Human Rights

Thanks to the opposition party, the Human rights committee will be disbanded:

The Human Rights Advisory Committee and the Science and Technology Advisory Committee, both chaired by Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), will stop functioning to show the Presidential Office's respect for the legislature, as well as its sincerity in maintaining a harmonious relationship with opposition parties, Chen said.

(...)The Legislative Yuan passed a resolution in January requesting that six non-institutional bodies set up under the Presidential Office be dissolved.

Alaa Abd El-Fatah is a renowned Egyptian blogger. He's been campaining in Egypt for Free software, Free Speech, Human Rights and political reform.

His blog, manalaa.net has won special reporters without borders award from the 2005 Deutsche Welle International Weblog Awards.

Alaa, together with a group of activist, have been calling for political and judiciary reforms. At stake, in particular, is a motion to ensure that the judiciary is independent and free from pressure from the government during elections. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/egypt/story/0,,1770311,00.html)