Archive for the ‘Middle East/N. Africa’ Category

Members of the United Nations Security Council should condemn attempts by the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) to prevent accountability for serious and ongoing crimes committed in Libya. The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, will brief the Security Council on his Libya investigation on May 16, 2012.

(New York) – Members of the United Nations Security Council should condemn attempts by the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) to prevent accountability for serious and ongoing crimes committed in Libya.

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Jordanian authorities are about to deport nine detained Eritrean refugees, including a 7-year-old girl, to Yemen where they risk indefinite detention and possibly deportation to persecution in Eritrea. Jordan should allow the group to remain in Jordan and give the United Nations refugee agency access to the refugees.

(Beirut) – Jordanian authorities are about to deport  nine detained Eritrean refugees, including a 7-year-old girl, to Yemen where they risk indefinite detention and possibly deportation to persecution in Eritrea.

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Bahraini authorities should drop politically motivated criminal charges against Nabeel Rajab, a human rights activist, and release him immediately. Rajab is scheduled to go on trial on May 16, 2012, for “offending an official institution” – namely, the Interior Ministry, which he criticized for allegedly ignoring attacks against boys and young protesters as well as Shia-owned businesses.

(Beirut) Bahraini authorities should drop politically motivated criminal charges against Nabeel Rajab, a human rights activist, and release him immediately.

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The failure of Moroccan authorities to follow through on investigating the beating by police of a Human Rights Watch research assistant is a case study of impunity for police violence.

(Rabat) – The failure of Moroccan authorities to follow through on investigating the beating by police of a Human Rights Watch research assistant is a case study of impunity for police violence.

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Iraq’s government has been carrying out mass arrests and unlawfully detaining people in the notorious Camp Honor prison facility in Baghdad’s Green Zone, based on numerous interviews with victims, witnesses, family members, and government officials. The government had claimed a year ago that it had closed the prison, where Human Rights Watch had documented rampant torture.

(Beirut) – Iraq’s government has been carrying out mass arrests and unlawfully detaining people in the notorious Camp Honor prison facility in Baghdad’s Green Zone, based on numerous interviews with victims, witnesses, family members, and government officials.

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The Kuwaiti parliament passed a law on May 10, 2012, that would provide an important expansion of due process protections in Kuwait. The law would eliminate unlimited renewals of pretrial detention and significantly limit the periods allowed for pretrial investigative detentions. The Emir of Kuwait, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, should sign the bill into law.

(New York) The Kuwaiti parliament passed a law on May 10, 2012, that would provide an important expansion of due process pr

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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has failed to acknowledge dozens of civilian casualties from air strikes during its 2011 Libya campaign, and has not investigated possible unlawful attacks, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

(Brussels) – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has failed to acknowledge dozens of civilian casualties from air strikes during its 2011 Libya campaign, and has not investigated possible unlawful attacks, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

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Syrian security forces are arbitrarily arresting and holding peaceful activists incommunicado, despite the government’s commitment under Kofi Annan’s six point plan to release everyone who has been arbitrarily detained. People being arrested include peaceful protesters and activists involved in organizing, filming, and reporting on protests and humanitarian assistance providers and doctors, Human Rights Watch said after interviewing dozens of activists, witnesses, and family members.

(New York) – Syrian security forces are arbitrarily arresting and holding peaceful activists incommunicado, despite the government’s commitment under Kofi Annan’s six point plan to release everyone who has been arbitrarily detained.

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The sentencing of a rapper on May 11, 2012 to one year in prison for “insulting the police” shows the gap between the strong free-expression language in Morocco’s 2011 constitution and the continuing intolerance for those who criticize state institutions. The sentence was handed down one week before the opening of the international Mawazine music festival in Rabat, which is held under the patronage of King Mohammed VI.

(Rabat, May 12, 2012) – The sentencing of a rapper on May 11, 2012 to one year in prison for “insulting the police” shows the gap between the strong free-expression language in Morocco’s 2011 constitution and the continuing intolerance for those who criticize state institutions.

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Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) should immediately amend a new law that protects from prosecution people who committed crimes if their actions were aimed at “promoting or protecting the revolution” against Muammar Gaddafi. The law also allows authorities to detain people for up to two months if they are considered “threats to security.”

(New York) – Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) should immediately amend a new law that protects from prosecution people who committed crimes if their actions were aimed at “promoting or protecting the revolution” against Muammar Gaddafi, Human Rights Watch said today.

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A proposed United Arab Emirates (UAE) law on domestic workers holds promise for significant improvements in addressing worker abuse. While a newspaper has reported about the law, its contents have not been made public, and a number of the reported provisions raise concerns.

(Beirut) – A proposed United Arab Emirates (UAE) law on domestic workers holds promise for significant improvements in addressing worker abuse. While a newspaper has reported about the law, its contents have not been made public, and a number of the reported provisions raise concerns.

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United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities have expanded their crackdown on peaceful political activists with the recent arrests of two more members of a non-violent political association advocating greater adherence to Islamic precepts.

(Beirut) – United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities have expanded their crackdown on peaceful political activists with the recent arrests of two more members of a non-violent political association advocating greater adherence to Islamic precepts, Human Rights Watch said today.

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Algerian authorities have used arrests and other tactics to keep people from demonstrating in the capital in the period leading up to the May 10, 2012 elections. Security forces are detaining people who try to demonstrate peacefully in Algiers, including at least one candidate for election, and have prevented people from reaching the city if they suspect them of intending to demonstrate.

(Paris) – Algerian authorities have used arrests and other tactics to keep people from demonstrating in the capital in the period leading up to the May 10, 2012 elections, Human Rights Watch said today.

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Egypt’s parliament on May 6, 2012, approved amendments to the Code of Military Justice that failed to end the unprecedented expansion of military trials of civilians, despite pleas for reform from the legal and human rights communities. In 2011 more than 12,000 civilians, including children, faced unfair military trials which fail to provide the basic due process rights of civilian courts, more than the number of military trials of civilians during 30 years of rule by former president Hosni Mubarak.

(New York) – Egypt’s parliament on May 6, 2012, approved amendments to the Code of Military Justice that failed to end the unprecedented expansion of military trials of civilians, despite pleas for reform from the legal and human rights communities, Human Rights Watch said today.

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Yemeni security forces have arbitrarily detained dozens of demonstrators and other perceived opponents of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh since anti-government protests began in February 2011. Human Rights Watch documented 37 cases in which security forces have held people for days, weeks, or months without charge, including 20 who were picked up or remained behind bars after the November 2011 power transfer.

(New York) – Yemeni security forces have arbitrarily detained dozens of demonstrators and other perceived opponents of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh since anti-government protests began in February 2011, Human Rights Watch said today.

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