What are the major challenges that LGBT activists encounter in Latvia? Evita Goša is a board member of Mozaika in Riga, an alliance of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender persons, and their friends. She describes how ignorance and stigma feed into repressive actions of various political actors in her country. This interview was conducted at a roundtable organized by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights defenders. The event brought together 55 defenders from several COE countries. [-]

During the campaign season, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama pledged to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention center - where roughly 250 people are currently imprisoned - and ban torture as a means of interrogation. Outlawed - a film co-produced by WITNESS and 14 international partners - shows the plight of two men who were detained under these extraordinary rendition practices and kept from their families for several years. [-]

More than 70 activists defied Saudi Arabia's repressive political laws this week by using the internet to organize a 2-day hunger strike in protest of the detention of 11 human rights activists (some of which have been held for almost two years without charge). In this rare video interview recorded via Skype, Mohammad Al-Qahtani - a college professor and one of the organizers of the campaign - talks about how the internet can help Saudis fight for justice and demand basic democratic rights. [-]

"This is our silent invitation to the world," says one Saudi activist, "but can the world hear us?". Today Saudi activists launch a two-day hunger strike via Facebook to protest the detention of 11 human rights activists who have been held in Saudi Arabia for months - some for almost two years - without charge. In a country where the internet is strictly monitored and controlled, this campaign is a bold attempt to use online tools to advocate for justice and mobilize global support. [-]