News and Analysis (6/6/07)

Egypt and other Muslim-majority countries among Amnesty International’s list of state-mandated Internet repression, which includes filtering, “‘politically motivated’ closures of websites and net cafes, as well as threats and imprisonment”: 

• Censorship ‘Changes Face of Net’ (BBC News) 

As the Gitmo ruling re-ignites bipartisan debate over legal reforms of the parallel courts system, including granting the right of habeas corpus… 

• Guantanamo Ruling Renews The Debate Over Detainees (Washington Post) 

…a NY Times editorial slams the detention facility and calls for the repeal of the Military Commission Act, granting detainees and banning evidence based on torture or shutting down the facility altogether and transferring accused to civilian or military tribunal courts: 

• Gitmo: A National Disgrace (New York Times) 

DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff meets with Muslim leaders and asks them for their aid to prevent radicalization of Muslim youth by debunking extremist ideology: 

• Security Agency Enlisting Muslims to Rebut Radicals (San Francisco Chronicle) 

Council on Foreign Relation Senior Fellow Michael Gerson sees the success of Turkey’s Islamic-oriented party as a litmus test for the compatibility between public expressions of Islam and a pluralistic and free democracy: 

• An Islamic Test for Turkey (Washington Post) 

Large humanitarian crisis looms over Afghanistan as Iran expels approximately 100,000 Afghan refugees from its territory, Kabul asking Tehran to halt expulsions, unable to “accommodate large numbers of people all at once”: 

• Afghanistan: Close to 100,000 Refugees Expelled from Iran (Adnkronos International)

Alejandro

Alejandro Beutel is program assistant for the Minaret of Freedom Institute with expertise in religious freedom, democratization and security issues.