...Or Does It Explode?

HRW Goes After "Sham" Democracies

And, surprise, surprise, the usual suspects make an appearance:

By failing to demand that offenders honor their citizens' civil and political rights and other requirements of true democracy, Western democracies risk undermining human rights everywhere, the international rights watchdog said in its annual review.

Still, Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch's executive director, wrote in a segment of the report called "Despots Masquerading as Democrats": "It is a sign of hope that even dictators have come to believe that the route to legitimacy runs by way of democratic credentials."

Among countries named as major violators of their democratic credentials in 2007 were Kenya, Pakistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Nigeria, Russia and Thailand... Among other countries listed as abusers were Chad, Colombia, Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Libya, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

Yet Another Damascus Declaration Signer Arrested

It's getting to be like Groundhog Day in Syria. Each morning, Syrians wake up to the news that another civil rights advocate has been arrested.

A prominent Syrian dissident, who the United States had urged be allowed to travel abroad for cancer treatment, has been arrested, a Syrian human rights group said Tuesday.

Riad Seif, a former member of Syria's parliament, was taken into custody Monday evening, the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said in a statement.

The statement, e-mailed to The Associated Press, said a warrant for Seif had been issued for his participation in a December meeting of dissidents..

Seif, who has spent time in jail for criticizing President Bashar Assad's government, told the AP in December that refusing to allow him to seek treatment abroad was "like being sentenced to a slow death."

In the past year, six prominent government critics and human rights campaigners have been convicted and sentenced to up to 12 years in prison. Among them are prominent lawyer Anwar al-Bunni and one of Syria's most respected writers, Michel Kilo.

Human rights groups say Syria is holding hundreds of political prisoners and activists, some without charge or trial.

Seif is head of the secretariat of the Damascus Declaration group, made up of five small opposition groups and six political figures who say they want to build internal support for peaceful democratic change in Syria. Authorities arrested several members after it held a December meeting.

Don't miss that line: "Spent time in jail for critizing President Bashar Assad's government." Quite some standard for public discourse.

Lightbulb Shot: Meknes Olive Market

EU Criticism Brings out the Doubletalk in Egypt

The European Parliament in Strasbourg last week criticized Egypt for various endemic human rights abuses. The defensive double-talk in response is almost funny:

The text even prompted Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, long criticised by rights groups for cases of alleged torture in police custody, to hold his first ever chat with prisoners inside a prison, in a highly publicised visit.

"Egypt is committed to the protection of human rights in all security areas, including prisons and police stations," he said...

Former UN secretary general Boutros Boutros Ghali, who now heads the government National Council for Human Rights, said that while a dialogue on human rights was healthy, there can be no universal measure for judging rights records.

"Egypt's human rights record is good," Boutros Ghali told the state-owned Al-Ahram daily in an interview.

"There is no ideal example of human rights that can be applied to all countries... The circumstances of every country differ," said the former UN chief, himself an Egyptian.

The resolution drew the customary knee-jerk reactions from Egypt's diplomatic circles who slammed it as interference, but in an unusually harsh tone, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit rejected it as arrogant and ignorant.

Ahead of the vote, he summoned 27 EU ambassadors in Cairo to protest the text.

"Egypt totally rejects attempts by anyone who takes it upon himself to be an investigator of human rights in Egypt," Abul Gheit said on Friday.

"Egypt does not need lessons from anyone, particularly if this party is arrogant and ignorant."

...Adly Hussein, governor of a Nile Delta province and member of the EU-Egyptian Association Council, in comments to the official MENA news agency, said he regretted the fact that the text "brought up issues of the utmost sensitivity" such as the status of religious minorities including Christian Copts and Bahais in Egypt.

"This issue is aimed at inciting sectarianism in Egypt... All Egyptians are united," he said.

Right...

Together Again: Bashir and Hilal

The butcher of Darfur has been appointed to a prominent government post, and Omar Al-Bashir is spinning like a record player:

President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan on Monday defended a government appointment for an Arab sheik accused of leading a militia that helped the government suppress a rebel movement in the Darfur region, leading to 200,000 deaths.

On an official visit to Turkey, Bashir described the sheik, Musa Hilal, as a Sudanese citizen who is influential in Darfur and has "contributed greatly to stability and security in the region," Reuters reported from Ankara, Turkey's capital.

"We in Sudan believe that those accusations against Mr. Hilal are untrue," Turkey's state-run Anatolian News Agency quoted Bashir as saying. "Right now in Darfur, the real murderers are those who are aided by Europe and others."

Musa is believed to be a leader of the janjaweed, Arab militia forces that have committed mass killings of civilians in Darfur. The conflict has also displaced 2.5 million people in less than five years.

Glad to hear President Bashir is concerned about the "real murderers."

The Mystery of Disappearing Yemeni Websites

Three more are no longer accessible inside Yemen:

Several Yemeni news and opinion Web sites have apparently been blocked domestically by the government-owned Internet service provider, according to news reports and a CPJ interview.        

Three Web sites became unavailable to domestic users on January 19, joining a list of at least five others that have disappeared within Yemen without explanation in recent months.

Walid al-Saqaf, founder and administrator of the news  crawler YemenPortal, told CPJ today that several overseas contacts confirmed that they were still able to view his popular site even as it was unavailable domestically.

Al-Saqaf said officials with the service provider, run by the Ministry of Telecommunications, could not explain why his site was unavailable but denied deliberately blocking access. The ministry has offered no public explanation as to why the sites are unavailable...

Al-Saqaf said he believes his site may have been blocked after it posted citizen videos of a January 13 protest in the southern port city of Aden. The videos show security forces firing unprovoked at the crowd, he said, in contradiction of the government’s account.

Very mysterious. The Ministry of Telecommunications should hire a detective to track down the missing websites. How about Inspector Gadget?

Friday Foto: Nabeul Balcony

Ben Ali's "Higher Committee for Human Rights"

You can't make this stuff up, even though it reads like a parody:

During a ceremony attended by members of the Diplomatic Corps in Tunisia, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali announced, Thursday, January 24, 2008, that the Higher Committee for human rights and fundamental freedoms will gain autonomous status and larger prerogatives.

He said, "we will ensure the further evolution of the Higher Committee for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms by elevating the provisions organizing it to the level of law, by endowing it, as a national human rights institution, with its administrative and financial autonomy, by reviewing its composition in such a way as to strengthen communication between the state and civil society components, and by consolidating its prerogatives in order to emphasize its role in the promotion and protection of human rights."

The Tunisian President also reiterated his commitment to the promotion of human rights and freedoms. "We will endeavor to further promote the system of human rights and fundamental freedoms in our country, in consolidation of our national choices in this field and in line with the constant principles underlying our reform process," he declared.

Established by decree on January 7, 1991, the higher committee for human rights and fundamental freedoms works to promote human rights and freedoms in Tunisia, by expressing its views on issues submitted to it by the President of the Republic...

When you're the dictator, you get your own private human rights committee.

Lip Service on Worker's Rights in the Gulf?

The Gulf Cooperation Council is pledging new efforts to prevent abuses against foreign "unskilled" workers, who incidentally comprise the majority of the population in most Gulf states:

Gulf Arab states heavily dependent on an Asian labour force agreed on Tuesday with labour-sending Asian countries to join forces against the exploitation of expat workers from Asia. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) labour ministers and counterparts from Asia are to propose an action plan to protect the welfare of Asian workers, according to their Abu Dhabi Declaration.

The ministers have recommended the drawing up within three months of the plan aimed at “preventing illegal recruitment practices” both at the country of origin and in host countries. The declaration also called for “promoting welfare and protection measures for contractual workers ... and preventing their exploitation at origin and destination.” Emirati Labour Minister Ali al-Kaabi said at the start of the ministerial meeting on Tuesday that “guest workers must be afforded the security that they will receive the benefits that they are entitled to”...

“We have agreed that Asian workers are contracted workers, not what some call immigrant workers,” Kaabi told reporters at the end of the ministerial meeting, stressing that those workers stay in the GCC for a limited period.

“This would preserve the demographic nature of the countries of the region,” said Yousuf Abdulghani, the labour ministry assistant undersecretary on Monday. In October, Bahrain’s Labour Minister Majeed al-Alawi called for a six-year residency cap on foreign workers. But a GCC summit in December did not take up the proposal...

On Sunday, New York-based Human Right Watch urged the meeting in Abu Dhabi to adopt measures to halt “widespread violations” of the rights of Asian expatriate workers. Kaabi told the meeting on Tuesday that the United Arab Emirates, where thousands of Asian workers have gone on strikes over past months, has been working hard to improve conditions.

It's hard to believe this fundamentally abusive system will be seriously affected by yesterday's announcement.

Ahmadinejad Reviews "Call of Duty"

Rather juvenile, but it's a slow day...