Morocco confirms respect for international conventions in the case of the extradition of a Uyghur activist to China

The Moroccan government said it respects international legal procedures and obligations, in the case of the extradition of Uyghur activist Idris Hassan to China.

On Thursday, the Moroccan government affirmed that it respects international legal procedures and obligations in the case of the extradition of Uyghur activist Idris Hassan, who is detained in Morocco and who is requested by the Chinese authorities.

"The Moroccan government respects the international procedures and obligations and the agreements it signed," said government spokesman Mustapha Baitas.

Idris has been under arrest since his arrival last July at Mohammed V Airport from Turkey on his way to France.

He was arrested on the grounds that his name was published in an Interpol red notice, as the Chinese authorities accuse him of terrorism.

While a number of Moroccan jurists appealed to their country's authorities not to extradite him to China, which "persecuted the Uygur minority" for fear of "torturing or killing him".

On December 15, the Moroccan Court of Cassation upheld the decision to extradite Idris, which raised the concerns of Moroccan human rights defenders.

Idris's lawyer said that he visited his client last week, "and he was in a bad psychological state," according to his interview with Reuters.

Under Moroccan law, the Court of Cassation has its say in extradition, but complex administrative procedures must be taken before the final decision on extradition is made.

Egypt first large number Suicide is increasing in the Arab world and extends to females and young people

The accumulated crises in a number of Arab countries cast a heavy shadow on the various segments of society. In recent years, there has been an alarming rise in the number of suicides, which, according to the statistics, have killed a large number of young men and women.

In light of the shocking numbers and statistics recently published by the World Health Organization, with regard to the rate of suicides in the world, the capitals of the Arab world have sounded alarm bells about the alarming growth of this phenomenon, especially among its young youth, and females among them more.

While these governments are trying to address this scourge that is rampant in their societies, the competent authorities are questioning the truth behind the reasons behind its exacerbation, in order to be able to treat it from its roots and give it sufficient attention.

In this context, analysts and specialists indicated that, according to official figures, suicides were mainly concentrated in low- and middle-income countries, and those ravaged by wars and conflicts.

A scourge is sweeping the Arab world

Almost daily, the media and social media platforms do not stop publishing news about many suicides. While this phenomenon did not exclude any country around the world, it has also witnessed alarming growth in the countries of the Arab world.

According to the World Health Organization reports, more than 700,000 people take their lives annually, by hanging themselves, swallowing medicines and pesticides, or using firearms, which is one of the most common methods around the world.

Statistics revealed that about 77% of suicides occurred in middle and low-income countries, which refers to the role of deteriorating social and economic conditions, in a large way, in provoking frustration and despair among many members of vulnerable groups in society, who ultimately make the decision to commit suicide.

This is considered suicide, according to the WHO report, the fourth cause of death in the world, especially for the age group between 19 and 25 years.

With the growth and exacerbation of this phenomenon around the world, the countries of the Arab world have also recorded more than 26,000 suicides, varying from one country to another.

Although it is a shocking number, experts and specialists have confirmed that the number of failed suicide attempts exceeds that, which raises more fears and anxiety about the extent of the danger of this scourge on the structure of Arab societies, and on their youth in particular, who recorded the highest rate of suicide over the years. Last.

Egypt first large number Suicide in the Arab world in terms of suicide rates, followed by Sudan, Yemen and Algeria.

In 2019, 3,022 people committed suicide in Egypt alone. However, the Egyptian authorities continue to deny these figures, considering them to be inaccurate. On the other hand, they confirmed that the suicide rate does not exceed 1.29 people per 100,000 people.

In Iraq, the official Iraqi agency recently quoted Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Al-Muhanna as saying: "The suicide cases this year amounted to 772 people, an increase of more than 100 cases over the year 2020, which recorded 663 people."

Al-Muhanna explained that "36.6% of suicides this year were under 20 years old, while the percentage of males constituted 55.9%, and females constituted 44.1%."

In Syria, Save the Children had previously warned, based on official figures and statistics, of an alarming rise in suicide rates among adolescents in northwestern Syria, in recent years.

The situation was not much different in Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and other Arab countries, which are grieving on a daily basis with the suicide of their children. Amidst the inability to take note of this phenomenon.

In a related context, and according to what was recently published by the National Library of American Medicine website, females are among the most common social groups that have committed suicide in the Arab world in recent years.

What are the causes of this societal scourge?

While the World Health Organization called for the necessity of psychological awareness and work to support mental health, especially for adolescents, young people and those within fragile groups of society, specialists stressed the need to dismantle the phenomenon and reach its true causes, in order to develop appropriate policies and measures to address it.

In this context, experts and specialists considered that the tragic conditions and crises that Arab countries coexist with have caused a great deal of psychological pressure, which led to a rise in suicides.

And the spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, Khaled Al-Muhanna, spoke about this, saying: "The reasons for the rise in suicides are due to psychological pressure, family violence, deteriorating economic conditions, and the spread of unemployment and poverty in the country."

Analysts attributed the growing phenomenon to the role of social networking sites in encouraging adolescents and young adults to think of suicide, spreading despair and frustration in them, and misleading them with a lot of harmful information.

If the reasons for failure in studies, emotional failure and various psychological diseases may lead many to end their lives, the recent crises, wars, the spread of unemployment, poverty and the state of despair prevailing in societies may stand on the list of the real causes of the exacerbation of the phenomenon.

In this, the responsibility lies with everyone, from the family, the authorities, and the components of civil society, to confront its further spread.

Three protesters shot dead in anti-army demonstrations in Sudan

Sudanese security forces fired tear gas and shot dead three protesters on Thursday, after demonstrators in the capital Khartoum and other cities staged new anti-army rallies, medics and witnesses said.

The measures to suppress demonstrations since the October coup have resulted in at least 60 dead and a large number of wounded, according to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, allied with the protest movement.

Internet and mobile phone services were largely cut off before the demonstrations, as happened in previous protests, and some bridges between Khartoum and the cities of Bahri and Omdurman were closed. Journalists and the NetBlocks observatory to monitor internet outages said that communications and internet service on mobile phones have been disrupted since the morning.

Demonstrators tried again to reach the presidential palace in Khartoum in an attempt to maintain pressure on the army, which, in a military coup in October, halted the power-sharing negotiated after the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

"Tomorrow, we will occupy the streets again, heading to the tyrant's palace, rejecting the rule of the military, and clinging to our peace, our strongest weapon," a statement from the Bahri neighborhood committees, which organizes demonstrations in the city, said.

Today's rallies are the first in a number of rounds of protest planned this month.

The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said that all the victims of today were demonstrators, and that they were killed by bullets fired by security men in the head, thigh and chest in rallies in the cities of Bahri and Omdurman.

There was no immediate comment from the authorities, who interpreted the coup as a necessary "correction" to stabilize the transitional period. The authorities say they allow peaceful protests and that those responsible for the casualties will be held accountable.

The protests come four days after Abdullah Hamdok resigned from the premiership, which put Sudan's future in a state of uncertainty.

Hamdok became prime minister in 2019 and oversaw major economic reforms before the coup deposed him and then reinstated him in a failed attempt to salvage the power-sharing agreement.