Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, famed Bahrani activist and former president and co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, ended his 110 day hunger strike 28 May 2012. According to al-Khawaja’s wife, the activist ended his protest after he was force fed by doctors; al-Khawaja also believes that the hunger strike has finally begun to draw enough attention to the rights violations in Bahrain. Friends and colleagues of al-Khawaja also called for him to end his hunger strike.

Al-Khawaja was sentenced to life in prison in June 2011 with at least eight other activists. Twenty in total were tried by military tribunal as well; seven were tried in absentia. These activists, most of whom are Shia Muslims, were charged with trying to overthrow the Sunni royal family. Since the military ruling the highest court in Bahrain, the Court of Cassation, has said that the case must be heard by the civilian Court of Appeal and threw out the decision from the tribunal; however, al-Khawaja remains in prison at least until the end of the trial.

For a short time in April many activists around the world and family members of al-Khawaja worried that he had been killed or died in prison. The activist went missing and neither his wife nor his lawyer were allowed access to see him.

Nabeel Rajab, another famous Shia activist who was arrested for inciting protests via social networks, was released in late May. Rajab is the current president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and had expressed concern about al-Khawaja when he was being force fed.

Al-Khawaja’s daughter, Zainab al-Khawaja, was arrested 21 April 2012 after she was found sitting on a main road in a lone protest demanding the release of her father, the end to the government crackdown on protesters, and the cancellation of the Formula 1 races in Bahrain. She sentenced to one month in jail but was released for time served on remand. Zainab al-Khawaja was also forced to pay a fine of 200 dinar (US$530).

Al-Khawaja received political asylum in Denmark in 1992 after the Bahrani government began arresting and torturing those it suspected of trying to overthrow the government. While he was living Scandinavia, he and other Bahrani activist founded the Bahrain Human Rights Organization. Al-Khawaja returned to Bahrain in 1999 after several political reforms were passed and created the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. During the Arab Spring Revolutions of 2011, al-Khawaja was a leader of several non-violent, pro-democracy protests in Bahrain.

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If until recently, the problematic situation in Syria was thought to be a temporary instability, then today, it can be said that there is a possibility of civil war in the Arab country. The protests against the president, Bashar al-Assad, and his regime grew into a continued and strenuous struggle that evoked the public opinion. How long this will last is unknown.

It is too late for the Syrians to peacefully extinguish the bloody conflagration. The victims of the uprising are increasing all the time, and by now, they exceed 7,600 people.  This includes both civilians and military men. Whether Syria will have the success of Egypt is one of the most asked questions, concerning society all around the world, because the national issue that started almost a year ago, has gradually turned into a universal one.

The correspondent for London’s ‘The Sunday Times’, Marie Colvin, and the French photographer, Remi Ochlic, were cruelly killed in the city of Homs during a siege. Until now, people have not been thinking about the jeopardy and the consequences of this uprising, but the tragic death of the two journalists in Syria proved that the situation in the Arab world is going off the rails.

On February 24, in Tunisia, a meeting was held by the “Friends of Syria”. During the meeting, around 60 countries insisted on stopping the outrage in troubled Syria. The world leaders unanimously decided that more serious measures against the Assad’s regime need to be taken. They are considering issuing an ultimatum to the Assad government. Their main goal is to send aid in order to help the civilians of the revolutionary country.

Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State, appealed to all nations to put bans on the import of oil from Syrians as well as on traveling to and from the Arab country. According to Clinton, it is the high cost that the Syrian officials have to pay for not taking into account the opinion of the international community. She also added that the U.S. will allot $10 million in aid to the Syrian citizens.

Only the leaders of China and Russia still support the Syrian president. They were against the UN resolutions of ending the Assad’s regime, stating that the these declarations will cause more violence in the Arab country. Some diplomats connected the actions of China and Russia to their previous union during the Cold War, but one is sure, with their attitude towards the UN resolutions and the current affairs in Western Asia, they incurred the sharp tongue of the U.S. Secretary of State.

Hilary Clinton described their veto regarding the resolutions as “despicable”. “It is just despicable, and I ask, ‘Whose side are they on?’ They are clearly not on the side of the Syrian people,” she said during the meeting in Tunisia.When the Arab Spring will come is still not apparent, but it is an incontrovertible fact that the uprising has transformed into a universal issue that has strained relations between world leaders.

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One year after the “Arab spring”, the southern shores of the Mediterranean remain unstable and fragile. For European people, the current situation means that they will now have to change their approach to take due account of the four challenges that the countries of the Maghreb must face.

The first of these is the economic and social challenge. Unless we meet expectations expressed, political reforms will not be sufficient. The question of how to use and draw up a new development model must be at the heart of the leaders’ concerns. Though Morocco undoubtedly has the most offensive strategy, the Tunisian economy is now fragmented and Algeria has a rentier economy characterised by closure.

Only a response to this first challenge will overcome the challenge of democratisation. Though revolutions have brought a return to aspirations for change by the populations, the results of elections are cause for concern. However, the reality principle must be imposed on everyone. Everything is working to reinforce the democratic framework and the new teams should not be demonised – we should give them the powers they need, work with them and judge them by their actions.

Economic and social developments will also help confront the security challenge. Al Qaida, which has sought to use aggressive tactics, has not as yet reaped any major successes in the Maghreb. Another risk has to do with the increasing insecurity in the Sahel, under the dual effect of terrorist groups establishing bases there and the repercussions of the war in Libya.

There will not be any progress without a real desire to face up to the cooperation challenge. The “Arab spring” should be an opportunity to determine the need for regional integration. However, any improvement could be compromised if the conflict in the Western Sahara is not settled, despite the independence proposal tabled by Morocco in 2007, the most credible and most realistic solution. Europeans have, in all instances, nothing to lose by relying on initiatives moving towards maximum synergy.

The report was presented in Brussels at the Second Meeting on Sustainable Security in the Maghreb on Thursday 16 February 2012. For further information, visit http://www.institut-thomas-more.org and http://securitedurable.com.

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