Freedom House

In recent months, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused academics, journalists, and lawyers critical of his policies of supporting terrorism and called for the legal definition of terrorism to be widened.

The government of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo should immediately cease its suppression of independent voices ahead of presidential elections, scheduled for April 24, a group of human rights and democracy organisations says.

The raid came three days after the Suzman Foundation and the organization Freedom Under Law submitted a court application calling for the suspension of Lieutenant-General Mthandazo Berning Ntlemeza, head of the South African Police Services Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks.

“The government’s move to limit freedom of assembly is a worrisome development in one of Africa’s most democratic countries,” said Vukasin Petrovic, director of Africa Programs.

“We remember Nemtsov as a champion of freedom. The international community should hold the Russian government accountable for his murder until it demonstrates a serious intent to prosecute the perpetrators.”

Following up on a meeting with John Kerry in 2015, international organisations urged him to implement the State Department’s journalist safety roadmap and to send a message to posts worldwide to set out new protocols on dealing with imperilled journalists.

“The beating and arrest of peaceful demonstrators protesting a project that would uproot thousands of Sudanese and destroy valuable heritage sites shows the government’s disregard for fundamental rights.”

Six countries that are often overlooked in the news warrant special scrutiny as they reach turning points in their trajectory toward – or away from – democracy.