In Donetsk, Eastern Ukraine, ‘proper’ journalism means asking few questions and communicating few answers. Those who choose not to follow these Soviet rules of thumb are by consequence ‘improper’ journalists, who risk redress for the errors of their ways. In Aleksey Matsuka’s case, this has meant
Kurdish lawyer, author and human rights activist Muharrem Erbey was imprisoned by Turkish authorities at the end of 2009 for fighting against human rights violations against his people. He wrote this letter from prison.
The Libyan legend was written by civilian Libyans with high expectations of a future free Libya, who have risen up from every corner and carried arms to end one of the world’s totalitarian regimes.
The Somali refugee community in Smethwick is less than ten years old. Muni Abdikarim and Ahmed Sirad spoke to Jenny Morgan about their work with middle-aged Somali women who are being turned away from a doctor's surgery and told 'Come back when you've got an interpreter'
The 1991 coup attempt completely disintegrates with the tragic deaths of three young men and the continuing irresistible rise of Boris Yeltsin. openDemocracy Russia presents the last 2 entries of Rodric Braithwaite’s diary.
Before the riots, young people growing up in poverty in London faced the threat of criminalisation. Now, living publicly in the city as a deprived young person practically amounts to criminal activity
The battle for ideas, for allegiance, for identity has gone on in Africa as it has everywhere. Breaking up existing state territories in Africa would be at least as arbitrary as when imperial powers did so at the Berlin conference in 1888.
In the case of the seventeenth century Dutch Republic, there was no single, dominant religion. There was also no absolute majority religion. Instead, each province and each town had its own religious cultural groups.
As Norway ends its first month of mourning, media soundbites tell us that there is a desire to draw a line and move on. But there are lessons to be learned about the consequences of institutional ‘hate speech’ and prejudice in high places. Can Norway lead the way in learning these lessons?
In an environment of increased political liberalisation, yet without clear channels to apply pressure on government agencies and leaders, citizens today frequently resort to ad hoc demonstrations, protests and occasionally riots.
The Sri Lankan regime needs to be intellectually and electorally defeated. But in this task, the spectre of international intervention is not merely a distraction, but a hindrance.
A four-night outbreak of riotous disorder in London and other English cities in early August 2011 is a potent argument for social repair. But lack of agreement on fundamentals could soon prove fatal to progress, says David Hayes.
