police brutality
03/04/2013 / CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE
Outcry at police sex assault video in Congo Brazzaville
A video showing a group of policemen sexually assaulting two women in Congo-Brazzaville’s capital city has caused a public outcry since being uploaded to YouTube last Sunday. We spoke to an Observer who told us this shocking footage puts the spotlight on police brutality, which he says is widespread in his country. Read more...
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24/11/2011 / EGYPT
Protesters describe effects of allegedly poisonous Tahrir Square tear gas
According to several of our Observers who have been taking part in protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the tear gas used by police has had a devastating effect on protesters. Concerns over the substance’s dangerous effects and its legality have spread rapidly on the Egyptian Web. Read more…
21/10/2011 / YEMEN
Women strengthen the ranks of Yemen’s protesters
A video showing a female protester shot dead by a sniper in the southern city of Taiz has prompted thousands of women to take to the streets in Yemen. Our Observers say the participation of women could breathe new life into the protest movement. Read more…
29/08/2011 / CHILE
‘It's like we're back to the Pinochet era’
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera called for a dialogue with demonstrators on Sunday after three months of protests culminated in violence during last week’s two-day national strike. Yet, as protest leaders prepare to meet with Pinera over the unrest, videos and stories of unprovoked police brutality have surfaced on the Internet, putting the country’s policing tactics into question. Read more...
20/07/2011 / SYRIA
Homs residents wonder: why aren’t soldiers shooting at us?
Images of Syrian armed forces opening fire at a protesting crowd have become so frequent that they’re almost routine. It’s when they don’t shoot that it comes as a surprise. That’s what makes this footage of soldiers peacefully chatting with residents of the city of Homs on July 17 so unusual. Read more…
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08/07/2011 / USA
‘Film this sh**’: NYPD clashes with hip-hop fans caught on camera
Hip-hop fans gathered at New York City’s Tammany Hall in the Lower East Side on Tuesday, June 28, for a record release party, featuring performances from various artists. Part way through the evening the event was broken up by police, who scuffled with concert-goers in the street, leaving five people injured in the fray. Watch the video...
05/07/2011 / GREECE
Greece questions "urban warfare" police tactics
After Greece’s government approved yet another austerity plan on June 29, protests in the capital Athens reached new heights of violence as police cracked down on demonstrators, forcing the city’s police chief to publicly apologise. According to our Observer in Athens, the police’s brutal tactics amounted to urban warfare. Watch the videos...
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16/06/2011 / CHINE
Chinese street vendors lash out against police tyranny
In early June, police abuse against a poor street vendor sparked a popular uprising…Sound familiar? The scenario is oddly reminiscent of that of the story of Mohammed Bouazizi, the young man whose death kick-started the Tunisian revolution. Only this time, the revolts took place in Southern China. Read more...
14/06/2011 / SYRIA
Amateur footage shows thousands of Syrian refugees packed along Turkish border
The Syrian army’s assault on the north-western town of Jisr al-Shughour and its surroundings has sent thousands of refugees fleeing towards the Turkish border. Nearly 7,000 Syrians have sought sanctuary in four refugee camps set up by the Turkish Red Crescent. Thousands more are still waiting to cross the border, living rough in rural areas just inside Syria. Our Observer, who lives in a village just along the border, has seen the flow of refugees. Read his account…
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04/06/2011 / IRAN
Did Iranian security forces kill opposition activist Haleh Sahabi?
On June 1, hundreds of people gathered in the Iranian city of Lavasan to pay a last homage to the late Iranian opposition leader Ezzatollah Sahabi. His daughter, Haleh Sahabi, a feminist and political activist, had been released from jail especially for the occasion. Yet in a tragic turn of events, she suffered a fatal heart attack after armed forces blocked the funeral march. Read more...
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