Monthly Archives: July 2014

Australia bans reporting of corruption case

Read the full press release from WikiLeaks. It does make you wonder, what is really behind this? Note also that, as Sydney Morning Herald writes:

“anyone who tweets a link to the Wikileaks report, posts it on Facebook, or shares it in any way online could also face charges”

Luckily, this web site is not based in Australia or any other country where that type of gag order can be issued. Australia does not seem to deserve their currently high rating on the World Press Freedom Index.

NSA aids Saudi Arabia

The USA is known for having supported many dictatorships around the world, and still continue to do so. One example is that The Intercept has revealed how NSA aids Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia also passed a shocking terrorism law. The world has very small chances to do anything regarding the horrible human rights situation in Saudi Arabia. Dictators know that if they team up with the USA, they are safe (at least as long as the USA does not change their mind).

Defending civil rights in the information society

EDRi is one of the organizations defending civil rights in the information society. Some of the topics, which they recently have published information about, are:

  • Flawed Dutch government study on ISDS
  • Poland: Secret services escape citizen’s control
  • Germany opens investigation on Merkel’s phone tap
  • Turkish government to acquire a tool to censor social media?

Read more on EDRi’s website

Government crimes force many to flee

Today, a police report was filed in Sweden against the top leadership in Eritrea for crimes against humanity. Also, the UN’s Human Rights Council has recently set up a commission of inquiry into human rights abuses in Eritrea. The situation in Eritrea forces many Eritreans to flee to Europe, often in ships that are far from seaworthy. Eritrea is a sad example of how ruthless governments are the root of many of the problems of the world, including the refugee situation and humanitarian disasters. However, we hope that the investigations regarding Eritrea will also reveal if any other governments are involved in the reported atrocities. It in known that dictatorships are sometimes supported by US, European or Chinese allies and may even be puppet regimes.