Citizens speak out. As people continue to push for reforms and basic freedoms along
with increased human rights, they gather to be heard in countries such as Egypt, Libya,
Mexico, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.
The Moroccan government has ratified an optional UN protocol on human rights, which is intended
to support a system of government which prohibits torture and all other forms of cruel, inhumane
or degrading treatment, and also provides for the creation of a committee to ensure
that the principles are being upheld.
Representatives of the Palestinian Fatah and Hamas groups announced plans to meet June
14 in Cairo, Egypt for talks on forming a new interim government.
Based on a request by the electoral commission for extra time to prepare, Tunisian Interirm
Prime Minister Beii Caid Essebsi stated that elections would be postponed until October
to ensure that they are conducted with integrity.
Egyptians gathered in front of the Interior Ministry in Cairo as well as many police stations
on Tuesday, June 7 to protest the death one year ago of Khalid Said, whose brutal beating
by police became a motivating force for the peaceful revolution that has since transformed
the nation. In Tuesday's demonstration, protesters spoke out about the fact that the police still
have not changed, with at least three people recently having been killed due to police
brutality.
On Wednesday, just after Yemenis gathered in a call for a transitional council to begin
governing in place of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has left the country to recuperate
from serious injuries in Saudi Arabia, Yemeni state television reported that the president
was moved out of intensive care. In a gathering of his supporters on Thursday, celebratory
shots fired into the air caused injury to some in the crowd.
A preliminary International Criminal Court investigation has found evidence of Libyan
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi being linked to orders of sexual assault by security forces on a
large number of Libyan women. Meanwhile, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt announced that
Sweden would extend her participation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO)
campaign to halt the Libyan leader’s military attacks as thousands of government forces
attacked the city of Misurata on Wednesday, leaving at least 13 activists killed.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay spoke out Thursday against the Syrian
government’s use of brutal assault on its citizens’ most basic human rights. Pope
Benedict also met with the new Syrian ambassador to the Vatican, Mr. Hussan Edin Aala, urging
that Syria respect her people’s dignity. Meanwhile, as of Thursday, an estimated 1,600
nationals had fled for their safety across the border into neighboring Turkey with thousands
more who have gone to Lebanon.
In sadness for the loss of cherished lives and suffering endured, we pray for all strife
to end and that citizens in every country may decide to live together in dignity, freedom
and peace�