dictatorship that uses power unfairly."
#AnswerUsElonMusk: Russia's indigenous peoples campaign against Arctic pollution
An oil spill in May devastated large swathes of the tundra. Here's how indigenous rights activists joined forces to demand justice from the culprit — Russia's largest nickel producer.
‘A Fearless Song': Guatemalan women protest violence against women through music
"We sing without fear, we ask for justice; we shout for every disappeared woman"
New book tells stories of suffering and resistance from Iran’s female prisons
In "White Torture," Narges Mohammadi interviews 12 female political prisoners—and shares her own experiences in an Iranian jail, where she spent eight and a half years.
The struggle to end Nigeria's brutal SARS police unit continues
The question of control over SARS has not been adequately answered. The constitution vested control of the police to the presidency under the police chief. But that chain-of-command has broken.
‘Lazy’ Nigerian youth mobilize #EndSARS protest from social media to the streets
Described as ‘lazy’ by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, with a significant number unemployed, stereotyped as ‘unserious’, these digitally savvy youth have proved critics wrong.
After three months of anti-government protests in Bulgaria, what’s at stake?
A prominent politician treated a public beach as his private property. Now, broad public demonstrations demanding the total overhaul of a corrupt political system.
Rights groups in Tunisia mobilize against police protection bill
Article 7 of the bill grants security forces immunity from prosecution for the use of excessive and lethal force against citizens in situations “they deem dangerous.”
