Saudis are constantly in danger of facing retribution for speaking their minds, whether it’s on social media or on a street corner.  But that isn’t stopping many of them from taking to Twitter with renewed calls for the release of three political prisoners.  New hashtags making the rounds are: #اطلقوا_تركي_الحمد# ,اطلقوا_حمزة_كاشغري# ,اطلقوا _رائف_بدوي translated as “Release Turki Al Hamad”, “Release Hamza Kashgari”, and “Release Raef Al Badawi”.

Each of these men were arrested in 2012 and are among the thousands of political prisoners being held in Saudi Arabia.

• - Saudi writer and...

People are questioning their political beliefs now—it starts with the people… We have come to a point where the government is much weaker than the people, and they [the government] are panicking… I’m not worried what they’re going to do. The only thing I’m worried about is if we stop talking. - Dr. Bassem Youssef

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Jon Stewart. (See left, proof.) Not the animated, greying political satirist with the sharp tongue that many Americans have grown accustomed to seeing on their TV screens nightly. I actually met his brother-from-another-mother, the fan-dubbed “Jon Stewart of the Arab World,”...

As part of Movements.org’s ongoing work to amplify the voices of digital activists fighting for basic human rights in closed societies, each Monday we’ll highlight critical events from the past week, trending cyber activism tactics, or growing movements that you should know about. Occasionally, we’ll also provide an opportunity for you to directly engage with the activists on the front lines of the struggle for their rights. We hope you share and discuss these updates widely and we look forward to hearing your feedback!

This week, it’s the Movements Monday Passport Edition. So grab your passport and let’s get traveling!

Though, if...

Recently, Lebanon has experienced something of a symbolic coup when it comes to civil marriage.

The Ministry of Justice approved the country’s first civil marriage for couple Kholoud Sukkarieh and Nidal Darwish, issuing them a “family record” which is considered to be an official document that proves they’re married. The couple achieved this by exploiting a loophole in a pre-existing law adopted in 1936 by the High Commissioner during the French mandate in Lebanon that makes reference to civil unions. It stipulates that “those who are not affiliated with a sect are subject to civil law of personal status.” Until now, Lebanese who don’t...

As part of Movements.org’s ongoing work to amplify the voices of digital activists fighting for basic human rights in closed societies, each Monday we’ll highlight critical events from the past week, trending cyber activism tactics, or growing movements that you should know about. Occasionally, we’ll also provide an opportunity for you to directly engage with the activists on the front lines of the struggle for their rights. We hope you share and discuss these updates widely and we look forward to hearing your feedback!

A quick rundown of trending stories at the nexus of human rights and digital activism… (Stay tuned in the coming days...

Throngs of anti-government protesters and riot police were locked in a bitter skirmish, Friday, in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, after authorities denied a request for an opposition rally. Friday’s protests was the most recent flare-up in a two-year long conflict between the Sunni-led government and the country’s majority Shiites that are seeking more of a political voice. Nearly 55 people have died as a cause of this ongoing clash. The Shiite-led opposition group called on the regime to implement democratic reforms and free the opposition activists that have unjustly been detained. Bahraini authorities published a statement on the Ministry...

AHR Press is a new e-publishing venture whose mission is to find and publish the boldest, brightest and most eloquent works of dissident literature available around the world. We will publish books in their original language as well as in English translation, and seek to ensure the widest possible distribution for them.

Dissident writers often cannot be read or heard either at home or abroad, because their writings—either in print or on the Internet—have been banned or because they are lost in its overwhelming deluge of information. We believe that by raising the profile of such brave dissidents, we can promote their views, protect...

Cyberdissidents.org co-founder Nir Boms wrote for the Wall Street Journal on the continuing conflict in Syria:

“They come in every day now, the body counts from Syria, consistent and painful: 141, 201, 152, 81 (a lucky day, that was). This past Sunday, 566 bodies were found, 483 of them in Damascus and its suburbs alone, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activist groups. Twenty-three bodies were found in Aleppo, 21 in Idlib, 15 in Homs, 12 in Daraa, seven in Deir Ezzor, five in Hama.

This is the highest number of dead discovered in a single day since the war began two years ago. But it is...

Last week, CyberDissidents.org’s Arabic Program Manager, Ahed Al Hendi, presented at the 2013 Milton Wolff Conference in Vienna, Austria.  He highlighted the Syrian liberal movements and the failure of major news outlets to cover it objectively.   

Al Hendi said that there have been four competing narratives in Syria since 1970. He divided the narratives into two categories: Islamic and secular. According to Al Hendi, pro-Assad Islamic voices included clerics and scholars who supported Assad up until the recent conflict.  They believed Assad supported “resistance” in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories and so the regime should...

It’s known as the “hair crackdown,”  and is the latest campaign in stifling people’s freedom of expression in Gaza. As many as two dozen young men donning long locks or wearing gel in their hair have been targeted in recent weeks en masse. Hamas police are forcing the young men out of their cars and shaving their hair, and in some extreme cases, are beating them as well. Hamas officials have played down the campaign. Gaza deputy prime minister Ziad al-Zaza said the head-shaving “was a very limited, isolated behavior of the police and is not going to continue.

The hair crackdown comes on the heels of the country’s recent...

CyberDissidents.org Blogger Board Member Kacem El Ghazzali was featured in article on Spiegel International for his role as a blogger, Atheist and dissident in Morocco. The article says “At a time when many young people go to college, he saw no choice but to apply for political asylum in Switzerland, where he has spent the past two years.” It continues:

Ghazzali’s problems began soon after he started an anonymous blog where he wrote about his atheism. Though Morocco is often recognized as being one of the most “moderate” of Muslim countries in terms of religiously influenced laws and customs, Islam is the official state religion, and...

In 2008, in the midst of writing about a new law concerning Iranian women requiring a male guardian’s permission to leave the country, I stopped for a moment, closed my eyes and listened to my surroundings. The fast, mechanical sounds of typing took me back to the newsrooms in Iran before I left in 2006. A voice startled me from my reverie and returned me to my small living room that I shared with my husband and another journalist friend, who had recently come to the US. During that time, that tiny living room served as our “nerve-center,” our intimate newsroom; a backdrop that held sway over a process that involved waking-up,...

The Daily Beast recently featured Cyberdissidents blogger Maikel Nabil as one of six best Egypt bloggers to follow. They said:

“While he’s not actually on the ground in Egypt anymore, Maikel Nabil remains an influential—and highly controversial—figure in Egypt.

“A lot of Egyptians don’t see eye to eye with his policies, since he’s pro-normalization with Israel,” Messieh says. When Nabil was in Egypt, he was known for meticulously documenting the numerous human-rights violations the military carried out during the months following Mubarak’s ousting. That endeavor, combined with his history advocating against military...