Category: freedom of assembly

Democracy in retreat: ‘ominous’ decline around the world, says Freedom House

     

Democracy is undergoing an ‘alarming’ decline around the world, according to the latest annual survey from Freedom House.* The country-by-country report – Freedom In The World 2019 – paints a… Read more »

The subtleties – and limits – of China’s soft power

     

The Chinese government has been trying to sell the country itself as a brand—one that has the ability to attract people from other countries in the way that America does… Read more »

Cyber spies target Egyptian rights activists

     

American-Egyptian author Mona Eltahawy is one of many activists and human rights advocates targeted in a sweeping cyber-espionage campaign blamed on Egypt’s government, The Associated Press has found: A booby-trapped… Read more »

Perfect Dictatorship? China‘s “controlocracy” stifles NGOs

     

Authorities in China’s capital have cut off the utilities and destroyed the central heating system of a prominent non-government organization (NGO) set up to help migrant workers, as a new… Read more »

What’s the state of China’s dissidents and non-state actors ?

     

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researcher Yu Jianrong, a rural sociologist known for his social commentary and vocal advocacy for political reform, recently adopted the tone found in central Party edicts… Read more »

‘Tyrant is dead, tyranny continues’: Cuban dissidents fear post-Castro crackdown

     

While Cuban-Americans partied in the streets of Miami after Fidel Castro died, dissidents in Cuba stayed home, fearing more repression though some hope his brother Raul will enact reforms, AFP… Read more »

Vietnam moving to smother dissent

     

There are growing signs that Vietnam’s government is moving to smother dissent, as the one-party regime in recent days has labeled a pro-democracy group a terrorist organization, imprisoned a blogger… Read more »

Enough is Enough: Iranian Kurds Running Out of Patience

     

Two decades after a ceasefire, Kurdish fighters have resumed armed action in Iran, The London Times reports (subscription required). The result has been scores of deaths, cross-border artillery barrages into… Read more »

Cuba ‘open for business’, closed to dissent

     

Cuba may be open for business, but it remains closed to dissent, according to a retired career American diplomat. “Despite President Obama’s best intentions, no improvement on the human rights… Read more »

Global downturn in civil and political rights – key implications

     

There is a downturn in civil and political rights in many of the world’s largest and most geopolitically significant countries, especially Russia, China, and Turkey, but also other countries such… Read more »