On March 9, 2016 at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, and Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, presented their joint report on the proper management of assemblies. The report summarizes applicable…
For two years, Azerbaijan has cracked down on civil society and independent media, detaining more than 100 people. However, on March 17, 2016, the government of Azerbaijan released more than a dozen political prisoners. The newly released prisoners include: journalist Rauf Mirgadirov; youth movement activist Rashadat Akhundov of N!DA; Mahammad Azizov of N!DA; Rashad Hasanov…
Towards the end of March, the Egyptian government continued their ongoing investigation of NGOs in Egypt, specifically related to Case No 173, or the case on foreign funding for NGOs, which dates back to 2011. The case and its findings have been used to give 1 to 5 year sentences to over 40 foreign…
Our Steering Committee released a statement on March 8 to celebrate International Women’s Day, recognizing the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women worldwide! As aptly put in the statement, “there is much more we can do to help empower women and confront restrictions on political participation and socio-economic equality.” If you believe in…