Posts Tagged ‘Egypt’

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Preposterous conviction of HRDs in Zimbabwe for watching videos of the Arab spring

March 19, 2012

Munyaradzi Gwisai

The newspaper the Zimbabwean comes with the following story:  the MDC – although technically part of a unity government – denounces today’s conviction of human rights activist, Munyaradzi Gwisai and five others of conspiracy to commit crime by plotting to topple the government of Zimbabwe. The MDC dissociates itself from claims by the State that the six human rights defenders wanted to topple the government of Zimbabwe through watching video clips.

“We totally condemn the persecution through prosecution of the six in the first place and their conviction today at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts is another assault on democracy and human rights. All the six are innocent victims of a barbaric and senseless Zanu PF dictatorship.”

Gwisai, a former MP for Highfield, is the general coordinator of International Socialist Organisation (ISO). The others who were found guilty today are; Antoinette Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo and Welcome Zimuto. The MDC quite rightly calls it “beyond belief” to assume that people can topple a government by simply viewing old video footage of events from Tunisia and Egypt.

How can anyone be convicted for watching video material that is already in the public domain and can be accessed by anyone from anywhere in the world?

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Female protesters systematically targeted in Egypt say local NGOs

December 19, 2011

On Sunday 18 December 2011, five local human rights groups accused the Egyptian military of systematically targeting female political activists.

The 5 NGOs (Nazra for Feminist Studies, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, the Hisham Mubarak Law Center and the Women and Memory Association) accuse in a joint statement the military rulers of exercising “unprecedented violence against protesters, with the targeting of female activists being a distinctive feature of the proceedings to disperse sit-ins, as depicted in pictures and video clips showing protesters being arrested, beaten, dragged and stripped of their clothes.”

Female protesters systematically targeted, say rights watchdogs | Al-Masry Al-Youm: Todays News from Egypt.

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Egypt: Human Rights Defenders still at risk when critical of Military

April 21, 2011

Egypt is not there yet. 26-years old Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad, was sentenced under a military commission to three years in prison without the presence of his attorneys. He was detained a few weeks ago by Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces for calling out abuses by the military.  Mikael thus became the first prisoner of conscience after the revolution. Human Rights First is calling on people to sign a petition to the Egyptian Ambassador to the United States, Sameh Shoukry, to help free Maikel immediately and to push for the military to respect peaceful protest. [CTRL and Click]

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