Iraq: Candidate Killed Ahead of Next Month’s Election
February 8th, 2010 by Jessica
Suha Abdul Jarallah, a female candidate in next month’s parliamentary election, was killed this morning, in what many suspect is a politically motivated assassination. The UN News Centre reports that Jarallah was gunned down outside of a family member’s home, days before she was to begin her official campaigning for the March 7th election. One of her relatives was quoted in the Digital Journal as saying, “these are independent and national people who are targeted to prevent them from standing in the general election.” The assassination was strongly condemned by Special Representative of the United Nations Ad Melkert, “Campaign violence in Iraq must not be allowed to intimidate candidates or interfere with the right of every Iraqi to exercise their vote.”
Jarallah’s death follows a recent visit to the United States by Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi to discuss some 500 banned candidates in the Iraqi election, according to an article in the Daily Star. A recent reinstatement of many of the banned candidates appears to have been generally supported by the Obama administration. The reinstatement was contested by some members of the government who stood to benefit, but al-Hashimi has urged those in opposition to the appeal committee’s edict, to accept their decision and allow the elections to proceed as scheduled.
Posted in Elections, Iraq | Comment »
Turkey: U.S. Overlooking Honor Killings?
February 8th, 2010 by Jessica
Al Arabiya reports on the honor killing of a 16 year old Turkish girl. Medine Memi was found buried in a hole 6 1/2 feet deep under a chicken pen 40 days after her initial disappearance. Prosecutors are seeking life prison sentences for the girl’s father Ayhan Memi and grandfather Fethi Memi, in accordance with Turkish law. Autopsy reports revealed that the young girl had been beaten before she was buried and attempted to seek help from the police at least three times. Medine Memi was sent back to her family each time she approached the authorities. At Commentary Magazine, Jennifer Rubin criticizes the lack of U.S. response to the incident, particularly from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Posted in Human Rights, Turkey | Comment »
Egypt: New Government Crackdown on MB Leadership
February 8th, 2010 by Jessica
Al Jazeera reports that Egyptian security forces have detained at least 13 members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The arrests are widely seen as the start of an effort by the Egyptian government as an effort to crackdown on Egypt’s most powerful opposition group ahead of parliamentary elections. Those arrested included Essam el-Erian, Abdul-Rahman el-Bir, and Mahomoud Ezzat, the organization’s newly elected deputy leader. Though a banned political entity, the Muslim Brotherhood won one-fifth of the seats in the 2005 parliamentary elections, running as independent candidates. An anonymous police official acknowledged that detainees were arrested for engaging in banned political activity.
Mohamed el-Katatni, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s guidance bureau commented on the arrests, “This is part of the state’s campaign against the group. The group is now getting ready for parliamentary elections and this campaign is to stem such activities.” Mohammed Badie, the Muslim Brotherhood’s General Guide, fears that the recent arrests will negatively affect the ability of the organization to succeed in upcoming parliamentary elections.
Gregg Carlstrom at the Majlis reports that this is likely the first wave of arrests according to a police official who asked to remain anonymous. Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maksoud has issued as statement saying, “the campaign of arrests is unjustified and we expect that more people have been arrested as Brotherhood lawyers are still receiving the names of those detained from the various provinces.” Carlstrom speculates that the arrest of Ezzat, a conservative, was a message to Mohammed Badie, the organization’s new General Guide. Via twitter, Shadi Hamid supports Carlstrom’s theory saying that Ezzat’s arrest has one of two meanings: either the start of wide crackdowns or that the current regime “has no idea” what it is doing. This is the first high-profile arrest of Brotherhood members since the election of Mohammed Badie as the group’s General Guide.
Posted in Egypt, Human Rights, Islamist movements | Comment »
Iraq: Election Fever, Calls for Active U.S. Engagement
February 5th, 2010 by Josh
Over at The Cable, Josh Rogin reports that Hill Democrats sent a letter[PDF] to President Obama urging the administration to maintain active engagement in Iraq to avoid letting “recent gains slip away.” Congressman Bill Delahunt, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, told Rogin that the recent election ruling prompted concerns among Congressional Democrats, who want Obama to not lose focus in the midst of “one of the most critical moments in terms of the Iraq adventure.”
Stephen Biddle, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, echoes the concerns voiced in the letter, saying that continued diplomatic engagement was crucial for the success of Iraq’s political reconciliation once U.S. troops withdraw.
Meanwhile, the New York Times editorializes that although the Iraqi appeals court correctly overturned a “disgraceful decision,” the ruling was not as “legally pure as one might like.” The crisis isn’t over, the Times says, and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki should encourage parliament to start the campaign. “Instead of trying to keep competitors off the ballot, Iraq’s leaders should be debating their country’s many serious problems and telling voters how they will fix them.”
Posted in Diplomacy, Elections, Iraq, Sectarianism, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »
Egypt: Increasing Desire for Reform?
February 5th, 2010 by Jessica
In Egypt the public desire for reform seems to be on the rise. The upcoming elections are one sign of how Egyptians are becoming excited by the prospect of change, as evinced by an article in Al-Masry Al-Youm, which highlights the growing “mania” surrounding the possible presidential candidacy of Mohamed ElBaradei. According to Al-Masry Al-Youm, the public support for ElBaradei is “running wild,” and is only gaining in potency from outlets such as Youtube, Facebook, and an unofficial campaign website. Though El Baradei is viewed by many to be the greatest competition for incumbent President Hosni Mubarak, as of today his candidacy remains unannounced and unconfirmed, and Egyptian law poses many obstacles to any independent candidacy.
In addition, Sarah A. Topol in The Christian Science Monitor examines a four-month-old radio broadcast targeting the stigma associated with divorce. She discusses Mahasen Saber’s experiences with divorce in Egypt and the steps that she has taken to provide a network of support for women facing the same issues. Ms. Saber comments, “Here in Egyptian society, the woman is looked upon as if she is the one who made a big mistake getting a divorce from her husband. She’s always at fault.” The article reports that while the radio show is aimed at women, some men are also taking a prominent roll. One male doctor discusses raising children as a divorced parent, while a divorced man discusses the process and its aftermath from his perspective.
While many perceive such reforms as a positive step for Egypt, others take an opposing view. Opponents of the divorce statute for women object that the legal reforms are drastically increasing the number of divorces in Egypt. Yasser Shehad comments, “This law increases the rates of divorce and allows women to do whatever they want. Marriage is love and happiness and a family unit. Breaking up the families - that’s a big problem. What else is bigger than breaking up the family?”
Posted in Egypt, Elections, Journalism, Reform, Women | Comment »
Morocco: More Condemnations
February 5th, 2010 by Josh
In response to Le Journal’s shutdown as well as the recent arrest of Moroccan blogger Boubaker Al-Yadib, Freedom House released a statement strongly denouncing the government’s “use of exorbitant fines and libel cases to silence Morocco’s critics.” According to Freedom House advocacy directory Paula Schriefer, Al-Yadib’s arrest and subsequent six-month sentence was in response to his role in organizing a week-long blogging strike to protest restrictions on free expression. Courtney C. Radsch, Senior Program Officer for the Global Freedom of Expression campaign, sees this as an example of rank governmental hypocrisy: “Morocco retaliates against journalists for publishing,” she says, referring to Le Journal, “but then attacks bloggers for refusing to publish.”
Morocco is rated by Freedom House as “Partly Free” in its 2010 edition of “Freedom in the World,” a report that focuses on civil and political rights (coverage of its release found here). In the most recent edition of “Freedom of the Press,” however, Morocco earned a significantly lower score of “Not Free.”
Posted in Freedom, Human Rights, Journalism, Morocco, Publications | Comment »
Iran: Arrests in Advance of Next Week’s Planned Demonstrations
February 4th, 2010 by Josh
Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi, a leading Iranian rights activist, was arrested on Wednesday by regime security personnel. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran responded immediately by denouncing the arrest and defending Kermanshahi as “one of the most important sources of objective human rights information and analysis in Iran.” Campaign spokesperson Hadi Ghaemi added that “Kaveh has committed no crime, and his arrest is an apparent attempt to shield the authorities from scrutiny ahead of expected protests on [February 11].”
In other ominous Iran news, Chantal Flores of the Nation’s Act Now! blog catches a report about a surge in arrests of female activists, most of whom are students.
As Iran braces for country-wide demonstrations on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution next week, POMED will continue to provide updates about how the events may impact the ongoing formulation of U.S.-Iran policy.
Posted in Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Protests, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »
A Closer Look at Thomas Farr’s Briefing Remarks
February 4th, 2010 by Maria
Yesterday, POMED released a report about the briefing for the House Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight about the status and future of U.S. policy on international religious freedom. Thomas F. Farr, a professor at Georgetown and former American diplomat, was one of the panelists who presented at the briefing.
A PDF file of Farr’s full remarks can be found here.
Some highlights from Farr’s remarks include:
- “Our international religious freedom efforts are widely viewed abroad as only benefiting Christian minorities, as a front for Christian missionaries, and as anti-Islam. This perception is, let me say it firmly, utterly wrong. Indeed, if anything, U.S. foreign policy has tended to downplay the fates of Christian minorities in the Middle East and elsewhere. And it has advocated for the rights of Muslims. But perception is critical, and, in this case, the perception of our international religious freedom policy as pro-Christian and anti-Islam is crippling.”
- “Let me focus here on one critical issue — the President’s Cairo speech and his much praised strategy of engaging Muslim majority communities. It was a good speech. A significant portion was devoted to issues of human dignity and stability, namely, democracy, religious freedom, women’s rights, and development…The president told Muslim communities that religious liberty is central to human dignity and to social and political stability. In light of this, we are entitled to ask why his administration has so far ignored international religious freedom policy in the Muslim world.”
- “…Young Muslim leaders are telling us that they want democracy, and, like most Americans, they want to hear from the United States that we will support democracy in all Muslim majority countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran, and that we will support the rights of Muslims to engage in political life on the basis of Islamic principles. But to achieve this and the other benefits of democracy, Muslim majority communities must embrace religious freedom for others. This means members of their own communities must be able to interpret and even criticize their own traditions; that majorities must forswear privileged access to the civil authority and police powers of the state; and that minorities must have complete freedom of worship and equal access to the democratic public square, and the opportunity to influence law and public policy.”
Posted in Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Egypt, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Islam and Democracy, Saudi Arabia, US foreign policy | Comment »
Morocco: Life After Le Journal
February 4th, 2010 by Josh
In a fascinating piece at the Huffington Post, Aida Alami — a Moroccan journalist previously affiliated with Le Journal Hebdomadaire — details the circumstances surrounding the publication’s recent closure at the hands of Moroccan authorities. Corroborating Issandr El Amrani’s account at The Guardian, Alami describes a scene of Moroccan security agents taking control of Le Journal’s newsroom, sealing it off, and changing the locks. Although officials attribute the shut-down to Le Journal’s own financial failings, Alami, like others, views the action as an overt political decision to silence an “icon of the free press.”
She continued her commentary in an interview with the Herald de Paris, revealing that despite Le Journal’s courageous work, “the [Moroccan] public doesn’t want to hear the truth about issues.” Not only did the magazine have few friends, she said, but many Moroccans, even those within higher income brackets, saw it as anti-patriotic and overly critical. Regardless, she maintains that this does not detract from its invaluable service to Moroccan society.
Le Journal’s editor, Abou Bakr Jamai, continued to speak out against the government’s draconian behavior as well. Reuters quotes him as saying, “This is a clear case of financial asphyxiation.” The non-profit Reporters Without Borders added that “this judicial liquidation heralds the end of the first independent title in Morocco.”
Over at Morocco Board News Service, Hassan Masiky, former consultant for USAID and Amnesty International USA, writes that “the ramification of the closure of Le Journal Hebdomadaire will, without a doubt, have a lasting negative impact on the image of Morocco as a modern democracy.” In a diplomatic context, Masiky is convinced that these latest actions will make it difficult for the government “to push for its Advanced Status with the European Union or to convince the United Nation of its ability to establish a true regionalism system for the Western Sahara.”
Posted in Human Rights, Journalism, Morocco | Comment »
Secretary Clinton: Human Rights a “Priority of the United States”
February 4th, 2010 by Maria
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the 58th National Prayer Breakfast this morning, highlighting human rights violations caused in the name of religion as a top priority for President Obama’s administration. “We are working to bridge religious divides. We’re taking on violations of human rights perpetrated in the name of religion,” she said.
Secretary Clinton reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to human rights progress in the Middle East, and specifically mentioned the president’s Cairo speech last June. “Of course we’re supporting the peace process from Northern Ireland to the Middle East, and of course we are following up on the President’s historic speech at Cairo with outreach efforts to Muslims and promoting interfaith dialogue, and of course we’re condemning the repression in Iran,” she said.
On Iran, Secretary Clinton remarked that, “Religion is used to enshrine in law intolerance of free expression and peaceful protest. Iran is now detaining and executing people under a new crime - waging war against God. It seems to be a rather dramatic identity crisis.”
Clinton also made it a point to emphasize the administration’s desire to stand up against violations specifically against girls and women, who she said are denied their basic rights by those looking to perverse religion. “We’re making it clear to countries and leaders that these are priorities of the United States.” The secretary also mentioned it was important to make time to find “common ground” with the governments who are using religion “to promote and justify terrorism.” She said the administration is working with Muslim countries “to come up with an appropriate way of demonstrating criticism of religious intolerance…”
Posted in Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Protests | Comment »
Iraq: Renewed Blacklist Uncertainty?
February 4th, 2010 by Josh
Yesterday, word came in that an Iraqi appeals court had overturned the Accountability and Justice Commission’s blacklist for the upcoming March elections. The move was celebrated by both Sunni groups and international observers as a triumph for Iraq’s nascent democracy. However, as multiple news outlets are now reporting, the outlook for free and open participation in the upcoming elections remains murky. Accountability Commision leader Ali Faisal al-Lami, incensed that the appeals court would dare to infringe upon the commission’s domain, accused U.S. officials of pressuring judges and unduly interfering with Iraqi affairs. A government spokesman similarly condemned the ruling, calling it “illegal and unconstitutional.” And earlier today, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with Speaker of Parliament Ayad al-Sammaraei to schedule an emergency parliamentary session on February 7 to address the court’s decision.
In light of these events, the official campaign season — originally scheduled to kick off this coming Sunday — has been pushed back until Friday, February 12. Look for further commentary and analysis of this ongoing story in the coming days.
Posted in Elections, Freedom, Iraq, Sectarianism | 1 Comment »
Iran: Drawing Parallels to South Africa and Poland
February 4th, 2010 by Josh
Following a week of heated debate over regime change policy, Michael Gerson, former senior advisor to President George W. Bush and member of the erstwhile White House Iraq Group, uses his Washington Post column to extoll the virtues of U.S. solidarity toward Iran’s opposition movement. Careful to disassociate himself from those who may promote more aggressive regime change policies — “No one argues that the Iraq model should apply to Iran” — Gerson wonders if Iran is ripe for a South African or Polish approach that utilizes massive shows of international solidarity to produce political change. He underscores the need for more supportive U.S. rhetoric by referencing an exiled oppositionist who said, “When fighting an authoritarian regime, one of their strategies is to perpetuate the notion that you have no power, that you are alone, that nobody can help you.” And although America’s leverage over events in Iran may be limited, Gerson believes that the Obama administration “must cross a mental line — from merely criticizing human rights abuses to creatively encouraging political change.”
Posted in Diplomacy, Freedom, Iran, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »
Egypt: Recent Freedom of Expression and Human Rights Violations
February 4th, 2010 by Maria
Al-Masry Al-Youm reports today that Egyptian security officials confiscated a novel entitled “Leader Shaves His Hair,” and arrested its publisher El-Demeiry Ahmed, because they believed the novel insults Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi. The novel, written by Idris Ali, “tackles social conditions in Libya in the late 1970s.”
Sawasya Human Rights Center said confiscating the novel violates freedom of expression in Egypt and the legal statute that prohibits doing so without a “legal clearance.” It also said the incident “is a stain on Egypt’s reputation.” Ali said his novel is not intended to criticize Qadhafi, but only to critically examine his ideas “through a popular Libyan perspective.”
Another Al-Masry Al-Youm article from today reports that Egypt’s Education Minister Ahmed Zaki Badr recently said teachers would become vulnerable if they were prohibited from beating their students as a disciplinary method. The Egyptian Center for Education Rights released a statement today condemning Badr’s position and warned it could result in five major consequences - most seriously that it could increase violence against children. “The minister has done away with all international pacts on human rights, local laws, and numerous psychological and educational studies that highlight the negative effects of physical pain on children’s behavioral attitudes both in the present and the future,” it said in its official statement.
Posted in Egypt, Freedom, Human Rights, Libya | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Briefing on International Religious Freedom”
February 4th, 2010 by Josh
Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on International Operations, Human Rights, and Oversight, sponsored a public briefing to discuss the status and future of U.S. international religious freedom policy. Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, Senior Program Manager of Human Rights and Religious Freedom at Freedom House, moderated a panel of three speakers: Knox Thames, Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; Brian Grim, Senior Researcher at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life; and Thomas Farr, Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Congressman Joseph Cao (R-LA) joined briefing as well to ask a few questions of the panelists.
Click here for POMED’s notes in PDF, or continue reading below the fold.
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Posted in DC Event Notes, Diplomacy, Egypt, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Human Rights, US foreign policy | 1 Comment »
POMED Notes: “America and the Iranian Political Reform Movement: First, do No Harm”
February 3rd, 2010 by Josh
The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held a hearing to address the prospects of developing U.S. policy tools that will avoid harming Iran’s opposition movement. Four witnesses provided expert testimony: Geneive Abdo, Director of the Iran Program at The Century Foundation; Mehdi Khalaji, Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Fariborz Ghadar, Distinguished Scholar and Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and J. Scott Carpenter, Keston Family Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
For POMED’s notes in PDF, click here. Otherwise, continue below the fold.
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Posted in Congressional Hearing Notes (House), DC Event Notes, Democracy Promotion, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Islam and Democracy, Multilateralism, Protests, Reform, Technology, US foreign policy, sanctions | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Yemen on the Brink: Implications for U.S. Policy”
February 3rd, 2010 by Maria
The Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing today entitled “Yemen on the Brink: Implications for U.S. Policy,” in which two State Department officials briefed the committee on the U.S. government’s current progress in Yemen.
Chairman Howard L. Berman (D-CA) made opening remarks mentioning the Fort Hood shooting and the failed Christmas Day attack, followed by a brief overview on the current conditions in Yemen. Ranking member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) also made some remarks, focusing on al-Qaeda’s presence in Yemen. “It is no accident that al-Qaeda has found a home in Yemen.” Ros-Lehtinen said that a small group controls much of Yemen’s wealth, which relies on oil revenues, and that “al-Qaeda is now targeting the Yemeni state.” Her main question for the State Department officials was whether or not the Yemeni government has really changed its attitude toward al-Qaeda and whether the U.S. now truly has a partner in the Yemeni government.
Click here for POMED’s full notes on the hearing as a pdf, or continue reading below.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Congressional Hearing Notes (House), US foreign policy, Yemen, al-Qaeda | Comment »
Iraq: Perspectives on the Candidates’ Reinstatement
February 3rd, 2010 by Maria
As the ruling to disqualify 500-plus Iraqi candidates from the upcoming March 7 election was overturned today, many are starting to write about what this means for U.S. foreign policy efforts as well as domestic politics in Iraq.
Marc Lynch blogs today that the biggest up-side of these candidates’ reinstatement is for the Obama administration, which he suggests successfully used strategic U.S. foreign policy in order to push for the reinstatement without overly interfering in Iraq’s political affairs. “This appears to be a job well done by Obama’s Iraq team, in a difficult and very sensitive context.” Still, Lynch warns, “this doesn’t mean that all is now rosy.” He argues that the elections may still not produce “meaningful change” and that Iraqis, Americans and the international community “should be proactive about avoiding problems such as those which hamstrung the recent Afghan elections (or even the Iranian election or the 2005 Iraqi election).”
While Democracy Arsenal’s Wahid Hanna agrees that we “should not aim to micromanage internal Iraqi affairs” he writes today that the lack of U.S. preparedness for events like this is “troubling.” He argues that as the United States moves forward in creating constructive U.S.-Iraqi relations, that American “understanding of Iraqi political political dynamics” is crucial.
Max Boot writes in today’s Commentary and seems to be very optimistic about the implications of the candidates being reinstated into the election. He argues it is “yet another sign that - despite the concerns of many pessimists - Iraq is not ‘unravelling.’ In fact, its nascent democracy continues to lurch forward, notwithstanding terrorist atrocities…”
Posted in Elections, Iraq, US foreign policy | 1 Comment »
Afghanistan: Reconciliation, Reintegration, & Mediation with the Taliban?
February 2nd, 2010 by Jessica
Following the Afghanistan conference in London, President Hamid Karzai returned to his country optimistic, as reported in an article for The Christian Science Monitor. Outcomes of the conference included an increase in governmental control of Western aid from 20% to 50% and NATO support for Taliban engagement, with $140 million pledged towards the dual goals of reconciliation and reintegration. The $140 million was announced by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as, “an international trust fund to finance this Afghan-led peace and reintegration program to provide an economic alternative to those who have none.” The fund is slated to provide Taliban fighters with jobs on the condition that they renounce extremism. The U.S. has pledged to support this approach as long as the aforementioned conditions are met, in addition to embracing democracy. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have also jointly agreed to fund debt relief from major creditors up to $1.6 billion dollars.
During the conference, President Karzai called on Saudi Arabia to help with Taliban reintegration efforts. Following the London conference, Karzai met with Saudi leaders in a bid for assistance with the Taliban. An article for the Huffington Post reports the conditions under which Saudi Arabia will act as an intermediary between the current Afghan government and the Taliban. The Saudi position was made clear by Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal at the London conference, “So long as the Taliban doesn’t stop providing shelter for terrorists and [Osama] bin Laden and end their contacts with them, I don’t think the negotiations will be positive or even able to achieve anything. They must tell us that they gave this up, and prove it of course.” While Karzai is amenable to discussions with the Taliban, he remains adamant in his decision to expel members of Al Qaeda from the reconciliation efforts, saying that terrorists have no role in the future of Afghanistan.
The Taliban are not without their own requirements for accepting Karzai’s invitation to begin negotiations, recently reiterating their demand for the withdrawal of foreign troops before peace talks begin. Additionally the Taliban have demanded that in return for peace talks mediated by Saudia Arabia, the U.S. must immediately halt plans to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. Karzai maintains that these conditions are unrealistic.
Posted in Afghanistan, Foreign Aid, Saudi Arabia, Taliban, United Nations, al-Qaeda | Comment »
Sudan: Looking at the Upcoming Election Prospects
February 2nd, 2010 by Maria
Former President Jimmy Carter has an opinion piece in the Washington Post today calling for international commitment to help in the upcoming April election in Sudan. The Carter Center is planning to send 60 observers for the election, as well as train 3,000 local observers. However, Carter argues that “additional monitors from Africa and the European Union are urgently needed. Indications are that they would be welcomed by the political factions, hopefully without restrictions.” Carter writes that over the course of the last year, the Carter Center has witnessed “a peaceful and surprisingly successful nationwide voter registration” which he says registered 16 million Sudanese — an estimated 80 percent of eligible voters.
However, The Guardian’s Nesrine Malik is not as optimistic. Malik writes in today’s Comment is Free that the upcoming elections are filled with “the same old politicians” who signify how Sudan “still thrives on cronyism and nepotism.” While Malik admits it is unreasonable to expect an influx of “fresh politicians” to surface into the political scene in Sudan overnight, she argues that “there are high intangible barriers to entry that preclude this from ever becoming a possibility. There is no institutionalized space where this can develop; political office is either a right to be claimed or to be seized by force.”
Posted in Elections, Sudan | Comment »
Iraq: New Violence Reaction to Ban on Parliamentary Candidates?
February 2nd, 2010 by Jessica
The New York Times reports on yesterday’s suicide bombing on the outskirts of Baghdad, in which approximately 38 people were killed and many more wounded. Despite official pledges to increase security surrounding the annual pilgrimage, the Times quotes one of the wounded victims, “The security forces are responsible because they were not searching anyone.” In response to the attack, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta al-Moussawi announced that some 134 soldiers and officers would face charges of dereliction of duty and negligence possibly resulting in their court martial, though several accounts of the incident indicate that the bomb was detonated in an area where women were being searched.
Though no one has claimed responsibility, Iraqpundit suggests that the attack, aimed at Shi’a pilgrims, is an escalation of tensions related to the parliamentary elections scheduled for March. He theorizes that the attacks are in response to the exclusion from the upcoming elections of more than 500 candidates based on religious affiliations. The author questions the wisdom of the U.S. and UN position that the Iraq elections are an internal problem, pointing out that submitting to the power of a few corrupt individuals within the government may shift Iraq’s democracy “into another farce of a political system like other countries that claim to be democratic in the region.”
News of the attacks coincide with reports that prominent candidate Sheikh Ahmad Abu Risha has threatened to boycott the upcoming election in response to the governments ban of 500 candidates from the ballot. Abu Risha is the head of the Sahwa, or Awakening, and one of the strongest U.S. allies in the region. An AP report quotes Abu Risha on Iraqi participation in the election should so many remain banned from the election, “They will not care about the election - they will ignore it, maybe if these decisions stand.” While some of the 500 candidates have been reinstated, some 456 remain banned. Of those, seven belong to Abu Risha’s Awakening Council and 70 others are candidates within the Unity Alliance of Iraq political coalition, which Abu Risha also helps lead.
Posted in Elections, Iraq, Reform, Terrorism | Comment »
