Torture in Syria

(January 21, 2014)

A big report on torture in Syria came out, so the BBC Arabic did reports and had lots of guests debating about it.

Here is a lady from Amnesty International (or Human Rights Watch) in the BBC Arabic studio:

And here is part of the report they showed:

The report shows evidence that the Syrian government has tortured and killed 11,000 people that had been sequestered in their prisons.

The BBC Arabic held a debate between a man speaking for the Syrian government, and an Arab man who is a member of the International Criminal Court, Hadi Shalluf.

I was only half listening; but Hadi Shalluf kept mentioning Darfur, and he said that no matter what, Russia is going to veto anything to hold the Syrian government accountable. He was speaking through a phone link.

This was a live debate. The man from the Syrian government had a straight answer for everything: "we are fighting a war on terrorism. we are fighting a war on terrorism. we are fighting a war on terrorism." Here he is:

I don't think he said anything else!

This was a follow-up to a previous and very disturbing report the BBC Arabic had shown about Syria, which just so happened to also be coupled with a crisis on the streets of Washington DC.

Opposition groups in Darfur

(November 25, 2013)

I am trying to keep track of every news story about Darfur on the BBC Arabic. This is very important, because Sudan's president is indicted by the International Criminal Court, accused of committing genocide in the Sudanese region of Darfur. Since Sudan's president is Arab and Muslim, I think other Arabs and Muslims should be ratting his tail out and dumping him to the court, but we don't do that. Instead, we give him kisses. GROSS.

Any case, the BBC Arabic did an interview with some of the opposition groups who are fighting for an independent state in Darfur. One of the groups interviewed wants to engage in peace-talks with the national government.

Another opposition group, represented by this man calling in from France, says you would have to be crazy to even consider talking to the national government in Sudan.

And I don't remember anything else, this was a while ago.

Qatar Exploiting Workers

(September 25, 2013)

I don't think that Qatar has been putting in a good showing at the BBC Arabic news. The last time I remember a story about them, they were inviting Sudan's president and giving him kisses upon arrival, when he is wanted to stand trial on genocide at The Hague. No country is supposed to let him into their borders without arresting him, but many Muslim countries have been flouting this rule for the past ten years.

Now Qatar is in the news again because FIFA got wind that foreign laborers building all the Soccer World Cup stadiums and venues are being mistreated. So the BBC Arabic had a short clip about this running throughout the day:

I really should have checked Al-Jazeera that day to see if they bothered to mention it at all, or decided to sweep it all under the rug. 

I think the BBC Arabic should do a big investigative story about all the mistreatment of foreign laborers in all the Arab Gulf countries. That way they can do a close-up scrutiny on violations, and they can even mention what aspects are fairly practiced. We can get the whole story, instead of just bits and pieces like this. I don't remember seeing any other story on the BBC Arabic about mistreatment of foreign workers in the Arab Gulf countries in the past year that I have been paying attention.

Sudan's president landing in Doha

Sudan's president is indicted on genocide charges by the International Criminal Court. However, your average Arab does not think this is a big deal, and so he gets invited left, right, and center to conferences and summits throughout the Middle East. Governments are supposed to arrest him if he travels to their territories, but not the Arabs, no! They make special invitations for him.

Last year (2012), a big summit of Islamic countries met in Mecca (Islam's holiest city), so Sudan's president ended up there, too. That makes me want to throw up.

These screenshots are from March 25, 2013. Here Sudan's president is arriving in Qatar's capital, Doha.  How can they stand to shake his hand or kiss his cheek? GROSS.