Topic: Human rights

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Many Tajik brides aren't their husbands' only wives (image: Boaz Rottem/IMAGO)

Human rights in Asia

Tajik women turn to polygamy to survive

Dire economic conditions are spurring an increasing number of women in Tajikistan to enter polygamous marriages. But it comes at a price. With few rights to underpin their existence, they bear a burden of social stigma that taints not only their lives but those of their children too. Madina Shogunbekova reportsMore

Qantara dossier: TajikistanBride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan: A fateful traditionFighting forced marriage in Kyrgyzstan: Bride abduction is not coolQantara dossier: Islam in Central Asia
Morocco's King Mohammed VI chairs a meeting at the Royal Palace in Rabat, following a powerful earthquake in Morocco, 14 September 2023 (image: Moroccan News Agency/Handout via REUTERS)

Morocco quake

Why the distance, Mohammed VI?

When a devastating earthquake shook Morocco's High Atlas mountains, residents of poor areas where it struck turned for help to the state and the man who leads it, King Mohammed VI. Yet the monarch, with his sweeping powers, has kept a low profile, making just three appearances sinceMore

Voices from Morocco: Earthquake rescue enters critical phaseAl Boraq, M6 and neo-liberalism: Morocco's fast-track development programme bypasses manyDemocracy and human rights: Morocco's police state makes a comeback
American historian Elyse Semerdjian (image: private)

The Armenian genocide

"Genocide is a feminist issue"

Dots, crosses, lines: tattoos like these were inked on surviving Armenian women after the genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Historian Elyse Semerdjian uses the tattoos to tell their story. Interview by Anna-Theresa BachmannMore

Challenging Turkish history from the ground up: "The stories of our families" The fate of the Armenians: Vakifli: The last Armenian village in TurkeyThe Armenian Genocide: The search for truth and the historical context
Egyptian president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi gestures with his hand as he speaks (image: Mandel Ngan/AP/picture alliance)

Repression in Sisi's Egypt

Activists targeted in presidential election run-up

Egypt's clampdown on political dissent increasingly includes family members of activists living abroad. The Sisi regime has also admitted to leveraging the release of individual political prisoners for financial aid. Jennifer Holleis reportsMore

10 years after Egypt's Rabaa massacre: Still waiting for justiceHeatwave in Egypt: "Not only the prices are going up, the temperatures are too"Counterrevolution in the Arab world: Authoritarianism, a forever scenario?
Street scene in Amman, Jordan (image: picture-alliance)

Jordan's new cybercrime law

Heading towards Internet censorship

Jordan's controversial new cybercrime law, now ratified by the king, could have serious consequences for freedom of expression, political participation and the digital economy. By Abdullah JbourMore

Business in the Middle East: Jordanʹs digital start-ups – innovation in Silicon WadiRentier system and security policy: Jordan’s profound economic crisisMiddle East: How cybercrime laws are used to silence dissent
Demonstrators in Barcelona support those imprisoned in Morocco's Rif region for speaking out against the government (image: Paco Freire/ZUMA/picture alliance)

Transnational repression

Why a friendlier Middle East is more dangerous for activists

Authoritarian governments often harass and hinder their critics, even if those people are outside the country. As former enemies become friends in the Middle East, will they cooperate to shut down opposition voices? By Cathrin SchaerMore

Growing repression in Morocco: Creating an atmosphere of fearPolitical activism in the Gulf: The UAEʹs policy of zero toleranceRepression in Sisi's Egypt: Egyptian media workers – systematically intimidatedErdogan′s Turkey: The repression goes on
Demonstration in Aleppo, Syria (image: Rawan Issa)

War in Syria

Young Syrians' deep sense of alienation

How has the war in Syria affected the attitudes and perspectives of Syrian teenagers growing up during this tough time? Now 25, Jenan Aljundi was 13 when things turned violent. In this personal essay she provides insight into the alienation felt by a young woman remaining in Syria, while friends and family emigratedMore

Apoliticism in the Arab world: How to re-engage Arab youth?Assad's rehabilitation: At the expense of the Syrian peopleHigher education under Assad: Students leave Syria to prove their mettleChronicle of a war foretold: Redefining the "Syrian" conflict
A member of the Taliban guards women queuing for aid (image: Ebrahim Noroozo/AP/picture-alliance)

Taliban Afghanistan 2 years on

Report from a forgotten land

15 August 2023 marked the second anniversary of the Taliban's return to Afghanistan. Emran Feroz recently travelled through the country – here is his exclusive report for Qantara.de on everyday life in KabulMore

Taliban Afghanistan's double whammy: Afghans face a failing economy and high taxationAfghanistan under the Taliban: Back to the pastAfghanistan: Emran Feroz' chronology of a disaster
Victims of the Rabaa massacre in shrouds with relatives (image: AHMED HAYMAN/dpa/picture alliance)

10 years after Egypt's Rabaa massacre

Still waiting for justice

The massacre of protesters in Cairo under Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's watch was one of the worst in modern history – and one of the best documented. But 10 years on, no-one has been held accountable. By Cathrin SchaerMore

Al-Sisi, Raba′a and al-Nahda: Egypt′s grim harvest10 years of Egypt's Sisi regime: Why are Egyptian human rights abuses ignored?Egypt: The revolution did not fail
In this photo taken on 3 March 2022, Ethiopian refugees are seen at a migrant camp in the Khor Maksar district in Aden, Yemen (image: Saleh Obaidi, AFP)

Saudi Arabia

Saudi border guards killed hundreds of migrants, says HRW report

“They Fired on Us Like Rain”: between March 2022 and June 2023, Saudi border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants attempting to cross the border from YemenMore

HRW report: "They Fired on Us Like Rain"Migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon: Exploited, locked up, abandonedOmitted from the United Nations' list of shame: Yemen's dead and injured children haunt Saudi-led war
King Mohammed VI of Morocco (image: FADEL SENNA / AFP/File)

Morocco

Mohammed VI turns 60: Diplomacy a priority as inequalities persist

Morocco's King Mohammed VI is set to celebrate his 60th birthday on 21 August away from the public eye, as challenges abound almost a quarter century after he ascended the throneMore

Morocco and Spain: What price Madrid and Rabat's "historic" reconciliation?Women's rights in Morocco: Gender equality on paper onlyMoroccan thinker Hassan Aourid: Democracy cannot be stopped
Afghans in a market (image: Kyodo/picture alliance)

Taliban Afghanistan's double whammy

Afghans face a failing economy and high taxation

Almost two years after the Taliban swept to power, other international crises have distracted attention away from Afghans' suffering amid the country's dire socioeconomic conditions. Looking ahead, Hameed Hakimi asks what are the economic prospects for Afghanistan under the Taliban?More

Development aid: Despite the Taliban, Afghanistan deserves helpAfghanistan under the Taliban: Back to the pastAfghanistan: Emran Feroz' chronology of a disaster
Afghan owner of Safe Path Prosperity Social Enterprise, Arezo Osmani, speaks during an interview with AFP in Kabul. Arezo Osmani was „terrified and sad“ when the Taliban returned to power, promising the imposition of a stringent interpretation of Islam that has seen women barred from many avenues for work and education (image: Wakil KOHSAR/AFP)

Four Afghans on two years Taliban rule

Worry, relief, pride, despair

Two years since the Taliban stormed back to power in Afghanistan after 20 years of war against the United States and its allies, life has changed dramatically for many Afghans, particularly womenMore

Afghanistan: The Taliban’s "War on Terror"Women’s rights in Afghanistan: The Taliban cannot defeat womenAfghanistan under the Taliban: Back to the past
A woman walks along a street in Tehran, with her headscarf tied around her neck, 19.04.2023 (image: AFP)

Iran protests

Women defying hijab laws forced into psychiatric treatment

Authorities in Iran are trying to enforce laws obligating women to cover their hair by sending them for psychological treatment.More

Islamic feminism: Evolving gender rightsIran protests: What the Islamic Republic's propaganda tells usIran protests 2022: Tehran fatally oblivious to social change
People protest in Iraq over unpaid salaries (image: Feriq Ferec/AA/picture alliance)

Arab states in crisis

In search of a miracle cure

Given the political, economic and social challenges in Arab countries, fragmented individual measures are no longer enough. What is needed is comprehensive, far-reaching reform. Essay by Marwan MuasherMore

Arab states in crisis: The ruling classes' dereliction of dutyThe Middle East's "Axis of Failure": Arab autocrats – ruining their own statesAuthoritarianism and underdevelopment in the Islamic world: Islamic clerics and statesmen in an unholy alliance
Man stands next to a bonfire on a Beirut street holding a Lebanese flag and a photo of a soldier (image: Houssam Shbaro/AA/picture alliance)

Beirut blast 3 years on

Still seeking justice in Lebanon

Three years after the explosion in Beirut port that killed nearly 220 people and displaced tens of thousands from their homes, the family of one of the youngest victims is still seeking answers and fighting for justice. By Diana HodaliMore

Martin Accad: "Lebanon's tragedy is political sectarianism"Lebanon after the explosion: Beirut's aftermath – shattering as 15 years of civil warQantara photo essay: Beirut blast aftermath – destruction, chaos and rescue

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