• UK: Accountability Still Needed on Libya Case
    Press release
    Dec 14, 2012
    The UK government’s compensation to a Libyan dissident over its complicity in his torture and rendition provides some relief but does not absolve it of the duty to investigate.
  • Kazakhstan: Growing Crackdown on Free Speech
    Press release
    Dec 13, 2012
    The Kazakh government should end its crackdown on independent media outlets and opposition groups. The authorities appear to be targeting media and opposition groups that most extensively covered violence a year ago in Zhanaozen, in western Kazakhstan, and its aftermath.
  • Brazil: Rousseff Should Condemn Russian Crackdown
    Press release
    Dec 12, 2012
    President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil should express concern about the crackdown on civil society in Russia when she meets with President Vladimir V. Putin.
  • EU: Enact Controls on Digital Weapons Trade
    Press release
    Dec 11, 2012

    The European Union should enact new controls on internet surveillance technologies that have enabled human rights violations. The European Parliament adopted a new digital freedom strategy in EU foreign policy in the plenary on December 11.

  • Welcome Kyrgyzstan’s Leader, but Speak Up about Human Rights
    Commentary
    Dec 11, 2012
    Strange things happen in Bishkek, the Kyrgyzstan capital. One morning this autumn the sounds of loud protests outside parliament almost drowned out conversation in our meeting nearby.
  • Russia: Reject Homophobic Bill
    Press release
    Dec 10, 2012
    Russia’s parliament should reject a proposed bill that would violate Russians’ freedom of expression and discriminate against and stigmatize Russia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.
  • Living Up to the Nobel: EU Must Act on Syria
    Commentary
    Dec 10, 2012
    Catherine Ashton's mandate is to provide leadership on foreign policy and human rights. She has failed, however, to ensure a collective EU voice for bringing the crimes in Syria before the International Criminal Court (ICC). On 10 December, as the EU receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, EU foreign ministers meeting back in Brussels should decide to move beyond vague references to “accountability” for crimes in Syria and make clear that they support a UN Security Council referral of the situation to the ICC.
  • Turkey: Reconsider Appointment to Key Rights Body
    Press release
    Dec 9, 2012
    The judge recently appointed as the chief ombudsman of Turkey’s newly created ombudsman institution has a history of failing to respect human rights standards, and his appointment risks the effectiveness of the new institution.
  • Kyrgyzstan/Germany: Don’t Neglect Human Rights
    Press release
    Dec 9, 2012
    German Chancellor Angela Merkel should raise serious human rights concerns during talks with President Almazbek Atambaev of Kyrgyzstan on December 11, 2012.
  • Landmine Ban: Poland Final EU Member to Join
    Press release
    Dec 7, 2012

    Poland’s announcement on December 5, 2012, that it is about to ratify the international treaty prohibiting landmines means that all 27 European Union countries have banned these unlawful weapons.