Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer and women's activist sentenced to 11 years in prison sent a letter in March 2010 to the head of Iran's judiciary.  The letter was released for the public today: "Your Judge confirmed that Iranian women cannot be ignored under any pretext," Sotoudeh wrote.  Isa Sahahrkhiz, an Iranian journalist and one of the founders of the Society for the Defense of Press Freedom in Iran ...

Today, Egyptian Major General Mamdouh Shaheen, a member of the ruling military council, announced that there will be 504 seats chosen by public elections, half of which will be elected by the single winner system and the other half by list-based candidacy. However, political parties and citizens have expressed concern over the single winner system and "favor list-based candidacy" which they argue "encourages citizens to elect representatives based on political platforms ...

In response to opposition group al-Wefaq's withdrawal from the National Dialogue, Human Rights First today called on the U.S. government to "immediately and publicly declare whether it still supports the Bahraini government’s National Dialogue." After his recent trip to Bahrain, Brian Dooley reported that "a wide range of human rights defenders in Bahrain told us last week the dialogue is cosmetic, and the U.S. government is losing credibility by being associated with ...

Egypt chose a new finance minister on Sunday as the cabinet reshuffle continued in an effort to appease the protesters that were participating in the sit-in in Tahrir Square.  Samir Radwan will be replaced by Hazem el-Beblawi by an economic adviser and several deputies to Prime Minister Essam Sharaf. The newly appointed finance minister promised on Sunday to implement a maximum for public sector wages in an effort to bridge ...

On Tuesday, The Brookings Institution held a forum on “The European Union Response to the Arab Spring” featuring Catherine Ashton, the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Police.  The forum was moderated by Martin Indyk, the vice president and director of the foreign policy department at the Brookings Institution.  Ashton spoke on the role of the European Union in supporting the Arab Spring. For full text, ...

Dina Guirguis from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy analyzed the growing frustration within Egypt regarding the pace of constitutional change. Guirguia presented an argument of conflict and uncertainty within the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), especially concerning the extent to which SCAF would suppress popular protest. She noted the disagreements between SCAF and the Islamists, especially the Freedom and Justice and Party of the Muslim Brotherhood. ...

Cited in a report by the National Journal, the once 'new face' of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has excommunicated from the organization in order to create the populist Egyptian Current Party. Islam Lofty believes that Islam should not play a prominent role in Egyptian politics, and defines his new and more secular group as a "civic party with an Islamic frame of reference." Lofty created the new party to reflect the wants and ...

On Wednesday, Robin Wright, Distinguished Scholar for the United States Institute of Peace and the Wilson Center, discussed her new book Rock the Casbah, which focuses on a new phase of Islamic activism termed “counter-jihad” by Wright. The discussion was moderated by Hala Esfandiari, Director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center. Video footage of the event can be found online. For full notes, continue reading. Or click here ...

Yesterday, the IFES released a report detailing Tunisia's new election process which started July 11. Elections will take place on October 23, 2011 for in-country voters holding a valid state-issued ID and will begin October 20 for out-of-country voters holding a valid passport. Currently, the transitional government in Tunisia is comprised of interim president Fouad Mebazaa, prime minister Beji Caid el Sebsi as well as a cabinet. The October 23rd elections ...

Barbara Surk argues in the Associated Press that the approach of Bahrain's rulers to the National Dialogue depends on "how far Saudi Arabia is willing to allow concessions," since "for the powerful Saudi royal family and its Gulf partners, Bahrain represents a line that cannot be crossed." Marina Ottoway, director of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, notes that the dialogue is meant to "defuse criticism of the ...

The Conference for Change in Syria took place from May 31 to June 2 in Antalya, Turkey, and established a 31-member Consultative Council that will be responsible for organizing and monitoring the activities related to the conference.  The conference also issued a final resolution demanding for President Bashar al-Assad's resignation and handing leadership to the vice president.  According to the resolution, the vice president will reside over the transitional period, ...

Yesterday, the Muslim Brotherhood announced that its Freedom and Justice Party has formed a coalition with the Wafd Party, one of the oldest liberal parties, for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The announcement surprised some, as the two parties have had a longstanding rivalry. Essam el-Erian, vice president of the Freedom and Justice Party, predicted that the coalition "will dictate the electoral outcome,” and urged other parties to join.  He said "we want a parliament ...

There were demonstrations Friday in several Jordanian cities including Tafileh, Karak, and Thiban demanding the resignation of Parliament and Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit. Protests also occurred in Amman demanding the abolition of the State Security Court. The Jordanian National Dialogue Committee, appointed by King Abdullah II, announced their recommendations for electoral reforms last week. The recommendations, submitted to the Prime Minister, propose increasing the number of seats in the Parliament and ...

Marina Ottaway and Danial Anas Kaysi from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published a commentary entitled "Iraq: Coalition Under Stress." The report highlights the political brinkmanship occurring within Iraq's national unity government, brinkmanship that has the potential to bring down the government. The authors highlight the tensions between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is becoming an "increasingly presidential prime minister" and Council of Representative Speaker Osama Nujeifi, who is determined to assert ...