Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Christine Petré
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Journalism under threat in Libya
For the past two years journalists in Libya have faced attacks, kidnappings, even murder; all crimes have been committed by different armed groups with impunity, as Human Rights Watch (HRW) reveals in a recent report wherein the watchdog raises concerns about the country’s deteriorating media landscape. On 26 May last...
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Are de-radicalisation programmes the future?
Forensic psychologist John Horgan argues that we are “genuinely unprepared” for the Islamic State. The author of “The Psychology of Terrorism”, who has just returned to the US from Pakistan where he conducted research on children and radicalisation, believes that ISIS is “one step ahead”. Speaking to me during a...
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Is there a Nidaa-Ennahda coalition on the horizon?
With the finalisation of the presidential vote and preliminary result pointing to Essebsi as Tunisia’s next president, the political coalition awaits to be formed. Could there be an Ennahda-Nidaa Tounes coalition on the horizon? In Tunisia’s second parliamentary elections since the country’s revolution, which overthrew former president Zine El Abidine...
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Tunisia's presidential climate heats up
As Tunisia’s presidential runoff draws ever closer, the political campaigning has stepped up a gear, and has been full of smearing, aggressive rhetoric, media gossip and political lobbying. Opposition has divided the country in what seems set to become a tight race. As neither of the running presidential candidates managed...
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Politics aside, youth connect over security and economy issues
As Tunisia’s first free Presidential election is nearing young Tunisians share their thoughts on political strategy and their hopes for the future. Tunisia, considered a democratic success story, is the only Arab Spring country, which has succeeded in maintaining a relatively peaceful democratic transition since the revolution three years ago...
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Nidaa Tounes and the spectre of autocratic rule
As Tunisia managed to counter both predictions of low voter turnout (an estimated 60 percent of the eligible voters came to the polls) and ensure a safe and secure voting process most people hailed the successful election procedure, which was deemed as free, fair and transparent by international observers....
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Young, female Ennahda politician wants to 'cure' Tunisia through dialogue and respect
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW “I am a proud feminist,” says young Ennahda candidate Sayida Ounissi, who wants to be the voice of Tunisian youth. She tells MEMO about what it’s like being a young, veiled politician and Islamist party feminist and why dialogue will “cure” the Tunisian society. As October 26, the date...
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In Tripoli, ordinary life must go on
As militia groups continue fighting over what is left of fragmented Libya, life in the country’s capital Tripoli struggles on, “There is this constant uneasiness here,” Khadija, a young former political science student, tells Middle East Monitor over Skype from the coastal city. The Libyan capital has seen weeks of...
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One man's fight for Tunisian security reform
“Radical change is necessary,” says the determined blogger Azyz Amami, who is devoting his life to the reform of the former regimes’ security sector legacy, one of Tunisia’s biggest obstacles to a successful and comprehensive democratic transition. The self-immolation of vendor Mohammed Bouazizi after he was harassed by a police...
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A glimpse into Egypt's Al-Qanatar women's prison
On 14 August 2013 Omaima Halawa, her brother and two sisters, were caught in the bloody confrontations between security forces and Muslim Brotherhood protesters at Rabaa square. The siblings were arrested, but whilst Omaima and her sisters spent three months at Al-Qanatar female prison before they were released, their...
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Education, key to saving lost Syrian generation in Turkey
Ahmed is seven years old. One month ago a rocket hit his home in Aleppo and Ahmed lost all family members but his father. He also lost his two arms. Two months earlier, Mohamed, also seven, also in Aleppo, too lost his family in a rocket attack, but Mohamed...
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Egypt's freedom of expression: The End
“We live in the most glorious time of democracy and I cut out the tongue of anyone who says otherwise,” Bassem Youssef said, summing up Egypt’s current freedom of expression environment shortly after his political satire talk-show was cancelled, another harsh blow for the country’s democratic transition. According to General...
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Blogger's arrest reveals remaining flaws of Tunisian justice system
The arrest of blogger Azyz Amami and photographer Sabri Ben Mlouka for the possession and use of marijuana in accordance with Tunisia’s notorious Law 52, a legacy of former President Ben Ali, has sparked debate about the law’s judicial practice. On the evening of May 12, blogger Azyz Amami and...
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Despite Bouteflika win, new generations cry enough
On Thursday the Algerian people went to the polls to cast their vote in the country’s presidential elections. As expected, preliminary results indicate that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is heading towards a fourth term in office. However, despite the few surprises, some indications suggest that Algerians may slowly begin to...