On Thursday, the trial of 25 Shiite activists accused of plotting against the Sunni Al-Khalifa regime began in Manama. The defendants all pleaded not guilty and complained that they were abused while in pre-trial detention, a charge prosecutors denied. According to Agence France-Presse, human rights activist Abduljalil al-Singace told the court "We were subjected to physical and mental torture (and) were placed in solitary confinement." If convicted the accused face life imprisonment.

Al Masry Al Youm reports today that the Muslim Brotherhood is urging the High Elections Commission to uphold a court order allowing the campaign slogan "Islam is the Solution.” In The Brotherhood’s Opinion, a weekly post by the group, the Brotherhood criticizes the regime’s arrests of group members and calls on the government to treat all candidates fairly. Saad al-Katatni, a Brotherhood spokesman, also asserts that the High Elections Commission ...

In a piece for the Weekly Standard’s blog, Kelley Currie, a fellow with the Project 2049 Institute, responded to Jackson Diehl’s column on the State Department’s failure to direct fund technology to circumvent firewalls. Currie writes that she “shareiven this broader context, it is clear that the Internet freedom initiatives under consideration by the U.S. and other democracies to date are well-intentioned but woefully inadequate and poorly matched to the actual scope and ...

On Wednesday Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, presented her new book “Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East” at an event sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East and Environmental Change and Security Programs. Haleh Esfandiari, Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Middle East Program, moderated the event.(To read the full notes, continue below or click here for ...

The Christian Science Monitor reports today on a “protracted disagreement” between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority over who will pay Gaza’s electricity bills. The standoff means that “for Gaza residents, deep Palestinian divide…not only prevents peace, but literally leaves them in the dark.” Although the European Union used to buy fuel for Gaza from an Israeli supplier, the Palestinians have been paying the bills since December 2009. Now, both ...

The Brookings Institution held a panel discussion on Thursday titled “Human Rights in Iran.” The discussion was moderated by Kenneth Pollack, Senior Fellow and Director, Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. The panelists were Geneive Abdo, Director of the Iran Program at the Century Foundation, Philo Dibble, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Markus Löning, Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid ...

Wafd Party leader Al-Sayed Al-Badawy, who took over Al Dostour newspaper earlier this month, has reportedly offered the paper’s former chief editor Ibrahim Eissa a position writing for the party’s newspaper, Al-Wafd. In addition, Al Masry Al Youm reports, Eissa will be allowed to host a talk show the Al-Hayat satellite television channel, focusing on political issues. Al-Badawy owns the channel. Meanwhile, a group of Al Dostour reporters continue to ...

An article in The Economist today highlights new restrictions on satellite television and other forms of media in Egypt. The government recently tightened controls over the state-owned Nilesat satellite channels, which broadcast various news programs, religious and lifestyle channels, and other programming. To some extent, the crackdown seems to be in response to an uptick in programming voicing support for conservative Salafist parties. However, the restrictions fit within a broader ...

Writing at openDemocracy, POMED's Daphne McCurdy argues that the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has failed to offer a real alternative to the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) policies, especially in regards to the recent referendum supported by the AKP. McCurdy compares the recent failures suffered by CHP to how the party was seen in the past, tracing the rise of the CHP under the leadership of Bulent ...

Lebanon’s Daily Star reports today that Osama Safa, secretary general of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE), warned yesterday that the government has six months to implement a series of electoral law reforms. Among the reforms are giving soldiers the right to vote, lowering the voting age to 18, setting a quota for women candidates, and having independent oversight of electoral lists. Last November, the parliament stated that it ...

Writing at Foreign Policy's Middle East Channel, Shadi Hamid puts the recent election in Bahrain and the upcoming elections in Jordan and Egypt into context: "Saturday's elections in Bahrain instead reflected a new and troubling trend in the Arab world: the free but unfair -- and rather meaningless -- election." While opposition groups were able to adapt and take advantage of the "Arab spring" of 2005, the regions authoritarians were ...

Toujan Faisal, the first woman elected to Jordan's Parliament, was recently interviewed by the Arab Reform Initiative. When asked about her understanding of reform, Faisal answered, "I think that the adoption of the constitution in Jordan in 1952 (i.e. without the amendments subsequently made to it) is the basis of such reform." She added, "I now think that there is something better: the proportional representation list, and ...

On Tuesday, Egypt’s Administrative Court upheld a lower court ruling forcing the government to up the minimum wage to keep pace with rising living expenses. The original suit filed by members of the Labor for Change movement Nagy Rashad and Khaled Ali called on the government to increase the minimum wage for public and private sector employees to 1,200 pounds ($207 USD). Despite the ruling, the activist remained skeptical that the government will ...

At a recent policy forum luncheon held by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, three members of the Institute gave their perspectives on the current political situation in Iraq. Ahmed Ali said that Prime Minister Maliki is "known to be close with Iraqi president and leading Kurdish figure Jalal Talabani," but that Maliki also brought Minister of Planning Ali Baban along on his recent visit to Turkey, signaling ...

In an article titled "Democracy in Cyberspace" published in Foreign Affairs, Ian Bremmer argues that while the internet provides a tool for reformers and democracy advocates, it is not a silver bullet: "Innovations in modern communications may help erode authoritarian power over time. But for the moment, their impact on international politics is not so easy to predict." Bremmer makes the point that "tools are value neutral; ...

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released two reports this week documenting human rights abuses in Morocco and Saudi Arabia. According to HRW, the Moroccan authorities routinely detain and abuse suspects arrested under counter-terrorism statutes. Such treatment continues despite legislation adopted in Morocco to protect the rights of detainees. In Saudi Arabia, HRW called on King Abdullah and Interior Minister Prince Naif to halt the scheduled execution of Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan housekeeper who ...

According to a report in Al-Masry Al-Youm, Wafd Party is threatening to boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections after allegations that Egyptian state television refused to air the opposition party's  advertising. The president of Wafd, Sayyed al-Badawi told Al-Masry Al-Youm that "the party may decide to boycott the poll if the state does not respond to the party’s demands and prove its impartiality." In other election news, 70 members of ...

Patrick Martin writes in the Globe and Mail that "Egypt, it seems, is at a political crossroads: The Egypt of old, with its state control and privilege, is running head-on into the fast-moving new Egypt of economic openness and the rule of law." He goes on to say that Gamal Mubarak has been at the forefront of the movement to liberalize the Egyptian economy and asks whether the ...

In a new piece for the Associated Press, Christopher Torchia and Erol Israfil report on the ongoing trial of Turkish journalist Busra Erdal who is charged with breaking confidentiality codes and attempting to influence an ongoing trial. The journalist’s case exemplifies the often complicated relationship between journalism and politics in Turkey, the authors say. Erdal, who writes for the popular, pro-government daily Zaman, has been extremely critical of Turkey’s judicial establishment ...

In a new article at the Daily Beast, Reza Aslan speaks to Mohamed ElBaradei about the prospects for change in Egypt. When asked if he would run for president in next year's election, ElBaradei responded "'I might run if there is the prospect for a free and fair election, but I will definitely not run if it’s under the present circumstances.'” ElBaradei expressed concern that the situation in Egypt ...