FOAA News Roundup: June 4, 2014

• A day later, Nigeria flip-flops and says no protest ban for #BringBackOurGirls group (Al Jazeera). Earlier: Bring Back Our Girls demonstrations banned for “security reasons” in Abuja, Nigeria. Ban is “insane,” says protest group’s lawyer. (The Telegraph)

• Using the ‘Hunger Games’ salute has taken hold as a form of protest in Thailand, after peaceful assemblies were banned. One anti-coup activists calls on people to raise “3 fingers, 3 times a day” to call for political rights (Washington Post). A military spokesman expressed concern: “If it is an obvious form of resistance, then we have to control it so it doesn’t cause any disorder in the country.” (News.com.au)

• Amnesty International has released a new report on Russia “onslaught on protest.” Earlier: Human Rights Watch on the effect of Russia’s “foreign agents” law on NGOs.

• Also on Russia: Manifesta – the “roving European biennial of contemporary art” – will be held in St. Petersburg this year. Its curator, Kasper König, reflects on the situation in the country: “The ink on my contract was still wet when that appalling anti-gay law was passed. It became clear to me that I was working in a country where there is no civil society.” (DW.de)

• Activists launch giant balloons to protest the ballooning cost of the World Cup in Brazil (Fox News Latino)

• A “then and now” slideshow from the Washington Post to mark the 25^th anniversary of China’s Tiananmen Square protest movement.

• A piece in the Guardian says that the future of Kazakhstan’s civil society is bright. Not everyone agrees. “Is this a ‘paid advertisement’?” one commenter asks. “Not a single mention of ‘revolutionary’ ways Kazakhstan jails real civil society activist who demand more than better knickers.”

• And Michael Edwards asks: “There are more civil society organizations in the world today than at any other time in history, so why isn’t their impact growing?” (OpenDemocracy.net)

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