Reading the Egyptian Elections
May 29, 2012 by Esam Al-Amin
The Egyptian people are still in shock ever since the announcement of the results of the presidential elections late last week. They refuse to accept an outcome that sees Gen. Ahmad Shafiq, the last Prime Minister of deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak, having received more than 5.5 million votes, or about 24 percent of the votes cast, less than one percent behind the frontrunner and Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Dr. Muhammad Mursi.
In Response to Houla Massacre Australia Expels Syrian Diplomats
May 29, 2012 by Dr. Jo Coghlan
Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr has expelled the Syrian Charge d’Affairs Jawdat Ali Syrian in the wake of the Houla massacre that have reportedly seen 32 children massacred in Syria in recent days. He has said that Australians are “appalled at a regime that could connive in or organise the execution, the killing of men women and children.”
Horn of Africa Fares Poorly on Minority Rights
May 29, 2012 by Ambassador David H. Shinn
Minority Rights Group International (MRG) is a non-governmental organization working to secure the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples worldwide. It produces annually the Peoples Under Threat survey that identifies peoples or groups that are most under threat of genocide, mass killing or other systematic repression. It just released its survey for 2012 and the countries in the Horn of Africa scored especially low; four of them are among countries worldwide with peoples most under threat.
