• Algeria: Activists Barred from World Social Forum
    Mar 27, 2013
    Press release
    Algerian authorities illegally restricted rights to free movement when they barred 96 Algerian civil society activists from travelling to Tunisia, without giving any reason.
  • Algeria: Activists Barred from World Social Forum
    Mar 26, 2013
    Press release
    Algerian authorities illegally restricted rights to free movement when they barred 96 Algerian civil society activists from travelling to Tunisia, without giving any reason. Border officials stopped the activists on March 25 as they were about to enter Tunisia, where they intended to attend the World Social Forum. The forum, a global gathering of approximately 50,000 activists on areas such as human rights and the environment, runs from March 26 to March 30, 2013.
  • UN: Emphasize Rights in Development Agenda
    Mar 25, 2013
    Press release
    The United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda should be grounded in human rights, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
  • Indonesia: Order an End to Church Demolitions
    Mar 25, 2013
    Press release
    President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia should order local governments not to demolish houses of worship and should revoke discriminatory regulations on religious structures.
  • Tunisia: Repeal Criminal Defamation Law
    Mar 20, 2013
    Press release
    New criminal defamation charges against a university professor and a blogger for allegedly libeling public officials underscore the need to end the criminalization of defamation in Tunisia. They face up to two years in prison for publicly exposing alleged wrongdoing of the minister of foreign affairs and the general rapporteur of the constitution at the National Constituent Assembly.
  • Yemen: Possible Military Role in Journalist’s Killing
    Mar 16, 2013
    Press release
    Yemeni authorities should ensure that an investigation into the killing of a journalist and another man in Aden fully and impartially examines the military’s possible role and brings those responsible to justice.
  • Saudi Arabia: Disclose Whereabouts of Jordanian Activist
    Mar 8, 2013
    Press release
    Saudi authorities should immediately disclose the whereabouts and condition of the Jordanian activist Khaled al-Natour, and free him or charge him with a recognizable criminal offense.
  • Iran: Prosecute Officials in Detained Blogger’s Death
    Mar 7, 2013
    Press release
    Iran’s judiciary should conclude a speedy, independent, and transparent criminal investigation followed by prosecution of those believed responsible for the death of the blogger Sattar Behesht. Beheshti died in the custody of Tehran’s cyber police in November 2012. Iranian officials should stop harassing his family and hampering their efforts to seek justice and ensure that those responsible for the blogger’s death are held to account.
  • Somalia: Woman Alleging Rape Cleared, Journalist Convicted
    Mar 3, 2013
    Press release
    An appeals court’s ruling to uphold the conviction of a journalist who interviewed a woman alleging rape by government forces is a major setback for freedom of the media in Somalia. The woman, who had also been convicted of “insulting the government” and other alleged crimes, was found not guilty.
  • UAE: Ensure Fair Trial of 94 Political Activists
    Mar 3, 2013
    Press release
    The trial of 94 Emirati citizens accused of crimes against national security on March 4, 2013, raises serious fair trial concerns, including limited access to lawyers and withholding of key documents concerning the charges and evidence against them. The detainees include two prominent human rights lawyers, Mohammed al-Roken and Mohammed al-Mansoori, as well as judges, teachers, and student leaders, at least 10 of whom are women. Several defendents have alleged that they were subjected to ill-treatment in detention.