By Michael Allen on June 27, 2008
North Korea today destroyed a cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear plant where it processed weapons-grade plutonium, in response to the US removing the communist regime from its terrorism blacklist. Kim Jong Il’s secretive Stalinist regime yesterday submitted a dossier of information on its nuclear plants and materials, a condition of its disarmament accord with [read full story]
Posted in Asia, Regions, Themes | Tagged Asia, Human rights, north korea, Themes, tyranny |
By Michael Allen on June 26, 2008
Egyptian dissident Saad Eddin Ibrahim has been awarded the Pundik Freedom Award by the Danish daily newspaper ‘Politiken’. The award of 100, 000 Danish Kroner (US$20,000), given to leading international human rights and democracy advocates, was made in recognition of his “outstanding effort in the service of human rights and civil society in Egypt.”
Ibrahim is [read full story]
Posted in Middle East and North Africa, Regions, Themes | Tagged dissidents, Egypt, Middle East and North Africa |
By Michael Allen on June 26, 2008
International labor unions have expressed concern at the arrest of Gholamreza Gholamhosseini, an activist with the Vahed Syndicate, Iran’s independent bus drivers’ union. Gholamhosseini, a member of the Vahed Syndicate executive, was arrested by police in Tehran at an event to mark Iran’s Women’s Day. Yesterday, June 25th, Judge Hassan Dehghan Dehnavi, who adjudicated on [read full story]
Posted in Labour/labor unions, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, Regions, Themes | Tagged iran, Labour/labor unions, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society |
By Michael Allen on June 24, 2008
The UK-based bipartisan Henry Jackson Society: Project for Democratic Geopolitics is circulating an Open Letter on Zimbabwe.
To sign the letter, simply respond by email to timothy.stafford@henryjacksonsociety.org if you agree to add your name. The deadline for signatures is 3pm on Thursday 26th June 2008.
Open Letter Regarding Zimbabwe – Friday 27th June 2008
To:
The Rt Hon. Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The [read full story]
Posted in Africa, Regions, Themes | Tagged democracy, Zimbabwe |
By Michael Allen on June 24, 2008
Remember Vladimir Putin’s promise, on assuming office, to establish a dictatorship of law?
On May 20, 2005, in Moscow, a car driven by the son of Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov struck and killed 68-year-old Svetlana Beridze as she crossed the street. Beridze, who was in the crosswalk, was hit with such force that she was thrown [read full story]
Posted in Eurasia, Regions, Themes | Tagged Eurasia, Russia, Themes |
By Michael Allen on June 24, 2008
The activities of Islamist extremists in Indonesia “will be dispiriting to those who view democracy as an antidote to radicalism,” an analyst cautions today, as a “new generation of radicals use democracy and the symbols of Islam to erode and ultimately destroy Indonesia’s heritage of religious pluralism and tolerance.” Extremists have exploited recent moves toward [read full story]
Posted in Asia, Regions, Themes | Tagged Asia, democracy, indonesia, Themes |
By Michael Allen on June 23, 2008
Turkey is facing the prospect of a judicial coup as the constitutional court considers a case for banning the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party. Dozens of AK Party leaders, including premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the president, Abdullah Gul, will be barred from politics for at least five years.
A 162-page indictment recommends that the [read full story]
Posted in Middle East and North Africa, Regions, Themes | Tagged Middle East and North Africa, muslim democracy, Themes, Turkey |
By Michael Allen on June 23, 2008
The African Union has expressed “grave concern” about the situation in Zimbabwe following opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s withdrawal from Friday’s runoff election against President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai made his announcement after 86 people were killed and 200,000 forced from their homes as a result of the state’s “violent retributive agenda” prior to the June 27 [read full story]
Posted in Africa, Regions, Themes | Tagged Africa, democracy, Themes, Zimbabwe |
By Michael Allen on June 20, 2008
The European Union has agreed to lift sanctions against Cuba’s communist regime. The decision is meant to “encourage” reform, said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. She expected the communist regime “really to work on human rights questions” and sort to appease critics by promising “a sort of review to see whether, indeed, something will [read full story]
Posted in Cuba, Latin America and the Carribean, Themes, dissidents | Tagged cuba, dissidents, EU, Latin America and the Carribean, Themes |
By Michael Allen on June 20, 2008
Interesting article from Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society on blogs’ potential as a medium for promoting democratization and anti-corruption practices:
Although precise figures are unavailable, it is estimated that there ARE as many as 3,000 bloggers in Armenia and the Diaspora, 8,000 in Azerbaijan, and 10-15,000 in Georgia. Although most are inactive, topics discussed [read full story]
Posted in Eurasia, Regions, Themes | Tagged blogging, Eurasia, samizdat, Themes |
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