· December, 2012

Stories about Human Rights from December, 2012

Bahrain: Tweet Leads Human Rights Activist to Prison

Sayed Yousif Almuhafda is the Vice President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. He is also member of the rights groups Front Line Defenders and Amnesty International. He was arrested on December 17th as he was monitoring a non violent demonstration in the capital Manama and reporting about it on Twitter.

30 December 2012

What does the WCIT really mean for Internet users?

The World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai failed to reach consensus last Thursday, leaving many delegates frustrated after nearly two weeks of intense negotiations. The final text of the treaty will not drastically change the state of Internet policy for the world, but it could push us further in the direction of a fractured network where user experiences differ substantially from country to country.

21 December 2012

Free Bassel: Netizen Under Serious Threat

Bassel Khartabil Safadi, a Syrian open source developer and pro-democracy activist, has completed 9 months in jail. His friends and family fear for his life as he is being prosecuted by a military court.

18 December 2012

Pakistan's Fight for Net Freedom

It’s been an active year for digital activism on Internet freedom in Pakistan. The fact that the United Nations deemed it a basic universal human right has not stopped authorities in Pakistan from clamping down on the world wide web in many different ways and by various means.

14 December 2012

Global Voices Where Every Voice Counts

The idea that every voice counts is one that is very close to the notion of Global Voices as a platform and as a community. As netizens unite to have their voices heard when the world's authorities argue on who should run the internet, we decided to ask our diverse community to participate and speak out on issues that matter to them and look back at issues we have covered over the year bearing in mind that every voice counts.

12 December 2012

Human Rights Day: Defending Free Expression, Online and Off

If we want to reap all the civic, educational, political, and economic benefits of an open Internet, human rights -- and freedom of expression in particular -- must be baked into the technology and the policies that govern its use from the very beginning. On this year's Human Rights Day, the UN has placed a spotlight on the rights of all people “to make their voices heard in public life and be included in political decision-making,” a theme particularly relevant to the Internet and its unique civic power.

11 December 2012

Human Rights Day in United Arab Emirates

While millions of people from all over the world are celebrating the International Human Rights Day activists in United Arab Emirates are not able to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and assembly (whether by organizing protests or writing about authorities' violations).

10 December 2012