Author Archives: DemDigest

Human rights a casualty of Philippines’ ‘war on drugs’

     

President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial campaign against illegal drugs in the Philippines will be the subject of a hearing at the U.S. Congress this week. The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission… Read more »

Bearing the brunt of Russia’s disinformation strategy

     

As the US and the EU imposed sanctions on Russia over the MH17 downing that was by then accepted as mass murder, Moscow responded by claiming that documents purporting to… Read more »

Kadyrov flaunts Chechnya’s de facto independence

     

The July 18 episode of HBO’s “Real Sports” features a surprising interview subject—Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia’s Chechen Republic, in his first interview with a Western journalist since 2014,… Read more »

Where are the bodies buried in North Korea? Regime conducts public executions for theft, watching S Korea media

     

Efforts to hold the Kim regime accountable for decades of brutality against North Korea’s people have so far amounted to little, but that isn’t stopping human rights activists from trying… Read more »

Defending Digital Democracy: West needs comprehensive response to hybrid threats

     

The former managers of Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns are leading a new initiative called “Defending Digital Democracy” in the hopes of preventing a repeat of Russia’s 2016… Read more »

China’s ‘Great Firewall’ stifles WhatsApp in wake of Liu Xiaobo’s death

     

Users of WhatsApp in China and security researchers have reported widespread service disruptions amid fears that the popular messaging service may be at least partially blocked by authorities in the… Read more »

Resources and commitment needed to combat kleptocracy

     

The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit seeking to recover assets that include a $50 million Manhattan apartment and an $80 million yacht that it said were bought using… Read more »

Cause for optimism on Zimbabwe’s transition

     

  Zimbabwe’s citizens have mostly relied on political parties and elections to make their preferences known, but there has been an upsurge in protests, demonstrations, petitions, campaigns, marches, and organizations… Read more »

Online and On All Fronts: Russia’s assault on opposition ‘reaching new heights’

     

Russia has introduced significant restrictions to online speech and invasive surveillance of online activity and prosecutes critics under the guise of fighting extremism, Human Rights Watch said in a report released… Read more »