On September 1, 2016, Venezuelan protesters filled the streets of Caracas, calling upon the government to hold a recall election that would likely oust President Maduro. Dozens of demonstrators, including the journalist Braulio Jatar Alonso who publicized information about the protests, were arrested, further adding to Venezuela’s growing list of political prisoners. However, the opposition’s…
On September 4, 2016, Azerbaijani civil society leaders signed a letter to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (COE), Thorbjørn Jagland, urging him to call upon the COE’s Venice Commission to comment on Azerbaijan’s upcoming Referendum Act. The letter was signed by Intiqam Aliyev, Emin Huseynov, Rasul Jafarov, Anar Mammadli, and Dr. Leyla…
On August 30, 2016, Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), a prodemocracy coalition of 31 non-governmental organizations, facilitated a public seminar in Harare, Zimbabwe. Members of the network presented their observations of Zambia’s recent elections which described a government clamp down on independent media coverage and polling stations that experienced late openings, missing materials, and delayed…
Ethiopian marathon runner, Feyisa Lilesa, recently drew international attention to Ethiopia’s human rights crisis when he crossed his arms in protest after finishing his Olympic race. His protest was against the government’s crackdown on peaceful protesters this past July that took place throughout the Oromia region. More than 200 protestors were killed during the demonstrations…