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Our Reports
The Internet In the Arab World
A New Space of Repression?
No Rules, No Limits
United Arab Emirates:
Freedom of expression is missing despite a decision banning imprisonment for press crimes
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The weekly update for ANHRI # 251
Sixth Year
6th March 2009-12th March 2009
Jordan
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The Attorney General of Amman summoned journalist Bakr al-Karan and poet Khaled Mahadin on Sunday 8th March to the South Amman Criminal Court on charges of defaming members of parliament. The summons comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by the parliament regarding an article posted by Mahadin on his website, entitled "For God's Sake, Abu Abdallah!" on 13th Feb. It criticized the special privileges granted to parliament members and called upon King Abdullah to dissolve parliament.
Present and Future of Jordanian Official Universities
A study by the National Campaign for Student Rights, "Zabahtouna," has shown a 20% decrease in government funding for national universities and an increase in the government's collection of aggregate fees --all of which attests to the government's tendency to reduce its financial support of universities and eventually cut it altogether.
The study proposed a number of solutions to the problems in higher education such as canceling their "parallel program," or restricting it to a bare minimum of persons. It also called for a reduction of fees at official universities, a transfer of funds to these universities from national customs duties, or more generally setting aside part of the country's budget for their benefit. The study, in raising the autonomy of universities, stressed the difference between financial autonomy --which need not be debated as the state is obliged to subsidize universities-- and academic and administrative independence which is a topic open for discussion.
Source:
The Centre for the Defense for Media and Press Freedoms in the Middle East
The National Campaign for the Defense of Student Rights
More information and topics on Jordan page: http://anhri.net/jordan
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Bahrain
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International Support for al-Khawagah
A number of Arab and international human rights organizations expressed their support for the human rights activist Abdel Hadi al-Khawagah, the ex-director of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and the regional representative of Frontline. He is being tried for his valiant defense of human rights in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He gave a speech on 6 Jan 2008 in which he openly discussed the main violations of human rights in Bahrain such as sectarian discrimination; corruption; the plunder of public funds and lands; arbitrary detention; routine use of torture; unfair trials, preventing the right to assembly and freedom of expression; and the prosecution of human rights defenders.
Source:
The Arab Working Group for Human Rights
The Arabic Network for Human rights Information
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
More information and topics on Bahrain page: http://anhri.net/bahrain
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Tunisia
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Denied the Right to Movement
Those who stand against torture and advocate human rights are being tried, sentenced to life in prison, tracked constantly by security forces and denied freedom of movement.
What has happened to the human rights activist Mohammed Abbou is one example of routine practices of the Tunisian authorities. They have arbitrarily denied Abbou the right to travel outside the country since he was released in July 2007, after two and a half years as a prisoner of conscience. He was sentenced in 2005 for standing against torture in an article he published on the internet. Mohamed Abbou has been subjected to persecution and tracking by security forces since his release, and to infringement on his freedom of movement both within Tunisia and abroad. He was obliged to remain in a police station for over two hours, and was thus prevented from traveling to the city of Benzert to attend a political forum. On 3rd March he was prevented from traveling for a sixth consecutive time to the Netherlands and Britain, on invitation from Amnesty International to meet with human rights defenders.
Source:
Observatoire pour la liberté de presse, d'édition et de création (olpec)
More information and topics on Tunisia page: http://www.anhri.net/tunisia
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Algeria
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Algerian Journalist Dawood al-Najar Imprisoned
The prosecution and imprisonment of journalists is a sign of continued repression, and of the inclination to hide the truth rather than investigating journalists' reports on embezzlement and corruption. This reality has continued to grow with time and journalists and human rights activists are the primary victims. Such practices aim to curtail freedoms; they silence calls to check corruption, the careless disbursement of public funds and the plundering of national riches by mafia and businessmen who make a fortune far from the eyes of state censors.
This week, the journalist Dawood al-Najar, director of the al-Waha newspaper and website, was sentenced to six months in jail on libel charges from late 2005 for discussing corruption and the rape of female government employees.
Source:
The Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights
More information and topics on Algeria page: http://anhri.net/algeria
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Sudan
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Nubian Internet Activist Supportive of ICC's Decision Arrested
The Sudanese government reacted to the decision of the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest memo against the Sudanese president by expelling a number of charity organizations from civil society, thus depriving millions in need from basic humanitarian services. It has also arrested all those who have shown their support for the ICC's decision. Thus, Sudanese security forces arrested the Nubian internet activist Abdel Hakim Abdel Rahman Nasr, editor of the Nubian International Forum, seized his password and deleted more than 300 pieces he had written. Abdel Hakim's arrest comes following his publication of a piece supporting the ICC's decision to arrest the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir
Source:
the international organization for facing terrorism
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Organizations
More information and topics on Sudan page: http://anhri.net/Sudan
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Syria
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"State of Emergency" Has Continued For Half a Century
The anniversary of the announcement of a state of emergency is this March. Since its inception in 1963, this announcement has undermined democracy and public freedoms. The state of emergency, and the unconstitutional martial laws accompanying it, remain the fundamental reference for the relationship between authority and society. In light of these laws, basic freedoms are blatantly violated by security forces who take exceptional measures to block non-governmental activities. This contributes to the deterioration of democratic freedoms and human rights in Syria, and prevents any democratic transformation, and further, it heightens the larger crisis: the continuation of corruption, rising unemployment, and new groups within society slipping into poverty.
Source:
The Committees for the Defense of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria
More information and topics on Syria page: http://www.anhri.net/syria
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Iraq
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Photographer Killed, Four Journalists Wounded
Iraq remains a dangerous place for journalists. In the last week, three members of the media were killed, and number of others wounded while covering a field inspection by a chief military officer. A number of photographers and reporters from local and international satellite channels were accompanying General Marid Abdel Hassan on his way to Abu Ghraib judiciary. They were present in order to participate in a conference between Iraqi tribes when they were surprised by a massive explosion in the nearby public hospital, next to the public market.
Source:
Press Freedoms Monitor
More information and topics on Iraq page: http://www.anhri.net/iraq
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Oman
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Journalist and Internet Activist Threatened with Jail
The trial of the Omani internet activist Ali al-Zaidi has been set for the 17th of March, where he will be charged with allegedly violating article 61 of the Omani telecommunications law by allowing the publication of an article about the suspicions of corruption in the Omani telecommunications company, Omantel. He published the article as a supervisor of a well known forum in August 2008. The article was removed because the identity of the author was unknown, and yet the prosecution questioned al-Zwaidi in August. He thought, along with other internet activists, that the case had ended. To their surprise, al-Zwaidi was arraigned for trial on a charge punishable by a year in prison and a fine of up to a hundred thousand Omani riyals ($2600).
Source:
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information
More information and topics on Oman page: http://anhri.net/oman
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Palestine
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Court of the Occupation Bans Activist from Traveling to Receive Human Rights Prize
In gross violation of the right to movement and to a fair trail, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled to ban human rights defender Shwan Jabbarin from traveling outside the West Bank to receive the Gozin Medal 2009 on behalf of al-Haq Centre. The court refused to remove the travel ban by referencing a martial verdict against Jabbarin in 2006, which had been based upon secret evidence to which neither he nor his lawyers gained access.
Source:
Human Rights Watch
More information and topics on Palestine page: http://www.anhri.net/palestine
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Lebanon
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Right of Return
The right of return of Palestinians to their homes seized by the Israeli occupation forces and the related international conventions was the subject of a training course held by the Palestinian Society for Human Rights (Rasid) in its office in Ain al-Helwa refugee camp.
Source:
The Palestinian Society for Human Rights
More information and topics on Lebanon page: http://anhri.net/lebanon
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Libya
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Two political prisoners released
Libyan authorities released two political prisoners, Gamal al-Haji and Faraj Hamid, this week after two years in prison. The Libyan state security court sentenced twelve men in 2007, including al-Haji who was sentenced to 12 years in jail and Hamid to 15 years. This ruling had come a year after the planning of a peaceful demonstration in memory of the deaths of protestors in clashes with the police.
Source:
Human Rights Watch
More information and topics on Libya page: http://anhri.net/libya
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Egypt
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Safwat al-Sherif's Son Could Be Behind Seizing of al-Balagh Newspaper
Courts look into cases and render decisions every day on the freedom of expression and opinion. This week, Shaima al-Mansi, a female journalist with al-Badeel, has been released after facing charges of libeling a judicial institution in her publications.
The state censor authority on publications and the external press seized Issue 29 of al-Balagh al-Gedid newspaper. According to a release by the editing board of the newspaper, the head of the censoring authority had commented on press topics dealt with in the newspaper in previous issues, especially a piece on the bankruptcy of the son of Safwat al-Sherif, head of the supreme council of the press and head of the Egyptian People’s Assembly (Parliament).
Source:
One world society
Hehsam Mubabrak Law Centre
More information and topics on Egypt page: http://www.anhri.net/egypt
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Morocco
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Women Continue to Suffer Injustice in All Walks of Life
Women's rights are an integral part of human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulated the equality between men and women in all rights. Yet Moroccan women continue to suffer injustice in all walks of life, which effectively trivializes the partial gains they have secured of value. They continue in their customary jobs as farmhands in the fields and in villages, as shopkeepers, house servants, or as waitresses in cafes. The demands of human rights cannot be achieved without the necessary stirring of the will to bring to justice all those who humiliate women's dignity or subject them to verbal or physical violence. This further requires generalized access to education for women, the promotion of economic and social projects which would help put unemployed women to work, the integration of female holders of college degrees in the government sector, and the provision of free medical care in all remote regions.
Source:
The Moroccan Society for Human Rights
More information and topics on Morocco page: http://anhri.net/morocco
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Yemen
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Obstructing the Will of Journalists
Members of the general assembly of the journalists syndicate stated that the next session of their conference would have to be an electoral session as some of the documents submitted to the conference were prepared outside of their immediate milieu and without their knowledge. A particular example is the “new internal system” or the so-called “covenant of press honor” which was not seen by the great majority of the syndicate members. Journalists said they reject the manner in which special preparations for the general conference were run, as it obstructed the will of journalists, barring them from participating in the proceedings of more partisan and official groups.
Source:
The Yemeni Monitor for Human Rights
More information and topics on Yemen page: http://anhri.net/yemen
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The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information
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ANHRI Goes on with Case against the Interior Minister
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information stated that the state security prosecution had decided to release blogger Mohammed Adel today, after the passing of 110 days between his kidnapping, detention and the charges brought by state security. ANHRI said that it will go on with the case against the Interior Minister until he learns to respect the law. The Interior Minister's aides kidnapped Adel and detained him in an unidentified location.
Morocco: Harsh Ruling against Journalist and Blogger Hassan Barhoun to Six Months in Prison
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information condemned 6th March the harsh ruling by the Tetouan misdemeanors court against journalist and blogger Hassan Barhoun. In a hasty trial which lasted for only one hearing, the court sentenced him to six months in prison and to a fine of 5000 Moroccan dirhams. Some lawyers withdrew from the session, while other lawyers were unable to submit their complete defense –all of which casts doubt upon the fairness of the trial.
For more information and topics on human rights : http://www.anhri.net/press
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anhri is a legal organization that defends the freedom of opinion and expression of the press and the right to exchange information. Moreover, it works on collecting the publications of nearly 140 Arabic human rights organizations from 18 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, which are published in Arabic and presented in one website. It also provides human rights Sources in the Arab world for media workers, journalists, activists and the public in an attempt to increase the number of internet users and those interested in human rights issues in the Arab speaking world. Though one of many human rights groups serving the Middle East and North Africa, it is the only one in the Arab world devoted exclusively to protecting the freedom of expression across the region.
For more information, suggestions or membership in the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, please contact anhri at:
Address: 19-26 July st-Downtown - Cairo- 4th floor - suit 55
Phone Number: (00202) 27736177
Email address:
info@anhri.net
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