AFRICA/DR CONGO - The State of siege to stop violence risks being a failure CONGO, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE 2021-05-29
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - Can the militarization of civil administrations and intensification of armed pressure be enough to end the spiral of violence that has plagued the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for more than 20 years? Difficult to say . says a communication from the Peace Network for Congo on the state of siege in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, in the east of the country, which came into force on May 6 (see Fides, 7/5/2021).
KENYA: Harmonise legal framework on free expression with ICCPR recommendations
ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa welcomes the concluding observations of the United Nations Human Rights Committee (the Committee) after Kenya’s fourth periodic review on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The 131
st Session of the Human Rights Committee reviewed Kenya alongside Finland. The session was held completely online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ahead of Kenya’s review, ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa submitted a report which raised serious concerns on the status of freedom of expression in Kenya. The report highlighted undue limitations in the legal framework for free expression and press freedom, laying out problematic provisions in the Penal Code that are incompatible both with national law and the Covenant. Article 33 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 gives strong protection to the right to freedom of expression, subject to the exclusions of Arti
28 May 2021
Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18
On 27 May, Asliddin Khudaiberdiyev was jailed for teaching five boys and six adult men how to read the Koran and pray. The jailing followed a police and secret police raid on a Samarkand Region mosque as Muslims were preparing to worship. The raid came as the regime publicly announced and implemented increased restrictions across the country on under-18s attending mosques. Also, Religion Law changes are still going through parliament but the regime continues to hide the text its parliament is discussing.
On 27 May, a Judge in Samarkand Region jailed Muslim teacher Asliddin Khudaiberdiyev for 15 days to punish him for teaching men and boys in a mosque how to read the Koran and say the namaz prayer. Judge Aziz Akramov refused to explain to Forum 18 why he jailed Khudaiberdiyev for 15 days. The jailing followed a police and secret police raid on the mosque.