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Citizens speak out. The demand for true reforms that provide improved lives of greater dignity,
respect and opportunity for all fellow countrypersons continues as people gather in nations that
include Bahrain, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Libya, Pakistan, Palestine, Serbia, Sudan,
Syria, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Yemen.
UNITED KINGDOM - On Sunday, Scotland Yard chief Sir Paul Stephenson, Britain's most
senior police official, resigned, followed on Monday by Deputy Commissioner John Yates,
both stepping down over widespread criticism of how they handled the investigation into
the now shut-down News of the World phone hacking scandal. Following their resignations,
Prime Minister David Cameron announced he would shorten a trip to South Africa to return
to the UK for an emergency meeting of Parliament on the matter. Meanwhile, with detectives
saying that they have identified 3,700 potential phone hacking victims, the Independent Police
Complaints Commission has been appointed to specifically probe the resigned officials
as well as investigate police corruption associated with the phone hacking in the wake of allegations
that police were paid to provide information to News of the World journalists.
SERBIA - Citing lack of evidence, a Hungarian court on Monday found Nazi war crimes suspect
Sándor Képíró, now 97 years of age, innocent of charges that he was involved in the 1942
killing of several thousand Jewish, Roma and Serbian people who perished in what became
known as the Novi Sad massacre.
UKRAINE & GEORGIA - On Monday, three members of the Ukrainian activist group Femen were
attacked by a security guard as they gathered on the steps of the Georgian Embassy in Kiev
to protest the arrest of three photographers in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. The Georgian
embassy later apologized and said it had dismissed the guard. Meanwhile, in Georgia, a group
of independent newspapers also made a statement about the arrests as they went to press without
pictures, printing the word "Protest" in block letters in place of the photographs.
ISRAEL & PALESTINE - Around 2,000 people, including Israelis and Palestinians, marched
together on Friday, July 15 through the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah calling for
the United Nations to recognize Palestine as an independent state based on 1967 borders.
On Monday, various Palestine-based press reported that three Palestinians near their home on
Monday were attacked by Israeli settlers with batons and knives, severely injuring two.
Meanwhile, a report released by Israeli human rights group B'Tselem found that 835 Palestinian
youths have been arrested by Israeli forces for stone throwing between 2005 and 2010.
Saying that the Israeli military law applied to these Palestinian minors does not offer
the same protection as Israeli and international law, the group also stated that of the 835
arrested, 93 percent have received jail time, with 19 of those incarcerated being 12- and
13-year-olds.
EGYPT - Following a meeting with the Supreme Council of Armed Forces on Saturday, dozens
of protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square renewed a hunger strike begun on July 10, saying that
the recent change in cabinet members is not the same as meaningful policy change, which
they point out still has not occurred.
PAKISTAN & UNITED STATES - Pakistan and UK-based human rights attorneys have launched legal
proceedings against former US Central Intelligence Agency legal counsel John Rizzo on behalf
of the Pakistani relatives of citizens killed by unmanned US drone air strikes, which have
been conducted in Pakistan since 2004. During his time in office, Mr. Rizzo gave legal approval
for the strikes. However, lawyers for the victims' families state the use of such weapons
outside a declared combat zone is in fact illegal.
BAHRAIN - US-based Human Rights Watch has called on Bahraini authorities to halt the
prosecution of 48 medical doctors and nurses currently on trial in a closed-door military
tribunal. They are also urging for a stop to the harassment of medical personnel as
well as the removal of security forces from health care centers and fair trials for those
accused of serious crimes.
SUDAN - A confidential United Nations report obtained by the UK-based Guardian and published
on Saturday states that in the conflict-stricken disputed border region between Sudan and newly-formed
South Sudan, the Sudanese government has been engaging in daily aerial bombings of civilian
areas and summary executions, with specific targeting of the dark-skinned people that
has resulted in the disappearance or killing of at least 3,000 since the beginning of June.
The report also states that the attacks have completely blocked the ability of the UN to
fulfill its basic peacekeeping mission.
BAHRAIN - The al-Wefaq party announced on Sunday that it was pulling out of the national
reconciliation dialog, saying that the government is not serious about addressing the demands
of the people. The group's representative went on to say that its proposals were being
ignored and stated, "We have tried but without success to make it a
serious dialog."
JORDAN - Dozens of Jordanian citizens rallied against security forces' brutal treatment
last Friday of journalists, who suffered bruises and fractures after being beaten while reporting
on a protest event. Speaking out against the attack, the parliament’s Lower House called
for a probe into the journalists’ mistreatment.
SYRIA - According to the activist group Local Coordination Committees in Syria, security
forces surrounded the town of Al-Bukamal on Sunday with tanks, the day after dozens of
soldiers defected and joined pro-democracy demonstrators when security forces and non-uniformed
armed men reportedly killed one protester and injured five others. One resident of the
town who spoke from Damascus said that it would be a mistake for the army to enter the
city, as the people want democratic peaceful change, not a civil war. Syrian troops also
on Sunday detained dozens of residents as they arrived in the town of Zabadani near
the Lebanese border. In addition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Monday
that 30 citizens were killed within 24 hours in the city of Homs in the first reported
clashes among religious sects since protests began four months ago. Meanwhile Qatar, which
had been a main supporter of Syria, on Monday withdrew its embassy from Syria's capital
Damascus.
YEMEN - On Monday, at least two Yemeni protesters were killed and at least seven wounded in
two separate clashes in Sana’a between citizens for and against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
As we mourn the precious lives lost and the distress of the injured and many others, we
pray for the strife in all countries to subside, with citizens everywhere deciding to live
in shared safety, dignity and peace�