Clinton to Visit Algeria, Saharawi Congress Underway
Following a call by Mauritania and Algeria for dialogue, the State Department confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Algeria next week to address concerns over the crisis in Mali. In Washington, the Senate Intelligence Committee
October 26, 2012
Category: Algeria, Civil Liberties, Civil Society, Featured, Freedom, Human Rights, Libya, Morocco, US foreign policy, Western Sahara
US-Morocco Co-Op Bolstered as Moroccan Economy Sputters
Last month U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted the first round of the U.S.-Morocco Strategic Dialogue, and on Friday the State Department released a statement on initial progress and goals for the partnership. The statement was generally ...
October 16, 2012
Category: Featured, Foreign Aid, Gulf Cooperation Council, Human Rights, Morocco, US foreign policy, Western Sahara
Western Sahara Autonomy Discussed, Violence Condemned
King Mohammed VI of Morocco announced his country's commitment to talks on Western Sahara, offering to grant an autonomous status within its sovereignty. However, the Polisario Front, which is fighting for independence and supported by Algeria, rejected the proposal. ...
October 2, 2012
Category: Algeria, Civil Liberties, Featured, Freedom, Human Rights, Morocco, Protests, United Nations, Western Sahara
Moroccans Handed Prison Terms for Unauthorized Demonstrations
Five members of the February 20 Movement have been sentenced to jail for eight to ten months by a Moroccan court. The decision came after the group hosted an unauthorized demonstration. Human rights activists in the country estimate that nearly ...
September 12, 2012
Category: Diplomacy, Featured, Morocco, Protests, US foreign policy, Western Sahara
Authorities Shutter Moroccan Party Conference
Moroccan authorities shut down the closing day of a youth conference held in Tangiers by the ruling PJD due to "security concerns." The last minute decision came just after the announcement of the addition of remarks from Prime Minister ...
Potential Political Shake Up in Algerian Parliament
The three-party Islamist coalition, the Green Algeria Alliance, faces possible dissolution as one of its parties, the Movement of Society for Peace, reels from internal turmoil. Amar Ghoul of the Movement recently resigned and at least 20 MPs loyal to ...
August 1, 2012
Category: Algeria, Featured, Islamist movements, Parliament, Protests, Western Sahara
Moroccan Preachers Call for Journalist’s Death
Three prominent Salafi preachers in Morocco have called for journalist Mokhtar el-Ghzioui to be put to death after Ghzioui recently advocated on state television legalizing sex outside of marriage. The three preachers spoke out in support of a fourth ...
July 7, 2012
Category: Featured, Human Rights, Islamist movements, Morocco, Political Islam, Political transition, Protests, Western Sahara
Moroccan Cartoonist’s Trial Delayed
The trial of Khalid Gueddar, the first political cartoonist to ever depict the king, had his trial delayed from Wednesday to September 5th. Gueddar was arrested two weeks ago and was told the following day that his charges were for ...
POMED Report: Analyzing the FY13 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bills
The Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) released a report contrasting the House and Senate Appropriations bills for fiscal year 2013, examining the potential impact of these bills on foreign aid and democracy assistance. Among the notable findings are additional ...
June 12, 2012
Category: Bahrain, Civil Society, Congress, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Featured, Foreign Aid, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Legislation, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, POMED, Reports, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UN Human Rights Council, US foreign policy, Western Sahara, Yemen
Human Rights Violations in Morocco Condemned
In a report presented in Rabat on Tuesday, Amnesty International called on the Moroccan government to address instances of police brutality, torture, and the repression of free expression. The report detailed excessive force used against peaceful demonstrators of the February ...
U.N. Blames Morocco for the Use of Violence against Sahrouis
In El Aaiun, the northern city of Western Sahara, Moroccan police officers were accused (Fr) to torture a Sahroui, Bazeid Abdallah Lehmad. According to the Sahara Press Service, Lehmad was part of a wedding when Morrocan policemen took him away and later was ...
Liberated Moroccan Rapper Promises Future Protest Songs
Moroccan rapper Mouad Belrhouat, whose goes by the moniker El-Haqed or "The Sullen One," has been released from a Casablanca prison after serving four months for assault, a charge which his lawyers say was a ploy to stifle the singer. ...
January 12, 2012
Category: Democracy Promotion, Featured, Human Rights, Morocco, Political transition, Western Sahara
Deal Reached on FY2012 Omnibus Appropriations Bill
The recently-passed omnibus package for Fiscal Year 2012 includes the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. For Morocco, foreign military financing will not be appropriated until a report is submitted about steps being taken to ensure various freedoms in ...
December 16, 2011
Category: Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Featured, Foreign Aid, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, US foreign policy, Western Sahara, Yemen
Summary and Highlights of the FY12 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bills
On Wednesday 7/27, the House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee held a markup session and voted to pass the 2012 State and Foreign Operations Appropirations Bill, as is, to the full committee. The bill would provide $39.6 billion ...
October 21, 2011
Category: Bahrain, Civil Society, Congress, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Featured, Foreign Aid, Hezbollah, Human Rights, Iran, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Jordan, Lebanon, Legislation, Libya, Morocco, Muslim Brotherhood, Palestine, POMED, Publications, Reports, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, UN Human Rights Council, United Nations, US foreign policy, US politics, Western Sahara, Yemen
Algeria: Government Prepared to Recognize Libya’s NTC
After much hesitation, Algerian Foreign Minister, Mourad Medelci, announced that Algeria was prepared to recognize Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) once it composed a “government representative of all regions.” Algeria initially balked at acknowledging the NTC's legitimacy amid fears that it ...
September 1, 2011
Category: Algeria, Arab League, Featured, Libya, Political transition, Western Sahara
Morocco: “Let Democracy Reign” in Western Sahara
At Foreign Policy’s Middle East Channel, Carne Ross of the diplomatic advisory group Independent Diplomat criticizes a recent article that calls for autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty. He describes “the devastating violence unleashed by Moroccan authorities against the indigenous Saharawi people of Western Sahara in recent days,” including against Sahrawi protesters earlier this week. He argues that “the autonomy proposal is completely at odds with the peace agreement” ...
Morocco: Confrontation in Laayoune
The BBC reports that three people have been killed in a confrontation between Moroccan security forces and Saharawi protesters in the capital of Western Sahara, Laayoune. The security forces reportedly entered the camp, named Gadaym Izik and housing 12,000 protesters, early in the morning "using helicopters and water cannon to force people to leave." The violence comes as talks between the Moroccan government and the Polisario movement, which seeks ...
Freedom House: 5 GMENA Countries Among “Least Free” in the World
In a piece in Foreign Policy, Freedom House highlights the twenty nations it has identified as the "least free" in its 2010 Freedom in the World report. Six nations and territories in the Greater Middle East and North Africa (GMENA) are featured in the piece: Libya, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.Freedom House offers harsh criticism of the human rights and democracy records of the regimes in ...
UN Renews Peacekeeping Mission in Western Sahara
After a rather heated UN Security Council debate, a majority of the 15-member council voted to extend the UN's peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for one year under the terms of the UN-brokered 1991 ceasefire agreement between Morocco and the Western Saharan-based Polisario Front independence movement. However, the resolution did not include provisions to monitor human rights -- sought by some on the council -- prompting a Polisario spokesman to condemn the ...