The world’s democracies are showing signs of strain from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new Freedom House analysis. The report, titled Democracy Under Lockdown, says “the COVID-19 pandemic has… Read more »
On 25 August 2020, the Fifth “Terrorism Circuit” of the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Bahey eldin Hassan, (featured above), a veteran human rights defender, to 15 years in prison on… Read more »
“Transnational repression” is a term used to describe how countries silence their exiles and diasporas abroad, according to Nate Schenkkan, Director for Special Research at Freedom House. States employ the… Read more »
As Russia and China unleash an online wave of disinformation about COVID-19, the pandemic is shifting “from a war for survival to a war of ideas and a war of… Read more »
Egypt’s public prosecutor has said a young film-maker who died in prison had mistakenly drunk hand sanitiser in his cell, thinking it was water. Shady Habash died inside Cairo’s Tora prison complex on… Read more »
Liberal Senator @SenPaterson says China’s threat to impose “economic sanctions” on Australia if it conducts an independent inquiry into the source of the coronavirus shows the Chinese Communist Party is “extremely… Read more »
An amateur but very determined historian, Yuri Dmitriev, finally found the gruesome prize he had long been searching for — burial mounds containing the remains of political prisoners executed by… Read more »
The coronavirus is leading Iranians to question the relationship between state and religion, putting the theocratic state in “an unusual and awkward position“, observers suggest. The Islamic Republic had to… Read more »
Seoul’s decision to hold the April 15 polls in the middle of a pandemic highlights South Korea’s status as a beacon of democracy in Asia. It stands in stark contrast… Read more »
China’s leaders are looking to turn the COVID-19 crisis to their advantage, but their task will be much harder than in 2008—and not only because many people across the world… Read more »