As the Human Rights Council (HRC) prepares to release its final recommendations on Bahrain, Index joins over 100 NGOs in calling for the country to implement the recommendations.
Daisy Williams reports
CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
Bounty on Salman Rushdie’s life increased
An Iranian religious group has increased a reward offered for the murder of British author Salman Rushdie after blaming him for an anti-Islam film. As Rushdie recounts in his new autobiography, in 1989 Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah...
Iranian forces deployed in Syria to curb rebel dissent
Yesterday Iran confirmed that its revolutionary guards corps (IRGC) forces are present in Syria helping Bashar al-Assad's government fight rebel forces. General Mohammad Ali Jafari, Commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, issued a further warning...
A new argument for censorship?
Anti-Islam film: Padraig Reidy asks if this time is different from previous blasphemy rows
Islam blasphemy riots now self-fulfilling prophecy
The protests against controversial film “Innocence of the Muslims” follow a pattern familiar since the days of the Satanic Verses fatwa, says James Kirchick. And so do the reactions of many western liberals
Response: Myriam Francois-Cerrah | Film protests about much more than religion
Film protests about much more than religion
Reducing the reaction to “The Innocence of Muslims” to merely an issue of hysterical reaction to blasphemy ignores deep unease at the US’s role in the Arab world, says Myriam Francois-Cerrah
Iranian government censor text messages discussing currency crash
The Iranian government began censoring SMS discussions of its plummeting local currency on 10 September, following an exchange rate fall of almost eight per cent against the dollar. Iran’s mobile networks explicitly blocked messages containing the...
Bahraini activist acquitted of Twitter charges but remains in prison
Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was today acquitted of insulting the Sunni citizens of the island of Muharraq on Twitter. Rajab was sentenced to three months in prison on 9 July for his remarks on the site. However, the...
Five bizarre blasphemy cases
An 11-year-old girl with Down’s Syndrome was last week arrested in Pakistan, after an angry mob demanded that the girl be punished for allegedly desecrating the Qur’an --- the Islamic holy book. The young girl is a resident of a Christian...
Senior cleric’s fatwa against protesters sparks outrage
A controversial fatwa issued by a prominent Muslim cleric sanctioning violence against anti-Muslim Brotherhood activists planning demonstrations in Cairo on 24 August, has sent shockwaves throughout Egyptian society, triggering public outcry and...