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Mystery Days

Over four months have passed since the government reported fierce gun battles between the police and an armed group in a suburb to the south of Tunis. And still today, no one in Tunisia knows what really happened. Slim Boukhdhir reports

Home to the "Islamic Calvinists"

During the last decade Kayseri has become one of the industrial centres of Turkey. But what is remarkable is that economic success has gone in hand in hand with adherence to Islamic principles. Dorian Jones reports

"No Military Victory in Sight"

The UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs, says the Afghans need to be placed as quickly as possible in a position where they can fight out the conflict with the Taliban on their own. Martin Gerner met with him in Kabul

Individual Interests Threat to Development in Afghanistan

In late 2004 Ramazan Bashardost resigned from office as Afghanistan's planning minister after his controversial critique of the NGO's work in the country. In this interview with Qantara.de, he talks about the newly elected parliament and its agenda

A Dam Breach for the Rule of Law

After 9/11 a great number of constitutional democracies have approved many national security policy measures at the expense of civil liberties – a development that brings the threat of barbarism straight to our doorstep, says Ulrike Mast-Kirschning

"A Ban on Torture Is an Absolute Ban"

Heiner Bielefeldt is the director of the German Institute for Human Rights. In this interview with Mona Naggar, he talks about the rule of law in times of terror, about the headscarf ban, and religious minority rights

Universal or Culturally Specific?

Are human rights a universal concept or are they dependent on a particular cultural understanding? Are Islamic societies and human rights compatible? Hajo Goertz interviewed Heiner Bielefeldt, Director of Germany's Institute for Human Rights

National versus Individual Sovereignty

In spite of their universal aspiration, human rights are ignored in many countries. Development experts point out harsh economic and social consequences. Opinion is divided on how aggressively governments should be put under pressure in the fight for human rights. By Marie-Christine Johannes

Despite Terrorism, Standards Must Be Maintained

Representatives of Germany's Human Rights Forum say that the fight against terrorism has become an excuse for violating human rights, but that despite the cruelty of terrorist attacks, human rights standards must be maintained.

Opportunistic Intrigues

The Muslim League's attempts to quit the government as a protest against the People's Party's refusal to reinstate the judges sacked by President Musharraf last year have been rejected by Pakistan's PM. A commentary by Thomas Bärthlein