5.02.04 countering violations of civil liberties

Repression at the Republican Convention: The Criminalization of Dissent

Anti-war demonstration in St. Paul, MN, September 4, 2008. photo: Zoe Prinds-Flash
Authors: Tom Good

Summary:

The Republican Party Host Committee bribed St. Paul to violate protesters' rights. The city, and Homeland Security, complied.

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Reporter Arrested at Democratic Convention: His Crime? Reporting on How Money Fuels Politics

Gerry Katz from Taos helps form the letter "T" in "Make Out Not War" Photo Josie Lenwell
Authors: Sam Diener

Summary:

Shoved off the sidewalk; threatened with arrest for blocking traffic.

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Anti-TortureActivists Convicted: Guantánamo Prison Put On Trial

The thirty five defendants stand in front of Superior Court, Photo: Bill Ofenlach, www.witnesstorture.org
Authors: Frida Berrigan

Summary:

We have a right to petition the government for a redress of grievances, and Guantánamo Bay prison is beyond grievous.

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The Burmese Cyclone, Nonviolent Action, and the Responsibility to Empower

Pushing the relief truck out of the mud, photo: Beyond Rangoon Project, May 17, 2008
Authors: Patrick Meier

Summary:

It is not acceptable to let regimes like Burma's dictate the rules of humanitarian intervention.

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Stop the Killing: Arab Activists Call for Ending the Death Penalty in Arab Countries

Egyptian labor bloggers Hossam el-Hamalawy and Kareem el-Beheiry. Kareem was jailed from April to early June 2008 after promoting and covering an April 6 general strike (partially organized via Facebook!) and ongoing independent labor union activism cente

Summary:

Sharia'a law insists that room be left for forgiveness and reconciliation.

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A Politics of Inclusion: An Interview with Egyptian Democracy Advocate Saad Eddin Ibrahim

 Following a fire in the Qale't el-Kabsh slum of Cairo, residents were promised replacement housing and compensation, but many received nothing. After a prosecutor told residents and the Egyptian Center for Housing Rights that they would not pursue

Summary:

Women got upset and marched to the Royal Palace. The King called me and said, 'Saad, do you see what is happening?' I said, 'Yes, but that is democracy, your Majesty.'

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Syrian Human Rights Defenders Brave Jail: Repression Met with Waves of Resistance

Syrian stamps celebrating the UN Declaration of Human Rights, Photo: Joseph Morris

Summary:

Ali Abdullah has been jailed three times. One of his sons is serving a five-year sentence for involvement in a pro-democracy youth group. The other chose exile.

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Diversity is the Revolution: The Tharwa Manifesto for Nonviolent Change in the Middle East

Families of Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, and Egyptian men who disappeared into Syrian prisons during the Lebanese civil war staged a sit-in protest in front of the UN House in Beirut for more than a year. photo: E. Zarwan,June 27, 2006

Summary:

We approach our struggle in the spirit of hope, love, and magnanimity.

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Help Bring Justice to Timor-Leste: A Sample Letter

Authors:

Summary:

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In Timor-Leste, a Legacy of Violence

Authors: John M. Miller

Summary:

The failure to achieve justice and accountability for many recent and past crimes has fostered a climate of impunity in Timor-Leste.

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