A crowd stormed the doors of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) forcing the committee to close its doors, BBC News reports. Supposedly, the protesters were angered over a recent media report declaring that the panel cleared Bahraini authorities of committing abuses in February and March uprisings, which killed 30 demonstrators. It is alleged that some of the media outlets "misrepresented the comments" of the commission's chair Cherif Bassiouni. BICI's statement says ...

Author and member of Turkish parliament Suat Kiniklioglu questions the role Turkey has had in quelling the ongoing violence transpiring in Syria. He asserts that it is Turkey's responsibility to take the lead in peacefully convincing President Bashar al-Assad to cease slaughtering his own people. Kiniklioglu says that there are a few routes that Turkey could take to coerce Damascus to listen to international demands; one option Turkey has is to threaten ...

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's trial has been adjourned until September 5, Judge Ahmed Refaat announced today. Mubarak's lawyer, Farid al-Deeb, called for postponement of the trial in order to ensure that all necessary evidence and documentation was reviewed. Live broadcast of the trial has also been banned until a verdict is reached. The former leader is being tried alongside former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly in a merged trial. Mubarak's two sons, Gamal ...

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) released a statement concerning the controversial remarks of BICI chairman M. Cherif Bassiouni. The statement reiterated the BICI's committment to independence, from all parties, including the government; it noted the BICI's visits with officials and interested parties, and the unscheduled visits by the commission to prisons and police stations. The statement outlined: the commissions meeting with 200 people in detention, 300 complaints of employee ...

The comments last week by Cherif Bassiouni, leader of the Independent Commission of Inquiry tasked with investigating the crackdown in Bahrain, continue to spark controversy. The Bahrain Youth Center for Human Rights (BYCHR) sent an open letter to Bassiouni, expressing disappointment in his comments. In contrast to Bassiouni's statement, "many, if not most, have told us that they are genuinely afraid of the consequences of their testifying once your esteemed Commission has left." And the BYCHR condemned Bassiouni ...

Eric Trager says that while many consider the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak one of the biggest achievements of the January uprising in Egypt, youth protesters are still pushing for further reform actions to be taken. Namely, they wish to see the interim military government reminiscent of a Mubarak-era regime replaced. Islam Lofty stated, "The revolution is not marches and demonstrations. It is a huge process to change social life ...

Lawyers astounded Egyptian courtroom officials on Wednesday when they rushed to address the judge presiding over the cases of former President Hosni Mubarak, his sons, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six of his assistants. There were 85 lawyers representing 414 of the victims' families, although it is reported that at least half of the 'lawyers' weren't official representatives. One lawyer exclaimed that Mubarak was a serial killer; another asserted that ...

According to al-Masry al-Youm, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will be tried tomorrow in court, and stands accused of three crimes: "involvement in the killing of protesters during the revolution; impropriety in the sale of five villas... and corruption in gas sales to Israel, charges for which former Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmi is currently being tried." Questions have been raised regarding the reality of Mubarak making a public appearance in court. ...

Al-Jazeera reports that 23 allies of former Tunisian leader Zine el Abidine Ben Ali "have appeared before a court in the capital Tunis for trying to flee the country last January with illegally obtained foreign currency." On January 14th, 14 men and nine women were captured when trying to escape from Tunisia with a 'large sum of money', the same day Ben Ali and his wife fled to exile in ...

Al-Jazeera reports that the court trials for former President Hosni Mubarak and ex-Interior Minister Habib al-Adly have been merged. The Egyptian cabinet announced the decision today in an effort to further placate protesters who have accused the interim ruling military of retaining the former regime's practices. Additionally, six other high-ranking officials had trial dates set for August 3. Former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif was also charged and ordered detained for 15 days ...

Human Rights organizations have criticized the recent verdicts against 21 activists and opposition figures in Bahrain. Human Rights First called the proceeding a "large political show trial," and concluded that the "verdicts expose the travesty of Bahrain’s military courts, and make the prospects of reconciliation even more remote." Program director Brian Dooley noted that "there was evidence of torture, denial of proper contact with lawyers and failure to provide basic ...