The Arab Spring has not stopped Britain from helping crush free expression by selling crowd control ammunition to authoritarian states including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Alex Stevenson reports
CATEGORY: Europe and Central Asia
From Eurovision to ice hockey — how do we engage with dubious regimes?
Autocrats try to use international competitions to control the world’s view of them. We should beat them at their own games, writes Padraig Reidy
Hockey championship in Belarus: Lukashenko puts activists on ice
The authorities in Belarus are trying to ensure that no one spoils the upcoming World ice hockey championship the country hosts — not even human rights activists. Andrei Aliaksandrau reports
Five things to remember about Azerbaijan
The sentencing of eight youth activists this week is just the latest addition to a long list of human rights abuses by Azerbaijani authorities
Northern Ireland: Plays sorting through the fallout from Troubles
Julia Farrington travelled to Northern Ireland to participate in the 2014 Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in Belfast. While there she saw four plays that deal with the Troubles as Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Féin, was questioned by police
Azerbaijan — Atlético Madrid’s authoritarian friends
We should enjoy the football and praise the players, but we owe it to brave Azerbaijanis to ask some tough questions about Atlético’s relationship with Ilham Aliyev’s repressive regime, Padraig Reidy writes
Liberalising internet governance: ICANN and the role of governments
Reforms are on the cards for internet governance, but no one seems to be clear what exactly these will do to the way the web is used. Sentiments of doom and gloom mix with utopian forecasts of freedom, Binoy Kampmark writes
Reflecting on Northern Ireland’s self-appointed theatre censors
Do we have the right to not be offended? Newtownabbey council said “yes” when they cancelled what they labelled a blasphemous play, writes Katie Dancey.
Naming and shaming: 8 countries egregiously violating religious freedom
The U.S. State Department names and shames eight “Countries of Particular Concern” that severely violate religious freedom rights within their borders. Now an independent watchdog is naming and shaming the State Department, saying its list should be doubled. Brian Pellot reports
Letter: Persecution of human rights defender Leyla Yunus
Minister Usubov Ramil Idris oglu Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Avenue 7 1005 Baku Republic of Azerbaijan...