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Citizens speak out. As people across the world continue to gather in protest for political
and social reforms that offer greater human respect and regard for human rights, they
march in countries such as Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Cuba,
Egypt, Libya, Serbia and Yemen.
Cuban leader Raul Castro oversaw the country’s first Congress in 14 years to debate 311 reform
proposals, announcing as one of the changes that political positions, including that of
the president, would be limited to just two consecutive five-year terms.
Serbians gathered in the tens of thousands Saturday, April 16 to protest against poor
economic performance and corruption, during which time minority party leader Tomislav
Nikolic announced he was beginning a hunger strike until the nation's early elections
are held.
An Egyptian court met another core demand of protesters by ordering the dissolution
of former President Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, which has dominated Egyptian
politics since 1978.
In Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Pascal Affi N'Guessan, leader of former President Laurent
Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front party and a former prime minister, called upon supporters
to halt all fighting, saying it is time for citizens to unite and begin rebuilding. Meanwhile,
supermarkets and street markets have been able to obtain supplies again to sell food
to people in the capital of Abidjan. Meanwhile, Justice Minister Jeannot Ahoussou announced
that 70 of the 120 people detained at former President Laurent Gbagbo’s compound, including
working staff and family members, had been freed.
Bahrain’s state news agency announced the government will not go ahead at this time
with previous efforts to disband two of the country’s minority parties whose members
had participated in protests. Meanwhile, the US State Department has called upon the government
to support freedom of expression and assembly. PressTV reported that two women have died
in connection with the protests, including Azizeh Hassan, who died at her home when pro-government
supporters raided houses in the Bilad al-Qadim district on Saturday, and young teen, Jawaher
Abdul-Amir Kuwaitan, who passed away after having been in a month-long coma due to attacks
by pro-regime supporters. In addition, the Bahraini government has detained human rights
lawyer Mohammad Tajer and at least two doctors on Friday night, with Human Rights Watch reporting
that more than eight other physicians were arrested in the past week. Over 4,000 people
in Washington, DC, USA protested on Friday in solidarity with Bahrain, both in front
of the Saudi Embassy and the White House, calling for respect for human rights and support
of the Bahrainis’ demand for democracy.
On Friday, Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore imposed a curfew in the capital Ouagadougou
in response to a rebellion staged by the nation's army and the retaliatory actions of merchants.
Military personnel had begun looting stores in apparent anger over unpaid housing allowances,
with business owners who later stormed the National Assembly and set fire to the ruling
party's headquarters in protest of the government’s failure to stop the soldiers, with some saying
that they had lost everything. In response, President Compaore promised to pay the allowances
and dissolved his existing government, while naming a new army chief and firing the head
of his presidential guard. These events were preceded on Thursday by one of the largest
demonstrations held in years, as tens of thousands of citizens protested the high cost of living.
US and European Union envoys to Yemen have submitted a proposal to President Ali Abdullah
Saleh, in an effort to solve the crisis in Yemen within 30 days. The proposal terms include
the president naming a deputy to whom he will transfer presidential powers so that the appointed
person can form a transitional government. It also states that President Saleh, his sons
and nephews would then be able to leave the country without facing prosecution.
In Libya, government forces continue to fire indiscriminately on civilian populations in
Misurata, with at least five people killed and 44 wounded on Saturday alone. The government
has also been firing munitions on food production facilities in the city as well as those entering
health care clinics and hospitals. Revolutionary forces reached the outskirts of the oil center
of Brega Saturday, bringing engineers with them to repair damaged infrastructure; however,
by Sunday, government forces had taken advantage of poor visibility during a sandstorm to begin
attacking Ajdabiya from the south. Meanwhile, the France-based organization Doctors Without
Borders announced it had managed to evacuate 100 people by sea to help them obtain medical
treatment, and that they had arrived safely in Tunisia on Saturday. A separate Greek ship
carrying 1,200 migrants evacuated from Misurata arrived in Benghazi. Many had been waiting
near the Misurata port for several weeks without food, water or shelter. Russia Today reports
on a growing concern that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bombs being used
in Libya contain depleted uranium, with Dr. Doug Rokke, a former director of the Pentagon’s
Depleted Uranium Project, stating that the toxic metal has a half-life of 4.5 billion
years, earning it the title of the “silent killer that keeps on killing.” Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev, along with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Permanent NATO representative
Dmitry Rogozin have also been objecting to NATO’s implementation of the Libya no-fly
zone, emphasizing that it was originally intended as a humanitarian endeavor to halt the violence
against innocent civilians, not to become a military operation of its own.
With sorrow for those who have perished, we are heartened by the glimmers of hope in countries
where more harmonious change is occurring, and we pray for the end to all conflicts as
citizens choose brotherly co-existence in dignity, freedom and peace�