A roundup of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Myanmar to Mexico
Continue reading...Category Archives: Protest
Protesters defy police presence in Ottawa after officers warn of crackdown
Justin Trudeau says ‘high time these illegal and dangerous activities stop’ after nearly three weeks in Canadian capital
Truckers who have blockaded downtown Ottawa for nearly three weeks have defied a growing police presence in the Canadian capital and ignored repeated warnings that they could face steep fines and possible arrest.
Officers had warned of an impending crackdown on Thursday, as busloads of police reinforcements arrived in the city and work crews took the rare step of erecting metal fences outside the senate and parliament.
Continue reading...Vietnamese activists routinely placed under house arrest, report finds
Authorities regularly detain environmentalists, rights campaigners and dissidents to prevent them travelling or attending events, says Human Rights Watch
The Vietnamese government is routinely placing activists under arbitrary house arrest, employing tactics including stationing guards outside their homes, setting up roadblocks nearby and using superglue and padlocks to jam their doors shut, according to a report.
The study by Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented cases involving 170 rights activists, bloggers, dissidents and their family members who were prevented from domestic and international travel between 2004 and 2021. The real number of those affected is likely to be higher, the report warned.
Those targeted had worked on various issues, from land rights and environmental activism, to advocating for media freedom and the rights of political prisoners, to participating in anti-China protests.
Saunas, haircuts, hot meals: Ottawa protesters set up for the long haul
Protesters against Covid-19 rules seem unfazed by possible police action as prime minister invokes emergency powers
A day after Canada’s prime minister announced a dramatic escalation in his government’s fight against blockades across the country, protesters in the nation’s capital were scheduling haircuts and receiving massages, apparently unfazed by the prospect of ramped-up police enforcement.
Hundreds of semi-trucks which have been parked out front of Canada’s parliament since late January have become emblematic of the protests, but planning and logistics for the occupation is run from a second site in a hotel parking lot on Coventry Road, 5km east of the downtown area.
Continue reading...Belgian police prevent French ‘freedom convoy’ from entering Brussels
Barriers and checkpoints set up around European quarter, and drivers directed to park and rest area
Belgian police have stopped drivers taking part in France’s so-called freedom convoy from entering Brussels, where they planned to hold a demonstration on Monday.
Hundreds of protesters had headed north from Paris region on Sunday but Brussels authorities said the convoy would not be allowed to enter the city.
Continue reading...Myanmar’s first literary work since coup reveals ‘courage and altruism’ of writers
Picking Off New Shoots Will Not Stop the Spring was born from a desire to preserve online expressions of outrage, grief and dissent, say editors
The first literary work to emerge from Myanmar since the military seized control of the country a year ago reveals the altruism and courage of a new generation of writers, its editor has said.
Picking Off New Shoots Will Not Stop the Spring is an anthology of poems and essays, many of which were written during the military crackdown after last February’s coup. Others date from 1988 to 2020.
Continue reading...‘Freedom convoy’ Covid protests held in France and Netherlands – video
Demonstrators against Covid-19 restrictions in France and the Netherlands staged protests on Saturday inspired by the 'freedom convoy' demonstrations in Canada. In France, police fired teargas at demonstrators on the Champs Élysées in Paris shortly after a convoy made it into the capital. Cars carrying protesters managed to get through police checkpoints in central Paris to snarl traffic around the Arc de Triomphe. Inspired by horn-blaring demonstrations in Canada, the motorists waved French flags and honked in defiance of a police order not to enter the city.
A convoy of vehicles from across the Netherlands brought The Hague’s city centre to a standstill earlier in the day
Continue reading...New Zealand authorities deploy Barry Manilow against Covid protesters
Sound system on parliament grounds plays vaccine messages, Macarena and the crooner’s 1970s hits
New Zealand authorities have deployed Barry Manilow against protesters at its parliament, playing his greatest hits at hundreds camped out over coronavirus restrictions.
The protest began when a convoy of trucks and cars drove to parliament from across the country, inspired by protests in Canada. At first there were more than 1,000 protesters but that number dwindled as the week wore on before growing again on Saturday.
Continue reading...Freedom convoys: legitimate Covid protest or vehicle for darker beliefs?
The blockade of Ottawa has sparked copycat action around the globe, and such disparate demonstrations of grievance may prove hard to shut down
It only took six dozen trucks, and a few hundred protesters to bring Canada’s capital to a standstill and close a critical border crossing with the US, throttling the car industry that straddles the line between both countries and relies on a constant flow of trade.
On Saturday, Canadian authorities finally began taking action to clear the Ambassador Bridge into the US, the busiest land crossing in North America, which had been blockaded by just over a dozen trucks and smaller vehicles, and a crowd a few hundred strong.
Continue reading...Protests grow across Canada as police struggle to reopen key bridge
Police had early success in clearing Ambassador Bridge, but demonstrators still choke vital trade route
Protesters opposed to Covid-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions withdrew some of their vehicles from a US-Canadian border bridge on Saturday, but ramped up demonstrations in cities across Canada, including the capital, where police said they were awaiting more officers before ending what they described as an illegal occupation.
Late on Saturday police made the first arrest of a protester blocking the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, more than a day after authorities moved in seeking to end the blockade of the important trade corridor.
Continue reading...Protests against Covid restrictions held in France and Netherlands
French police fire teargas in Paris, while convoy of vehicles brings The Hague’s city centre to standstill
Demonstrators against Covid-19 restrictions in France and the Netherlands staged protests on Saturday inspired by the “Freedom Convoy” demonstrations in Canada.
In France police fired teargas at demonstrators on the Champs Élysées in Paris shortly after a convoy protesting against restrictions made it into the capital.
Continue reading...US-Canada border standoff dissolves peacefully as police move in
Many demonstrators drove away from Ambassador Bridge as scores of police approached shortly before dawn
A tense standoff at a US-Canadian border crossing crucial to both countries’ economies appeared to be dissolving peacefully Saturday as Canadian police moved in to disperse the nearly weeklong blockade and demonstrators began leaving without resistance.
Many demonstrators drove away from the Ambassador Bridge spanning the river between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, as scores of police approached shortly after dawn.
Continue reading...Ontario declares state of emergency, threatening fines and jail time to end blockade
Court grants an injunction to remove protesters from the bridge between Windsor and Detroit
The province of Ontario has invoked a state of emergency and says it will use the threat of hefty fines, jail time and vehicle licence seizures to end a blockade that has crippled trade between Canada and the United States.
Border traffic at the Ambassador Bridge, which links Windsor to Detroit, has been shut down since Monday as part of a nationwide protest against pandemic restrictions, snarling nearly C$300m (US$235m) of trade each day.
Continue reading...French ‘freedom convoys’ head towards Paris to protest against Covid rules – video
Despite an order not to enter Paris, motorists protesting against coronavirus restrictions are converging on the capital from cities across France, inspired by the horn-blaring demonstrations taking place in Canada. Whereas in Canada the protests have united truckers angered by a vaccine mandate for crossing borders, in France it is over vaccine pass rules, which require people to show proof of inoculation against Covid to enter bars, restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces
Continue reading...US urges Canada to end trucker border blockade as mayor says protesters could be removed by force
Authorities work on alternative travel routes as protest hits auto production and injunction sought to remove Ambassador Bridge demonstrators
The US government has urged Canada to use federal powers to ease the growing economic disruption caused by the blockade of the vital Ambassador Bridge by protesters opposed to coronavirus mandates.
The closure of North America’s busiest international land border crossing, a vital supply route for Detroit’s carmakers, has halted some auto output and left officials scrambling to limit economic damage.
Continue reading...Paris police authority bans ‘freedom convoy’ Covid protests
Protesters have set out from southern France inspired by demonstrators in Canada
“Freedom convoys” of motorists that have set off from half a dozen French cities in protest against the country’s coronavirus restrictions will not be allowed to enter Paris, the capital’s police authority has said.
“The stated objective of these demonstrations is to ‘block the capital’ by preventing road traffic from circulating in order to further their demands … from Friday, before moving on to Brussels on Monday,” the authority said.
Continue reading...Anti-vaccine protesters clash with police outside New Zealand parliament – video
New Zealand’s anti-vaccine protesters have been evicted from parliament grounds after days of protests, with a number arrested after clashes with police. The protesters, inspired by the 'siege of Ottawa', in which truckers paralysed the city and caused a state of emergency, led a convoy of several hundred vehicles to parliament. A number stayed overnight, pitching tents on the lawns
Award-winning Vietnamese environmentalist arrested as rights groups fear ‘clamp down’
Green energy activist Nguy Thi Khanh, recipient of the Goldman prize, is latest activist to be detained on tax-related charges
Nguy Thi Khanh, Vietnam’s first recipient of the prestigious Goldman environmental prize, has been arrested on tax evasion charges.
The founder of the Green Innovation and Development Centre was detained last month, but her detention was confirmed by state media on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Iranian refugees face deportation from Turkey for attending demonstration
Lawyer says refugees, who were protesting against Turkey leaving Istanbul convention on violence against women, are at risk in Iran
Three Iranian refugees are facing deportation from Turkey after taking part in a demonstration against Ankara’s withdrawal from the Istanbul convention on violence against women.
Lily Faraji, Zeinab Sahafi and Ismail Fattahi were arrested after attending a protest in the southern Turkish city of Denizli last March. A fourth Iranian national, Mohammad Pourakbari, was detained with the others, despite not attending the protests, according to Buse Bergamalı, their lawyer.
Continue reading...Arrests in Ottawa as Canadian truckers block main bridge to US
Police detain 23 in Ottawa protests over Covid restrictions, while trucks block Ambassador Bridge linking cities of Detroit and Windsor
Traffic has ground to a halt at the busiest border crossing in North America, as Canadian truckers and others angry with vaccine mandates spread their protest beyond Ottawa.
Trucks started blocking the Ambassador Bridge linking the cities of Detroit and Windsor late on Monday, closing down traffic in both directions. On Tuesday, entry to Canada remained blocked while US-bound traffic slowed to a crawl. Each day, 8,000 trucks normally cross the bridge, which handles about 27% of trade between Canada and the US. Protesters also targeted another major border crossing in Coutts, Alberta.
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