Human Rights

Biden wants Israel and Saudi Arabia to Normalize, but are Riyadh’s Demands for Nuclearization a Deal Breaker?

Dr Adnan Abu Amer AdnanAbuAmer2 ( Middle East Monitor ) – Despite US efforts to get Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalise their relations, the process keeps faltering. Israeli officials speak of a long and important list of demands made by the Kingdom to the Americans. Although a normalisation agreement with Saudi Arabia and […]

censorship

The State of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: Yemen, Freedom of Speech, Women, Executions

Human Rights Watch

Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 45th Session of the UN Universal Periodic Review Introduction ( Human Rights Watch ) – Although at its last UPR Saudi Arabia supported many recommendations, it continues to commit widespread violations of basic human rights within and beyond its borders. The Saudi government […]

Displaced and Refugees

Survivors Speak Out on Sexual Violence in West Darfur

Human Rights Watch

Laetitia Bader Director, Horn of Africa ( Human Rights Watch ) – Nusra and Khadija share the bond of being cousins and of living in the same small town in West Darfur. Now they share a darker bond: both survivors of sexual violence in the conflict in Sudan. Human Rights Watch researchers spoke with […]

Displaced and Refugees

That other War: Struggle and Suffering in Sudan

Tomdispatch

By Priti Gulati Cox and Stan Cox It’s been devastating, even if no one’s paying attention. Three months of fighting in Sudan between the army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Force (RSF) has left at least 3,000 people dead and wounded at least 6,000 more. Over two million people have been displaced […]

Human Rights

Iranian Court Sparks Controversy By Diagnosing Hijab Protesters With Mental Illness

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Roya Maleki Left to right: Iranian actresses Afsaneh Bayegan, Azadeh Samadi, and Leila Bolukat were all arrested for appearing in public without the mandatory hijab, or head scarf. At their sentencing, judges ruled that they were “mentally ill.” ( RFE/RL ) – Judges in Iran have diagnosed three prominent actresses sentenced for […]

Climate Crisis

The Ugly Side of American Exceptionalism: Refusing to Play by the Rules

Rebecca Gordon

( Tomdispatch.com ) – In 1963, the summer I turned 11, my mother had a gig evaluating Peace Corps programs in Egypt and Ethiopia. My younger brother and I spent most of that summer in France. We were first in Paris with my mother before she left for North Africa, then with my father and […]

Sudan

Sudan: 70% of Hospitals not Working as Army and Rapid Support Forces Militia Continue Fierce Battles

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – The Sudan Doctors’ Union said yesterday that 70 per cent of hospitals are not operational in the areas where fighting is taking place between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. The union pointed out that there are “62 hospitals suspended from service, and 27 hospitals fully or partially […]

Arab League

Syria faces daunting Obstacles in its Attempt to rejoin the International Fold

The Conversation

By Scott Lucas, University College Dublin | – (The Conversation) – In the carefully composed photograph released by their state news agencies at the beginning of May, Syria’s leader Bashar al-Assad has his arms outstretched to welcome the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi. The two men are beaming. Raisi’s visit was a sign of Tehran’s essential […]