Human Rights Watch

“Lives hang in the balance, and governments need to urgently use their leverage to ensure that the order is enforced.”

Signatories stress that the Convention should only move forward if it pursues a specific goal of combating cybercrime without endangering the human rights and fundamental freedoms of those it seeks to protect, nor undermining efforts to improve cybersecurity for an open internet.

“The Kyrgyz authorities should drop criminal cases of ‘war propaganda’ and ‘calls to mass disorder’ initiated against several independent media outlets,” eight human rights groups said.

“The international system that we rely on to protect human rights is under threat as world leaders look the other way when universal principles of human rights are violated” – HRW World Report 2024

Meta should permit protected expression, including about human rights abuses and political movements on its platforms, says HRW.

Human Rights Watch said authorities should quash the sentence and cease prosecuting other cases under the lese majeste law.

First two prison sentences under decree used to stifle free speech

Systematic crackdown on organizations; official intimidation, interrogations.