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President Felix Tshisekedi’s administration in the Democratic Republic of Congo has increasingly cracked down on the media and activist groups during its two years in office, Human Rights Watch has said.
Despite some initial steps to advance a human rights agenda, the government has threatened, arbitrarily arrested and detained, and prosecuted several dozen journalists, activists, and others deemed critical of the government, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on 28 January.
“People in Congo shouldn’t have to fear harassment or arrest for criticizing or peacefully protesting government policy,” said Thomas Fessy, senior Congo researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Two years on, Tshisekedi’s commitments to respecting rights are starting to sound like broken promises.”
Around 80 journalists were arrested in Russia over the weekend amid continued protests against the detainment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, according to the free expression nonprofit PEN America.More than 5,000 Russians have been arrested during pro-Navalny demonstrations which have called for Russian president Vladimir Putin to resign.
Summary
In its annual progress report, the Monitoring Committee takes
stock of its activities since January 2020 and assesses the progress
made by the 11 countries under the Assembly’s full monitoring procedure,
and by the 3 countries engaged in a post monitoring dialogue, in
honouring their obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe.
It welcomes progress made and expresses concerns at setbacks and
addresses specific recommendations to the countries concerned.
In this reporting period, the committee prepared reports on
“The functioning of democratic institutions in Poland” on the basis
of which the Assembly opened a monitoring procedure with respect
of this country; on the “Challenge, on substantive grounds, of the
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The Belarusian government is escalating its clampdown on the media that began after Alexander Lukashenko won a disputed presidential election in August, according to two news freedom rights groups.
The Belarus Journalist Association (BAJ) and Reporters Without Borders said Thursday they referred to the United Nations 15 cases of journalists who were arbitrarily arrested after Lukashenko’s victory, which his political opponents and many Western countries have deemed questionable.
The groups demanded an end to media censorship, website blockages, internet blackouts and cancellations of journalists’ accreditation credentials.
Women wearing carnival masks march down the streets under umbrellas with the colors of the former white-red-white flag of Belarus to protest against the Belarus presidential election results in Minsk, on Jan. 26, 2021.