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
Another Republic Day, Another Mass Protest and Another Year of Repression?
For many Indians who take pride in their constitution and the recognition of their country as the worldâs largest democracy, a sense of despondency is setting in.
A security person keeps vigil near India Gate on the eve of 72nd Republic Day, in New Delhi, Monday, January 25, 2021. Photo: PTI/Kamal Singh
Rights26/Jan/2021
 Last January around Republic Day, attention was focused on the women of Shaheen Bagh. Their peaceful round-the-clock picket protest organised mostly under tents in the short but bitter Delhi winter was awakening the conscience of the country, inspiring protestors from all walks of life to stand up for Indiaâs constitutional commitment to secular values. Activists, poets and thousands of ordinary people committed to inclusion in the tradition of
English By Asim Kashgarian Share on Facebook Print this page WASHINGTON - For nearly three weeks Kazakhstan blogger Aigul Utepova was detained in a psychiatric clinic for “observation” after she wrote critical posts of the government on social media.
Utepova, who has over 8,000 followers on both her Facebook page and YouTube channel, had already been under house arrest since September when a court in Kazakhstan’s capital, Nur-Sultan, ordered that she be moved to the clinic, according to rights groups and her daughter.
The 50-year-old journalist, who until 2018 worked for the NewTimes.kz news agency, is accused of “participating in an extremist organization.”