[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on the Maghreb and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Maghreb Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each roundup to maghreb@jadaliyya.com]
Algeria
Algerian press calls for action on migrant criminal networks In a meeting of Arab interior ministers in Algiers, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika called for a “common approach” to stopping criminal human trafficking networks, highlighting tensions raised by sub-Saharan African migrants in Algeria.
Attaque contre l'Ambassade d'Algérie: le Mali exprime ses regrets et condamne un acte "inamical" Dozens of Malian protesters, recently deported from Algeria, protest in front of the Algerian embassy in Bamako. Chanting slogans condemning their inhuman treatment as migrants in Algeria, the protest escalated when fire was set to the garden and the iron gates broken--acts the Malian government strongly condemned.
IMF staff completes 2018 Article IV visit to Algeria An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team visited Algeria to discuss structural reforms needed to diversify the economy amidst oil price shocks and falling reserves.
L’autorité de l’Aménokal à l’épreuve Inhabitants of the southern Tuareg city of Tamanrasset mobilize in a protest calling for the restoration of Ahmed Idabir’s authority. Idabir is the Aménokal, or community leader, elected by the local notables, whom locals say plays a significant role in maintaining the region’s stablity.
الجزائر- مكذا احتفلت الجزائريات بعيد المرأة Celebrations of International Women’s Day in the streets, shops, and restaurants of Algeria reflect changing societal openness and respect for women’s rights.
Agressions, menaces, gel des salaires : rien ne va plus dans les hôpitaux algériens With frozen salaries and ongoing physical threats, workers in Algerian hospitals express their frustration.
اخيرا.. فرنسا ستعوض ضحايا حرب تحرير الجزائر The French Constitutional Council ruled that Algerian victims of French colonial violence and torture have the right to compensation from France, overturning a previous decision that limited compensations.
Libya
Libya migrants: Smuggling network arrest warrants issued The Libyan attorney general’s office, in conjunction with the Italian prosecutor’s office, issued arrest warrants for 205 suspected human traffickers of migrants headed to Europe
Case of commander wanted by ICC opens rift in East Libyan forces Although the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted General Mahmoud al-Werfalli of the Libyan National Army (LNA) for executing captives during the Army’s campaign to control eastern Libya, the central command refuses to turn him over to international forces, demonstrating cleavages within the LNA.
Cinéma : quand l’Europe démissionne face à l’afflux de migrants en Libye A review of a film by Italian director Andrea Segre entitled “The Order of Things,” which places the spotlight on migrants being held in Libya, with the hopes of crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.
Regional polarization driving Libyans apart, marginalizing UN-led efforts: UN Libya experts panel report A UN Experts Panel on Libya reports that regional polarization, parallel state-sponsored negotiations, and the involvement of Sudanese and Chadian arms groups undermine UN-led attempts to resolve internal conflicts.
La Libye inattendue A review of a recently published book by French journalists Maryline Dumas and Mathieu Galtier, that gathers notes and observations on the current situation in Libya.
شاهد: انتشال مئات المهاجرين من البحر بالقرب من السواحل الليبية The Libyan Coast Guard and ships from international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have recovered hundreds of migrants off the coast of Libya, as human traffickers had attempted to take advantage of particularly calm seas to get to Italy.
الليبية للاستثمار: اموال القذافي المجمدة في امان The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) responds to reports that around ten billion euros from the Gaddafi regime that were frozen in Belgium have disappeared by calling them “rumors and misleading news,” claiming that the funds are secure.
Mauritania
G5 Sahel: Much done, much more to do The Brussels summit, co-hosted by the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), and the G-5 Sahel (Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad), led to early efforts to streamline and coordinate actions against militants in the region, but significant hurdles remain in managing donated funds and pursuing successful counter-insurgency operations.
Mauritanie : Human Rights Wach recommande la révision des lois " liberticides " (Interview) Al Akhbar interviews Eric Goldstein, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division, on the human rights situation in Mauritania.
Improve Management of Public Investments and Strengthen Social Protection: A Winning Pair for Mauritania The World Bank’s recent Report on the economic situation in Mauritania notes the increase of the economic growth rate to 3.5 percent and decrease in the debt ratio, but these changes have not yet matched growth rates from 2008 to 2014 and the absolute poverty level remains high.
L’opposition mauritanienne, solidaire aux populations victimes de la sécheresse The Mauritanian opposition organizes a forum, where the primary focus was the situation of Mauritanians in the country’s interior who are contending with a devastating drought.
مسار أزمة الاتحاد الوطني لأرباب العمل الموريتانيين The crisis between the government and the National Union of Mauritanian Employers (UNPM), particularly the union’s president, Ahmed Baba Ould Azizi, escalated in recent weeks, as a range of governmental attempts to oust Azizi spark controversy.
Mauritanie - SNIM: poursuite de la grève des travailleurs Members of the National Company of Industry and Mining (SNIM) hold a sit-in regarding licensing issues, a sit-in that the government spokesperson condemned as “illegal and unjustified.”
١١ في الميئة من الموريتانيين يستخدمون الفيسبوك The Dubai School of Government reports that 11 percent of Mauritanians, less than one million people, use Facebook amidst a general increase of 41 million active Facebook users in Arab countries to 156 million total Arab users.
Morocco
Will Morocco's new law protect women from violence? Morocco’s parliament approved on 14 February a new law criminalizing violence against women, cyber harassment, and forced marriage, but some argue that the law’s lack of clear definition of domestic violence still leaves some women at risk.
Procès Hirak: "Drapeaux du Rif partout, drapeaux marocains nulle part" During the ongoing Hirak case and in response to a question that pointed to the use of the Rif flag instead of the Moroccan flag during protests, activist Mohamed Haki said, "This is a flag of victory, not of separatism. This needs to be taught in schools and in history books.”
"الطليعة" يطالب الدولة بإطلاق سراح معتقلي حراك جرادة The Socialist Democratic Vanguard Party calls for the release of those held for taking part in protests in the mining town of Jerada.
Morocco: Protesters clash with police in poor mining town Protesters clashed with security forces in the small mining town of Jerada after two coal miners died in an accident, escalating previous calls for state aid and job diversification by setting five police cars on fire.
روبورتاج: محن "الأمهات العازبات".. قصص لفتيات قست عليهن الحياة ولفظهن المجتمع A report on the dire circumstances experienced by single mothers in Morocco.
Six morts dans un accident sur l'autoroute Agadir-Marrakech A deadly highway accident in between Agadir and Marrakech leaves six dead.
الحكومة تطمح إلى هدنة ثلاث سنوات مع النقابات Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani expresses his hopes that the latest rounds of social dialogue with trade union representatives will lead to a three year-long agreement and a foundation for cooperation going forward.
Chada FM sanctionnée après les propos d'un fqih sur les causes du cancer de l'utérus A radio program on Chada FM faces is suspended and sanctioned after a fqih argued that uterine cancer in women is caused by extramarital sex.
أطفال مغاربة بإسبانيا: نعاني ندرة الطعام Hundreds of unaccompanied Moroccan children live in inhumane conditions in holding centers and the streets of Mellila, Spain, suffering from a lack of money, food, and clothing.
Tunisia
How legal reform can drive social change for women in Tunisia Despite recent state-led reforms on criminalizing domestic violence against women and legalizing marriage between Muslim women and non-Muslim men, the larger debate on the relationship between religion and the state and wider social change must supplement top-down reforms in order to further promote equality.
Thomas Cook resumes UK flights to Tunisia after Sousse attack British airline Thomas Cook resumed flights to Tunisia for the first time since thirty Britons were killed in the Sousse beach attack in 2015, six months after the Foreign Office lifted its warning against non-essential travel to the country.
Tunisie : décès de Mohamed Sayah, figure clé des années Bourguiba Former minister and close confidante of Bourguiba, Mohamed Sayah, passes away at the age of eighty-five years old.
Meet the Tunisian drag queen defying the odds Khoukha, a trans, non-binary Tunisian drag queen, discusses her life as an LGBTQIA activist and performer.
Le ministère de l'emploi supprime la signature légalisée Tunisia’s employment ministry removes requirements for a notarized signature, intended to ease bureaucratic delays.
En Tunisie, l’accès à la contraception et à l’IVG est en perte de vitesse Tunisians NGO’s express their concern regarding the increasing obstacles women face when seeking contraceptive care.
قضية تعذيب اطفال التوحد: وعود على ورق وتطبييع مع العنف A case of the torture of autistic children illuminates larger issues in Tunisia with disability in terms of challenges with bureaucratic integration, weak state policy, and cases of document falsification.
Abdelkarim Harouni: Ennahdha ne bénéficie pas de financements étrangers After revealing the party’s 2018 budget, the president of Ennahda’s shura council denies accusations that the party has received foreign funding.
تظاهرة في تونس للمطالبة بالمساواة في الميراث Over 1,000 people, most of them women, protested in Tunis demanding gender balance in inheritance law, reflecting a larger push towards laws enforcing gender equality in Tunisia.
Western Sahara
Report au 10 avril du procès des étudiants sahraouis détenus au Maroc, appels à leur libération immédiate After their initial arrest in the beginning of 2016, the trial of a group of Sahrawi students is postponed for the twelfth time.
Plundering of Sahrawi Natural Resources - Euro-MPs, International Trade Unionists Express "Deep Concern" A European Parliament conference on trade unionists and Western Sahara called on the European Union, its institutions, and member states to condemn Moroccan “plundering” of the natural resources of Western Sahara.
جمعيات الجالية الصحراوية في تظاهرة جنيف تحث مجلس حقوق الانسان الاممي على حماية حقوق الانسان في الصحراء الغربية المحتلة Members of the Sahrawi community gathered in front of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, demanding that the United Nations does more to protect human rights in Western Sahara.
Morocco-EU Fisheries Deal Ignores Occupation of Western Sahara “The trade agreement between EU and Morocco concerning fishery and agricultural products is, in its current shape, an important part of turning the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara into a profitable one.”
La tenue du Forum de Crans Montana dans les territoires sahraouis occupés est une "provocation" Leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, condemns the organization of the Crans Montana Forum in Dakhla as a “provocation.”
اللجنة الوطنية لحقوق الانسان تثمن عاليا عطاءات المرأة الصحراوية النضالية In a statement on the occasion of International Women’s Day, the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) praised Sahrawi women and their sacrifices and contributions to the struggle for liberation.
Recent on Jadaliyya
Jeffrey R. Halverson and Nathaniel Greenberg, Islamists of the Maghreb (New Texts Out Now) Jeffry Halverson and Nathaniel Greenberg discuss their book, Islamists of the Maghreb, in light of the central role that Maghreb countries played in the Arab Spring.
زحف الثورة المضادة Seven years after the Arab Spring began in Tunisia, issues of revolution and counterrevolution persist, as does the urban-rural divide.
James McDougall, A History of Algeria (New Texts Out Now) Interview with historian James McDougall on his latest book entitled A History of Algeria.
Tunisia and the International Community since 2011: Rentierism, Patronage and Moral Hazard Despite perceptions of a democratic Tunisia, the incoming flow of loans has upheld a undemocratic practices of patronage, failing to address protesters’ dominant socioeconomic grievances.
Morocco's Hirak Movement: The People Versus the Makhzen Morocco’s growing Hirak protests against the regime, now spreading throughout the country, receive a historical and political analysis.
Political Parties, Elections, and the Illusion of Opposition in Morocco As shown by the results of the October 2016 parliamentary elections, King Mohammed VI’s control over Moroccan politics demonstrates a pattern of increasing influence in the party system.
The Battleground for the Morocco-Algeria Rivalry The regional rivalry between Morocco and Algeria expands beyond conflict over Western Sahara to competition throughout Africa in light of Morocco’s foreign policy turn towards the continent.
حراك الريف: النظام يراهن على الحسم الامني Following months of protests in Morocco’s northern Rif region, the regime’s security forces assert their dominance in managing the ongoing crisis through widespread arrests and repress