“The decision to try Asmaa Mahfouz is a major attack on free expression and fair trials, using the same abusive laws the Mubarak government used against its critics,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The military is using her to silence potential critics, sending the message that criticizing the current military government will land them in jail.”
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Egypt: Military Intensifies Clampdown on Free Expression | Human Rights Watch - 0 views
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The military prosecutor questioned her for over three hours about her comments on Twitter and media interviews during protests on July 23 in which she criticized the military for failing to intervene to protect protesters.
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Military courts have sentenced at least 10,000 civilians since January 2011 after unfair proceedings, Human Rights Watch said. All of them should be retried before regular civilian courts.
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In an August 15 case, six protesters faced charges of “insulting the military” before a military tribunal for chanting “antagonistic” slogans about Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the de facto ruler of the country, in addition to charges of assaulting a police officer. The military court sentenced Hassan Bahgat to six months in prison in another case, 3779/2011, for insulting the military in Tahrir square on August 6
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Abu Bakr, a lawyer representing victims in the Mubarak trial and a Kifaya activist, received her summons to appear before the military prosecutor on charges of “insulting the military” on August 16. During the questioning, the prosecutor showed her video footage from the July 23 demonstration in Abbasiya, Cairo, of a protester who, the prosecutor told her, was “insulting” the military. The prosecutor dropped the charges against her when he realized the footage was not of her. Lawyer Ahmed Ragheb told Human Rights Watch that this footage was not filmed by the media, which would suggest that the military is filming protesters during demonstrations.
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The Mubarak government frequently used overly broad provisions in the penal code to crack down on legitimate criticism of the government’s human rights record or criticism of the political situation, trying editors, opposition leaders, and activists on charges of “insulting the president” or “insulting public institutions.” The military government and courts are using the same provisions.
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Military prosecutors have summoned at least seven activists and journalists, including Mahfouz, to question them on charges of criminal defamation after they publicly criticized the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the military leadership, or alleged abuses by the army. The labor activist and blogger Hossam al-Hamalawy was summoned after he said on television that he held the head of the military police, Gen. Hamdy Badeen, personally responsible for acts of torture by the military police.
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The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the expert body that provides authoritative interpretations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is a party, states categorically in its recently-issued General Comment No. 34, on Article 19 on Freedom of Expression, that, “States parties should not prohibit criticism of institutions, such as the army or the administration.” By this standard, article 184 of the Egyptian penal code, which criminalizes “insulting the People’s Assembly, the Shura Council or any State Authority, or the Army or the Courts,” is incompatible with international law and should be amended accordingly, Human Rights Watch said
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BBC NEWS | Special Reports | CIA shuts down its secret prisons - 0 views
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Mr Panetta also stressed that the CIA no longer employed controversial "harsh interrogation techniques", like "waterboarding", or simulated drowning, which have been widely condemned.
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World Day Against Cyber-Censorship: new "Enemies of the Internet" list - Reporters With... - 0 views
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At least 119 people are currently in prison just for using the Internet to express their views freely
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“Tunisia and Egypt have been removed from the list of Enemies of the Internet following the fall of their governments,” Julliard added. “These countries nonetheless remain under surveillance, as does Libya. The gains of these revolutions must be consolidated and the new freedoms must be guaranteed. We have also placed some democracies – including Australia, South Korea and France – under surveillance because of various measures they have taken that could have negative consequences for online free expression and Internet access.”
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Last year saw the Internet and social networks conclusively established as tools for protest, campaigning and circulating information. It also saw a growing tendency for traditional and new media to complement each other, as witnessed not only during the Arab Spring but also in the way WikiLeaks released the leaked US diplomatic cables in coordination with several leading international media.
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an area of freedom in the most closed countries. Its potential as a tool for circulating news and information angers dictators and renders traditional censorship methods ineffective. The Internet is used not only by dissidents but also by governments, which employ it to circulate their propaganda and to reinforce surveillance and control of the population.
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Jordan places burdensome restrictions on media - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East - 0 views
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the extended jailing in September 2013 of two Jaffra news site journalists, Nidal al-Faraaneh and Amjad Mu’ala, who agreed early on to register with the government, as further intimidation against publishing articles critical of the regime. A judicial official said that Faraaneh and Mu’ala were “accused of posting a video that that offends Sheikh Jasim bin Hamad al-Thani. They were charged with carrying out acts that the government does not approve of and that would expose Jordan and its citizens to the risk of acts of aggression.” The video discusses an alleged sex scandal between a Qatari official and an Israeli woman.
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the publisher and editor-in-chief can be held liable for the content of the comments sections, even though readers — and not journalists — write them
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the security services arrested 12 employees of the Iraqi Al-Abasiya TV station based in Amman on June 6, including station owner Haroun Mohammed. One staff member, who insisted that his name not be used due to the sensitive nature of this topic, told Al-Monitor during the night of the arrest, “Fifteen policemen came to our channel’s office, pointing guns to our heads. In the interrogation, the police kicked us while forcing us to stand on one foot.” The official noted that the police also arrested an Iraqi friend of one employee, even though he was not an Al-Abasiya staff member. Especially disconcerting was that the journalists were charged with “terrorism” offenses and “using the Internet to carry out acts that would expose Jordanians to acts of aggression.” Under Jordan’s anti-terrorism laws, the suspects could face up to five years in prison if convicted. Al-Abasiya’s website was down at the time of this writing.
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the requirement for news sites to find an editor-in-chief who has been a member of the Jordanian Press Association for a minimum of four years is a cumbersome task. Okoor explained that many sites are forced to hire a symbolic editor-in-chief who fulfills these criteria, a burdensome cost for sites already in a precarious economic position. Until recently, the JPA, not an independent body, only accepted members from the print media
PM - Peter Greste's parents meet up with son for first time since arrest 03/07/2014 - 0 views
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Culture minister attends conference in solidarity with jailed novelist Ahmed Naji | Mad... - 0 views
www.madamasr.com/...ity-jailed-novelist-ahmed-naji
Egypt censorship rights novels journalists activists politics Sisi
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Culture Minister Helmy al-Namnam attended a press conference Thursday held in solidarity with novelist Ahmed Naji, who was sentenced to two years in prison this week on charges of harming public morality.
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Namnam said that laws conflicting with constitutional guarantees for the freedom of expression need to be confronted, explaining that the case sets a precedent extending far beyond Naji's novel. Even if a literary work is challenging to social norms, he added, this is not a criminal offense justifying imprisonment.It wasn’t Naji that harmed public morality, Namnam argued, but whoever filed the lawsuit against him.
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Thursday's conference was held at the Journalists Syndicate and brought together nine rights organizations as well as several public figures.Khaled al-Balshy, a Journalists Syndicate board member, jokingly said the conference should be called “Don’t listen to anyone but me,” referring to a speech given by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday.
Turkish journalists 'prisoners in our own newsroom' after raid | Middle East Eye - 1 views
www.middleeasteye.net/...paper-following-raid-483728817
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Is the Egyptian media starting to hold Sisi to account? | Middle East Eye - 4 views
www.middleeasteye.net/...an-media-turned-sisi-213138522
Egypt media Sisi authoritarianism journalists analysis opinion
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Since the 2013 coup, Egyptian news outlets have mostly served as pro-government propaganda tools, supporting the government right through its worst human rights violations.It may come as a surprise, then, that some Egyptian news coverage has started to take jabs at the government, including, at times, current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
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Media personalities are beginning to hold Sisi’s government to account because government repression has started to hit closer to home.Most mainstream Egyptian media personalities are passionately anti-Islamist, and openly supported the 2013 coup that removed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi from office. For nearly three years, Egyptian journalists have been silent about human rights violations against Morsi’s Islamist supporters. At times, Egyptian media have openly supported mass killings, irregular trials and other transgressions.However, in recent weeks, the Sisi government has committed transgressions against non-Islamists, with whom Egyptian media personalities relate. Several prominent writers have been given jail sentences, the judiciary sentenced a toddler to life in prison, an Italian graduate student was tortured to death (most likely by Egyptian security forces), and doctors were roughed up by Egyptian police, among other disturbing violations.
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For two years following the coup, both the Egyptian government and its obsequious media apparatus scapegoated the Brotherhood, blaming the group for myriad problems, including floods, power outages, and violence committed by ISIS.Given the time that has elapsed since the coup, and also the fact that the first several tiers of Brotherhood leadership are in jail, it is no longer plausible to blame the Brotherhood for many of the nation’s problems. As a natural course, Egyptians, including media figures, are beginning to turn their attention away from the Brotherhood and toward the government.
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Egypt’s political system is not, and has not been, absolutely authoritarian. In quasi-authoritarian states, journalists are often allotted some room to manoeuvre. Even under the Mubarak dictatorship, occasional criticism of the government was allowed, provided that certain “red lines” were not crossed
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It remains highly unlikely, for instance, that journalists will attempt to critically examine the Egyptian military’s role in politics, or suggest that police should be held accountable for atrocities committed against the Muslim Brotherhood
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the Sisi government is pushing back against the recent wave of criticism. In addition to the aforementioned arrests of writers, the government has arrested dozens of Facebook page administrators and, most recently, placed investigative journalist Hossam Bahgat on a no-fly list
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n a reference to anti-government media coverage, Sisi condemned what he sees as attempts to bring down the government, saying he will “remove from the face of the earth” anyone who attempts to do so. In a direct reference to critical news coverage, Sisi instructed Egyptians to listen only to him, and avoid those who attack the government. Sisi shouted, “Please, do not listen to anyone but me! I am dead serious! Do not listen to anyone but me!”
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Egypt's critics have a voice, but never the last word - International Herald Tribune - 1 views
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For some reason, as yet unexplained, blogging seems to cross the line from speaking to acting.
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Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman, a young blogger sentenced to four years in prison for criticizing President Hosni Mubarak and the state's religious institutions.
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"For a second, after the judge said I should be freed, I thought there really were laws in this country,"
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security forces operate with impunity
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Unable to explain the unexplained, I just think that blogging, through writing, can be considered as an alternative means of criticising the government, as were pamphlets. It does not justify censorship, but since newspapers more or less use autocensorship (or is it selfcensorship?), because they are journalists, professionals, belonging to a specific group or sphere, that they have codes and ways of framing the world through their kownledge, blogs and bloggers are dangerous. They are hard to control because now the sphere of people expressing themselves has nothing to do with any writing ability (unlike people who went to a journalism school for example) or knowlegde. Through censorship, they deny the bloggers the right to be considered legitimate sources of information.
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Qatar: land of the free? "Positive practices" that lead to jail - 0 views
www.al-bab.com/...qatar-free-speech.htm
Qatar rights freedoms media press journalists blasphemy religion politics
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“in 2015, authorities detained two groups of foreign journalists attempting to report on the treatment of migrant workers in the country.”
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Two other German journalists were detained in 2013 after filming the working conditions of migrant labourers.
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All the newspapers printed in Qatar are owned by members of the ruling family or others closely connected with the government.
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Journalists and publishers continued to self-censor due to political and economic pressures when reporting on government policies or material deemed hostile to Islam, the ruling family, and relations with neighboring states.
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The Qatar Media Corporation, the Ministry of Culture, and customs officials censored material … The government reviewed, censored, or banned foreign newspapers, magazines, films, and books for objectionable sexual, religious, and political content...
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a new “cybercrime” law which Amnesty International denounced as a major setback for freedom of expression in Qatar. Besides criminalising dissemination of “false news” on the internet, it gave the authorities power to ban websites that they considered threatening to the “safety” of the country and to punish anyone posting or sharing online content that “undermines” Qatar’s “social values” or “general order”.
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a prison sentence of up to seven years for defaming, desecrating, or committing blasphemy against Islam, Christianity, or Judaism (though the law appears not to be enforced where Judaism is concerned)
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The government regulates publication, importation, and distribution of all religious books and materials, but permits individuals and religious institutions to import holy books and other religious items for personal or congregational use.
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Christian congregations are not allowed to advertise religious services or use religious symbols visible to the public, such as outdoor crosses.
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shared by Ed Webb on 07 Feb 16
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Egyptian student is jailed for posting image of President Sisi with Mickey Mouse ears |... - 5 views
www.dailymail.co.uk/...ickey-Mouse-ears-Facebook.html
Egypt politics media censorship socialmedia facebook satire
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A 22-year-old Egyptian has been jailed for three years after posting a photo-shopped image of the country’s president wearing Mickey Mouse ears on Facebook.
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It was ruled that he had ‘thoughts inside of him that run contrary to that of the ruling regime’, and he was court-martialled.
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Nohan also posted comments containing anti-establishment messages according to the indictment, including ‘Down with Sisi, Morsi and Mubarak’, which was branded ‘an insult to national figures’
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‘We are truly in a Mickey Mouse state,’ his brother Mansour Nohan told IBTimes. ‘Satire is a way for any people that have a mind of their own to express themselves, be that in a democratic country or not.’
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Cybercrimes and the circulation of satire have become a serious problem for the Egyptian president in the five years since the beginning of the Arab Spring.
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In April, a cybercrimes law was drafted which Human Rights Watch criticised as containing ‘broadly worded provisions that could be abused to penalise legitimate expression online and through social media sites’.
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McGill Medal for journalistic courage awarded to AP reporting team for coverage in Yeme... - 0 views
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A reporting team who shed light on the civil war in Yemen will receive the 2019 McGill Medal for Journalistic Courage. Associated Press investigative reporter Maggie Michael, along with visual journalists Maad al-Zikry and Nariman el-Mofty, traveled across Yemen to cover the war, resulting in a series of stories that have shaped the world’s image of the war and the role of America’s allies in it. Many of the stories broke new revelations, such as torture in prisons run by U.S.-ally United Arab Emirates and the secret deals struck between the Saudi-led coalition and al-Qaida. Many of these deals have led to hundreds of militants incorporating into coalition forces to fight the rebels. Other stories brought home the personal struggles of Yemenis to survive.
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“Journalism’s first loyalty is to citizens. In the face of militias and international powerhouses, these brave journalists were committed to citizens the rest of the world turned a blind eye to”
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Berlin Film Festival: Middle East cinema takes the stage amid criticism of event | Midd... - 0 views
www.middleeasteye.net/...iew-fatih-akim-dieter-kosslick
film Germany Iran Sudan Lebanon Turkey Morocco
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For a Middle Eastern film-maker at Berlin, premiering a project outside competition or a special gala can be a major gamble: judging by the scant number of reviews Middle Eastern films have received during the past few years, most get overlooked in the media rush to cover the major titles. But contrary to recent years, and perhaps in a sign of changes come, the Middle Eastern selection at the 69th Berlinale is particularly intriguing, featuring experimental films, political allegories, documentaries and one rediscovered classic.
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The most politically outspoken Turkish filmmaker working today, Alper rose to fame with his political allegories, Beyond the Hill (2012) and Frenzy (2015), which explored how the state uses different forms of fear tactics to force its citizens into submission. He then courted controversy with his public support for the Gezi protests of 2013 and his subsequent signing of the 2016 petition that called for the release of the academics who were rounded up for denouncing the Erdogan regime for its attacks on the Kurds. His actions, he insisted in several interviews, excluded him from state funding, pushing him to seek private investments for his latest endeavour (it is a Turkish-German-Dutch-Greek co-production). How far his new drama can push his critical political agenda remains to be seen.
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Veteran Lebanese auteur Ghassan Salhab was last seen at the Berlinale in 2015 with his highly acclaimed narrative feature, The Valley. This year he returns to the Forum – which leans towards experimental film – with An Open Rose, an essayistic collage that uses the letters of Polish-German Marxist theorist and short-lived revolutionary leader, Rosa Luxemburg, from her time in prison to examine the militarisation of the Middle East in the 20th century.
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the biggest discovery of this year’s edition from the Middle East could very well be Sudan, the new Arab cinema on the block making its major international festival debut with two documentaries by first-time filmmakers: Marwa Zein’s Forum contender, Khartoum Offside; and Suhaib Gasmelbari’s Panorama pick, Talking About Trees.
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Iran has had a modest presence during the recent past at Berlin – and this year is no different, with only a single feature representing the once powerhouse cinema across all sections. Deviating from the country’s signature social realism, newcomer Suzan Iravanian is attracting buzz for her Forum curio, Leakage, a supernatural mystery about a fifty-something middle-class woman who starts leaking oil from her body after her husband disappears.
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Mostafa Derkaoui’s forgotten 1974 classic, About Some Meaningless Event, a docudrama about a group of filmmakers asking passersby in Casablanca about their expectations for Moroccan cinema, only to shift their focus to a resentful worker who accidentally kills his superior. An investigation of the role of cinema and art in society, this militant effort - which was primarily funded by the sale of paintings of a number of contemporary painters – was banned in Morocco and virtually disappeared, until a negative print was discovered in the Spanish film archive, Filmoteca de Catalunya, in 2016 and subsequently restored.
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Fears grow of rift between Saudi king and crown prince | World news | The Guardian - 0 views
www.theguardian.com/...own-prince-mohammed-bin-salman
KSA Saudi royal government politics family authoritarianism reform media Egypt Sudan Algeria
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in late February when the king, 83, visited Egypt and was warned by his advisers he was at risk of a potential move against him, according to a detailed account from a source. His entourage was so alarmed at the possible threat to his authority that a new security team, comprised of more than 30 hand-picked loyalists from the interior ministry, was flown to Egypt to replace the existing team.
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The friction in the father-son relationship was underlined, the source said, when the prince was not among those sent to welcome the king home.
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The crown prince, who was designated “deputy king” during the Egypt trip, as is customary, signed off two major personnel changes while the king was away. They included the appointment of a female ambassador to the US, Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan, and that of his full brother, Khalid bin Salman, to the ministry of defence. The latter appointment has further centralised power in one branch of the ruling family.
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Royal appointments are almost always announced in the name of the king, but the 23 February decrees were signed by the “deputy king”. One expert said the title of deputy king had not been used in this way for decades.
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The prince and king have also been at odds on significant foreign policy matters, the source said, including the handling of prisoners of war in Yemen, and the Saudi response to protests in Sudan and Algeria.
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Supporters of the king have been pushing him to get more involved in decision-making, to prevent the crown prince from taking more power.
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Prince Mohammed angered people last month when he walked on top of the Kaaba in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam, provoking complaints to the king by some religious scholars that the move had been inappropriate
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While the king is not a reformer, he is said to have supported freer coverage of the protests in Algeria in the Saudi press.
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shared by Ed Webb on 03 May 19
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International Publishers Association - Khaled Lutfi awarded 2019 IPA Prix Voltaire - 0 views
www.internationalpublishers.org/...awarded-2019-ipa-prix-voltaire
Egypt censorship Israel espionage military publishing book media
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Imprisoned Egyptian publisher Khaled Lutfi has been selected for International Publishers Association’s 2019 Prix Voltaire which supports defenders of freedom to publish.
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On February 4, Khalid Lutfi (also written Lotfy), founder of Cairo’s Tanmia Bookshop and Publishing, was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of divulging military secrets and spreading rumors for having distributed an Arabic translation of the book The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel, by Uri Bar-Joseph
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An Arab world first: LGBT radio goes online in Tunisia despite threats | The Japan Times - 0 views
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An online radio station catering for the LGBT community, believed to be the first of its kind in the Arab world, started broadcasting in Tunisia on Monday
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It intends “to sensitize the people of Tunisia, ordinary citizens and political decision makers about homophobia in society and to defend individual liberties,”
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Gay rights activists have emerged from the shadows in Tunisia since the revolution in 2011, but their position remains precarious in Tunisia’s conservative Muslim society.Article 230 of the penal code includes a punishment of up to three years in prison for homosexuality and young men are regularly detained and prosecuted.
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Tunisia: End prosecution of bloggers for criticizing government's response to COVID-19 ... - 0 views
www.amnesty.org/...overnments-response-to-covid19
Tunisia authoritarianism politics media censorship bloggers rights pandemics
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Last week, two bloggers were detained and are facing several criminal charges of "insulting state officials", "causing disturbances to the public" and defamation. They have been charged for posting videos on social media alleging that the government has failed to provide adequate compensation to people struggling financially and address shortage of basic food supplies in the market amid COVID-19 pandemic.
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Within the region, Tunisia enjoys a relatively high degree of political freedom. However, the past two years have seen a number of criminal prosecutions related to freedom of expression – many of which have used outdated laws from the era of ousted President Ben-Ali to prosecute critics for defamation and insulting state officials and institutions.
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On 13 April, blogger Anis Mabrouki posted a video on his Facebook page showing a crowd of people standing in front of the building of the closed mayor's office in Tebourba (a town 30 km from the capital Tunis), demanding financial aid which had been promised by the government amid the COVID-19 lockdown. The next day he received a summons letter from the authorities after the mayor pressed charges against him.
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charged with "causing noises and disturbances to the public" and "accusing public officials of crimes related to their jobs without furnishing proof of guilt" under Articles 316 and 128 respectively of the Penal Code
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Another female blogger and political activist, Hajer Awadi, posted a video on her Facebook page on 12 April where she spoke about her documentation of the government's corruption and poor distribution of basic foodstuff in her region, Le Kef, in the North West of Tunisia. In the video, she also alleges that the local police assaulted and threatened to arrest her and her uncle when they went to complain about corruption.
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charged them with “insulting a civil servant” under article 125 of the penal code and “causing noises and disturbances to the public” under article 316 of the penal code. They face up to a year in prison and a fine
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Tunisia's 2014 Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression under Article 31. Tunisia is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which also guarantees the right to freedom of expression
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shared by Ed Webb on 03 Oct 17
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'Lone wolf' or 'terrorist'? How bias can shape news coverage | Poynter - 0 views
www.poynter.org/...w-bias-can-shape-news-coverage
media history terrorism terror journalism US USA violence crime analysis ethics empire
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take a moment to remember U.S. history (or even a few seconds to do an internet search) and it’s easy to find many examples of far deadlier shootings. It’s a sad reality that most victims of the worst massacres that don’t rate a mention were people of color: Native Americans and African-Americans
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there have been much worse atrocities and mass shootings committed against Native peoples going back to the beginnings of our country’s history
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The unwelcome title of largest massacre might belong to Bear River, Utah, where at least 250 Native Americans were slaughtered in 1863; Native American historical accounts put the number at more than 450. In 1890, Native American men, women and children were massacred at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, with estimates of the death toll ranging from 150 to 300.
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Just 100 years ago this June, armed whites rampaged through East St. Louis, slaughtering more than 100 African-Americans. In Tulsa in 1921, white mobs attacked a wealthy black neighborhood, killing as many as 300 people and leaving 8,000 homeless in what was wrongly labeled a “race riot” and left out of history texts until recently.
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after mass attacks perpetrated by brown Muslim assailants, such as the Orlando Pulse massacre or the San Bernardino, California, killings, the media, authorities and politicians were quick to label them “terrorism” even before we had full information
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Just because someone’s angry or even mentally ill doesn’t mean their actions aren’t those of a domestic terrorist (see U.S. Code definition above). As Joshua Keating points out in Slate, being distraught and a terrorist are “not mutually exclusive.” A 2013 study of violence by far-right extremists in America in Criminology and Public Policy found 40 percent of “lone wolf” domestic terrorists had a history of mental illness
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Fox News dubiously described the shooter’s father’s life as “colorful,” as if it were entertaining that the man’s father robbed a string of banks, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and busted out of a federal penitentiary. Can you imagine a black, Muslim or Latino’s long criminal record being described in the same way?
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Underlying this bias is the implication that Muslims or brown immigrants are more dangerous to Americans’ safety than white attackers. That is provably false, based on government statistics – yet it was the central narrative of President Trump’s campaign
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according to an analysis by the Cato Institute’s Alex Nowrasteh of fatal terrorism on U.S. soil from 1975 through 2015 – including the staggeringly high toll of the 9/11 attacks – the chances of an American being killed in a terror attack on U.S. soil by a foreigner was a miniscule 1 in 3.6 million per year. The chances of being killed by an illegal immigrant in the same 41-year period was an infinitesimal 1 in 10.9 billion per year.