• President Hugo Chávez waves to supporters on the day he registered for re-election in Caracas, Venezuela, on June 11, 2012.
    © 2012 Meridith Kohut/The New York Times/Redux
    Venezuela: Concentration and Abuse of Power Under Chávez

    The concentration of power under President Hugo Chávez has taken a heavy toll on human rights in Venezuela.

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Press Freedom

  • Turkey: End Overly Broad Website Blocking
    Dec 21, 2012
    The Turkish government should promptly stop unlawfully blocking websites. On December 18, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights ruled, in the case of Ahmet Yıldırım v. Turkey, that blocking Google Sites in Turkey violated the right to freedom of expression. A Turkish court had ordered the complete blocking of Google Sites because of one person’s post. But the European Court found that Turkey’s legal framework was inadequate and did not prevent abuses and arbitrary application of blocking measures.
  • Tunisia: Stop Undermining Judicial Decision
    Dec 21, 2012
    Tunisia’s justice minister should ensure the immediate release of Sami Fehri, the director of the privately owned Attounissia TV channel. Fehri is being held despite a decision by the highest court in Tunisia on November 28, 2012, to quash his indictment and detention order
  • Ethiopia: 4 Journalists Win Free Speech Prize
    Dec 20, 2012
    Four Ethiopian journalists have received the prestigious Hellman/Hammett award for 2012 in recognition of their efforts to promote free expression in Ethiopia, one of the world’s most restricted media environments.
  • Kazakhstan: Growing Crackdown on Free Speech
    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.
  • Kaveh Kermanshahi, Iranian Activist
    Dec 13, 2012
    The Iranian activist Kaveh Kermanshahi was free on bail in 2010 when an Iranian court sentenced him to four years in prison for his work on Kurdish and women’s rights. Kermanshahi, who was 26 at the time, decided he couldn’t return to prison, where he had been tortured, interrogated, and held in solitary confinement for four months after he was arrested earlier that year. He decided to leave Iran for Iraqi Kurdistan.
  • EU: Enact Controls on Digital Weapons Trade
    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.

  • Azerbaijan: Shrinking Space for Media Freedom
    Nov 2, 2012
    At least eight journalists and three human rights defenders are in jail, and freedom of expression is severely limited in Azerbaijan, the host of the upcoming United Nations-sponsored Internet Governance Forum.
  • Azerbaijan: Concerns Regarding Freedom of the Media and Freedom of Expression
    Nov 2, 2012
    From November 6 to 9, Azerbaijan will host the Internet Governance Forum, an annual meeting convened by the United Nations secretary general that brings together governments, civil society, and other actors as equal partners to discuss public policy issues relating to the internet.
  • Qatar: Revise Draft Media Law to Allow Criticism of Rulers
    Oct 30, 2012
    Qatar’s ruler should not approve a draft media law unless loosely worded provisions penalizing criticism of Qatar or neighboring governments are removed.
  • Syria: Free Peaceful Activists, Journalists, Aid Workers in Amnesty
    Oct 25, 2012
    President Bashar al-Assad should release all peaceful activists, media professionals, and humanitarian assistance providers as part of an amnesty announced on October 23, 2012, Human Rights Watch, Alkarama, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Index on Censorship, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Reporters Without Borders, and Samir Kassir Foundation – Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom said today. These persons have been detained purely for exercising their basic rights such as freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, or for assisting others and therefore should not have been detained or prosecuted in the first place, the groups said.
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