Issue No 33

February 2008

 

Welcome to Civil Society Watch Monthly Bulletin, an e-newsletter of updates and analyses concerning civil society's rights to freedom of association, assembly and expression around the world. The Bulletin is compiled by the staff at Civil Society Watch, a programme of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. Please feel free to forward the Bulletin to friends and colleagues. We welcome your comments and contributions!

 

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

 

FRONT PAGE
KENYA: A seat at the negotiating table

 

CIVICUS ALERTS!

PAKISTAN: Authorities must protect civil society, CIVICUS urges

 

ANALYSIS

Observing Untruths: Election monitoring in Belarus, Russia and Central Asia

 

DIGITAL SECURITY FOR ACTIVISTS

Roots of (in)security: Protecting your computer

 

GOOD NEWS

UZBEKISTAN: Five human rights activists released

 

COUNTRY UPDATES

BAHRAIN: Organisations appeal for release of demonstrators

CHINA: Activists sentenced in run up to Olympics

COLOMBIA: Student activists under threat

CUBA: Dissidents detained since 2003 crackdown released

ETHIOPIA: Draft NGO law threatens to criminalise advocacy work

FIJI: Lawyers' delegation denied entry

GUATEMALA: Impunity in attacks on human rights defenders

IRAN: Student group protests ongoing detentions

KYRGYZSTAN: Restrictions seek to intimidate civil society

KUWAIT: New law to censor websites introduced

MALAYSIA: Minority rights activists held under terrorism law

RUSSIA: Regulations choking civil society

SERBIA: Leader of human rights group threatened

SRI LANKA: Group banned from protesting

SYRIA: Well known activist imprisoned

THAILAND: 10 human rights defenders charged for protest

ZIMBABWE: Teachers beaten during demonstration

 

RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS

 

CIVICUS Civil Society Watch: Call for participants from USA, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan

Human Rights Watch: 2008 report released

CIVICUS: Call to implement the CSI project

CIVICUS: What do you think? Have your say on the CIVICUS Blog

 

FRONT PAGE

 

KENYA: A seat at the negotiating table

An interview with Barasa Mang'eni, PeaceNet in Kenya

Since violence erupted in Kenya after the 27 December vote, controversially electing President Mwai Kibaki to a second term, 1,000 people are estimated to have been killed and 350,000 more forced to flee their homes. In this volatile situation, both the media and civil society have been restricted and threatened. We spoke with Barasa Mang'eni of the Kenyan NGO PeaceNet about civil society's response to the turmoil in his country.

Read the full interview, visit: http://www.civicus.org/csw/FRONTPAGE_KENYA_No33.htm

 

CIVICUS ALERTS

 

PAKISTAN: Authorities must protect civil society, CIVICUS urges

27 February - The government of Pakistan must protect civil society organisations working in the country, urged CIVICUS, following recent attacks on both local and international groups. On Monday afternoon, armed men entered the office of Plan International, a British-based aid group in Mansehra in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP), killing four staff members and injuring at least another eight.

For more information, visit http://www.civicus.org/csw/Pakistan.Alert.28.02.08.htm

 

ANALYSIS

 

Observing Untruths: Election monitoring in Belarus, Russia and Central Asia

Tanzilya Salimdjanova, CIVICUS Civil Society Watch Associate

With the coming presidential elections in Russia already termed "the pseudo-election" by the Economist, the prospects for change in how elections are run in the region appear dire. As an influential force among its neighbours, the way in which Russia conducts this election could cut a path for even less democratic elections in the future. Russia seems to be following, as well as leading, the spate of questionable elections in Belarus and throughout post-Soviet Central Asia.

For more information, visit http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tanzilya_salimdjanova/2008/02/observing_untruths.html

 

DIGITAL SECURITY FOR ACTIVISTS

 

Roots of (in)security: Protecting your computer

Wojtek Bogusz, Digital Security and Information Systems Coordinator, Front Line

Increasingly our work is done through computers and the Internet. We depend on these tools and use them to collect and store information. For civil society activists and human rights defenders, however, if sensitive information ends up in the wrong hands, it can place lives at risk. The CSW Monthly Bulletin is publishing a series of articles highlighting practical ways you can increase your digital security and privacy. In the second article in the series, Wojtek Bogusz of Front Line discusses how you can protect your computer from viruses, malware, Internet hackers and physical risks. He also explains how to create and maintain good passwords.

For more information, visit http://www.civicus.org/csw_files/DIGITAL_SECURITY-No33.htm

 

GOOD NEWS

 

UZBEKISTAN: Five human rights activists released

5 February - Just prior to an important bilateral European Union meeting in Tashkent, the Uzbek government released five individuals imprisoned for human rights work, reports Human Rights Watch, also noting that a number of others remain in detention. The ending of EU sanctions against the country are contingent on human rights issues.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/02/05/uzbeki17984.htm

 

CSW COUNTRY UPDATES

 

BAHRAIN: Organisations appeal for release of demonstrators

25 February - Fifty-five organisations appealed to the Bahraini authorities to release 15 human rights activists who remain in detention following mass arrests during demonstrations both at the annual march of the Bahraini National Committee for Victims of Torture, and later in protest of the death of one of the demonstrators, reports IFEX.

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/91069/

 

CHINA: Activists sentenced in run up to Olympics

19 February - Yang Chunlin was sentenced 19 February on charges of "inciting subversion against state power" for collecting 10,000 signatures protesting illegal land seizures, reports Human Rights Watch. In recent months, similar charges have been used against six other dissidents and activists.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/02/19/china18100.htm

 

COLOMBIA: Student activists under threat

6 February - Students at the University of Tolima in central Colombia have released a statement documenting human rights abuses, including murder, that they have experienced in recent years as a result of their campaign against the privatisation of the state education system, reports Justice for Colombia.

http://www.justiceforcolombia.org/?link=newsPage&story=158

 

CUBA: Dissidents detained since 2003 crackdown released

20 February - Four dissidents who have been detained since the "Black Spring" crackdown of March 2003, were released on 15 February, according to Reporters Without Borders. They have been released on the condition they go into exile in Spain.

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25781

 

ETHIOPIA: Draft NGO law threatens to criminalise advocacy work

22 February - The newly introduced Charities and Societies Draft Proclamation threatens to criminalise public advocacy and advocacy on contentious issues, reports EthioPolitics. Among other concerns, it imposes unreasonable reporting requirements for NGOs, including seven days advance notice for holding a general meeting.

http://ethiopolitics.com/news_1/20080222275.html#comment-318

 

FIJI: Lawyers' delegation denied entry

18 February - A delegation from the International Bar Association was forced to cancel their visit to investigate the state of the judiciary in the country, after one of the members was denied an entry visa, reports Radio Australia.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s2164976.htm

 

GUATEMALA: Impunity in attacks on human rights defenders

21 February - The number and intensity of attacks against human rights defenders has increased and almost doubled in the last five years with an average of one attack against defenders reported every other day, according to a report by the UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders. There is reportedly 98% impunity in cases involving attacks on human rights defenders.

http://www.protectionline.org/Special-Representative-of-Human,6297.html?pmv_nid=1

 

IRAN: Student group protests ongoing detentions

9 February - Past and present members of the Office to Consolidate Unity, Iran's most prominent umbrella student grouping, issued a statement denouncing the continued detention of leftist students, reported Radio Farda. Dozens of protesting students were arrested in December.

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/02/110208.asp#6-swa

 

KYRGYZSTAN: Restrictions seek to intimidate civil society

28 January - Restrictions on freedom of speech and the right to hold peaceful gatherings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and the persecution and arrest of human rights and youth activists are clear efforts by the authorities to intimidate civil society, said the NGO network Interbilim Centre. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions also reported authorities have suspended the elected President of the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan from his position.

http://www.interbilim.org.kg/en/news/?page=1

http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article1835

 

KUWAIT: New law to censor websites introduced

6 February - A new law censoring websites contradicts freedom of expression, reports HRinfo. The law was introduced at the Kuwaiti parliament on 6 February.

http://www.hrinfo.net/en/reports/2008/pr0206.shtm

 

MALAYSIA: Minority rights activists held under terrorism law

27 February - A Malaysian High Court has ruled that the detention of five Hindu Rights Action Force leaders under the Internal Security Act is lawful, reports ANI. The activists join up to 70 others who are being held in indefinite detention, on suspicion of terrorist offences.

http://www.topnews.in/malaysian-high-court-justifies-detention-five-hindraf-leaders-222695

 

RUSSIA: Regulations choking civil society

20 February - The Russian government should reform regulations that are choking independent activism, says a new Human Rights Watch report. New laws and regulations giving the state broad authority to interfere with the work of NGOs have been adopted in the context of growing authoritarianism in Russia.

http://hrw.org/reports/2008/russia0208/

 

SERBIA: Leader of human rights group threatened

26 February - The head of the Humanitarian Law Centre, Natasa Kandic has been threatened in the media and the HLC office was attacked after she attended an independence ceremony at Kosovo's Parliamentary Assembly, reports the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.

http://www.fidh.org/spip.php?article5269

 

SRI LANKA: Group banned from protesting

26 February - Four human rights defenders associated with the Sri Lankan human rights organisation, Right to Life, have been banned from engaging in peaceful protest activities by a permanent injunction issued by the District Court of Negombo, reports the Asian Human Rights Commission.

http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1395/

 

SYRIA: Well known activist imprisoned

14 February - Syrian dissident, former parliamentarian, and long-time human rights advocate, Riad Seif, was arrested for attending a meeting of pro-democracy opposition groups on 28 January, reports Amnesty International. Seif was released from prison only two years ago after a five-year sentence for organising pro-democracy meetings.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE24/005/2008/31e84062-cf5b-11dc-8648-4760f58735f5/mde240052008eng.html

 

THAILAND: 10 human rights defenders charged for protest

1 February - Ten human rights defenders have been charged with trespassing and holding an illegal gathering, following their participation in a demonstration to protest against attempts by the National Legislative Assembly to rush the passage of eight bills affecting civil liberties, reports the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.

http://www.protectionline.org/Judicial-proceedings-against-ten,6143.html?pmv_nid=1

 

ZIMBABWE: Teachers beaten during demonstration

19 February - Teachers from the Progressive Teachers' Union were attacked and beaten by ZANU PF members as they peacefully demonstrated on the streets of Harare under the theme Save our Education, reports Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

http://www.zlhr.org.zw

 

RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS

 

CIVICUS Civil Society Watch: Call for participants from USA, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan

CIVICUS is developing a Civic Space Barometer to monitor the perceived space for civil society around the world. As part of this project, CIVICUS is searching for civil society actors (including individuals involved in the media, NGOs, trade unions and faith based organisations, among others) in the USA, Kazakhstan and Ethiopia to participate in a survey on the space for civil society in their countries. Applicants should have an understanding of civil society in their countries, and be willing to complete approximately four simple surveys over the next two years.

For more information, visit http://www.civicus.org/csw/civic.space.barometer-call.doc,

In Russia  http://www.civicus.org/csw/civic.space.barometer-call-russian.doc

 

Human Rights Watch: 2008 report released

Established democracies are accepting flawed and unfair elections for political expediency, Human Rights Watch said in releasing its World Report 2008. By allowing autocrats to pose as democrats, influential democracies risk undermining human rights worldwide.

For more information, visit http://hrw.org/wr2k8/

 

CIVICUS: Call to implement the CSI project

The CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) project is calling for statements of interest to implement the CSI project around the world. The CSI is an action-research project that has already evaluated the state of civil society in over 45 countries. Organisations interested are encouraged to submit an application before 31 March.

For more information, visit http://www.civicus.org/new/media/CSI_Call_for_Statements_of_Interest_2008.doc

 

CIVICUS: What do you think? Have your say on the CIVICUS Blog

Have your say, visit http://civicus.civiblog.org 

 

CONTACT US

We hope you enjoyed the Bulletin! If you would like to send an appeal or share information with us regarding issues affecting civil society in your region, please contact the Civil Society Watch (CSW) team at, cswatch@civicus.org

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CIVICUS House, PO Box 933, Southdale, Johannesburg, 2135, South Africa, tel +27 11 833 5959 / fax +27 11 833 7997

CIVICUS is an alliance of members and partners in over 100 countries, dedicated to strengthening civil society and citizen action around the world. Civil Society Watch is a programme of CIVICUS, which seeks to expose, address and prevent threats to civil society's rights to freedom of association, expression and assembly. For more information, visit www.civicus.org and www.civilsocietywatch.org

www.civilsocietywatch.org

DISCLAIMER:

The views expressed in this bulletin are a reflection of those contained in the original reports to which they are linked here, and are not necessarily those of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation.