By: Iran Focus, November 18, 2005
An Iranian opposition group demonstrated outside the prime minister's office Friday for the release of two men it believes are being tortured in Iraq, and called on Iran to cease "meddling" in Iraq.
By: The New York Times, November 21, 2005
Attackers wielding machetes, knives and axes created mayhem at scattered polling places around Egypt on Sunday, killing one man and wounding dozens of others. The violence was seen as a government effort to create chaos to prevent the Muslim Brotherhood from making further gains in the second round of three-stage parliamentary elections.
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By: BBC News, November 21, 2005
Tunisian bloggers campaign for internet freedom. Last week's UN-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society put the spotlight on the host country Tunisia. Human rights groups both inside and outside the country intensified their criticism of the Tunisian government's record regarding internet freedom. Some Tunisian dissidents, including blogger Mokhtar Yahyaoui, even staged a hunger strike in protest.
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By: e-Belarus.org, November 18, 2005
In the situation of the growing pressure on the Belarusian independent media, democracy advocates are shifting their focus to online campaigns. The statement was made by Alexander Milinkevich, the opposition candidate, at the presentation of his website.
By: Forum 18 News Service, November 18, 2005
A state report seen by Forum 18 News Service gives a rare insight into state attempts to contain religious activity, and official gloom at the state's failure. Vasili Marchenko, top religious affairs official in Brest region, is very upset that officials are not active enough in breaking up worship services and harassing, fining and controlling religious activity, writing of "an even more depressing situation." The report aims at "repairing defects" in controlling religious activity by 1 December 2005.
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Unmet promises, corruption leave country divided
By: The Boston Globe, November 20, 2005
A year after Ukraine's color-coded Orange Revolution, the excitement and ideals that brought hundreds of thousands of demonstrators to the capital's main square are already the stuff of orange-tinged nostalgia. Reality has taken on a darker hue, muddied by unfulfilled promises and fallible heroes.
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By: Washington Post Foreign Service, November 20, 2005
By Nov. 6, Election Day in Azerbaijan, a small room off the customs area at Heydar Aliyev International Airport was packed with satellite equipment seized from reporters arriving to cover the vote. "Can you send live pictures with this?" a polite customs inspector asked one foreign broadcast journalist after he landed with satellite equipment. "Then I'm afraid it's not allowed."
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By: BBC, November 18, 2005
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma has urged international agencies to maintain their presence there, despite the obstacles. Paolo Sergio Pinheiro said no one should expect a smooth transition to democracy by the military government.
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By: BBC News, November 21, 2005
The UN rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak, has arrived in China for a fact-finding mission to examine allegations of official maltreatment. It is the first time a UN rapporteur on torture will be allowed to visit China's prisons and detention centers.
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By: CS Monitor, November 21, 2005
In prisons across China, inmates languish for committing "political crime" - anything from starting an illegal newspaper, trade union, or unofficial religious church, or speaking a democracy slogan in public. China is not a liberal state with tolerant laws, as its leaders agree.
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