ELECTION AND REPRESSION IN IRAN

Iran news agency reports prisoner died of abuse
By:  Michael Slackman, NY Times, August 31, 2009
In what may be the first admission that a prisoner died from abuse by Iranian prison authorities in the wake of post-election unrest, a semiofficial news service reported Monday that the son of an adviser to a prominent conservative politician had died of ìphysical stress, conditions of imprisonment, repeated blows and harsh physical treatment.î
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/world/middleeast/01iran.html?_r=2&hpw
Tags: human rights, elections, Iran, Middle East/North Africa, Ayatollah Khamenei, Ahmadinejad, Hamzeh Ghalebi, Mohsen Ruholamini

Iran: Students urged to counter enemy soft war
By: International Security Research & Intelligence Agency, August 31, 2009
Islamic Revolution Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei said Wednesday in a meeting with university students and elites that regarding the pos-election events, the Judiciary system should judge based on strong reasons and not rumors. Ayatollah Khamenei said some crimes and violations have been committed following the recent presidential elections in Iran which will certainly be prosecuted. Referring to the great soft war the enemies have waged against the Iranian nation and the Islamic system, the Leader called on elites including university students to be vigilant and act according to thought.
http://www.isria.com/pages/30_August_2009_42.php

Iran uprising blogging: August 28 and 29th
By: Saeed Valadbaygi, Blog Spot, August 30, 2009
The internet website of ìAlefî of Ahmad Tavakoli conservative member of the house warned about the poor economic situation and a possibility of workers protests. According to this news, 200 thousand workers of 500 factories have not been paid for at least the past 3 months.
http://shooresh1917.blogspot.com/2009/08/iran-uprising-blogging28th-and-29th.html

Hard-line Iranian prosecutor fired
By: Borzou Daragahi, LA Times, August 30, 2009
Iran's new judiciary chief ousted the hard-line prosecutor behind the ongoing trials against opposition figures in Tehran, replacing him with a relatively moderate newcomer from the provinces, an Iranian news agency reported Saturday. His removal suggests an attempt by the new judiciary chief, Sadegh Larijani, the scion of a powerful conservative family, to curtail the influence of hard-liners and clean up the image of the country's legal system.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-prosecutor30-2009aug30,0,6054720.story

Panel in Iran will oversee investigations into unrest
By: Michael Slackman, NY Times, August 30, 2009
Conservative rivals of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran have continued to challenge his drive to consolidate power, appointing a committee to supervise investigations into the unrest that swept the nation after he claimed a landslide victory in the disputed presidential election in June, political analysts said. On Saturday, a day before Mr. Ahmadinejad stepped before a hostile Parliament to defend his 21 nominees for the cabinet ó one of the many internal fights he is confronting ó the chief of the judiciary, Sadeq Larijani, announced the appointment of a panel to oversee investigations by allies of the president into the postelection unrest.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/world/middleeast/31iran.html?_r=1

Iran's Ahmadinejad urges prosecution of opposition leaders
By: Borzou Daragahi, LA Times, August 29, 2009
Iran's hard-line president Friday demanded the prosecution of top opposition leaders, raising the political temperature anew just a day and a half after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sought to cool tensions in a conciliatory speech. During a pre-sermon speech at weekly prayers in Tehran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not name his reformist rivals, former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi and former parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi, but left little doubt that he was speaking about them in calling for the punishment of the "masterminds" of weeks of public unrest that followed the disputed June 12 election.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran29-2009aug29,0,4551976.story

Iranian Nobel laureate Ebadi condemns reformists' trials as 'illegal'
By: Radio Free Europe, August 27, 2009
Nobel Peace prize-winner and prominent Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi has condemned the ongoing trials of hundreds of people detained following the unrest that followed the country's contentious June elections. In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL's Golnaz Esfandiari, Ebadi described the trials as "wizardry" and a "parody" of Iranian justice.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Iranian_Nobel_Laureate_Ebadi_Condemns_Reformists_Trials_As_Illegal/1808933.html

Iran: Revolution for the hereafter
By: Aziz Motazedi, Open Democracy, August 25, 2009
The question now is whether the Islamic Republic will survive this great disgrace as it has survived previous ones or whether it will sink in this, its greatest ever crisis of legitimacy. There are many possible ways to answer this question. The analysts in openDemocracy's post-election series have addressed it through various lenses: Iran's modern political history, intra-regime tensions, the Islamic Republic's ideological exhaustion, the parallels between the constitutional revolution of 1906 or the anti-Shah movement of 1978-79 and today's protest-wave, and the unprecedented challenge of a young Iranian generation born and raised under the revolution itself.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/iran-revolution-for-the-hereafter


CRISIS IN HONDURAS

Toppling a coup, part VII: A school of leaders in Honduras
By: Al Giordano, The Field, August 31, 2009
Scratch the surface of the de facto Honduran coup regime and its architects canít help but demonstrate, again and again, that one of its unspoken reasons to exist is their unbridled racism toward considerable sectors of the national and international community. The July comment by its make-believe ìforeign ministerî that referred to US President Barack Obama as ìthat little niggerî was not an isolated gaffe: Coup ìpresidentî Roberto Micheletti has additionally installed the countryís most infamously bigoted politician, Rafael Pineda Ponce, as his very own chief of staff.
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3399/toppling-coup-part-vii-school-leaders-honduras

Scenes of resistance in Honduras
By: Joseph Shansky, Counterpunch, August 31, 2009
I came to Honduras as part of a delegation of concerned activists who went to witness and accompany the daily protests, monitor human rights violations, and report back to the international community on conditions since the June 28 military coup. In the aftermath there has been an immediate popular uprising in his support, with many instances of severe police and military repression which continue today.  The following is a reflection on time spent in and around Tegucigalpa during two critical weeks in August.
http://www.counterpunch.org/shansky08312009.html

Hondurans to extend their struggle
By: Radio Cadena Agramonte, August 31, 2009
The National Front against the Coup d' Etat in Honduras announced it would strengthen the resistance structures, even in the farthest corners of the country, to restore democracy. Israel Salinas, general secretary of the Unitary Federation of Honduran Workers, stated that an assembly with representatives from all over the nation will be held on September 6 in this capital, with that purpose.
http://www.cadenagramonte.cubaweb.cu/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=840:hondurans-to-extend-their-struggle-&catid=3:world&Itemid=14

Honduras begins election campaigning amid political crisis
By: Lin Zhi, China News, August 31, 2009
Coup-hit Honduras formally began its campaigning on Sunday for November election, some two months after a military coup set the country into a political crisis. Parties have less than 90 days to hold rallies and make media claims for the late November election that is set to choose a president, 128 deputies, 128 substitute deputies, 298 municipal leaders and 20 deputies and substitutes for the Central American Parliament.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/31/content_11970395.htm


AFRICA

Of duty, discontent and discipline
By: Laura Miti, Daily Dispatch, September 1, 2009
Just how ìfreeî and rights-driven post- apartheid South Africa is, was put on display last week when a section of the countryís labor force that one would not expect to see raising their industrial grievances in public took to the streets, with disturbing results. This was, of course, the members of the South African National Defense Force who undertook an illegal (meant to be peaceful) march to the Union Buildings demanding a salary increase.
http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=341550

Malawi: Protests at proposed law backing sweet 16 marriages
By: All Africa, August 28, 2009
Malawi's president, Bingu wa Mutharika, has come under severe pressure from civil society groups who are demanding he scrap a newly-passed bill allowing 16 year olds to marry with the consent of their parents. According to IPS the new bill is a slight improvement from the previous law which puts the legal age of youth to marry with parental consent at 15. However, activists say 16 is still far too young to get married and call for the minimum age to be raised to 18.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200908280871.html


AMERICAS

Could boycotts help restore some civil discourse on political issues?
By: Michael Hiltzik, LA Times, August 31, 2009
There aren't many individuals in history whose names are taken in vain more than Capt. C.C. Boycott, the notorious Irish landlord who cut the wages of his tenant farmers and got himself ostracized -- and the English language enriched -- in return. The captain's name has seldom been out of public circulation since then. Yet every new boycott inspires vigorous discussion over whether this sort of pressure on the powerful is effective or fair. Currently on the table are two such actions: an advertisers' boycott of Fox News commentator Glenn Beck, and a shoppers' boycott of the Austin, Texas, grocery chain Whole Foods Market.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik31-2009aug31,0,3043335.column

Mapuche: Hundreds mobilize for a ëChile without damsí
By: Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, August 31, 2009
More than 2,000 people in 19 different locations of the country [Chile] got together on 29 August 2009 in the National Demonstration ëFor a Chile With No More Damsí. Parallel citizen demonstrations throughout the country expressed their reject for destructive projects in Chile and call on the devolution of the water to the communities and on the implementation of renewable and clean energies.
http://www.unpo.org/content/view/9986/127/

U.S.: Hunger strike a daily reminder of U.S.'s forsaken promise
By: Robert McCartney, Iran Focus, August 30, 2009
On a sunny patch of Pennsylvania Avenue a half-block from the White House, middle-aged men and women recline on beach lounge chairs under four canopies festooned with colorful flags. They haven't eaten solid food in a month. Before them stands a row of large photographs of 11 men, each draped with a wreath of red flowers. The demonstrators are ethnic Iranians, most of them U.S. citizens. They are pressing the Obama administration to intervene to protect about 3,400 Iranian exiles in Camp Ashraf outside Baghdad, which was stormed by Iraqi security forces July 28.
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/iran-general-/hunger-strike-a-daily-reminder-of-u.s.s-forsaken-promise-18608.html

U.S.: Washington DC protest for detained Azerbaijani activist bloggers
By:  Onnik Krikorian, Global Voices Online, August 29, 2009
With detained video bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli now facing an additional charge in their native Azerbaijan, The Collegian says that support for the two imprisoned youth activists yesterday transcended the digital world and spilled out thousands of miles away onto the streets of Washington DC.
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/08/29/azerbaijan-washington-dc-protest-for-detained-bloggers/

Venezuela accuses protesters of attempting 'rebellion'
By: AFP, August 29, 2009
Venezuela's top prosecutor said Saturday that recent street protests were legally tantamount to "rebellion" against President Hugo Chavez's government and that demonstrators will now be charged. The dramatic move by Attorney General Luisa Ortega capped a week of huge street protests, mostly directed against a new education law that critics say is politically charged. William Ojeda, of the opposition A New Time party, argued that "the very right to protest is being turned into a crime."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gnC37xJYy1aXpt6PG6ZPGXWPZjcw

Venezuelan authorities arrest opposition leader
By: NY Times, August 29, 2009
Venezuelan authorities have arrested an opposition leader for alleged violence during a protest. Venezuela's state-run Bolivarian News Agency says a local court ordered the arrest of Caracas official Richard Blanco. Authorities detained Blanco for allegedly injuring a police officer during a demonstration a week ago, the agency said Saturday.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/29/world/AP-LT-Venezuela-Protest-Crackdowns.html

Venezuela: IAPA calls for a meeting in Caracas to discuss press freedom
By: El Universal, August 28, 2009
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and the Venezuelan Press Bloc (BPV) announced on Friday a forum to be held in Caracas on September 18 to discuss the current state of freedom of expression in the Americas. "Our mission," IAPA officers said, "is to provide a forum where the major problems faced by practicing journalists can be considered and discussed with respect, and at the same time show our concern for the dangers being faced by the Venezuelan press and solidarity with their dangerous situation, as evidenced by the attacks that journalists and new media have suffered in recent weeks."
http://english.eluniversal.com/2009/08/28/en_pol_esp_iapa-calls-for-a-mee_28A2674167.shtml

U.S.: Activism to stop human trafficking
By: Gina Cardenas, Global Voices Online, August 26, 2009
Human trafficking in the United States is an often undetected problem because the victims are usually hidden from the public view. Human rights groups and individuals are working towards educating the local community about this issue as well as making efforts to combat human trafficking in the U.S. and helping victims caught up in the human trafficking networks.
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/08/26/usa-activism-to-stop-human-trafficking/

Cuba: Activists pay in pesos in hard currency restaurant
By: Miami Hearld, August 26, 2009
Activists from the ìPay with the Same Moneyî campaign ate at a foreign currency restaurant in the Arroyo Naranjo municipality and insisted on paying their bill in Cuban pesos. ìWith this action weíre demanding from the government the right to use the same currency with which workers are paid,î said Georgina Noa, a delegate of the Latin American Rural Womenís Federation (FLAMUR), which has been sponsoring the campaign.
http://www.miamiherald.com/1447/story/1203418.html

ASIA/ SOUTH ASIA

Top dissidents not on Vietnam's amnesty list
By: John Ruwitch, Reuters, August 31, 2009
Vietnam announced on Monday it would free 5,459 prisoners in an amnesty that includes 13 people jailed on national security grounds but none of the country's highest profile political prisoners. The mass prisoner release, part of celebrations for Vietnam's Sept. 2 National Day, comes amid what some diplomats and activists say is an intensified crackdown on dissent in which several critics of the ruling Communist Party have been arrested or detained in recent months.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-42104520090831

Vietnam: Police detain dissident blogger
By: Ben Stocking, AP, August 31, 2009
A Vietnamese blogger who criticized the Communist Party's policies has been detained by police, his close friend said Monday, days after another popular blogger was fired from his job at a state-controlled newspaper. Bui Thanh Hieu, who writes his blog under the pen name "Nguoi Buon Gio" or "Wind Trader," was taken into police custody in Hanoi on Thursday, said a close friend, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i2jI9q3-P2LrFHqHIYr_wSFyoK8AD9ADLHO01

India: Demonstration in Srinagar to mark International Day of Disappeared Persons
By: Sify News, August 31, 2009
Kin of missing people staged a demonstration in Srinagar to mark International Day of Disappeared Persons. Protestors, gathering under the banner of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), sat all day long with banners, placards and photographs, demanding whereabouts of their untraced relatives. It is the duty of the government and if they found them innocent, they should be sent back to their families," said Vrinda Grover, Delhi-based Human Rights lawyer and an APDP activist.
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a=ji5n4cgbfea&title=Demonstration_in_Srinagar_to_mark_International_Day_of_Disappeared_Persons

Sri Lankan journalist given 20 years in prison
By: Bharatha Mallawarachi, Buffalo News, August 31, 2009
A Sri Lankan reporter singled out by President Barack Obama as an example of persecuted journalists around the globe was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison on charges of violating the country's strict anti-terror law. J.S. Tissainayagam's articles in the now-defunct Northeastern Monthly magazine in 2006 and 2007 criticized the conduct of the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels and accused authorities of withholding food and other essential items from Tamil-majority areas as a tool of war.
http://www.buffalonews.com/nationalworld/international/story/779938.html

Nepal: Strike cripples life in Terai
By: Nepal News, August 30, 2009
A protest call from three Madhesi parties against the Supreme Court verdict asking Vice President Paramananda Jha to take fresh oath in Nepali has badly hit normal life in several Terai districts Sunday. Transportation services, educational institutions, industries and bazaars remain largely closed in major towns across Terai.
http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/news-archive/2-political/1181-strike-cripples-life-terai.html

Video appeal from a Tibetan man inside Tibet to the international community
By: Yeshe Choesang, Indybay, August 29, 2009
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is organizing a press conference at Lhakpa Tsering Hall, Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) on the fresh videotaped information received from Tibet that appeal to the International communities to act swiftly on behalf of the Tibetan people who are victims of human rights violations in Tibet. Kalsang Tsultrim took a great personal risk of recording and distributing video testimony giving detail account of Tibetan history since the flight of Dalai Lama into exile, lack of human rights in Tibet, suffering of Tibetan people, struggle, hopes, aspirations of Tibetan people inside Tibet and his appeal to the outside world.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/08/29/18620083.php
To watch video: http://www.voanews.com/tibetan/

China: Are Tibetan bloggers being silenced?
By: Dechen Pemba, Global Voices Online, August 28, 2009
Quite alarming to report that all of the most popular Tibetan language blog hosting sites (except one) have been inaccessible for almost three weeks now. It is fairly common practice for Tibetan language blog hosting sites to be taken down (sometimes for ìmaintenanceî) and at times deemed sensitive by the authorities (see ëAll Quiet on the Tibetan Blog Frontë).
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/08/28/china-are-tibetan-bloggers-being-silenced/

Burma: Lawyers to appeal Suu Kyi sentence
By: Htet Aung Kyaw, Democratic Voice of Burma, August 28, 2009
Lawyers for Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi are set to appeal her sentencing next week, following complaints that new conditions of her house arrest are stricter than before. Suu Kyi met with her lawyers yesterday at her Rangoon compound where she has been sentenced to 18 months under house arrest. A finalised version of the appeal will be submitted next week.
http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=2818


CENTRAL ASIA

Uzbek poet and dissident victim of abuse in prison
By: Asia News.It, August 28, 2009
The Uzbek dissident poet Yusuf Jumaev political prisoner and a staunch critic of President Islam Karimov, is a victim of violence and abuse in prison. This was revealed by Human Rights Watch (HRW), reporting the testimony of his daughter who met him in recent days in jail. The authorities threatened to deny permission for new visits, if the family continues "mount allegations" about abuse.
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=16170&size=A

CIVICUS condemns repression of democratic freedom in Turkmenistan
By: Devendra Tak, CIVICUS, August 25, 2009
World Alliance for Citizen Participation expresses deep concern about the repression of independent civil society groups in Turkmenistan. With blanket bans on information and extreme levels of opaque governance, Turkmenistan is one of the most oppressive countries in the world. Despite this, many ëwestern' democracies are weakening their stance on the protection of human rights in the country, in large measure due to Turkmenistan's vast hydrocarbons reserves.
http://www.civicus.org/press-release/1119

Kyrgyzstan: A political retreat
By: Ben Judah, Open Democracy, August 25, 2009
Kurmanbek Bakiyev was once hailed as a democrat, ascending to the presidency of this central Asia republic during the "tulip revolution" of 2005. It was hoped that Kyrgyzstan could offer a progressive alternative to the neighbouring authoritarian regimes that surround it. But following a fraudulent presidential election on 23 July 2009 and a growing pattern of arbitrary arrests and draconian control laws, Kyrgyzstan is sliding backwards.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/kyrgyzstan-a-political-retreat-0


EUROPE

U.K.: Climate activists stage protests
By: BBC, August 31, 2009
Climate camp activists have staged two protests in London to highlight the threat of climate change. They first staged a demonstration outside the Treasury and then at London City Airport. The protesters say the Treasury is using taxpayers' money to fund fossil fuel extraction, through its investment in Royal Bank of Scotland.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8230334.stm

Controversial Russian opposition leader detained in Moscow
By: Rianovosti, August 31, 2009
Eduard Limonov, a leader of the Other Russia opposition coalition, was detained on Monday in downtown Moscow during an attempt to hold an unauthorized protest march, a spokesman said. "Eduard Limonov was going to take part in a March of Dissent on Triumfalnaya Square. He was walking along Tverskoy Boulevard, accompanied by his bodyguards and journalists, when he was detained," Alexander Averin said.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090831/155979149.html

Russia: Moscow police quash anti-Kremlin demonstration, briefly detain 15 protesters
By: Breaking News 24/7, August 31, 2009
Riot police briefly detained about 15 people trying to hold an anti-Kremlin demonstration in central Moscow on Monday to defend Russiansí constitutional right to assembly. Camouflage-clad police grabbed the protesters as they arrived at the square near the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall and hustled them into buses, carrying some by their arms and legs.
http://blog.taragana.com/n/moscow-police-quash-anti-kremlin-demonstration-briefly-detain-15-protesters-155516/

No amnesty for Georgiaís political prisoners
By: Russia Today, August 31, 2009
Georgia's opposition is trying to draw attention to the growing number of political prisoners in the country. Georgian demonstrators are rallying in Moscow because this is something they feel they cannot do in their own country. Theyíre demanding the freedom of a man they believe is being held in a Georgian prison on trumped-up charges.
http://www.russiatoday.com/Politics/2009-08-31/georgia-opposition-vakhaniya-protest.html

Natalia Estemirova, champion of ordinary Chechens
By: Tanya Lokshina, Open Democracy, August 31, 2009
Natalia Estemirova was Chechnya's great champion of human rights until her kidnap and murder last month. On the 40th day after her death, her friend Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch commemorates a uniquely courageous and selfless woman.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/russia/article/natalia-estemirova-champion-of-ordinary-chechens

Romania: Bucharest Court confirms it joins protests on ceasing activity and boycotting elections
By: Curierul National, August 31, 2009
Several courts in the country started to vote for ceasing activity as of 1 September and to boycott elections, in protest against the under-financing of justice, and for wages for magistrates comparable to those of the other state powers. Thus, sources from the magistracy confirmed for NewsIn that the judges of the courts Cluj-Napoca and Tulcea, of the courts of appeal of T‚rgu Mures and Brasov, and of the Bucharest Court already voted, in their General Assemblies, for forms of protest such as ceasing activity or boycotting the elections.
http://www.curierulnational.ro/In%20brief/2009-08-31/Bucharest+Court+confirms+it+joins+protests+on+ceasing+activity+and+boycotting+elections

Belarus: Dictator confirmed rigging presidential elections
By: Charter 97, August 31, 2009
Alyaksandr Lukashenka said the results of the presidential elections 2006 were rigged. The Belarusian ruler told in an interview published in ìIzvestiaî newspaper on August 27: ìI have information that 93% voted for me at the last elections. Later, when I felt pressure, I admitted that the elections had been forged. I ordered that the results should be about 80%, I donít remember the exact figure, but not 93%. 90 is difficult for perception. But this is true.î
http://www.charter97.org/en/news/2009/8/28/21495/

Belarus: Opposition rallies banned in Vitsebsk center
By: Charter 97, August 31, 2009
Local opposition activists have repeatedly demanded the city authorities to define places for mass events in the city center, but all their attempts were unsuccessful. Vitsebsk authorities continue to restrict civil rights and freedoms. About 30 local oppositionists have stood trials and been punished for violation of the rules of organizing mass events in Vitsebsk for the last two years.
http://www.charter97.org/en/news/2009/8/28/21490/

Lithuania: Two decades after massive anti-Soviet protest
By: Karla Gruodis, Montreal Gazette, August 29, 2009
Answering a call put out through Facebook, several hundred young people run toward Cathedral Square on a cool Sunday afternoon. Ignoring the drizzle, they quickly link hands to form a human chain, recreating an event that took place before many of them were born. They are here to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Baltic Way - the largest political demonstration ever - when, on Aug. 23, 1989, more than two million Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians joined hands across their three countries to protest 50 years of Soviet rule, a peaceful act that helped trigger the breakup of the Soviet Union.
http://www.canada.com/business/decades+after+massive+anti+Soviet+protest+Baltic+Tiger+Lithuania+struggling/1943536/story.html


MIDDLE EAST/ NORTH AFRICA

Morocco: New jail term for Western Sahara activist
By: via HRW, International, August 31, 2009
The conviction and imprisonment of the Western Sahara human rights defender Na‚ma Asfari on August27, 2009, for "showing contempt toward a public agent" shows that Morocco continues to punish peaceful activists. The Tantan Court of First Instance sentenced Asfari to four months in prison. It is Asfari's third conviction in three years. "Moroccan authorities keep finding new excuses to lock Asfari up, but it seems that what lies behind it all is his peaceful activism on the Western Sahara," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/08/31/18620253.php

Western Sahara: Torture, abductions and disappearances
By: Stefan Simanowitz, Afrik, August 31, 2009
Ms. Ngiya, one of six Saharawi students arrested and beaten after protesting the refusal of Moroccan authorities to allow them to travel to England for a peace workshop on 5th August, had been released following the intervention of human rights groups including Amnesty International but concerns for the studentís safety had remained.
http://en.afrik.com/article16111.html

What we Palestinians need
By: Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Palestine Chronicler, August 30, 2009
In all its forms, resistance is an internationally sanctioned right of the Palestinian people. Under this strategy, however, it must resume a peaceful, mass grassroots character that will serve to revive the culture of collective activism among all sectors of the Palestinian people and, hence, to keep the struggle from becoming the preserve or monopoly of small cliques and to promote its growing impetus and momentum. Models for this type of resistance already exist.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15390

Saudi Arabia blocking Twitter pages of activists
By: Ahmed Al-Omran, Global Voices Online, August 28, 2009
Saudi Arabiaís Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC)  has recently blocked access to Twitter accounts of a blogger @Mashi97 and a human rights activist @abualkhair. The move comes after the role Twitter played in the recent post-elections uprising in Iran.
http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2009/08/28/saudi-arabia-blocking-twitter-pages-of-activists/


OCEANIA

Fiji editor says censorship suppresses news stories
By: Netani Rika, Radio Australia, August 31, 2009
The editor of one of Fiji's main daily newspapers has told an overseas audience that government control of the media has resulted in major news stories being suppressed on the orders of military and police censors. Last week the interim government confirmed it would extend emergency regulations for another 30 days, including official censorship under which military and police personnel are stationed in newsrooms to approve all items before they're published.
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacbeat/stories/200908/s2671228.htm


ARTICLES OF INTEREST

Eurasia: Bracing for a technological counter-revolution
By: Stephen Blank, Eurasianet, August 28, 2009
The advent of social networking platforms such as Twitter and Facebook has changed the nature of political dissent. But as this summerís unrest in Iran and China has demonstrated, authoritarian-minded governments have done their homework, and have kept pace with the revolution in communications. Experts on Eurasian political developments now believe that authoritarian-minded governments in the region are going on the offensive to stifle opposition and roll back civil society.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav082809a.shtml

Activists launch warming campaign
By: Cyprus Weekly, August 28, 2009
Activists launched what they called the world's biggest campaign to combat global warming on Friday, urging governments to agree a tough U.N. climate pact at talks in Copenhagen starting in 100 days' time. Environmental organisations, trade unions, religious groups, scientists, anti-poverty campaigners and others representing tens of millions of people teamed up to put pressure for curbs on greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.cyprusweekly.com.cy/main/93,1,291,0,2527-.aspx

Facebook, Twitter, Flickr & YouTube feed boycott of Whole Foods
By: Ron Callari, Inventor Spot, August 2009
Labeled A-Hole Foods by some, an army of bloggers have taken to full battle gear ever since John Mackey's op-ed appeared in the Wall Street Journal on August 12, 2009. Triggering significant backlash, Whole Foods may have a hard time overcoming a social media nightmare spurred on by their leader.
http://inventorspot.com/articles/facebooktwitter_flickr_youtube_boycott_whole_foods_32045

Report names world's most repressive countries
By: Tania Campbell, Ethical Traveler, August 2009
A recent Freedom House report spotlights the worldís most repressive countries ñ places where freedom and democracy donít exist. The non-profit organization, which promotes democracy around the world, cited North Korea, Burma, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Somalia and Sudan as being among the least free countries in the world. Along with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, these countries received the lowest rating for political rights and civil liberties.
http://www.ethicaltraveler.org/news_story.php?id=1140
Link To Freedom House Report
http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/specialreports/wow/WoW2009.pdf


IN OTHER LANGUAGES

DÈbut de campagne Èlectorale au Honduras en pleine crise politique
By: CRI Online, August 31, 2009
Deux mois aprËs le putsch qui a plongÈ le Honduras dans une crise politique, le pays d'AmÈrique centrale a entamÈ dimanche sa campagne Èlectorale pour les Èlections de novembre. Les partis politiques disposent maintenant de moins de 90 jours pour mener campagne avant les Èlections prÈvues fin novembre.
http://french.cri.cn/621/2009/08/31/301s199785.htm

Cientos de personas se movilizaron ìpor un Chile sin represasî
By: Mapu Express, August 30, 2009
En Temuco unas 200 personas marcharon por diversas calles cÈntricas, con lienzos y consignas la que comenzÛ a las 18.00 Horas desde la plaza Hospital y reuniÛ a diversas representaciones estudiantiles, ambientalistas y Mapuches y que finalizÛ con diversos juegos y c·nticos en plena Avenida Caupolic·n, arteria principal de la Ciudad. En Valdivia, m·s de 400 marcharon. Casi medio millar en Coyhaique, cifra cercana en Santiago.
http://www.mapuexpress.net/?act=news&id=4616

JournÈe Internationale de la Jeunesse: ìPrenons en main notre avenir!î
By: The Amahoro Youth Club, August 13, 2009
La journÈe internationale de la Jeunesse cÈlÈbrÈe en pleine pÈriode de vacances est une occasion pour toute la jeunesse de rÈflÈchir sur sa condition, díanalyser son rÙle dans la sociÈtÈ prÈsente et díÈchanger sur les multiples dÈfis auxquels elle fait face. Au sein de líAmahoro Youth Club, cette journÈe nous donne líoccasion de jeter un regard sur notre mission qui est de contribuer ‡ la consolidation de la paix et du dÈveloppement durable ‡ travers des espaces díÈchange.
http://amahoroyouthclub.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/journee-internationale-de-la-jeunesse-%E2%80%9Cprenons-en-main-notre-avenir%E2%80%9D/#more-534


IN PAST NEWS

Public protests around the world
By: Anup Shah, Global Issues, November 25, 2003
Mass protests, throughout history have come at a time when enough of the population has been affected by policies of the rulers and elite. They have often been met with brutal, efficient crackdown by the guardians of the elite, be they local police, militias, national militaries, or even another nationís military forces.
http://www.globalissues.org/article/45/public-protests-around-the-world


NOTICES

ìCivil Voicesî Festival
By: Civil Society Development Center, August 31, 2009
ìCivil Voicesî Festival, organized by Civil Society Development Center (STGM), will host various grassroots and local civil society organizations from Turkey and EU member/candidate countries between 25 and 27 September in Istanbul-Turkey. The festival is being  organized under ìSupporting Civil Society Development and Dialogue in Turkey Projectî supported by European Union.
http://www.stgm.org.tr/eng/detay.php?detid=1489

Exiled Honduran president to speak at Elliott School Wednesday
By: Amanda Dick, blogs.gwhatchet.com, August 31, 2009
The coup-removed President of Honduras, Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales, will speak about his efforts to restore peace and order in Honduras in the Elliott School on Wednesday morning.The event will be held in the City View room of the Elliott School from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Attendees must RSVP to the Latin American and Hemispheric Studies Program and the Center for Economic and Policy Research at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
http://blogs.gwhatchet.com/newsroom/2009/08/31/exiled-honduran-president-to-speak-at-elliott-school-tomorrow/

"Rwanda Human Rights Delegation" Participate in a GYC program
By: Global Youth Connect
Application Deadline: September 25, 2009.
This GYC program will explore the roots of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, how this legacy of violence has impacted the country and its people, particularly Rwandan youth, and also how the country is attempting to rebuild today. Dates: Dec 28, 2009 ñ Jan 11, 2010 http://www.globalyouthconnect.org/participate
http://www.globalyouthconnect.org/participate