Middle East & North Africa
Saleh’s Amnesty: Providing Peace or Preventing Remedy?
On January 21, 2012, the Yemeni parliament passed a law granting President Ali Saleh immunity for all “politically motivated” crimes against the people of Yemen. This statement of immunity formed the substantive part of a Gulf Cooperation Council…
One Strike, You’re Out: Egypt’s Expanded Emergency Law Poses a Risk to the Right to Collective Bargaining
In early September 2011, Egypt’s provisional government, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), expanded the country’s emergency law to its widest scope since the provisional government took power. The SCAF claimed the expansion of the emergency law was…
Page Not Found: The Tunisian Internet Agency’s Appeal to Eliminate Censorship
On August 15, 2011, a Tunisian appellate court upheld a May 2011 order requiring the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) to censor Internet access for all Tunisians. The ATI intends to appeal the decision to the Tunisian Court of…
Not What the Doctor Ordered: How the Military Attacks on Bahrain’s National Healthcare System Undermine Its Treaty Obligations
On March 16, 2011, the Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) occupied Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) in the capital city of Manama, disrupting medical treatment and preventing ambulances from leaving to help those injured in anti-government protests. According to a July 18,…
Coping with the Refugee Implications and International Obligations as a Result of the New South Sudan
“Egypt’s top priority in Africa is the future of Sudan,” stated a Wikileak cable that further explained that a unified Sudan would serve Egypt’s interest. According to an Egyptian official, the creation of a new South Sudanese state would likely…
Saharawi Call for Independence Gains Attention
In a rare moment of publicity, the world’s attention was drawn to the protests of Western Sahara activists on November 8, 2010. After months of peaceful protest, Moroccan authorities reportedly attacked about 12,000 Saharwis, killing eight and wounding…
Egypt’s Parliamentary Elections – a challenge to the Emergency
On October 9, 2010 the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition party, announced that it would run in the parliamentary elections in November. As a result, within two weeks, more than 200 members of the Brotherhood were arrested. Egypt has been…
A Break with Kemalism and a More Democratic Constitutional Court? – The Potential Implications of Turkey’s Constitutional Referendum
On September 12, 2010, 58 percent of Turkish citizens voted in favor of a constitutional referendum, introducing 26 amendments to Turkey’s Constitution. The referendum pitted supporters of the oldest political party in Turkey, the left-wing Republican People’s Party (CHP), against…
Sudanese Elections: On the Road to Independence or to Humanitarian Crisis?
On April 11, Sudanese went to the polls for the first time in more than twenty years in a highly anticipated election. The activity leading up to the vote has been arguably more controversial than the election itself. In early…
Algerian Civil Society Demands Accountability for Systematic Disappearances
By Shubra Ohri
Families of the disappeared in Jijel, Algeria are calling on the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) to address the nearly 300 cases that occurred between 1994 and 1997 and to provide some…
