By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt–For a third consecutive day, Egyptian soldiers armed with batons and guns have clashed with hundreds of protesters armed with stones, overshadowing the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. Ten months after Mubarak’s regime was toppled, the aftermath is still causing violence and civilian deaths.

The violence began on Friday 16 December 2011 when one of several hundred peaceful protesters staging a sit-in outside the parliament building was reportedly beaten and detained by troops. According to Egypt’s health ministry, ten individuals have lost their lives in the continuous fighting while some 432 others were injured.

Demonstrations and protests began in Egypt earlier this February. A second round of voting served as the trigger for the latest occurrences of violence in Egypt. Many of Egypt’s ruling generals appear assured and confident that Islamist parties who swept recent elections will stay out of the fight while other pro-democracy protesters become increasingly isolated.

Al-Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros, whom is reporting from Cairo, shared these sentiments about the scene at Tahrir Square.

“What the military have essentially done is created a concrete barrier to block the entrance into that street to stop the protesters coming from Tahrir Square and continuing with their sit in. The protesters, of course, are not happy with the situation. They’re telling us they have a right to peacefully demonstrate in front of a government building. The skirmishes are taking place across that concrete wall between the military and the protesters.”

Security forces donning riot gear have been filmed in the past few days beating protesters with long sticks after they had fallen to the ground. On Saturday 17 November 2011, soldiers cleared the area around Tahrir Square as thick black smoke filled the skies following the eruption of a fire near Egypt’s upper house of parliament. Military police reportedly openly beat female protesters in the street, slapped elders in their faces, and pulled the shirt off of at least one veiled woman as she was wrestled down to the pavement. The AP news agency stated that witnesses confirmed that soldiers beat and gave electric shocks to men and women dragged into to detention. Many of these individuals were taken to nearby parliament buildings.

Several members of an advisory board resigned over concerns about how the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has dealt with the protests and the unrest. The board is made up of more than 30 political personalities, intellectuals, and businessmen. It was formed with the intention to be a consultative body that meets with the council regularly to discuss the development of the country.

The Institute of Egypt, which housed national archives dating back over 200 years, was set on fire on Friday 16 November 2011. The building has suffered catastrophic damage and a majority of the paper archives have been destroyed.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN general-secretary, released a statement on Monday 19 December 2011 condemning the actions of Egypt’s security forces.

“We are highly alarmed by the excessive use of force employed by the security forces against protesters and calls for the transitional authorities to act with restraint and uphold human rights, including the right to peaceful protest.”

Kamal el-Ganzouri, Egypt’s prime minister, addressed the violence at a news conference 17 November 2011. He branded the protesters as “counter-revolutionaries” and claimed that the attack was an attack on the country’s revolution.

“This is not a revolution, but a counter-revolution. Those who are in Tahrir Square are not the youth of the revolution.”

On Sunday 18 December 2011, political figures in Egypt announced that they are working on a truce between the protesters and security forces to end the bloodshed. Armr Hamzawy and Mustafa Al-Naggar, both potential members of parliament, are among those involved in the discussions surrounding the deal. Hamzawy has called the Supreme Council of Armed Forces to stop their violence and for an immediate investigation to point out the perpetrators. He also has called on all the elected members of parliament and prominent Egyptian figures for a national initiative towards peaceful protests.

Moatez Abdel Fatah, a political analyst and former military advisory council member, announced that on Monday 19 December 2011 he would be at Omar Makram Mosque to meet with youth in the square in an attempt to calm things down. He stated that a truce would certainly not mean that the protesters should give up any of their rights, but simply need to take a timeout to plan their next substantive move.

After Mubarak’s ouster, the army generals who replaced him have angered many Egyptians by seeming reluctant to give up their new power. For the sake of the civilians who came together and voiced their displeasures loud enough to inspire change, one can hope that the generals will not allow the violence against protesters to continue.

Toqa Nosseir, a 19 year-old student, expressed these words to a correspondent working for The Guardian about the military attacks on women during the protests.

“Do they think this is manly? Where is the dignity? No one can approve or accept what is happening here. The military council wants to silence all criticism. They want to hold on to the power. I will not accept this humiliation just for the sake of stability.”

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – UN Condemns Egypt’s Military Violence – 19 December 2011

Ahram – Hundreds March to Cabinet Headquarters to Stop Clashes Between Military And Protesters – 18 December 2011

BBC – Egypt Violence: Third Day of Deadly Clashes in Cairo – 18 December 2011

CNN – Outrage Over Woman’s Beating Fuels New Egypt Protests – 18 December 2011

The Guardian –Egypt Clashes Continue Into Third Day as Army Cracks Down – 18 December 2011

Reuters – U.N.’s Ban Condemns Excessive Force in Cairo Clashes – 18 December 2011

NYT – Leaders Denies Use of Violence as Cairo Crackdown Persists – 17 December 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/18/egypt-violence-day-three

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain – On Thursday, 15 December, Bahraini security forces targeted hundreds of protesters with tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protest attempting to block the main road leading to Manama, the nation’s capital.  During the past ten months, the nation’s Shia Muslim majority regularly held protests that called for more rights from the Sunni-dominated monarchy.

Bahrain’s King Hamad pledged to initiate reforms by, for example, hiring police chiefs from the US and Britain to lead security agency reform.  Although Michael Posner from the United States State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor praised King Hamad for beginning to implement reforms on his recent visit to Bahrain, Posner urged King Hamad to do more to address the human rights abuses.  The US’s concerns of Bahrain using excessive force, such as tear gas, to respond to the continued street protests remain.

During this protest, Bahraini police detained prominent blogger and human rights activist Ms. Zainab al-Khawaja.  She tweeted:  “Sitting in a roundabout on Budaiya street, shouting down down Hamad. Until now riot police don’t seem to know what to do. A few girls have joined me now.”  The police arrested her and another female protester for refusing to leave the sit-in at the roundabout after other protesters dispersed.  The police detained seven other people during the protest.

A police car also ran over Ali al-Kassab, a seventeen-year-old protester, and killed him.  The security forces injured twelve protesters during the peaceful demonstrations throughout Bahrain’s towns and villages.

Bahrainis have protested against the Al Kahalifa dynasty since February 2011.  Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sent their troops to aid Bahrain in quelling the peaceful protests on March 14.  On November 23, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry stated the government used excessive force to quash the protests, urged the government to change verdicts protesters received in military courts, and supply compensation for victims.  Overall, dozens of people have died throughout these protests.

On Thursday, riot police chased protesters away from the highway they sought to block while helicopters hovered over the crowd.  Along the highway, protesters waved red and white Bahraini flags.  After the government destroyed a pearl sculpture and evicted the protesters from Manama’s Pearl Square in March, the protesters continually attempt to retake the heavily guarded square that has vast symbolic value.

A Budaiya resident reported, “Protesters are in batches of 40-50 each. There are still many police officers and vehicles here trying to keep demonstrators away from the highway. But protesters keep coming back.”

For further information, please see:

BBC – Bahrain Blogger Zainab al-Khawaja ‘Detained in Protest’ – 15 Dec 2011

IOL News – Bahrain Protesters Confront Police – 15 Dec 2011

Press TV – Bahrain Police Run Over, Kill Protester – 15 Dec 2011

The Washington Post – Bahraini Police Use Tear Gas, Stun Grenades To Disperse Protesters on Highway Outside Capital – 15 Dec 2011

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen – Human Rights Watch (“HRW”) released its 54 page report “How Come You Allow Little Girls to Get Married?: Child Marriage in Yemen” to urge Yemen to ban marriage for girls under the age of eighteen.  This age floor would improve educational opportunities for girls and protect their human rights.  Child marriage in poor Arab countries preserves females’ status as second-class citizens and jeopardizes girls’ health.

Presently, Yemen does not have a legal minimum age for marriage.  In 2009, the Yemeni government presented a bill to set seventeen as the minimum age for marriage.  Arguing the proposed law conflicted with Islamic law, a group of conservative Yemeni lawmakers stopped the bill’s passage.  Several countries who follow Islamic law have instituted the age of eighteen as the marriage age minimum.

Yemeni demonstrators called for reforms such as guaranteed gender equality in recent months.  HRW advocates the government should place banning child marriage as a reform priority.

Data from the United Nations and the Yemeni government indicate eight-year-old girls were married, and some of their husbands engaged in martial rape and domestic abuse.  Often, these child brides forcibly marry much older men.  Last year, a nine-year-old wife published her account of marrying a man three times her age.  A thirteen-year-old also died after having sex with her husband twice her age that caused internal bleeding.  Boys are rarely subjected to child marriages.

Nadya Khalife, HRW’s women’s rights researcher for the Middle East and North Africa and the report’s author, stated “Girls should not be forced to be wives and mothers…The government…needs to show that it has the political will to do this by adopting this law.”

The girls’ families force them to marry.  These new brides do not control their lives or childbearing decisions.

While fifty-two percent of girls are married before the age of eighteen, about fourteen percent of Yemeni girls wed before the age of fifteen.  Once these future child brides reach puberty, they usually do not attend school.  The young child bearing age associated with early marriage results in lasting reproductive health issues.

One of the thirty girls interviewed testified, “I reached sixth grade, and left school to get married.  Now, when I see my daughter, I say to myself, ‘Who’s going to teach her?’  Because I can’t.  I understood [the value of education] when I got older.”  Another girl said, “My father insisted that I get married.  I wanted to go to college, to become a lawyer, but there’s no chance now because I’m going to have a baby.”

For further information, please see:

CBC News – Yemen Child Marriages Targeted By Rights Groups – 8 Dec 2011

Human Rights Watch – Yemen: Child Marriage Spurs Abuse of Girls and Women – 8 Dec 2011

Reuters – Rights Group Urges Yemen To Ban Child Marriage – 8 Dec 2011

Taiwan News – Rights Group Urges Yemen To Ban Child Marriage – 8 Dec 2011