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	Russian court forces closure of prominent human rights NGO by Amnesty International, agencies Russia   Apr 2014   Russian court forces closure of prominent human rights NGO. (Amnesty)   The decision by the St Petersburg City Court to deny the appeal of a prominent Russian non-governmental organization (NGO) against a previous court order to register as a “foreign agent” is a legal assault on the whole of civil society in Russia, Amnesty International said. Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial, an important human rights NGO working on behalf of victims of racism and xenophobia in Russia, decided to close down its activities in Russia rather than wear the label of a “foreign agent” or risk the criminal prosecution of its leader for failing to register.   “The court had two options, and its choice was not in favour of justice and human rights. Its disheartening decision is in line with the prevailing tendency promoted by the Russian government to stamp its authority on any civil society activity. It sets a dangerous precedent which could be used against other NGOs,” said Sergei Nikitin, Director of Amnesty International’s Moscow office. “The Russian authorities are deliberately depriving Russian society of an alternative voice, of checks and balances to the government’s actions. They attack anybody who dares to criticize them.”   The persecution of ADC Memorial started more than a year ago when the Prosecutor’s Office referred to its report, Roma, migrants and activists: the victims of police abuse, submitted to the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) in November 2012, as evidence of ADC Memorial being involved in “political activity” and hence, violating Russia’s newly adopted law by failing to register as a “foreign agent”. The NGO successfully resisted two court cases brought against it by the Prosecutor’s Office, in May and July 2013. However, on 12 December 2013 a court in St Petersburg found in favour of the Prosecutor’s Office’s new request to recognize all of ADC Memorial’s activities as “political” and compel it to register as a “foreign agent”.   After today’s ruling, ADC Memorial’s head, Stefania Kulaeva, voiced her disappointment to Amnesty International:   “The court proceedings were not objective. Our arguments were not considered. Our lawyers were interrupted time and again while the prosecution was given a free rein.” The “foreign agents” law, introduced more than a year ago, gives the Russian authorities the power to impose hefty fines and severe administrative penalties on organizations which receive foreign funding and engage in loosely defined “political activities” but fail to register as “an organization performing the functions of a foreign agent”.   The court decision against ADC Memorial comes the same day as Russia’s Constitutional Court ruled that the “foreign agents law” is in line with the country’s Constitution.   A number of NGOs and the Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin had challenged the law on the grounds that it violates the rights to freedom of expression and association, both of which are purportedly protected under Russia’s Constitution.   “It has become increasingly clear that the Russian authorities are hell-bent on crushing civil society at all costs,” said Sergei Nikitin.   http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/lawfare-destroy-enemies-within-russian-ngos-tagged-foreign-agents-2014-10-09 http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/11/20/russia-government-against-rights-groups http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/russia-increases-stranglehold-dissent-five-more-ngos-named-foreign-agents-2014-07-21 http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/21/russia-foreign-agents-law-hits-hundreds-ngos-updated-july-21-2014 http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28583669 Visit the related web page
	Rights activists condemn Twitter ban in Turkey by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)   April 03, 2014   Court in Turkey Orders Twitter Service Restored. (NPR)   Twitter is back on in Turkey after a constitutional court ruled that a government-imposed ban on the social media service was a breach of free expression.   The country''s telecom authority lifted the 2-week-old ban, after it was blocked in the runup to last Sunday''s local elections.   Turkey''s telecommunication authority, or TIB, blocked access to Twitter on March 21. The order followed Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan''s remarks that he would "eradicate" the network after a series of anonymously posted audio clips that purported to expose corruption at the top levels of government.   TIB said in a statement that it was in the process of restoring access to Twitter, but it appears that a block on YouTube, imposed last week, remains in place.   The move proved controversial, however, even within Erdogan''s own government. President Abdullah Gul, like many other users, employed a text-to-tweet application that circumvented the ban. He tweeted: "One cannot approve of the complete closure of social media platforms."   March 21, 2014   Turkey banned access to the social media platform Twitter on Friday, hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdođan threatened in a public speech to shut it down, according to news reports. The move comes just ahead of March 30 elections and follows Erdođan"s threats to ban Facebook and YouTube.   "Prime Minister Erdođan can keep stepping up his attacks on social media, but they only serve to show that he is afraid of the message and desperate to shoot the messenger," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. "We call on Turkish authorities to restore access to Twitter and to substantiate their claims to democracy by allowing all information to flow freely."   At a campaign rally on Thursday in the western city of Bursa, Erdođan claimed that a court order justified banning Twitter, according to press reports. The Turkish telecommunications regulator BTK said today that Internet service providers had been ordered to block access to Twitter after several users filed legal complaints in early March about violation of their privacy on the social networking site. BTK said the measure was intended to prevent the possible "victimization of citizens."   "Any court in any country would implement this kind of decision whenever it notices an attack against people"s privacy rights," the Turkish Anadolu Agency reported Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arýnç as saying.   But the English-language Turkish daily Hürriyet Daily News reported today that the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court told the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) that Twitter had been blocked as a result of an "executive decision, not a judicial verdict." TBB had filed a petition with the court requesting that the ban be lifted, the report said.   Twitter is a popular platform for Turkish whistleblowers, who in recent months have shared numerous recordings--allegedly of Erdođan and his aides--that implicate top-ranking authorities of corruption, abuse of power, and other wrongdoing. Anonymous Twitter accounts have recently said that particularly sensitive recordings were going to be made available on the Twitter on March 25, a few days before the elections, news reports said.   "The rights to freedom of information and freedom of speech are all the more crucial in the run-up to elections," CPJ"s Ognianova said.   The blocking of Twitter has already been overcome by many Turkish Twitter users, including Turkish President Abdullah Gül, who called the Twitter ban unacceptable. He said in a tweet: "There is no way that closing down social media platforms can be approved."   As a sign that the blocking did not have much effect on Twitter traffic, the hashtag #TwitterIsBlockedInTurkey began trending from within the country a few hours after the ban was announced. Neelie Kroes, vice president of the European Commission who is also in charge of the European Union"s digital agenda, called Turkey"s ban "groundless, pointless, cowardly." Visit the related web page
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