United Arab Emirates

العالم العربي: يتعين على دولة الإمارات أن توفر بيئة آمنة لحرية التعبير ولمدافعي حقوق الإنسان

تعرب المنظمات الموقعة أدناه عن قلقها العميق إزاء الضغوط المتزايدة التي يتعرض لها المواطن الإماراتي والناشط الحقوقي المعروف محمد علي صالح المنصوري، الرئيس السابق لجمعية الحقوقيين في الفترة من 2002- 2007.وقد توجت هذه الضغوط في الثامن والعشرين من ديسمبر 2009 بفصله من عمله كمستشار قانوني لحكومة إمارة رأس الخيمة، وذلك بعد أسبوع فقط من مشاركته في برنامج تليفزيوني بثته قناة "الحوار"، وتطرق خلاله إلى تقييم أوضاع حقوق الإنسان في بلدان الخليج، بما في ذلك دولة الإمارات.

Arab world: Segregate the sexes? Fine, until the men run out of coffee

I was sitting in a majlis with a group of women when our chat on world affairs was interrupted by an urgent knock on the door; a knock that opened more than just a passage into the rest of the house. “We ran out of coffee!” I heard a male voice in distress telling the hostess as she opened the door just a tiny crack to see who it was. It was her husband, who was hosting a similar majlis in another corner of the house, with the husbands of the women here. The hostess went out to help him, leaving the door wide open to a room full of annoyed women. Several of them ran to the door to close it, because “there are men in the house”.

Dubai: British woman arrested after reporting rape

A British woman who made a rape complaint in Dubai has been arrested for having illegal sex with her fiance, according to reports. The woman, a 23-year-old from London, said she was raped by a waiter in a luxury hotel after celebrating her engagement to her 44-year-old boyfriend, also from London. But when she reported the alleged rape to police in the Middle Eastern state she and her boyfriend were arrested for having sex outside marriage and illegal drinking outside licensed premises.

Arab world: Next GCC secretary general should be a woman, activist says

Naming a woman as the next secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will solve the standoff between Qatar and the other GCC states over the name of the next official for the top post, a Saudi activist and columnist has said. “Since there seems to be a crisis that is likely to prolong over the name of the top official, the possible solution I see is to choose a female secretary-general with a high academic and diplomatic profile. I do not think that selecting a qualified woman will cause opposition since there are many women who have recently held high political positions,” Hatoon Al Fassi, an expert on women’s rights and a columnist with a Saudi newspaper, wrote.

العالم العربي: حقوق الإنسان واحة الإفلات من المحاسبة والعقاب... 2009

حت عنوان "واحة الإفلات من المحاسبة والعقاب"، يصدر مركز القاهرة لدراسات لحقوق الإنسان اليوم تقريره السنوي الثاني حول حقوق الإنسان في العالم العربي خلال عام 2009. ويأسف مركز القاهرة لدراسات لحقوق الإنسان لأن يعلن للرأي العام، أن حالة حقوق الإنسان في هذه المنطقة، تتجه إلى المزيد من التدهور، حتى بالمقارنة مع الوضع المتدهور عام 2008. يستعرض التقرير أبرز التطورات ذات الصلة في 12 بلد عربي، هي مصر وتونس والجزائر والمغرب والسودان ولبنان وسوريا وفلسطين والعراق والسعودية والبحرين واليمن.

Arab World: Report: Bastion of Impunity, Mirage of Reform 2009

Today the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies released its second annual report on the state of human rights in the Arab world for the year 2009. The report, entitled Bastion of Impunity, Mirage of Reform, concludes that the human rights situation in the Arab region has deteriorated throughout the region over the last year. The report reviews the most significant developments in human rights during 2009 in 12 Arab countries: Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Yemen. It also devotes separate chapters to the Arab League and an analysis of the performance of Arab governments in UN human rights institutions.

Middle East: Bloggers targets of government suppression

In the Middle East and North Africa, where political change occurs slowly, blogging has becomes a serious medium for social and political commentary as well as a target of government suppression, writes Mohamed Abdel Dayem. Before the June presidential election, the Iranian government blocked access to more than a dozen social networking sites and online news sources perceived as favoring opposition candidates. Hours before polls opened, SMS, or short message service for mobile phones, was disrupted and remained offline for weeks. The day after the election, the government shut down mobile phone service for an entire day.

Arab World: Women on the Move: Trends & Countertrends

You can read and download the Political Islam on Line article by Raouf Ebeid here

حملة يقودها التحالف الاقليمي في بلدان عربية لوضع قانون أسرة عربي

يدعو التحالف الإقليمي في كل من الأردن ومصر ولبنان وفلسطين لإجراء تعديلات جذرية على قانون الأحوال الشخصية، تفضي إلى قانون الأسرة العربية ، يحمي حقوق الأطفال والنساء والرجال والأسرة.وتهدف الحملة الإقليمية، التي تنفذ في البلدان الأربعة ويقودها التحالف، إلى تعديل بعض نصوص قوانين الأحوال الشخصية في الدول المشاركة بالتحالف، على أساس أن المساواة حق أساسي لجميع المواطنين والمواطنات على حد سواء، بصرف النظر.

United States: Polygamy continues to flourish

Board members and the executive director at Americans Against Abuses of polygamy wish to express both shock and disappointment that the Bigamy charges against Yisrael Hawkins have been dropped and a plea agreement reached in the case.