Morocco: Rejection of New Constitution Draft

(Picture above from CNN.com)

Just recently, the King released a draft constitution regarding the alleviation of some of the King's power as well as making the judiciary independent. Unfortunately, protesters did not agree with the draft due to an issue with making the judiciary independent and several peaceful protests were held on April 25th, the largest in Casablanca.

Protesters refused the draft due to the fact that the constitution was written by the king's own governmental people. Due to severe corruption in the Moroccan government there has been disputes on the regulation of government officials and this shows the issue when the new constitution is written by these corrupted government officials. Bribery is one of the largest issues in the government and "many believe that bribery in Morocco needs to be tackled before any reforms can actually take place." This is evident in the fact that "Morocco was recently ranked the 89th most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International." (CNN)

A powerful quote came from a student regarding the issue on the government as well as suggesting the fact that the constitution needs to come from the people:

"I came here today because we are Moroccans and we want a democratic state ... we are not in a democratic state and we want democracy, liberty and dignity," said engineering student Tehani, 20, who did not want to give her full name and is a member of Fevrier 20. "We want a new constitution but a constitution who comes from 'la masse populaire,' not from one person," she told CNN at the rally in Casablanca. "We want a committee which represents all the Moroccans, we want a committee of a constitution which we choose."

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/04/24/morocco.protests/index.html?iref=allsearch

United Arab Emirates Update!

On April 10th a human rights activist was arrested in the UAE. Ahmed Mansoor, an activist that "recently called on the government to establish an elected parliament as well as give more freedoms to citizens" was recently honored by Human Rights Watch for his efforts to promote human rights within the UAE. The entire case is raising suspicion because the police had come to his house the night before at 3 AM to question him about his car. Other human rights activists are commenting that the UAE is detaining him to scare and intimidate other people that agree with the views of Ahmed.

The reports on why he is being held is inconsistent as well. Reuters was unable to reach the police spokesman and the local paper, The National, stated that the police "said Mansoor was arrested in connection with a criminal case". On April 12th the public was told that Mansoor was arrested for charges on alcohol since it is illegal under Islamic sharia law for muslims to be in procession of or to consume alcohol. Although it is sold in hotels and bars, there was no evidence that he was carrying any.

His location is also being withheld too and Human Rights Watch called on the government to "disclose his whereabouts and condition".

"A day before his arrest, Mansoor had sent an email to colleagues and friends saying he was worried police would try to plant something in his car to create a reason for his arrest."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/12/us-emirates-activists-idUSTRE73B2EP20110412

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/uae-detains-rights-activist-rights-group-says-54472.html

Chad Update

This is a video about the child soldiering that is going on in Chad. It also discusses the rehabilitation program that UNICEF provides. http://youtu.be/i6y2dqEDC3o

Update on Syria

On March 21st demonstrators in Dara'a, a large city in Syria, set fire to the ruling Baath Party’s headquarters and other government buildings. Police officers fired live ammunition into the crowds, killing at least one and wounding scores of others, witnesses said. President Assad made some “conciliatory gestures” to stop the protest, but crowds continued to gather around the biggest and most popular mosque in Dara’a, chanting demands of release of all political prisoners, trials for those who shot, the abolition of Syria’s 48 year emergency law, and an end to corruption. By March 23rd political officers set a crackdown on the protests in Dara’a, expanding police forces. High ranking aides stated that no peaceful demonstrators would be shot at, and apparently spoke of lifting the 48 year emergency law.

On March 26th Assad announced the release of almost 200 political prisoners in Syria, attempting to relieve the crisis. But by the sunset of this same day, there were Baath party offices burning in major cities, and police forces began to fire open rounds to the protesting public. On March 26th the confirmed death toll of protestors was at 61. On March 28th Assad accepted the resignation of his cabinet, as tens of thousands of government supporters took to the streets of the capital in an effort to counter a rising tide of pro-democracy protests in several cities. This can be considered one of the rare moments where the ruling Syrian government took a response to the rising pressures of the public.

Assad first addressed the nation after the recent bloody protests on March 30th. He blamed a broad conspiracy outside of Syria’s borders for Syria’s turmoil, and offered no concessions to ease his party’s grip on public life. The government also announced it was creating a committee to address the public’s concerns, but said nothing of immediate action of concessions. On April 4th thousands of Syrians took the streets of cities around Syria, chanting “we want freedom”. Syrian police and security officials responded with tear gas, electrified batons, and bullets. The protests were organized via social networking sites and Friday prayer meeting groups.

Yesterday, April 4th, Assad announced that Adel Safar, the minister of agriculture for the past eight years, will be appointed as the new prime minister. Thousands of Syrians marched the streets of Douman, chanting antigovernment slogans as they buried eight of the victims of the protests. Right now the tolls of the death are at over 100, with countless arrests and many wounded.

Every day Syria is beckoning closer to a government overthrown by its people, and to a happier, safe, and healthy life as a Syrian citizen. As we have seen in Egypt, the power of the public is overwhelming, and can ultimately change the way a nation works. We will see in these upcoming weeks if Syria is one of these nations.

Sources:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/syria/index.html

http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/amid-ongoing-protests-syria-opposition-says-assad-wants-talks-1.354227

For a video of the protests click here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12936008

U.A.E. Update

While migrant workers rights are still a problem in the U.A.E., privacy has also been a major concern for the last several years. In August of 2010 bans were planned (but not carried through) for Blackberry mobile phones, because the government was unable to intercept and monitor communications, messages and emails. Because Blackberrys send encrypted date to computer servers outside of the two countries, the governments do not have access to it, despite trying to negotiate with RIM, the makers of Blackberry.

The UAE denies that this issue involves censorship, and claims that Blackberrys "lack compliance with local laws that raise judicial, social and national security concerns". This issue follows a similar one last year when the UAE's telecoms regulator, TRA, attempted to install spyware on Blackberry handsets, as well as a refusal in 2007 for TRA to have access to encrypted networks so they could monitor email and other data.

However, in October of 2010, only three days before the scheduled ban, RIM (the makers of blackberry) and the UAE reached an agreement that would allow Blackberry's to not be banned. However, neither the UAE or RIM would discuss the details of what changed, though RIM stated it would make no changes to security architecture.

"As such we can only hypothesize that some kind of workaround has been agreed in terms and conditions between the UAE regulator and local carriers ...to gain access to e-mails sent over the Blackberry service," Tony Cripps, principal analyst at Ovum said.

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11499755

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10830485

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2010/08/100802_witn_uae_blackberry_page.shtml

Update on Morocco

Since the protests back in the end of February, there hasn't really been any significant protests proceeding this major event. The protests though has influenced the government to change certain policies and as of recent has now begun to adopt an anti-corruption plan. This plan would be giving the people more protection from the government and certain corruptions that may happen. These protections would be for witnesses, victims and whistleblowers against people would have power such as public officers from imprisonment and torture.

According to YahooNews these other changes have also been announced to help change the civil and political system:

"King Mohammed recently announced sweeping democratic reforms, including the introduction of an elected prime minister and broader personal freedoms.

He promised a series of major measures including a commission to revise the constitution, independence for the justice system, separation of powers, and enhanced powers for the prime minister, apparently presaging a move towards a constitutional monarchy".

The announcement, the first after the protest made on February 20th, of these reforms were made in March stating from the King: “Our initiative for a constitutional reform is considered an essential step to reinforce our democratic and developmental approach. We will work on reinforcing this through continuing political, economic, social and cultural reforms in order to ensure that all institutions are playing their roles,” said the King.

Video and article: http://www.euronews.net/2011/03/10/political-reform-pledged-for-morocco/

Works Cited

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110401/wl_africa_afp/moroccocorruptionjusticereforms_20110401210342

http://www.euronews.net/2011/03/10/political-reform-pledged-for-morocco/