Futurist Transhuman News Blog

Morocco’s closure of leading independent news magazine Le Journal Hebdomodaire and the prison sentence handed down to blogger Boubaker al-Yadib reflect an ongoing and disturbing pattern of restriction on free speech.

Freedom House, the Moscow Helsinki Group and the Youth Human Rights Movement announced a new partnership today, aimed at strengthening ties between civil society groups in Russia and the United States in order to jointly support democracy, rule of law, and human rights activists worldwide.

Freedom House calls upon the Egyptian government to live up to its human rights commitments by revoking the emergency law and holding transparent elections with local and international observers present for the entire electoral process.

Frontline human rights defenders from around the globe met today in the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing of the White House with President Obama and senior administration officials to discuss ways that the United States can counter the deterioration of human rights around the world. The activists are in Washington, D.C. for a summit hosted by Freedom House and Human Rights First.

Freedom House condemns the Cuban government for the deplorable prison conditions, torture, and lack of medical attention that led to the death of political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo.

Despite continuing resistance from religious and cultural elites, women in the Middle East and North Africa have made modest progress in achieving certain rights over the past five years. While women in the region suffer from greater inequality than do women elsewhere, they now enjoy more economic opportunity, fewer barriers to education, and expanded ability to participate in the political process than they did five years ago. These are the conclusions of Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Progress Amid Resistance, a new study released today by Freedom House.

The need for an end to the 29-year ‘emergency’ in Egypt is underscored by the current military trial of blogger Ahmed Mustafa for exposing corruption in military institutions. Mustafa’s trial, which began on Monday is scheduled to resume on March 7.

Freedom House and Human Rights First delegates who are in Geneva for the 13th Session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations today issued a Plan of Action developed by their organizations and dozens of human rights advocates from 27 countries to advance global human rights. The plan urges all governments, multi-lateral institutions and civil society to prioritize freedom of expression and association and to support the work of human rights defenders around the globe.

With less than a month to go before parliamentary elections, Freedom House condemns the Sri Lankan government’s latest attempts to intimidate human rights defenders and journalists, including Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA) director Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu and the executive director of Transparency International Sri Lanka, J.C. Weliamuna.

Freedom House today held a panel discussion entitled ‘Free to Express, Free to Believe: The Defamation of Religions Debate’ at the 13th Session of the Human Rights Council featuring human rights defenders from Indonesia, Nigeria and the United States who discussed options for combating religious discrimination without restricting free speech. Delegates from the United States, Chile, the UK, Italy, Denmark, Pakistan, Mexico and Brazil attended the session, together with about 75 UN and civil society representatives.