As so often at the sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council, some interventions by states go unnoticed, but one in particular — Russia’s — must be called out
CATEGORY: Europe and Central Asia
#IndexAwards2015: Digital activism nominee Tamás Bodoky and Atlatszo.hu
Atlatszo.hu is an investigative news outlet founded and managed by Tamás Bodoky, the main goal of which is to promote free, transparent circulation of information in Hungary
#IndexAwards2015: Campaigning nominee Rechts gegen Rechts
Rechts gegen Rechts is an initiative set up in 2014 in Wunsiedel, Germany, to peacefully counter an annual neo-Nazi march through the streets of the small town.
Padraig Reidy: George Galloway’s dear tweeter letters
TV presenter George Galloway has taken to wearing a black fedora, indoors. I know this, because I have seen him doing so on at least one of his TV shows
#IndexAwards2015: Campaigning nominee Soldiers’ Mothers
Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia is an NGO network dedicated to improving transparency and exposing human rights abuses in the Russian military
#IndexAwards2015: Campaigning nominees Yaman Akdeniz and Kerem Altiparmak
Professors Yaman Akdeniz and Kerem Altiparmak are cyber-law experts and internet rights activists who have campaigned vigorously against the Turkish government’s increasingly restrictive internet access laws
Padraig Reidy: There is not a limited amount of free speech to go round
There is, I am told, a war going on in feminism. A war between “intersectionalists” (I think) and TERFs (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists, as far as I can tell).
#IndexAwards2015: Arts nominee Rory “Panti Bliss” O’Neill
Rory O’Neill is a Dublin-based stand-up comedian and self-described accidental activist for gay rights, who sees his duty as “to say the unsayable”.
EU human rights boss must meet with Azerbaijan’s jailed critics
With the arrival of the EU special representative for human rights in Azerbaijan, the country has a unique opportunity to adhere to the international commitments it has signed by releasing detained and imprisoned journalists and human rights defenders
#IndexAwards2015: Journalism nominee Ekho Moskvy
One of few media outlets that is critical of Vladimir Putin’s regime, the radio station is revered by many as the last bastion of free speech in the country