On April 14, a peaceful protest in support of electoral reform organized by the main opposition party, United Democratic Party (UDP), was broken up violently by police. Scores of activists were arrested. Amongst the protesters was Solo Sandeng, the opposition party’s National Organizing Secretary, who later died in police custody of unknown causes. In response to the mass…
On April 4-7, Civil Rights Defenders hosted Defenders’ Days – Empowering Human Rights Defenders at Risk, a four day conference welcoming 160 human rights defenders from 35 countries, alongside leading human rights experts from all over the world, to Stockholm, Sweden. Civil Rights Defenders Executive Director Robert Hårdh is a member of the World…
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…
Freedom House has published its latest report on the state of global freedom titled “Anxious Dictators, Wavering Democracies.” The report reveals the continuing world-wide slide of political rights and civil liberties, as authoritarian leaders continue to crack down on civil society and dissent. Over the last decade, the most significant global reversals have been in…