On January 3, the Burundi Ministry of Interior accused ITEKA League (ITEKA), a Burundi-based civil society organization, of harming the country’s reputation, and removed ITEKA from the list of NGOs allowed to work in Burundi. This past December also marked one year since Marie Claudette Kwizera, the treasurer of ITEKA, went missing; her disappearance prompted the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)…
The Sudan government has continued to escalate its assaults against civil society, most notably with the recent arrests of several Sudanese activists. In December, the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) authorities arrested human rights lawyer Tasneem Ahmed Taha, as well as three other lawyers, a move which prompted more than 200 lawyers to sign a petition…
The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, is calling on civil society to respond to a questionnaire about their accomplishments over the past ten years. Mr. Kiai will highlight positive developments submitted in questionnaires in the Special Rapporteur’s final thematic report to the 35th session…
Earlier this month, Portuguese MEP Ana Gomes and 22 other members of European Parliament (EP) published a letter of concern to the leaders of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Union, European Council, and the European Parliament. In the letter, the MEPs identified Egypt’s recent policies – such as the new NGO…