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July 24, 2020 News

Sudan’s Army Threatens Activists, Journalists with Lawsuits

Many Problematic Laws Still Need Reform

On July 18, the Sudanese army issued a statement saying they had appointed a special commissioner to bring lawsuits against individuals who “insult” the army, including activists and journalists, both in and outside of Sudan, who write online.…

Sudanese soldiers stand guard as demonstrators rally near the army headquarters in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, April 11, 2019.

September 26, 2018 News

Germany’s Message to Erdoğan

Free Journalists, Rights Defenders, Politicians Jailed in Turkey

Given the present state of human rights in Turkey, the German government has come in for criticism over the elaborate plans for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey’s upcoming visit on September 28 and 29, including a state banquet…

From left to right: Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak

July 27, 2018 News

Activist Faces Trumped-Up Charges in Sudan

Case Underlines Fight Against Gender Discrimination and Repression

Khartoum-based rights activist Wini Omer has long been a vocal opponent of Sudan’s morality laws that criminalize “indecent dress” and other private choices, making her a frequent target for prosecution by authorities. This…

May 15, 2018 News

Sudan’s Many Nouras

Teenager Noura Hussein Faces Death for Killing Husband Who Raped Her

International media has rightly focused on the case of Noura Hussein, a 19-year-old Sudanese woman sentenced to death for killing her husband – whom she’d been forced to marry – as he tried to rape her. The court which tried…

A woman carries water in Al Fashir, capital of North Darfur, Sudan, September 6, 2016.

January 22, 2018 News

Activist Detained in Turkey for Tweets

Turkey Censors Criticism of Military Operation in Syria

The Turkish government’s intolerance of criticism knows few bounds. Police detained writer and human rights activist Nurcan Baysal from her house in Diyarbakır, southeastern Turkey, late Sunday. As I write this she remains in…

Writer and human rights activist, Nurcan Baysal, pictured in Diyarbakır, Turkey.

July 26, 2017 News

In Turkey, Freedom of Expression is in the Dock

Journalists’ Trial Part of Vicious Crackdown on Independent Voices

A journalist prosecuted for allegedly helping a group which he spent years criticizing in his work. Emails received – but not answered – from people the government views as undesirables, and newspaper clippings presented as evidence of…

A demonstration outside a courthouse in Istanbul, Turkey in solidarity with the staff of the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet on trial over alleged support to terrorist groups, July 24, 2017.

September 10, 2014 News

Dispatches: An Internet Freedom Summit … in Turkey?

The choice of Turkey as the location for the world’s annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) might have been the conference’s most fundamental problem. But it was not the only one. Thousands of stakeholders from around the globe gathered to discuss how to…

May 16, 2014 News

Dispatches: Turkey Kicking Them While They’re Down

By Friday morning, the bodies of 284 miners had been recovered from the fire at the Soma mine in western Turkey, with the death toll likely to rise to over 300 in the coming days. Turkey is a world leader in mining fatalities, particularly in the coal…

May 15, 2014 News

Dispatches: Sudanese Judge Sentences Pregnant Woman to Death and Whipping

Today, a judge in Khartoum sentenced a pregnant 27 year old, Mariam Yahya Ibrahim, to death for the crime of “apostasy,” and to 100 lashings for “adultery.” These convictions and harsh sentences fly in the face of Sudanese and international law, and point…

May 1, 2014 News

Dispatches: Why Banning May Day in Taksim Doesn’t Work

With a reported 39,000 police officers and 50 water cannon vehicles, plentiful supplies of teargas, and a complete shutdown of the public transport system in the city, the Turkish government succeeded once again in banning the celebration of May 1 in…

March 11, 2014 News

Dispatches: Turkey - Justice for Berkin Elvan

Fifteen-year-old Berkin Elvan has died after 269 days in a coma. The Istanbul schoolboy incurred a head injury that doctors say was most likely inflicted by police shooting a teargas canister directly at him at close range. The incident happened during…

September 30, 2013 News

Dispatches: From Turkey, Mixed Signals on Reform

Prime Minister Erdoğan’s speech today announcing the long-awaited “democracy reform package” is the Turkish government’s first attempt to turn the page after the harsh clampdown that began in May with the Taksim Gezi park protests. It has also been seen…

July 27, 2011 News

Norway Attacks Highlight Growing Intolerance in Europe

The tragic attacks in Norway highlight growing intolerance against Muslims, Roma and migrants in Europe. Populist, anti-Muslim, anti-Roma and anti-immigrant parties have enjoyed recent electoral success across Europe. Opinion surveys and political debate…

November 27, 2001 News

Fact Sheet: Past U.S. Criticism of Military Tribunals

(Washington, DC) - Under President Bush's November 13th Military Order on military commissions, any foreign national designated by the President as a suspected terrorist or as aiding terrorists could potentially be detained, tried, convicted and even…

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