Clinton Welcomes UN Resolution on Iran

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement welcoming the UN General Assembly’s latest resolution on Iran’s human rights record. “The international community is deeply concerned about ongoing human rights abuses in Iran and the plight of Iranian citizens facing persecution at the hands of their government. Yesterday’s UN resolution recognizes the severity of this troubling situation, particularly the continued harassment, persecution, and violent repression of political opponents, human rights defenders, and ...

House Passes Continuing Resolution

The House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution last night by a vote of 193-165, which President Obama signed today, that will keep spending levels at Fiscal Year 2010 levels through March 4, 2011. The bill, HR 3082/SAmdt 4885, will fund the International Affairs Budget at "$52.9 billion, 10% lower than the President’s FY11 request."

Egypt: A Guide to Succession

Nathan Brown, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University, authored a piece for the Carnegie Endowment’s Egypt Election Guide on preparations for the upcoming presidential transition. The recent parliamentary election indicated that the ruling National Democratic Party is prepared to manage the succession, Brown writes. But questions remain about who the successor will be and whether the handover of power will lead to increased repression or a period ...

“Party Building in the Middle East”

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) has released a new article titled "Party Building in the Middle East." Written by Les Campbell, NDI's senior associate and regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, the article seeks to "enumerate some of the key achievements of democracy assistance in the Arab world over the past decade; describe the strategies democracy assistance practitioners employ in their work; and explain, through four case ...

Chabot to Chair Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia

Incoming Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) announced subcommittee chairs Tuesday. Ros-Lehtinen tapped Steve Chabot (R-OH), a veteran House Foreign Affairs Committee member who won back his seat in November after a two-year absence, to chair the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. A member of the Human Rights Caucus, Chabot has co-sponsored legislation sanctioning Iran for failing to pursue political reform and Syria for occupying Lebanon, in addition to his support for legislation praising ...

Iraq: Government Finally Seated…Now What?

With the Iraqi government finally in place, commentators and average Iraqis are beginning to take stock of the nine-month process and look toward the future. Liz Sly, writing in The Washington Post, profiles Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the claims that he may be "another Iraqi strongman in the making," noting that his critics say he has an "authoritarian streak." Sean Kane of the United States Institute of Peace argues ...

Kuwait: MPs Protest Government Crackdown

Kuwaiti opposition parliamentarians protested the ongoing detention of legal scholar Obaid al-Wasmi outside the Kuwaiti parliament Tuesday. Independent MP Mubarak al-Waalan told AFP “We condemn the government measures against Wasmi and the brutal police beating,” while opposition leader Mussallam al-Barrak accused members of the ruling Al-Sabah family of directly ordering the attack. Al-Wasmi was beaten and arrested December 8 (video here) following an opposition meeting in Kuwait City.

Iran: Sit-in for Sotoudeh at the UN

Freedom House released a statement yesterday expressing "solidarity and support for Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and other women’s rights activists," who began a sit-in Monday at the United Nations in Geneva in support of imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. Paula Schriefer, Director of Advocacy at Freedom House, said in the statement that the "human rights abuses inflicted on its people by the Iranian government, particularly on women, ...

Turkey: AKP’s Moderation

Writing at Foreign Policy, Gonul Tol counters criticism of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). “The party's performance in government suggests that pressures from the opposition and from within its own diverse constituency have led the AKP to pursue centrist policies at the expense of alienating more conservative segments of its base,” Tol writes. The central question is will AKP continue to pursue economic and political reforms before and ...

Lebanon: Khamenei Dismisses STL, “Justice is More Important” Than Stability

Speaking during a meeting with the Qatari emir yesterday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) "'a rubber-stamp one whose verdict is null and void whatever it is.'” The Daily Star reports that the statement from the leader of Iran was not well received by many in Lebanon. "Labor Minister Butros Harb criticized Khamenei’s remarks, saying that it was up to the Lebanese to decide, ...

Egypt: Parliamentary Elections Give Power to Security Officials

In a new piece for Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egyptian activist Saad el-Din Ibrahim argues that the recent parliamentary elections strengthened the position of the security services in Egyptian politics. According to Ibrahim, nearly 10% of the seats in the new parliament are held by former police generals, double the amount in the outgoing parliament. Citing Soviet tactics learned by the Egyptian security services in the 1950s and 1960s, Ibrahim expresses concern that the ...

Iraq: Maliki Cabinet Confirmed

The Iraqi parliament confirmed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet today, ending the country's political deadlock. Reuters Africa  has a list of the "top officials" in the government and the AFP has compiled a timeline documenting the nine month impasse. Juan Cole provides details of the circumstances that caused parliamentarians to delay the vote yesterday. According to Cole, the Sadrist Movement is concerned that the temporary candidates Maliki put forward as place holders ...

U.S. Must Take Action on Egypt Rhetoric

Neil Hicks, International Policy Advisor at Human Rights First, urges the Obama administration to turn its democracy and human rights rhetoric into action. The White House’s approach to Egypt has been inconsistent, Hicks writes. “When Secretary of State Clinton held a press conference in Washington D.C. with the Egyptian Foreign Minister just prior to the election on November 10 she failed to mention human rights or the need for the Egyptian government to do ...

Egypt: ANHRI and EOHC Condemn Fatwa Issued Against ElBaradei

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHC) has released a statement (Arabic) condemning a fatwa issued against Mohamed ElBaradei. According to a report in Al Masry Al Youm, the group calls on "intellectuals to challenge such calls, which historically authorized the assassinations of former President Anwar Sadat and the intellectual Farag Fouda, and the attempted assassination of novelist Naguib Mahfouz." The fatwa was issued by Mahmoud Amer, ...

Egypt: Economic and Political Decline

Lahcen Achy, resident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, has a piece at Babylon and Beyond outlining “immediate threats” to stability in Egypt. Inflation, a failed tax system, youth unemployment, rising poverty rates, and widespread corruption all challenge the Mubarak regime’s narrative that Egypt’s economy has improved recently. Achy adds that reform will not be possible without “a fairly elected parliament and a government that people can trust.” Further attempts to ...

Iran: Subsidy Cuts Begin, Jundallah Members Executed

The Iranian government slashed subsidies for gasoline yesterday according to a report in The New York Times. "After midnight on Sunday, the price of subsidized gasoline jumped to about $1.44 a gallon from about 38 cents a gallon." The report also states that there was an increase in the presence of security forces in anticipation of any unrest. Tehran Bureau provides reactions from Iranians in Tehran. Muhammad Sahimi explains that ...

Kuwait: Government Arrests Constitutional Scholar

Prominent Kuwaiti legal scholar Obaid al-Wasmi was detained last week after he gave a speech at an opposition gathering that was disrupted by security forces. The prosecutor’s office is reportedly holding al-Wasmi on charges that he had spread "false news abroad" and was actively working to undermine the emir. The detention is the latest development in a government crackdown on opposition groups and media in Kuwait.

U.S. Urges Egypt to Makes Promised Reforms

Michael Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, authored an op-ed in Saturday’s Washington Post urging the Egyptian government to fulfill its commitments to pursue political reform. Citing low turnout and widespread reports of government interference, Posner wrote that while the recent parliamentary elections were not credible in the eyes of most Egyptians, the 2011 presidential elections present another opportunity for Egyptian authorities to enhance citizens’ confidence in ...

Iraq: Government Formation Delayed, Sadrists Make Gains

After initial reports that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would announce his cabinet today, speaker of the parliament Osama al-Nujaifi told reporters that the parliament would not meet to discuss cabinet appointments. There have also been reports that the prime minister would announce half of his cabinet posts today, with the rest to be announced later. Maliki has until December 25 to unveil his government which will then be subject ...

Egypt: Mubarak Responds to Criticism, Coptic Tension

During a speech opening the new Egyptian parliament, President Hosni Mubarak rejected international and domestic criticism while attempting to calm Muslim-Coptic tensions. In a veiled response to U.S. calls for international electoral monitoring, Mubarak said “We never give up our sovereignty and free will. We reject dictations and imposed conditions. We are always heedful to the security of Egypt and its citizens.” Mubarak also mocked opposition attempts to form a shadow parliament saying “let ...

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