· March, 2006

Stories about Protest from March, 2006

Thailand: The Question of Democracy

  26 March 2006

Does general election ensured a truly democractic government? Is it a neccesity? Or an election could come down to a level of merely a tools to keep certain people in power? And in a such case, what should you do?

The Week That Was in Bahrain

Once again the island bloggers venture away from their shores to report international and regional events in a turbulant world where freedom and human rights are challenged on a daily basis. Away from politics, they continue to delve in culture, arts and literature.

Belarus: Arrests, Courts and Anti-Media Flash Mob

  24 March 2006

French journalist writing for Liberation has just been arrested in Minsk; actually so many people have been arrested that, unprecedentally, Minsk courts will be working on Saturday, reports br23 blog. Andrei Khrapavitski posts a picture from today's flash mob event that took place in Minsk to criticize the performance of...

Belarus: Post-Crackdown Belarus

  24 March 2006

Ivan Lenin – formerly of Minsk, now of New York – translates a post by LJ user lipski, a Minsk resident, on who benefits from the Oktyabrskaya Sq. crackdown, and shares his thoughts on the country's future: “If anything, the West should engage Belarus as much as possible. Isolation would...

Belarus: Tent Camp Demolished, Protesters Arrested

  24 March 2006

Riot police began their operation at 3 am Minsk time and after 15 minutes the camp was demolished and the protesters arrested. br23 blog and Rush-Mush have updates on the aftermath: the amazingly slanted coverage on the Russian-language EuroNews; Minsk residents’ approval of the regime's actions; a sample leaflet distributed...

Belarus: Fewer Foreign Journalists at the Square

  23 March 2006

br23 blog writes about the arrests of the opposition activists and an alarming news – that the number of foreign journalists present at the square has diminished: “And protesters are concerned about it. They view this presence of foreign correspondents as a guarantee that police won’t storm and destroy the...

DRC: How Many Take Part in Opposition Protests?

  23 March 2006

At UDPS Liege, Raphael Doly Tshipamba questions (FR) European journalist Marie-France Cross’ assertion that less than 400 attended opposition party UDPS’ March 10 and 22 protests. Says Tshipamba: “That is a terrible lie contradicted by AFP and local reports on the one hand and TV5 Monde images on the other.”

Belarus: Protest Stories and Conversations

  23 March 2006

For the past four evenings, thousands of people have been gathering at Kastrychnitskaya (Oktyabrskaya) Square in Minsk, Belarus, to protest the fraudulent presidential election, demand a new vote and support the opposition. The crowd thins as the night arrives, but a few hundred young activists stay on in a small...

Belarus: The Purpose of the Protest in Minsk

  22 March 2006

Ivan Lenin at Rush-Mush translates a Belarusian LJ user's eloquent explanation of what the protest in Minsk is about: “The current resistance is a note of protest. A revolution probably won't happen. But there is a hope that the authorities will remember the tents on the square, next time they...

Ukraine: Anti-Lukashenko Rally in Kyiv

  22 March 2006

LJ user samuel_smith posts photos from a rally (RUS) that took place in front of the Belarusian embassy in Kyiv today. The protesters mocked the recent election in Belarus by casting ballots that had no alternative candidates on them, thus giving Aleksandr Lukashenko 183% of the vote. They also went...

Iran: Sufis under Pressure

Akhbar Sufi (Sufi news) is a new blog which is talking about Iranian Sufis’ problems with Iranian government. Akhbar Sufi (Persian) says in Semenan decision has already been taken to destroy Sufis’ worshiping building as it was done in Qom.

DRC: Saving UDPS

  22 March 2006

UDPS Liege publishes a reader's plea (FR) that Etienne Tshisekedi-led opposition party UDPS learn the art of political negotiation and to make concessions rather than maintain a purist principled stance on key issues.

DRC: “I Have a Dream”

  22 March 2006

Blogger Tony Katombe of Le Blog du Congolais publishes (FR) an eloquent email received from a Belgian reader who thanks him for shedding light on Belgium's past and present entanglements with the DRC. Katombe then embarks on his version of “I Have a Dream” in which through his blog he...

Hong Kong: Glutter on Hao Wu

  22 March 2006

Glutter is in shock over the detention of Beijing or Bust blogger and documentary film-maker Hao Wu (Wu Hao in Chinese), with whom she took part in a BBC World Service panel discussion on censorship in China. She posts a transcript of the discussion.