Citizens Speak Out. As calls continue across the world for governments to respect basic human dignities and allow truly representative governments that work for the benefit of all citizens, people gather in countries that include Bahrain, Belarus, Egypt, Ivory Coast (Cote D'Ivoire) Libya, Pakistan, Uganda, Syria, Swaziland and Yemen.
Zainab Alkhawaja, daughter of prominent activist and former president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja started a hunger strike Monday evening to call for the immediate release of her father, husband, brother-in-law and uncle. She announced her hunger strike on her website in a letter to US President Barack Obama, explaining that she chose him because she no longer had any faith in her own government's concern for citizens rights or lives. Meanwhile, the UK-based Bahrain Freedom Movement spoke out against support by the US and the UK for the participation of Saudi Arabian troops in the repression of Bahraini citizens, stating that these governments should now also be held accountable for the crimes against humanity and other violations of human rights being inflicted on the citizens of Bahrain.
Following an explosive subway blast Monday in the capital city of Minsk, Belarus, where 12 people died and at least 200 were injured, the government immediately arrested dozens of activists and others who had been speaking up for greater democratic freedoms, with some who are still detained.
A new UN report has concluded that the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is ready to rule as an independent state, emphasizing at the same time the importance of reunification with the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza and achieving peace with Israel for continued progress.
In Egypt, where the caretaker military government has recently been criticized for not supporting the progress to an openly democratic society, a lawyer for Egyptian Maikel Nabil reports that his client was tried in a near-secret court setting on a charge of insulting the military, where he was sentenced to three years in prison. According to UK-based War Resisters' International, the arrest and sentencing of the 25-year-old peace activist and online journalist Mr. Nabil violate his right to freedom of expression as protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is a party. Meanwhile, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was admitted to a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on Tuesday after feeling unwell and is reported to be in stable condition. With questioning of Mr. Mubarak and his two sons continuing, other former high-ranking officials have also been detained on charges of abuse of power, including former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, as well as the former chief of staff and ministers of tourism and housing.
One youth was killed in Syria as around 500 Damascus University students held their first-ever rally Monday to protest recent deaths and to call for more political freedom. Meanwhile, the Damascus Declaration group, which has been calling for a democratic system in the country since 2005, estimates that 200 people have lost their lives thus far to the violent suppression of protests and they called for the support of the Arab League to impose sanctions on the Syrian regime in an effort to bring positive change. Since Sunday, Syrian security forces have surrounded and locked down the port city of Baniyas, blocking roads with tanks and cutting most power and telephone lines, with residents reporting 13 killed, dozens injured, and many in the city now lacking food and medicine. Troops also stormed the nearby town of Bayda, where one resident stated that bullets were falling like rain. Human Rights Watch also said that government forces in several cities blocked both the wounded and ambulances from getting to hospitals, leading doctors to treat patients in private homes or mosques in Daraa, Harasta and Douma.
On Tuesday, amidst the recent surrender of former President Laurent Gbagbo, the French government announced a €400 million aid package to Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), to help provide emergency supplies, public services, and economic support toward the country's reconstruction. President Ouattara also called for all parties to lay down their arms as he urged his supporters to refrain from retaliation and pledged to create a truth and reconciliation commission.
In Uganda, three minority party leaders were arrested by security forces after they called for a "Walk to Work" day in protest of rising fuel prices, with police informing them the walk was illegal. Police in Swaziland arrested at least 13 people who had planned to call for reforms in commemoration of the 38th anniversary of a ban on political parties.
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