In March 2003, in what is now referred to by many Cubans as the Black Spring, 75 human rights activists throughout the country were arrested, summarily tried, and sentenced to as many as 28 years in prison for peacefully demanding fundamental rights. Many of them were organizers for the

On the evening of March 5, Oscar Kamau King'ara and John Paul Oulu were driving on a busy Nairobi street. According to reports, vehicles blocked their path; several men in suits then approached their car and shot them at point-blank range. After demonstrations broke out at the university nearby, police...

It's been a rough week for law enforcement in Colombia. First, a senior domestic intelligence official was forced to resign following reports that his agency had illegally wiretapped judges, politicians, activists, and journalists - and then sold the information to criminal groups.

On February 24 my...

On February 12, the New York Times reported on efforts by women in Iran to stand up for their rights. The article briefly mentions the remarkable One Million Signatures Campaign, "a petition calling on authorities to give women more equal footing in the laws on marriage, divorce, adultery and...