Author Archives: Geoffrey Mock

About Geoffrey Mock

Geoffrey Mock is Egypt country specialist and chair of the Middle East County Specialists for AIUSA. He has worked on the Middle East for Amnesty for 17 years. Among other work, he has assisted Amnesty's efforts to support human rights defenders, end unfair trials and torture in Egypt and to promote Egypt's traditionally vigorous civil society against harassment and legal attacks from both the government and non-governmental sources. His particular interest, at a time of diminishing space in which Egyptian human rights activists can act, is developing avenues outside of the U.S. government in which American activists can best connect and support the human rights work being done on the ground in Egypt. He works as an editor and manager of communications at Duke University.
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President Obama Keeps a Yemeni Journalist in Jail

October 3, 2012 at 1:41 PM
drones yemen

Unexlpoded BLU 97 cluster bomlet, part of the evidence found in 2009 US attack.

Why would President Obama want a Yemeni journalist, known for his reports of human rights abuses, to remain in Yemeni prison?

That’s the question Abdul Ilah Haydar Shayi’ wants to know after two years in detention following his reports – later proven correct — that the United States was involved in a deadly attack on an alleged al-Qa’ida training camp which took place on Dec. 17, 2009.

Abdul Ilah Haydar Shayi’ was the first Yemeni journalist to allege US involvement in the missile attack on the community of al-Ma’jalah. Shortly after the attack – which killed 41 local residents, including 21 children and 14 women – he wrote articles and spoke to news channel Al Jazeera and newspapers. In addition, 14 alleged al-Qa’ida members were also reportedly killed in the missile attack.

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UAE Activist Asks Police for Help, Gets Arrested Instead

August 9, 2012 at 9:00 AM
Mohamed al-Mansoori United Arab Emirates

Former head of the UAE Jurists’ Association Dr Mohamed al-Mansoori is among those detained © KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images

Another sign that the Arab Uprising of 2011 is entering a new stage: The number of arrests of activists in the United Arab Emirates is adding up.

After Abu Dhabi’s Public Prosecutor announced on July 15 that a group of people would be investigated for plotting “crimes against state security,” “opposing the UAE constitution and ruling system,” and having ties to “foreign organizations and agendas,” about 35 men have been detained.  That’s eight more since Amnesty International issued an Urgent Action last week.

The whereabouts of all 35 are unknown, and they are thought to be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

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What a NY Times Column Gets Wrong About Israeli Settlements

August 1, 2012 at 11:40 AM
Ma'ale Adumim settlement

Construction continued on the Ma'ale Adumim settlement in 2010 despite an official Israeli "freeze".

An opinion piece written last week by Dani Dayan, a leader of an association of Israeli settlers, has sparked controversy over whether – as Dayan claims – Israeli settlers have a moral right to live in Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).  What has been missing so far from the discussion is the human rights perspective on the issue that Amnesty International considers most important.

Dayan insists in his column that “Israel’s Settlers Are Here to Stay” and argues that instead of trying to find a two-state solution, American diplomats should accept the status quo and “maintain the current reality on the ground.”

His argument, however, leaves out one significant fact — the establishment of settlements in the OPT violates international humanitarian law and also constitutes a serious violation of the prohibition on discrimination. The presence of settlements has led to mass violations of human rights of the local Palestinian population including, but not limited to, policies involving access to water, restrictions on movement, land confiscation and home demolitions. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

Game On for Saudi Women

July 27, 2012 at 3:37 PM
Saudi woman driver

Scores of brave Saudi Arabian women have been defying a long-standing ban on them driving. © Private

Saudi women just took one step closer to the finish line — as the 2012 Olympics are set to begin in London today, Saudi women will be competing for the first time. But there is still a long way to go for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, a country where women can now carry the Olympic flag, but not the keys to the car.

Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani, a judo competitor, and 800 meters runner Sarah Attar will be the first Saudi women ever to participate in the Olympics. Just two weeks before the start of the games, Saudi officials finally ended their long resistance and joined Qatar and Brunei in sending female athletes to compete in the games for the first time.

With Saudi’s last minute decision, the 2012 Olympics in London mark the first Olympics where every country will have at least one female athlete competing. A country where girls’ sports and gyms are officially banned in public schools, Saudi Arabia will now cheer for their first female athletes representing the Kingdom. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

Desperate Reprisals: Documenting the Syrian Regime’s Abuses

June 20, 2012 at 4:30 PM

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-yZUsI3a1c&version=3&hl=en_US]

The Assad regime in Syria has done everything it can to prevent the world from knowing what it is doing to its people: International media is blocked access to crisis points, international organizations are prevented from doing their jobs and human rights organizations are denied entry.

When details come out, the regime pulls out another old trick of claiming the victims are the transgressors and the government is the victim of terrorists.

The anecdote to this is documentation, and this is where Amnesty International can do valuable work.  Thursday, in a new 70-page report, Deadly Reprisals, the organization provides fresh evidence of widespread as well as systematic violations, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, being perpetrated as part of state policy to exact revenge against communities suspected of supporting the opposition and to intimidate people into submission.

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When Will Saudi Women Finally Win The Right To Drive?

June 14, 2012 at 2:41 PM
Manal al-Sharif

Manal al-Sharif publicly defied the ban on Saudi women drivers (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME)

One year ago, Manal al-Sharif, divorced mother of one, took it upon herself to do something, women across the world do every day: Drive.

In May 2011, Manal al-Sharif got in a car and drove through the streets of Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Filmed by an acquaintance, al-Sharif followed the 1990 demonstration in which Saudi women took on the streets of the capital and drove without permission. Her action not only caused an uproar in the kingdom, but also laid ground for the now well-known Women2Drive campaign that celebrates its anniversary on June 17.

Activists around the world took to social media to support the campaign, including Amnesty activists who recently collected portraits of activists supporting the right to drive for Saudi women.

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A New Round of Assaults on Egyptian Women Protesters

June 12, 2012 at 6:26 PM
Egyptian Women Protest in Cairo

Egyptian women demonstrate in Cairo MOHAMMED HOSSAM/AFP/Getty Images

When Egyptian politics get hot, it’s women who most often feel the flames. So when a group of Egyptian women took to Tahrir Square this past Friday to denounce the frequent assaults on women activists, it wasn’t surprising that they themselves came under attack.

According to Amnesty International, the women were calling for an end to sexual harassment of woman protesters when a mob of men came upon them and groped and punched the activists.

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These women stood up to demand an end to sexual harassment. What they got was intimidation and sexual assault.

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Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui

At a critical time for Egypt’s future, the attacks underscore how women’s rights to full political participation are central to the spirit of the 2011 uprisings and the hope that Egypt can develop a new political culture based on respect for all human rights.  The attack on the women activists goes straight to the heart of the ruling regime’s efforts to maintain its old practices.

This was the second report this month of women protesters being assaulted in Egypt.  Nihal Saad Zaghloul told Amnesty International that she and three friends were attacked by a large group of men on June 2 in Tahrir Square as they joined a protest after the verdict in Hosni Mubarak’s trial. She was pushed and groped and her headscarf pulled off before some men in the square came to her aid. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

The Mubarak Trial that Wasn’t

June 5, 2012 at 10:07 AM

The June 2 verdict in the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak only confirmed what many Egyptian activists feared all along: The trial, while proving that the former leader was not above the law, was never going to be about truth and accountability.

There wasn’t much rejoicing in Cairo, even though the former president was sentenced to life in prison.  The trial itself was a desultory affair, with the judge claiming that prosecutors failed to present significant evidence tying the former president to attacks by security forces and Egyptian police that led to around 840 deaths and thousands of injuries during the 2011 uprisings.

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Rather than serve the nation's deep need for truth, the trial denied full justice to the thousands of Egyptian victims and family members.

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Rather than serve the nation’s deep need for truth, the trial denied full justice to the thousands of Egyptian victims and family members.  The day after the verdict was announced, all of Cairo was talking about expectations that it would be overturned on appeal.

Amnesty welcomed the trial of Mubarak and others for their role in the killing of protesters which began in January 2011. However, the trial and verdict have left the families of those killed, as well as those injured in the protests, in the dark about the full truth of what happened to their loved ones and it failed to deliver full justice.

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Presidential Election Recaptures Hopes for New Egypt

May 25, 2012 at 11:42 AM
Ink-stained Fingers After Egyptian Elections

Egyptian women in Cairo show their ink-stained fingers after voting on May 24, 2012. MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/GettyImages

In the aftermath of the 2011 Egyptian Uprising, activists there have faced a long series of disappointments and broken promises. But for two days this week, the spirit of Tahrir Square was again in full evidence as a large turnout of Egyptians celebrated their first free presidential elections in our lifetime.

Nehal Amer, Amnesty International Middle East Country Specialist, was in Cairo for the elections and captured the celebratory atmosphere in Nazr City.  She noted “a bit of disorganization” but people remained upbeat. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

Syria: A Tale of Five Women

March 6, 2012 at 4:18 PM
Women activists in London for Syria

Activists gather in London to support Syria protesters.

Here is a tale of five women in Syria.  One is Asma al-Assad, As First Lady of Syria, she has long portrayed herself as a champion of women and children’s rights.  In 2008, she assured the world that women and girls in Syria were protected with equal rights. She said:

“We all deserve the same thing.  We should all be able to live in peace, stability and with our dignities. … It’s a simple basic human right.”

As her husband’s military and security forces launches a wave of repression throughout the country, Asma al-Assad, however, has done little to protect women.

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