State control

Middle East: Bloggers targets of government suppression

In the Middle East and North Africa, where political change occurs slowly, blogging has becomes a serious medium for social and political commentary as well as a target of government suppression, writes Mohamed Abdel Dayem. Before the June presidential election, the Iranian government blocked access to more than a dozen social networking sites and online news sources perceived as favoring opposition candidates. Hours before polls opened, SMS, or short message service for mobile phones, was disrupted and remained offline for weeks. The day after the election, the government shut down mobile phone service for an entire day.

Iran: Interview with Mother of Imprisoned Campaign Activist Mehrnoosh Etemadi

Interview with Sadighe Shalbafian, Mother of Imprisoned Campaign Activist Mehrnoosh Etemadi: "We Remain in a State of Limbo and Uncertainty". Change for Equality has conducted an interview with Sadighe Shalbafian regarding the situation of her daughter Mehrnoosh Etemadi. Etemadi who is an activist in the One Million Signatures Campaign was arrested on November 23, 2009 after security officials searched her home and seized property. While she has contacted her family by phone a few times, her status in prison and the charges against her remain unclear. The interview with her mother, Sadighe Shalbafian follows:

Sahara-Occidental: Aminatou Haïdar, un parcours sans faute

Surnommée la Gandhi sahraouie, la militante a reçu de nombreuses distinctions internationales dédiées aux droits de l'homme. Expulsée du Maroc le 13 novembre, elle est en grève de la faim aux Canaries où elle s'est retrouvée contre son gré. L'émergence, ces dernières années, de personnalités sahrouies comme Aminatou Haidar fait mal au régime marocain. Ces "activistes de l'intérieur", nouvelles références de la jeunesse sahraouie, se démarquent de la posture "guerrière" du Front Polisario en concentrant leur action sur la situation des droits de l'homme au Sahara-Occidental.

Western Sahara: Fears grow for hunger strike Nobel nominee

They call Aminatou Haidar the Gandhi of the Western Sahara. Haidar went on hunger strike 12 days ago after being expelled from her home and having her passport taken away by Morocco, which annexed the former Spanish colony in 1976. Her alleged crime was, that on returning from New York after picking up the Train Foundation civil courage award, she refused to fill in the citizenship line on her customs form and wrote "Western Sahara" on the address line.

Tunisie: Blocus sur l'Association Tunisienne des femmes démocrates

Sur l’ATFD l’étau se resserre ! Depuis le mois d’octobre, un impressionnant dispositif sécuritaire est mis à nos portes. Postés là en permanence et soumis à la loi du silence, des agents font régner leur ordre discrétionnaire, filtrant l’accès aux locaux de l’association et refoulant avec force les jeunes et les« indésirables » parmi les adhérentes ou les partenaires. Ce blocus qui vise à nous couper de tout lien avec notre environnement, frappe de plein fouet nos activités de formation organisées dans le cadre de l’Université Féministe Ilhem Marzouki.

Yemen: Harassment of Sister's Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF)

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Republic of Yemen. The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources of numerous acts of harassment against the Sister's Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF) and its Chairperson, Ms. Amal Basha.

Everyone's Guide to By-passing Internet Censorship

Internet censorship, or content filtering, has become a major global problem. Whereas once it was assumed that states could not control Internet communications, according to research by the OpenNet Initiative (http://opennet.net) more than 25 countries now engage in Internet censorship practices.

Sri Lanka: Death Threats Against Journalists Frederica Jansz and Munza Mushataq

On 22 October 2009, human rights defenders Ms Frederica Jansz and Ms Munza Mushataq received identical death threats by post, both of which had been hand-written in red ink. Frederica Jansz is Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Leader, and Munza Mushataq is the newspaper's News Editor. The founder and former Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, Mr Lasantha Wickramatunga, was murdered in January 2009, three weeks after receiving a similar death threat which had also been written in red ink.

Iran: Targeting of Women’s Rights Campaigners

The Iranian Judiciary should end its harassment of women rights activists, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. At least 11 Iranian women’s rights activists, who are members of the One Million Signatures Campaign, have been summoned to the Revolutionary Courts for questioning by Judiciary and security officials in the past several days.

Iran: Mass Summons of Campaign Activists to Revolutionary Courts

In a sweeping move, courts officials have summoned a number of Campaign activists to the Revolutionary Courts. Campaign activists began receiving telephone calls over the past weeks to appear in the third security branch of the Revolutionary Courts. In turn, they requested written summons.