COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY (CSHR) : Organized a depth discussion of a new report by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and its implication for U.S policy with remarks from : Bahey Eldin Hassan ,General Director, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies / Jeremie Smith, Director, Geneva Office of the  Cairo Institute for Human Rights  Studies / Radwan Ziadeh, Founding Director, Damascus Center for Human Rights studies .

CSHR: Human Rights In The Arab World : 2009 And Beyond
Date:  February 12, 2010 from 12:00 pm to !:30 pm EST
Location: Columbia University ,Morningside Campus, Faye weather hall Room 311
Contact: For further information regarding this event, please contact CSHR- Center for the Study of Human Rights by sending email to :
cshr@columbia.edu

  In 2009, the condition of human rights in the Arab world deteriorated significantly on several fronts, prompting CIHRS to refer to the region as a “bastion of impunity” witnessing a “mirage of reform.” In its second annual report on the subject, CIHRS highlights several developments over the past year that have threatened personal freedoms and regional progress toward improved human rights standards in 12 Arab countries. These trends include the persistence of “widespread impunity and flagrant lack of accountability” in addition to a variety of repressive legal measures regimes have taken to undermine basic liberties, such as emergency and anti-terrorism laws. The report also brings to the fore concerns about religious freedom, highlighting the deteriorating status of religious minorities, as well as the tendency of regimes to align themselves with radical Islamists in an effort to simultaneously “mend their tattered political legitimacy” and sideline moderate Islamists. The authors also point to increased suppression of political dissent and consistent attacks on freedom of expression and non-violent protest.