Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)

Nineteen rights organisations condemn the ongoing secret detention of Mazen Darwish and four of his colleagues from the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, after seven of their colleagues and one visitor began trial under the military penal code.

In advance of the Formula 1, 50 IFEX members and partners call for detained activists and human rights defenders to be freed, including blogger and activist Abduljalil Al-Singace and human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, founder of IFEX member the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, who is ailing in prison since starting a hunger strike on 8 February.

The human rights defender had entered Egypt in the last few months without any problems, leading CIHRS to believe that the denial of entry was politically motivated and in collaboration with the Bahraini authorities.

The IFEX-TMG is alarmed at attacks and prison sentences based on religious morality charges, as well as the use of force by police on demonstrators.

An open letter by 44 organisations calls Iraq’s proposed Information Technology Crimes law a threat to the fundamental freedoms necessary for the evolution of free speech and a vibrant press. The law will come to vote in the Iraqi Council of Representatives in April.

A coalition of 200 NGOs from 27 countries is demanding that the UN Security Council immediately unite and pass a resolution calling on the government to bring an immediate end to its indiscriminate shelling and attacks on peaceful protesters.

According to a trustworthy source within the country, Darwish has been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment during his interrogation and imprisonment in the same premises, and there are reasons to believe that his life is in danger.

CIHRS, ANHRI, EOHR, and other rights organisations applaud the Supreme Judicial Council for instigating an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the case, and recommend that the findings of the investigation be made public.