Footage of protests showing clashes in Sana’a between protesters: some for, some against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
“The end of the battle. Hands went up people called: ‘Enough enough’ on both sides. They came together in vocal exchange after 2 hrs of throwing rocks,” describes freelance journalist Iona Craig.
How it started:
Footage of protests showing clashes in Sana’a between protesters: some for, some against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
“The end of the battle. Hands went up people called: ‘Enough enough’ on both sides. They came together in vocal exchange after 2 hrs of throwing rocks,” describes freelance journalist Iona Craig.
How it started:
Journalists trying to visit Chen Guangcheng, a human rights activist who is under house arrest, have come under attack to stop them from meeting him. A number of reporters have been attacked by men in plain-clothes who have set up checkpoints leading up to Guangcheng’s residence, and some have had their equipment confiscated or destroyed. A CNN reporter was filmed being manhandled and then coming under a stone attack as he tried to make his way to visit Guangcheng.
The UK government’s Protection of Freedoms Bill is highly relevant for anyone interested in Article 10 rights. While the bill gives the impression of positive steps for the protection of civil liberties, critics are quick to warn of its limitations and the government’s piecemeal approach. The bill, now in between first and second reading stage in the House of Commons, looks at:
SA Mathieson, news editor of Guardian Government Computing, is optimistic that this will give a “bit more freedom” to government data.
Photographers will be especially interested in the part on counter-terrorism:
In the bill’s consultation stage [PDF], civil liberty groups and the National Union of Journalists raised concerns about stop-and-search powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act and that “police on the ground were not sufficiently aware of restrictions on how the law should be applied”. Cian Murphy writes on the Guardian Legal network:
Section 44 was a wholly illiberal provision which allowed police officers to stop and search individuals in designated areas without having to show reasonable suspicion. The subsequent sections elaborated on that power. The government has been committed to repealing the section since last summer – but only after the European court of human rights held that it was a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
But don’t celebrate too soon. As Murphy reports:
Nonetheless, police powers abhor a vacuum, and as signalled in December, the section 44 power is replaced with new stop and search powers provided for by sections 59 to 62. The proposed new powers, at first glance, may be an improvement on section 44. But they have already been criticised and will require more considered scrutiny over the coming months – especially in light of possible amendments as the bill moves through Parliament.
The issues extend beyond the scope of this bill. Index on Censorship is currently in discussions about freedom of expression protection in the Public Order Act and Communications Act. We’re also interested in hearing your thoughts about the new bill, and its effect on free speech. Tweet us @indoncensorship, or leave a comment below.