Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 6 June 2014

One year on from the Snowden revelations which exposed government spying on an industrial scale, we reflect on how the whistleblower's documents have shaped the debate on surveillance and human rights.  Russian authorities have stooped to a new low with the "shameless bullying" of a much respected and elderly activist.  Anna Sharogradskaya, Russia’s leading researcher and champion of journalism ethics, was detained at St. Petersburg’s international airport as she tried to leave the country. She spent hours under tremendous stress, was barred from seeing her lawyer, missed her flight, and was forced to hand over her laptop and memory cards. She was eventually released, but is still waiting for an explanation - never mind an apology.   The past nine years have been "a living hell" for the Uzbek human rights defender Abdurasul Khudoynazarov. He was arrested in July 2005 during a massive crackdown following the May 2005 Andijan massacre, when Uzbek government forces shot dead hundreds of protesters. During his nine years in prison, Abdurasul was severely tortured, and became so desperate he even attempted suicide. He's now finally been released, but the likelihood of his torturers facing justice is slim. UN human rights experts have expressed outrage at the execution of the Iranian political prisoner Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani, who was hanged on 1 June. Rights experts described his execution as "simply illegal". Hungary is up to its old tricks, harassing NGOs and civil society. In actions described as "unworthy of an EU member state", the Hungarian government this week conducted surprise financial inspections on several NGOs that administer foreign donor money. How will the EU react to this flagrant violation of the union's core values? So far the silence from Brussels has been deafening.  Israel's government has announced plans for 3,300 new settler homes, less than a week after a Palestinian government of national consensus was unveiled. Many of the homes will be built in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. In related news, the Australian government has ruled out using the term "occupied" when describing Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. Apparently the term is "unhelpful" and "judgemental".  Lawyers for three Al Jazeera journalists being held in Egypt have called their trial a show trial, and say prosecutors had failed to prove any of their reporting was biased, or that they aided the Muslim Brotherhood. After a court appearance yesterday the hearing was adjourned again, to 16 June.