Human Rights Watch

The United Arab Emirates cybercrimes decree places severe restrictions on the use of blogs and social networking sites, as well as text messages and emails.

Pakistan’s judges should cease using their contempt of court powers to prevent the media from airing programming critical of the judiciary, Human Rights Watch says.

Okiya Omtatah Okoiti, the executive director of an organisation that advocates for transparency and accountability, was attacked in Nairobi, Kenya.

European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton should meet with human rights defenders and publicly call for the release of wrongfully imprisoned activists during her upcoming visit to Central Asia, says Human Rights Watch.

IFEX members have condemned a “fundamentally flawed” rights declaration unveiled at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, at the same time expressing concern about ongoing free expression concerns in Cambodia and in the region.

The Athens public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into whether the performance of Terrence McNally’s play Corpus Christi violated Greece’s 1951 blasphemy law. The play depicts Jesus Christ and his apostles as gay.

Over 300 children have been illegally arrested and detained during protests in Cairo over the past year.

Aissatou Boiro, director of the Office of the Treasury, was shot dead in her car on her way home from the Budget Ministry in Conakry, by unidentified men in military uniform.

While the Chinese Communist Party Congress is notorious for its secrecy, considerable resources were also used to gag the media and dissidents in the lead-up to the Beijing event, IFEX members report.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany should urge President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to end the crackdown on his country’s civil society, Human Rights Watch said today. Since May, Russia’s parliament has adopted a series of laws that impose restrictions on freedom of expression and funding for civil society groups.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s violent and authoritarian rule over more than two decades has resulted in countless killings and other serious abuses that have gone unpunished, Human Rights Watch said in a new report.

Leading international rights organisations have called for the postponement of the adoption of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, pointing out that the Declaration risks creating a sub-standard level of human rights protection in the region.

On November 5, 2012, a dozen uniformed and plain-clothes police officers with a search warrant raided the Harare office of the Counseling Services Unit (CSU), which provides medical and psychological care for victims of political violence and torture.

The Bahraini authorities have, without due process, deprived 31 people of citizenship, leaving many of them stateless.

Unidentified assailants attacked the apartment and office of Russian human rights activist Stanislav Dmitrievsky.

A dual US and Saudi citizen has been detained for six months without charge after posting tweets criticising traditional interpretations of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.