Freedom House

“Freedom House calls on the Mauritanian authorities to release Biram Dah Abeid and all other activists who were arrested during their peaceful anti-slavery advocacy,” said Jenai Cox, program manager for Africa programs at Freedom House.

Nine leading human rights organisations urged President Obama to take up the Chinese government’s crackdown on civil society as a barrier to bilateral relations on his upcoming visit to China.

On 30 October a Baku court sentenced opposition journalist Khalid Garayev to 25 days in detention on trumped-up charges of hooliganism and disobeying the police.

The draft law “…would block LGBTI organizations and others working on sexual and reproductive rights from operating legally, and restrict the media and people who seek to express their views publicly and peacefully.”

Against the backdrop of the unprecedented crackdown on civil society, Khadija Ismayilova’s arrest on criminal defamation charges seems imminent and would confirm the authorities’ intent to silence all critical voices in the country.

Cases of detention, sentencing and imprisonment of dissidents have been taking place during the period that Azerbaijan is meant to be leading the rest of Europe towards a greater respect for human rights.

More than 100 civil society organisations ask the UN Secretary General to recognise the importance of free expression rights in the sustainable development goals.

The international press has largely shifted its focus away from Venezuela, but government repression has continued in less conspicuous forms.