Why Shariah?

In fact, for most of its history, Islamic law offered the most liberal and humane legal principles available anywhere in the world. Today, when we invoke the harsh punishments prescribed by Shariah for a handful of offenses, we rarely acknowledge the high standards of proof necessary for their implementation. Before an adultery conviction can typically be obtained, for example, the accused must confess four times or four adult male witnesses […]

CIA facility in Tunisia ?

From his prison cell in Bizerte (65km north of Tunis), The Tunisian prisoner Ramzi Bettibi managed to smuggle a very alarming letter that found its way on to the Internet (available in French) In his letter, Ramzi describes a secret detention facility near Bizerte city, where he has been interrogated by CIA and French-speaking agents about his alleged ties […].

The Story of Lofti Lagha, Prisoner 660

Overlooked in the reports about Guantánamo detainee Abdullah bin Omar, a Tunisian who, on Sunday, was sent back to the country of his birth, where there are fears that he will be subjected to torture and abuse, is the story of the other Tunisian who, shackled and bound, shared a US plane with him. Unlike bin Omar, who was represented by lawyers who have do […].

Internet and the Public Sphere: Tunisian Cyberactivism

The development of Internet in Tunisia comes to reconfigure the Tunisian political scene. Indeed, for a few years, one has noted in Tunisia new forms of activism, of expression of social criticism on Internet. This reappropriation of the technological developments leads to new militant practices developing independently of the traditional institutions (lef […].

Free Monem campaign

As the world celebrates World Press Freedom Day an Egyptian blogger, Abdel Monem Mahmoud, sits in jail, his only crime his desire for a more open Egyptian society. We cannot let the regime succeed in silencing him. We have to show the Egyptian regime that when you imprison a blogger, you don’t silence his voice, you AMPLIFY it! How? By taking action! Here’ […].

Unblock Dailymotion campaign

Après les sites et blogs tunisiens censurés, le régime de Ben Ali vient de s’attaquer à Dailymotion. Bloqué depuis le 1er avril 2007, ce service d’hébergement et de partage vidéo est devenu, il est vrai, l’un des espaces d’expression favoris des Tunisiens. Par son biais, ils ont pu faire partager leurs trouvailles et mettre en ligne des vidéos impossible […].

Ben Ali’s dictatorship is creating more Islamists

The deadly clashes in the suburbs of the Tunisian capital between security forces and Islamist gunmen at the end of December and in early January took by surprise those who were under the illusion that an Arab autocrat of Ben Ali’s ilk could learn anything from Ibn Khaldoun. According to official sources, the clashes left 12 gunmen dead and 15 under arrest […].

From Islam as an Identity to Secular Politics

A religious intellectual is more concerned with religious truths than with religion as an identity. The Islam of religious intellectuals is the Islam of truths and the question of an identity is peripheral to this. A religious intellectual must, first and foremost, concern himself with faith, religious experience, differing religious readings and creating […].

Tunisian Prison Map

The map consists of a mashup work (a technique of mixing composite applications and services exposed on the web to form a new service). This map displays: An approximate listing of Tunisian prisons indicated on a Google Maps API + GMapEZ. In order to elaborate the list, I have pulled data from Human Rights NGOs report as well as a temporary list of Tunis […].

Tunisia: Opening prisons to the world

As the technology becomes more and more accessible, the more of these kinds of sites will inevitably spring up, pulling together maps, case histories, background research documents, advocacy tools, and, yes, videos, and the simpler it becomes to try to shine a light… I’d be interested to learn of similar initiatives from around the world, so get in touch i […].

Tunisia : Journalist From Website www.bakchich.info Expelled

Reporters sans Frontières (Paris) PRESS RELEASE Reporters Without Borders has criticised the Tunisian authorities for expelling French journalist Léa Labaye, of the satirical website http://www.Bakchich.info, who was sent back to Paris immediately after arrival in Tunisia on 16 September 2006, without any official explanation. “This expulsion demonstra […].

Islamizing Democracy Or Democratizing Islam ?

As the summer heat rises, it seems, to cause the human folly to follow suit. The guns of August are again at work in many spots in the heart of the so-called Arab world. And the war planners are busy in tweaking its goings and toolings. As it moves from “shock and awe” to more insidious but hopefully -for its planners-moreeffective approach, the so-called […].

Aoun’s MOU with Hezbollah dangerous for Israel and the USA

Aoun’s MOU with Hezbollah is dangerous for Israel and the United States. Last November, Aoun was feted in Washington by neo-con members of the Bush administration and pro-Israel members of Congress for his leadership of the so-called “Cedar Revolution,” the movement to chase Syria out of Lebanon after it was falsely accused of being behind the assassinatio […].