About 18,000 Egyptians detained without charge
Fifteen years after police took away her husband, Zeinab Ahmed says she has lost hope he will return to help raise their daughter, born while he was in jail.
Mohamed el-Leithi stood trial in a military court with dozens of Islamists charged with belonging to the radical group Vanguards of Conquest.
He was acquitted but remains in jail under an emergency law that allows police to hold suspects for long periods without charge.
"Where is justice?" said Ahmed, wearing a black veil that only showed eyes welling with tears. "Drug dealers get out of jail. Murderers get out of jail. What has he done?"
About 18,000 Egyptians are detained without charge under the emergency law, in force since Islamist militants assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981, Amnesty International says. The prospect for their early release diminished this week when parliament extended the law for two years.
Local and international human rights groups accuse the ruling establishment of using it to crush dissent.
Ahmed and others with family members in detention share tales of months spent trying to find out where their relatives are detained, fruitless court release orders, financial hardship and traumatized children visiting their fathers behind bars.
During eight years when Leithi was in a prison about 450 km (300 miles) south of Cairo, Ahmed said she visited him only a handful of times a year because she could not afford to travel.
"I don't have money. My father was supporting me financially. He died.
Now my brothers support me," she said. Both Leithi's parents died when he was in jail. Mohamed Abdel-Moneim said it took him six years to find out the whereabouts of his son Amr, who has also been in jail since 1993... "
Tired? I have been running around for 15 years ... filing lawsuits," the 67-year-old retired civil servant said, choking back tears.
Torture
The government says it uses the law, which also allows authorities to send civilians for military trial, only to target terrorism suspects and drug dealers.
"If you knew the number of sabotage crimes that have been thwarted ... you would have said: 'Thank God the emergency law exists'," Moufid Shehab, a state minister, said this week. Analysts and human rights groups note 27 years of emergency law failed to stop militant attacks such as the bombings that rocked Sinai between 2004 and 2006, killing scores of Egyptians and foreign tourists.
They say the law has contributed to the rising influence of the police in public life and to what they say is systematic torture inside prisons and police stations. The interior ministry says it does not condone such practices and prosecutes officers who torture suspects."The government cannot live without a state of emergency," said Mohamed Zarea, director of the Arab Penal Reform Organisation, which offers free legal aid to detainees.Zarea was a detainee himself.
In 1988, he was kept in custody for 75 days for suspected links with an armed leftist group.
He says he was subjected to "all kinds of torture".
"It was torture that makes you wish you could die," he told Reuters, sitting behind a desk at his office in downtown Cairo.
"All kinds of torture, from beating to electric shocks to sleep deprivation, to being questioned while people next to you are beaten up ... to threats of sexual assault. All kinds." Zarea won a lawsuit against the government granting him 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,900) in compensation for his detention.
He used the money to set up his human rights group.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
How the Internet is challenging Egypt's government
Although the general strikes of April 6 and May 4 drew limited public participation, they have revealed an important new political phenomenon in Egypt: political mobilization by young, second-generation internet users via blogs, YouTube, and Facebook.
After two years of intensive government efforts to outmaneuver the opposition, this mobilization caught the regime flat-footed. It highlighted the possible role of interactive non-traditional media in bringing about political change in Egypt, just as the government's heavy-handed response to the strikes revealed its failure to find new forms of political control aside from the usual repression by the security apparatus.The growing role of non-traditional media has pushed the state to try to curb them through various mechanisms.
Several bloggers have been arrested, including Moneim Mahmoud (editor of the Ana Ikhwan or "I am Brotherhood" blog).
Isra Abdel Fattah, who started a Facebook group calling for Egyptians to join the April 6 strike (over 74,000 joined), was also arrested and held for 16 days. The blogger Wael Abbas (editor of the Al-Wai al-Misri, or "Egyptian Awareness" blog) has been vilified in the government media due to his success in documenting Egyptian police brutality inside detention centers in video clips he posted on YouTube. And in February 2007, blogger Karim Amer was sentenced to four years in prison in 2007 for criticizing President Hosni Mubarak and religious institutions.
In the past few years, bloggers and other internet users have played several different roles in Egyptian politics.
First, internet users have voiced direct criticism of Mubarak's regime. For example, bloggers went beyond criticizing the amended Article 76 of the Constitution, which regulates the process for presidential elections, and mobilized to record the flagrant abuses that tarnished the popular referendum on the amendment in May 2005, notably the sexual harassment of female journalists.
The bloggers also stood in solidarity with the reformist judges who were subject to systematic attacks by circles close to the regime.
Bloggers have played a crucial role in uncovering abuses by institutions loyal to the regime.
The spread of mobile-phone video technology enabled bloggers to reveal incidents of torture in a number of detention centers, incidents that later became legal cases before the courts.
Such efforts built bridges between bloggers and domestic human rights groups; some blogs now systematically map detention facilities in which officers commonly physically abuse detainees. The political opposition has used bloggers' documentation to attack the regime for its use of torture not only as a means of suppressing political opposition but also in controlling political and social mobility.
Another area of blogger activism is the state of religious minorities, an extremely sensitive issue in Egypt. During the last three years, some blogs have specialized in transmitting the views of religious minorities in Egypt, as well as forms of discrimination practiced against them. Perhaps the most prominent examples are the blogs founded by members of the Bahai religion.
Blogs such as Bahai Misri (Egyptian Bahai) and Min Wijhat Nazar Ukhra (From Another Perspective) have become not only sources of information on the Bahai sect and their situation in Egypt, but also a way to mobilize support for their demands.
There are also blogs that document religious discrimination against Christians, expressing criticism that differs radically from the conciliatory political discourse of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church. Here, the blog Aqbat Bila Hudud (Copts without Borders), edited by Hala Butrus, has given voice to those who see discrimination against Christians as being rooted not only in society but in the state and question the regime's official discourse about "national unity." Yet another area that bloggers are probing is the battle over strategies for various political players.
Some recent examples include blogs by members of the Muslim Brotherhood and their debates over the draft party platform put forward by the Guidance Bureau in 2007.
In the past, Brotherhood blogs served mainly to express the movement's political ideas and recruit new members, for example students. In discussing the platform, however, the blogs expressed and crystallized the struggle between the reformists (such as Ana Ikhwan) and the conservatives.
Most Brotherhood blogs joined the reformist side of the debate, rejecting ideas such as supervision of the executive and legislative branches by a board of religious scholars or exclusion of women and Copts from the presidency.
Brotherhood bloggers are also credited with bringing disagreements over the platform out from behind closed doors - as they are now doing with many political topics that were once taboo in Egypt.
After two years of intensive government efforts to outmaneuver the opposition, this mobilization caught the regime flat-footed. It highlighted the possible role of interactive non-traditional media in bringing about political change in Egypt, just as the government's heavy-handed response to the strikes revealed its failure to find new forms of political control aside from the usual repression by the security apparatus.The growing role of non-traditional media has pushed the state to try to curb them through various mechanisms.
Several bloggers have been arrested, including Moneim Mahmoud (editor of the Ana Ikhwan or "I am Brotherhood" blog).
Isra Abdel Fattah, who started a Facebook group calling for Egyptians to join the April 6 strike (over 74,000 joined), was also arrested and held for 16 days. The blogger Wael Abbas (editor of the Al-Wai al-Misri, or "Egyptian Awareness" blog) has been vilified in the government media due to his success in documenting Egyptian police brutality inside detention centers in video clips he posted on YouTube. And in February 2007, blogger Karim Amer was sentenced to four years in prison in 2007 for criticizing President Hosni Mubarak and religious institutions.
In the past few years, bloggers and other internet users have played several different roles in Egyptian politics.
First, internet users have voiced direct criticism of Mubarak's regime. For example, bloggers went beyond criticizing the amended Article 76 of the Constitution, which regulates the process for presidential elections, and mobilized to record the flagrant abuses that tarnished the popular referendum on the amendment in May 2005, notably the sexual harassment of female journalists.
The bloggers also stood in solidarity with the reformist judges who were subject to systematic attacks by circles close to the regime.
Bloggers have played a crucial role in uncovering abuses by institutions loyal to the regime.
The spread of mobile-phone video technology enabled bloggers to reveal incidents of torture in a number of detention centers, incidents that later became legal cases before the courts.
Such efforts built bridges between bloggers and domestic human rights groups; some blogs now systematically map detention facilities in which officers commonly physically abuse detainees. The political opposition has used bloggers' documentation to attack the regime for its use of torture not only as a means of suppressing political opposition but also in controlling political and social mobility.
Another area of blogger activism is the state of religious minorities, an extremely sensitive issue in Egypt. During the last three years, some blogs have specialized in transmitting the views of religious minorities in Egypt, as well as forms of discrimination practiced against them. Perhaps the most prominent examples are the blogs founded by members of the Bahai religion.
Blogs such as Bahai Misri (Egyptian Bahai) and Min Wijhat Nazar Ukhra (From Another Perspective) have become not only sources of information on the Bahai sect and their situation in Egypt, but also a way to mobilize support for their demands.
There are also blogs that document religious discrimination against Christians, expressing criticism that differs radically from the conciliatory political discourse of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church. Here, the blog Aqbat Bila Hudud (Copts without Borders), edited by Hala Butrus, has given voice to those who see discrimination against Christians as being rooted not only in society but in the state and question the regime's official discourse about "national unity." Yet another area that bloggers are probing is the battle over strategies for various political players.
Some recent examples include blogs by members of the Muslim Brotherhood and their debates over the draft party platform put forward by the Guidance Bureau in 2007.
In the past, Brotherhood blogs served mainly to express the movement's political ideas and recruit new members, for example students. In discussing the platform, however, the blogs expressed and crystallized the struggle between the reformists (such as Ana Ikhwan) and the conservatives.
Most Brotherhood blogs joined the reformist side of the debate, rejecting ideas such as supervision of the executive and legislative branches by a board of religious scholars or exclusion of women and Copts from the presidency.
Brotherhood bloggers are also credited with bringing disagreements over the platform out from behind closed doors - as they are now doing with many political topics that were once taboo in Egypt.
Iraq's Sunni bloc suspends government talks
Iraq's main Sunni political bloc said on Wednesday it had suspended talks to rejoin the Shiite-led government after a disagreement with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki over a cabinet post.
Persuading the bloc to rejoin has been a main aim of U.S. policy in Iraq and is widely seen as a vital step in reconciling the country's factions after years of conflict.
Sunni Arabs have little voice in a cabinet dominated by Shiites and Kurds.
"We have suspended negotiations with the government and pulled out our candidates," said Salim al-Jibouri, spokesman for the Accordance Front.
He said the decision was taken after Maliki objected to a candidate for a cabinet position.
The Accordance Front pulled out of Maliki's national unity government in August, demanding the release of mainly Sunni Arab detainees in Iraq's jails and calling for a greater say in security matters.
Since becoming prime minister in May 2006, Maliki has faced constant criticism from Iraq's minority Sunni Arab community that he has promoted the interests of the majority Shiites ahead of the country's other sectarian and ethnic groups.
But he won praise from Sunni Arab politicians after launching a crackdown on Shiite militias in Baghdad and the southern oil city of Basra.
The government has also begun releasing Sunni Arab prisoners under a new amnesty law.
Jibouri said the Accordance Front drew up a list of candidates for six cabinet posts to hand to the government for approval but Maliki rejected the nomination for the Planning Ministry.
Maliki refused to give the Sunni bloc an extra government post as a compromise, said Jibouri. Officials from Maliki's office were not immediately available for comment.
A statement on Tuesday from the office of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab and a senior member of the Accordance Front, said he had told reporters in Jordan the talks would succeed despite disagreements.
"We achieved significant progress on returning to the government although there are some differences in points of view over some ministries and candidates," said Hashemi.
"And we hope that in the coming days that this will be resolved and the Accordance Front will return to the national unity government.
" Sunni Arabs were dominant under Saddam Hussein and insurgents have drawn support from the community.
Persuading the bloc to rejoin has been a main aim of U.S. policy in Iraq and is widely seen as a vital step in reconciling the country's factions after years of conflict.
Sunni Arabs have little voice in a cabinet dominated by Shiites and Kurds.
"We have suspended negotiations with the government and pulled out our candidates," said Salim al-Jibouri, spokesman for the Accordance Front.
He said the decision was taken after Maliki objected to a candidate for a cabinet position.
The Accordance Front pulled out of Maliki's national unity government in August, demanding the release of mainly Sunni Arab detainees in Iraq's jails and calling for a greater say in security matters.
Since becoming prime minister in May 2006, Maliki has faced constant criticism from Iraq's minority Sunni Arab community that he has promoted the interests of the majority Shiites ahead of the country's other sectarian and ethnic groups.
But he won praise from Sunni Arab politicians after launching a crackdown on Shiite militias in Baghdad and the southern oil city of Basra.
The government has also begun releasing Sunni Arab prisoners under a new amnesty law.
Jibouri said the Accordance Front drew up a list of candidates for six cabinet posts to hand to the government for approval but Maliki rejected the nomination for the Planning Ministry.
Maliki refused to give the Sunni bloc an extra government post as a compromise, said Jibouri. Officials from Maliki's office were not immediately available for comment.
A statement on Tuesday from the office of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab and a senior member of the Accordance Front, said he had told reporters in Jordan the talks would succeed despite disagreements.
"We achieved significant progress on returning to the government although there are some differences in points of view over some ministries and candidates," said Hashemi.
"And we hope that in the coming days that this will be resolved and the Accordance Front will return to the national unity government.
" Sunni Arabs were dominant under Saddam Hussein and insurgents have drawn support from the community.
Israeli website offers porn-for-peace
With the failure of peace plans and political processes, two Israeli entrepreneurs have come up with a novel way to unite Arabs and Jews
– an amateur Internet porn site – according to a recent press report.
The website, called Parpar 1, features only Israeli-born Arabs and Jews engaging in amateur porn, Jewish daily Forward reported earlier this month. The site
-- set up in 2000 by two Israeli IT engineers -- features such movies as Sex in the Army, The Rabbi’s Daughter, Kosher Lesbians, and Israeli Breakfast.
Despite an introductory video that proclaims “Make Love, Not War,” co-owner Avi Levy says his porn site is purely a commercial endeavor.
“I’m not a politician. I’m here to make money,” Levy, 42, said.Membership to the site costs roughly 10 dollars for three days, 15 dollars for one week and 25 dollars for 30 days.
Charges appear on billing statements as “fuel supplies”.
Levy's partner, a Web developer named Shay Malol, says the site has around 20,000 surfers per day, reaching up to 50,000 on weekends.Parpar is Hebrew for “butterfly,” but when used as a verb, it means “to sleep around,” according to Forward.An expert on Israeli-Palestinian affairs, Dr. Samir Qadih, told AlArabiya.net that such porn sites are usually based in areas inside Israel with large Arab populations, such as Haifa, Jaffa, and Nazareth.
"Arabs inside Israel have adapted to the Israeli way of life and no longer adhere to Arab traditions," he said.Qadih refuted the idea that these movies foster understanding between Arabs and Israelis.
He said most porn sites are supervised by the Mossad, adding that was the reason why Hamas has blocked this and other similar sites.
– an amateur Internet porn site – according to a recent press report.
The website, called Parpar 1, features only Israeli-born Arabs and Jews engaging in amateur porn, Jewish daily Forward reported earlier this month. The site
-- set up in 2000 by two Israeli IT engineers -- features such movies as Sex in the Army, The Rabbi’s Daughter, Kosher Lesbians, and Israeli Breakfast.
Despite an introductory video that proclaims “Make Love, Not War,” co-owner Avi Levy says his porn site is purely a commercial endeavor.
“I’m not a politician. I’m here to make money,” Levy, 42, said.Membership to the site costs roughly 10 dollars for three days, 15 dollars for one week and 25 dollars for 30 days.
Charges appear on billing statements as “fuel supplies”.
Levy's partner, a Web developer named Shay Malol, says the site has around 20,000 surfers per day, reaching up to 50,000 on weekends.Parpar is Hebrew for “butterfly,” but when used as a verb, it means “to sleep around,” according to Forward.An expert on Israeli-Palestinian affairs, Dr. Samir Qadih, told AlArabiya.net that such porn sites are usually based in areas inside Israel with large Arab populations, such as Haifa, Jaffa, and Nazareth.
"Arabs inside Israel have adapted to the Israeli way of life and no longer adhere to Arab traditions," he said.Qadih refuted the idea that these movies foster understanding between Arabs and Israelis.
He said most porn sites are supervised by the Mossad, adding that was the reason why Hamas has blocked this and other similar sites.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Egypt extends state of emergency by two years
Egypt on Monday extended a controversial decades-old state of emergency by two years despite pledges to replace it by new legislation, in a move slammed by rights groups as anti-constitutional.Parliament passed the law after a brief debate following a decision by President Hosni Mubarak to extend the state of emergency from June 1, a parliamentary official said.
The state of emergency was imposed in 1981 after the assassination by Islamists of President Anwar Sadat and has been repeatedly renewed since then despite protests from rights groups and regime opponents.
Last year Judicial and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mufid Shehab said the state of emergency would end in 2008, even if the new anti-terror law meant to replace it was not ready.
Last year Judicial and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mufid Shehab said the state of emergency would end in 2008, even if the new anti-terror law meant to replace it was not ready.
"The state of emergency has for decades been one of the main causes of human rights violations in Egypt," Hafez Abu Sada of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) told AFP.
Egypt's authorities have used the state of emergency to clamp down on political opponents, including the country's largest opposition movement, the banned Muslim Brotherhood, whose members sit in parliament as independents.
"We reject the extension of the state of emergency because there is no constitutional justification," Brotherhood political bureau member Essam al-Aryan told AFP.He said the Brotherhood would now start a public awareness campaign about the law.
On Tuesday the state-backed National Council of Human Rights said there was no longer any basis for renewing the state of emergency. Earlier this month two dozen independent human rights groups also called for the emergency to end, saying it "flies in the face of the comprehensive social, economic and political reforms under way in Egypt."
Press reactions
Political analyst Diaa Rashwan wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry al-Youm on Monday that "10 anti-terrorist laws could have been drafted in the time since Mubarak said he would lift the state of emergency.
Political analyst Diaa Rashwan wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry al-Youm on Monday that "10 anti-terrorist laws could have been drafted in the time since Mubarak said he would lift the state of emergency.
" He called the extension a "crime," while the state-owned Al-Goumhuriya daily stressed the need for stringent security measures after thousands of Gazans forced their way across the frontier into Egypt in January to buy goods.
"Remember what happened when the Palestinians violated our borders... arriving with explosive belts around their waists and with grenades and bullets in their pockets," said an editorial."Was the state supposed to wait for a magistrate's warrant before arresting them?"
Kuwaiti soldier charged over maid's rape, murder
A Kuwaiti soldier has been charged with murdering and then raping a Filipina domestic helper whose naked body was found in the desert 10 days ago, a newspaper reported on Monday.The soldier confessed to beating the victim to death and then raping her before dumping her corpse in the desert, claiming he was under the influence of alcohol, Al-Qabas daily quoted a security source as saying.
Al-Qabas said the soldier killed Mualana after she refused to sleep with him, and added that the married man with four children was an alcoholic.
The victim, named as Fatima Sagadan Maulana in earlier press reports, went missing on May 9 and her decomposing body was found a week later in the Kabad desert southwest of Kuwait City.
The victim, named as Fatima Sagadan Maulana in earlier press reports, went missing on May 9 and her decomposing body was found a week later in the Kabad desert southwest of Kuwait City.
About 73,000 Filipinos work in Kuwait. Some 60,000 are women employed mainly as maids and earning less than 200 dollars a month on average, labor groups say
Sunday, May 25, 2008
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Violence against women surges in Kurdistan
Medics in Iraqi Kurdistan said on Saturday that they had seen a surge in violence against women in May, with both so-called "honor" killings and female suicide on the increase."At least 14 women died in the first 10 days of May alone," a doctor told AFP in the region's second largest city of Sulaimaniyah.
"Seven of them took their own lives, the other seven were murdered in still unexplained circumstances," apparently the victims of "honor" killings.
"Over the same period, we recorded 11 attempted self-immolations -- these women were so desperate they set fire to themselves," the doctor added, asking not to be identified.
According to Kurdish regional government figures, in Sulaimaniyah province alone more than 50 women attempted to burn themselves to death in the first four months of the year and another eight attempted to hang themselves.
According to Kurdish regional government figures, in Sulaimaniyah province alone more than 50 women attempted to burn themselves to death in the first four months of the year and another eight attempted to hang themselves.
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq has regularly highlighted "honor" killings of Kurdish women as among Iraq's most severe human rights abuses.
Most of such crimes are reported as deaths due to accidental fires in the home. Aso Kamal, a 42-year-old British Kurdish Iraqi campaigner, says that from 1991 to 2007, 12,500 women were murdered for reasons of "honor" or committed suicide in the three Kurdish provinces of Iraq.
Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region runs its own affairs and has enjoyed relative peace and growing prosperity since the US-led invasion of 2003, while Arab areas of Iraq have been plunged into sectarian warfare.
Crimes against women are continuing despite campaigns by human rights activists and repeated condemnation of the oppression by women members of the regional government and regional parliament.
Lebanon set to elect Suleiman as president
The Lebanese parliament convenes on Sunday to elect army chief Michel Suleiman as president in a first step towards defusing an often deadly 18-month standoff between feuding political factions.Lawmakers will gather at 5:00 p.m. (1400 GMT) to cast their votes at a long-awaited parliamentary session due to be attended by 200 invited guests including Arab and Western dignitaries.
The main challenge for Suleiman, 59, will be to impose himself as a neutral figure and reconcile the Western-backed parliamentary majority and the opposition, which is backed by Iran and Syria.
Bickering between the two camps had left the presidency vacant since Emile Lahoud's term ended in November, and 19 previous attempts to get lawmakers together to elect a successor failed.
Last Wednesday, the rivals finally agreed to elect Suleiman and form a national unity government, in which the opposition has veto power, after five days of intense talks brokered by the Arab League in the Qatari capital.The Doha talks came after 65 people were killed in fierce sectarian battles earlier this month between supporters of the Hezbollah-led opposition and pro-government forces.
It was the deadliest internal political violence since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war and threatened to ignite an all-out conflict, as Hezbollah staged a spectacular takeover of mainly Sunni Muslim west Beirut.
Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and a US congressional delegation are due to attend the election.
The foreign ministers of Syria, Iran and France are also among the 200 dignitaries invited to witness the event, Ali Hamdan, spokesman for parliament speaker Nabih Berri, told AFP.
The US delegation will be headed by Representative Nick Rahall, a West Virginia Democrat of Lebanese origin, Hamdan said.
In nearly 10 years at the helm of the army, Suleiman managed to stay out of the political storm. But as president he will have to tread a fine line to keep the peace with the same neutrality.
"I cannot save the country on my own," he told local media this week.
"This mission requires the efforts of all. Security is not achieved by force but joint political will."Suleiman has been accused by some of being a supporter of Syria, Lebanon's neighbor and former powerbroker.
His predecessor Lahoud was pro-Syrian.After the new head of state is sworn in, the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora will resign in line with the constitution.
On the eve of the vote Siniora, 64, told AFP he was satisfied with the Doha accord and ready to step down.
"I am satisfied that this is a deal for which we all gave in for the sake of the country," he said.
"I served for three years, and I believe it is somehow time for a change."Lebanon has been mired in political paralysis since November 2006 when six opposition ministers quit the Siniora cabinet in a bid to gain more representation.A career soldier, Suleiman joined the army in 1967.
He was appointed military chief in December 1998. He is married and has three children.
Denmark starts to expel convicted Iraqi refugees
Amnesty International's Danish section has denounced the government for starting to expel Iraqis convicted of serious crimes, forcing them to return to Iraq."These expulsions are unacceptable and against international and even Danish conventions that forbid sending anyone back to a country where their safety is threatened," Lars Normann Joergensen, the head of Amnesty Denmark, told AFP.
The government recently decided to expel 11 Iraqi refugees convicted of serious offences including drug dealing, assault, arson and even murder. It is the first time Denmark has sent Iraqis back to Baghdad.
But Joergenson said: "Iraq is still prey to violent unrest, with hundreds of deaths a month, and its government is incapable of ensuring the safety of its citizens.
But Joergenson said: "Iraq is still prey to violent unrest, with hundreds of deaths a month, and its government is incapable of ensuring the safety of its citizens.
" Some of those facing expulsion risked being killed or tortured on their return, he added.
Two people were sent back on Thursday and the other nine were due to follow over the next four weeks, said Hans-Viggo Jensen, deputy director of the national police force.
The Iraqi authorities had agreed to take the 11 back, he added.
One of those expelled had immediately been imprisoned in Iraq on his return, the Ritzau agency reported, quoting the man's wife.
Of the 11 selected for expulsion, 10 had legal papers for Denmark while the other was a failed asylum seeker.
Meanwhile, another 400 refugees whose asylum requests have been rejected are currently staying at centers in Denmark.
They are refusing to leave Denmark voluntarily despite being offered incentives by the Danish authorities.
Freedom Is More Important
I have contributed to the advance of the telecommunications technology though I "lag behind" in terms of personal information and practice.
In the late 90s, and under my guidance as editor-in-chief, Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper became the first daily in the world to publish its pages on trans-continental satellites - at a time when The Wall Street Journal was still publishing its pages inside the United States.
In the late 80s too, Al-Hayat became at my helm the first pan-Arab daily in large size paper to be printed electronically, along with two dailies in the Gulf. In fact, the font used by Al-Hayat was common to the majority of the Arab newspapers that turned to electronic printing.
In both dailies, the credit in technological pioneering goes mostly to my colleagues, and not to me.
Technology is very important.
But freedom is more important, or in other words, constitutes the most important media element. It is exercised in the West in such an enviable manner. Yet, the Western press with deep-rooted traditions have not been fair to the Arabs and Muslims. In my opinion, the least of their "sins" is neglecting Arab and Muslim causes, as has been the case during the preparations for the war on Iraq. The failure of leading American dailies was so remarkable that I sometimes felt it was deliberate.
But I hope I am wrong.
These days, the Western media exploit the freedom they enjoy to serve other goals. An example is Khaled Bin Mahfouz, a co-founder of the Saudi National Commercial Bank. In British courts, he won the lawsuit against American writer Rachel Ehrenfeld who accused him of financing terror in her book Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed - and How to Stop It.
Printed in America, the book is sold in England on the internet.
On August 25, 2007, I raised this issue and had to argue for months with many dissenters, including Samuel Ibadi, a Jewish competent constitutional lawyer of Arab origin. In brief, Ehrenfeld's supporters described the British laws as old and outdated, ascertaining that the First Amendment to the US Constitution protects the freedom of speech.
A New York court rejected Ehrenfeld's lawsuit to overturn the British verdict for lack of jurisdiction, or in other words on the grounds that the US court is not allowed to rule on the matter.
Freedom of speech is unarguable and may be the most important, even the basic freedom used to defend other freedoms.
But the freedom of humiliation, like in the caricatures on the Prophet Mohammad, can not be covered with the first, second, or any other amendment. Accused of financing terrorism, Khaled Bin Mahfouz would have been imprisoned and his assets confiscated.
The British law resembles many other positive and divine laws. According to Islamic jurisprudence, the accused has to take the oath and the plaintiff has to provide evidence.
Which is easier? That the author brings evidence on Bin Mahfouz's donation of money to terrorists, or that Bin Mahfouz brings all terrorists to testify that they did not receive money from him?This takes us back to the issue of news and ideas, or the piece of information and opinion.
The piece of information has to be truthful, but opinion is sacred and a right enjoyed by the speaker.
Lawyers' fees and fines are sufficient punishment, and imprisonment is unjustified. I condemn every Arab country that imprisons journalists.
When I joined the world of journalism, I intended to buy a Volkswagen unlike other colleagues of mine who wanted to promote their ideas as members of political parties, organizations, or factions.
On the one hand, I believe I am a better journalist because I am neutral and can be objective. On the other hand, they are familiar with party details more than I am, and they have inside information that I lack.
At the end, I will go back to the first idea I raised when I started the discussion, i.e. the growing influence of the media despite the decline in the printed press in democratic countries.
To wrap up this discussion, I will mention another example. On June 12, 2007, Tony Blair delivered a speech to the Reuters news agency.
This speech was widely referred to as "feral beasts," as he likened journalists to feral beasts that hunt in a pack, just tearing people and reputations to bits. Consequently, when formulating a policy or following up a matter, his government thinks of journalists and their reactions more than of the task it needs to carry out.The Arab press is tamed just like docile sheep.
*Published in the London-based AL HAYAT on May 22, 2008. Jihad can be reached at http://www.j-khazen.blogspot.com
In the late 90s, and under my guidance as editor-in-chief, Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper became the first daily in the world to publish its pages on trans-continental satellites - at a time when The Wall Street Journal was still publishing its pages inside the United States.
In the late 80s too, Al-Hayat became at my helm the first pan-Arab daily in large size paper to be printed electronically, along with two dailies in the Gulf. In fact, the font used by Al-Hayat was common to the majority of the Arab newspapers that turned to electronic printing.
In both dailies, the credit in technological pioneering goes mostly to my colleagues, and not to me.
Technology is very important.
But freedom is more important, or in other words, constitutes the most important media element. It is exercised in the West in such an enviable manner. Yet, the Western press with deep-rooted traditions have not been fair to the Arabs and Muslims. In my opinion, the least of their "sins" is neglecting Arab and Muslim causes, as has been the case during the preparations for the war on Iraq. The failure of leading American dailies was so remarkable that I sometimes felt it was deliberate.
But I hope I am wrong.
These days, the Western media exploit the freedom they enjoy to serve other goals. An example is Khaled Bin Mahfouz, a co-founder of the Saudi National Commercial Bank. In British courts, he won the lawsuit against American writer Rachel Ehrenfeld who accused him of financing terror in her book Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed - and How to Stop It.
Printed in America, the book is sold in England on the internet.
On August 25, 2007, I raised this issue and had to argue for months with many dissenters, including Samuel Ibadi, a Jewish competent constitutional lawyer of Arab origin. In brief, Ehrenfeld's supporters described the British laws as old and outdated, ascertaining that the First Amendment to the US Constitution protects the freedom of speech.
A New York court rejected Ehrenfeld's lawsuit to overturn the British verdict for lack of jurisdiction, or in other words on the grounds that the US court is not allowed to rule on the matter.
Freedom of speech is unarguable and may be the most important, even the basic freedom used to defend other freedoms.
But the freedom of humiliation, like in the caricatures on the Prophet Mohammad, can not be covered with the first, second, or any other amendment. Accused of financing terrorism, Khaled Bin Mahfouz would have been imprisoned and his assets confiscated.
The British law resembles many other positive and divine laws. According to Islamic jurisprudence, the accused has to take the oath and the plaintiff has to provide evidence.
Which is easier? That the author brings evidence on Bin Mahfouz's donation of money to terrorists, or that Bin Mahfouz brings all terrorists to testify that they did not receive money from him?This takes us back to the issue of news and ideas, or the piece of information and opinion.
The piece of information has to be truthful, but opinion is sacred and a right enjoyed by the speaker.
Lawyers' fees and fines are sufficient punishment, and imprisonment is unjustified. I condemn every Arab country that imprisons journalists.
When I joined the world of journalism, I intended to buy a Volkswagen unlike other colleagues of mine who wanted to promote their ideas as members of political parties, organizations, or factions.
On the one hand, I believe I am a better journalist because I am neutral and can be objective. On the other hand, they are familiar with party details more than I am, and they have inside information that I lack.
At the end, I will go back to the first idea I raised when I started the discussion, i.e. the growing influence of the media despite the decline in the printed press in democratic countries.
To wrap up this discussion, I will mention another example. On June 12, 2007, Tony Blair delivered a speech to the Reuters news agency.
This speech was widely referred to as "feral beasts," as he likened journalists to feral beasts that hunt in a pack, just tearing people and reputations to bits. Consequently, when formulating a policy or following up a matter, his government thinks of journalists and their reactions more than of the task it needs to carry out.The Arab press is tamed just like docile sheep.
*Published in the London-based AL HAYAT on May 22, 2008. Jihad can be reached at http://www.j-khazen.blogspot.com
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Iraq's Aziz back in court without lawyers
The prosecutor in the trial of former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz called for a stiff penalty on Tuesday to ease the "hearts of the widows" of dozens of merchants he is charged with helping execute.Aziz, the public face of Saddam Hussein's regime, entered the court wearing a grey suit and supported by a walking stick, a far cry from the once confident, cigar-smoking diplomat who exhibited faultless English, strong nerves and negotiating skills in Iraq's crises.
He was joined by his seven co-defendants in the case. The 72-year-old Aziz is reported to be in poor health.
His defense lawyers were not present, but it was not clear why.
The team of foreign lawyers who had agreed to defend Aziz, including French lawyer Jacques Verges, four Italian lawyers and a Lebanese-French attorney, were not granted visas for Baghdad, his Amman-based son Ziad Aziz said.
Verges has defended some of the world's most notorious figures, including Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Venezuelan terrorist "Carlos the Jackal.
"The charges relate to merchants who were killed after being accused of breaking price controls imposed in the wake of U.N.
sanctions on Iraq in 1990s.
"We ask that the court decides on a suitable punishment that will ease the hearts of the widows," prosecutor Adnan Ali said.
He said some family members of the merchants were killed.
"There was a systematic campaign planned under the cover of darkness.
Its villains were members of the Revolutionary Command Council and security agencies," Ali said.It is the first time Aziz, who also served as foreign minister under Saddam, has faced any charges since he gave himself up to U.S. troops in April 2003.
Easily recognized by his large glasses and white hair, Aziz played Iraq's top diplomatic role in the run-up to the 1991 Gulf War when he was foreign minister.
Plea of innocence
In his own defense, Aziz told the court on Tuesday that just because he was a member of council did not by itself implicate him in the killings.
Plea of innocence
In his own defense, Aziz told the court on Tuesday that just because he was a member of council did not by itself implicate him in the killings.
"This is a selective process wrought by the personal motivations of those intent on destroying Aziz," Aziz said.
"It is a plot of personal revenge.
" The only Christian in Saddam's inner circle, Aziz rose to prominence in the world media around the time of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the Gulf War.Aziz is being tried by the same judge who sentenced Saddam to death for his role in the killing of 148 Shiite civilians after an assassination attempt against him in 1982. Other defendants include Saddam's half brothers Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan, then interior minister, and Sabaawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, a former security official.Another was Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majeed or Chemical Ali, who entered the court wearing traditional Sunni chequered head dress.
Al-Majeed has already been sentenced to death in June for his role in Saddam's "Anfal" military campaign in the 1980s, in which tens of thousands of Kurds were killed.
Their executions have been delayed by legal wranglings. Aziz's lawyers had wanted his trial to be moved to Iraqi Kurdistan in the relatively quiet north of the country or to be transferred abroad to ensure it is not influenced by the Baghdad government.Aziz has appeared as a witness in earlier trials of Saddam-era officials. He featured prominently in Iraq's conflict with Iran from 1980-1988, helping to win U.S. support and to forge strong economic ties with the Soviet Union.A former finance minister, central bank governor and two senior Baath party members also faced the Iraqi High Tribunal.
Lebanon rivals sign deal, elect president Sunday
Rival Lebanese leaders signed a deal on Wednesday to end 18 months of political conflict, pulling their country away from the brink of civil war and paving the way for the election of a new president.Parliament will convene on Sunday to elect army chief General Michel Suleiman as head of state, aides to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told Reuters in Qatar, where the feuding sides signed the accord after six days of Arab-mediated talks. The agreement between the U.S.-
backed ruling coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition resolved a dispute over a law for holding 2009 parliamentary elections and met the opposition's long-standing demand for veto power in cabinet. It followed a Hezbollah military campaign this month against ruling coalition leaders which bolstered the opposition's political strength. Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria, routed its rivals in the conflict that killed 81 and prompted the Qatari-led mediation bid.
It was Lebanon's worst civil conflict since the 1975-1990 war and exacerbated tensions between Shiites loyal to Hezbollah and Druze and Sunni supporters of the government.
Today, we are opening a new page in Lebanon's history," said Saad al-Hariri, a Sunni politician who leads the governing coalition.
His supporters were among those defeated by Hezbollah. Hezbollah delegation leader Mohammed Raad said the deal would help "towards strengthening coexistence and building the state". Iran and Syria welcomed the agreement, as did France.Paris, which supports the ruling alliance, last year tried but failed to resolve a power struggle complicated by the factions' ties to competing foreign states.
Power struggle
The anti-Damascus ruling coalition had long refused to meet the opposition's demand for cabinet veto power, saying the opposition was trying to restore Syrian control of Lebanon.
Syria was forced to withdraw troops from Lebanon in 2005 after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, Saad al-Hariri's father.
The United States held up the withdrawal as a foreign policy success but the Hezbollah-led opposition has steadily piled pressure on Washington's allies in Lebanon.Opposition ministers quit Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's cabinet in November 2006 in protest at the governing alliance's refusal to meet the demand for veto power.
The resignations stripped the cabinet of all its Shiite members and upset Lebanon's delicate sectarian power-sharing system.
Hezbollah's military campaign this month forced the government to rescind two measures which the Shiite group viewed as hostile enough to justify an armed response.The opposition began to remove a protest encampment controlled by Hezbollah in central Beirut. The tent city, erected next to the government's headquarters, has paralyzed the central commercial district since December 2006.
Under the deal both sides pledged not to use violence in political disputes.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani, who announced the deal in Doha, will attend Suleiman's confirmation by parliament on Sunday. The Lebanese leaders had thought of holding the vote as early as Thursday, but postponed it until Sunday to allow Sheikh Hamad and other dignitaries to attend. Once elected president, Suleiman will chair talks among the leaders on strengthening the Lebanese state.
Internet to show true Mideast: Wiki founder
An explosion in Internet usage in the Middle East by "ordinary" people will show the world that the region is just like anywhere else, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said on Sunday.
"Too often when people around the world reflect on the situation in the Middle East they focus on extremism and the different problems," Wales told journalists at the World Economic Forum for the Middle East.But with current total Internet usage by one billion people set to double in the next five to 10 years, Wales said that "we're going to start hearing from ordinary people."
"And I think that ordinary people are far more moderate and far more ordinary than the unfortunately polarised views of extremes you see coming out," the founder of the popular user-generated encyclopedia said.
New Internet users are "not going to be coming online from US, Europe, Japan," but from developing countries, he said.
"Over time people will start to see the Middle East in a very different light and not see it as a basket of problems.
"They will "see it as a place like any other that has strengths and weaknesses, with hundreds of millions of people just trying to make a better life.
"Wikipedia is an "open-source" web site on which entries can be started or edited by anyone in the world with an Internet connection.
"Too often when people around the world reflect on the situation in the Middle East they focus on extremism and the different problems," Wales told journalists at the World Economic Forum for the Middle East.But with current total Internet usage by one billion people set to double in the next five to 10 years, Wales said that "we're going to start hearing from ordinary people."
"And I think that ordinary people are far more moderate and far more ordinary than the unfortunately polarised views of extremes you see coming out," the founder of the popular user-generated encyclopedia said.
New Internet users are "not going to be coming online from US, Europe, Japan," but from developing countries, he said.
"Over time people will start to see the Middle East in a very different light and not see it as a basket of problems.
"They will "see it as a place like any other that has strengths and weaknesses, with hundreds of millions of people just trying to make a better life.
"Wikipedia is an "open-source" web site on which entries can be started or edited by anyone in the world with an Internet connection.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
the 1st specialized movies channel about the arabic human rights conditions on the intenet
Be informed about Arabic human rights conditions through ghrorg human rights movies channel , on youtube.com , the first specialized movies library on the Internet
Four days that changed the Middle East
Rami G. Khouri
Events in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon continue to move erratically, with simultaneous gestures of political compromise and armed clashes that have left 46 dead in the past week. The consequences of what has happened in the past week may portend an extraordinary but constructive new development: the possible emergence of the first American-Iranian joint political governance system in the Arab world. Maybe. If Lebanon shifts from street clashes to the hoped-for political compromise through a renewed national dialogue process, it will have a national unity government whose two factions receive arms, training, funds and political support from both the United States and Iran. Should this happen, an unspoken American-Iranian political condominium in Lebanon could prove to be key to power-sharing and stability in other parts of the region, such as Palestine, Iraq and other hot spots. This would also mark a huge defeat for the United States and its failed diplomatic approach that seeks to confront, battle and crush the Islamist-nationalists throughout the region.
The brief, isolated, but intense clashes that occurred in the four days between Wednesday and Sunday threatened a total, Iraq-like collapse of Lebanon, with the Hizbullah-led alliance controlling power in the capital Beirut and other critical areas. The frantic pace of political and street action comprised and clarified four noteworthy developments, whose implications for the rest of the Middle East could be momentous: 1. When the government decided to challenge Hizbullah on Tuesday by announcing it was sacking the Shiite army general in charge of airport security and dismantling Hizbullah's underground security telecommunications network, Hizbullah saw this as the first serious attempt by the government to try and disarm it. Hizbullah immediately challenged the government, warned it against these decisions, and made a show of force to protect its security and telecommunications system. When street clashes started in several parts of Beirut, the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hizbullah-led opposition alliance quickly and roundly asserted its dominance over the US- and Saudi-backed government alliance. Put to the test, the new balance of power in Lebanon affirmed itself on the street for the first time in less than 24 hours.2. All the Lebanese parties repeatedly indicated a preference for political compromise over communal war, but also showed they were prepared to fight if forced to. The persistent negotiations via the mass media included critical agreements on naming the armed forces commander, General Michel Suleiman, as the new president, resuming the national dialogue, forming a government of national unity, and revising the electoral law before holding parliamentary elections next year. Negotiating offers came in sequence from Hizbullah secretary general and Shiite leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Future Movement head and Sunni leader Saad Hariri, Sunni Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, and the Shiite Amal movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hizbullah ally.3. The newly vulnerable government effectively backed down Saturday and reversed its two decisions, as Hizbullah had demanded. The street balance of power was translated into a new political equation inside Lebanon. Hizbullah and its allies had achieved on the street that which they had been asking for politically: the capacity to veto government decisions that were seen as threatening Hizbullah's security and resistance activities. 4. By immediately handing over to the armed forces those few buildings and strategic locations that they had taken over in Beirut, Hizbullah and its allies sent the signal that they did not want to rule the entire country, and that they trusted the army as a neutral arbiter between the warring Lebanese factions. Prime Minister Siniora sent the same message when he asked the armed forces and their commander, Suleiman, to decide on the fate of the two contested government security decisions that had sparked Hizbullah's move into West Beirut. The armed forces emerged as the powerful political arbiter and peace-keeper, effectively forming a fourth branch of government, and the only one that is credible and effective in the eyes of the entire population. All factions have agreed to get their gunmen off the streets and leave only the army and police as public security guardians. Now they are expected to follow up quickly by formally naming Suleiman as president (to which they have all agreed already), agreeing on a transitional national unity government of technocrats, and drawing up a new election law. The precise sequence of those events is one of the disputed points that must be agreed, but agreement may be easier now that the army has emerged as a pivotal arbiter and political actor.The new domestic political balance of power in Lebanon will reflect millennia-old indigenous Middle Eastern traditions of different and often quarreling parties that live together peacefully after negotiating power relationships, rather than one party totally defeating and humiliating the other. Lebanon can only exist as a single country if its multi-ethnic and multi-religious population shares power. As the political leaders now seek to do this, they operate in a new context where the strongest group comprises Iranian- and Syrian-backed Islamist Shiites and their junior partners, Christian and Sunni Lebanese allies. They will share power in a national unity government with fellow Lebanese who are friends, allies, dependents and proxies of the United States and Saudi Arabia. If a new Middle East truly is being born, this may well prove to be its nursery.
* Published on May 12, 2008 in Lebanon's DAILY STAR, where Rami G. Khouri is published twice-weekly.
Events in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon continue to move erratically, with simultaneous gestures of political compromise and armed clashes that have left 46 dead in the past week. The consequences of what has happened in the past week may portend an extraordinary but constructive new development: the possible emergence of the first American-Iranian joint political governance system in the Arab world. Maybe. If Lebanon shifts from street clashes to the hoped-for political compromise through a renewed national dialogue process, it will have a national unity government whose two factions receive arms, training, funds and political support from both the United States and Iran. Should this happen, an unspoken American-Iranian political condominium in Lebanon could prove to be key to power-sharing and stability in other parts of the region, such as Palestine, Iraq and other hot spots. This would also mark a huge defeat for the United States and its failed diplomatic approach that seeks to confront, battle and crush the Islamist-nationalists throughout the region.
The brief, isolated, but intense clashes that occurred in the four days between Wednesday and Sunday threatened a total, Iraq-like collapse of Lebanon, with the Hizbullah-led alliance controlling power in the capital Beirut and other critical areas. The frantic pace of political and street action comprised and clarified four noteworthy developments, whose implications for the rest of the Middle East could be momentous: 1. When the government decided to challenge Hizbullah on Tuesday by announcing it was sacking the Shiite army general in charge of airport security and dismantling Hizbullah's underground security telecommunications network, Hizbullah saw this as the first serious attempt by the government to try and disarm it. Hizbullah immediately challenged the government, warned it against these decisions, and made a show of force to protect its security and telecommunications system. When street clashes started in several parts of Beirut, the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hizbullah-led opposition alliance quickly and roundly asserted its dominance over the US- and Saudi-backed government alliance. Put to the test, the new balance of power in Lebanon affirmed itself on the street for the first time in less than 24 hours.2. All the Lebanese parties repeatedly indicated a preference for political compromise over communal war, but also showed they were prepared to fight if forced to. The persistent negotiations via the mass media included critical agreements on naming the armed forces commander, General Michel Suleiman, as the new president, resuming the national dialogue, forming a government of national unity, and revising the electoral law before holding parliamentary elections next year. Negotiating offers came in sequence from Hizbullah secretary general and Shiite leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Future Movement head and Sunni leader Saad Hariri, Sunni Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, and the Shiite Amal movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hizbullah ally.3. The newly vulnerable government effectively backed down Saturday and reversed its two decisions, as Hizbullah had demanded. The street balance of power was translated into a new political equation inside Lebanon. Hizbullah and its allies had achieved on the street that which they had been asking for politically: the capacity to veto government decisions that were seen as threatening Hizbullah's security and resistance activities. 4. By immediately handing over to the armed forces those few buildings and strategic locations that they had taken over in Beirut, Hizbullah and its allies sent the signal that they did not want to rule the entire country, and that they trusted the army as a neutral arbiter between the warring Lebanese factions. Prime Minister Siniora sent the same message when he asked the armed forces and their commander, Suleiman, to decide on the fate of the two contested government security decisions that had sparked Hizbullah's move into West Beirut. The armed forces emerged as the powerful political arbiter and peace-keeper, effectively forming a fourth branch of government, and the only one that is credible and effective in the eyes of the entire population. All factions have agreed to get their gunmen off the streets and leave only the army and police as public security guardians. Now they are expected to follow up quickly by formally naming Suleiman as president (to which they have all agreed already), agreeing on a transitional national unity government of technocrats, and drawing up a new election law. The precise sequence of those events is one of the disputed points that must be agreed, but agreement may be easier now that the army has emerged as a pivotal arbiter and political actor.The new domestic political balance of power in Lebanon will reflect millennia-old indigenous Middle Eastern traditions of different and often quarreling parties that live together peacefully after negotiating power relationships, rather than one party totally defeating and humiliating the other. Lebanon can only exist as a single country if its multi-ethnic and multi-religious population shares power. As the political leaders now seek to do this, they operate in a new context where the strongest group comprises Iranian- and Syrian-backed Islamist Shiites and their junior partners, Christian and Sunni Lebanese allies. They will share power in a national unity government with fellow Lebanese who are friends, allies, dependents and proxies of the United States and Saudi Arabia. If a new Middle East truly is being born, this may well prove to be its nursery.
* Published on May 12, 2008 in Lebanon's DAILY STAR, where Rami G. Khouri is published twice-weekly.
Coincide Hosting the Largest Communication Conference in Africa, an opposition's Web Site is being Blocked
Egyptian Government should Unblock Kefaya HomepageCairo on 12th May, 2008 The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said today, that the website of the Egyptian Movement for Change:Kefaya “http://harakamasria.org/” was blocked in Egypt and the Internet users who have access to Internet through the T-Data Company,
the largest Internet Service Providers in Egypt, which is controlled by the Egyptian Government since 4th May. Many of Kefaya website visitors were surprised of their disability to browse the site during the call on for the past 4th of May Strike,
whether through T-Data or “Link” company, while Link has pulled back blocking the site later, but T-Data that belongs to the Egyptian Government continued blocking the site until today, leaving the internet users unable to get access to it, to be a cheek irony, that the time when the website of the most important political movement in Egypt is blocked coincides with the hosting the largest telecommunication conference in Africa- Africa Telecoms Conference.
Some of the ANHRI's technicians made an attempts to browse blocked website using different computers machines, and from different locations but all their attempts went in vain, while using the free internet dial up connections of T-Data and Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL).
What indicates clearly the Egyptian government return to its practice in blocking the internet site, which it has abandoned earlier.Said Samir Gad the editor-in-chief of Kefaya Website “ the website is performing normally with other ISP companies, but the technical supervisor of the website informed us that the T-Data Co. blocked Kefaya website through the IP Address.
Mohamed Ragab- Director to the Technical Unit- Arab Network for Human Rights Information stated: “ Blocking Kefaya Website decision from the T-Data ISP clients is a ridiculous decision, which is not any more practiced but by the most dictator governments in the world, the internet users will use the proxy so as to overcome this block, or simply transfer their accounts to other companies, the only loser of this decision is the T-Data and the Egyptian government that non of its officials will dare to declare that Egypt is supporting the Freedom to use the Internet.
”The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information condemns very much the decision to block Kefaya web site, calling on the government to work on correcting this wrongdoing, through unblocking Kefaya website and stop harassing the Internet activists in Egypt. http://www.hrinfo.net/en/reports/2008/pr0512.shtml
Authorities Use Intimidation, Violence to Suppress Online Advocacy
Egyptian authorities should immediately investigate and prosecute those security officials responsible for beating Ahmed Maher Ibrahim, Human Rights Watch said today.
Maher, a 27-year-old civil engineer, used the social-networking site Facebook to support calls for a general strike on May 4, 2008, President Hosni Mubarak's 80th birthday. Maher told Human Rights Watch that officers from the Interior Ministry's State Security Investigations (SSI) department apprehended him on a street in the suburb of New Cairo on May 7, blindfolded him and took him to a police station where they stripped him naked, and beat him intermittently for 12 hours before releasing him without charge.
"This is the work of thugs, pure and simple," said Joe Stork, Middle East deputy director at Human Rights Watch. "The government must show that those responsible for upholding the law are also subject to the law." Before the incident, Maher said, an SSI officer phoned him on April 25 to invite him "for a coffee" on the following day at SSI headquarters in Lazoghli, in downtown Cairo. Maher did not show up.
Over the course of the following week, Maher spoke with international news media about the strike. He told the BBC that several SSI officers had contacted him, but that he was undeterred.
"If we allow ourselves to fear them, we won't do anything," he told the BBC. "Then I would consider myself a partner in the crimes taking place in Egypt." On May 4, it appeared that few Egyptians had heeded the call for a strike. On May 7, however, as Maher was driving in New Cairo at around 1 p.m., an unmarked van with non-official license plates pulled in front of him.
Three other unmarked cars, also with non-official plates, surrounded the car and some 12 men in civilian clothes pulled him into the van, where they handcuffed and blindfolded him.
Maher told Human Rights Watch that the men took him first to the New Cairo police station.
There, he was beaten and insulted by men he could not identify because he was blindfolded.
Maher said that around the time of the afternoon prayers (4:30 p.m.), his captors took him to SSI headquarters at Lazoghli. There, they stripped him down to his underwear, threatened to rape him with a stick, and continued kicking, beating, and insulting him, and dragging him across the floor.
The blows fell mostly on his back and his neck, he said, and he lost some hearing after a sharp blow to one ear. Maher said his assailants wore gloves and applied lotion to his back between beatings in an apparent attempt to reduce bruising.
According to Maher, the officers did not accuse him of anything, but asked for the password of the May 4 Facebook group that news reports said he had started.
They also asked him about members of the group he had never met.
The SSI officers released him before dawn on May 8 with the warning that he would be beaten more severely the next time State Security detained him. The evening after his release, May 8, Maher went to a private hospital for a medical examination, including a CAT scan, the results of which were not available as of this writing. "Sadly, Maher's treatment is part of a pattern of abuse and extralegal intimidation by state officials," Stork said. "Egypt needs to put an end to the lawlessness of its law-enforcement officers." In another incident a month earlier, Isra'a `Abd al-Fattah, 29, was among roughly 500 people arrested by police nationwide in connection with a call for a strike on April 6.
(Most of those arrested were from the industrial Nile Delta city of Mahalla al-Kobra, where demonstrations against rising prices turned violent.) `Abd al-Fattah had also used a social network group on Facebook to publicize the April 6 strike, leading to her detention for more than two weeks.
Prosecutors had ordered her release a few days after she was arrested when charges against her of "inciting unrest" were dismissed, but interior ministry officials kept her in detention until April 23.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Egypt ratified in 1982, holds that "no one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law," and that "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
Maher, a 27-year-old civil engineer, used the social-networking site Facebook to support calls for a general strike on May 4, 2008, President Hosni Mubarak's 80th birthday. Maher told Human Rights Watch that officers from the Interior Ministry's State Security Investigations (SSI) department apprehended him on a street in the suburb of New Cairo on May 7, blindfolded him and took him to a police station where they stripped him naked, and beat him intermittently for 12 hours before releasing him without charge.
"This is the work of thugs, pure and simple," said Joe Stork, Middle East deputy director at Human Rights Watch. "The government must show that those responsible for upholding the law are also subject to the law." Before the incident, Maher said, an SSI officer phoned him on April 25 to invite him "for a coffee" on the following day at SSI headquarters in Lazoghli, in downtown Cairo. Maher did not show up.
Over the course of the following week, Maher spoke with international news media about the strike. He told the BBC that several SSI officers had contacted him, but that he was undeterred.
"If we allow ourselves to fear them, we won't do anything," he told the BBC. "Then I would consider myself a partner in the crimes taking place in Egypt." On May 4, it appeared that few Egyptians had heeded the call for a strike. On May 7, however, as Maher was driving in New Cairo at around 1 p.m., an unmarked van with non-official license plates pulled in front of him.
Three other unmarked cars, also with non-official plates, surrounded the car and some 12 men in civilian clothes pulled him into the van, where they handcuffed and blindfolded him.
Maher told Human Rights Watch that the men took him first to the New Cairo police station.
There, he was beaten and insulted by men he could not identify because he was blindfolded.
Maher said that around the time of the afternoon prayers (4:30 p.m.), his captors took him to SSI headquarters at Lazoghli. There, they stripped him down to his underwear, threatened to rape him with a stick, and continued kicking, beating, and insulting him, and dragging him across the floor.
The blows fell mostly on his back and his neck, he said, and he lost some hearing after a sharp blow to one ear. Maher said his assailants wore gloves and applied lotion to his back between beatings in an apparent attempt to reduce bruising.
According to Maher, the officers did not accuse him of anything, but asked for the password of the May 4 Facebook group that news reports said he had started.
They also asked him about members of the group he had never met.
The SSI officers released him before dawn on May 8 with the warning that he would be beaten more severely the next time State Security detained him. The evening after his release, May 8, Maher went to a private hospital for a medical examination, including a CAT scan, the results of which were not available as of this writing. "Sadly, Maher's treatment is part of a pattern of abuse and extralegal intimidation by state officials," Stork said. "Egypt needs to put an end to the lawlessness of its law-enforcement officers." In another incident a month earlier, Isra'a `Abd al-Fattah, 29, was among roughly 500 people arrested by police nationwide in connection with a call for a strike on April 6.
(Most of those arrested were from the industrial Nile Delta city of Mahalla al-Kobra, where demonstrations against rising prices turned violent.) `Abd al-Fattah had also used a social network group on Facebook to publicize the April 6 strike, leading to her detention for more than two weeks.
Prosecutors had ordered her release a few days after she was arrested when charges against her of "inciting unrest" were dismissed, but interior ministry officials kept her in detention until April 23.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Egypt ratified in 1982, holds that "no one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law," and that "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
Sunday, May 11, 2008
attention : new links for our blogs and affliatted sites
our blog's link ( the arabic human rights blog ) had changed from
since 10 may 2008
___________________________
the complaints section in arabic
____________________________
the arabic human rights blog ( arabic version )
______________________________
the arabic human tragedies
no changes- the same link as:
______________________________
human rights movies channel
no changes - the same link as:
Lebanon govt slams Hezbollah's "coup" in Beirut
Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group took control of the Muslim half of Beirut on Friday in what the U.S.-backed governing coalition described as "an armed and bloody coup". The United States accused Syria of "fanning the flames" and said "we're seeing now some evidence of those groups that are linked to Syria that are in Lebanon right now..," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
At least 15 people have been killed and 34 wounded in three days of battles between pro-government gunmen and fighters loyal to Hezbollah, a Shiite political movement which has a powerful guerrilla army and is an ally of Syria. The fighting, the worst internal strife since the 1975-90 civil war, began this week after the government decided to dismantle Hezbollah's military communications network. The group said the government had declared war.
Army personnel take over pro-govt positions in the southern city of SaidaIn scenes reminiscent of the darkest days of the civil war, young men with assault rifles roamed the streets amid smashed cars and smoldering buildings. Fighting died down as outgunned government supporters handed over their weapons and offices to the army, which has tried to remain neutral during 17 months of political conflict between the Hezbollah-led opposition and the government. The anti-Syria governing coalition condemned the "armed and bloody coup", saying it was aimed at increasing Iran's influence and restoring that of Syria, forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in 2005.
Beirut will remain shut
A senior opposition source said that Hezbollah and its allies would maintain the road blocks, including barricades on routes to the airport, until a full resolution of the crisis. "All issues are linked.
Beirut will remain shut until there is a political solution," the source said.
The political crisis has paralyzed the country and left it without a president since November 2007.
An airport official said all flights had been cancelled on Friday with the main road from Beirut barricaded by Hezbollah fighters. "As soon as they open the road, the flights will resume."An influential pro-government leader called for dialogue. Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Druze minority, said Hezbollah "regardless of its military strength, cannot annul the other". "Dialogue alone brings results. Running away from dialogue is not useful," he told the pro-government LBC television.
Killed trying to escape
The dead included a woman and her 30-year-old son killed while trying to flee Ras al-Nabae -- a mixed Sunni-Shiite Beirut district and scene of some of the heaviest clashes. "They were trying to flee to the mountains.
Instead ... they reached the hospital, dead," said a relative, who declined to give her name because of security fears. "It was terrifying during the night. We couldn't even move about in the house," said another woman, a Ras al-Nabae resident who fled the area at first light with her children. "We spent the night in the corridor." Witnesses recounted the chaos and fear that reigned in Beirut overnight as people rushed to stores that remained open to stock up, while others were trapped in their homes."It was a hellish night.
The armed militants were everywhere shooting all over the place," said west Beirut resident Rima.
"Occupier of Beirut"
Opposition gunmen guard pro-govt detainees in west BeirutHezbollah had steadily seized the offices of pro-government factions, including the Future group of Sunni politician Saad al-Hariri, in the predominantly Muslim western half of the city.Backed by gunmen from the Shiite Amal group, Hezbollah handed over the offices to the army. Hariri supporters gave up their offices to the army elsewhere in the country. Hezbollah also moved into Hariri-owned media outlets, and Hariri's television and radio stations went off the air. Opposition gunmen of the Syrian Socialist National Party set ablaze a building housing studios of Hariri's TV station. "It certainly leaves the government weaker and the Future movement weaker," said Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. But Hezbollah does not want to be seen as an "occupier of Beirut", he said, and handing control to the army appeared the most likely exit. The European Union, Germany and France urged a peaceful resolution. Syria said the issue was an internal Lebanese affair.
Normal life in Christian areas
A crowd of Lebanese citizens jostle at a bakery to buy bread in the southIn Beirut, most shops and businesses remained shuttered while tanks rolled through the streets and hundreds of riot police and troops patrolled the city but with orders not to intervene in the conflict.
Lebanon was largely cut off from the outside world, with the international airport and Beirut port shut and several key highways blockaded.
But hundreds of people were able to flood to border crossings with Syria to escape the violence and foreign governments began putting in place plans to pull out their nationals.Although west Beirut was virtually under siege, in the predominantly Christian eastern sector of the city, life was going on as usual, with shops and other businesses open.
Proxy war with Iran
Lebanon's feud is widely seen as an extension of the confrontation pitting the United States and its Arab allies and Israel against Syria and Iran, which back Hezbollah -- regarded as a terrorist group by the West.
Israeli President Shimon Peres claimed the violence was fomented by archfoe Iran to further what he said was Tehran's goal to control all of the Middle East.
While Iran accused the United States and Israel of fueling the deadly fighting.
"Adventurous efforts and interventions by the United States and the Zionist regime are the main cause of the continuous chaotic situation in Lebanon," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.
The long-running political standoff, which first erupted in November 2006 when six pro-Syrian ministers quit the cabinet, has left the country without a head of state since November, when Damascus protégé Emile Lahoud stepped down.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Egypt raises prices amid public anger
Egypt's parliament on Monday voted in favor of a set of tax and duty increases including on fuel, diesel and cigarettes amid public anger at price hikes and the state of the economy.Tax breaks will be removed from private schools and educational institutions, while vehicle license fees will also see a sharp rise especially for large capacity engines.Around 120 opposition and independent MPs, including those representing the Muslim Brotherhood, voted against the proposal.
Parliament spent Monday discussing the proposal which is aimed at covering the 12.5-billion pound (2.3-billion dollar) cost of a rise in public sector salaries promised by President Hosni Mubarak.
Parliament spent Monday discussing the proposal which is aimed at covering the 12.5-billion pound (2.3-billion dollar) cost of a rise in public sector salaries promised by President Hosni Mubarak.
Mubarak vowed last Wednesday to raise public sector salaries by 30 percent to combat rises in food prices.Speaking to parliament, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said the new measures were aimed at "taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor."In recent months, Egypt has seen a number of strikes and demonstrations against low salaries and price rises.
Egypt is also in the grip of a serious bread crisis brought on by a combination of the rising cost of wheat on world markets and sky-rocketing inflation.
A day of nationwide action called for April 6 saw riots erupt in the Nile Delta industrial city of Mahalla in which three people were killed after demonstrators pulled down posters of Mubarak.
Meanwhile an Egyptian television agency boss was charged by a Cairo court over helping to broadcast images of protesters tearing down portraits of President Hosni Mubarak during deadly food riots in April.Nader Gohar, who owns the Cairo News Company, was charged with not having a license to provide satellite feed facilities to foreign channels following a complaint by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, a judicial official told AFP. Gohar, who is currently in Paris, said Monday he has been falsely accused of the broadcasting breach, which carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.
Meanwhile an Egyptian television agency boss was charged by a Cairo court over helping to broadcast images of protesters tearing down portraits of President Hosni Mubarak during deadly food riots in April.Nader Gohar, who owns the Cairo News Company, was charged with not having a license to provide satellite feed facilities to foreign channels following a complaint by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, a judicial official told AFP. Gohar, who is currently in Paris, said Monday he has been falsely accused of the broadcasting breach, which carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.
Three civilians were killed by police during two days of rioting in the Nile Delta industrial city of Mahalla on April 6-7. Demonstrations called to protest rising food prices turned violent when police used rubber-coated bullets and tear-gas on protesters who tore down billboard images of Mubarak.
Footage of the posters being torn down
-- a crime against the president under Egyptian law
-- and the subsequent violence could be seen on many television stations and on the Internet. The court, which ordered Gohar's arrest ahead of the next hearing on May 26, has already ordered the agency's offices searched and impounded five satellite dishes used for broadcasting and a vehicle.
Saudi mulls workplace rules as more women join
Economic necessity is pushing Saudi Arabia to accept the idea of women in the workplace, leading to a debate about how to set up socially acceptable office environments, a government official said in an interview this weekend.
Faisal bin Muammar, head of a body promoting national dialogue, said high unemployment and the reliance upon 7 million foreign workers was forcing the hand of opponents to women working in the country of 24 million people.
The debate
-- as demonstrated at a major forum last month of Islamic scholars, ministers and businesswomen
-- has now moved to whether women can work in the same office space as men, or if firms must provide segregated areas to allow women to work.
"Most agreed to open a wide arena for women to get jobs, since girls now graduate more than boys from universities.
We cannot go on having 7 million foreigners and our graduate women in their houses," bin Muammar told Reuters. "But how to establish it (is the issue), whether it is in separate or mixed places
... We need to make rules for it, which religious scholars, families and social leaders need.
"Women at the national dialogue meeting last month
-- speaking from a separate room so they could be heard but not seen
-- said firms would have to provide extras such as special transport for them to get to work.Thousands of expatriates are employed as drivers for women because of the ban on driving cars.
But the government has been trying to gradually introduce reform in the county."Saudi Arabia is unique in that since unification, most development and changes have been initiated by government and society is sometimes resisting changes," bin Muammar said."There is a big program to moderate the country," he added.
Faisal bin Muammar, head of a body promoting national dialogue, said high unemployment and the reliance upon 7 million foreign workers was forcing the hand of opponents to women working in the country of 24 million people.
The debate
-- as demonstrated at a major forum last month of Islamic scholars, ministers and businesswomen
-- has now moved to whether women can work in the same office space as men, or if firms must provide segregated areas to allow women to work.
"Most agreed to open a wide arena for women to get jobs, since girls now graduate more than boys from universities.
We cannot go on having 7 million foreigners and our graduate women in their houses," bin Muammar told Reuters. "But how to establish it (is the issue), whether it is in separate or mixed places
... We need to make rules for it, which religious scholars, families and social leaders need.
"Women at the national dialogue meeting last month
-- speaking from a separate room so they could be heard but not seen
-- said firms would have to provide extras such as special transport for them to get to work.Thousands of expatriates are employed as drivers for women because of the ban on driving cars.
But the government has been trying to gradually introduce reform in the county."Saudi Arabia is unique in that since unification, most development and changes have been initiated by government and society is sometimes resisting changes," bin Muammar said."There is a big program to moderate the country," he added.
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