In Egypt, three Al Jazeera journalists, Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste, and Baher Mohamed, received seven- and ten-year sentences. Arrested in December of last year, they had done no more than their jobs as journalists but nevertheless faced charges including “spreading false news” and “aiding a terrorist organization,” a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood. This after a trial in which prosecutors failed to present any credible evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
An investigation by the Guardian has uncovered that hundreds of "disappeared" Egyptians are being tortured and held outside of judicial oversight in a secret military prison.
Non-state armed groups in Syria have used children as young as 15 to fight in battles, sometimes recruiting them under the guise of offering education, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Extremist Islamist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) have specifically recruited children through free schooling campaigns.
At the edge of an abyss of sectarian bloodletting, Iraq faces its most dangerous moment since 2003. Confronting a marauding terrorist group and a collapsing army, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called for raising a reservist army and is integrating into government forces members of Shia militias known for horrible abuses. By some reports, the government has released prisoners convicted of serious crimes and armed them to fight.
