Freedom House

Articles by Freedom House

Opposition members protest during the vote on the Communications Act in Ecuador's National Assembly on 14 June 2013., Cortesía www.ecuavisa.com

Groups call for review of Ecuador’s restrictive communications law

Over 30 IFEX members write to President Rafael Correa, calling on him to submit the recently-approved Ecuadorian Communications Law to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for a Consultative Opinion.

The logo of Sina Corp's Chinese microblog website "Weibo" is pictured, 13 September 2011, REUTERS/Stringer

Special report: China’s new leaders advance Internet control

China’s Internet controls, which were already among the most extensive in the world, have grown even more sophisticated and pervasive under the new Communist Party leadership, according to a Freedom House special report.

Somalia's Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid (L) and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (R) at an event in Mogadishu July 2013., REUTERS/Feisal Omar

35 IFEX members call for amendments to Somalia’s draft media law

IFEX members issued a joint call for amendments to a deeply-flawed draft media law in Somalia before it goes to parliament for approval in August.

Blogger Le Quoc Quan, https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/20153

Ahead of U.S.-Vietnam meeting, Obama urged to press for blogger’s release

Nineteen human rights organisations have written to U.S. President Barack Obama to raise the issue of the detention of human rights defender and blogger Mr Le Quoc Quan when President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam meets Obama on 25 July 2013.

Protesters react in front of riot policemen during a demonstration against last month's rape of 29-year-old shop assistant Iryna Krashkova, in central Kyiv early July 19, 2013. , Reuters

Ukrainian demonstrators detained, journalists beaten at protest against police brutality

On 18 July 2013, two journalists from Channel 5 were beaten and approximately 10 demonstrators were detained as they called for the reform of the police force and the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs in the Ukraine.

Link to: China continues to target anti-corruption movement with arrest of lawyer

China continues to target anti-corruption movement with arrest of lawyer

The arrest of leading public interest lawyer Xu Zhiyong is part of an ongoing crackdown by Chinese authorities against rights defenders and anti-corruption advocates.

Link to: Ecuador’s new law dispels myth of “media democratisation”

Ecuador’s new law dispels myth of “media democratisation”

“Democratizing the media” is a common refrain in Latin America these days. While the phrase may suggest a process that would lift restrictions on media and increase citizen access, it has been invoked to support policies that do the opposite.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez (L) and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko embrace at Miraflores Palace in Caracas on 26 June 2012, REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Transparency, accountability bypassed as authoritarian regimes band together

Partnerships between authoritarian regimes have few ideological underpinnings other than a shared rejection of democracy and the rule of law.