Harsh Suppression of On-Line Activists
Human-Rights Bloggers Suppressed In Russia, Burma, China
Nov 24, 2008
Recent acts of suppression of by oppressive regimes of the free speech of on-line journalists and bloggers that have resulted in one death and an extremely long sentence have earned international criticism.
Death in Russia
A court in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya, has ruled the detention in August of Magomed Yevloyev, owner of a website, Ingushetiya.ru, was "illegal," Reporters Without Borders has reported.
Yevloyev had criticized the Kremlin and called for protests against the administration of the pro-Kremlin Ingush president, Murat Zyazikov. Moscow had ordered the site shut down and had blocked access to it.
Yevloyev was arrested by the region's interior ministry as he left a plane on which he had travelled from Moscow to the region's capital, Magas. He and Zyazikov, who was also on the plane, had had a violent argument during the flight.
While being driven away in a police car, Yevloyev was shot in the head and later died in hospital. Local authorities blamed his death on "negligence."
The ruling that the detention was illegal "is a first step towards recognizing the political nature of the behaviour of the Ingush security forces in this case," Reporters Without Borders said. "We hope that a thorough and impartial investigation will soon be carried out into the exact circumstances of Yevloyev's death."
Interfax reported a Moscow based spokesperson for Human Rights Watch has said the death "in such suspicious circumstances, can only raise questions." Russian opposition activist, Ilia Yashin, and Alexander Cherkassov, of the Russian rights group Memorial, have both alleged that the killing was a "murder," the French news agency AFP has reported.
A manslaughter investigation has been launched.
“Shocking Sentence” in Burma
In January 2008, Burma sentenced Nay Phone Latt, owner of two Internet cafes in Rangoon, to more than 20 years for writing on a blog about difficulties young Burmese had in expressing themselves since protests in September 2007. He was also convicted for possessing a video banned by the military government.
"This shocking sentence is meant to terrify those who go online in an attempt to elude the dictatorship's ubiquitous control of news and information, and we call for his immediate release," said Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association in a joint statement.
Nay's own lawyer was jailed also for criticizing the court's procedures.
Nay has been denied medical treatment for an eye condition.
Human Rights Award for Chinese Activist
In China, Hu Jia, a human rights activist detained for posting articles on line and giving interviews to foreign journalists, has been awarded the 2008 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament.
"Europe is sending a very strong message of solidarity and hope to Chinese prisoners of conscience, of whom Hu Jia is one of the best known," said Reporters Without Borders in calling for his release.
Hu was charged with "inciting subversion of state authority," and posting information about matters of state on websites outside China. He had been using blogs to expose what he said are the Chinese regime's repression of people who defend human rights. He has also been involved with HIV prevention, aiding HIV/AIDS sufferers and in protecting the environment.
The Chinese ambassador to Brussels wrote to the European Parliament's President Hans Gert Pvttering, that the award “would inevitably hurt the Chinese people once again and bring serious damage to China-EU relations."
Cyber-police
Some 50 dissidents who have been using the Internet are currently in prison, according to Reporters Without Borders. The Chinese Government is installing cameras and equipment to swipe identity cards of all users in Beijing's Internet cafes, ostensibly to combat cyber crime and piracy. 40,000 cyber-police daily monitor the Internet for subjects deemed sensitive to the Communist Party.
Bloggers and website operators around the world are facing harsh persecution, but the power of the Internet has prevented these atrocities from being perpetrated in secret.
See also: Human Rights Bloggers Persecuted
