Singapore Democrats

Kyrgyzstan: Activists plan protest on International Women's Day
By: RFE, March 4, 2010
Women's rights activists in Kyrgyzstan say they plan a public protest on International Women's Day next week. They said they would focus on the socio-economic problems faced by Kyrgyz women, the government's gender policies, and domestic violence.
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Uzbekistan's hidden trials
By: Kamilla Abdullaeva, Institute for War and Peace, March 3, 2010
Human rights defenders in Uzbekistan have discovered that trials of alleged Islamic radicals are taking place across the country in secrecy, with no one allowed access to the courtroom. They fear the tactic is designed to prevent information about abuse in detention leaking out.
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Tajikistan: Opposition disputes election of President Rakhmon
By: BBC News, March 3, 2010
The opposition in Tajikistan has said it will mount a legal challenge to the results of parliamentary elections. The election commission said President Imomali Rakhmon's party won almost all the seats in the lower house of parliament in the election.
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Kazakhstan tightens control over Internet
By: AFP, March 2, 2010
Kazakhstan has created a new centre dedicated to cracking down on blacklisted websites ranging from pornography to those deemed to promote political extremism, an official announced yesterday.
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Kyrgyzstan: Human rights activist reported missing
By: RFE, March 1, 2010
Kyrgyz human rights activist Nematillo Botakoziev has been reported missing in Dushanbe. Botakoziev, 42, has not been seen since February 26 when he was at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Dushanbe applying for refugee status.
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Indian women peacekeepers hailed in Liberia
By: Moni Basu, CNN, March 2, 2010
They are trained in sophisticated combat tactics and weaponry, crowd and mob control, counter-insurgency. They patrol the streets of the Liberian capital, expected to keep the peace after years of war. Most of them are also mothers and form an all-women unit from India, policing in a country where a 15-year conflict was characterized by sexual violence.
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Gunmen shoot Nepal publisher dead in southern town
By: BBC News, March 2, 2010
Unidentified gunmen have shot dead a newspaper publisher in the latest attack on the media in Nepal. Arun Singhaniya was shot at point blank range by four attackers on motorbikes in the southern town of Janakpur near the Indian border.
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Thai premier plans trip to Australia despite mass protests
By: Monster and Critics, March 5, 2010
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Friday he would not cancel a planned trip to Australia and New Zealand next week despite the threat of mass anti-government protests in Bangkok.
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Burma: Karen activist wins international acclaim
By: Mizzima, March 4, 2010
A young Karen woman has been included in the list of this year's recipients of the Young Global Leader award. Zoya Phan, daughter of Padoh Mahn Sha, the assassinated former General Secretary of the Karen National Union, is the sole Burmese recipient of the honorific as recognized by the World Economic Forum.
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Vietnam's religious living in fear
By: Johnny Blade, The Guardian Weekly, March 3, 2010
Johnny Blades looks at religious tensions in a city where the penalties for hosting religious gatherings without government permission can be severe, including lengthy stints in prison and "re-education centres."
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Rights group concerned by Australian bank's Cambodian army partnerships
By: Liam Cochrane, ABC Radio Australian News, March 3, 2010
A subsidiary of one of Australia's largest banks, ANZ Royal, has denied it is involved in a scheme to partner up private businesses with Cambodian army units. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced the initiative last week and said more than 40 partnerships had already been established to provide food, medicine, tools, buildings and transport for troops and their families.
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Desperate North Koreans "riot" over food
By: Chosun Ilbo, March 6, 2010
Violence is growing in North Korea amid a worsening food shortage after the disastrous currency revaluation last December, according to sources in the hermit country.
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North Korean defector tells of leaders' luxury
By: Sydney Morning Herald, March 5, 2010
A North Korean colonel who spent two decades going on European shopping sprees for his country's rulers says the late dictator Kim Il Sung lived in luxury while many people starved in his impoverished communist nation.
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Tibet: First he appeared in an Apple advert, now Dalai Lama joins Twitter
By: Haroon Siddique, The Guardian, March 4, 2010
He may wear simple robes and live in the hills of northern India, but never let it be said that the Dalai Lama doesn't have his finger on the pulse when it comes to technology.
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Internet cafe ban call draws Chinese hacker wrath
By: Bangkok Post, March 4, 2010
One woman taking part in China's annual parliamentary meetings has learned that law-making has its drawbacks -- especially when you provoke savvy web users. After Yan Qi, a member of China's legislative advisory body, said she would propose a nationwide ban on private Internet cafes, hackers paralysed the website of her restaurant chain, state media reported Thursday.
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Tibetan rights group condemns China's launch of "strike hard" campaign ahead of sensitive anniversary
By: Kalsang Rinchen, Phayul, March 4, 2010
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy(TCHRD) said it condemned in "strongest terms" the "Strike Hard" campaign launched by China in the "Tibetan Autonomous Region" ahead of the politically sensitive 50th anniversary of the March 10 Uprising day of 1959.
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Irked by Dalai Lama-Obama meeting, China warns world about interfering in Tibet
By: Phayul, March 4, 2010
China on Thursday launched a fresh warning to foreign countries not to interfere in its affairs in Tibet and Taiwan - two issues that have badly strained ties with the United States, AFP reported.
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China: Clampdown ahead of parliament
By: RFA, March 1, 2010
Authorities in the Chinese capital are stepping up surveillance of key dissidents and detaining petitioners ahead of two annual parliamentary meetings that begin in Beijing this week.
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China: Evicted artists protest after attack in Beijing
By: Andrew Jacobs, NY Times, February 23, 2010
Nearly two dozen artists protesting the forced demolition of their homes and studios marched through the ceremonial heart of the capital before the police intervened and prevented them from reaching Tiananmen Square, the artists said Tuesday.
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Fiji jails eight over plot to kill Bainimarama
By: BBC News, March 5, 2010
Fiji has jailed eight men for between three and seven years for attempting to kill the country's military leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, in 2007. Sentencing the men, Justice Paul Madigan said had the men's plot succeeded the consequences for the Pacific island were "unthinkable".
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West Papuan group asks Australian prime minister to press Indonesia
By: Australia West Papua Association, March 1, 2010
The Australia West Papua Association in Sydney has written an open letter to Prime Minister Rudd (below) asking that he raise the human rights situation in West Papua with the Indonesian President. Joe Collins of AWPA said "we understand that it is in the interests of the Australian Government to have good relations and friendship with Jakarta and to have a stable region to our north, but good relations with Jakarta should not be at the expense of the West Papuan people who are struggling for their right to self-determination"
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West Papuan demands can't be fulfilled with money
By: Free West Papua, February 27, 2010
After nine years, support by various elements of society for special autonomy is weakening. The problematic nature of the application of special autonomy is closely linked with the failure to implement Law Number 21/2001 on Special Autonomy for Papua along with mistrust between the central government and the Papuan people.
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Zimbabwe: Civil society appeals for government protection
By: Charles Tembo, ZimOnline, March 4, 2010
Zimbabwean civic society on Wednesday appealed for protection from President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's unity government in the wake of rising threats and harassment of human rights activists by state security agents.
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UK: Brown says too early to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe
By: BBC News, March 4, 2010
Gordon Brown has said sanctions against Zimbabwe should not be lifted until human rights and media censorship concerns are addressed.
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Zimbabwe: Dramatizing the constitution
By: Vusumuzi Sifile, IPS, March 3, 2010
A new play, Waiting for Constitution has generated great interest among politicians and civil society groups anxious to get consultations over drafting a new constitution under way.
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Zimbabwe: Political and security challenges to the transition
By: International Crisis Group, March 3, 2010
Despite initial scepticism, Zimbabwe's year-old unity government has achievements to its credit, but the democratic transition remains at risk, especially from hard-line security officials - President Robert Mugabe's last reliable supporters.
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US: When hate comes to town
By: C. Douglas Smith, Virginia Inter Faith Center, March 4, 2010
Hate is meant to incapacitate righteousness; literally cut its head off. We witnessed hate this week in Virginia when the Westboro Baptist Church came to the Commonwealth. They're the jewskilledjesus.com and godhatesfags.com crowd. While we rarely use protests to draw attention to an issue, the fact that the Kansas-based anti-Semites sought to protest the Virginia Holocaust Museum motivated us to turn out folks to that sacred space.
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US:  Numerous student protests aimed at extensive cutbacks by universities
By: Huffington Post, March 4, 2010
Students, professors, teachers and unions around the country will organize today to protest America's imperiled education system with more than 100 events in 32 states.
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US facing surge in right-wing extremists and militias
By: Chris McGreal, The Guardian, March 4, 2010
The US is facing a surge in anti-government extremist groups and armed militias, driven by deepening hostility on the right to Barack Obama, anger over the economy, and the increasing propagation of conspiracy theories by parts of the mass media such as Fox News.
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U.S. floats plan to lift ban on training Indonesia's Kopassus unit
By: John Pomfret, Washington Post, March 3, 2010
As President Obama prepares to travel to Indonesia, his administration is seeking to reverse a 12-year-old ban on training an elite unit of the Indonesian military whose members have been convicted of beatings, kidnappings and other abuses.
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US: Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on internet freedom
By: C-Span, March 3, 2010
Following Google's announcement that they would no longer abide by the Chinese government's censorship laws, the Senate Judiciary Subcmte. looked at business practices in China and discussed the issue of global Internet freedom. Google representatives testified on the rights of their business partners and censorship of Google's online products.  
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Latin America: Clinton's misstatements
By: Mark Weisbrot, The Guardian, March 5, 2010
Hillary Clinton's Latin America tour is turning out to be about as successful as George W Bush's visit in 2005, when he ended up leaving Argentina a day ahead of schedule just to get the hell out of town. The main difference is that she is not being greeted with protests and riots.
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Clinton urges Latin America to restore Honduras ties
By: Andrew Quinn, Reuters, March 4, 2010
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday urged reluctant Latin American countries to normalize ties with Honduras, saying it was time to "move forward" after last year's coup that toppled President Manuel Zelaya.
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Cuban dissident on hunger strike rushed to hospital
By: Juan O. Tamayo, Miami Herald, March 4, 2010
Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas, who has refused food and water for a week, was back home Wednesday after he lost consciousness and was rushed to a hospital for intravenous liquids, his doctor said.
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Honduran journalist's murder denounced  
By: IANS, March 4, 2010
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has denounced the murder of Honduran television journalist Joseph Ochoa, who was gunned down earlier this week in Tegucigalpa.
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Honduras: Investigate attacks on coup opponents
By: Human Rights Watch, March 3, 2010
Honduran authorities should ensure that recent killings and other attacks on opponents of the 2009 coup are promptly and thoroughly investigated, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubí.
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Cuba TV report denies government let hunger striker die
By: AP, March 2, 2010
Cuba devoted nearly a third of its official newscast Monday night to denying that state doctors purposely let a jailed dissident die from a hunger strike. It claimed the case, which sparked an international outcry, began because the victim wanted television and other comforts in his prison cell.
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Cuba: Coverage comes with price of self-censorship
By: Juan O. Tamayo, Miami Herald, February 28, 2010
Foreign correspondents covering Cuba admit they soften the critical edges on their stories to keep the government from kicking them out. One Spanish journalist based in Cuba for five years wrote that ``rare is the journalist who does not soften his reports, to avoid being expelled from the country.''
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A 'drunkards' strike' shuts down Bolivia
By: Time, March 4, 2010
If there's anything worse than a drunk driver, it might be a drunk mass transit driver with passengers in his care. Sadly, this phenomenon has become common in Bolivia, and so after a few particularly deadly accident-filled months, President Evo Morales has issued a zero-tolerance policy for offenders, including lifetime license revocation on the first DUI offense, vehicle confiscation, fines and eventual closure of transport companies whose drivers are caught under the influence.
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Chile: Saying 'no' to Pinochet's dictatorship through nonviolent action
By: Roberta Bacic, Open Democracy, March 1, 2010
A group of us decided to try to inspire others to speak up against the dictatorship by "crying out the truth". Not to do this, while those we loved were killed, tortured, and disappeared, had become unendurable. Clandestine pamphlets and leaflets were printed. Slogans denouncing human rights violations were painted on walls at night at great risk to personal safety. These clandestine actions helped spread the principle: tell the truth and act on it, and owed much to Gandhi's thinking about how to overcome powerlessness and fear.
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Russia: Gorbachev lashes Kremlin for failure on democratic reform
By: AFP, March 5, 2010
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Friday accused the current Russian authorities of backsliding on democracy and rolling back the process of reform he began in the 1980s with perestroika.
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Turkey:  Democracy threatened or saved?
By: Michael Allen, Democracy Digest, March 4, 2010
Are the recent arrests of leading Turkish military figures a pre-emptive blow against a "deep state" of secular elites planning a coup against the country's democratically-elected government? Or do they signal the growing influence of radical Islamist forces determined to discredit a revered institution and breach the red lines that protect the country's secular constitution?
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So what do Russia's people think?
By: Alexei Levinson, Open Democracy, March 3, 2010
In the first of his regular monthly reports for Russia, Alexei Levinson of Russia's prestigious Levada Centre offers a round-up of Russian public opinion at the start of 2010. Even when the economic crisis lead people to judge their government, he notes, approval of Prime Minister Putin remained high. Nor do people seem particularly bothered by Russia's imaginary elections.
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Russia's Yabloko party stages 'beard' protest
By: RFE, March 3, 2010
Russia's opposition Yabloko party has staged a protest in front of the Central Election Commission building in Moscow -- challenging its chairman to shave off his beard, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. The demonstrators explained that Commission Chairman Vladimir Churov publicly promised to shave off his beard if the local elections scheduled for March 14 prove to be unfair.
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Russia: Leniency for journalist's killer
By: Ellen Barry, NY Times, March 3, 2010
Ibragim D. Yevloyev, a police officer convicted of fatally shooting an opposition journalist in August 2008, began serving a two-year sentence of house arrest on Wednesday after Ingushetia's Supreme Court ruled that the original penalty, two years in a penal colony, was too harsh.
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Russia: Life and death of an independent newspaper in Oryol
BY: Elena Godlevskaya, Open Democracy, March 1, 2010
In 2004, some local journalists in Oryol founded an independent newspaper 'for those who want the truth'. Although it sold well, members of staff were subject to threats, bribes, attacks and arson. Still, it lasted four years.
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Use EU 'carrots' carefully, says Belarus opposition leader
By: EurActive Network, March 1, 2010
The European Union should make careful use of "carrots" with the authoritarian regime in Belarus in its attempts to boost democracy, the country's opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.
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Latvian 'Robin Hood' hacker leaks bank details to TV
By: BBC News, February 24, 2010
An alleged hacker has been hailed as a latter-day Robin Hood for leaking data about the finances of banks and state-owned firms to Latvian TV.
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Egypt's Muslim Brothers hit turbulence
By: Hussam Tammam, Daily Star, March 5, 2010
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has been buffeted by a seemingly endless series of changes and blows over the past few years. No sooner had the organization begun to recover from a controversial leadership election that ended on January 20 than the regime detained some of the new senior leaders in uncharacteristic midnight arrests on February 8.
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Future looks grim for Syrian activists
By: Institute of War and Peace, March 4, 2010
The media spotlight was on Syria last week but the focus was elsewhere. The world's attention was centred on the wisdom of Washington's new policy of engagement towards Damascus, and whether the strong ties between Iran and Syria could realistically be broken especially after a recent visit by the Iranian president affirmed the solidity of bilateral relations. The human rights record of Syria is of no interest, sadly.
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Iran:  Senior official for clandestine operations now focused on internal affairs
By: Christopher Dickey, Newsweek, March 4, 2010
Tehran's master of clandestine operations, Qassem Suleimani, could hold the key to Iraq's future-if he were not so busy back in Iran.   Today he doesn't seem to be paying as much attention to Iraq as he once did. For the last nine months, ever since apparent election fraud in Iran sparked mass protests and continuing unrest, the head of the Quds Force has been drawn back into the treacherous politics of his own country. And what he tries to do in Iraq-indeed, the success or failure of its democratic experiment-may well be a factor of his success or failure in Iran.
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Iran's provocative candidacy for the Human Rights Council
By: Human Rights Tribune, March 4, 2010
The Islamic Republic of Iran wants to become a member of the UN organization based in Geneva. Libya is also a candidate for a Council post. Given that these two states are not known for being models for respecting human rights, their requests have provoked a lively debate.
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Yemen: NCHRDD calls for training programs on nonviolent actions
By: National Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development, March 4, 2010
Chairman of NCHRDD, Gamal Al-Awadhi declared that the center is preparing for a training program for Journalists, civil society organizations and political parties on nonviolent actions or civil resistance. The program aims to meet the increasing violence between civil society and the security forces and call for non-violence to achieve human rights demands.
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Six more Iranian activists reported arrested
By: Nazila Fathi, NY Times, March 3, 2010
At least six human rights advocates were reported to have been arrested in Iran on Wednesday, dampening hopes that the government was easing its campaign of arrests ahead of the Iranian New Year on March 21.
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IDF recording license plates of Israeli anti-fence protesters
By: Amira Hass, Haaretz, March 3, 2010
The Israel Defense Forces says it is using information on Israelis who demonstrate against the separation fence in a bid to deny them entry at nearby checkpoints. Israelis and others demonstrate every Friday at the villages of Bil'in and Na'alin.
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Libya: Call to free critic of rights violations
By: Human Rights Watch, March 3, 2010
Libyan authorities should immediately release Jamal al-Haji, who was arrested after he submitted a complaint to the government about human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today.
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Egypt: Blogger faces charges of defaming military
By: LA Times, March 3, 2010
A blogger stood before a military court this week, facing charges of publishing false information about the Egyptian armed forces and destabilizing people's confidence in the military establishment, the Arabian Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) reported.
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Egypt: ElBaradei makes seven demands for political reform
By: Abdel-Rahman Hussein, Daily News Egypt, March 2, 2010
Seven conditions need to be met to ensure free presidential elections in 2011 and a democratic future, said Mohamed ElBaradei in a statement under the banner of the newly-formed National Coalition for Change.
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Iran: Berlin festival protests Iranian arrest
By: AP, March 3, 2010
The Berlin film festival is criticizing the arrest of acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi. Panahi has backed his country's opposition. He was taken into custody in Tehran on Monday accused of committing unspecified offenses.
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Iranian film director Jafar Panahi arrested
By: BBC News, March 2, 2010
Police in Iran have arrested internationally acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi and his family. Plainclothes police broke into Mr Panahi's family home and arrested him, his wife and daughter and 15 other guests, his son Panah told reporters.
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Iran releases journalists, bans moderate publications
By: Reuters, March 1, 2010
Iranian authorities banned a reformist daily and a moderate weekly magazine today, news agencies reported, a day after the release of six detained journalists.
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Egypt: Brotherhood lawyer feels group detainees release imminent
By: Abdel-Rahman Hussein, Daily News Egypt, March 1, 2010
The high ranking members of the Muslim Brotherhood currently detained by State Security will be kept behind bars for as long as possible but they will not be charged and will eventually be released, the group's lawyer predicted.
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Iran lobbies over rights forum
By: Omid Memarian, Institute of War and Peace, February 26, 2010
Iranian activists have viewed with anger and dismay the outcome of a United Nations review of human rights in Iran and the country's rejection of its recommendations. Iran attracted criticism from the West over a lack of freedom of speech and assembly and the position of religious minorities like the Bahais at the routine session in Geneva on February 15 of the UN Human Rights Council.
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Iran's latest crackdown on women's rights
By: Elham Gheytanchi, Anderson Cooper Blog, February 19, 2010
Despite a February 15th United Nations review of its human-rights practices, Iran's government has not curbed its censorship and repression of women's rights activists. The morning after the review was held, Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent Iranian feminist lawyer, was detained by the Iranian government. Her alleged crime is "to have spoken with foreign media" about human rights violations in Iran.
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Photos: Protesters around the world
By: LA Times, March 2010
A Galery of photos on protests around the world.
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World report on the culture of peace
By: Culture of Peace, March 2010
Click on the link below to view information of the civil society for the United Nations International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010). You can also view the 2005 Civil Society Report and the 2006 Youth Report and Youth Advocacy Teams.
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Wrap-up on the School of Authentic Journalism, 2010
By: Al Giordano, The Field, March 4, 2010
As we edit and post the many news stories and videos from the 2010 Narco News School of Authentic Journalism in Mexico, I don't want to miss the chance to thank a lot of people and small businesses on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula who made the school possible from behind the curtain.
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Greenpeace protesters target Samsung over toxic substances
By: Alun Williams, Electronics Weekly, March 3, 2010
Greenpeace protesters have climbed the Benelux headquarters of Samsung, in Brussels, to protest at the company's policy over the use of toxic substances. They have displayed the message "Samsung = Broken Promises" on the front of the building, challenging the company over its promises to eliminate certain toxic substances from its products.
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Coffee party, with a taste for civic participation, is added to the political menu
By: Kate Zernike, NY Times, March 1, 2010
Fed up with government gridlock, but put off by the flavor of the Tea Party, people in cities across the country are offering an alternative: the Coffee Party. Growing through a Facebook page, the party pledges to "support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them."
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South African artist's work reflects on the struggle against apartheid
By: Roberta Smith, NY Times, February 26, 2010
The Museum of Modern Art's "William Kentridge: Five Themes" amounts to a split decision. Combining film and film installations with prints and drawings, it lays out the strengths and weaknesses of this prominent South African artist's work with a forthrightness that is almost touching.
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A global social network without the language barrier - Mojofiti
By: Aaron Saenz, Singularity Hub, February 16, 2010
Mojofiti has a simple but awesome concept behind it: connect people together in a world without language barriers. The Mojofiti website, now in its second round of Beta testing, allows you to build a profile, make friends, form groups, and start a blog - your standard social networking tools.
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Egypt: Un blogueur jugé en cour martiale
By: RSF, March 1, 2010
Reporters sans frontières dénonce la procédure abusive et expéditive dont fait l'objet l'étudiant Ahmed Abdel Fattah Mustafa, qui a comparu aujourd'hui devant la cour militaire du Caire, pour des commentaires postés sur son blog début 2009.
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Burma VJ highlights 'unpleasant paradox' of democrats' struggle
By: Michael Allen, Democracy Digest, March 4, 2010
Burma VJ, a favorite for best documentary, features covertly filmed footage of the 1988 Saffron Revolution filmed by a small group of video journalists - the "VJs" of the film's title - working the Oslo-based exile group Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a NED grantee.
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'Soul of a Citizen' excerpt: What cynicism costs us
By: Paul Loeb, Huffington Post, March 4, 2010
With over 100,000 copies in print, my book "Soul of a Citizen" has inspired thousands of citizens to make their voices heard and actions count--and to stay involved for the long haul. I spent the past year writing a wholly revised new edition, which St Martin's will publish March 30, and which HuffPo will serialize each Thursday for the next several months.
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