Category Archives: human rights

Libya: Woman struggles to tell foreign journalists of kidnapping, rape by Qaddafi militia

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“A Libyan woman burst into the hotel housing the foreign press in Tripoli Saturday morning and fought off security forces as she told journalists that she had been raped and beaten by members of the Qaddafi militia. After nearly an hour, she was dragged away from the hotel screaming.” (New York Times)

Her name is Eman al-Obeidy. CNN’s Nic Robertson was present, and his tweeted account is screengrabbed here. “CNN camera was violently snatched, systematically smashed to pieces and video footage stolen,” he wrote. “Some journalists were beaten in blatant display of regime thuggery.”

“Journalists are demanding to see her. David Kirkpatrick of the New York Times and I went to officials in charge who claimed they don’t know who took her, or where she was taken.”

A related Reuters item is here. Above: A related Sky News clip. The UK Telegraph also has video coverage. (via @acarvin).

Will the Harper government receive a #MEGAFACEPALM for C-393?

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(FOR BILL C-393 STALLING UPDATES SEE BOTTOM OF POST: LAST UPDATE ON FRI, MARCH 25th) A few weeks ago, I was lecturing during a global issues course (ASIC200), when it became immediately clear that on some occasions, a solitary single facepalm is simply not enough. In fact, there seemed to be many things and events in this world that would merit many many simultaneous facepalms, or as we’ve been calling it in class, a MEGAFACEPALM! Anyway, when I looked it up on the internet, there didn’t seem to be any pictures of large groups of people doing the facepalm, and so I thought, why not make our own? And so after a few clicks on my camera, and a handy “Make your own motivational poster” website, here is how it turned out: megafacepalm.jpg Of course, then the big question was for what occasion should we bestow this honour – this first unaltered photographic MEGAFACEPALM image? Well, I had a chat with the class the other day, and it seemed that the issue of Bill C-393 seemed like a worthy cause. Now, if you’re late to the game and need a primer on this Bill C-393, then read this boingboing post and then come back here for the MEGAFACEPALM lowdown.

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Yemen: state of emergency after pro-government snipers massacre protesters

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Yemeni security forces and plainclothes snipers on rooftops shot dead up to 42 protesters at an anti-government rally in Sanaa after Muslim prayers on Friday. President Ali Abdullah Saleh has since declared a state of emergency. “The Interior Ministry put the death toll at 25, but doctors said 42 people had died and at least 300 were injured.” (Reuters)

Egypt’s military junta now has an official Facebook page

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To better communicate with the internet-savvy youngsters who toppled Hosni Mubarak’s regime, The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has launched an official Facebook page dedicated “to the sons and youth of Egypt who ignited the January 25 revolution and to its martyrs.” Lest you be left with the impression these are happy-fun guys, Amnesty International said today it has found new evidence that this same military has been, and still is, torturing detainees. (AFP)

Bahrain: peaceful protests turn violent as police attack demonstrators

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Breaking: Amira Al Hussaini at Global Voices: “Bahrain police have just launched an attack on protesters at the Pearl Roundabout.” She has a Twitter roundup, and you can also follow NPR’s Andy Carvin right now for fast and furious RTs from people who are there, apparently being teargassed and shot with rubber bullets and/or other forms of ammunition. It is 3AM there; the demonstrators were sleeping; news crews are are nowhere to be found.

(photo, inset, via maryamalkhawaja, above Abu Sufyan, both via @acarvin)

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Egyptian activists’ protest plan, translated to English

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As I publish this blog post, we’re just a few hours away from the planned start time of mass protests in Egypt, possibly the largest yet in a week of historically large gatherings calling for Hosni Mubarak to step down from some 30 years in power. Alexis Madrigal at The Atlantic tells Boing Boing,

A Twitter follower stepped up to translate excerpts from the Egyptian protest plan that’s been floating around (the one that said don’t use Twitter or Facebook). We’re only publishing excerpts — i.e. this is more general information and demands, not tactical stuff — but they are amazing.

Translations and scans are here at The Atlantic.

On-duty cop rapes woman, she says; pleads sentence down to one year

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I usually don’t post these because of their regularity, but this one really stands out. San Antonio police officer Craig Nash raped a woman while on duty, she said. He faced a life sentence for the felony charges, but he was able to plead that down to a misdemeanor and will serve just one year. Why? I’m sure it’s not because the woman who said he raped her was a transgender sex worker. Reminds me of the Memphis cop who pleaded down to two years after beating the crap out of Duanna Johnson using his handcuffs as brass knuckles. Texas is the worst place in America to be transgender, as evidenced by two widows whose marriages were legally challenged after their husbands’ deaths. Christie Lee Littleton’s marriage was declared illegal after she brought a suit against her dead husband’s doctor. That set the legal precedent for the whole state, which means Nikki Araguz faces an uphill battle after her firefighter husband died on duty last year. Her in-laws are challenging the death benefits she’s entitled to receive.

Official oppression earns ex-cop a year behind bars

Tunisia’s “Jasmine Revolution” and the internet: Xeni on The Madeleine Brand Show

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[ LISTEN: Direct MP3 link, and embedded audio. ]

On today’s episode of the Southern California Public Radio program The Madeleine Brand Show, I joined host Madeleine Brand for a discussion of the role technology and social media played in the recent political upheaval in Tunisia.

16lede_libya-blog480.jpg Tunisia’s interim leaders announced a new government today after a surge of violent demonstrations toppled autocratic president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Many reporters and bloggers (and now, uh, Muammar Qadaffi) have been quick to credit Wikileaks, Twitter, and Facebook with fomenting unrest in the country. But is it accurate to describe what is unfolding in Tunisia as “a Twitter revolution”?

Some related reading today:

• Tunisia: That ‘WikiLeaks Revolution’ meme (CSM)
• The brutal truth about Tunisia (The Independent)
• Qaddafi Sees WikiLeaks Plot in Tunisia (NY Times / The Lede)
• Tunisia: Fears of Insecurity Overshadow the Joys of Freedom
• Arab World: Where is Ben Ali Headed to? (Global Voices)
• Tunisia: How the US got it wrong (Al Jazeera / opinion)
• Tunisia invades, censors Facebook, other accounts (CPJ)
• Wikileaks – US embassy cables: Tunisia – a US foreign policy conundrum (Guardian)
• The 2010-2011 Tunisian protests (Wikipedia)
• First thoughts on Tunisia and the role of the Internet (Foreign Policy)

(PHOTO at top of post: Students hold placards and flowers during a sit-in protest in Beirut January 17, 2011, organized by Lebanese activists Tunisians living in Lebanon to show solidarity and support for the people in Tunisia. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi)