Egyptian Opposition Group: U.S. Ambassador’s Comments “Blatant Interference”
Egypt's National Association for Change (NAC), a broad coalition of pro-democracy groups led by Mohammed ElBaradei, criticised U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson for her comments regarding the Egyptian Army and the mass opposition protests scheduled for June ...
June 19, 2013
Category: Civil Society, Civil-Military Relations, Congress, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Featured, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Islam and Democracy, Legislation, Muslim Brotherhood, NGOs, Protests, US foreign policy, US politics
Senior Muslim Brotherhood Member Discusses Egyptian NGO Law
Amr Darrag, Senior Muslim Brotherhood member, professor of engineering at Cairo University, and recently appointed Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, commented on the goals of the controversial proposed NGO law in a ...
June 17, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Featured, Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Muslim Brotherhood, NGOs, Political Islam, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: “Egypt’s Draft NGO Law–Impact and Implications”
The Middle East Institute's event "Egypt's Draft NGO Law: Impact and Implications" was moderated by Kate Seelye, senior vice president of the Middle East Institute, and featured Sarah Morgan, deputy Washington Director of Human Rights Watch, and Nancy Okail, director of Freedom House' s Egypt program. The panelists outlined the potential threats Egypt's proposed NGO law poses to civil society, human rights, and democracy, and also discussed the impact the ...
June 10, 2013
Category: Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Event Notes, Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Islamist movements, Legislation, Muslim Brotherhood, NGOs, Political transition, US foreign policy
Press Release: POMED Condemns Verdict on NGO Workers in Egypt
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: POMED Condemns Verdict on NGO Workers in Egypt The Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) condemns today’s conviction of 43 Egyptian and international NGO workers, as well as the forced closure and ordered confiscation of funds of five international NGOs in Egypt today. This ruling is part of an ongoing broader effort by the Egyptian government to foster a climate of fear for civil society organizations. The verdicts come ...
POMED Notes: National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Panel – “Democracy Think Tanks in Action”
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) hosted a panel titled “Democracy Think Tanks in Action: Translating Research into Policy in Young and Emerging Democracies” on June 3, 2013 at their office on F Street in Washington, DC. Christopher Walker of the International Forum for Democratic Studies (a component of NED) moderated the panel, which featured report contributors Orazio Bellettini, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Grupo FARO in Ecuador and Sami ...
June 4, 2013
Category: Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Event Notes, Freedom, Human Rights, Lebanon, NGOs
U.S. State Dept. Concerned Over Egypt NGO Law
U.S. State Department Spoekswoman Jennifer Psaki expressed the U.S.'s concerns over a new draft of a controversial NGO law in Egypt that was presented by President Mohamad Morsi this week to Egypt's Shura Council. The bill seeks to reform Egypt's ...
May 31, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Civil Society, Civil-Military Relations, Courts and Judiciary, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Elections, Featured, Freedom, Human Rights, Muslim Brotherhood, NGOs, Parliament, Political transition, Reform, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: “Institutional Reform in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisa”
On Tuesday, May 28, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace held an event titled “Institutional Reform in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia.” The panel featured Ellen Lust an associate professor of political science at Yale University, Fredrick Wehrey a Senior Associate in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Jakob Wichmann founder of JWM Consulting. Marwan Muasher, Vice President for Studies and Director of the Middle ...
Egypt’s Morsi Presents New Draft of NGO Law
Egypt's president Mohamed Morsi is set to present to the country's Shura Council the final draft of his proposed NGO law, following criticism from rights groups in Egypt that previous drafts brought back policies "similar to, if not worse ...
May 28, 2013
Category: Civil Society, Egypt, Featured, Human Rights, Legislation, NGOs, Parliament, Reform
POMED Notes: “The Middle East and North Africa FY 2014 Budget: Priorities and Challenges”
On Wednesday, May 22, 2013, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa held a hearing to discuss the FY 2014 budget with regards to the Middle East and North Africa. The Honorable Beth Jones, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, and Alina Romanowski, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of the Middle East at the U.S. Agency ...
May 28, 2013
Category: Civil Society, Congress, Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Egypt, Foreign Aid, Iran, Iraq, Israel, NGOs, Palestine, Political transition, Reform, Syria, US foreign policy, US politics
NSF Critical of Draft NGO Law; Anti-Morsi Alliance Grows
Egypt's National Salvation Front (NSF) criticized a draft NGO law over the weekend, saying the Muslim Brotherhood-backed bill is more restrictive than laws under former President Hosni Mubarak. The opposition bloc said the law "seeks to reproduce a police ...
May 20, 2013
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Category: Civil Society, Egypt, Featured, Islam and Democracy, Muslim Brotherhood, NGOs, Political Islam, Political transition, Reform
Video of the Day: Iran’s Pre-Election Crackdown on Journalists
This video from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran examines the crackdown on journalists leading up to Iran's June elections.
POMED Video of the Day: Michele Dunne, Tamara Wittes on Egypt
In an interview with Egyptian channel CBC, Michelle Dunne, Director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, and Tamara Wittes, Director of the Brookings' Saban Center for the Middle East discuss the current situation in Egypt. Topics of focus include U.S. policy towards Egypt, the Egyptian opposition, and ongoing negotiations between Egypt and the International Monetary Fund.
May 1, 2013
Category: Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Economics, Egypt, Human Rights, Islam and Democracy, NGOs, Political Islam, Political transition, Reform
State Department Human Rights Country Report: Iraq
The annual State Department report on human rights practices in Iraq details a host of human rights concerns in 2012 attributed to a weakened government, increased sectarian and societal divisions and a culture of impunity and widespread corruption that ...
April 26, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Courts and Judiciary, Featured, Human Rights, Iraq, NGOs, Sectarianism
State Department Human Rights Country Report: Egypt
The State Department's 2012 report on human rights practices in Egypt notes a host of concerns resulting from the country's 2011 revolution and transition to democracy. Among the most problematic were the increased vulnerability of women and minorities ...
April 24, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Civil Society, Egypt, Featured, Freedom, Human Rights, NGOs, Political transition
State Department Human Rights Country Report: UAE
The 2012 State Department report on human rights practices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said that the most significant problems were "arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detentions, and lengthy pretrial detentions; limitations on citizens’ civil liberties (including the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, ...
Congressmen Seek Conditions on U.S. Aid to Egypt
On Thursday, five Congressmen sent a letter to the House State and Foreign Operation Subcommittee on Appropriations requesting that it "include language to provide specific benchmarks and, moreover, an overall strategy for U.S. foreign aid to Egypt" in its ...
April 23, 2013
Category: Civil Society, Congress, Egypt, Featured, Foreign Aid, NGOs, US foreign policy, US politics
State Department Human Rights Country Report: Tunisia
The State Department released its 2012 Human Rights Practices Report for Tunisia, which details a number of challenges including “security force laxity regarding extremist crimes, the use of excessive force during protester arrests, and some constraints on freedom of ...
April 23, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Courts and Judiciary, Featured, Human Rights, Journalism, NGOs, Protests, Tunisia, US foreign policy
State Department Human Rights Country Report: Kuwait
The annual State Department human rights report on Kuwait described the Gulf country's principal human rights problems as "limitations on citizens’ right to change their government; restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, especially among foreign workers and stateless Arabs ...
April 23, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Democracy Promotion, Featured, Human Rights, Kuwait, NGOs, Reform, US foreign policy
State Department Human Rights Country Report: Jordan
The State Department released its annual report on human rights in Jordan and concluded that the most significant human rights problems were: "citizens’ inability to peacefully change their government, reflected throughout the year in weekly demonstrations calling for various ...
April 22, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Democracy Promotion, Featured, Human Rights, Jordan, NGOs, Reform, US foreign policy
Egypt Prosecutor Questions Opposition Figures on Recent Clashes
Egyptian prosecutors summoned opposition figures for questioning over Friday's violent protests. The investigation followed President Mohamed Morsi's speech on Sunday in which he vowed to hold accountable anyone found to have incited the violence. The summons is
March 25, 2013
Category: Conflict, Courts and Judiciary, Egypt, Featured, Legislation, Muslim Brotherhood, NGOs, Political transition, Protests