Since the beginning of the last decade, human rights violations have escalated in the Middle East and North Africa, as people took the streets to protest against the dire political and economic conditions, and armed conflicts ravaged some countries. Governments in the region have used violent tactics to subdue and silence dissenting voices and systematically targeted political activists and journalists.
In May 2022, repressive regimes continued to target peaceful activists and journalists, suppress popular protests, and restrict public freedoms. In eastern Europe, the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians and caused the displacement of millions of Ukrainians to neighboring countries. The crisis exposed discrimination and double standards by European politicians, officials, journalists, and celebrities, who called for embracing Ukrainian refugees because they share their ethnicity, color, and religion, unlike asylum seekers and migrants from regions outside Europe.
Last month, our team worked alongside partner organizations and dozens of regional and international organizations to generate real change by speaking to decision-makers about practices and methodologies that should be addressed, reformed, or abolished. We also harnessed the power of social media to virtually engage the public regarding issues that affect their individual rights as well as human dignity as a whole.
Here are the most significant results of these efforts:
- Sudan
The de-facto authority lifted the state of emergency and released dozens of political detainees.
Since the military coup in October in Sudan, Euro-Med Monitor and other human rights organizations have documented the de facto military’s violation of the rights of the Sudanese and called for lifting the state of emergency and reversing all illegal measures implemented by the Sudanese army, including imposing a state of emergency and arresting dozens of opponents of politicians.
[Sudan: Military coup shatters democratic path, threatens with authoritarian rule return]
- Yemen
- The first commercial flight from Sanaa International Airport took off after a six-year hiatus due to the conflict.
- An initial agreement was reached between the Yemeni government and the Houthi group to open roads and crossings in Taiz and other governorates.
Over the years of the conflict, Euro-Med Monitor, along with other human rights organizations, has addressed the various parties in Yemen with the need to end all forms of collective punishment against civilians, distance them from all military actions, and allow humanitarian response operations to work normally.
[Yemen: Ending the siege of Taiz is an urgent humanitarian priority]
- Syria
The Syrian regime released hundreds of prisoners, some of whom spent 10 years in prison, in a presidential amnesty.
Over the years, Euro-Med Monitor and a large number of human rights organizations have documented the horrific violations that detainees are subjected to inside the prisons of the Syrian regime. They called on the concerned parties to exert maximum pressure on the regime to release all prisoners of conscience and to end human rights violations.
[Execution and torture to death could be the fate of thousands of missing persons in Syria]
- Bahrain
On 11 May, the Bahraini authorities released prisoner of conscience Ahmed Jaber Reda due to his illness. According to his family, he contracted tuberculosis in Juw Central Prison after serving about four years of his 10-year sentence.
Over the past several years, Euro-Med Monitor and other human rights organizations have documented violations against prisoners of conscience inside Bahraini prisons and implemented numerous pressure campaigns aimed at pushing the authorities to provide health care for sick detainees and release all prisoners of conscience in the Kingdom.
[Bahrain: Punitive measures against detainee Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja may amount to slow killing]