negative court ruling
Friday 20.5.2022 Cambodia - Latest Developments -
Ongoing persecution of unionists, media and opposition ahead of commune elections in Cambodia
In recent months, the harassment and persecution of NagaWorld unionists and workers has persisted. Licences were revoked for three digital media outlets while civil society groups remained concerned about the internet gateway sub-decree. Activists have been charged around land disputes while opposition activists continued to be criminalised or targeted ahead of the commune elections. Read more
Thursday 19.5.2022 Qatar - Latest Developments -
HRDs face life sentences & death penalty for their peaceful human rights work
HRD Abdullah Al-Maliki at risk of death sentence for his peaceful human rights work; Amnesty International published a 74-page report documenting the forced labour and other abuses of migrant workers in Qatar’s private security sector ahead of the FIFA World Cup; Court hands down a life sentence to lawyer Dr Hazzaa bin Ali Abu Shraydeh Al-Marri and his brother and fellow lawyer Rashid bin Ali Abu Shraydeh Al-Marri for their participation in peaceful protests in August 2021, others Read more
Tuesday 10.5.2022 Saudi Arabia - Latest Developments -
Two activists released despite authorities' complete intolerance of online activism and dissent
Saudi blogger and human rights defender Raif Badawi was released from prison after completing his ten-year sentence; internet activist Naimah Al-Matrod was released from Al-Dammam prison in poor health, after being subjected to ill-treatment for six years; The SCC in Riyadh decided to postpone the trial of ten Egyptian Nubian citizens for a period of two months; the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) called on the Saudi authorities to reveal the whereabouts and conditions in which Internet activist and aid worker Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan is being held. Read more
Thursday 28.4.2022 Venezuela - Latest Developments -
Venezuela: censorship of independent media online and detention of elderly woman for satirical video
On 20th March 2022, military agents killed four Yanomami people in the Parima B sector of Alto Orinoco, Amazonas state. Three other Indigenous people, including a teenager and two military staff, were wounded amid a “confrontation.” Read more | Read in Spanish
Thursday 28.4.2022 Russia - Latest Developments -
Civic freedoms continue to deteriorate in the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Thousands arrested in anti-war protests in Russia; New law criminalises reporting on the war in Ukraine; CSOs denounce persecution of activist; Supreme Court affirms liquidation of Memorial International Read more
Thursday 28.4.2022 Iran - Latest Developments -
WHRD Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe returns home after years of prolonged arbitrary detention
British-Iranian citizens Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori finally returned home to the United Kingdom after serving lengthy and entirely arbitrary detentions in Iran; woman human rights defender Atena Daemi was freed from prison in Iran; crisis related to the state’s severe mismanagement of water resources sparks prolonged mass protests in the city of Isfahan since November 2021. Read more
Thursday 21.4.2022 France - Latest Developments -
Associations push back as Separatism law comes into effect; CSO tackling Islamophobia dissolved
Several concerning developments took place during this reporting period. On 1st January 2022, the so-called Separatism law came into force after the Constitutional Council validated most of the provisions contained in the draft bill, despite major concerns raised by a broad coalition of civil society organisations. However CSOs are fighing back by submitting an appeal to the Council of State. The Collective against Islamophobia in France (Collectif Contre l'Islamophobie en France – CCIF), an association whose purpose was to fight by legal means discrimination against Muslim people was dissolved by a decree on 2nd December 2020 and at the end of September 2021, the Council of State approved the dissolution. The administrative dissolution of the Coordination against racism and Islamophobia (Coordination contre le racisme et l'islamophobie - CRI) was pronounced by a decree of 20th October 2021 on a similar basis. Read more
Wednesday 20.4.2022 Cuba - Latest Developments -
Cuba: prosecutions against protesters continue; more restrictions are proposed in Penal Code reform
In January 2022, Cuba’s Supreme Tribunal proposed a bill modifying several articles of the Penal Code, in a broad reform set to be discussed by legislators in April 2022. Article 143 of the reform sparked concern by human rights groups, who highlighted that the draft uses vague language to criminalise any individual or organisation who “supports, encourages, finances, provides, receives or holds funds, material or financial resources, for the purpose of funding activities against the State and its constitutional order.” Read more | Read in Spanish
Tuesday 19.4.2022 United States of America - Latest Developments -
USA: Amazon workers vote for unionisation; courts hold police liable for excessive force
On 19th February 2022, one person was killed and five wounded in Portland at a march to protest police violence. The woman killed was a long-time activist involved in racial justice protests and LGBTQIA+ organising. Read more
Friday 15.4.2022 India - Latest Developments -
Arbitrary travel restrictions, harassment of activists and targeting of journalists in India
Over the last month, the authorities barred the Amnesty International Chair Aakar Patel and journalist Rana Ayyub from international travel. Journalists have been arrested and ill-treated for undertaking their work by the police and non-state actors. A UN working group found the detention of Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy arbitrary, the courts denied bail to student activist Umar Khalid and extended the detention of Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez. Tribal activists were also arrested In Odisha for protecting their land. Read more
