Spanish  CIVICUS speaks to Diana Vegas, the vice-president of Sinergia, a Venezuelan organisation that aims at expanding spaces for citizen participation, providing a space for civil society articulation and strengthening civil society.

DECLARACION EN ESPANOL The international community should press Venezuela to revoke the recent “State of Exception and Emergency Decree” that granted the government powers to restrict rights, suspend international cooperation for civil society groups, including human rights organizations, and limit the constitutional powers of the National Assembly, 125 human rights and civil society organizations from around the world said today.

MEDIA STATEMENT The Ethiopian Government must end its escalating crackdown on human rights defenders, independent media, peaceful protestors as well as members and leaders of the political opposition through the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (ATP) says a group of civil society organisations (CSOs).

  Spanish Fernando Bracaccini a lawyer and coordinator of the Area for the Strengthening of Democratic Institutions at ACIJ (Civil Association for Equality and Justice), a non-profit organisation, speaks to CIVICUS on the environment for civil society organisations in Argentina.

Global civil society alliance CIVICUS is concerned about the negative impact of Venezuela’s “state of exception and economic emergency” on civil society freedoms.

Dinara Oshurahunova, of the NGO Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, speaks with CIVICUS on recently failed attempts in Kyrgyzstan to pass a foreign agents law and the civil society environment in the country 1.

Nearly two hundred civil society organisations from 74 countries, including South Africa, have written an open letter to South African President Jacob Zuma to mark the second-month anniversary of the brutal assassination of South African community and land rights activist Sikhosiphi Rhadebe.

In this anonymous interview with CIVICUS, a human rights defender working for a civil society organisation in China details what China’s new NGO Law means and its likely impact on NGOs.

قراءة بيان باللغة العربية We, the undersigned NGOs, call on the authorities to immediately release human rights defender and professor of economics Dr.

CIVICUS speaks to Thulani Rudolf Maseko, a human rights defender and founding member of the Lawyers for Human Rights, Swaziland about persistent civic space challenges in the Kingdom of Swaziland and his experiences as a victim of the actions of monarchy.

Today, citizens will be gathering in streets and squares around the world to exercise their fundamental rights to speak out, organise and take action on issues affecting their everyday lives.

Carmen Aída Ibarra (pictured) is the Executive Director of the Pro Justicia Movement Coalition, a grouping of citizen participants that brings together three civil society organisations fighting impunity in Guatemala.

As you may be aware, 22 May 2016, will mark the second-month anniversary of South African community and land rights activist Sikhosiphi Rhadebe’s brutal murder in the Eastern Cape province.

Publish What You Pay (PWYP), ARTICLE 19 and CIVICUS welcome yesterday’s unprecedented decision by the Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to list Azerbaijan as ‘inactive'.

Global civil society alliance CIVICUS calls on the authorities in Mauritania to release blogger and freelance journalist Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed and overturn a death sentence against him upheld by the Appeals Court in Nouadhibou on 21 April 2016.

Bogotá 28 April 2016; Three activists from India, Pakistan, and Sierra Leone were awarded the coveted Nelson Mandela-Graça Machel Innovation Award, honoring their ground-breaking work on social issues.

Dear King Hamad, We, the undersigned Bahraini and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), would like to unequivocally condemn your government’s arrest of human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja along with her infant son.

Spanish       CIVICUS speaks to Carlos A Guevara coordinates the information system for Somos Defensores (We Are Defenders), a non-governmental protection program for human rights defenders in Colombia.

Spanish     CIVICUS speaks to Rolando Bú, the director of the Federation of Non-Governmental Organisations for the Development of Honduras (FOPRIDEH), a civil society umbrella organisation that brings together 86 Honduran NGOs.

Spanish      Armando Chaguaceda Noriega is a Cuban political scientist and historian who specialises in the study of civil society and the political regimes of Cuba and other ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our Americas) countries.

The new Secretary-General of the United Nations will inherit a significant array of human rights challenges, and must urgently deal with the capability of United Nations institutions to protect and promote human rights globally.

Ahead of the Chadian presidential elections scheduled for 10 April 2016, global civil society alliance CIVICUS urges the release of five arbitrarily detained civil society activists.

Even as the European Union (EU) finalised its refugee agreement with the Turkish government, freedom of expression and civil society space continue to shrink in the country.

Downoad: English | Español The government of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea should immediately cease its suppression of independent voices ahead of presidential elections, a group of human rights and democracy organizations said today.

The Provincial Court of Luanda sentenced 17 Angolan youth activists to prison sentences ranging from between two to over eight years on Monday for engaging in “preparation of a rebellion and criminal association.

South Africa may be celebrating human rights month to commemorate the sacrifices made in the struggle for democracy, yet attacks on rights defenders point to a worrying trend for civil society.

March 2016 marks a year since Zimbabwean activist Itai Dzamara’s enforced disappearance.

Votre organisation œuvre-t-elle à construire un monde plus juste et plus pacifique? Votre travail contribue-t-il à donner plus de pouvoir aux citoyens et les incite-t-il à prendre des mesures sur les questions qui nous concernent tous? Si oui, vous pouvez vous inscrire au Concours photo des Citoyens actifs de CIVICUS! Le concours est organisé dans la perspective de la Semaine internationale de la société civile 2016 selon le principe suivant: «Des citoyens actifs, des actions responsables».

¿Trabaja tu organización para construir un mundo de paz y más justo? ¿Colabora tu trabajo con el empoderamiento de ciudadanos y ciudadanas para la acción en temas que nos afectan a todos? Si es así, ¡considera participar en el Concurso Fotográfico de CIVICUS “Ciudadanía Activa”! El Concurso se desarrolla en el marco de la Semana Internacional de la Sociedad Civil bajo el lema “Ciudadanía Activa, Acciones Responsables”.

  In the lead-up to International Civil Society Week 2016, CIVICUS launched the Active Citizens Photography Competition, inviting eligible participants to share images of Alliance members in action.

Syria’s authorities should reveal the whereabouts of Bassel Khartabil, a software developer and free speech activist, and release him immediately, 31 organizations said on the fourth anniversary of his detention.

CIVICUS speaks to Liana Varon the Deputy Secretary General of the Third Sector Foundation of Turkey (TUSEV), a network of over 100 foundations and associations in Turkey on the situation concerning freedom of expression and the environment for CSOs.

Does your organisation work to build a more just and peaceful world? Does your work help empower and engage citizens to take action on issues that affect us all?    If so, consider entering the CIVICUS “Active Citizens” Photography Competition!   The competition is being held in the run-up to International Civil Society Week 2016 under the banner: “Active Citizens, Accountable Actions”.

On the first anniversary of the detention of Congolese youth activists, Fred Bauma and Yves Makwambala, global civil society alliance CIVICUS urges the African Union (AU) to demand their immediate and unconditional release, along with several other imprisoned civil society activists.

CIVICUS thanks the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea for her update this morning.

|Declaración en Español (pdf)|  On 7 March, one day before International Women’s Day, mourners gathered to pay their final respects to human rights defender Berta Cáceres, who was violently gunned down at her home in the early morning hours of 3 March.

On February 25, 2016, 58 nonprofit organizations (NPOs), including umbrella groups with more than 300 member organizations, sent a letter to the U.

In February 2016, CIVICUS interviewed Ms.

Civil society groups are urging Ugandan authorities to respect citizen and media freedoms ahead of the 18 February parliamentary and presidential elections.

Español | Français    CIVICUS is looking for nominations for election to its Board of Directors.

CIVICUS spoke to Yared Hailemariam, the director of Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE), concerning the recent killing of protesters in the country.

CIVICUS speaks to Natalie Samarasinghe, the executive director of the United Nations Association – UK, where she has worked since 2006.

The Climate Change Conference, COP21, was concluded in December 2015 with various agreements by states.

The recent sentencing of two South Korean civil society leaders, indicted for their role in organising and participating in protests demanding an independent investigation into the tragic Sewol Ferry disaster of 2014, is a troubling outcome for the protection of democratic rights in the country.

A pending Bill under consideration in Nigeria has civil society concerned for freedom of expression in the country.

TO: His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain CC: His Excellency Lieutenant General Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Minister of Interior, His Excellency Sheikh Khaled Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, And Permanent Mission of Bahrain to the United Nations in Geneva Your Majesty, We, the undersigned NGOs, call on the Bahraini authorities to lift the arbitrary travel ban on human rights defender Nabeel Rajab in order that he be able to travel abroad with his family for the purpose of securing medical assistance for his wife, Sumaya Rajab.

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (Defend Defenders) and Amnesty International urge Ethiopia’s development and international partners to address the killing of at least 140 protesters in the Oromia region since December 2015.

A Joint Statement by 108 Worldwide Civil Society Organizations regarding the 709 Crackdown (9th January 2016, Hong Kong) Exactly six months have passed since 9 July 2015 when the Chinese government started detaining human rights lawyers and defenders in large scale.

On 16 December 2015, prominent human rights lawyer, Mr.

The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP), Protection International (PI) and CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation welcome the resolution adopted by consensus at the Human Rights Council during this Special Session, requesting that a mission composed of independent experts be urgently dispatched to investigate human rights violations.