Peaceful protests in Sudan have led to an ongoing violent government crackdowns and internet blackout – Dalia Haj-Omar reports
Sudan blacks out internet to hide brutal suppression of protests
read more
CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
Bahrain’s government strangles opposition with impunity
As Bahrain braces itself for its fourth yearly cycle of revolt, progress looks bleak. The regime continues to target human rights defenders and journalists, Ahmed Ali writes
Egyptian activists battle ‘epidemic’ of sexual harassment and violence
Sexual harassment has been widespread in Egypt for decades but since the January 2011 uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak, the problem has taken on epic proportions becoming what rights activists now describe as “an epidemic”. Shahira Amin reports
Sudanese woman risks flogging for refusing to pull up headscarf
As activist and engineer Amira Osman prepares to go on trial on Thursday, Dalia Haj-Omar looks at the Public Order laws punishing Sudanese women for ‘indecent’ clothing and behaviour
Egypt’s government reportedly shopping for PR firm
It appears General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his men are now looking for some outside help to polish up their image as protectors of the state. Milana Knezevic offers some suggestions for firms not squeamish about working with regimes with questionable human rights records.
Whatever you write about, don’t write about the censors
A Lebanese playwright has exposed the farcical sensitivity of the country’s Censorship Bureau, Padraig Reidy writes
Egypt’s retro crackdown on dissent
Prosecuting Egyptian dissenters was common practice under deposed president Hosni Mubarak with regime loyalists often fabricating charges against opponents to silence them. Shahira Amin reports on the latest wave of intimidation by the country’s current military regime.
Qatar students petition to ban books
A group of students at the University of Qatar have started a petition to remove “inappropriate” books from the university library.
Report finds challenges to digital freedom in Palestine
The internet is a vital platform for Palestinians to express themselves, but web access and targeting of social media users, bloggers and journalists remain big challenges, Milana Knezevic writes.