Muslim Majorities Protection: Courts, Rule of Law and Accountable Security

Summary

Across Bahrain, Jordan, Algeria, Tunisia and the UAE, rights reporting shows broad terrorism and speech laws used to jail peaceful critics, including Islamist opposition figures, alongside weakened judicial checks and Islamic-law-based limits on Muslim women's rights.

What it argues

1. Counter-terrorism laws weaponized

   The UAE's 2014 law's broad terrorism definitions enable indefinite detention and prosecution of peaceful critics, a report by Women Journalists Without Chains finds. Tunisian courts used terrorism and conspiracy charges to sentence dozens, including Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi, to long terms. Algeria's authorities expanded terrorism definitions and used article 87 bis against activists, journalists and lawyers, UN and HRW findings show. Vaguely worded terrorism statutes are used across these states to criminalize peaceful dissent.

2. Death penalty and coerced confessions

   Bahrain has not commuted 26 death sentences, with HRW finding convictions based on confessions coerced through torture. A Tunisian court sentenced a Facebook critic, Saber Ben Chouchane, to death before a presidential pardon followed public outrage. Capital punishment is applied in trials rights groups say lack basic fairness guarantees.

3. Judicial independence undermined

   Tunisia's President Saied dissolved the Constitutional Court process and replaced the High Judicial Council, giving himself appointment and removal power, HRW reports. Jordanian governors use a 1954 law to hold people in administrative detention for up to a year, bypassing ordinary criminal procedure. Executive power has been expanded at the expense of courts meant to check it.

4. Unfinished transitional justice

   Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission documented five decades of torture and abuse but its judicial and security-reform recommendations remain largely unimplemented, HRW says. Carnegie's Yezid Sayigh finds Egypt and Tunisia missed post-uprising chances to make security sectors accountable, entrenching police impunity. Promised reform of courts and security services has repeatedly stalled.

5. Opposition figures jailed

   Bahraini opposition leaders, including Sheikh Ali Salman, remain detained despite 2024 amnesties; elections are neither free nor fair, HRW reports. Algeria re-elected President Tebboune in September 2024 amid arrests of activists; Tunisia's President Saied has prosecuted rival politicians and lawyers. Electoral processes in these states proceed alongside sustained repression of political opponents.

6. Press freedom squeezed

   No independent newspaper has operated in Bahrain since 2017; journalists in Jordan and Algeria have been jailed for online criticism. Reporters Without Borders ranked Tunisia 129th and Algeria 139th of 180 countries for press freedom, both reports note. Media are increasingly restricted across all four North African and Gulf states covered.

7. Spyware against dissidents

   Bahrain used NSO Group's Pegasus and FinSpy against government critics and activists, HRW and court filings show. Access Now reported Pegasus targeted 35 Jordanian journalists, activists and politicians, including two Human Rights Watch staff. Commercial surveillance tools have been deployed against peaceful critics and rights workers.

8. Family law rooted in Islamic rules

   Bahrain's Sharia-based family law permits marriage of girls from 16 and requires wives to obey husbands or lose maintenance, HRW reports. Jordan's personal status code bars marriage between Muslim women and non-Muslim men and requires male guardian consent to marry. Tunisia's 2022 constitution ties the state to the 'Islamic Umma' and the 'purposes of Islam,' which HRW says could be used to justify limits on women's rights. Statutory and constitutional provisions tied to Islamic law continue to constrain Muslim women's rights.