Human Rights Watch

Barring online news agencies from fully covering the election is incompatible with Kyrgyzstan’s obligations to respect freedom of expression because it places arbitrary limits on where and how Kyrgyzstan’s voters receive information about presidential candidates, Human Rights Watch said.

Saadeddine Shatila, of the international human rights group Alkarama, was summoned by the military intelligence and interrogated for more than seven hours.

Fahd al-Juhani was charged with defaming a local health inspector after reporting that the official had attempted to extort money from shopkeepers in Huta.

At least 100 residents were killed during a security forces’ military assault on the city of Hama, according to local human rights groups.

Supyan Baskhanov, who runs the Committee against Torture’s Grozny office, was warned that the police were planning to accuse him of collaborating with insurgents.

The proposal would create a “legal veneer” for unlawful practices and lumps peaceful political opposition together with violent acts, says the organisation.

The charges against Sapiyat Magomedova appear to be in retribution for her efforts to obtain justice for the police beating she suffered in June 2010, Human Rights Watch said.

Thongnak Sawekchinda had reportedly received anonymous calls threatening him with death if he continued to protest against the coal industry in Samut Sakhon province.

Father Nguyen Van Ly, who had been granted temporary medical parole in March 2010, must serve five more years behind bars followed by five years of probationary house arrest.

The deaths resulted from the security forces’ apparent excessive use of lethal force during largely peaceful demonstrations and some rioting on 20 and 21 July.

“The Global Gag Rule has exacted a terrible cost in damage to the health of millions of women and the free speech rights of people around the world,” noted Human Rights Watch.

Lawyers for the detainees told Human Rights Watch that the “PSM 6” have been held in solitary confinement, subjected to continual and intense interrogations, and blindfolded both in detention and during transport to meet with legal counsel.

George Sabra was taken by plainclothes security forces from his home on the morning of 20 July; his family has not received any information on his whereabouts.

The government’s failure to investigate and prosecute extrajudicial killings fuels further military abuses, the report noted.

The conviction of Oswaldo Álvarez Paz for disseminating “false information” is a move against free speech in Venezuela, says Human Rights Watch.

UAE authorities should drop charges against five activists arrested after they called for democratic reforms, four international human rights organizations said today.