In The News

Business as Usual

Nermeen Al-Mufti May 7, 2004
The abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners in US custody in Iraq has made headlines around the world this week, with condemnation coming from many heads of state and governments who are appalled by the shocking images they have seen. Yet Iraq's own Governing Council, says this article in Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly, has been virtually silent on the entire issue. Reports of mistreatment have...

Pragmatic Politics

Peter Sturm May 7, 2004
German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's cozy relations with China's leaders are raising some eyebrows in his native land. An annual visitor to China, Kohl has consistently promoted German business interests during his discussions with Beijing. While this may be good for German investors, Kohl's one-issue focus happily ignores China's human rights abuses, says Peter Sturm. Sturm...

Death Sentence for Medics in Libyan HIV Case

Simon Jeffery May 6, 2004
Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were sentenced to death after being found guilty of intentionally infecting 400 Libyan children while working in a hospital in the late 1990s. The scandalous accusation that aid workers would purposefully harm those they are supposed to help has shocked the world. Libyans originally accused the medics of running experiments on children to...

New Prison Images Emerge

New Prison Images Emerge May 6, 2004
The shocking images that have emerged from Iraqi prisons, showing American and British soldiers abusing and humiliating prisoners, have created a "combustible international scandal". The photos, taken with the digital cameras that soldiers brought with them to communicate with families back home, mimic tourist snapshots – except in their horrific content. Without this sort of...

Iraq Prisoner Abuse Draws Global Media Outrage

May 5, 2004
Revelations of Iraqi prisoner abuse and torture at the hands of Americans have shocked the world. A survey of 128 editorials in 44 countries compiled by the US Department of State's Office of Research finds great revulsion and contempt for the American actions. Some papers demand the US be charged with war crimes, while others see the torture as a "major defeat" for the US and...

Gay Asylum-Seeker Rejected as Too Butch

Ben Townley May 5, 2004
The rules of asylum have recently come under greater scrutiny, given their subjective nature. It is up to the applicant to prove to the host country that he or she deserves refuge, but it is fundamentally up to the host country to choose whether the applicant's reasons are sufficient – and this often brings out certain stereotypes and prejudices. A court case in Canada illustrates the...

Iraqi Prison Scandal Hits US in a Big Way

Ilnur Cevic May 5, 2004
The recent uproar in the US over the torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners in US custody is really not big 'news' in the Arab world, says this editorial in the Turkish Daily News. Although the humiliating photos circulating the globe may have "devastating consequences" for the US, writes Ilnur Cevic, the problems are seen by many in Iraq and the Middle East as just another...