Interviews

Featured

SYRIA: ‘We spread the culture of human rights in a country with one of the world’s worst human rights records’

Interviews 04 October 2023

CIVICUS speaks about Syria’s ongoing civil war and human rights crisis and its prospects for democratic change with Fadel Abdul Ghany, founder and Executive Director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR).

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ERITREA: ‘When the government reacts to our work, we know what we do is making an impact’

Interviews 03 October 2023

CIVICUS speaks with about civil society work in Eritrea’s context of closed civic space with Helen Kidan, chairperson of the Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (EMDHR).

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MEXICO: ‘The Supreme Court’s ruling marks a before and after in the struggle for reproductive justice’

Interviews 02 October 2023

CIVICUS speaks about the recent Supreme Court ruling decriminalising abortion in Mexico with Brenda Rodriguez, communications coordinator of Information Group on Reproductive Choice (GIRE, Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida).

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VIETNAM: ‘The government hates losing face and has zero tolerance for criticism’

Interviews 29 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks about recent arrests of leading environmental activists in Vietnam with Penelope Faulkner, President of Quê Me: Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR).

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UGANDA: ‘The UN human rights office was instrumental in addressing human rights concerns in the conflict and post-conflict period’

Interviews 27 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks about the closure of the United Nations (UN) office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Uganda with Robert Kirenga, Executive Director of the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders-Uganda (NCHRD-U).

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THE NETHERLANDS: ‘Restrictions on the right to protest should be the exception rather than the rule’

Interviews 26 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Sieger Sloot, an actor and climate activist from a Dutch branch of Extinction Rebellion (XR), and Marjolein Kuijers, policy officer on the right to protest at the Dutch section of Amnesty International, about the government’s reaction to climate protests in the run-up to parliamentary elections in the Netherlands in November.

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MEXICO: ‘The decriminalisation of abortion is a huge collective achievement for the feminist movement’

Interviews 25 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Alba Adriana Jiménez Patlán, director of the Network for Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Mexico (ddeser), about the historic ruling of the Mexican Supreme Court decriminalising abortion at the federal level.

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ECUADOR: ‘Indigenous peoples are the forgotten ones of public policies’

Interviews 24 September 2023

CIVICUS discusses Indigenous peoples' environmental activism and civil society's hopes for the upcoming COP28 climate summit with Fausto Daniel Santi Gualina, a leader of the Indigenous Sarayaku people of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

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SPAIN: ‘Explicit manifestations of gender-based violence are just the tip of the iceberg’

Interviews 20 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Isabel Abella Ruiz de Mendoza about the systemic macho violence faced by women in sport, evidenced in a recent case of abuse of power by the highest authority of the Spanish football federation.

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SPAIN: ‘Women are no longer willing to tolerate disrespect or abuse of power’

Interviews 18 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Eleonora Giovio, sports editor of the Spanish newspaper El País, about the systemic abuses faced by women in sport, evidenced in a recent case of abuse of power by the highest authority in the Spanish football federation.

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GABON: ‘Under the old regime civil society was not taken into account’

Interviews 16 September 2023

CIVICUS discusses the military coup in Gabon with Pepecy Ogouliguende, expert in human rights, governance, gender and peace mediation and founder and president of Malachie.

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BAHRAIN: ‘Had there been civic freedoms, the authorities would have known of the deep suffering at Jau Prison’

Interviews 15 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks about the situation of political prisoners on hunger strike in Bahrain with Jawad Fairooz, founder and director of Salam for Democracy and Human Rights (Salam DHR).

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EGYPT: ‘Activists who work from abroad are being targeted through their families’

Interviews 15 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks about the ongoing repression of dissent in Egypt with Ahmed Attalla, Executive Director of the Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR).

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ZIMBABWE: ‘This so-called election was a circus and a waste of resources’

Interviews 14 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks about Zimbabwe’s August general election and its aftermath with Obert Masaraure, national president of Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe and spokesperson of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, which brings together 84 Zimbabwean civil society organisations (CSOs).

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IRAN: ‘The severity of the crackdown only shows how scared the regime is of the protest movement’

Interviews 13 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Sohrab Razaghi, executive director of Volunteer Activists (VA), about the situation in Iran on the anniversary of the anti-regime protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of morality police.

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GLOBAL: ‘With a wealth tax on the biggest fortunes, extreme poverty can be eradicated’

Interviews 13 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks about climate change, global inequality and the need for redistribution with Adrien Fabre, a France-based climate economist and founder of Global Redistribution Advocates (GRA).

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NAMIBIA: ‘We have seen some progress on LGBTQI+ rights, but there is a lot of work still to be done’

Interviews 12 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks about recent moves to ban same-sex marriage in Namibia with Kevin Wessels, a young activist and a seasoned consultant and social entrepreneur working to advance human rights in Namibia.

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GABON: ‘Civic space and the conditions for the exercise of human rights were difficult under the former regime’

Interviews 11 September 2023

CIVICUS discusses the military coup in Gabon with Georges Mpaga, National Executive President of the Network of Free Civil Society Organisations of Gabon (ROLBG).

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VENEZUELA: ‘The Darién Gap is claiming many lives that governments cannot even quantify’

Interviews 05 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Ana María Diez, president of Coalition for Venezuela, about the humanitarian crisis of Venezuelan migrants trying to reach the USA by land.

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BANGLADESH: ‘The legal vulnerability of LGBTQI+ people leads to harassment and discrimination’

Interviews 04 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks about the state of civic space and the rights of excluded groups in Bangladesh with Shahanur Islam, founder secretary general of JusticeMakers Bangladesh (JMBD) and founder president of JMBD in France.

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PHILIPPINES: ‘The government is headed by a former dictator’s son who reached power in a suspicious manner’

Interviews 03 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Nymia Pimentel-Simbulan about the human rights situation in the Philippines since the start of Ferdinand Marcos Junior’s government.

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CHAD: ‘The government, local groups and society at large have all joined efforts to help refugees’

Interviews 02 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Monim Haroon, Emergency Communications Manager at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), about the situation of Sudanese migrants in Chad’s refugee camps and civil society’s work to support them.

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PALESTINE: ‘People have lost confidence in an international system that fails to protect the powerless against the powerful’

Interviews 01 September 2023

CIVICUS speaks about ongoing repression in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and the international response to Israeli aggression with Susan Power, Head of Legal Research and Advocacy at Al-Haq.

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PHILIPPINES: ‘Historical memory of martial law under Marcos Senior gives us strength to persevere’

Interviews 31 August 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Cristina Palabay, Secretary General of Karapatan, about the human rights situation in the Philippines since the start of Ferdinand Marcos Junior’s government.

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MALDIVES: ‘Calling this a free and fair election would be a betrayal to the people of Maldives’

Interviews 30 August 2023

CIVICUS speaks about the upcoming presidential election in Maldives with Shahindha Ismail, founder of the Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN).

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UGANDA: ‘We’ll participate in COP28 to pressure world leaders to divert funding away from oil and gas’

Interviews 29 August 2023

CIVICUS speaks about recent developments involving the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project and civil society’s efforts to stop it with Zaki Mamdoo, Campaign Coordinator of Stop EACOP.

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ZIMBABWE: ‘Election violence is a cover for ideological ambivalence and lack of substantive programmes’

Interviews 28 August 2023

CIVICUS speaks about the general election in Zimbabwe and the role of civil society with Wellington Mbofana, former director of the Civic Education Network Trust (CIVNET), a civil society organisation (CSO) that recently shut down due to lack of funding, and a former board member of several Zimbabwean CSOs.

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AI: ‘The biggest challenges are the biases and lack of transparency of algorithms’

Interviews 24 August 2023

CIVICUS speaks about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) for civil society’s work with Omran Najjar, Kshitij Sharma, Leen D’hondt, Nasilele Amatende and Petya Kangalova of Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT).

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BULGARIA: ‘Our society has finally become sensitised to domestic and gender-based violence’

Interviews 22 August 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Victoria Petrova, Communications and Development Director at the Bulgarian Fund for Women (BFW), about civil society’s struggles to end domestic and gender-based violence in Bulgaria.

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COP28: ‘For us, climate change is not an abstract concept of future concern but an urgent reality of the present’

Interviews 17 August 2023

CIVICUS discusses the hopes and roles of civil society at the forthcoming COP28 climate summit with climate justice activist Disha Ravi, founder of India’s branch of the youth-led climate movement Fridays for Future.

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NIGER: ‘Threats don’t solve problems; the international response must emphasise dialogue and negotiation’

Interviews 16 August 2023

CIVICUS discusses the recent military coup in Niger with Clément Kocou Gbedey, Niger’s National Coordinator of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP).

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ECUADOR: ‘Democracy has allowed room for organised crime and narco-politics to grow’

Interviews 15 August 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Mauricio Alarcón Salvador, executive director of Fundación Ciudadanía y Desarrollo (Citizenship and Development Foundation, FCD), about the elections that will be held in Ecuador on 20 August, the eruption of political violence and organised crime and the implications for civil society and the future of the country.

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SENEGAL: ‘The situation is becoming more tense as we approach the 2024 elections’

Interviews 14 August 2023

CIVICUS speaks about the deterioration of civic space in the run-up to next year’s elections in Senegal with Sadikh Niass, Secretary General of the African Meeting for the Defence of Human Rights (Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme, RADDHO), and Iba Sarr, Director of Programmes at RADDHO.

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KYRGYZSTAN: ‘True freedom cannot be granted by external forces; it needs to be claimed by people’

Interviews 10 August 2023

CIVICUS speaks about the restrictive conditions for civil society in Kyrgyzstan with Tolekan Ismailova, founding president of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society and director of the human rights movement One World-Kyrgyzstan (Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan, BDK).

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COP28: ‘Having a climate summit in an oil-and-gas country can jeopardise the outcomes’

Interviews 09 August 2023

CIVICUS discusses the hopes and roles of civil society at the forthcoming COP28 climate summit with Harlee Richards, strategist at Follow This.

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UK: ‘We engage in disruptive protest to keep the climate catastrophe in people’s minds’

Interviews 07 August 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Mitch Rose, a volunteer activist with Just Stop Oil, about climate activism and its criminalisation in the UK.

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POLAND: ‘In reaction to conservative backlash, public support for LGBTQI+ rights is on the rise’

Interviews 03 August 2023

CIVICUS speaks about 2023 Pride and Polish LGBTQI+ rights organisations’ response to the conservative backlash against LGBTQI+ rights with Annamaria Linczowska, advocacy and litigation officer at Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH).

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DRC: ‘Defending the environment means becoming the target of politicians and businesspeople’

Interviews 02 August 2023

CIVICUS discusses the hopes and roles of civil society at the forthcoming COP28 climate summit with Guillaume Kalonji, a youth climate activist and founder of Rise Up Movement DRC.

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NEPAL: ‘This landmark decision represents significant progress for all LGBTQI+ people’

Interviews 28 July 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Sanjay Sharma, Programme Director of Nepal’s Blue Diamond Society, about the recent Supreme Court’s order to register same-sex marriages and civil society’s role in advancing LGBTQI+ rights in the country.

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AI REGULATION: ‘There must be a balance between promoting innovation and protecting rights’

Interviews 25 July 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Nadia Benaissa, legal policy advisor at Bits of Freedom, about the risks artificial intelligence (AI) poses to human rights and the role civil society is playing in developing a legal framework for AI governance.

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SPAIN: ‘The LGBTQI+ community fears both legal and social backlash’

Interviews 24 July 2023

CIVICUS speaks about the situation of LGBTQI+ people in the context of Spain’s election with Emilio de Benito, spokesperson for Health and Seniors of the LGTB+ Collective of Madrid (COGAM).

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HONG KONG: ‘Any activism that the government dislikes can be deemed a national security violation’

Interviews 17 July 2023

CIVICUS speaks about the persecution faced by Hong Kong activists in exile with Anouk Wear, research and policy adviser at Hong Kong Watch.

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TURKEY: ‘For the embattled LGBTQI+ movement, simply persisting in taking to the streets is an achievement’

Interviews 16 July 2023

CIVICUS speaks about 2023 Pride and the civil society response to the Turkish government’s anti-LGBTQI+ campaign with Damla Umut Uzun, international relations and fundraising officer at Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (Kaos GL).

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ANGOLA: ‘The untrue government narrative reveals an aversion to civil society denouncing malpractice’

Interviews 07 July 2023

PORTUGUESE CIVICUS discusses the state of civic space and the new restrictions being imposed on civil society in Angola with Emilio José Manuel, focal point for Angola of the Lusophone Platform for Human Rights and founding member of the Working Group for Human Rights Monitoring in Angola (GTMDH).

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ESTONIA: ‘Legal changes deepen the cultural shift favourable to LGBTQI+ rights’

Interviews 06 July 2023

CIVICUS speaks about civil society’s role in the recent legalisation of same-sex marriage in Estonia with Kelly Grossthal, head of strategic litigation at the Estonian Human Rights Centre (EHRC).

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FINLAND: ‘We’ll have the most right-wing government since the 1930s’

Interviews 05 July 2023

CIVICUS speaks about Finland’s new government with Silla Ristimäki, development policy specialist at Fingo.

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GUATEMALA: ‘Our democracy is at risk in the hands of political-criminal networks’

Interviews 04 July 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Evelyn Recinos Contreras about Guatemala’s general elections – where a candidate promising reform has surprisingly made the second round of the presidential race – and the prospects for democratic change and opening up civic space.

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GERMANY: ‘Our street blockades hurt society the least and put no one’s life in danger’

Interviews 04 July 2023

CIVICUS speaks with Zoe Ruge of Last Generation about climate activism and its criminalisation in Germany.

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AUSTRALIA: ‘People deeply understand that rights and liberties are won through protest’

Interviews 03 July 2023

CIVICUS speaks with David Mejia-Canales, senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC), about anti-protest legislation being introduced in states across Australia and its impact on civil society activism.

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ANGOLA: ‘The new NGO Law is just a way of legalising the government’s arrogance and excesses’

Interviews 02 July 2023

PORTUGUESE CIVICUS discusses the state of civic space and the new restrictions being imposed on the work of Angolan civil society with Godinho Cristóvão, a jurist, human rights defender and executive director of the association Movimento de Defensores de Direitos Humanos de Angola (Movement of Human Rights Defenders of Angola, KUTAKESA).

Interviews

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