Foreign NGO crisis spreads to Pak

Dawn reports this morning that Pakistan's Election Commission's (ECP) decision to involve the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in a program to computerize electoral rolls using a computerized national identity card database has come under intense criticism.

Both the Interior Ministry and the Economic Affairs Division opposed the partnership, saying the computerization of the voter rolls jeopardized the privacy of the data. In shades of Egypt's anger at NDI, IRI, and the like for running unregistered, those who opposed the plan said the partnership was begun despite not "completing legal formalities."

For IFES to have access to the personal data included in the voter rolls, there must be written consent from every constituent, according to one Pakistani legal expert.

The controversy between the ECP and IFES predates the current NGO crisis in Egypt, however, and dates back to 2007 when a private firm, Kalsoft, "not only failed to deliver a fully functional computerized electoral roll system but also failed to provide error-free rolls," according to a memo sent from ECP to the Prime Minister's office. Kalsoft, instead of modernizing the voting rolls, created a number of deficiencies that required substantial financial and technical assistance. At that point, IFES offered its technical assistance on the matter.

According to ECP sources, the commission was receiving technical assistance from IFES but did not give the foreign organization access to the national database.

Expect reluctance to accept help from US-funded democracy organizations or their utilization as a political football to spread throughout the world, especially in places where the ruling elite may not be particularly warm to the idea of true democratization. 

Breaking: UAE shuts NDI offices

The National Journal is reporting that the UAE raided and shuttered the offices of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Dubai. 

Les Campbell, NDI's Middle East and North Africa director, said the Dubai office was raided and closed without reason after operating for four years as a hub for programs in other Gulf countries. "As far as we understand it now, our license will be cancelled," Campbell told National Journal.  At least two other Western groups' UAE-based offices were shut. Konrad Adenauer Stistung, a German think tank that promotes democracy with close ties to chancellor Angela Merkel that was also targeted for investigation in Egypt; and Abu Dhabi Gallup Center, a branch of the American poll and research firm. 

The State Department, which recently waived conditions linking the funds to human rights, said it was in contact with the UAE authorities over its decision to shutter the National Democratic Institute office on Wednesday.

"We’ve made clear that allowing NGOs to operate openly and freely is important to support political and economic development," a State Department official, not authorized to speak on the record, told National Journal.

The closures come as the Egyptian government continues its broad-based campaign against civil society, with some 400 local and international groups reportedly under investigation for illegally operating pro-democracy programs and stirring unrest. Egypt’s interim government still plans to prosecute 43 nongovernmental workers -- including 16 Americans from NDI and other U.S.-funded organizations like the International Republican Institute and Freedom House, whose Cairo offices were raided in late December. The Americans were allowed to leave the country on March 1.

Stephen McInerney, executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy, worries the UAE closures are possibly the first signs of regional ripple effects from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's recent decision to sign off on the $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt despite human rights concerns. Citing national security interests, Clinton waived new congressional restrictions that would have required her to certify Cairo supporting the transition to democratic government and implementing policies to protect due process of law and freedom of expression, association, and religion. 

Calling the action taken by the UAE “alarming," McInerney said the U.S. decision to sign off on aid to Egypt could enable other autocratic governments to shut down civil society groups and prosecute workers in their country. “For governments around the world to see that Egypt can remain the second largest recipient of U.S. military aid while it’s cracking down blatantly on international organizations – including American organizations that are trying to support democracy-- is very likely to embolden other governments to follow suit," McInerney said.

Saudi religious police ease up to improve image

According to local media sources, the Saudi religious police, officially called the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of vice, will stop car chases that have led to fatal accidents in the past in an attempt to improve their image.

Religious police patrol the streets, enforcing gender segregation, modest dress, and the closing of shops in prayer time.

According to the religious police's spokesman, "We care a great deal to make the image of the commission a positive one that reflects the true image of Islam. There is no doubt that these [plans] portray a new vision for the commission."

In 2002, the commission was criticized for stopping schoolgirls from leaving a burning school building in Mecca and hindering the work of rescue workers because the girls were not wearing correct Islamic dress.    Around 15 young girls died and 50 were injured.

According to Reuters, earlier this year, a video of the religious police attacking a family outside a shopping mall in Riyadh was posted on YouTube, getting more than 180,000 hits and generating strong criticism.

Graffiti around Cairo

My favorite part of traveling in Egypt is the graffiti. It acts as an informal opinion survey and gives an idea of what people are thinking. Compared to my trip in the summer of 2011, the graffiti around Cairo right now is explicitly anti-military. That should worry SCAF, who entered into power wildly popular with the Egyptian people, who saw the military as defenders of the revolution. Like politicians everywhere, SCAF saw their popularity plummet as they began their military rule. More so than the anger usually directed toward politicians, many Egyptians are angry with SCAF and see them as simply an extension of the old regime. The regime did not change; it was only decapitated. This is reflected in much of the graffiti I saw around Cairo.

"The revolution continues."

"Liar"

"Son of [something really bad]"

Tantawi, the head of SCAF

"Mohammed [I can't read it], martyr of freedom."

"The street is for us."

"The revolution continues," with Tantawi and Mubarak as the same person.

The regime set up roadblocks around the interior ministry. Street artists painted them to depict the scenes behind the blocks. 

Tantawi does not equal Egypt. Disagreeing with him does not make one a traitor.

Last February, thousands of football fans flooded the field after a game between al-Masry and al-Ahly in Port Said, Egypt. Security forces failed to intervene. Fans were thrown to their deaths off stadium walls and others were killed by explosives.  In the end, at least 74 people were killed.

EThe violence shocked Egypt and embodied the sense of insecurity and state failure that pervades post-revolution.  Many maintained the police deliberately turned a blind eye to the violence to pay back the football fans for their leadership role in the toppling of Mubarak.

Abo Bakr painted the walls of AUC's main campus with a mural depicting the victims of the football violence.

The AUC wall also shows pharonic-inspired graffiti, designed by Alaa Awad, showing a funeral and highlighting the role of women in the revolution. 

"ACAB" = "All cops are bastards"

Suzanne and Hosni Mubarak

These guys are wanted for shooting out the eyes of protestors. 

NYT: Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood pushing Palestinian reconciliation

The New York Times reported on Saturday that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is seeking to leverage its ties with Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah to increase pressure on Israel for an independent Palestinian state. According to the newspaper, Brotherhood officials are pressing Hamas, its Palestinian offshoot, to reconcile and work with their West Bank counterparts. A united Palestinian front would be able to more successfully

The intervention is a marked change from the past. The Muslim Brotherhood previously denounced Fatah's relatively moderate stance toward Israel and its willingness to negotiate with the Jewish state, accusing them of selling the dream of a Palestinian state for political gains from the West.

According to FJP Chairman of the Arab Affairs Committee Reda Fahmy, the Brotherhood's Mohammed Badie asked Khalid Meshaal himself to "be more flexible," leading to Hamas' agreement to allow Fatah's president Mahmoud Abbas to lead the first six months of a unity government in the Palestinian Territories until new elections are held.

The intervention is also one of the clearest signs of a newly-strengthened Brotherhood's involvement in Egyptian politics and foreign affairs after it swept the parliamentary elections. Egypt hosted reconciliation talks between the two groups in February and also play a role in mediating internal disputes in Hamas. 

Nose job MP: The gift that keeps on giving

He's not quite DSK and "aggravated pimping," but the drama surrounding former Egyptian MP Anwar al-Balkimy, who resigned after it emerged he lied about being mugged to hide a nose job keeps on getting better and better.

Perhaps last week he was sued by a lady who claimed to be his wife. Monday, he filed a complaint against the belly dancer, claiming her "false allegations" marred his reputation as a religious preacher and a member of Parliament.

Pretty sure he did that himself.

The MP's hypocrisy--claiming an Islamist platform while stooping to get a nose job--rightfully makes many Egyptians cringe. One thing I find interesting is when I talk to Egyptians about this and other cases, they don't believe that political pandering and hypocrisy is universal (How many uber-conservative Focus on the Family-type have been caught up in some lewd scandal? Or members of Congress focus on stupid small issues to get themselves headlines while ignoring the real problems that plague the United States?).

Maybe there wasn't the political openness needed for Egyptians to really discuss it, or maybe the system and repression masked it so well? 

Moroccan girl commits suicide after being forced to marry her rapist

Al Arabiya reported this morning that a 16-year-old Moroccan girl killed herself after a judge ordered her to marry her rapist.

The girl, Amina, was forced to marry a 26 year old as a way of "resolving" the damage the attack did to her honor and that of her family.  Moroccan law also exempts rapists from punishment if he agrees to marry his victim.

Her new husband's family was reportedly unfriendly towards the young girl.  In the end, she took rat poisoning, ending her life.

The story is widely reported in Morocco and has angered activists online, some using the Twitter hashtag #RIPAmina, who demand action against the judge who issued the ruling.  Unfortunately, the story has gotten no coverage in the West, especially in comparison to the coverage of the story a few months back about the Afghan girl who was forced to marry her rapist.  In that case, Hamid Karzai ended up intervening.  After media coverage died down, however, she too married her rapist.

Forcing a girl to marry her rapist disgusts me.  I can't even describe how reading those stories made me feel. The psychological trauma of the attack ends up becoming the girls' life, trapped forever with a man who has no respect or feelings for her.

I hope Moroccan activists don't let Amina's story fade and maintain pressure on the powers-that-be to change this situation.  

Where's Bassima?

Almost like Where's Waldo. Doing research for my thesis, I came across this photo of the new-ish Moroccan government with only one female minister, Bassima Hakkaoui.

She was given the Ministry of Solidarity, Women, Family, and Social Development. Fluffy.

I smell a conspiracy theory

According to Lebanon's the Daily Star, thirteen French troops are being detained in a hospital in Syria.

The paper said it is not clear why the officers were in Syria, when they had arrived, or whether they were part of a larger contingent in the city of Homs.

Conspiracy theories swirled (this being the Middle East, after all) about British and French involvement in Libya.

We got another one.

Headline of the Week: Saudi Support for Muslim Minorities Highlighted.

Really?

Yes, with a small cavet: only in other parts of the world without international interference in a country's internal affairs.

Obviously not in Saudi itself.

Photo from funeral of activist killed in Qatif, a restive city in Saudi's East with a huge Shi'ite population and oil.

And these Qatifians must just be having a party, not upset about political, social, and religious oppression.

"We want full rights."