Tracking cases that protect freedom of expression, association, and assembly
Court/Mechanism: Appellate Court
-
Marielle Franco y Anderson Gomes Case
Marielle Franco was a Black, bisexual, and feminist woman and a renowned human rights defender, who served as a councilwoman in Rio de Janeiro. She was assassinated in March 2018, alongside her driver Anderson Gomes. While her murderers have been sentenced to decades in prison, the intellectual authors of the crime remain unconvicted, demonstrating a…
-
Sale of Peruvian media company Epensa to El Comercio: Media concentration in Peru
This case discusses an amparo action filed by a group of journalists against a sale that consolidated Grupo El Comercio, a publishing company, as a media monopoly in Peru. The latest appeal is still pending.
-
Miroslava Breach Case
Journalist Miroslava Breach was murdered on March 23, 2017. Even though two men have been convicted for the crime, there are two arrest warrants still pending.
-
Ferdinand Ayité (L’Alternative) v. the Attorney General
This case concerns a violation of the freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Togo, in which Mr. Ferdinand Ayité and his newspaper, L’Alternative, face criminal proceedings for denouncing corruption within members of the public organization Petroleum Product Price Fluctuation Monitoring Committee (CSFPP).
-
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”…
-
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…
-
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.
-
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.
-
Center for Strategic Litigation & another v. Tanzania
The case discusses the Tanzanian government’s attempts to block citizens’ access to justice by suppressing the activities of civil society organizations that engage in public interest litigation. It addresses that part of the Basic Rights and Duties Enforcement Act as amended by the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendment) No.3 Act of 2020 are unconstitutional, for violating…
-
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Media Institute of Southern Africa v. The Minister of State in the President’s office responsible for National Security and others
On January 14, 2019, the Zimbabwe government imposed an internet shutdown in response to protests that erupted after the president raised fuel prices by 150 percent. The shutdown lasted for a week, which prompted the NGOs Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Media Institute of Southern Africa to file a case before the High Court…