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Articles by Maharat Foundation

REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

On Right to Know Day, calls for UN to include free expression rights in development goals

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

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay delivers an address at the 26th Council Session in Gevena, REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Groups call on UN to protect free expression online

This week, a resolution on the importance of protecting human rights online was discussed at the 26th UN Human Rights Council Session in Geneva. Read the oral statement on this resolution led by ARTICLE 19 and supported by several IFEX members.

People take part in a demonstration for LGBT rights in downtown Rome, 11 June 2011, REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico

Protecting freedom of expression for LGBT people

Making a statement during International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO-T).

A graphic created by Maharat Foundation as part of its "Express Freely" competition launched to encourage university students to support press freedom in Lebanon, Maharat Foundation/Facebook

Lebanese government moves to control expression in the online realm

Although Lebanon has long been considered to have one of the most open and diverse media environments in a region dominated by dictatorships, it is no stranger to restrictions on free expression.

Syrian human rights activists Hussein Gharir Mazen Darwish and Hani al-Zitani

Free key rights defenders held in violation of international standards in Syria

The government of Syria should immediately and unconditionally release the arbitrarily detained human rights defender Mazen Darwish and his colleagues Hani Al-Zitani and Hussein Ghareer, 61 human rights organizations said on 17 March 2014.

Ali Anouzla, the editor of current affairs website Lakome.com, smiles as he is greeted by members of his support committee, after being released on bail in Rabat on 25 October 2013, REUTERS/Stringer

Rights groups call for charges against Moroccan editor Ali Anouzla to be dropped

Journalist and editor Ali Anouzla was arrested on 17 September 2013 in connection with a 13 September news article published on the Arabic edition of news website Lakome. Ahead of a Rabat court hearing scheduled on 18 February, local and international rights organisations came together to call for the charges against him to be dropped.

A woman picks vegetables near a residential compound under construction in Zhejiang province, China, 17 January 2014, REUTERS/William Hong

Transparency, independent media are vital for global development plan

195 civil society organisations from around the world have called on the UN to put government accountability and independent media at the centre of a new framework for global development.

Tunisian Constituent Assembly President Mustapha Ben Jaafar in the assembly building in Tunis in November 2013. After months of crisis, a new constitution is about to be signed in to law., REUTERS/Anis Mili

Tunisia’s constitution should be a model to protect free expression in the region, say rights groups

Over 50 IFEX members and partners appeal to the civil society groups assisting in a consultation process with elected representatives to protect freedom of expression in the new Tunisian Constitution.