How to Get Away with Dictatorship in the Age of Democracy (OZY.com – May 21)

Political repression has survived the end of the Cold War and the advent of the internet quite nicely, thank you — just look to Bashar al-Assad’s Syria or Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. Indeed, 2,600 years after its birth in Athens, democracy is having a tougher go of it than one might expect.

Global Magnitsky Act Could be Powerful Weapon against Impunity in Journalist Murders (Committee to Protect Journalists – May 24)

Last week, the proposed Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act emerged from the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee with approval. The bill was passed by the Senate last year. If passed by the full House of Representatives and signed into law by the president, it has the potential to offer partial redress to one of the most chilling truths facing journalists today: in 90 percent of cases, the murders of journalists go unpunished.

Gambia Rising: Pro-democracy protests and government's crackdown explained (International Business Times – May 19)

Hundreds of people have been calling for electoral reform and political change in the Gambia ahead of presidential election, which will be held on 1 December. Despite the arrests of activists and opposition members when protests erupted on 14 April, people are still taking to the streets of capital Banjul – where demonstrations are rare – demanding change in the West African nation.

Gambian Diplomat Samsudeen Sarr Defends Use of Deadly Force Against Foreign-Sponsored Uprising (International Business Times – May 11)

A Gambian diplomat accused of inciting violence against protesters in his country has spoken out about a leaked tape in which he suggested he would open fire on demonstrators, referring to protesters rocking Gambia's capital, Banjul. Samsudeen Sarr, Gambia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, accused the person who secretly recorded him of doctoring the audio releasing just a few seconds of a two-hour-long conversation.

Gambian Diplomat Samsudeen Sarr Allegedly Threatens to Shoot Protesters in Leaked Tape (International Business Times – May 10)

An audio clip containing controversial remarks reportedly made by Gambia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations has emerged. It is believed that Samsudeen Sarr was recorded while saying he would open fire on people, presumably referring to protesters rocking Gambia's capital, Banjul.