Category Archives: Civil liberties – international

Breakdown in global order causing progress to stall in Africa – report

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‘Moral threshold coming down,’ warns Mo Ibrahim, as his index of governance reveals widespread decline in 10 years

The global rise of populism and “strongmen” has led to an increase in authoritarianism in Africa that is holding back progress in governance, the businessman and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim has said.

According to the latest edition of the Ibrahim index of African governance, 78% of Africa’s citizens live in a country where security and democracy deteriorated between 2014 and 2023.

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European audit of democracy standards too positive, says human rights watchdog

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European Commission report ‘completely ineffective as an enforcement tool’, according to civil liberties organisation

The European Commission’s exhaustive annual audit of democratic standards across the bloc is overly positive and ultimately ineffective because it is not tied to any kind of enforcement mechanism, a leading European civil liberties network has said.

The yearly rule of law reports were launched five years ago and are presented by the commission as a key weapon in its armoury against democratic backsliding, including corruption and attacks on independent media and judiciary, across the union.

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Draft Israeli law to limit academic speech labelled ‘McCarthyite’

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Law allowing committee to fire staff for ‘supporting terror’ backed by education minister and national student union

Israel’s education minister and the country’s national union of students are backing a draft law to limit academic speech in the country, which the heads of leading universities have attacked as “McCarthyite” and fundamentally undemocratic.

The legislation, currently being debated in the Knesset, would give a government-appointed committee the power to order the firing of academic staff that it decides have expressed “support for terror”. If the universities refuse, their funding would be cut.

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Open letter in India calls for withdrawal of go-ahead to prosecute Arundhati Roy

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Over 200 signatories urge government to reverse decision enabling action against writer under anti-terrorism law

More than 200 Indian academics, activists and journalists have published an open letter urging the Indian government to withdraw last week’s decision sanctioning the prosecution of the Booker prize-winning author Arundhati Roy under the country’s stringent anti-terrorism law.

“We … deplore this action and appeal to the government and the democratic forces in the country to ensure that no infringement of the fundamental right to freely and fearlessly express views on any subject takes place in our nation,” the group said in the letter.

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Hong Kong rejects western criticism of democracy activists’ convictions

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US says 14 protesters have been jailed for ‘peacefully participating in political activities’ that should have been allowed

The Hong Kong government has rejected western criticism of the conviction of 14 pro-democracy activists for subversion, calling it “untruthful, slandering and smearing”.

The US said on Friday it was “deeply concerned” about the guilty verdicts announced in the national security law trial of the activists in Hong Kong. The state department said the 14 activists had been subjected to “politically motivated prosecution and jailed simply for peacefully participating in political activities” that should have been protected under the basic law, which was supposed to guarantee a degree of autonomy for Hong Kong when it came under Beijing’s rule in 1997.

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Slovakian prime minister sparks alarm with threat to restrict media

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Robert Fico describes leading broadcasters and newspapers as hostile and says they are ‘unwelcome guests at government office’

Slovakian journalists and international watchdogs have expressed alarm after the new prime minister, Robert Fico, described leading media outlets as hostile and threatened to restrict their access.

Fico, who took over as Slovakia’s leader in October as part of a coalition government led by his populist Smer party, said this week that some of the country’s biggest outlets were not welcome in his office.

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Hungarian plan to target foreign influence fuels NGO and media fears

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Campaigners say ‘sovereignty’ law is further step by Viktor Orbán to silence critics and solidify control

Hungarian rights advocates have raised fears over new legislation that they say could put more pressure on independent media and civil society groups.

The draft bill, which Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party is expected to submit on Tuesday, is set to propose creating a new office tasked with investigating activities that threaten Hungary’s “sovereignty”.

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Indonesia set to make sex outside marriage punishable by jail

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MPs expected to pass new criminal code that will also make insulting the president a crime

Indonesia’s parliament is expected to pass a new criminal code this month that would criminalise sex outside marriage and outlaw insults against the president or state institutions, prompting alarm from human rights campaigners.

The deputy justice minister, Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, said in an interview with Reuters that the new criminal code was expected to be passed on 15 December. “We’re proud to have a criminal code that’s in line with Indonesian values,” he said.

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Iran condemns two women to death for ‘corruption’ over LGBTQ+ media links

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Outcry over show trial, which follows Zahra Seddiqi Hamedani talking to BBC about abuse of gay people in Iran’s Kurdish region

Two women have been condemned to death in Iran because of their links to the LGBTQ+ community on social media, human rights groups have reported.

Zahra Seddiqi Hamedani, 31, and Elham Choubdar, 24, were found guilty of a number of charges by a court in Urmia, in the Iranian province of West Azerbaijan, on 1 September but the details of their sentences only emerged this week.

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Prominent lawyer among dozens jailed for treason in Cambodia

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Theary Seng receives six-year sentence in ongoing mass trial of government critics in Phnom Penh

A prominent Cambodian-American lawyer has been sentenced to six years in jail for treason in an ongoing mass trial against critics of the ruling party.

Theary Seng and dozens of activists, many of whom are members of the dissolved opposition group the Cambodia National Rescue party (CNRP), were found guilty at Phnom Penh municipal court on Tuesday. The trial is one of four covering nearly 130 defendants, seen by many as prime minister Hun Sen’s attempt to stamp out growing dissent to his 37 years of rule.

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How 9/11 led the US to forever wars, eroded rights – and insurrection

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The legal carte blanche signed days after the 2001 attacks is still used to authorise military action – just one way US society has been shaped, or corroded, by its backlash to terror

Over the past few weeks, the Biden administration has launched drone strikes against suspected terrorist targets in Somalia and Afghanistan, based on congressional authority dating to September 2001. This week, five terror suspects have been in court for pre-trial hearings now entering their ninth year in Guantánamo Bay, which opened its prison gates in January 2002.

The aftershocks of 9/11 are everywhere. The families of the nearly 3,000 victims are still struggling with the justice department to lift the secrecy over the FBI investigation into the attacks and the possible complicity of Saudi officials. Last week they asked the department’s inspector general to look into FBI claims to have lost critical evidence, including pictures and video footage.

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France extends Covid health pass after fourth weekend of protests

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Pass sanitaire allows people to visit restaurants, hospitals and take long train trips but backlash continues

An extension to France’s “health pass” covering activities including going to restaurants and cafes, taking long-distance train journeys and visiting hospitals has come into effect after a fourth weekend of protests.

The pass sanitaire, which the government hopes will boost vaccination rates, is shown in the form of a QR code either digitally or on paper and given to those who are fully vaccinated, have a negative Covid-19 test or have had coronavirus and recovered.

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Belarus regime steps up ‘purge’ of activists and media

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Alexander Lukashenko leading ‘vicious operation to eviscerate critical voices’ and civil society, rights groups warn

Aleysa Ivanova wakes up each morning wondering when the knock on her door will come.

“You understand you can be next. Every day I wake up, I think ‘maybe it’ll be tomorrow, maybe today. Maybe they’ll come for me this evening’,” said Ivanova (not her real name).

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Outcry after Nigerian TV stations told to curb reporting of security issues

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Regulator’s move comes amid fears that limited press freedoms are being eroded by the government

Nigeria’s broadcasting regulator has told TV stations to limit their reporting of rising insecurity in the country and withhold details of incidents and victims, in a move widely criticised by the country’s media and civil society groups.

In a letter sent to the country’s broadcasters, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) said TV stations should refrain from “giving details of either the security issues or victims of these security challenges”, and they should “collaborate with the government in dealing with the security challenges” by toning down reporting and commentary.

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Home Office condemned for forcing migrants on bail to wear GPS tags

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Round-the-clock tracking condemned as ‘Trojan horse’ giving government vast surveillance powers that violate human rights

More than 40 human rights organisations have condemned the Home Office’s introduction of 24-hour GPS monitoring of people on immigration bail in an expansion of surveillance powers that has involved no consultation process.

The new policy marks a shift from using radio frequency monitors (which alert authorities if the wearer leaves an assigned area) to round-the-clock GPS trackers (which can track a person’s every move), while also giving the Home Office new powers to collect, store and access this data indefinitely via a private contractor.

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Covid used as pretext to curtail civil rights around the world, finds report

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Free speech, LBGT+ rights and freedoms to peacefully assemble have deteriorated during the pandemic

The state of civil liberties around the world is bleak, according to a new study which found that 87% of the global population were living in nations deemed “closed”, “repressed” or “obstructed”.

The figure is a 4% increase on last year’s, as civil rights were found to have deteriorated in almost every country in the world during Covid-19. A number of governments have used the pandemic as an excuse to curtail rights such as free speech, peaceful assembly and freedom of association, according to Civicus Monitor, an alliance of civil society groups which assessed 196 countries.

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Hong Kong informers’ hotline receives 2,500 tip-offs within hours

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Citizens urged to report suspected breaches of controversial security law

Hong Kong police have received more than 2,500 tip-offs since the launch of a hotline for people to report suspected breaches of the city’s sweeping national security law.

The multi-platform hotline, which opened on Thursday, allows Hong Kongers to report information directly to national security police via text message, email, or WeChat.

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