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Israel: Assault on Human Rights Organisations and Defenders

A number of prominent human rights organisations in Israel, including B'Tselem, The Public Committee against Torture in Israel and The Association for Civil Rights in Israel have published an open letter to the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, Member of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin, and Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyhau, urging them to condemn the assault and delegitimization of human rights organizations in Israel by by extremist organizations (NGO Monitor, Im Tirtzu and others). Please see the letter attached.

Iran: Shadow of Extra-Judicial Executions Looms Large over Dissidents

Sixteen defendants currently facing a “show trial” in Tehran have been selected to intimidate specific groups of dissidents and pave the way for applying the charge of Mohareb, or “enemy of God,” to large numbers of dissidents and protestors, charges that can lead to their execution, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. Five of the sixteen defendants prosecuted in the post-Ashura trials of 30 January face the death penalty, having been charged with that crime.

Bahrain: Further Smear and Open Attack against Human Rights Defenders

The Human Rights Bureau (HRB) of the HAQ Movement expresses its concerns about the ongoing smear and defamation campaign waged by state-supported electronic and printed means of publications. Some dailies, in Arabic and English, newspapers as well as electronic forums stage that campaign whenever an international related activity (Report, Press Release, Petition, Seminar, Article) is posted out covering aspects of human rights of violations in Bahrain. The waged smear campaign was focused on Mr Nabeel Rajab, President of (BCHR), Ms Ghada Jamsheer, President of Women's Petition Committee, Dr Abdulla Al-Derazi, Secretary General of the Bahrain Human Rights Society, and Mr Mohamed Al-Maskati, President of Bahrain Youth Human Rights Society.

Sri Lanka: Propagande à outrance et intimidations à la veille de l’élection présidentielle

Publié le 26 janvier 2010: L’élection présidentielle d’aujourd’hui va se tenir dans un climat particulièrement tendu, notamment pour la presse qui a été confrontée à de multiples entraves. Les médias d’Etat ont été utilisés pour promouvoir le candidat sortant Mahinda Rajapaksa. Certains médias privés ou d’opposition ont été les cibles d’attaques qui ont culminé avec l’enlèvement, le 24 janvier au soir, du journaliste politique Prageeth Eknaligoda. Reporters sans frontières appelle les deux camps à tout faire pour ne pas créer un "scénario à l’iranienne" où des élections contestées et contestables ont débouché sur un cycle de manifestations et de répression, dont la presse serait évidemment la victime.

Sri Lanka: Propaganda, intimidation and voter rights of IDPs denied in presidential election

26 January 2010: Tension surrounds today’s presidential election, especially for the press, which has had to face many obstacles. Use of the state media to support President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s campaign for another term has been accompanied by harassment and violence against privately-owned opposition media, culminating in the 24 January abduction of political reporter Prageeth Eknaligoda. Reporters Without Borders appeals to both sides to make every effort to avoid an Iran-style scenario in which the challenging of a questionable election result leads to a cycle of demonstrations and repression in which the press would clearly be one of the victims.

UPDATE: Uzbekistan: Ahmedova charged with defamation against Uzbek nation

Police in Uzbekistan are compiling an unusual criminal case against one of the country’s leading photographers, Umida Ahmedova. The charge is defamation, and the insulted party is the population of Uzbekistan. IWPR has learned that Ahmedova was required to sign an undertaking not to leave the country by a police investigator on January 13. A month earlier, she was charged with defamation and with harming Uzbekistan's reputation, RFE/RL radio reported. The case against her is based on two articles of the criminal code, carrying penalties of up to six months in jail. Update on Uzbekistan: Woman Human Rights Defender Umida Ahmedova Facing Charges

Israël/Palestine: Israël et l’irrésistible ascension de l’islam radical

«La scène n’est pas tirée d’un film de politique fiction. « Le général gouverneur militaire (israélien) aura bien participé à l’inauguration de l’immeuble des Frères musulmans à Gaza, aux côtés du cheikh Ahmed Yassine (septembre 1973).» Ainsi commence le livre passionnant de Charles Enderlin intitulé : Le grand aveuglement – Israël et l’irrésistible ascension de l’islam radical. Tout au long de ces 375 pages, l’auteur décrit comment la priorité absolue mise sur la lutte contre l’OLP (Organisation de libération de la Palestine) et plus tard le Fatah et sur le chef Yasser Arafat va occulter pour les dirigeants successifs d’Israël la montée des organisations islamiques à Gaza.

Iran: No Information About Detained Women’s Rights Activist

Iranian judicial and prison authorities have refused to release any information about charges against women’s rights activist Somayeh Rashidi (24), who was arrested on 19 December 2009, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today. During the past two months, over a thousand people have been detained through the use of a blanket detention order, which is effectively a license for security and intelligence agents to arrest anyone at will. Hundreds of these detainees, similar to Somayeh Rashidi, have disappeared into Iranian prisons without any information available to their families or lawyers.

Egypt: High Administrative Court overturns ban on full veils in exams

Egypt's High Administrative Court overturned on Wednesday a ban on female students wearing the niqab, or full face veil, in university examinations, saying it violated women's constitutional rights. The case, and that of a religious edict banning the niqab in girls' school dormitories, has bounced back and forth among various courts since Minister of Higher Education Hany Helal imposed the ban in October.

مصر: محكمة عليا تسمح للمنتقبات بأداء الامتحانات

قالت مصادر قضائية ان محكمة عليا مصرية سمحت يوم الاربعاء للمنتقبات بحضور الامتحانات في الجامعات بشرط كشف وجوههن مع بدء الامتحان للسماح للمراقبين بالتحقق من شخصياتهن.
وقال مصدر ان دائرة فحص الطعون بالمحكمة الادارية العليا التي تصدر الاحكام فيها من سبعة قضاة أوقفت تنفيذ حكم محكمة القضاء الاداري وهي المحكمة الاقل درجة الذي صدر في الثالث من يناير كانون الثاني قاضيا بأن من حق السلطات الجامعية منع المنتقبات من أداء الامتحانات.
وأضاف أن المحكمة الادارية العليا قالت في أسباب الحكم ان "حق الفتاة في ستر جسدها بالملبس الذي تراه مناسبا وفقا لمعتقداتها أو البيئة الاجتماعية التي نشأت فيها هو من الحقوق اللصيقة بالمرأة ولا يجوز المساس بها أو الاعتداء عليها.