Country Report

Nearly five months after demonstrations began in Syria and an estimated 2,000 people have been killed by government forces, U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement calling on President Bashar al-Assad to step down. An executive order signed by the president will impose sanctions on Syria’s government, oil and gas industries and prevent any U.S. citizen from operating and investing in Syria. Freedom House, along with the Project for Middle East Democracy (POMED) and the Genocide Intervention Network/Save Darfur Coalition sent President Obama a letter on August 10 calling for Assad’s immediate ouster and for concrete U.S. action against the Syrian government.

Journalist Shokrukh Saipov was attacked and beaten by unknown assailants on August 10. Saipov is a Kyrgyz citizen and ethnic Uzbek, who runs the news website UzPress, which has commented on ethnic tensions between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. In 2007, his older brother and prominent journalist Alisher Saipov was murdered– Alisher's murder remains unsolved.

Activist and blogger Asmaa Mahfouz was arrested and charged with defaming the Egyptian military via social media websites, after criticizing the military in Facebook postings. Mahfouz is one of the leading voices of the Egyptian revolution and has galvanized Egyptians via YouTube and other online forums to participate in protests. She was released on bail and will face a military tribunal.

Journalist Rahmatullah Darpakhel was kidnapped on August 9 by a group of armed men while shopping at a market in Miranshah. Although Darpakhel, a journalist for AAJ TV and the Urdu daily newspaper Ausafcovered political issues, he was reportedly sensitive to the regional turmoil, refusing to work with foreign media for fear of potential danger. The motivation for the kidnapping is unclear and his whereabouts are unknown.