By: Associated Press, November 29, 2005
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of people in Zimbabwe, China and India have been forcibly evicted from their homes due to industrialization, efforts to create a "world class" city and even the 2008 Olympics, a rights group said Tuesday. The Geneva-based Center on Housing Rights and Evictions named Zimbabwe, China and India's Maharashtra state as recipients of the group's 2005 "Housing Rights Violator Awards."
DD 11.30.2005
The Sub-Committee on the Media of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is deeply concerned about respect for freedom of expression in the media in Belarus.
DD 11.30.2005
By: LYDIA POLGREEN, New York Times, November 29, 2005
Long associated with rampant corruption and kleptocratic governments, Nigeria has year in and year out gotten one of the worst scores in Transparency International's world corruption perception index, though this year its rating improved slightly. Corruption touches virtually every aspect of Nigerian life, from the millions of sham e-mail messages sent each year by people claiming to be Nigerian officials seeking help with transferring large sums of money out of the country, to the police officers who routinely set up roadblocks, sometimes every few hundred yards, to extract bribes of 20 naira, about 15 cents, from drivers.
DD 11.30.2005
By: Reuters, November 29, 2005
Sanjar Umarov, the arrested leader of a pro-reform opposition block in Uzbekistan is still being interrogated in custody and needs medical care, his lawyer said on Tuesday. Sanjar Umarov, 49, is the leader of 'Serkuyosh Uzbekistonim' (Sunshine Uzbekistan) - a new opposition coalition that was established in Uzbekistan in April.
DD 11.30.2005
By: Reporters Without Borders, November 30, 2005
Reporters Without Borders today condemned the violence used by police against at least 12 journalists working for various news media when a demonstration organised by the opposition alliance Azadlig was dispersed by force on 26 November in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.
DD 11.30.2005
By: Los Angeles Times, November 28, 2005
Thousands of protesters in Azerbaijan shouting "Freedom!" and vowing to occupy downtown Baku on Saturday were beaten back by riot police wielding truncheons and water cannons. Witnesses said hundreds of protesters were injured, along with at least 26 police officers.
DD 11.30.2005
By: Phayul, November 29, 2005
Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet's capital is currently under intense restrictions following a crackdown order issued by the "Tibet Autonomous Region" ("TAR") government authorities on monks sitting on mass silent protest, according to confirmed information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). Reportedly the situation is tense and the monastery put under tight control by the Chinese authorities.
DD 11.30.2005
By: International Herald Tribune, November 30, 2005
UNITED NATIONS, New York The United States asked the UN Security Council to put Myanmar on its agenda for the first time, accusing its military rulers of repressing political opponents, including Aung San Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader.
DD 11.30.2005
By: Inquirer News Service, November 27, 2005
Are Filipinos getting tired of using people power to replace a sitting President for the third time since 1986? PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo survived an attempt to impeach her, but 58 percent of Filipinos still want her to resign, according to results of a nationwide survey conducted by Pulse Asia Inc. last month. Despite this sentiment, street protests calling for the President's resignation have failed to muster the numbers that made Edsa I and II successful. Multi-sectoral alliances against Ms Arroyo have been formed to no avail.
DD 11.30.2005
By: BBC News, November 24, 2005
Twelve presidential elections are due to take place in Latin America between November 2005 and the end of 2006. They include seven of the region's eight most populous countries: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Chile and Ecuador. Today's Latin America is a very different region from that of 20-30 years ago. Electoral politics are reasonably consolidated in most countries, and there are no military governments. However, there is also what many observers call the democratic deficit, which has taken two forms.
DD 11.30.2005
By: Reuters, November 27, 2005
Leaders from Ethiopia's opposition who have been detained by the government and accused of treason said they were innocent and would go on hunger strike from Monday.
DD 11.30.2005
By: Independent Online, November 27, 2005
A leader from Zanzibar's opposition Civic United Front (CUF) arrested on charges of treason said on Saturday he had been released on bail. Mohamed Abdulrahman Dedes, a member of CUF's governing body, was arrested on Friday morning for telling political rallies on the volatile Indian Ocean islands that he did not recognise the recently elected President Amani Abeid Karume of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party.
DD 11.30.2005
By: New York Times, November 29, 2005
Long associated with rampant corruption and kleptocratic governments, Nigeria has year in and year out gotten one of the worst scores in Transparency International's world corruption perception index, though this year its rating improved slightly. Corruption touches virtually every aspect of Nigerian life, from the millions of sham e-mail messages sent each year by people claiming to be Nigerian officials seeking help with transferring large sums of money out of the country, to the police officers who routinely set up roadblocks, sometimes every few hundred yards, to extract bribes of 20 naira, about 15 cents, from drivers.
DD 11.30.2005
By: Voice of America, November 28, 2005
A faction of Zimbabwe's divided opposition has taken a step it believes has suspended party president Morgan Tsvangirai from office. The latest development in the opposition's disintegration has been dismissed by Mr. Tsvangirai and his supporters.
DD 11.30.2005
By: Reuters, November 29, 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a sign of growing U.S. animosity toward Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, a senior U.S. official dismissed as "a nonevent" last weekend's Senate poll victory by the ruling party in the southern African nation.
DD 11.30.2005
By: Telegraph, November 27, 2005
Opposition leaders in Uganda accused President Yoweri Museveni of plunging the country into a Zimbabwe-like crisis yesterday after his defiance towards Britain at the Commonwealth summit in Malta. They spoke out after Mr Museveni attacked Britain for criticising him over the jailing of his main political rival on terrorism charges.
DD 11.30.2005
By: Independent Online, November 28, 2005
Kampala - Lawyers at Uganda's high court went on strike on Monday in protest at a bid by soldiers to interfere with a trial of opposition activists. Commandos in black T-shirts and wielding assault rifles took over the high court premises for more than an hour on November 16 in a failed bid to re-arrest 14 alleged accomplices of jailed opposition leader Kizza Besigye who were granted bail.
DD 11.30.2005
By: BBC News, November 29, 2005
Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye has appeared in the High Court to sign bail papers, but then returned to jail. The Kizza Besigye arrest has fuelled street protests.
DD 11.30.2005
By: BBC News, November 30, 2005
Egypt's opposition was initially able to campaign with relative freedom. However, Egyptian police have detained hundreds of members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood before the final round of the parliamentary poll, the group says. A spokesman for the banned Islamist group told Reuters 576 members had been held in the last two days, many in governorates due to vote on Thursday. The brotherhood said the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) wanted to thwart its election campaign.
DD 11.30.2005