Freedom House

Ukrainian journalist Oles Buzyna was shot dead on Thursday 16 April 2015 in Kiev. He was the former editor-in-chief of Segodnya newspaper and was known for being pro-Russian and a critic of President Petro Poroshenko’s government.

Rasul Jafarov was detained following his participation in a panel at the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE. He organized a Sing for Democracy campaign ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 and was engaged in an effort to draw attention to Azerbaijan’s human rights record ahead of the European Games to be held in June in Baku.

“We should not praise the government for releasing people it had no right to imprison in the first place. Releasing the detainees three days before an election is part of President Bashir’s effort to legitimize a tainted electoral process,” said Vukasin Petrovic, regional director for Africa at Freedom House.

They don’t write for The New York Times or The Daily Mail. And the Swazi government is counting on just that to keep Bheki Makhubu and Thulani Maseko in jail for criticizing the judiciary.

With 11 percent of Pakistan’s 190 million citizens now online, ensuring that the internet is an open space for communication, commerce, and democracy is becoming more important with each additional laptop and smartphone.

“We are shocked by the murder of opposition leader Umarali Kuvvatov, which has all the hallmarks of an assassination,” said Susan Corke, director of Eurasia programs. “It sends a chilling message to all who dare criticize Tajikistan’s president, Emomali Rahmon.”

The mass “UAE 94” trial imprisoned dozens of government critics and reform activists in the United Arab Emirates.

Freedom House offers a timeline that chronicles how an Egyptian social justice movement incubated online, exploded onto the streets, and is now being driven toward extinction.