Author Archives: DemDigest

‘Beyond the Veneer of Reform’: Ricardo Bofill, an icon of the Cuban resistance, R.I.P.

     

Pro-democracy activists are mourning the loss of a leading architect of Cuba’s civil society and human rights movement. “The seed of this civil society was planted on January 28, 1976,… Read more »

‘China is not an enemy’? Barefoot lawyer’s death puts focus on CCP regime

     

Ji Sizun received the news that he had won a prestigious human rights distinction, the Cao Shunli Memorial Award, in honour of the veteran Chinese activist who died in 2014… Read more »

Ukraine’s ‘unsung heroes’: NGOs leading democratic renewal

     

Ukraine’s citizens have high hopes for the recently-elected president, are less pessimistic over the country’s trajectory and support the Donbas region remaining part of Ukraine, according to a nationwide poll from… Read more »

Russia protests target a system ‘chemically incompatible with democracy’

     

Police in Moscow detained 39 protesters at a rally calling for opposition candidates to be allowed to run in September’s elections to the Russian capital’s parliament. Opposition leaders cried foul… Read more »

Every crisis is an opportunity? A chance to reform Moldova’s captured state

     

After Moldova’s constitutional crisis was unexpectedly resolved, there is an opportunity to introduce genuine democratic reforms in a post-Soviet state whose institutions have been held captive by oligarch rule, according… Read more »

Bipartisan initiative for democratic resilience and renewal

     

Resilient democratic institutions, such as an independent judiciary and a functioning system of checks and balances within political systems, are critical for the successful control of public-sector corruption, writes Patricia… Read more »

Can civil society help ‘re-wire politics to Africa’s advantage’?

     

The European Union this week announced a Call for Proposals to Support Civil Society Initiatives to Promote Democracy and Human Rights in Equatorial Guinea. How timely. The authorities in Equatorial Guinea should immediately… Read more »