Cables describe suspicions of Syrian government involvement in 2006 anti-Western cartoon protests

Cable 06DAMASCUS404 from the fifth of February 2006 describes how the Syrian regime seemed to have benefited from the rioting with enhanced legitimacy in several ways. Civil society contacts noted that SMS text messages were sent to cellphones two days before, announcing a demonstration on February 4, in front of the Danish Embassy. These contacts [...]

Survey shows that majority of Syrians think emergency should be lifted

According to the first scientific polling of Syrian attitudes, which details the results from a survey of 1,046 Syrians taken over a three-week period, a substantial majority (79,7%) believes that the State of Emergency in Syria should be lifted and that the threat of war is far less crucial than concerns about political freedom, corruption [...]

US opposes “rendition” review

(SCOTUS blog) The Obama Administration on Wednesday afternoon urged the Supreme Court not to hear a major test case challenging the once-secret program of “rendition” — that is, capture of terrorism suspects and transporting them to other countries.  Solicitor General Kagan’s deputy, Neal K. Katyal, signed the new brief as “Acting Solicitor General.” The new [...]

Hariri probe on track at the STL

(Jurist) Following a visit to Lebanon, the President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), Judge Antonio Cassese, and the Vice-President, Judge Ralph Riachy, had issued a statement reassuring that the investigation into the death of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri is on track. The statement underlined the fact that the Tribunal already has in [...]

US pledges review of air security blacklist

The United States will review soon a list of countries whose air travelers are subject to tighter screening and could remove nations like Nigeria if they are no longer deemed to be security threats. Nigeria and other key allies such as Saudi Arabia and Algeria have voiced their displeasure at being included in the 14-country [...]

UN experts conclude major study into use of secret detention in the fight against terrorism

Despite the fact that international law clearly prohibits secret detention, the practice is widespread and “reinvigorated” by the so-called global war on terror, several independent United Nations experts stated, outlining a series of steps aimed at curbing this human rights violation. In a 222-page study which will be presented to the United Nations Human Rights [...]

Veteran Syrian human rights lawyer faces up to 15 years in Syrian prison

Al-Maleh, a known human rights defender of people whose rights have been violated by Syria’s state security services, was charged with “conveying false news within Syria that could debilitate the morale of the nation”, “weakening national sentiment” and “slandering” a governmental body. Amnesty International said that it believes these charges have been brought against him [...]

Internet filtering in the Middle East and North Africa

The Open Net initiative just released it’s 2008-2009 report on filtering trends across the Middle East and North Africa. Overall, there has been an increase in filtering practices since 2007, and further measures to monitor Internet activities, particularly in Internet cafés, have been introduced. Additionally, countries that have been filtering political content continue to add [...]

ACLU asks U.N. to investigate case of disappeared Spanish citizen

Human rights groups today asked two U.N. Special Rapporteurs and the U.N. Working Group on Involuntary or Enforced Disappearances to investigate the case of Mustafa Setmariam Nassar, a Spanish citizen who was forcibly disappeared almost four years ago. According to media reports, Nassar, an influential Islamic theorist, was apprehended by Pakistani officials and handed over [...]

Italy expels Palestinian hijacker to Syria

A lawyer says Italian authorities are set to expel to Syria one of the Palestinians who hijacked the Achille Lauro cruise ship and killed an American passenger in 1985. Attorney Gianfranco Pagano said Youssef Magied al-Molqui was about to be flown from Palermo, Sicily, to Rome and then on to Damascus last Saturday.In April, Al-Molqui [...]