Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Our monthly roundup spotllghts Egypt’s latest efforts to control the media (and rainbow flags), the Kurdish referendum (and aftershocks), a campaign to tackle self-censorship in Palestine and much more.

A joint statement by the Association of Progressive Communications, IFEX and 64 co-signatories at the UN-HRC 36 warns of the threat to human rights posed by recent attacks on the right to use encryption technology, in Turkey and across the globe.

In August, human rights defenders Issa Al-Nukhaifi and Essam Koshak were brought to court over their human rights activities, where they learned of charges against them.

Whether authoritarian regimes, so-called democracies or warring armed groups, those who wield power in the Middle East and North Africa have taken internet censorship to new levels and stepped up their individual campaigns against critics, journalists, and opponents this month.

A group of human rights activists and civil society organisations have issued a public call urging greater solidarity and strategic coordination to address the unabated assault on fundamental freedoms, including the fundamental right to freedom of expression and opinion, in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

“Rising for Freedom” (Talaana Aaharih) magazine has been banned in Douma, Syria and two of its journalists sentenced to prison over an article published earlier this year. The offices of the magazine and NGOs including the Violations Documentation Centre (VDC) were shut down in March 2017, and VDC was closed again this week after being attacked by a mob.

This July, protesters in Israel and Morocco were met with violence and journalists were subjected to harassment and denial of access, Lebanon banned protests, and 150 organisations met in Doha to discuss threats to freedom of expression in general, and the case of Al Jazeera in particular.

Prominent human rights defender Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli is still being held at the Central Prison in Kuwait and risks facing deportation from the country, according to reports received by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR).