Yemen Times
By: Nadia Al-Sakkaf and Freedom House
May 6 — Maintaining the same position as last year in the Freedom House annual survey on the state of global political rights and civil liberties, Yemen has escaped the list of 42 countries designated as “not free.”
Each year 193 countries are judged based on events from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. As last year Yemen is described as “partially free” with a rating of five for both political rights and civil liberties rates, and an average combined rating of five based on a 1 to 7 scale, with 1 representing the most free and 7 the least free.
“We are publishing this report to assist policymakers, human rights organizations, democracy advocates, and others who are working to advance freedom around the world. We also hope that the report will be useful to the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council,” announced the team behind the report.
Of the 51 “not free” territories and countries, 17 countries and four territories were selected as Worst of the Worst due to systematic and pervasive human rights violations. With an average combined political rights and civil liberties ratings of 6.5 or 7, these countries comprise 10 percent of the world’s nations and 24 percent of the world’s population. Six of those 17 countries are Arab: Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Syria.
None of the Arab countries were categorized as free, while only seven countries including Yemen were defined as partially free: Djibouti, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Morocco and Kuwait. The remaining 13 countries in addition to the Palestinian territories were defined as not free.
According to the report, at the beginning of 2009, of the 193 countries in the world, 89 countries -46 percent- are free and can be said to respect a broad array of basic human rights and political freedoms. An additional 62 countries -32 percent- are partly free, with some abridgments of basic rights and weak enforcement of the rule of law.
In all, some 3 billion people -46 percent of the world’s population-live in free states in which a broad array of political rights are protected.
“The fundamental violations of rights presented in this report are all the more alarming because they stand in sharp contrast to the significant expansion of human liberty over the last three decades. In that period, dozens of states have shed tyranny and embraced democratic rule and respect for basic civil liberties,” said Jennifer Windsor, executive director at Freedom House.
The survey rates each country and territory on a seven-point scale for both political rights and civil liberties, with 1 representing the most free and 7 the least free, and then assigns each country and territory a broad category status of free (for countries whose ratings average 1.0 to 2.5), partly free (3.0 to 5.0), or not free (5.5 to 7.0).
The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights and 15 civil liberties questions. The political rights check list includes questions about the electoral process, political pluralism and participation, functioning of the government and other discretionary political rights questions. The civil liberties checklist includes questions about freedom of expression and belief, associational and organizational rights, rule of law, and personal autonomy and individual rights.
“The Freedom in the World ratings are not merely assessments of the conduct of governments, but are intended to reflect the reality of daily life,” reads the report. “Freedom can be affected by state actions as well as by non-state actors. Thus, terrorist movements or armed groups use violent methods which can dramatically restrict essential freedoms within a society. Conversely, the existence of non-state activists or journalists who act courageously and independently despite state restrictions can positively impact the ability of the population to exercise its freedoms.”
Consequently, Freedom House and UN Watch strongly urge United Nations members to block seven countries from obtaining seats on the Human Rights Council, including China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia rated among the world’s most repressive regimes.
The non government organizations released a report in New York this week that indicates that nearly two-thirds of the 20 countries running for seats in next week’s election either have poor or questionable human rights records.
The study found seven countries not qualified: Azerbaijan, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Russia and Saudi Arabia. The governments of three of those countries—China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia—rank among the world’s most repressive regimes, suppressing nearly all fundamental political rights and civil liberties, according to Freedom House’s Worst of the Worst report. An additional six countries have questionable or mixed human rights records: Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria and Senegal.
The report raised further concern that a majority of the candidates may gain seats on the influential council despite their records, because of a lack of competition from democratic states. However, each candidate must first secure an absolute majority of the General Assembly, or 97 votes, to win a seat.
“General Assembly members who care about human rights must not resign themselves to approving these noncompetitive slates,” said Paula Schriefer, Freedom House advocacy director. “We urge member states to restore credibility to the council by rejecting those nations that do not uphold basic standards for human rights.”
On May 12, the UN General Assembly is expected to elect 18 new countries to the Human Rights Council, more than a third of its total membership. Each regional group is apportioned a specific number of seats. However, in three of the five regional groups—Asia, Latin America and the Western European and Others group—the number of countries running does not exceed the number of open seats.
The General Assembly is instructed to elect council members based on their ability to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights” and their ability to “fully cooperate” with the council.
As a result, UN Watch and Freedom House evaluated each of the 20 candidates based on its record of human rights protection at home and its record of human rights promotion at the UN.
The evaluation included the countries’ rankings in Freedom House and UN Watch analyses, as well as reports from Reporters San Frontières, The Economist Democracy Index and the Democracy Coalition Project.
Showing posts with label Freedom House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freedom House. Show all posts
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Jordan: Recast as a ‘movement’, gender equality campaign expands its outreach
The Jordan Times
By Thameen Kheetan
AMMAN - Women's rights activist Zein Qandour had no idea that an Arabic rock concert in the capital earlier this week would introduce her to a local gender equality campaign.
The 26-year-old social worker, who went to King Hussein Park on Saturday with some friends to watch her favourite band Jadal perform, discovered that the concert was part of a launch ceremony for the Gender Equality Movement (GEM).
During the 10-hour event, around 1,500 Jordanians and foreigners discussed human rights and equality between the two genders in an open day that also featured a skit on women's rights by two Jordanian actors.
Qandour believes that gender equality depends on various factors, including people's "social level, financial situation and education".
She noted that those who have more money are better educated, and thus are more aware of gender equality.
Qandour attributed this relationship between economic status and equality awareness to less interest in the issue in remote areas of the country compared to the capital - the richest city in Jordan - according to an official study conducted last year by the Department of Statistics.
While some at the open day lauded and encouraged the GEM initiative, others said they considered the rights and responsibilities of men and women to be different.
Iraqi national Diaa Jamil, 54, described the movement's idea as “interesting”, but added that equality would only become possible through "educating people".
"I am with any sort of equality that does not contradict our values, norms and religious teachings," said 40-year-old Saleh Zioud, explaining that males and females have "different natures”.
A 60-year-old woman, who requested anonymity, told The Jordan Times that there is no such thing as gender equality noting that each side had its own duties and rights in accordance with her religion, Islam.
"There is cooperation, giving and taking, but not equality," she said.
But Rawan Bazzari disagreed.
The 30-year-old believes society, not religion, is an obstacle to equality. Calling for "total" equality between men and women, Bazzari acknowledged that she does not foresee such a situation in Jordan in the near future.
"Not any time soon… we are in a tribal society where customs and traditions do not favour gender equality," she told The Jordan Times, but added that she is treated as an equal by her brothers at home and her male colleagues at work.
According to Bazzari, women take advantage of their unequal status to gain favours and shirk responsibilities. "Being a female, she usually gets things done for her."
Saturday’s event, funded by Freedom House, also hosted awareness booths representing 13 local and international NGOs and civil society organisations, including the Jordan Breast Cancer Programme and the Jordanian National Commission for Women.
From campaign
to movement
Held under the official sponsorship of the Greater Amman Municipality, the launch marked the transformation of the former Gender Equality Campaign into a “movement”, a decision organisers said was aimed at emphasising the continuity of their action.
Contrary to "movement", the word "campaign" suggests that it will come to an end, according to GEM leader Dina Liddawi, who said the new name would tell the public the initiative is "endless".
To this end, she and six other GEM volunteers will now focus their efforts on fundraising for the movement's future activities.
During its first year, the campaign commenced with street dialogues in different cities where young activists used brochures, stickers and word of mouth to raise awareness on the issue of gender equality.
This week's event was part of a new approach that GEM activists will use to open a societal debate on the issue of gender equality among Jordanians, incorporating larger events and performances to make their cause more visible.
Liddawi noted that the movement’s expanding presence is in large part thanks to the energy of its volunteers.
"The boys and the girls working with us have become more committed," she said, adding that this made it easier for the movement to address the public.
"People are accepting the idea of gender equality more and more," she noted.
Among the newcomers in GEM is university student Tamara Abu Khader, who said she heard about the campaign through a friend.
"When you explain the professional, societal and educational aspects of gender equality to people, they accept the idea," she told The Jordan Times.
"We do not have anything to do with either religion, or customs and traditions… we’re talking about political, legal and civil rights."
By Thameen Kheetan
AMMAN - Women's rights activist Zein Qandour had no idea that an Arabic rock concert in the capital earlier this week would introduce her to a local gender equality campaign.
The 26-year-old social worker, who went to King Hussein Park on Saturday with some friends to watch her favourite band Jadal perform, discovered that the concert was part of a launch ceremony for the Gender Equality Movement (GEM).
During the 10-hour event, around 1,500 Jordanians and foreigners discussed human rights and equality between the two genders in an open day that also featured a skit on women's rights by two Jordanian actors.
Qandour believes that gender equality depends on various factors, including people's "social level, financial situation and education".
She noted that those who have more money are better educated, and thus are more aware of gender equality.
Qandour attributed this relationship between economic status and equality awareness to less interest in the issue in remote areas of the country compared to the capital - the richest city in Jordan - according to an official study conducted last year by the Department of Statistics.
While some at the open day lauded and encouraged the GEM initiative, others said they considered the rights and responsibilities of men and women to be different.
Iraqi national Diaa Jamil, 54, described the movement's idea as “interesting”, but added that equality would only become possible through "educating people".
"I am with any sort of equality that does not contradict our values, norms and religious teachings," said 40-year-old Saleh Zioud, explaining that males and females have "different natures”.
A 60-year-old woman, who requested anonymity, told The Jordan Times that there is no such thing as gender equality noting that each side had its own duties and rights in accordance with her religion, Islam.
"There is cooperation, giving and taking, but not equality," she said.
But Rawan Bazzari disagreed.
The 30-year-old believes society, not religion, is an obstacle to equality. Calling for "total" equality between men and women, Bazzari acknowledged that she does not foresee such a situation in Jordan in the near future.
"Not any time soon… we are in a tribal society where customs and traditions do not favour gender equality," she told The Jordan Times, but added that she is treated as an equal by her brothers at home and her male colleagues at work.
According to Bazzari, women take advantage of their unequal status to gain favours and shirk responsibilities. "Being a female, she usually gets things done for her."
Saturday’s event, funded by Freedom House, also hosted awareness booths representing 13 local and international NGOs and civil society organisations, including the Jordan Breast Cancer Programme and the Jordanian National Commission for Women.
From campaign
to movement
Held under the official sponsorship of the Greater Amman Municipality, the launch marked the transformation of the former Gender Equality Campaign into a “movement”, a decision organisers said was aimed at emphasising the continuity of their action.
Contrary to "movement", the word "campaign" suggests that it will come to an end, according to GEM leader Dina Liddawi, who said the new name would tell the public the initiative is "endless".
To this end, she and six other GEM volunteers will now focus their efforts on fundraising for the movement's future activities.
During its first year, the campaign commenced with street dialogues in different cities where young activists used brochures, stickers and word of mouth to raise awareness on the issue of gender equality.
This week's event was part of a new approach that GEM activists will use to open a societal debate on the issue of gender equality among Jordanians, incorporating larger events and performances to make their cause more visible.
Liddawi noted that the movement’s expanding presence is in large part thanks to the energy of its volunteers.
"The boys and the girls working with us have become more committed," she said, adding that this made it easier for the movement to address the public.
"People are accepting the idea of gender equality more and more," she noted.
Among the newcomers in GEM is university student Tamara Abu Khader, who said she heard about the campaign through a friend.
"When you explain the professional, societal and educational aspects of gender equality to people, they accept the idea," she told The Jordan Times.
"We do not have anything to do with either religion, or customs and traditions… we’re talking about political, legal and civil rights."
Monday, April 27, 2009
Jordan: UJRC organizes a roundtable on CEDAW
Addustour – 27 April 2009
Al Urdun Al Jadid Research Center organizes today a roundtable on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in commemoration of the convention’s 30th anniversary. The event is held in cooperation with Freedom House, and will include papers and a discussion on the relationship between CEDAW and Jordanian legislations. It will conclude with recommendations for enhancing women’s rights in Jordan.
Al Urdun Al Jadid Research Center organizes today a roundtable on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in commemoration of the convention’s 30th anniversary. The event is held in cooperation with Freedom House, and will include papers and a discussion on the relationship between CEDAW and Jordanian legislations. It will conclude with recommendations for enhancing women’s rights in Jordan.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Kuwait: Forum on women's rights, civil status law kicks off
KUWAIT: The First Gulf Forum on Women's Rights and the Civil Status Law, organized by the Women's Cultural and Social Society, kicked off here yesterday under the auspices of Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Faisal Al-Hajji.
Chairwoman of the Women's Cultural and Social Society Sheikha Al-Nisuf said the forum coincided with a study on the Kuwaiti civil status law and the Bahraini laws, within celebrations of the World Women's Day. Both the forum and the study, she said, was being conducted in cooperation with the Freedom House and the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and came as a culmination of a whole year's worth of effort by experts in the region.
Freedom House is a US-based international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights. It is best known for its annual assessment of the degree of democratic freedoms in each country, which is widely used in political science research.
Moreover, Al-Nisuf noted that the society that she headed had launched on the occasion of the World Women's Day a national awareness campaign on the Kuwaiti civil status law under the slogan "Law is your beacon," adding that it was aimed at raising the awareness of women regarding their legal rights.
Since 2006, the society has been working on a comprehensive program, in cooperation with Freedom House and UNIFEM, for shedding more light on this area, she said. On her part, UNIFEM Regional Director Muna Ghanim said a study conducted in Kuwait just before the parliamentary elections of June 2006 indicated that more than half of the participants saw a need to amend the civil status law in a way that ended discrimination against women.
The political participation of women is constantly on the rise, despite it being relatively slow, and the presence of women in governmental decision-making positions is of utmost importance because they can provide the cornerstone for strong alliances that can help change priorities," she said. Ghanim noted that the road toward gender equality and women empowerment was a long one, calling for "working together to protect what women have achieved.
Meanwhile, Chairwomen of the Bahraini Women's Union Mariam Al-Ruwai'ey highlighted the efforts exerted in her country for issuing a civil status law, saying that a committee was formed upon an initiative by women's society in 1982 to follow up on this issue. As for Executive Director of Freedom House Jennifer Windsor, she expressed her joy at participating in this event, which highlighted the importance of women's attainment of their political rights.
She said the organization, which was established in 1941, had engaged in a number of partnership programs around the world with the aim of spreading knowledge and exchanging expertise. Prominent female figures and experts from the Gulf region are participating in the one-day forum, including Kuwait's Professor of International Law Dr. Badriya Al-Awadhi, who will be presenting a paper on the rights of women in the Kuwaiti civil status law compared to Arab legislations.
Chief Justice at Bahrain's Jaafari Court Sheikh Hamid Al-Mubarak will be presenting a paper on Jaafari laws and women's rights, while BahrainUniversity's Dr. Ahmad Al-Atawi will be presenting a paper on the rights of women in Sunni laws.
- KUNA, Kuwait Times
Chairwoman of the Women's Cultural and Social Society Sheikha Al-Nisuf said the forum coincided with a study on the Kuwaiti civil status law and the Bahraini laws, within celebrations of the World Women's Day. Both the forum and the study, she said, was being conducted in cooperation with the Freedom House and the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and came as a culmination of a whole year's worth of effort by experts in the region.
Freedom House is a US-based international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights. It is best known for its annual assessment of the degree of democratic freedoms in each country, which is widely used in political science research.
Moreover, Al-Nisuf noted that the society that she headed had launched on the occasion of the World Women's Day a national awareness campaign on the Kuwaiti civil status law under the slogan "Law is your beacon," adding that it was aimed at raising the awareness of women regarding their legal rights.
Since 2006, the society has been working on a comprehensive program, in cooperation with Freedom House and UNIFEM, for shedding more light on this area, she said. On her part, UNIFEM Regional Director Muna Ghanim said a study conducted in Kuwait just before the parliamentary elections of June 2006 indicated that more than half of the participants saw a need to amend the civil status law in a way that ended discrimination against women.
The political participation of women is constantly on the rise, despite it being relatively slow, and the presence of women in governmental decision-making positions is of utmost importance because they can provide the cornerstone for strong alliances that can help change priorities," she said. Ghanim noted that the road toward gender equality and women empowerment was a long one, calling for "working together to protect what women have achieved.
Meanwhile, Chairwomen of the Bahraini Women's Union Mariam Al-Ruwai'ey highlighted the efforts exerted in her country for issuing a civil status law, saying that a committee was formed upon an initiative by women's society in 1982 to follow up on this issue. As for Executive Director of Freedom House Jennifer Windsor, she expressed her joy at participating in this event, which highlighted the importance of women's attainment of their political rights.
She said the organization, which was established in 1941, had engaged in a number of partnership programs around the world with the aim of spreading knowledge and exchanging expertise. Prominent female figures and experts from the Gulf region are participating in the one-day forum, including Kuwait's Professor of International Law Dr. Badriya Al-Awadhi, who will be presenting a paper on the rights of women in the Kuwaiti civil status law compared to Arab legislations.
Chief Justice at Bahrain's Jaafari Court Sheikh Hamid Al-Mubarak will be presenting a paper on Jaafari laws and women's rights, while BahrainUniversity's Dr. Ahmad Al-Atawi will be presenting a paper on the rights of women in Sunni laws.
- KUNA, Kuwait Times
Monday, January 28, 2008
Saudi Arabia: Steps Toward Women's Rights?
By Stephen McInerney,
Director of Advocacy, Project on Middle East Democracy
The royal family in Saudi Arabia has long been decried as one of the world's most repressive regimes. In Freedom House's annual survey of political rights and civil liberties, released earlier this month, the House of Saud maintained its ranking as one of the seventeen most repressive governments in the world. Perhaps most infamous is the particular lack of rights for the half of the Saudi citizens who are female. When King Abdullah ascended to the throne following the death of his half-brother King Fahd in 2005, many had high hopes that his rule would bring reform and greater freedom to Saudi Arabia, and to women in particular. But the reforms of the first couple of years of King Abdullah's rule were markedly underwhelming, and the area of women's rights was essentially ignored.
However, the past two weeks has quietly seen a flurry of small steps toward greater rights for women in the kingdom. Last Monday, January 21, it was reported that the Saudi government had ruled to permit women to stay in hotels without the presence of a male guardian, effective immediately. On the same day, government officials also confirmed that a decision had been reached to remove the ban on women drivers, with a decree to that effect to be issued before the end of 2008. Lifting the ban on driving would be a move of great symbolic value, as Saudi Arabia is the only country to prohibit women behind the steering wheel, and this fact is the most often cited example to demonstrate the oppression of Saudi women. Also, on Tuesday, January 29, it was revealed that the Saudi Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has approved the establishment of the first women's rights organization in the kingdom, to be known as Ansar al-Mar'ah (patrons/supporters of women).
In addition, last Friday, the first-ever women's soccer game was played in a large stadium in Dammam between teams of two Saudi universities, with the stands full of female fans and the score reported in local newspapers. Within a few days, it was announced that the Saudi government will establish women's sport clubs in the country. This is a far cry from the recent past of soccer in Saudi Arabia - just last year a professional men's game was interrupted by the official on the field so that security personnel could remove the one female in attendance - a 12-year-old girl enjoying the game with her family.
Although there have been some reports of complaints by local residents and the governor of the Eastern province over last week's game, it seems that opposition has been milder than in the past, perhaps encouraging the government to move forward with women's sport clubs.
Why Now?
This string of announcements does follow a period of intensified scrutiny and key interactions with the West, as well as some increasingly bold internal demands for reform. In December, the sentencing of a 19-year old rape victim to 200 lashes and six months in prison for being alone in a car with a man who was not her relative sparked international outrage. Following widespread condemnation, including the introduction of three bills in the U.S. Congress demanding that all charges against the victim be dropped, King Abdullah announced his decision to pardon the girl.
In UN meetings that followed in Geneva in January, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women challenged the Saudi delegation on numerous aspects of gender inequality in the kingdom. In response to concerns raised in these meetings, the UN has
now announced that the UN special rapporteur on violence against women will visit Saudi Arabia from February 4 to 13 and give a series of reports on the findings of her visit to the UN Human Rights Council.
January also saw President Bush pay a visit to the kingdom during his eight-day visit to the Middle East. On January 14, as Bush arrived in Riyadh, the State Department officially notified Congress of a controversial agreement to sell 900 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) advanced missile systems to Saudi Arabia. The sale had been delayed in the fall by strong opposition within Congress, which considerably raised the profile of numerous concerns with regard to the Saudi regime including its fostering of extremism, its destabilizing ties to insurgent groups in Iraq, and the repression of its own people.
Conclusions
In short, the Saudi regime deserves credit for these apparent openings in terms of women's rights. Given the timing, the moves appear to be at least partly the result of constructive pressure from the international community including the United States. Needless to say, the Saudi regime still has a very long path to tread in terms of women's rights and equality, but hopefully these measures signal the beginning of a long period of steady progress, rather than merely an isolated burst of activity. The recent moves can also be taken as encouraging evidence that international diplomatic pressure can yield results.
But it is critical that such pressure on the Saudi regime not abate once the long-awaited arms deal is finalized in February and a few positive steps have been taken. It is also essential that recently announced measures such as the lifting of the driving ban be carried out as planned - authoritarian Arab regimes have become increasingly adept at timing announcements of reform to relieve international pressure, then failing to carry out the steps as promised once the outside attention has diminished. If those conditions are met, and the recent moves turn out to be merely the beginning of women's rights reform in Saudi Arabia, then the steps taken in January 2008 will have been very important indeed.
Director of Advocacy, Project on Middle East Democracy
The royal family in Saudi Arabia has long been decried as one of the world's most repressive regimes. In Freedom House's annual survey of political rights and civil liberties, released earlier this month, the House of Saud maintained its ranking as one of the seventeen most repressive governments in the world. Perhaps most infamous is the particular lack of rights for the half of the Saudi citizens who are female. When King Abdullah ascended to the throne following the death of his half-brother King Fahd in 2005, many had high hopes that his rule would bring reform and greater freedom to Saudi Arabia, and to women in particular. But the reforms of the first couple of years of King Abdullah's rule were markedly underwhelming, and the area of women's rights was essentially ignored.
However, the past two weeks has quietly seen a flurry of small steps toward greater rights for women in the kingdom. Last Monday, January 21, it was reported that the Saudi government had ruled to permit women to stay in hotels without the presence of a male guardian, effective immediately. On the same day, government officials also confirmed that a decision had been reached to remove the ban on women drivers, with a decree to that effect to be issued before the end of 2008. Lifting the ban on driving would be a move of great symbolic value, as Saudi Arabia is the only country to prohibit women behind the steering wheel, and this fact is the most often cited example to demonstrate the oppression of Saudi women. Also, on Tuesday, January 29, it was revealed that the Saudi Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has approved the establishment of the first women's rights organization in the kingdom, to be known as Ansar al-Mar'ah (patrons/supporters of women).
In addition, last Friday, the first-ever women's soccer game was played in a large stadium in Dammam between teams of two Saudi universities, with the stands full of female fans and the score reported in local newspapers. Within a few days, it was announced that the Saudi government will establish women's sport clubs in the country. This is a far cry from the recent past of soccer in Saudi Arabia - just last year a professional men's game was interrupted by the official on the field so that security personnel could remove the one female in attendance - a 12-year-old girl enjoying the game with her family.
Although there have been some reports of complaints by local residents and the governor of the Eastern province over last week's game, it seems that opposition has been milder than in the past, perhaps encouraging the government to move forward with women's sport clubs.
Why Now?
This string of announcements does follow a period of intensified scrutiny and key interactions with the West, as well as some increasingly bold internal demands for reform. In December, the sentencing of a 19-year old rape victim to 200 lashes and six months in prison for being alone in a car with a man who was not her relative sparked international outrage. Following widespread condemnation, including the introduction of three bills in the U.S. Congress demanding that all charges against the victim be dropped, King Abdullah announced his decision to pardon the girl.
In UN meetings that followed in Geneva in January, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women challenged the Saudi delegation on numerous aspects of gender inequality in the kingdom. In response to concerns raised in these meetings, the UN has
now announced that the UN special rapporteur on violence against women will visit Saudi Arabia from February 4 to 13 and give a series of reports on the findings of her visit to the UN Human Rights Council.
January also saw President Bush pay a visit to the kingdom during his eight-day visit to the Middle East. On January 14, as Bush arrived in Riyadh, the State Department officially notified Congress of a controversial agreement to sell 900 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) advanced missile systems to Saudi Arabia. The sale had been delayed in the fall by strong opposition within Congress, which considerably raised the profile of numerous concerns with regard to the Saudi regime including its fostering of extremism, its destabilizing ties to insurgent groups in Iraq, and the repression of its own people.
Conclusions
In short, the Saudi regime deserves credit for these apparent openings in terms of women's rights. Given the timing, the moves appear to be at least partly the result of constructive pressure from the international community including the United States. Needless to say, the Saudi regime still has a very long path to tread in terms of women's rights and equality, but hopefully these measures signal the beginning of a long period of steady progress, rather than merely an isolated burst of activity. The recent moves can also be taken as encouraging evidence that international diplomatic pressure can yield results.
But it is critical that such pressure on the Saudi regime not abate once the long-awaited arms deal is finalized in February and a few positive steps have been taken. It is also essential that recently announced measures such as the lifting of the driving ban be carried out as planned - authoritarian Arab regimes have become increasingly adept at timing announcements of reform to relieve international pressure, then failing to carry out the steps as promised once the outside attention has diminished. If those conditions are met, and the recent moves turn out to be merely the beginning of women's rights reform in Saudi Arabia, then the steps taken in January 2008 will have been very important indeed.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Bahrain: Female judges proposed for Shariah courts in Bahrain
The recruitment of women as Shariah judges has been suggested as a solution to the problems faced by females at Islamic-oriented courts in Bahrain by the Freedom in the World 2008 report.
It highlights that women face hardships due to delay in court proceedings especially in divorce cases.Although the kingdom recruited the first women judge in 2006 for a civilian court, the Shariah courts mainly dealing with marital conflicts have no female judge.
Published recently by the Freedom House, the report also calls upon Bahrain to sign the optional protocol of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) that allows women to file complaints with the CEDAW committee if they are denied justice in their own countries.
Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organisation that conducted the part on Bahrain with the assistance of Bahraini human rights and woman activist Dr Sabika Najjar.
On the scale of 1-7 with seventh being rated as the least free country, the kingdom was rated fifth on the 'map of freedom’ for political rights and civil liberties.
The report judged the kingdom on five parameters -non-discrimination and access to justice, autonomy, security and personal freedom, economic rights and equal opportunity, political rights and civic voice and social and cultural rights. The report says that despite efforts of the government and NGOs, there was no codified family law in the kingdom.
The recommendations of the report include women to be represented in Municipal Councils. A gender integration plan to increase women in decision-making in private and public sectors was also suggested.
- Khaleej Times
It highlights that women face hardships due to delay in court proceedings especially in divorce cases.Although the kingdom recruited the first women judge in 2006 for a civilian court, the Shariah courts mainly dealing with marital conflicts have no female judge.
Published recently by the Freedom House, the report also calls upon Bahrain to sign the optional protocol of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) that allows women to file complaints with the CEDAW committee if they are denied justice in their own countries.
Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organisation that conducted the part on Bahrain with the assistance of Bahraini human rights and woman activist Dr Sabika Najjar.
On the scale of 1-7 with seventh being rated as the least free country, the kingdom was rated fifth on the 'map of freedom’ for political rights and civil liberties.
The report judged the kingdom on five parameters -non-discrimination and access to justice, autonomy, security and personal freedom, economic rights and equal opportunity, political rights and civic voice and social and cultural rights. The report says that despite efforts of the government and NGOs, there was no codified family law in the kingdom.
The recommendations of the report include women to be represented in Municipal Councils. A gender integration plan to increase women in decision-making in private and public sectors was also suggested.
- Khaleej Times
Monday, December 17, 2007
Egypt: Egypt's YouTube Democrats
Washington Post
By Jackson Diehl
They do know a lot of people like themselves. "The majority of Egyptians are like us, under the age of 35," said Ahmed Samih, the 28-year-old director of the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies in Cairo. "Our president is 85, and far away from Facebook."
Samih, a fearless man who says he has been a political activist since age 17, ought to know. Six months ago he founded a Facebook group called "What happens when Hosni Mubarak dies?"
Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt under "emergency law" since 1981, is actually only 79. But he is noticeably fading. And Samih's group has attracted 2,741 members, almost all of them Egyptian.
Facebook and YouTube are where the young Egyptian democracy movement lives -- mostly out of reach of Mubarak's secret police. There are more than 60 Facebook groups devoted to liberal Egyptian causes; many of them have thousands of members. On YouTube, one can find hundreds of video clips showing demonstrations for human rights in Egypt, speeches by liberal activists, sermons by reformist Muslim clerics -- and torture by Mubarak's security forces, captured on cellphones.
The king of torture videos is Wael Abbas, a 34-year-old journalist and blogger. A clip he posted of police sodomizing a minibus driver with a stick scandalized the country and forced the prosecution of two officers. Last month, his YouTube account was suspended, on the grounds that his videos violated the site's standards. Following a clamor from human rights groups and a shower of e-mails from outraged Egyptians, his access was restored, and 187 of his clips were back up last week.
This is not to say that Egyptian activists can't be found in real-life neighborhoods. One of the interesting things about the activists visiting Washington was their disdain for the aging elite of Egypt's opposition parties, who mostly confine themselves to editing small newspapers or writing books. "It's time to get out and work with groups that have concrete problems," said Mozn Hassan, the 28-year-old head of Nazra for Feminist Studies, a group focused on training female activists. "People who are living in Upper Egypt don't care about the emergency law. But if we can relate this to their rights as a woman, or as a [Christian] Copt, or as a person who cannot get work, we can recruit them to the overall cause of reform."
The activists were brought to the United States by the human rights group Freedom House, which gave them one-month fellowships to work with U.S. community organizations and arranged for them to meet Rice on Human Rights Day. Many of them were in the United States for the first time. They seemed grateful for the opportunity to meet Rice even though they've been disappointed by her swivel in the past two years from calling on Egypt to "lead the way" to Arab democratization to embracing Mubarak as a "mainstream ally" and helpmate in Israeli-Palestinian talks.
"The United States has decided it needs Mubarak more than they need to support the human rights cause," said Ola Shahba, a 29-year-old project manager for Nahdet El Mahrousa, a group that promotes community development projects. "We are in trouble, and we need to work our way out of it."
Part of that work, as the activists saw it, was reminding Rice and others in Washington that support for democracy in Egypt is not a matter of charity. "We are not just saying, 'We are some idealistic group so help us,' " said Samih. "We are saying, 'This is in your national interest.' Reform in Egypt is important to the United States. The theory that the devil you know is better than the devil you don't doesn't work -- because the devil you know brought you Mohamed Atta."
For now that truth seems to have been forgotten at Rice's State Department. But Samih and his friends are young, and they are busy planning for life after Hosni Mubarak and George W. Bush.
By Jackson Diehl
They do know a lot of people like themselves. "The majority of Egyptians are like us, under the age of 35," said Ahmed Samih, the 28-year-old director of the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies in Cairo. "Our president is 85, and far away from Facebook."
Samih, a fearless man who says he has been a political activist since age 17, ought to know. Six months ago he founded a Facebook group called "What happens when Hosni Mubarak dies?"
Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt under "emergency law" since 1981, is actually only 79. But he is noticeably fading. And Samih's group has attracted 2,741 members, almost all of them Egyptian.
Facebook and YouTube are where the young Egyptian democracy movement lives -- mostly out of reach of Mubarak's secret police. There are more than 60 Facebook groups devoted to liberal Egyptian causes; many of them have thousands of members. On YouTube, one can find hundreds of video clips showing demonstrations for human rights in Egypt, speeches by liberal activists, sermons by reformist Muslim clerics -- and torture by Mubarak's security forces, captured on cellphones.
The king of torture videos is Wael Abbas, a 34-year-old journalist and blogger. A clip he posted of police sodomizing a minibus driver with a stick scandalized the country and forced the prosecution of two officers. Last month, his YouTube account was suspended, on the grounds that his videos violated the site's standards. Following a clamor from human rights groups and a shower of e-mails from outraged Egyptians, his access was restored, and 187 of his clips were back up last week.
This is not to say that Egyptian activists can't be found in real-life neighborhoods. One of the interesting things about the activists visiting Washington was their disdain for the aging elite of Egypt's opposition parties, who mostly confine themselves to editing small newspapers or writing books. "It's time to get out and work with groups that have concrete problems," said Mozn Hassan, the 28-year-old head of Nazra for Feminist Studies, a group focused on training female activists. "People who are living in Upper Egypt don't care about the emergency law. But if we can relate this to their rights as a woman, or as a [Christian] Copt, or as a person who cannot get work, we can recruit them to the overall cause of reform."
The activists were brought to the United States by the human rights group Freedom House, which gave them one-month fellowships to work with U.S. community organizations and arranged for them to meet Rice on Human Rights Day. Many of them were in the United States for the first time. They seemed grateful for the opportunity to meet Rice even though they've been disappointed by her swivel in the past two years from calling on Egypt to "lead the way" to Arab democratization to embracing Mubarak as a "mainstream ally" and helpmate in Israeli-Palestinian talks.
"The United States has decided it needs Mubarak more than they need to support the human rights cause," said Ola Shahba, a 29-year-old project manager for Nahdet El Mahrousa, a group that promotes community development projects. "We are in trouble, and we need to work our way out of it."
Part of that work, as the activists saw it, was reminding Rice and others in Washington that support for democracy in Egypt is not a matter of charity. "We are not just saying, 'We are some idealistic group so help us,' " said Samih. "We are saying, 'This is in your national interest.' Reform in Egypt is important to the United States. The theory that the devil you know is better than the devil you don't doesn't work -- because the devil you know brought you Mohamed Atta."
For now that truth seems to have been forgotten at Rice's State Department. But Samih and his friends are young, and they are busy planning for life after Hosni Mubarak and George W. Bush.
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