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This is an article which criticizes all of the Prison growth in Egypt. It has risen from 40 into the 60's in the last two years. There have been huge human rights violations involving the police.

This article talks about the details of the women's rights movement since 1952. After the revolution in 2011, women's rights has yet to become a topic of importance. 

One of Saudi Arabia's most prominent female human rights campaigners has been arrested and jailed for allegedly running a Twitter account. Samar Badawi is the ex-wife of influential human rights lawyer Waleed Abulkhair, and according to activists has been accused of running his Twitter account after he was jailed in 2014. One of the most well-known campaigners for women's rights in Saudi Arabia, Ms Badawi received the 2012 International Women of Courage award, presented by Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama.

Iraq has proposed laws to make it more difficult for women to get a divorce, receive birth control, marrying laws with children. These are very similar laws that are happening in Iran.

This author gives an analysis of where the Egyptian youth failed and succeeded in their revolution. He applauds their original motivation: overthrowing the oppressive regime and seeking political freedom. However, he criticizes the movement for not having organized goals with practical implications. Their focus was so set on overthrowing Mubarak that they did not have a plan once that was achieved. As a result, the youth allowed the military to become politicized and enforce their political ideas. The author claims this move set a dangerous precedent for the future and took away the attention of the military from places it was needed. The author claims that by endorsing the army to act militarily against the first civilian elected president of the country, the youth is undermining their original goals. He goes on to explain his suggestions for the Egyptian youth to get back on track and follow through in the remaining phases of the revolution.

Russia and China once again veto a resolution that would have lead  to an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of Syrian governments possible violation of human rights, and international humanitarian law. This is the fourth time both countries have vetoed resolutions relating to the situation in Syria.

In this article, Salwa Bugaighis was stabbed and shot through the head by gunmen who broke into her house in Benghazi. Her husband was also abducted and remains missing. Salwa and her husband had just returned from an election and the attack is a reminder of the growing number of extremists taking over Libya. "Her killing triggered outrage on social media, with one supporter tweeting: "Salwa Bugaighis was hope. Shocked and saddened." Salwa was a part of the National Transitional Council, but left after accusing it of freezing-out female members. She also opposed moves to make the wearing of the hijab compulsory, and her views brought her into conflict with the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist extremists.

This link is a biography of President Bashar al-Assad. Towards the end of the biography Assad's role in human rights and use of chemical weaponry is mentioned. Additionally, the link provides his early life and life in presidency which is crucial to understanding the current situation that exists in Syria.

Human rights conditions are further deteriorating in Libya. These are not only Libyan citizens but as the article points out, refugees from other Middle Eastern countries who are seeking asylum in Europe.

This article shows what some LGBT people are enduring across the world. In Egypt, they would imprison gay men and transgender women on "debauchery" charges.

This article looks at the teacher protest in Algeria. There was a group of teachers on March 22 that did a sit in to advocate for better job security. They were forced out and beaten by the police

The head of Egypt's council made a remark stating that the female activists that were in prions deserved to be there. The comment was shocking to many because Tallaway was a defender of women's rights.

When King Salman, Saudi Arabia's new monarch, issued a general amnesty for Saudi "public rights" prisoners on January 29, Saudi activists and observers felt the first glimmer of hope in some time that the kingdom's relentless persecution of peaceful dissidents and human rights activists may be nearing its end.

Divorce in Egyptian culture is shunned. Women do not get a choice to divorce, and many still do not get a choice of who they are marrying. This is a human rights issue that is happening in other nations in the Middle East.

This article from News Week basically paints a picture of Libyan history and how Gaddafi's reign devastated the state economically, socially, and politically. Author Dirk Vandewalle uses the phrase "a political tabula rasa" which in Latin means a blank slate, to describe the fate of Libya after Gaddafi's rule and convey the extent to which the country has to literally reconstruct every component that makes up a society and its government. He highlights major events that led to the downfall of both the Gaddafi regime and the Libyan state as a whole such as Arab nationalism, Jamahiriya, the Green Book, security apparatuses snuffing all opposition, terrorist incidents, isolation and international sanctions, the Lockerbie bombing, weapons of mass destruction, human right violations, divide and rule policies, and his use of oil revenue to fuel his insurgency. Vandewalle concludes the article with uncertain ideas thoughts towards Libya's future and the way the state is going to literally rebuild themselves from this "blank slate" that Gaddafi left behind. 

After the heated argument Ben Affleck had with Real Time host Bill Maher, people are still debating the topic of Islam in the world. A Muslim woman named Eiynah has entered the discussion, and directed her opinion of the often archaic nature of Islam in an open letter to Affleck, which was posted on Pakistan Today : Dear Ben, I am writing to you today as a woman who was born and raised in Islam. This topic is interesting because liberals in the West are so annoyed by the rhetoric that comes from bigoted sources; while Affleck was standing up for what he believes in, the writer suggests he should have gone about it in a different way. It's just also unfortunate that many are quick to judge and condemn a faith even though other faiths have had just as many problems (and have supported immoral practices) throughout history. However its still important to bring up and try to make solutions for human rights crisis that take place based on Sharia law.

After the heated argument Ben Affleck had with Real Time host Bill Maher, people are still debating the topic of Islam in the world. A Muslim woman named Eiynah has entered the discussion, and directed her opinion of the often archaic nature of Islam in an open letter to Affleck, which was posted on Pakistan Today : Dear Ben, I am writing to you today as a woman who was born and raised in Islam. This topic was interesting because liberals in America have to deal with bigoted rhetoric all the time and its frustrating. While the author of the letter was proud of Affleck for standing up for Islamic people and what he believes is right, she suggests he just go about it in a different way because discussions of human right violations in the Middle East should still be called out.

Compiled by faculty members at the German University in Cairo, this working paper series addresses the effect that watsa has on competence and morality in Middle Eastern economics and society. The authors define watsa as, "the intervention of a patron in favor of a client to obtain benefits and/or resources from a third party." In simpler terms it is a system of social networking in Arab culture in which family and social ties play a significant role in the attainment of economic advantages and resources, largely in the hiring process in businesses and organizations. A person applying for a job seeks out watsa to increase their chances of getting hired. Comparable to nepotism and cronyism, but is not restricted to friends and associates, watsa can also involve strangers linked through some social web of people. Watsa runs somewhat parallel to a Chinese concept of guanxi, based on Confucian ethics and focusing on strong collective ties. While guanxi is a part of Chinese ethics it actually defies Muslim ethical values, which advocates hiring the person most capable. In a Jordanian survey, 87% of respondents want watsa eradicated. While we know that unemployment in the Arab region is widespread, we can assume that this motivates people to do anything they can to improve their chances of obtaining a job. However, the practice of watsa as a whole is actually degrading the economic systems in the Arab sates even further. The article explains the linkage between watsa and poor job performance, economic decline, and the festering of injustice and frustration among the masses in Arab countries.

This looks super interesting, but I can't get the link to open. Thanks for writing a thorough summary of it!