Human Rights Watch

Gulshan Karaeva says the attacks are in retaliation for refusing to become a government informant.

A criminal charge sheet obtained by media indicates that authorities will charge former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, president of the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR); Azmin Ali, PKR deputy president; and Badrul Hisham Shaharin, a PKR activist, with disobeying judicial orders and taking part in a prohibited street protest.

The four were arrested for allegedly distributing pro-democracy leaflets and are accused of conducting propaganda against the state.

President Asif Ali Zardari should not sign the bill until it is revised to authorise investigations of the military and the intelligence agencies for human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said.

Police transported several dozen protesters from two protest locations to the outskirts of Baku and released them on the side of the road to find their own way home.

Preparations are under way for the World Conference on International Telecommunications, which will be held in Dubai in December 2012. Civil society groups say the process so far has not been transparent and are calling for greater involvement.

Sudan has stepped up harassment of journalists, censorship and arrests of political opponents in the wake of recent fighting with South Sudan.

Elnur Majidli was arrested at a peaceful demonstration in Baku on April 2, 2011, together with hundreds of other demonstrators who had taken to the streets inspired by the uprisings in the Middle East. He had been sentenced to two years in prison.

In a video, victims and their family members from both sides demand justice and tell Human Rights Watch that the failure to investigate and prosecute those responsible for abuses during the 2010 violence would lead to a cycle of violence and impunity.

UN members states should push for the adoption of specific measures to ensure free expression and accountability for abuses, said Human Rights Watch.

The use of the sedition law to silence dissent undermines free expression, said Human Rights Watch.

Mouad Belghouat, better known as “al-Haqed”, has been in pretrial custody since March 29 because of his rap song “Kilab ed-Dowla” (Dogs of the State), which denounces police corruption, and a YouTube video set to the song.

“If the draft law is passed as is, it will seriously undermine Ugandans’ right to demonstrate and express themselves freely,” said Livingstone Sewanyana, head of the Kampala-based Foundation for Human Rights Initiative.

The new arrests, of Saleh al-Dhufairi and Salem Sahooh, bring to 11 the total number of detained members of the group, the Reform and Social Guidance Association (al-Islah), since late March 2012.

President Atifete Jahjaga returned the draft criminal code to the National Assembly for reconsideration on May 8, 2012, after it was sent to her for her final approval. The president’s decision followed widespread criticism of the draft code by journalists.

Authorities have used arrests and other tactics to keep people from demonstrating in the capital in the period leading up to the 10 May 2012 elections.