The blogosphere is abuzz with the unsettling news that the Chinese government has arrested Xu Zhiyong, a 36-year-old attorney, thereby dealing another blow to the growing Chinese rule of law movement. In authoritarian countries or nations in transition, lawyers often play a key role in bringing greater democracy through the judicial protections, accountability, and transparency […]
While the second day of the trial of protesters arrested in post-election turmoil in Iran might not have provided the same shock level as the day one of the trial, it still had its share of extremely interesting confessions. Though in today’s hearing no one accused high-level reformist leaders of conspiring against the Islamic Republic, […]
Amidst what appears to be a confusion of evidence and a disregard for both the pressures faced by girls sold into marriage and the inherently dual victim-perpetrator status of children in conflict situations, Rania Ibrahim, a 16-year-old Iraqi teenage girl, has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for an attempted suicide […]
American President Barack Obama’s first meeting with Filipino President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo , which is also his first meeting with a Southeast Asian head of state, was overshadowed in the American press by the domestic melodrama, known as “Gates-Gate” or the “Beer Summit”.
About 100 protesters arrested for their involvement in post-election violence were put on trial today. The defendants included supporters of reformist opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, and aides of former reformist president Mohammad Khatami. The Tehran Times reported that according to the indictment, a number of protesters confessed that the post-election unrest […]
Defying the government ban, ten of thousands of Iranians gathered yesterday at Tehran’s main cemetery for the 40-day commemoration of those killed in the aftermath of the election. Police used tear gas and baton to break up the demonstration. The Press TV reported that 50 people were arrested in the protest. Renowned Iranian filmmaker Panahi […]
Today both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times carried stories on the prison abuse going on in Iran. The New York Times reported: Some prisoners say they watched fellow detainees being beaten to death by guards in overcrowded, stinking holding pens. Others say they had their fingernails ripped off or were forced […]
At the recent ASEAN Regional Forum in Thailand, U.S. Secretary of State Clinton, before the the 25 nations present, officially confirmed a substantial shift in U.S. foreign policy when she stated: ‘On behalf of our country and the Obama administration, I want to send a very clear message that the United States is back, that we […]
All across the world today, people are showing their solitary to the Iranian people in their struggle for democracy, freedom and human rights. In over 80 cities, from Austin, Texas to London to Tokyo, people are protesting against the disputed Iranian presidential election and the severe clampdown on opposition activities by the Iranian government. The […]
Human Rights Come to ASEAN? On Monday, in Phuket, Thailand, ASEAN laid out plans to formally adopt the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AIGCHR) at its regional meeting in October of this year. The commission will have a mandate for greater human rights education, information dissemination, and inter-regional capacity building. It will be be […]
In his inaugural speech, President Barack Obama asserted that the United States remains “the most prosperous, powerful nation on earth.” No matter how powerful a nation is, however, its priorities still need to be rearranged and sometimes compromised, especially when dealing with key allies and partners. This much was evident by U.S. Secretary of State […]
