In December, state run TV channel Al-Iraqiya broadcast "confessions" by men said to be al-Hashemi’s bodyguards saying that they had killed police officers and officials from ministries in exchange for payoffs from al-Hashemi.

The BICI found a pattern of serious human rights abuses such as the use of excessive force against peaceful protesters, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and ill-treatment of detainees, and denial of fair trial guarantees.

Security men raided the newspaper office at midnight and confiscated all the copies of its printed issue determined to cause the publisher the maximum loss possible, that very issue is the first after a ban lasted for 4 months

Two other activists, Ali Nejati and Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, who are serving one and five-year prison terms, respectively, on national security charges related to their independent trade union activities

When Sanad’s brother, Mark, and members of his support committee went to Tora prison on the morning of 22 January to await his release

Lawyers and families were denied details of the charges against the men for months and were denied access to many of the court proceedings.

The police and the judiciary remain dysfunctional across the country. Amnesty International said that while in some areas courts are reportedly processing civil cases

Human Rights Watch called on the authorities to unconditionally release all journalists and bloggers currently detained or facing charges related to their exercise of fundament rights

In March New York University announced that it would hire the United Kingdom construction firm Mott MacDonald to monitor labor conditions on its Abu Dhabi campuses

In a televised speech, Field Marshall Hussein Tantawy announced an end to the state of emergency except in cases of what he called “the crime of thuggery,” mirroring an equally meaningless claim by the deposed president

The Tunisian government has issued comments about the national media and made media appointments that have raised concerns, Human Rights Watch said. Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali

After rising in the index for several years in a row, Iraq fell 22 places this year, from 130th to 152nd (almost to the position it held in 2008, when it was 158th). There were various reasons.

These stations have repeatedly complained about Iran’s jamming but European and US satellite operators have had to yield to political and commercial pressure from a government that constantly violate its citizens’ basic rights

In 2007, Parastou Dokouhaki was arrested, along with 32 other women, as she participated in a protest following the trial of fellow activist Sussan Tahmasbi and was charged with

Egypt Revolution Party: party representatives raised concerns in a meeting over the need for “security” and the obligation to respect “Islamic values”, justifying the continuation of the state of emergency

Human Rights Watch has confirmed the deaths of 270 protesters and bystanders during attacks by government security forces and gangs

Human Rights Watch and other groups have repeatedly raised concerns about the risk of ill-treatment and torture of detainees in national security custody

The Oxfam Novib/PEN Awards are an annual event to recognise writers who have been persecuted for their work and continue working despite the consequences

In early August the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which issues authoritative guidance on interpreting the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

The government has officially acknowledged executing at least 31 people already this year, although Amnesty International has received information suggesting at least another 22 people were put to death

Sultan Haib, one of the Somali nationals being held in Zhuravichi, told Amnesty International that detention for the purposes of deportation is pointless

Khardmand is a journalist with the monthly Gozaresh Sanat Chap. According to her husband, Masoud Lavassani

According to reports by various news agencies, Fatemeh Kheradmand, a journalist and the wife of former political prisoner and journalist Massoud Lavasani

He also criticised resistance groups for injuring civilians and putting them at risk. He wrote: “Many citizens also fell victims of the continuous negligence of the resistance groups who show little

Several of the men suffered injuries including broken limbs, while one man had two arms broken. They were later moved to two local hospitals

Human Rights Watch has documented repeated abusesby both Hamas and PA officials against each other’s members as well as against internal critics and demonstrators, including arbitrary detentionand torture

The law was to allow more police control over civil institutions but was drew back due to severe public rejection, until the currently launched crusade against civil

ANHRI says: “these repetitive assaults against activists and opinion makers come in the context of a gagging campaign, and as a blunt violation to the right to freedom of expression reaching the extent of endangering personal safety and murder attempts

Human Rights Watch understands that several hundred low-wage migrant workers, primarily from South and Southeast Asia, have also been barred from leaving Bahrain because of non-debt related disputes with their employers.

After raiding 43 Internet cafés in Birjand (in the southern province of Khorasan) on 1 January, the police closed six of them for failing to respect security measures and the rules on the use of censorship circumvention software