• NGOs Have a Right to Receive Foreign Funding
    Apr 26, 2013
    The first lesson taught in the School for Autocrats is to keep people isolated.
  • Egypt’s NGO Funding Crackdown
    Apr 9, 2013
  • Leadership deficit fuels intolerance
    Mar 25, 2013
    A new report from Human Rights Watch documents how religious minorities, including several Protestant groups, Shia Muslims and Ahmadiyah, are targets of increasingly routine intimidation, threats and violence.
  • Is Bahrain serious about reform?
    Mar 15, 2013
    Bahrain’s Sunni ruling family and their allies in Washington and London say they are pinning their hopes on a new “national dialogue” to break the bitter stalemate with the country’s political opposition among the majority Shia population. But a just settlement will remain elusive unless the government delivers on two outstanding reforms: accountability at the highest levels of the country’s security forces for their abusive response to the 2011 uprisings, and freedom for the country’s unjustly imprisoned opposition and human rights leaders.
  • 'Clock ticking' for Indonesia to tackle religious intolerance
    Mar 12, 2013
    As long as its leaders fail to acknowledge or act against the increased violence suffered by religious minorities, Indonesia's reputation as a country that balances diversity and tolerance will be in question, says campaign group
  • Jakarta Condones Religious Violence
    Mar 6, 2013
    The worst fears of the Shia Muslim community in Sampang in Indonesia's East Java came to pass on Aug. 20, 2012. That morning, hundreds of Sunni militants attacked the community, torching some 50 homes, killing one man and seriously injuring another.
  • Should Companies Take Responsibility for Repression?
    Feb 13, 2013
    The Arab uprisings have been a poignant reminder of how the Internet can promote free expression and assembly, but also how governments can try abuse it. The medium used by demonstrators to organize protests and bring medical supplies to Tahrir Square, for example, was also used by the government to pinpoint human rights defenders for arrest, harassment, and even torture.
  • How to Keep the Arab Spring Blossoming
    Feb 4, 2013
    As rioting resumes in Egypt, militias reign ominously in parts of Libya, and relentless slaughter proceeds in Syria, some are beginning to question whether the Arab Spring was such a good idea after all. But would we really want to condemn entire nations to the likes of Mubarak, Gadhafi and al-Assad? As we know from the fall of military dictatorships in Latin America and the demise of the Soviet Union, building a rights-respecting democracy on a legacy of authoritarian rule is not easy. However, there are steps that both the people of the region and the international community can take to make a positive outcome more likely.
  • Hungary’s Alarming Climate of Intolerance
    Jan 18, 2013
    A prominent columnist calls for a “final solution” for Hungary’s Roma population. A member of parliament calls for drawing up a list of Jewish people involved in Hungarian politics. Two-thirds of those asked in an opinion poll say they wouldn’t let their child be friends with a Romani child. Another poll suggests a similar number believe Jewish people have too much influence. One doesn’t have to be a student of history to be worried about the growing climate of intolerance in Hungary.