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March - April 2015
Issue: 95
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Welcome to
Civil Society
Watch Bulletin, an e-newsletter
of
updates and analyses concerning civil society's rights to freedom of
association, assembly and expression around the world. The Bulletin is
compiled by the staff at Civil Society Watch, a programme of CIVICUS:
World Alliance for Citizen Participation. Please feel free to forward
the Bulletin to friends and colleagues. We welcome your comments and
contributions!
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Article 19 releases annual report: Protecting civic space
Click here to download
Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) releases 2014 annual report on the situation of Human rights defenders in china
Click here to download
Freedom House launches 2015 freedom of the press index
Click here to download
OBS and UDEFEGU release mission report to Guatemala: ‘Human rights defenders at risk, unprotected and criminalised by the State’
Click here to download
OSCE in cooperation with the Council of Europe Venice Commission issue guidelines on freedom of association
Click here to download
Right to Know Campaign South Africa: ‘Big Brother Exposed’
Click here to download
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CIVICUS:
World Alliance
for Citizen Participation is an
international
movement of civil society with members and partners in over a hundred
countries. CIVICUS nurtures the foundation, growth and protection of
citizen action throughout the world especially in areas where
participatory democracy and citizens' freedom of association are
threatened. The Civil Society Watch Project of CIVICUS seeks to
mobilise quick, principled and effective responses to events that
threaten civil society fundamental freedoms of expression, association
and assembly |
SUDAN: Release of human rights defender Dr. Amin Mekki Medani and political activists Faruq Aby Eissa and Farah Ibrahim Alagar
Read more
CHINA: Women rights activists released on bail
Read more
EGYPT: Police officer charged in activist's death
Read more
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HighlightsCIVICUS makes UN Universal Periodic Review submissions on Mauritania, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman and Rwanda
Read
more
Be a part of the 2015 Global Day of Citizen Action
More than 100 events in over 50 countries have already been created for
this year’s Global Day of Citizen Action! If you haven’t already,
there’s still time for you to host an event on Saturday 16 May 2015. By
organising an event, you’ll engage citizens on their rights and help
create awareness about the importance of civic space.
This year, to help raise our voice and support an important movement, we’ve joined action/2015
which calls for public mobilisation targeted at world leaders, to urge
them to agree to ambitious and transformative goals in the post-2015
development framework.
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CIVICUS condemns judicial harassment of Baltimore protestors
Read more
CIVICUS urges protection of civic freedoms ahead of presidential elections in Burundi
Read more
Civil society in India being demonized says global civil society alliance
Read more
Joint statement urging Bahrain to end reprisals against leading human rights defender Nabeel Rajab
Read more
CIVICUS and Amnesty International raise alarm as repression and secret detentions escalate in the DRC ahead of 2016 elections
Read more
Joint statement calling on Venezuela to end harassment of Human Rights Defenders
Read more
CIVICUS and ALRC urge Bangladesh to restore democratic freedoms and end onslaught on dissent
Read more
CIVICUS, Article 19 and Publish What You Pay issue joint letter
supporting civil society participation in the development of the OGP
action plan on Azerbaijan
Read more
Human rights groups express grave concern as imprisoned Bahraini activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja goes public with hunger strike
Read more
CIVICUS interventions during the 28th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Read more
Article by CIVICUS Policy and Research Officer, David Kode on Burundi: Fragile peace at risk ahead of elections
Read more
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ANGOLA: Deteriorating health of detained HRDs Arão Bula Tempo and José Marcos Mavungo
Read more
AZERBAIJAN: Rasul Jafarov sentenced to six and a half years in prison
Read more
BELARUS: The only registered regional human rights organisation under threat of dissolution
Read more
CAMBODIA: Controversial election laws to be passed without amendments
Read more
CAMEROON: Human rights activist arrested en route to meet Amnesty International delegation
Read more
CANADA: Thousands gather across Canada to protest proposed anti-terror legislation
Read more
CHINA: Chinese feminists held over International Women's Day plans
Read more
New foreign NGO law will help silence critics
Read more
EGYPT: Continuous targeting of Human Rights Defenders in Egypt; witnesses become defendants
Read more
ETHIOPIA: A year after their arrest, Ethiopia's Zone9 Bloggers remain strong and determined
Read more
FRANCE: Bill opens door to surveillance society
Read more
INDIA: Government deregisters nearly 9000 NGOs
Read more
KENYA: Freezing of human rights groups’ accounts
Read more
KUWAIT: Nawaf Al-Hendal arrested after speaking at 28th session of UN Human Rights Council
Read more
KYRGYZSTAN: Ongoing harassment of the human rights organisation Bir Duino
Read more
MALAYSIA: Authorities arrest 5 members of media for sedition
Read more
MYANMAR: Arbitrary detention and sentencing of members of the Movement for Democracy Current Force (MDCF)
Read more
RUSSIA: Bureaucratic restrictions being used to harass civil society activists
Read more
SAUDI ARABIA: Prominent human rights lawyer Waleed Abu Al-Khair beaten in prison
Read more
SOUTH AFRICA: More than 100 CSOs call on the African Commission to address xenophobic attacks
Read more
SOMALILAND: Human rights defender begins hunger strike protesting imprisonment
Read more
SPAIN: Spanish Gag law is against European values and basic democratic rights
Read more
SUDAN: Entrenched repression - freedom of expression and association under attack
Read more
SWAZILAND: Reprisals against Imprisoned Activist Thulani Maseko an Outrageous Violation of Human Rights
Read more
UGANDA: Civil society leaders convene to address restrictive NGO Law
Read more
UK: Amnesty International UK registers as a non-party campaigner under the lobbying act
Read more
UNITED NATIONS: Human Rights Council appoints Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy
Read more
Civil
Society Behind Bars
SWAZILAND: Thulani Rudolf Maseko and Bheko Makhubu sentenced two years in prison
Read full profile here
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Interview
with Civil Society Activists Ravi
Nitesh of the Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign (SSSC) speaks to
CIVICUS about the vicious cycle of judicial harassment Manipuri
activist Irom Sharmila faces merely due to her peaceful resistance to
India’s draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act of 1958, (AFSPA).
Read more
Savaş Metin, General Secretary of Kimse Yok Mu Association (KYM) in
Turkey, speaks to CIVICUS about the ongoing judicial harassment of
their organization and the Turkish government’s systematic crackdown on
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Turkey.
Read more
Abdel-Rahman El Mahdi, Director of the Sudanese Development Initiative
(SUDIA), speaks to CIVICUS about escalating restrictions on civil
society and the prospect of engaging in a multi-stakeholder national
dialogue to address pressing human rights issues in Sudan.
Read more
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DISCLAIMER
The
views
expressed in this bulletin are a reflection of those
contained in the original reports to which they are linked here, and
are not necessarily those of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen
Participation.
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