Cabinet proposals to amend and implement Egypt’s 1952 “Law on Political Treachery” have negative implications for the country’s political freedoms and upcoming election. In a televised interview on Dream TV on October 20, 2011, Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) Maj. Gen.

Medical staff convicted by a military court of alleged serious crimes during the period of anti-government protests in Bahrain in early 2011 were subjected to abuse and torture in detention.

Many parties competing in Tunisia’s election for a constituent assembly on October 23, 2011, believe that basic freedoms should be protected, but they disagree about circumstances under which freedoms could be limited, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper issued today. The paper was prepared to help voters make decisions based on the parties’ stances on basic human rights and freedoms.

The draconian fine imposed on Venezuelan television station Globovisión for reporting on a prison riot harms freedom of expression in the country. The administrative action against the only television channel available without cable that remains critical of President Hugo Chávez’s government could undermine Venezuelans’ ability to obtain diverse information.

Paris-Sorbonne University and its Emirati partner, Sorbonne Abu Dhabi University, should break their six-month silence and condemn the trial and imprisonment of the Sorbonne lecturer Nasser bin Ghaith. Bin Ghaith, who has lectured at Sorbonne Abu Dhabi University since 2009, was teaching an intensive class the very week he was arrested, on April 9, 2011, according to interviews and documents obtained by Human Rights Watch.

Tunisia’s interim government should drop its criminal investigation of a TV station for “defaming” Islam over the airing of a controversial film. The interim authorities should respect free expression and approve pending amendments to abolish the “defaming of religion” law.

The families of five activists jailed six months ago for “publicly insulting” United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials made a joint plea on October 9, 2011, to the country’s rulers to stop the activists’ trial and release them.

The trial of five activists detained nearly six months ago for “publicly insulting” the United Arab Emirates president and other top officials is fundamentally unfair. The charges should be dropped and the activists released.

Iranianauthoritiesshouldimmediately free pastor Yousef Nadarkhani and drop all charges against him. Nadarkhani, who has been charged with apostasy and is in Rasht prison in northern Iran, faces possible execution.  

Egypt’s state security prosecutor should immediately close “treason” investigations into Egyptian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) accused of receiving foreign funding.