“Since 9/11, Turkey has convicted nearly 13,000 people of terrorism offenses…. Long pretrial detention, broad police powers, a tendency to launch cases on meager evidence, and, increasingly, the arrest of lawyers representing detainees mean that there are serious problems in Turkey for the rights of defendants”:
- Is Model Turkey Sliding into Authoritarianism? (Christian Science Monitor)
“Earlier this year, an Egyptian general was quoted as acknowledging that the military had conducted such tests, saying that they were used so women would not later claim they had been raped by authorities. Human rights groups say such tests are a degrading form of abuse and the general’s justification a legal absurdity”:
The “BBC reports that while Syrian officials have appeared compliant, there are already allegations of a cover-up“:
- Arab League Observers Head to Syria’s War-ravaged Homs (Christian Science Monitor)
As the Sultan of Sokoto seeks “to assure ‘all Nigerians that there is no conflict between Muslims and Christians, between Islam and Christianity’ … [but] a conflict between evil people and good people,”” a Muslim “former military ruler who lost a presidential election in April” said “the government was slow to respond and had shown indifference to the bombings” while the Christian Association of Nigeria claims “that the perpetrators and their sponsors ‘are well-known to government and no serious or decisive actions have been taken to stem their nefarious activities’:
The “Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which protects individuals, churches and other religious institutions from discrimination in zoning” (and which was drafted by a coalition of which the Minaret of Freedom Institute was a member) may again play a role:
- Rejected Muslim School Bid Reviewed (Detroit News)
The government claims they “want to put bar codes on officially approved dresses and provide those wearing them with written permissions in order to prevent them from being arrested,” but “several fashion designers who sell dresses from their homes derided that idea, saying it would add even more permission slips to the already overprotected lives of Iranian women”:
- Ahmadinejad Steps into Iran’s Dress-code Debate (Washington Post with Foreign Policy)
“In Eastern Libya, 83 percent said freedom of the press was ‘important,’ and 71 percent said it was important to have laws giving equal rights to “religious and tribal groups,’” but “94 percent agreed with the proposition that ‘people should be prohibited from offending’ religions and … 69 percent of Libyans” disapproved of a secular state:
- Eastern Libya Poll Indicates Political Islam Will Closely Follow Democracy (Christian Science Monitor)
His family says “the charges against him are fabricated and that he was in Iran to visit his grandmothers”; on television he said, “Although I was appointed to break into Iran’s intelligence systems and act as a new source for the CIA, I had no intention of undermining the country”:
The claim of responsibility for the sectarian terrorism boasts, “the mujahedeen will never stand with their hands tied while the pernicious Iranian project shows its ugly face”:
- Al Qaeda in Iraq Claims Responsibility for Baghdad Bombings (Christian Science Monitor)
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