Reform

The Brothers, the Revolution, and the Right to Protest

A new political order always arrives with a package of legislation establishing its political and socioeconomic orientations as law. In its broad sense, a revolution effects a “fundamental change” in the political and economic order, with the support of the majority of the people.[1] Egypt experienced this shortly after the 1952 Free Officers’ coup d’état, as it developed into the July Revolution.[2] Egypt’s second experience in this regard came with President Anwar Al-Sadat’s accession to power, and continued under Hosni Mubarak, who preserved the political and socioeconomic orientations of his predecessor. The new regulations brought in by Sadat and Mubarak included ...

The Facade of Political Crises in Morocco

This weekend, the conservative nationalist Istiqlal Party announced it will be withdrawing from the government coalition, led by the Party of Justice and Development (PJD), and will take its place in parliament's opposition. Its reason, according to the party's press release, was to "avoid being complicit in the scheme against the Moroccan people." Additionally, the party will maintain its cabinet positions until further notice, and the party has written a formal letter to King Mohammed VI detailing its reasons for withdrawing from the coalition and to "guarantee" the execution of its withdrawal. This move will undoubtedly place further ...

Healing Iraqis: The Challenges of Providing Mental Health Care in Iraq

[The following report was issued by Doctors Without Borders on 30 April 2013.]   Healing Iraqis: The Challenges of Providing Mental Health Care in Iraq Introduction  Mental health disorders and emotional distress are as debilitating and agonizing as physical health problems. According to The World Health Organisation, mental health disorders are the fourth leading cause of ill health in Iraqis over the age of 5 years. There is little doubt that years of political and social repression, punctuated by wars, and followed by a post-war period characterised by interrupted and insufficient basic services have taken their toll on the ...

بمباركة ملكية: إصلاحات يقودها القطّاع الخاص في الأردن

Yemen's Military-Security Reform: Seeds of New Conflict?

[The following report was issued by International Crisis Group on 4 April 2013.]  Yemen's Military-Security Reform: Seeds of New Conflict? Executive Summary  Ask virtually any Yemeni from across the political spectrum, and he will protest support for a professional military-security apparatus free from family, tribal, party and sectarian influence. Yet, these public assurances do not mean it is easy – far from it. Military-security restructuring is hugely critical to a successful transition, but it also is hugely difficult, because it directly threatens an array of vested interests. Although President Abdo Robo Mansour Hadi has taken important first steps, ...

A qui profite la récupération des biens de Ben Ali ?

Pour marquer la fin de 2012, une année plutôt chaotique pour une Tunisie en pleine transition politique, le ministre des Finances tunisien a organisé un événement spectaculaire : une vente aux enchères publique des biens de l'ancien président Ben Ali provenant de son palais privé à Sidi Dhrif, une somptueuse demeure surplombant la baie de Tunis et la cité balnéaire de Sidi Bou Said. Cette manifestation baptisée sobrement Confiscation, a été largement médiatisée en Tunisie.  Un site Internet a même été créé pour l'occasion. Les Tunisiens ont pu y découvrir les objets dont la mise en vente était prévue le 23 décembre 2012 : mobilier, voitures de luxe et de ...

Ennahda: A Party in Transition

Since the assassination of Chokri Belaid, Tunisia is living the most difficult stage of its revolutionary transition. Even before the murder of Belaid, a long institutional crisis had kept the country in limbo with the prolonged absence of a constitution. Belaid’s death pushed it on the edge of chaos. Much has been written about the context within which the assassination took place, with the secular-leftist camp openly accusing the Islamist party, Ennahda, of having provided the ideological and political context for it. In order to bring the country back from the brink of a potential explosion of violence, on the night of the assassination, Prime Minister Hammadi Jebali ...

The Final Statement of the Second Gulf Platform for Human Rights Defenders

[The following statement was published on the Gulf Center for Human Rights website on 2 March 2013.] We, the human rights defenders from the Gulf countries and Yemen, convened at the second Gulf Platform for Human Rights Defenders held in Istanbul (1-2 March 2013), and organized by the Gulf Center for Human Rights, stress the following: We declare our absolute solidarity with the human rights defenders in the region and our complete support without reservations, and while expressing our deep concern and firm rejections for the blatant violations for human rights which violate all relevant religious and international conventions, we condemn the systematic targeting of ...