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Transition in Afghanistan 2012
TRANSITION IN AFGHANISTAN 2011-2014 Five Parliamentary Studies NATO Parliamentary Assembly Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative inter-parliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Bringing together members of parliaments throughout the Atlantic Alliance, the NATO PA provides an essential link between NATO and the parliaments of its member nations, helping to build parliamentary and public consensus in support of Alliance policies. At the same time, it facilitates parliamentary awareness and understanding of key security issues and contributes to a greater transparency of NATO policies. Crucially, it helps maintain and strengthen the transatlantic relationship, which underpins the Atlantic Alliance. Since the end of the Cold War the Assembly has assumed a new role by integrating into its work parliamentarians from those countries in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond who seek a closer association with NATO. This integration has provided both political and practical assistance and has contributed to the strengthening of parliamentary democracy throughout the Euro-Atlantic region, thereby complementing and reinforcing NATO’s own programme of partnership and co-operation. The headquarters of the Assembly’s 30-strong International Secretariat staff members is located in central Brussels. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration 392 on Supporting Transition in Afghanistan presented by Hugh Bayley 7 Governance Challenges in Afghanistan: An Update by Vitalino Canas 13 Transition in Afghanistan: Assessing the Security Effort by Sven Mikser Finding Workable Solutions in Afghanistan: the Work of the International Community in Building a Functioning Economy and Society by Jeppe Kofod 95 Afghanistan – The Regional Context by John Dyrby Paulsen 139 Countering the Afghan Insurgency: Low-Tech Threats, High-Tech Solutions by Sen. -
THE GAMBIA Deyda Hydara
THE GAMBIA - Deyda Hydara The death of a journalist under surveillance May 2005 Investigation: Leonard Vincent Reporters Without Borders International Secrétariat Africa Desk 5, rue Geoffroy Marie 75009 Paris-France Tél. (33) 1 44 83 84 76 Fax (33) 1 45 23 11 51 Email: [email protected] Web: www.rsf.org Trapped in its own absurd hypotheses, the offi cial investigation into the murder of Deyda Hydara has gone nowhere. Reporters Without Borders has tried to shed some new light on the case in this report. Our enquiries show that Hydara, the co-founder and editor of the inde- pendent newspaper The Point, had not only received death threats from individuals who he thought belonged to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) but also that he was under sur- veillance, almost certainly by the security for- ces, a few minutes before his murder. Five months have gone by since Hydara, who was also the correspondent of Agence France- Presse (AFP) and Reporters Without Borders, was fatally shot behind the wheel of his car in your allegations or else you will go to prison for Kanifi ng, a district of Greater Banjul, on the libel.” night of 16 December. But those who murde- red Gambia’s most respected journalist are still at large. Indeed, there is no indication that A journalist who was being they are being sought by the Gambian police. watched To get an update on the police investigation and to seek new information about the case, 2004 was already a trying year for Gambia’s Reporters Without Borders sent a representati- journalists before Hydara’s murder in Decem- ve to Banjul and Dakar from 25 April to 4 May. -
2018 DG Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity
CI-18/COUNCIL-31/6/REV 2 2018 DG Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity INTRODUCTION This report is submitted to the Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) in line with the Decision on the Safety of Journalists and the issue of Impunity adopted by the Council at its 26th session on 27 March 2008, and renewed at subsequent sessions in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016. In its latest Decision, adopted in November 2016, the IPDC Council urged Member States to “continue to inform the Director-General of UNESCO, on a voluntary basis, on the status of the judicial inquiries conducted on each of the killings condemned by the Director-General”. The present report provides an analysis of the cases of killings of journalists and associated media personnel that were condemned by the Director-General in 2016 and 2017. It also takes stock of the status of judicial enquiries conducted on each of the killings recorded by UNESCO between 2006 and 2017, based on information provided by Member States. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Executive Summary 2 2. Background and Context 2 3. Journalists’ killings in 2016 and 2017: key findings 7 3.1 Most dangerous regions 8 3.2 Rise in number of women journalists among fatalities 9 3.3 Highest number of killings among TV journalists 11 3.4 Majority of victims are local journalists 11 3.5 Freelance and staff journalists 12 3.6 More killings occurring in countries with no armed conflict 12 4. Member States’ responses: status of the judicial enquiries on cases of journalists killed from 2006 to end 2017 13 4.1 Decrease in Member State response rate to Director-General’s request 18 4.2 Slight reduction in impunity rate, but 89% of cases remain unresolved 19 4.3 Member States reporting on measures to promote safety of journalists and to combat impunity 22 5. -
H:\Manjeet-M\Journal of Islamic
Journal of Islamic Law Review, Vol. 16, No. 1, January 2020, pp. 59-77p SECURITY CHALLENGES FOR JOURNALISTS AND THE MASS MEDIA IN ADVANCING FREE SPEECH IN WAR TORN COUNTRIES: THE CASE OF AFGHANISTAN The challenges faced by journalists and mass media in war torn countries are serious. The same could be said to be the case in Afghanistan. Though freedom of speech and of the mass media are among the on-going struggles of the Afghan people after the fall of the Taliban regime, it is worrying that the initial success against the Taliban or other new enemies not irreversible. Threats of violence against journalists and the mass media come from militant groups, politicians and government apparatus. The objective of this paper is to examine the security challenges involving the exercise of free of speech by journalists and the mass media in Afghanistan. The situation also requires the analysis provisions of the constitution and relevant legislation to see if they are equal to the threats. On the other side of the question, the paper also examines violations of the rights of journalists by the government machinery. This paper applies the doctrinal method wherein the research examines the laws of Afghanistan relating to the freedom of speech and freedom of the mass media. The quest of the paper among others is about the adequacy of the relevant provisions of the constitution and legislation. Lastly, the paper makes recommendations to improve the safety of journalists and the mass media. Most would consider freedom of expression as the pillar of a democratic State. -
Amnesty International USA: out of Sight, out of Mind, out of Court? the Right of Bagram Detainees to Judicial Review 18 February 2009 AI Index: AMR 51/021/2009
Public amnesty international USA: Out of sight, out of mind, out of court? The right of Bagram detainees to judicial review 18 February 2009 AI Index: AMR 51/021/2009 Here is no human rights. We are suffering, our condition is too bad Bagram detainee Wazir Mohammad, 20021 Federal courts should not thrust themselves into the extraordinary role of reviewing the military’s conduct of active hostilities overseas, second-guessing the military’s determination as to which captured alien as part of such hostilities should be detained, and in practical effect, superintending the Executive’s conduct in waging a war… Petitioner places much emphasis on his allegations that he is a Yemeni citizen who was captured in Bangkok, Thailand, while on a trip there in December 2002, and that the Central Intelligence Agency detained him for some months before transferring him to US military custody in Bagram, Afghanistan… Petitioner’s allegation that he was not captured on a battlefield in Afghanistan is immaterial…” US Justice Department, in the case of Amin al Bakri, Bagram detainee, 20082 1. A judicial invitation to change course on Bagram detentions On 22 January 2009, President Barack Obama signed three executive orders on detentions and interrogations. One of them committed his administration to closing the detention facility at the US Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay within a year, and directed officials to conduct an immediate review of all the cases of detainees currently held there to determine what should happen to them. Another order took substantial steps towards ending the use of secret detention and torture. -
The Human Cost RIGHTS the Consequences of Insurgent Attacks in Afghanistan WATCH April 2007 Volume 19, No
Afghanistan HUMAN The Human Cost RIGHTS The Consequences of Insurgent Attacks in Afghanistan WATCH April 2007 Volume 19, No. 6(C) The Human Cost The Consequences of Insurgent Attacks in Afghanistan Map of Afghanistan.................................................................................................. 1 I. Summary...............................................................................................................2 II. Background........................................................................................................12 III. Civilian Accounts...............................................................................................25 Attacks Targeting Civilians ................................................................................25 Indiscriminate or Disproportionate Attacks on Military Targets ..........................47 IV. Civilian Perceptions ..........................................................................................67 V. Rising Civilian Casualties: Trends and Statistics ................................................70 VI. Legal Analysis...................................................................................................78 Applicable Treaties and Customary Law ............................................................79 Applying Legal Standards to Insurgent Activities ...............................................82 International Forces, Security Concerns, and Laws of War Violations ................ 98 VII. Recommendations ........................................................................................ -
Amnesty International Report 2010: the State of the World's Human
AMNesty INterNAtIoNAl rePort 2010 the stAte of the world’s huMAN rIghts A-Z COUNTRY ENTRIES This document was downloaded from thereport.amnesty.org/en/download Please visit thereport.amnesty.org for the complete website and other downloads. Support Amnesty International’s work, buy your copy of the Report or other publications at shop.amnesty.org Amnesty International Report 2010 Amnesty International Report © Amnesty International 2010 Index: POL 10/001/2010 ISBN: 978-0-86210-455-9 ISSN: 0309-068X This report covers the period January to December 2009.10 The Afghan government and its international AFGHANISTAN supporters failed to institute proper human rights protection mechanisms ahead of the August ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF AFGHANISTAN elections. The elections were marred by violence and Head of state and government: Hamid Karzai allegations of widespread electoral fraud, including Death penalty: retentionist ballot box stuffing, premature closure of polling Population: 28.2 million stations, opening unauthorized polling stations and Life expectancy: 43.6 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 233/238 per 1,000 multiple voting. Adult literacy: 28 per cent Despite a public outcry, President Karzai’s post re-election cabinet included several figures facing credible and public allegations of war crimes Afghan people continued to suffer widespread and serious human rights violations committed human rights violations and violations of international during Afghanistan’s civil war, as well as after the A humanitarian law more than seven years after the USA fall of the Taleban. and its allies ousted the Taleban. Access to health care, education and humanitarian aid deteriorated, Armed conflict particularly in the south and south-east of the country, Abuses by armed groups due to escalating armed conflict between Afghan Civilian casualties caused by the Taleban and other and international forces and the Taleban and other insurgent groups increased. -
The Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity
CI-16/COUNCIL-30/4 Rev. PARIS, 7 October 2016 Original: English THE SAFETY OF JOURNALISTS AND THE DANGER OF IMPUNITY REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL TO THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL COUNCIL OF THE IPDC (THIRTIETH SESSION) INTRODUCTION This document is submitted to the Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication’s (IPDC) in accordance with its Decision on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity adopted at its 26th session (27 March 2008) and renewed at subsequent sessions in 2010, 2012, and 2014. The latest Decision from 2014 reiterated “the continuing relevance of [previous] IPDC Decisions that request the Director-General of UNESCO to provide to the Intergovernmental Council of the IPDC, on a two-year basis at its biennial session, an analytical report on the Director- General’s condemnations of the killings of journalists, media workers and social media producers who are engaged in journalistic activities and who are killed or targeted in their line of duty”. The present report offers an overview of the killings of journalists condemned by the Director-General in 2014-2015 as well as providing an analysis of the killings condemned over the last 10 years, between 2006 and 2015. It presents an update on the status of investigations into these killings based on the information provided by Member States. Background information is also provided on the latest developments in the implementation of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity and on UNESCO’s specific contribution to this process. Communication and Information Sector 2 Communication and Information Sector TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. -
Bouteflika's Uncertain Fifth Term
MENARA Future Notes No. 16, January 2019 BOUTEFLIKA’S UNCERTAIN FIFTH TERM Francesca Caruso This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement No 693244 Middle East and North Africa Regional Architecture: Mapping Geopolitical Shifts, regional Order and Domestic Transformations FUTURE NOTES No. 16, January 2019 BOUTEFLIKA’S UNCERTAIN FIFTH TERM Francesca Caruso1 POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ENDORSEMENT OF BOUTEFLIKA’S FIFTH TERM In April 2019, Algerian voters will go to the polls to elect their next president. On 28 October 2018, Djamel Ould Abbes, chairman of the ruling National Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale, FLN), declared that the incumbent president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, is the party’s designated candidate for the elections. Bouteflika, who was first elected in 1999 and is the longest- serving Algerian head of state, has yet to announce his candidacy. The FLN’s announcement does not mean that he has accepted or that he will not drop out closer to the time in favour of another candidate. However, for the moment the only obstacle to his re-election seems to be his advanced age, 81, and deteriorating health: the other candidates pose no threat and reflect the non-existence of any real opposition.2 The FLN’s announcement came as no surprise. Despite the fact that the incumbent has been weak since suffering a stroke in 2013 – which led to a reduction in the number of public appearances he makes, during which he is seen in a wheelchair – for months, Bouteflika’s camp has been calling for him to be elected for a fifth term. -
Reporting Under Threat
Reporting Under Threat Testimonies of Courage in the Face of Impunity from Pakistani Journalists Adnan Rehmat This book of testimonies has been produced by Civic Action Resources with support from Open Society Foundation. The contents of this 2014 publication are the sole responsibility of the author(s) – including all journalists testifying here of their free will – and may in no way be taken to reflect the views of someone else. Reporting Under Threat Testimonies of Courage in the Face of Impunity from Pakistani Journalists Adnan Rehmat This book of testimonies has been produced by Civic Action Resources with support from Open Society Foundation. The contents of this 2014 publication are the sole responsibility of the author(s) – including all journalists testifying here of their free will – and may in no way be taken to reflect the views of someone else. Contents DEDICATED to the brave journalists of Pakistan who put themselves in 1. When the suicide bomber came looking for the president danger every single day, as their stories in this book amply testify, so of the Peshawar Press Club 07 that we continue to stay informed of the world we live in. With over 100 killed and over 2,000 injured in the line of duty since 2000, 2. Going bananas chasing the truth 10 Pakistani journalists have literally paid with their blood to protect our 3. Faisla kis ka? The cost of speaking out in public interest 12 right to freedom of expression. We owe a deep debt of gratitude to 4. Carrying on editing in the face of coercion 15 them. -
Deyda Hydara the Death of a Journalist Under Surveillance
THE GAMBIA - Deyda Hydara The death of a journalist under surveillance May 2005 Investigation: Leonard Vincent Reporters Without Borders International Secrétariat Africa Desk 5, rue Geoffroy Marie 75009 Paris-France Tél. (33) 1 44 83 84 76 Fax (33) 1 45 23 11 51 Email: [email protected] Web: www.rsf.org Trapped in its own absurd hypotheses, the offi cial investigation into the murder of Deyda Hydara has gone nowhere. Reporters Without Borders has tried to shed some new light on the case in this report. Our enquiries show that Hydara, the co-founder and editor of the inde- pendent newspaper The Point, had not only received death threats from individuals who he thought belonged to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) but also that he was under sur- veillance, almost certainly by the security for- ces, a few minutes before his murder. Five months have gone by since Hydara, who was also the correspondent of Agence France- Presse (AFP) and Reporters Without Borders, was fatally shot behind the wheel of his car in your allegations or else you will go to prison for Kanifi ng, a district of Greater Banjul, on the libel.” night of 16 December. But those who murde- red Gambia’s most respected journalist are still at large. Indeed, there is no indication that A journalist who was being they are being sought by the Gambian police. watched To get an update on the police investigation and to seek new information about the case, 2004 was already a trying year for Gambia’s Reporters Without Borders sent a representati- journalists before Hydara’s murder in Decem- ve to Banjul and Dakar from 25 April to 4 May. -
ALGERIA COUNTRY of ORIGIN INFORMATION (COI) REPORT COI Service
ALGERIA COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION (COI) REPORT COI Service 17 January 2013 ALGERIA 17 JANUARY 2013 Contents Preface Paragraphs Background Information 1. GEOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 1.01 Map ........................................................................................................................ 1.08 2. ECONOMY ................................................................................................................ 2.01 CURRENCY ............................................................................................................... 2.07 3. HISTORY .................................................................................................................. 3.01 Early history to 1989 ............................................................................................ 3.01 Events between 1988 - 1998: elections, military takeover and civil conflict ... 3.02 Events between 1999 - 2010 ............................................................................... 3.07 The charter for peace and national reconciliation .......................................... 3.14 The ‘Arab Spring’ 2011 ......................................................................................... 3.17 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS .......................................................................................... 4.01 Political developments ........................................................................................