Annual Report on Freedom of Expression in Egypt and the Arab World - 2015

With regard to violations against freedom of expression in the Arab world, it seems that the regime in Sudan has specialized in the confiscation of newspapers. Nine issues of the same newspaper have been confiscated in one year, six of them in one month, setting an internationally unprecedented level. Kuwait, on the other hand, has specialized in prosecuting Twitter users and, to a lesser extent, users of Whatsapp. Bahrain has excelled in the prosecution of human rights defenders, imprisoning a large number of them. Despite the release of the prominent Bahraini human rights defender, Nabil Rajab, he remains threatened to return behind bars for other charges brought against him. Saudi Arabia's area of expertise would probably be its absurd and appalling court rulings. On top of the list is the death sentence against the Palestinian poet, Ashraf Fayadh, for apostasy and blasphemy.

Regardless of the variety in specializations mentioned above, the high rate of violations against freedom of expression and freedom of press and media is a common trait amongst Arab states that is noticeably increasing within a restricting environment to freedoms in general.