freedomhouse.org: Special Reports

Investing in Freedom: Analyzing the FY 2012 International Affairs Budget Request

May 5, 2011

Freedom House supports President Obama’s 2012 request for the international affairs budget and cautions against steep cuts to foreign assistance in Investing in Freedom: Analyzing the FY 2012 International Affairs Budget Request, a new report released on May 5. The report examines the President’s request for human rights and democracy promotion activities within the foreign assistance budget. These projects promote good governance, respect for human rights, robust civil society, and democratic institutions around the world.

Sounding the Alarm: Protecting Democracy in Ukraine

April 27, 2011

In February 2010, under the auspices of Freedom House, David J. Kramer and two independent analysts, Robert Nurick and Damon Wilson, traveled to Ukraine to assess the state of democracy and human rights one year after the inauguration of Viktor Yanukovych as the country’s fourth president since independence. The team traveled to Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Lviv to meet with a wide range of government officials, political opposition figures, civil society actors, journalists, and students.

Leaping Over the Firewall: A Review of Censorship Circumvention Tools

April 11, 2011

Internet censorship poses a large and growing challenge to online freedom of expression around the world. Censorship circumvention tools are critical to bypass restrictions on the internet and thereby to protect free expression online.

Circumvention tools are primarily designed to bypass internet filtering. Therefore, the core principle behind these technologies is to find alternative paths for data packets. These alternative paths use one or more collaborative servers in order to bypass the network of blocking mechanisms.

This document provides a comparison among different circumvention tools, both in terms of their technical merits, as well as how users of these tools describe their experience with them. The countries included in this report are Azerbaijan, Burma, China and Iran.

Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill Shelved

The Ugandan Parliament closed out their current session today without debating or adopting pernicious anti-homosexual legislation that has threatened to become part of the legislative agenda for months. Parliament initially pushed back the debate and adoption of the bill after outcry from rights groups, the internet and U.S. leaders. Human rights organizations Avaaz and Allout gathered more than 1.4 million signatures via online petitions and had the internet buzzing with discussion of the bill. The bill could still be considered at the next session when the Ugandan Parliament reconvenes on May 18.

Yemeni Forces Attack and Kill Demonstrators

At least 20 people have been killed and seven wounded in Yemen while protesting against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. On Thursday, gunmen fired from the roof of the ruling party’s headquarters in Bayda, killing three demonstrators. On Wednesday, security forces and gunmen fired at demonstrators marching from University Square to government headquarters in Sanaa, killing 12 and wounding 340. In light of the recent violence, the U.S. State Department is calling on Saleh to immediately step down and transfer power with the intervention of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Diplomats: Syria Out as Human Rights Candidate

According to media reports, Kuwait will step forward as a candidate for the Asia group in the upcoming elections to the UN Human Rights Council, a move which will likely to result in Syria’s withdrawal of its candidacy. Kuwait’s decision allows for a competitive slate within the Asia group which had been running a “clean slate” until now increasing Syria’s chances of a humiliating defeat. Human rights organizations as well as many Western missions have been lobbying for Syria to withdraw its bid since the government’s violent crackdown on anti-government protesters began in March.

Bahrain Expels Reuters Journalist

Bahraini authorities announced that they have expelled Reuters journalist Frederik Richter, who was based in the capital city of Manama since 2008. Richter was told he had to leave within one week—after government officials complained his reporting on protest crackdowns was unbalanced. Reuters is not closing its Bahrain office and stands by Richter’s actions.

Special Reports

Investing in Freedom: Analyzing the FY 2012 International Affairs Budget Request

Sounding the Alarm: Protecting Democracy in Ukraine

Leaping Over the Firewall: A Review of Censorship Circumvention Tools

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