Authoritarianism

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French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks with Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki during a round table meeting during an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, on December 10, 2020. They stand talking, not actually sitting at the table. They all wear face masks. Behind them a wall is covered with a banner reading “European Council.”

Polish Government’s Attacks on Rule of Law Violate Not Only EU Norms but International Law

The repeated violations of fundamental rights and principles corrode the very foundations of the democracy Poland fought so hard to win.
The 19th Session Human Rights Council. 15 March 2012.

The UDHR, Digital Authoritarianism, and Human Rights after Trump

"A simple return to an imagined world of pre-Trump human rights is not enough."
Silhouettes of Patrick Zaki, an Egyptian postgraduate student at the University of Bologna, Italy, who has been detained in Egypt since February 7, 2020, sit on every chair placed in the Aula Magna of the University Library of Bologna. The silhouettes are drawn by the artist Gianluca Costantini in action to demand the immediate release of Patrick. July 16, 2020

Biden’s Global Priority No. 1: Turn the Authoritarian Tide

Any other challenge will be exponentially harder to address as long as authoritarian leaders and the militarized systems that support them have free rein.
A policeman stops US Actress Mia Farrow and Theary Seng, head of the Centre for Social Development, as they attempt to enter the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum in Phnom Penh, 20 January 2008. They hold white flowers and people with cameras crowd around them.

Cambodian Rights Activist and 55 Others Face Trial as Crackdown on Dissent Intensifies

Given the control that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling party wields over the judiciary, their odds of getting a fair trial are slim.
Egyptian members of the press sit outside the headquarters of the journalists syndicate in Cairo on January 25, 2009 with their cameras on the ground, in protest against police interference in their work. Many hold images of police brutality.

How to Fight Truth Decay: Protect the Truth Tellers

What better way of protecting the truth than by offering a safe haven for journalists who risk their lives to inform us.
Veronika Tsepkalo, the wife of opposition figure Valery Tsepkalo, who was barred from running for presidency, presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Maria Kolesnikova, Viktor Babaryko's campaign chief, pose during a press conference in Minsk on July 17, 2020.

The Women, Peace and Security Agenda at 20: Setbacks, Progress, and the Way Forward

Two decades after the landmark UN resolution, the rise of authoritarianism and extreme rightist ideologies have generated backlash against gender equality and the idea of involving…
El Salvador's President is photographed next to the files that contain case information The massacre of El Mozote during a press conference at a presidential home in San Salvador, El Salvador, on September 24, 2020.

On El Salvador’s 1981 El Mozote Massacre, President Bukele Sides With Impunity

Survivors of the largest single massacre in modern Latin American history want him charged for failure to comply with a judicial order for documents.
Burkina Faso's opposition supporters attend a mass rally at the "Stade du 4-Aout" stadium in Ouagadougou.

We the People: Lessons from Africa for Defeating Authoritarianism in 2020 U.S. Election

"Civil society movements in several African countries have recent, hard-won experience with many of the scenarios we face in the United States. ... Their experiences have yielded…
Kashmiri women journalists hold placards as they protest against the continued communication blockade by the Indian authorities after the revocation of special status of Kashmir on October 3, 2019 in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir, India. Signs read, “End communication blockade,” “End information clampdown,” “End communication blockade in Kashmir,” and “Communication blockade 60 days and counting…”

Amnesty International Calls for India to Lift Account Freeze to Resume Vital Human Rights Work

Senior US officials traveling to India this month should urge the immediate lifting of the account freeze and press India to guarantee rights of civil society organizations to…
Trump's unmasked mouth opened wide.

Don’t Believe Trump’s Latest Con: The Strongman

Just as it would be dangerous to underestimate Trump, it is similarly dangerous to overestimate him.
Members of the Oromo Ethiopian community in the US demonstrate in Washington DC, on July 17, 2020, in support the Oromo minority in Ethiopia.

Ethiopian Democracy Veers Off Track: What’s at Stake

Meaningful security and economic partnership with the US requires a stability that is authentic, sustainable, consensus-driven, and democratic.
Attorney General William Barr (C) speaks during a press conference on the shooting at the Pensacola naval base January 13, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Justifying Absolute Political Control over DOJ, Barr Promotes Myth of Unaccountable Career Prosecutor

Attorney General William Barr's inaccurate claims denigrating the ability and appropriateness of federal prosecutors to make certain litigation determinations are merely a fig…
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