Liberté 16

‘US Promotes Network to Foil Digital Spying’ …while Sayada Builds Network to Foster Digital Justice

That the Mesh Sayada case study has been presented in the context of US surveillance operatives is relevant to one discussion but is meanwhile a superficial and imprecise presentation of the project for citizens who participated in its development and to whom it belongs. The mesh network was not brought to Sayada; it was built in Sayada as a locally-devised, collaboratively-implemented initiative to promote Open Source and Open Data principles.

Tunisia: Routine muzzling of dissent mars upcoming presidential elections

Next Sunday, 25 October 2009, Tunisia will hold presidential and legislative elections in which it is virtually guaranteed that the incumbent, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, who has been in power for the last 22 years and is now opposed by three other candidates, will be re-elected as president. As well, the ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) party is expected to retain a majority of the seats in the parliament.

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 […].

Tunisia : independent but not free

Tunisia celebrates the 50th anniversary of independence this month, but hopes raised by the end of French rule and early reforms have long evaporated. The country is governed and owned by General Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. But opposition groups have begun to suppress their divisions and make an attempt at collective resistance. […].

Deterioration of rights situation in Tunisia

Tunisia is currently in the limelight of freedom of expression and other human rights groups as the country controversially is to organise the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) on 15-18 November. The decision to hold the summit in Tunis has been termed scandalous since Tunisian authorities prohibit any free circulation of information. […].

Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East -3-

To speak of dictatorship as being the immemorial way of doing things in the Middle East is simply untrue. It shows ignorance of the Arab past, contempt for the Arab present, and lack of concern for the Arab future. Creating a democratic political and social order in Iraq or elsewhere in the region will not be easy. But it is possible, and there are increas […].

Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East -2-

To speak of dictatorship as being the immemorial way of doing things in the Middle East is simply untrue. It shows ignorance of the Arab past, contempt for the Arab present, and lack of concern for the Arab future. Creating a democratic political and social order in Iraq or elsewhere in the region will not be easy. But it is possible, and there are increas […].

Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East -1-

To speak of dictatorship as being the immemorial way of doing things in the Middle East is simply untrue. It shows ignorance of the Arab past, contempt for the Arab present, and lack of concern for the Arab future. Creating a democratic political and social order in Iraq or elsewhere in the region will not be easy. But it is possible, and there are increas […].

Stifled Tunisia gets a UN reward

No Arab ruler pays more lip service to democracy and press freedom, while simultaneously silencing critics and independent journalists, than Tunisian President Zein al-Abedin ben Ali. Addressing the state-run Tunisian Association of Newspapers Editors (TANE) and the Association of Journalists (AJ) recently on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, Ben Ali cla […].

Faith, Freedom, and Reason

Can there be such a thing as Islamic human rights? Do the commandments set forth in the Koran have eternal validity, or can they be modified according to the demands of reason? Iranian clergyman Mohammad Shabestari has devoted his life to exploring these issues in modern religious and political Islamic thinking. By Roman Seidel Mohammad Mojtahed Shabesta […].

Contraction and Expansion of Women’s Rights

Q. New religious thinking in our society has remained consistently silent on women’s issues. There may be a number of reasons for this silence : it may be that some of the thinkers involved feel that there’s no such thing as women-specific issues ; or that women’s problems will be solved when the fundamental problems of society are solved and that the more […].

Living in Arabic

The debate on the need to reform Islam, the Arabs and their language — by adopting demotic rather than classical Arabic — continues. Before his death last September argued such a debate reflects an extraordinary lack of the quotidian experience of living in Arabic The debate on the need to reform Islam, the Arabs and their language — by […].

The Arab condition.

My impression is that many Arabs today feel that what has been taking place in Iraq over the last two months is little short of a catastrophe. My impression is that many Arabs today feel that what has been taking place in Iraq over the last two months is little short of a catastrophe. True, Saddam Hussein’s regime was a despicable one in every way and it […].