This report was researched and written by Eric Goldstein, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. It was edited by Hanny Megally, executive director of the division, Dinah PoKempner, deputy general counsel of Human Rights Watch, and Michael McClintock, deputy program director. Jagdish Parikh, Human Rights Watch's online research associate, provided helpful comments on the draft. We are also grateful for the generous and expert input of outside readers Grey E. Burkhart and David Banisar, who bear no responsibility for any assertions or errors in the report. Sara Eggerling, Middle East and North Africa division associate, formatted the report.

Human Rights Watch wishes to thank the J.M. Kaplan Fund for making possible the translation of portions of this report into Arabic.