Tracking cases that protect freedom of expression, association, and assembly
Status: On-going
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Samira Sabou Case
Samira Sabou, an award-winner journalist from Niger, has been criminalized for publishing posts about issues of public interest on her official accounts on social media. Sabou has published about alleged misuses of funds by the Ministry of Defence and drug trafficking in Niger. Sabou has been charged with “defamation by a means of electronic communication”…
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Moussa Aksar Case
Journalist Moussa Aksar, editor of the newspaper L’Evénement, has been repeatedly criminalized over his reporting. He was charged on two separate occasions under Niger’s 2019 Cybercrime Law, and has appealed both cases. This Law has been widely misused to censor journalists speaking out and criticizing the government. Aksar is waiting on appeals decisions could still…
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Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Trust v. The Provincial Development Coordinator & 4 Others
Tafadzwa Muguti, a local authority in the Harare province, issued a directive in June 2021 with the goal of limiting the operations of civil society organizations in the region, banning those that did not comply with the new regulation.
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Seydou Kaocen Maiga Case
Seydou-Kaocen Maiga, a human rights activist from Niger, posted an article on Facebook criticizing how the country’s government reacted to a terrorist attack that took place in Inates on 10 December 2019. He was arrested and criminally prosecuted for his publication.
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SERAP and the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development v. National Broadcasting Commission, Minister of Information and Culture and President of Federal Republic of Nigeria
The case discusses a directive issued by Nigeria’s National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) ordering journalists and broadcast stations to stop reporting cases like terrorist activity and kidnapping, under the threat of handing out fines and other forms of punishment.
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Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) v. Nigeria
SERAP filed a petition before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) contesting the Nigerian government’s attempt to pass two bills that would allow authorities to gag the media and impose harsh and arbitrary punishments on media personnel.
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Dilan Cruz Case
Dilan Cruz was killed while participating in the demonstrations that took place on November 23, 2019, in Colombia. Thanks to Dilan’s family’s efforts, in June 2021 the Constitutional Court referred the case to the ordinary justice system, where it continues to be heard today; up until that moment the case was tried before the military…
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Abuku & 4 Others v. AG Uganda and the Secretary General of the East African Community
The case discusses violations of civic space in the context of an election. A petition was filed before the East African Court of Justice in the aftermath of the 2021 Uganda General Elections, with the purpose of challenging the presidential election of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, due to electoral malpractices that are deemed to be contrary…
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East African Law Society v. AG Uganda, and the Secretary General of the East African Community
This case addresses a shutdown orchestrated by the Ugandan government during the general elections in January 2021, during which its citizens’ rights to access information and free speech, among others, were violated when all access to the internet – including social media platforms – was blocked throughout the country.
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Ado Shaibu and 5 others v. United Republic of Tanzania
The case discusses the violation of seven Tanzanian citizens’ right to participate in the general elections in Tanzania, after several forms of repression were carried out by different public agents, including the blocking of news outlets and social media apps like Twitter and WhatsApp. The actions of the Tanzanian authorities had the calculated effect of…