“Only global solidarity among democracy’s defenders can successfully counter the combined aggression of its adversaries.”
Freedom House, Freedom Report 2022
THE BIG PICTURE:
Democracies Waning: Where We Are
READ FULL REPORT Freedom House was established in 1941 by Democrat Eleanor Roosevelt, Republican Presidential candidate Wendell Willkie, to help evolve a world where democracy and rights were the norm, not the exception. A tall order. And they’re still at it. Every year the organization issues a report on how we’re doing. They have recently issued their 50th Anniversary issue, Freedom in the...
RSF: Press Freedom Index
Reporters Without Borders (RWB) was founded in 1985. by four journalists in Montpellier, France. Today, with 7 offices around the world, and 134 correspondents, RSF is at the forefront of the defence and promotion of freedom of information. Each year, RSF releases the World Press Freedom Index, which assesses the state of journalism in 180 countries and territories. The researchers define press...
Religious Freedom Around the World
In 1998, during the Presidency of Bill Clinton, the U.S. Congress passed the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, which declared it to be U.S. policy to (1) condemn violations of religious freedom, and to promote, and to assist other governments in the promotion of, the fundamental right to freedom of religion; and (2) seek to channel U.S. security and development assistance to...
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Five Iranian girls who were arrested for a video of them dancing have publicly apologised, as Iranian women have shared support for the group by posting their own dancing videos. The five teenagers shared a TikTok on 8 March of them dancing to the Selena Gomez and Rema song ‘Calm Down’. Arranged beside a tower block in Ekbatan, Tehran, the girls dance without any head covering. The teenagers...
Belarus jails senior staff at independent news site in crackdown on Lukashenko critics
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NPR: Women across Iran are refusing to wear headscarves, in open defiance of the regime
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NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATES URGE PRESIDENT MARCOS TO ENSURE JUSTICE FOR MARIA RESSA
Philippine journalist and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa and her online news site, Rappler, have been subjected to a multi-pronged and sustained attack from multiple government agencies, initiated under the administration of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. These attacks, including multiple false criminal charges, have threatened to imprison Maria, with a combined maximum sentence of 100 years, and shut down her online news site, Rappler.
On Wednesday, January 18, 2023, the Philippine Court of Tax Appeals acquitted Ressa and Rappler of four of the charges against her, of tax evasion and failure to provide full information to the tax authorities in corporate filings. The charges were based on filings by the Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) with the Department of Justice in 2018 that claimed Rappler was not a news site at all but was a “seller if securities” for having brought private investment into the company.
This is only the beginning. The charges being ruled on this week will be followed by more trials on other spurious charges, including being a “foreign agent,” based on Rappler having received investment from private individuals who are not citizens of the Philippines).
In June, 2020, Ressa former and Rappler researcher-writer Reynaldo Santos Jr. were convicted of cyber libel. These criminal charges resulted from a Rappler article suggesting that a Philippine businessman had inappropriate financial ties to a Supreme Court Judge. Ressa was sentenced to more than six years in prison. She is currently out on bail while waiting for the case to come before the Supreme Court. It should be noted that the article was published before the law criminalizing cyber law was written into law. The law was applied “retroactively.”
Twelve Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including Ressa’s 2021 co-recipient Dmitri Muratov, and the three 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureates (with political prisoner Ales Bialiatski represented by his wife, Natalia Pichuk) spoke out in an open letter to President Marcos, urging the President to bring these unjust attacks to an end and restore freedom of the press, a bedrock of democracy, in the Philippines.
2021 Co-Recipient of Nobel Peace Prize Dmitry Muratov Delivers a Message to President Marcos on Maria Ressa
Russian Journalist Dmitry Muratov sends a message to President Marcos about the political persecution of Philippine journalist and founder of the online news site Rappler, Maria Ressa. Muratov was co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the last remaining independent newspaper in Russia, now shuttered. Muratov and Ressa were co-recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021.
News:
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Chevron agrees to sell Myanmar assets and will exit country
HOUSTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - U.S. oil major Chevron Corp (CVX.N) on Friday said it had agreed to sell its assets in Myanmar to Canadian company MTI, in a deal that allows it to leave the Asian country. The agreement comes one year after Chevron and other oil companies...
Will Russian aid for Myanmar give Moscow an Asian foothold?
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Iranian couple filmed dancing in Tehran are jailed for 10 years
Couple convicted of ‘encouraging corruption and public prostitution’ after video of dance at landmark tower went viral An Iranian court has handed jail sentences of more than 10 years each to a young couple who danced in front of one of Tehran’s main landmarks in a...
Freedom in the World 2022
Freedom House was established in 1941 by Democrat Eleanor Roosevelt, Republican Presidential candidate Wendell Willkie, to help evolve a world where democracy and rights were the norm, not the exception. A tall order. And they’re still at it.
Every year the organization issues a report on how we’re doing. Their 2022 report was a warning. A total of 60 countries experienced a decline in freedom in the last year. Only 25 improved.
Eiffel Tower lights up in support of women protesting in Iran
The Eiffel Tower in France has lit up with messages of support for protesting women in Iran. The slogan "Femme, Vie, Liberte" was seen on the landmark in Paris, which translates to "Women, Life, Freedom". Watch: [video_lightbox_youtube video_id="9stJb8VhqyE"...
Maria Ressa: Truth and justice won today, says Nobel laureate
Maria Ressa looks and sounds like she is on top of the world, and understandably so - this has been a huge victory for her. A court in the Philippines has acquitted the journalist and her news outlet Rappler of tax evasion, in a move hailed as a win for press freedom....
UN Security Council Delivers Resolution on Myanmar Violence
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council adopted its first resolution on Myanmar in 74 years on Wednesday to demand an end to violence and urge the military junta to release all political prisoners, including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar...
Myanmar court to deliver final verdicts this week in Suu Kyi trials
Dec 27 (Reuters) - A court in military-ruled Myanmar will deliver its final verdicts in cases against deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday, said a source familiar with her trials, wrapping up marathon proceedings that have been condemned in the West as a sham....
Thailand hosts Myanmar junta figures in talks, key ASEAN nations skip
BANGKOK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Thailand hosted regional talks on Thursday to discuss the crisis in army-run Myanmar including rare international appearances by junta ministers, but several key members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations did not attend despite...