Latest posts by Guest Contributor
Mexico: Online Activists Targeted
After being reported missing on the 23 September 2011 - after leaving the office Elizabeth Macias Castro, Chief Editor for the daily newspaper “Primera Hora”, was found dead in a public plaza on 24 September 2011 near Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipa. A message was attached to Elizabeth’s body accusing her of collaborating with the army and marine intelligence services by posting information online that related to organized crime activities.
Connect your Rights! Internet Rights are Human Rights.
Joy Liddicoat of APC.org points out that while governments are positioning themselves around internet governance issues, the politics associated with this must not detract from the issues that are facing civil society in developing countries, nor be a smokescreen behind which governments, or others, can hide their increasingly sophisticated interference with human rights and the internet.
Cameras Everywhere: Current Challenges and Opportunities at the Intersection of Human Rights, Video and Technology
I’m pleased to announce the launch of our new report: “Cameras Everywhere: Current Challenges and Opportunities at the Intersection of Human Rights, Video and Technology.” You can read and download it on our website. The report, like the initiative of the same name, aims to ensure that the thousands of people turning to video for human rights can do so as effectively, safely and ethically as possible.
Malaysia Blogger Defamation Case – Cause for Concern
Ahead of Malaysia human right defender and blogger - Charles Hector’s defamation trial on 28-29 June 2011, ARTICLE 19 calls on the Malaysian Court to consider the case in line with international freedom of expression standards. Given the fundamental importance of the right to freedom of expression, and its recognition in Article 10 of the Malaysian Constitution, ARTICLE 19 urges the Court to ensure that Malaysian defamation law is interpreted, to the extent possible, in a manner that respects Hector’s freedom of expression.
MENA Journalists & Cyber Activists: In the Line of Fire
From Morocco to Bahrain, everyday people have taken on the cast iron hold of dictatorships and absolute monarchies resulting in an extraordinary collective awakening that has paved the way for epochal change in the region. The youth movement, which lies at the core of the uprisings, continues to play a prominent role in the pro-democracy and pro-reform demonstrations, which have swept through the region, unabated by government clampdowns or concessions.
Blogger Release in Azerbaijan: Forgotten Human Rights Crisis Unfolds at Council of Europe’s Doorstep
Inspired by pro-democracy uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, a recent wave of protests in Azerbaijan has resulted in scores of bloggers, cyber activists, journalists, civil society activists and opposition political party members harassed, arrested and beaten.
Muhammad Bakr Radwan: an Egyptian activist detained in Syria
On March 26 Egyptian engineer Muhammad Bakr Radwan was detained in Damascus, Syria, following Friday’s demonstrations in the country. He has been accused of espionage. Radwan is an Egyptian-American citizen who has been very active in the mobilizations in Egypt, joining demonstrators in Tahrir during the days after #Jan25 and broadcasting news about Syria and the Arab uprisings from his Twitter and Facebook account.
Human Rights Video, Privacy and Visual Anonymity in the Facebook Age
The successful nationwide organizing and subsequent protests in Egypt to oust the 30-year regime of President Hosni Mubarak have in part been facilitated by Facebook. But as media and technology commentators and human rights activists alike are noting, using Facebook for activism is fraught with risks.
Internet Security Savvy is Critical as Egyptian Government Blocks Websites, Arrests Activists in Response to Continued Protest
As we've seen in Iran and Tunisia, social networking tools have given activists in authoritarian regimes a powerful voice, which can be heard well beyond their own country. But the use of social networking tools has also given their governments ways to identify and retaliate against them. This week we are watching the same dynamic play out in Egypt.
Tunisia : Blogger, Global Voices contributor, Slim Amamou arrested today
Activist and blogger Slim Amamou was arrested today, January 6, around 1pm. At this time, his friends and colleagues have no news from him, nor do we know the exact circumstances of his arrest. He had to go to work after completing a technical inspection of his vehicle. The latest news from Slim was a tweet around 1pm.
Brazil: Parody Blog Censored
Brazilian freedom of expression groups, including ARTICLE 19, are organizing a campaign in support of brother bloggers Lino and Mario Bocchini, who have been sued by the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo due to the content disseminated on-line on their blog Falha de Sao Paulo. The Brazilian judiciary issued a provisional decision in the case filed against the blog, ordering its removal from the internet. The blog has been under what the brothers call “censorship” for almost 80 days now.
Human Rights Organizations Worldwide Decry Attacks on Freedom of Expression
It has been almost two weeks since cablegate.wikileaks.org, the website hosting leaked US diplomatic cables, was taken down, and the right of Wikileaks to publish truthful information was immediately besieged. Since then, human rights organizations around the world have condemned the attacks on WikiLeaks and have raised their voices to protect freedom of expression online.
CommunicationisYourRight.org – advocating for stronger global communication and support of Article 19
Communication is Your Right! is a platform for media makers, human rights advocates, and citizens around the globe to speak their truths. What is the state of communications in your community and country? Share your ability to communicate where you are by creating a video, blog or podcast and add it to our campaign.
Azerbaijan: Free Expression under Attack
The report is the result of joint freedom of expression mission undertaken from 7 to 9 September, 2010. The mission representatives met with journalists and bloggers, collected testimonies from survivors of violent attacks, and family members of imprisoned journalists and bloggers, including Hikmet Hajizade, the father of imprisoned blogger Adnan Hajizade. The mission representatives also held meetings with civil society activists and government representatives.
Free Blogger Dieu Cay
Two and a half years ago, in April 2008, police in Vietnam arrested Nguyen Van Hai and detained him secretly for several weeks. Mr. Hai, now 58-years old, blogged under the nickname Dieu Cay which means “the peasant’s water pipe.” At the time, authorities denied targeting Dieu Cay for his writings even though he was then one of the country’s best known bloggers and government critics. Through his Yahoo 360 blog, Dieu Cay exposed government corruption, called for freedom of expression and was among the first Vietnamese to criticize a Chinese government decision to incorporate the Paracel and Spratly Islands—which are claimed by Vietnam and several other Asian countries— into an administrative unit under China’s Hainan island.
Hanoi arrested blogger Pham Minh Hoang for peacefully expressing his political view
Pham Minh Hoang, a blogger and lecturer at the Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute was arrested on August 13, 2010 for his blogging on democracy and social justice in Vietnam. Initially, the Vietnamese government detained him quietly but later acknowledged his arrest together with his three other colleagues: Pastor Duong Kim Khai, Ms Tran Thi Thuy and Mr Nguyen Thanh Tam. This was only after these arbitrary arrests were brought to the international attention by their colleagues from Viet Tan, a Vietnamese pro-democracy group.
Azerbaijan: Supreme Court Upholds Bloggers’ Conviction
On 19 August, the Azerbaijani Supreme Court considered the case of imprisoned bloggers and youth activists Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade. In its decision, the Court upheld the lower courts' rulings, which convicted Milli and Hajizade of hooliganism and sentenced them to two and a half years and two years of imprisonment respectively. The two were arrested on 8 July 2009 after appealing to police as victims of an assault following an incident in which they were attacked in a restaurant.
