October 7, 2011
Category: Diplomacy, Justice, NATO, Protests, Reform, Rule of Law, Syria, UN Human Rights Council, United Nations
Bahrain: Retrial for Jailed Bahraini Medics
Bahrain's attorney general has ordered a retrial in civilian court for the 20 medical personnel sentenced to prison time for allegedly backing the anti-government protesters. The statement released by Bahrain's government seems to repeal the decision made by ...
Bahraini Doctors Release Press Statement
The 2o Bahraini medical professionals sentenced to five to 15 years in prison, released a statement on Thursday documenting the suffering they have endured since mid March. "All of us were subject to maltreatment, humiliation and violence. Most ...
Bahrain: Doctors Claim Confessions Were Forced Through Torture
The 20 medical professionals sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to fifteen years claim their statements were fabricated. They state their confessions were induced under torture and were not able to speak with a lawyer before their ...
Iran: Activist for Religious Minorities Faces New Charge
Abdolfatah Soltan, a prominent Iranian lawyer who was arrested September 10th, is reportedly facing a new charge for accepting the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award in 2009, which the government deemed "unlawful." Soltan has represented a number of well-known Iranian political ...
Bahrain: Second Round of Elections Set for Oct. 1
Bahrain will hold a second round of elections on October 1 to fill the 9 seats in which no candidate received fifty percent of the vote in Saturday's by-elections. Of the other seats, "four deputies were elected in the ...
September 22, 2011
Category: Civil War, Featured, Freedom, Human Rights, Justice, Political Parties, Political transition, Yemen
Legislation Tying NTC Funding to Cooperation on Lockerbie Bombing is Announced
Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced a new piece of legislation entitled the "Pan Am 103 Accountability Act" which requires President Obama to certify that the NTC or "any successor government" in Libya fully cooperates with "any U.S. Government ...
Bahrain: Court Hears Appeals on Protest Sentences
A Bahraini security court heard appeals of 21 activists sentenced this spring after the crackdown on anti-government protests. Two of the activists are prominent opposition figures on hunger strike. The president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Nabeel Rajab, said ...
Bahraini King Pardons Some Protesters, Calls for Unity
Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa announced a pardon for some protesters during a speech to the nation on Sunday. The King said, "there are those who are charged with abusing us and senior officials in Bahrain, we today announce ...
Libya: James Traub on the Tripoli Task Force
James Traub described the work of the Tripoli Task Force, a 70-member task force formed by the Transitional National Council (TNC) to plan for reconstruction in the capital, that oversaw a network of Libyans responsible for policing, water supply, fuel, schools, etc. Sohail Nakhoody, the former chief of staff to Aref Ali Nayed, leader of the task force and current ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, said, "we had ...
Bahrain’s Independent Commission of Inquiry Closes Their Doors
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 ...
Libyan Lawyers Urge Restraint, TNC Democracy Plan
The organization Lawyers for Justice in Libya (IFJL) released a statement calling for "Libyans on all sides ... to adhere to international human rights and international humanitarian law." The statement said, "LFJL appeals to both sides in the Libyan conflict ...
Suat Kiniklioglu: “Questioning Turkey’s ‘Doves’ on Syria”
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 ...
August 15, 2011
Category: Government, Justice, Lobbying, Military, Protests, Public Opinion, Syria, Turkey
Egypt: Update on Mubarak Trial
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 ...
Bahrain: BICI Responds to Complaints
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 ...