Interview / Catalina Botero, OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Organization of American States (OAS), Colombian Catalina Botero, is afraid that more democratic and participatory mechanisms than Internet can hardly be found. For this reason, she added, States should maximize citizens' active participation in the web and prevent the adoption of rules which restrict web access or contents, except for extreme cases of banned...

The women - wives and mothers of jailed dissidents - are staging a week of protests on the anniversary of Fidel Castro's 2003 Black Spring crackdown. They are demanding the release of some 50 government critics still being held. On Wednesday, police briefly arrested some of the women, known as the "Damas de Blanco" because they dress in white. Those marching on Thursday, the fourth day of protests, included the mother of Orlando Zapata, who died last month after an 85-day prison...

The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), which is holding its mid-year meeting in Aruba since last Friday, condemned the "actions of President Hugo Chávez's government against freedom of expression" and steps to "eliminate" news media in Venezuela. In a statement released on Monday, the IAPA agreed to "denounce and condemn the actions of President Chávez's government against freedom of expression and the right to information." The press...

Amnesty International urged Cuban President Raúl Castro to ensure the safety of a group of female relatives of prisoners of conscience ahead of a scheduled demonstration on Thursday. The call came after a protest by the Damas de Blanco (ladies in white) on Wednesday was forcibly broken up by Cuban police, who briefly detained several women. After the incident, some of the women said they had been beaten by the police. They include Reyna Tamayo, mother of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who...

Urgent Action To the people in solidarity around the world To the media To the organizations that defend human rights. To all the people and organizations that wish to act in solidarity with Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno we ask that they spread the following simple and deeply felt news. Juan Manuel was released from the Ixcotel prison on the 18th of February after spending 16 months unjustly accused of murdering the North American journalist, Bradley Roland Will on Oct. 27th 2006. For...

Amnesty International on Wednesday called on the Cuban authorities to revoke laws that restrict freedom of expression, assembly and association and to release all dissidents unfairly detained by the authorities. The organization also urged President Raúl Castro to allow independent monitoring of the human rights situation in Cuba by inviting UN experts to visit the country and by facilitating monitoring by other human rights groups. The call came ahead of the 7th anniversary of...

The following are excerpts from a Friday sermon delivered in the Gaza Strip, which aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV on March 5, 2010(to view this clip, visit ). This is followed by other MEMRI TV clips from Al-Aqsa TV on the coming Islamic 'conquest of Rome' (to view the MEMRI TV page for Al-Aqsa TV, visit ). Hamas Sermon in Gaza: Rome Will Be Conquered by Islam Preacher: "The prophecy of the conquest of Rome remains valid, Allah willing. Just like Constantinople was conquered some 500...

Honduran authorities should ensure that recent killings and other attacks on opponents of the 2009 coup are promptly and thoroughly investigated, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubí. Human Rights Watch has received credible reports of multiple acts of violence over the past month targeting members of the National Popular Resistance Front (Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular), including killings, rape, torture, kidnapping, and assault....

The US government criticized on Thursday in its annual report on human rights the restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and association, among others, in Venezuela, Cuba, and to some extent in Colombia. With regard to Venezuela, the US report said that the "politicization of the judiciary and official harassment and intimidation of the political opposition and the media intensified during 2009." The US State Department, which delivered the document to the US...

The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs will request Spanish National Court's Judge Eloy Velasco to provide details about his indictment pointing to evidence of Venezuelan government's cooperation with Basque separatist group País Vasco y Libertad (ETA) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and to establish what actions he deems necessary. The announcement was made by Spanish Minister of Justice Francisco Caamaño on Wednesday, Efe reported. According to...