ConflictBarometer_2015
ConflictBarometer_2015
ConflictBarometer_2015
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MIDDLE EAST AND MAGHREB<br />
inspired by the so-called Arab Spring in February 2011,<br />
opposition groups such as the Coalition of February 14 Youth<br />
staged unauthorized protests all over the country demanding<br />
political reforms and Salman's release. They blocked village<br />
roads, while riot police responded with tear gas and sound<br />
bombs on major roads.<br />
On March 10, riots broke out at Jaw Prison, Capital Governorate,<br />
which held a large number of opposition group<br />
members. Police reportedly employed tear gas, batons,<br />
fired at people, and allegedly tortured the jailed protesters<br />
after the crackdown. On June 16, the High Court sentenced<br />
Salman to four years in prison on charges of inciting violence.<br />
Subsequently, rallies against the government were held in<br />
Nuwaidrat, Central Governorate, and Bilad al-Qadim, Capital<br />
Governorate, on June 29.<br />
Clashes reportedly ensued in the northern part of the country<br />
in October, when police took down banners put up for the<br />
Shia festival of Ashura. Security forces used rifles and tear<br />
gas to disperse the people, allegedly leaving several injured.<br />
Throughout the year, the government upheld the suppression<br />
of people critical to the government as well as certain media<br />
outlets. For instance, popular human rights advocate Nabeel<br />
Rajab was sentenced to a six-month imprisonment after he<br />
allegedly insulted public institutions on Twitter, but was<br />
released in June for health reasons after two months. Furthermore,<br />
the publication license of the critical newspaper<br />
al-Wasat was revoked for two days in August. ivo<br />
and arrests of 15 allegedly armed MB members and another<br />
20 MB supporters. The clashes erupted after over 500 MB<br />
supporters had gathered on the occasion of Eid prayers. On<br />
August 18, the government extended police powers of detention<br />
and surveillance, passing counterterrorism legislation. In<br />
connection to the 2013 attack on a police station in Port<br />
Said, a court sentenced 95 MB affiliates, including MB leader<br />
Mohammed Badie, to life in prison on August 22. On August<br />
29, a Cairo court sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to<br />
three years in prison for allegedly spreading false news. Two<br />
of the journalists were released from prison on 23 September<br />
following a mass pardoning by President al-Sisi. On October<br />
12, a court released former president Hosni Mubarak's sons<br />
Alaa and Gamal Mubarak convicted of embezzling state funds<br />
in 2011.<br />
After the formation of the Supreme Electoral Committee in<br />
mid-August, the first round of parliamentary elections took<br />
place in stages between late October and early December,<br />
being characterized by poor voter turnout and widespread<br />
boycott by the opposition. The coalition ''For the Love of<br />
Egypt'' supporting al-Sisi won all seats reserved for party<br />
lists. The military detained rights activist and journalist<br />
Hossam Bahgat from November 8 to 10, accusing him of<br />
disseminating false news. On December 1, following the<br />
death of a man in police custody, hundreds protested against<br />
police violence in the city of Luxor, Luxor governorate. Subsequently,<br />
al-Sisi announced the punishment of nine police<br />
officers. On December 31, al-Sisi called for the newly elected<br />
parliament to assemble on 01/10/16. sep<br />
EGYPT (OPPOSITION)<br />
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1954<br />
Conflict parties:<br />
Conflict items:<br />
Muslim Brotherhood, opposition<br />
groups vs. government<br />
system/ideology, national power<br />
The conflict over national power and the orientation of the<br />
political system between opposition groups, mainly the Muslim<br />
Brotherhood (MB), and the government continued as a<br />
violent crisis.<br />
Over the course of the year, courts issued and confirmed<br />
hundreds of death sentences for MB leaders and supporters.<br />
Former president of Egypt and leader of the Freedom and Justice<br />
Party Mohammed Morsi was sentenced to death, along<br />
with 105 MB members on May 16, with Cairo Criminal Court<br />
confirming the death sentences on June 16. After having<br />
previously banned 1,137 organizations on January 21, the<br />
government dissolved 169 MB-affiliated NGOs in nine governorates<br />
on February 23. On the 4th anniversary of the 2011<br />
uprisings on January 25, at least 19 protesters and one police<br />
officer were killed in clashes between mostly Morsi supporters<br />
and police forces in the capital Cairo and Alexandria.<br />
Police fired live ammunition to disperse the crowd. On March<br />
3, a court suspended upcoming parliamentary elections. The<br />
suspension came after Supreme Constitutional Court ruled<br />
electoral laws unconstitutional. On July 9, President Abdel<br />
Fattah al-Sisi signed a new electoral law, allowing for parliamentary<br />
elections at the end of the year. On May 31, activist<br />
and human rights lawyer Mahienour al-Masry and two others<br />
were sentenced to one year and three months in prison for<br />
storming Al-Raml police station in Alexandria in March 2013.<br />
Clashes between MB supporters and police forces in the city<br />
of Giza, Cairo governorate, on July 17 led to the death of six<br />
IRAN (OPPOSITION)<br />
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1993<br />
Conflict parties:<br />
Conflict items:<br />
opposition vs. government<br />
system/ideology, national power<br />
The conflict over the orientation of the political system and<br />
national power between opposition groups and the government<br />
escalated to a violent crisis.<br />
For the fourth year in a row, the leaders of the oppositional<br />
Green Movement, Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hussein Moussavi,<br />
both candidates in the presidential elections of 2009, remained<br />
under house arrest in Tehran without being charged.<br />
Throughout the year, the government targeted opposition<br />
activists, using primarily judicial means. In May, the journalist<br />
Ahmad Zeidabai was sent into exile to Gonabad in northern<br />
Iran one day after he had been released from prison.<br />
On June 2, Atena Daemi, an anti-death penalty activist, was<br />
sentenced to a 14-year prison term based on four different<br />
charges, among them insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali<br />
Khamenei. On June 27, security forces detained the president<br />
of the Iranian Teachers Trade Association, Ismail Abdi,<br />
in Tehran, accusing him of organizing and participating in<br />
illegal gatherings. Furthermore, on October 13, the Islamic<br />
Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced film-maker Keywan<br />
Karimi to six years in prison and 223 lashes for propaganda<br />
against the government.<br />
Ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections in February<br />
2016, the government increased pressure upon journalists.<br />
On October 16, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)<br />
cyber unit reportedly arrested 170 people in Qazvin Province,<br />
accusing them of having published obscene content via social<br />
media. However, the Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholam-<br />
Hossein Mohseni Ejei denied those arrests on November 8.<br />
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