Report: Africa's civic space remains mostly repressive
Voice of America
FILE - Anti-riot police officer arrest a suspected protester during a demonstration against the government in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 8, 2024. FILE - Police fire water canons during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, July 16, 2024. Police hurled tear gas canisters to break up protests in Nairobi and other major cities accusing the president of poor governance and calling for his resignation.
Forty-three out of 50 countries and territories in sub-Saharan Africa have “restricted” or “shut down” civic spaces, according to a report released Wednesday by a global alliance of civil society organizations.
Members of main opposition Democratic Party stage a rally against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 4, 2024. The signs read "Let's impeach Yoon Suk Yeol ." A woman reacts among police officers outside the National Assembly, after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, in Seoul, South Korea, December 4, 2024.
FILE - Sudanese Rapid Support Forces soldiers in the East Nile province, Sudan, on June 22, 2019.
A meeting of the Security Council on Syria takes place at the U.N. headquarters in New York City, December 3, 2024.
A drone view shows Georgia's parliament building covered with paint and damaged during recent opposition protests against the government's decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union, in Tbilisi, Georgia December 3, 2024.
This handout taken and released on December 4, 2024 by the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) shows a China coast guard ship, right, deploying a water cannon at a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel.
Charles Chikunda, UNESCO’s officer for climate education in southern Africa, speaks in Pretoria, South Africa, Dec. 3, 2024. Sosten Chiotha, director of the Leadership for Environment and Development Southern and Eastern Africa, in Pretoria, South Africa, Dec. 3, 2024.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and French President Emmanuel Macron review an honor guard during a ceremony in Paris on Nov. 28, 2024, as part of Tinubu's state visit to France.
FILE - A woman walks in front of Chinese stores in Laos' capital, Vientiane, on Oct. 8, 2024.
FILE - People walk in front of a hospital in Congo on Nov. 4, 2021. Up to 143 have died from a mysterious, flu-like disease between Nov. 10 and Nov. 25, 2024, in southwestern Congo, local authorities have reported.
Palestinians walk in a devastated neighborhood due to Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Dec. 2, 2024, Palestinians walk in a devastated neighborhood due to Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Dec. 2, 2024. Thick smoke rises from explosions as Israeli forces reportedly demolish dwellings in the border town of Khiam in southern Lebanon, on Dec. 1, 2024, days into a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, 2nd left, attends trial in an appeal she filed against her death sentence in a financial fraud case in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Dec. 3, 2024.