…from beneath the crooked bough, witness 230 years of brutal tyranny by the al Khalifas come to an end

Un Islamic Saudi Monarchy once again Demolishes a Mosque used By the Shia Muslims in Awamiyah
17 September, 2012 – Jafria News

JNN 17 Sept 2012 Qatif : Saudi security forces have demolished a Shia mosque in Eastern Province as anti-regime demonstrations continue in the country.

The Ein Imam Hussein Mosque was razed by the regime forces as part of the crackdown on protesters in the town of Awamiyah.

Prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nemr al-Nemr used to lead daily prayers in the mosque prior to his detention.

Sheikh Nemr was attacked, injured and arrested by the security forces of the Al Saud regime while driving from a farm to his house in the Qatif region of Eastern Province on July 8.

Rights activists say hundreds of political prisoners remain locked up in Saudi jails under harsh conditions and without access to a lawyer.

People are randomly arrested by the Saudi police just for looking suspicious and are even held behind bars for years before they are charged.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Saudi regime “routinely represses expression critical of the government.”

Since February 2011, protesters have held demonstrations on an almost regular basis in Saudi Arabia, mainly in Qatif and Awamiyah in the oil-rich Eastern Province, primarily calling for the release of all political prisoners, freedom of expression and assembly, and an end to widespread discrimination.

However, the demonstrations have turned into protests against the repressive Al Saud regime, especially since November 2011, when Saudi security forces killed five protesters and injured many others in the province. …source

Bahrain Pro-democracy movement buries democracy after its assassination by US and ‘friends’

Embassy Protests and Middle East Unrest in Context
By Stephen Zunes – 17 September, 2012 – FPIF

It seems bizarre that right-wing pundits would be so desperate to use the recent anti-American protests in the Middle East—in most cases numbering only a few hundred people and (except for a peaceful Hezbollah-organized rally in Lebanon) in no cases numbering more than two or three thousand—as somehow indicative of why the United States should oppose greater democracy in the Middle East. Even more strangely, some media pundits are criticizing Arabs as being “ungrateful” for U.S. support of pro-democracy movements when, in reality, the United States initially opposed the popular movements that deposed Western-backed despots in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen, and remains a preeminent backer of dictatorships in the region today.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney falsely accused President Obama of “apologizing” for what the Republican presidential nominee referred to as “American values” and of “sympathizing” with those who attacked diplomatic missions rather than promptly condemning them. (What apparently prompted this misleading attack was a tweet from the U.S. embassy in Cairo prior to the worst attacks reiterating U.S. opposition to “efforts to offend believers of all religions” and “the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.”)

What incited many of the protests was an outrageously offensive anti-Islamic movie produced by Christian extremists in California, but there is a lot more to the protests than this triggering event.

For years, the Christian right and Islamic right have sought to provoke extremism and hatred as part of an effort to seemingly validate the stereotypes of the other. As Hani Shukrallah remarked about the film in the leading Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, “The obvious, outward motive of such attempts is not difficult to discern: to show Muslims as irrational, violent, intolerant and barbaric, all of which are attributes profoundly inscribed into the racist anti-Muslim discourse in the West. And, it’s a very safe bet that there will be among us those who will readily oblige.”

The attacks on two U.S. consulate offices in Benghazi, which killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya, are far more significant, though these appear to have been the work of Ansar al-Sharia, an extremist Islamist militia which took advantage of a protest to launch their armed assault avenging the killing of a Libyan-born al-Qaeda leader by a drone strike in Pakistan. Ironically, the United States allied with these extremists in the armed uprising against the Gaddafi regime last year.

Indeed, last week’s tragedy in Libya should raise questions about the wisdom of backing such armed uprisings, even against a brutal dictator. In Egypt and Yemen, where dictatorships were overthrown largely through mass nonviolent action not supported by Washington, the worst damage protesters at the U.S. embassies could do was to seize parts of the grounds and burn the American flag. In Libya, where the dictator was overthrown in an armed revolution that was supported by Washington, two consulate buildings were destroyed and four Americans were killed in a coordinated assault with automatic weapons, mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades. Historically, autocratic regimes overthrown by armed struggle are far more likely to descend into violence and chaos (and/or a new dictatorship) than authoritarian regimes toppled through largely nonviolent methods.

In a country of barely 6 million people, more than 200,000 Libyans are armed members of militias outside the control of the Libyan government. Even though the recent Libyan elections appear to have been free and fair, and the winners largely consisted of moderates open to a democratic political system, the legacy of the war and the NATO intervention will likely remain a problem for some time to come.

In the rest of the region, where uprisings against dictatorships came largely in the form of unarmed civil insurrections, radical Islamists have been severely weakened, as the popular revolts demonstrated how U.S.-backed regimes could be toppled without embracing terrorism or extremist ideologies. The need to manipulate a hysterical reaction to an obscure, albeit offensive, film is indicative of just how desperate the far-right-wing Islamists have become in asserting their relevance. These extremists were able to stir up crowds in cities in more than a dozen Islamist countries with false claims that the film was a major Hollywood production which, like movies in Egypt and many other countries in the region, must have been subjected to review and approval by government censors before being released to the public.

Just weeks after approving a new law on childrens’ rights on 8 Aug 2012 [1] the violations against children in Bahrain have escalated seriously. At least 10 children have been killed since last year, hundreds were tortured and beaten, hundreds arrested and detained, even as young as 9 years. Other children were emotionally traumatized witnessing one or both of their parents killed, violently beaten, arrested and detained for months or seriously injured. They have also been suffering from the regime’s collective punishment procedures, such as randomly breaking into houses and the excessive use of teargas.

Children as Young as Five are Targets of Riot Police Excessive Use of Force
14 September, 2012 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

Extra Judicial killing of children

Hussam Al Haddad (16 years old) was killed by security forces on the night of 17th August 2012, according to an eyewitness and as confirmed by an official statement from the ministry of interior (MOI); AlHaddad was shot with shotgun pellets causing him to fall to the ground. The witness stated that AlHaddad got kicked repeatedly by men in civilian clothing while security forces stood idly watching. In the hospital family members and a BCHR representative were kept for hours before being allowed to retrieve his body for burial. In the Ministry of Interior’s statement about the killing of Hussam, they stated that security force officials were defending themselves and following legal procedures, calling the child a terrorist, they neglected to mention the fact that he was unarmed. In photos published next day of Hussam’s (16) body, birdshot injuries were visible on his left arm, back and left side of his body, as well as marks of severe beating on his back and shoulder. The location and depth of injuries indicate that he was shot at close range and that the shooting was intentional and not an act of self-defense [2] .

Hussam is one of 10 children killed by the security forces in Bahrain:

1 Yahya Yousif Ahmed, 1 month old, died 5-Mar-12, Suffocation by tear gas
2 Yaseen Jassim AlAsfoor, 14 years old, died 20-Jan-12 Suffocation by tear gas
3 Sayed Hashim Sayed Saeed 15 years old, died 31-Dec-11 shot – tear gas canister
4 Sajida Faisal 5 day old, died 11-Dec-11 Suffocation by tear gas
5 Ali Yousif Badah 16 years old, died 19-Nov-11 Run over by a Police car
6 Ahmed Jaber AlQattan 16 years old, died 6-Oct-11 shotgun
7 Ali Alshaikh 14 years old, died 31-Aug-11 shot – tear gas canister
8 Mohammed Abdulhussain Farhan 6 years old, died 30-Apr-11 Suffocation by tear gas
9 Sayed-Ahmad Sa’eed Shams 15 years old, died 30-Mar-11 Shotgun

The Ministry of Interior confirmed responsibility of the murder of Hussam as well as some of the other children that were killed since the popular uprising, like Ali Al Shaikh and Ali Al Badah. It is claimed that investigations have been launched for a few cases, however, we have yet to see any official being held accountable for these deaths.

Arbitrary arrest and Detention

In the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) “Post-BICI Part II” report it was stated that 123 children have been arrested (26.6% of total arrests) with an average detention periods of 91 days. The numbers in the report were for the period of post BICI from March 2012 to 18 Jun 2012 when the BCHR report was published. For the couple of months post the publishing BCHR part II report, arrests of children was escalated to close to 100 children in around 2 months.

Abdulla K. , 17 years, was arrested on 22nd June 2012. He was at home with his family when riot police broke into his house and started to conduct a search. They asked his parents who was on their roof and before Abdulla’s father could answer, they beat him. Then they shouted at his mother when she asked why they were breaking in without a warrant. Abdulla and his brother were scared of being tortured and arrested. The two of them went to the roof and jumped to attempt to get away. He injured his leg and was arrested by the riot police. They made him walk on his injured leg which caused him great pain. He was slapped and threatened with a shotgun as he was taken away. …more

Bahraini police face trial over torturing medics
17 September, 2012 – Lebanon Now

Bahrain’s public prosecution has charged seven police officers over the torture and maltreatment of Shiite medics detained in the aftermath of nationwide protests last year, authorities said on Monday.

The two defendants facing the “most serious” charges have been referred to the High Criminal Court over the “use of torture and threats against six medic detainees, for the purpose of forcing a confession,” said a government statement.

It said all coerced confessions were dismissed during the widely-criticized trial of the medics.

The rest of the officers would appear in the Lower Criminal Court, it said.

The seven officers are lieutenants at the Interior Ministry. Ten other officers accused of mistreatment were being questioned, it said.

The hearing is scheduled for October 1.

Bahrain’s appeals court acquitted in June nine medics and cut the jail terms of nine others on Thursday for their role in anti-regime protests last year. Two others remain at large.

The 20 doctors and nurses worked at Manama’s Salmaniya Medical complex, stormed by security forces after a crackdown on a protest encampment at the capital’s nearby Pearl Square in March 2011.

Nine of the medics were found not guilty, five were to be freed for time served, while four that were convicted still had their right for appeal, authorities said at the time.

Among the four are consultant orthopedic surgeon Ali Alekri, whose initial 15-year jail term was cut to five years and Ibrahim al-Damstani, the Bahraini Nursing Society secretary general, sentenced to three years.

The other two are doctors Ghassan Daif and Saeed al-Samaheji, who were both sentenced to one year in prison.

The medics had faced various charges, the most serious of which was occupying the vital medical center and possessing weapons while denying Sunni Muslims access to the hospital as Shiite demonstrators camped in the car park.

They were handed sentences of between five and 15 years by a semi-military tribunal last September but were retried in civil court after the public prosecutor dismissed confessions allegedly extracted under torture.

The doctors had also been accused of spreading false information, particularly concerning the condition of wounded protesters, illegal acquisition of medicines and medical facilities and of participation in demonstrations.
…source

West’s rebel worries leave Syria strategy struggling
17 September, 2012 – By Peter Apps – Reuters

WASHINGTON: France may be considering arming Syria’s rebels but the U.S. and other Western powers have yet to find opposition figures they genuinely trust as they worry over growing jihadi and sectarian forces.

The attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya’s Benghazi that killed its ambassador and anti-American demonstrations elsewhere this week over an obscure video that ridiculed the Prophet Mohammad might have no Syria links but will make nervous governments even more cautious.

Western officials say there is little doubt a growing number of foreign jihadi fighters are entering the fray, although it is far from clear whether any have direct links to Al Qaeda. But It is just one worry amongst many.

“This is not a situation where the U.S. can do much to shape what happens,” says Mona Yacoubian, a former State Department official and now fellow and Syria expert at the Stimson Centre. “There has always been a lot of caution within the Obama Administration on Syria and if anything things are getting more complicated.”

Working with Libya’s initially notoriously disorganized rebels, officials complained, was hard enough; but the opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad seems even more diffuse.

That makes policy-making much more complicated and supplying weapons, or even choosing who to talk to, more of a gamble.

“We badly need to identify some political and military leaders who can make clear that they seek a political settlement to bring all fighting to an end,” said one Western official on condition of anonymity. “Without that the blood letting reinforces the worst aspects of sectarianism and makes a soft landing ever less likely.”

Western states have been on a concerted offensive to push opposition figures towards greater unity, facilitating meetings that range from foreign-based conferences to Internet chats and small border gatherings.

But, beyond pushing in humanitarian aid they fear there is a limited amount they can do to change the situation on the ground.

“It’s a very difficult situation, and the lack of coherence of the opposition is probably the biggest single challenge,” says Melissa Dalton, a senior Pentagon adviser on Syria and the Middle East currently on sabbatical as a visiting fellow at the Centre for New American Security.

“Given everything that is at stake, the United States clearly cannot do nothing. But there are no good scenarios arising from this conflict, and so the most important strategy for the United States to pursue is mitigating the risks to its interests.”

That meant to prioritize tracking Syria’s chemical weapons, ensuring militant groups inspired by Al Qaeda were unable to set up safe havens and preventing weapons from falling into the wrong hands, she said. It also meant avoiding doing anything to make matters worse.

Current and former Western officials say their countries have lost confidence in the Syrian National Council (SNC), the largely foreign-based body initially courted as a government in waiting. With some of its meetings dissolving into fisticuffs, it is increasingly both too chaotic, too sectarian and simply lacking in a significant support.
…more

Iran nuke chief harshly criticizes atomic agency
17 September, 2012 – By George Jahn – Associated Press

VIENNA: Iran’s nuclear chief said Monday that “terrorists and saboteurs” might have infiltrated the International Atomic Energy Agency in an effort to derail his nation’s atomic program, in an unprecedentedly harsh attack on the integrity of the U.N. organization and its probe of allegations that Tehran is striving to make nuclear arms.

Fereydoun Abbasi also rebuked the United States in comments to the IAEA’s 155-nation general conference, reflecting Iran’s determination to continue defying international pressure aimed at curbing its nuclear program and nudging it toward cooperation with the IAEA inspection.

Revealing what he said were two sabotage attempts on his country’s nuclear program, he challenged the perpetrators to launch new attacks, saying his country is determined to learn how to protect its interests through such assaults.

The defiant speech was bound to give a greater voice to hardline Israeli leaders who say that both diplomatic efforts and economic penalties have had no effect on Iran, leaving military strikes as the only alternative to stopping it from developing nuclear weapons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a proponent of such an option, made a direct appeal to American voters on Sunday to elect a president willing to draw a “red line” with Iran.

In the past week, Netanyahu has urged President Barack Obama and other world leaders to state clearly at what point Iran would face a military attack. But Obama and his top aides, who repeatedly say all options remain on the table, have pointed to shared U.S.-Israeli intelligence that suggests Iran hasn’t decided yet whether to build a bomb, despite pursuing the technology, and that there would be time for action beyond toughened sanctions already in place.

In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel described Iran as “a threat, not only for Israel but for the whole world.” But she said she wants to see a “political solution” and that the international community should work together to try and find one, including the possibility of new sanctions. “The room for political maneuver is not yet exhausted,” she told reporters on Monday.

Iran has often warned that any Israeli attack would trigger a devastating response, and on Monday Abbasi suggested that such strikes would not succeed in slowing down his country’s nuclear program. He said without elaboration that experts have “devised certain ways through which nuclear facilities remain intact under missile attacks and raids.”

Tehran denies seeking nuclear arms, and Abbasi – an Iranian vice president whom the agency suspects may have been involved in nuclear weapons research – insisted on Monday that his country’s nuclear program is aimed only at making reactor fuel and doing medical research.

…more

Netanyahu: Iran six months away from nuclear bomb capacity
17 September, 2012 – The Daily Star

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sunday that Iran was just six to seven months away from being able to build a nuclear bomb.

The warning added urgency to his demand that President Barack Obama set a clear “red line” for Tehran in what could deepen the worst U.S.-Israeli rift in decades.

Taking to the television airwaves to make his case directly to the American public, Netanyahu said that by mid-2013, Iran would be 90 percent of the way toward enough enriched uranium for a bomb. He urged the United States to spell out limits that Tehran must not cross if it is to avoid military action – something Obama has refused to do.

“You have to place that red line before them now, before it’s too late,” Netanyahu told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program, saying that such a U.S. move could reduce the chances of having to attack Iran’s nuclear sites.

The unusually public dispute – coupled with Obama’s decision not to meet with Netanyahu later this month – has exposed a deep U.S.-Israeli divide and stepped up pressure on the U.S. leader in the final stretch of a tight presidential election campaign.

It was the clearest marker Netanyahu has laid down so far on why he has become so strident in his push for Washington to confront Tehran with a strict ultimatum. At the same time, his approach seemed certain to stoke further tensions with Obama, with whom he has had a notoriously testy relationship.

Senior U.S. officials say Iran has yet to decide on a nuclear “breakout” – a final rush to assemble all the components for a bomb – and they express high confidence that Iran is still at least a year away from achieving the capacity to build a bomb if it wanted to. This contrasts with Netanyahu’s timetable, although the Israeli leader stopped short of saying Iran had decided to manufacture a weapon.

Netanyahu showed no signs of backing down Sunday and even sought to equate the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran with the Islamist fury that fueled attacks on U.S. embassies across the Muslim world last week and shocked many Americans.

“It’s the same fanaticism that you see storming your embassies today. You want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?” Netanyahu asked in the NBC interview, in a clear emotional appeal to Americans still reeling from the angry protests sparked by a film that mocked the Prophet Mohammad.

There have been no accusations, however, of any Iranian role in stoking the violence that have swept Muslim capitals from the Middle East to Africa in the past week.

Netanyahu said a strong ultimatum was needed to Iran, which denies it is seeking a nuclear bomb. “They’re in the ‘red zone,’” he added, using a colorful American football metaphor that describes when a team is close to scoring a touchdown.

“They’re in the last 20 yards. And you can’t let them cross that goal line,” he said, “because that would have unbelievable consequences.”

Asked whether Israel was closer to acting on its own despite Obama’s call for more time for sanctions and diplomacy to work, Netanyahu said: “We always reserve the right to act. But I think that if we are able to coordinate together a common position, we increase the chances that neither one of us will have to act.”

Netanyahu’s sharpened rhetoric in recent days had stoked speculation that Israel might attack Iran before the U.S. ballot, believing that Obama would give it military help and not risk alienating pro-Israeli voters. But Netanyahu has drawn criticism at home for overplaying his hand, and he faces divisions within the Israeli public and his own government that will make it hard to launch a unilateral strike any time soon.

Possibly seeking to soften the edge with Washington, Netanyahu said he appreciated the president’s assurances that Iran would not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.

“I think implicit in that is that, if you’re determined to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons, it means you’ll act before they get nuclear weapons,” he said.

But Netanyahu, whose persistent “red line” demands have infuriated U.S. officials, again made clear that was not enough.

…more

US to head large-scale military drill in Gulf
17 September, 2012 – Al Akhbar
US meets ‘US film protest’ stirred its ‘power projection’ with more
Warships from around the world were assembling in the Gulf on Sunday for what the US military described as the most widely attended international naval exercise ever held in the Middle East.

The exercise, which Washington says involves maneuvers to improve mine detection and clearance, comes at a time of rising regional tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.

Tehran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world’s sea-borne oil exports passes, and target US military bases in the region if it was attacked.

The US Naval Forces Central Command said that the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 12 involved vessels and officials from 30 countries in six continents. It did not name the participating nations.

“This exercise is about mines and the international effort to clear them,” said Vice Admiral John W. Miller, Commander of the Central Command, in a statement on its website.

“Represented here are the best of our individual countries’ efforts dedicated to securing the global maritime commons and I look forward to seeing how this exceptional team of professionals moves forward.”

The West and Israel believe Iran is seeking an atomic weapon, while Tehran says its work is for peaceful purposes. Russia has also said that no evidence exists linking Iran’s nuclear program to military intentions.

Israel – the sole nuclear power in the Middle East – has been pushing Washington to spell out limits Tehran must not cross if it is to avoid military action, something US President Barack Obama has refused to do.

The official US Navy News Service said last month that Washington was cutting short home leave for the crew of one of its aircraft carriers and sending them back to the Middle East to prepare for any Iranian retaliation against an Israeli strike.

The Central Command said the Gulf exercise was starting on Sunday with a meeting for senior commanders when they would view the latest mine hunting and disposal inventions. In the second phase, sea maneuvers would be held including mine detection and clearance operations.

The Bahrain-based Central Command is responsible for an area comprising some 2.5 million square miles stretching from the Gulf to parts of the Indian Ocean. …source

Democracy protests hit Saudi Arabia, Bahrain
15 September, 2012 – By Ash Pemberton – GreenLeft

The governments of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have gone to great lengths to control information about the ongoing uprisings in their countries. This is part of their efforts to crush the democracy movements that have sought to overthrow the ruling monarchies.

The protests are part of the Arab Spring uprisings that began in Tunisia in late 2010 and spread across the Middle East and north Africa.

In Saudi Arabia, the al-Saud regime has tightened media laws since protests began. Protests in Saudi Arabia have been smaller in scale than other countries, but have provided a consistent challenge to the corrupt and despotic US-backed monarchy.

Jadaliyya.com said on April 2: “Relaying information or images of Saudi protests carries a prison sentence of up to ten years, with thousands of dollars in fines …

“Most Internet sites that carry information critical of the Saudi ruling family, as well as those that simply relay calls that challenge the status quo are blocked.”

This is combined with state-controlled media coverage that distorts the reporting of protests, often dismissing them as sectarian actions from Shia Muslims or plots run by the government of Iran.

This has left most of the population unaware of the struggles against the government.

The most active area has been in and around Qatif in the Eastern Province, where protesters have come under intense repression.

In an Jadaliyya interview with the organisers of the Eastern Province Revolution Twitter and Facebook page, a representative from the group detailed the collective punishment levelled at the democracy movement in Qatif. This included the arbitrary kidnapping of hundreds of people by the government, who offered their release if the protests stopped.

This “coincided with the complete blockade of Qatif and the setting up of checkpoints all over the region” in order to harass the population.

When this failed, the government formed gangs of armed thugs made up of prisoners to attack protesters. After this, the military was used to assassinate protest leaders, organisers and photographers.

Despite this, the movement has remained strong and protests have continued.

Al-Alam reported on September 7 that thousands protested in the city of al-Qatif, demanding the release of political prisoners and “political reforms based on justice and freedom in governance, and equality between the different sects and social classes”.

An Eastern Province Revolution representative told Jadaliyya: “Our biggest challenge is US support for Al Saud on all fronts, including intelligence and military. Al Saud cannot act against the people without the ‘Americans’.”

Saudi Arabia is the most powerful supporter of Western imperialism in the region, and plays a key role in aiding the projection of US power across the Arab world.

The Saudi government’s suppression of protests also extends to neighbouring Bahrain. Saudi tanks and troops invaded the country in April last year along with forces from the United Arab Emirates to help Bahrain’s al-Khalifa monarchy put down the big protests calling for its downfall.

The protests at first demanded democratic reforms, but began calling for the downfall of the monarchy after peaceful protesters were brutally attacked by police.

The protests — which at their height mobilised hundreds of thousands — were led mostly by Shia Muslims, who make up the majority of the population. Shia face systemic discrimination from the Sunni Muslim monarchy, who use this divide-and-rule tactic to maintain control.

Since the Saudi invasion, authorities have used violent harassment of protesters and Shia neighbourhoods, along with the jailing and torture of activists and critics and mass sackings of those suspected of involvement in protests.

The government has also engaged in an international public relations campaign to cover up its brutality and appear as if reforms are taking place.

Human rights group Bahrain Watch compiled in August a list of 18 Western companies employed by the government to improve its image, with total payments of at least US$32 million. The companies have generally helped the government paint protesters as violent, Iranian-backed theocrats fighting a benevolent government that is working to correct “mistakes” made in the crackdown.

The backing of Western companies is not surprising given Bahrain’s importance to Western imperial interests. It hosts the US navy’s fifth fleet which maintains a constant threat to nearby Iran. Bahrain is also an important financial hub for international capital.

However, thousands of people have defied the government’s ban on unauthorised protests, holding regular rallies against the regime.

As-Safir said on September 11 opposition groups hit back at government hysteria over disruptions in the capital Manama during recent protests, blaming the actions of security forces.

Head of the Al-Wefaq Party Abdul Jalil Khalil said: “The government’s decision to surround Manama with more than 40 security checkpoints, close the streets leading to it and use tear gas and stun grenades in the capital’s alleys are what disrupted traffic and caused economic losses.”

Political analyst Sara Marusek told Press TV on September 10: “The government, basically, is using strategies that are being imported by the United States.

“They’ve taken John Timoney, an NYPD cop, and they’re using the same sort of oppressive, supposedly non-violent strategy that basically hides the violence.”

Adding to Bahrain’s long list of political prisoners, 20 democracy activists had their lengthy jail sentences upheld on September 4 after they were retried in civilian courts. Officially charged with trying to overthrow the government, they were sentenced to between five years and life in prison for their roles in organising protests last year. …source

Human Rights Activist Maryam Al-Khawaja: ‘Diplomacy is Over’ with Bahrain
By Gianluca Mezzofiore – 14 September, 2012 – Maryam al-Khawaja -IBTimes

British diplomatic efforts on the Bahraini crisis have not worked out and the only way forward to stop human rights violations in the Gulf kingdom is to initiate a discussion on diplomatic and economic sanctions, Maryam al-Khawaja, activist and acting president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), told IBTimes UK in an exclusive interview.

After an unprecedented meeting with the Foreign Office in London, Maryam has acknowledged that the UK’s diplomatic method “is not working”.

“We’re going to need a little more time to convince the UK government that they actually need to do more about stopping the human rights violations,” she said.

“They believe in using the diplomatic methods, of putting pressure on the Bahraini government, but it’s been obvious after one year and a half of continuing violations that the diplomatic method is not working so we have to start looking at what does work.”

However, she welcomed the foreign affairs select committee’s decision to hold an inquiry into human rights abuses.

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Maryam, whose father Abudlhadi and sister Zainab are in jail for their role in pro-democracy protests in the tiny island kingdom, also called for the Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah and the prime minister Khalifah ibn Sulman Al Khalifah to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“As a human rights defender I believe that the king, the PM and the crown prince of Bahrain should be put on trial, albeit a fair and independent trial under international standards,” she said.

“If the Bahraini judiciary cannot provide that, then it should be the ICC. They need to be put on trial, and if found guilty of crimes they have committed during the past year and a half, then they need to serve time behind bars.”

The 25-year-old activist slammed the Bahraini government’s claims that significant reforms had taken place in the kingdom.

Constitutional changes ‘superficial’

In a letter to IBTimes UK, Fahad AlBinali, Bahrain’s spokesperson for the Information Affairs Authority, argued: “The recent ratification and implementation of the constitutional amendments last month granted greater legislative and monitoring powers to the elected chamber of parliament”.

The amendments include “further oversight and scrutiny over the government”, he wrote, for example the new ministerial appointments that can “reject the entire government”.

However, Maryam dismissed the change as “superficial” when set against “nonstop human rights abuses on the ground”.

“If we are still looking at things like extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, use of excess force, children in prison, kidnappings, systematic torture – what would it matter to the public or the human rights defenders if they have made a few changes to the legislative law?” she asked.

“If the human rights violations are still going on the ground, any political discussion right now will not probably have much of an effect,” she added. “To guarantee the best outcome of any political discussion, you need to stop the human rights violations on the ground first.”

That marks a difference with the Bahraini opposition leader and MP Ali Alaswad, who in an exclusive interview with IBTimes UK maintained that only political reforms could force Bahrain’s regime to respect basic human rights principles. “First, there should be political reform” leading to democratic elections, he said.

He added: “If there’s an elected and accountable government, the prime minister, for instance, can be questioned in parliament. This is not possible now.”

Sulmaniya Hospital occupation

One of the main problems of Bahrain remains division along sectarian lines.

With a Sunni monarchy, relying on a largely Sunni power base, the majority Shia population has for years been disfranchised and left on the margin of the country’s political life.

The government has mainly depicted the protests as Shia-led and based on sectarian demands.

In his letter to the IBTimes UK, AlBinali said the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) established that Shia doctors successfully occupied Sulmaniya Hospital, with medics who “moved in and out of their roles as political activists and medical personnel”.

It resulted in many sections “taken over and controlled by medical personnel, resulting in difficulties in the emergencies section”.

Maryam dismissed those accusations as “nonsense”. “The BICI report said there was no occupation of the Sulmaniya hospital,” she said. “How can you occupy such a huge complex when you are 20 to 25 doctors? Realistically anyone who looks at the case know that it doesn’t make any sense.”

“If they have cases when they have real evidence that someone has committed a crime, if they are able to provide them with a fair and independent trial according to international standards then they should be accountable,” she added.

Molotov cocktails

Maryam also replied to a common accusation by government officials that protesters used Molotov cocktails to target security forces and bystanders.

AlBinali stated in the letter that “adolescent rebels” who fight in the name of democracy “are harmful to innocent bystanders and police officers, and public and private property as well as themselves”.

But Maryam said the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights does not condone violence – although some distinctions had to be made. “You cannot equate young boys throwing Molotov cocktails and stones with police using systematic excess of violence,” she said.

“If you ask me when the last protester was killed by Bahrain I can give you a precise date: it was a 16-year-old protester shot with bird guns two weeks ago and he died in the streets,” she continued.

“When was the last police officer killed? I asked a police official during a live interview. He refused to respond, because he knew the response would be more than a year ago.”

Zainab al-Khawaja

Maryam’s sister, Zainab al-Khawaja, was arrested for the fifth time on 2 August on charges of tearing up a picture of the king.

“During her trial her lawyer tried to use an extract from the BICI report and the judge told the lawyer that the BICI report was a thing of the past and now we have to look towards the future,” Maryam said.

Bahrain’s spokesperson for the Information Affairs Authority said that Zainab had been arrested “for blocking a commercial and congested multi-lane road near the capital at night, obstructing the freedom of others, as well as endangering herself and others in the event of her causing an accident”.

Those charges date back to Zainab’s first arrest on 21 April 2012, when she staged a lone protest in the middle of a road, however.

“There’s one video where she’s sitting in a roundabout. That’s not obstructing traffic, she’s not even defying the law of gathering, she was by herself,” Maryam replied.

“She got dragged, beaten, punched, slapped, handcuffed and dragged from the other side and put in their car.

“We believe that Zainab, Abdulhadi and Nabeel Rajab and all the human rights defender who are targeted in Bahrain are targeted solely based on their human rights activities, not because they have actually committed a crime,” she said. …source

Bahrain approves UN rights recommendations
15 September, 2012 – By Habib Toumi

Bahrain said that it had approved 156 out of 176 recommendations set by the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) last May.

“The Kingdom has approved 143 recommendations fully and endorsed 13 others partially,” Salah Ali, the human rights minister, said.

However, Bahrain said that it had reservations about several recommendations “as they are contrary to the Islamic Shariah or to the constitution or are of political nature and interfere in the country’s sovereignty.”

Bahrain submitted the UPR reply to the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday.

“Bahrain has been making successive strides to guarantee the citizens’ constitutional rights and promoting legislations and democratic exercise towards achieving comprehensive justice and enforcing the rule of law in the state of institutions as urged by HM King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa,” the minister said in a statement.

Most of the recommendations set by the UN panel last May during Bahrain’s Periodic Review centred on 19 areas relating to human rights. They included penal justice, compensation of victims of the unrest, the law on nationality and teaching and training disabled people.

Other areas were family law, providing human rights training to public security forces, implementing the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) and the National Human Rights Organisation.

They also included media and press reform, children’s rights, human trafficking, international human rights covenants, national dialogue, social services, constitutional and legal amendments, safeguards for human rights, building places of worship, women’s rights, and rights of human rights activists.

“Bahrain remains committed to the follow-up and implementation of these recommendations on the ground over the coming four years and to providing regular updates,” the minister said.

A UPR Follow-up Committee has been formed with representatives from all ministries to expedite and oversee the implementation process.

“Bahrain will update the UN Human Rights Council on the progress of the implementation of the approved recommendations by late 2016.”

The minister said that Bahrain’s reply this week coincided with the royal decree to restructure the National Human Rights Organisation (NHRO).

The move will enable it to assume its duties fully, consolidate its independence, and strengthen its crucial role as a Human Rights Ombudsman in the Kingdom, he said.

“The decision is a crucial cornerstone in the reforms led by HM the King and aims to bring the NHRO in line with the Paris Principles,” the minister said. …more

Anti-American Protests Over Film Expand to Nearly 20 Countries
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK, ALAN COWELL and RICK GLADSTONE – 14 September, 2012 – NYT

The broadening of the protests reflected what appeared to be a catharsis of rage at the Western powers and was unabated despite calls for restraint from world leaders including the new Islamist president of Egypt, where the demonstrations first erupted four days ago on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

In Washington, the Pentagon announced that it was dispatching 50 Marines to Sana, Yemen, to secure the American diplomatic compound, which was partly defiled by enraged protesters on Thursday. At a bazaar about 30 miles east of Jalalabad, Afghanistan, protesters burned an effigy of President Obama.

The breaching of the American Embassy in Tunis, the birthplace of the Arab Spring revolutions, was at least the fourth time that an American diplomatic facility in the Middle East had been violated since the protests began. The Tunisian police said at least three protesters were killed and 28 people were wounded.

All of the embassy staff members had been safely evacuated beforehand, officials there said, but part of the compound was burned and looted.

The American Cooperative School of Tunis, which caters to expatriate families and is located across the street from the embassy, was burned and completely plundered by protesters, who carried away a range of items including hundreds of laptop computers, children’s toys and musical instruments, the director of the school and members of his staff said. All of the students and faculty members had been evacuated hours before the embassy protest.

“It’s ransacked,” the director, Allan Bredy, said in a telephone interview. “We were thinking it was something the Tunisia government would keep under control. We had no idea they would allow things to go as wildly as they did.”

Germany’s foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, told reporters at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin that the country’s embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, had been “stormed and in part set aflame” in an attack by “demonstrators capable of violence.” According to Mr. Westerwelle, embassy employees were safe. German missions in Muslim countries had already strengthened security measures because of the unrest. The Associated Press reported that the attack followed a call by a prominent sheik on state radio urging protesters to storm the embassy over what he called anti-Muslim graffiti on mosques in Berlin.

The police fired tear gas to drive off the attacks in Khartoum, where about 5,000 demonstrators massed on the German and British Embassies, a witness told the Reuters news agency. The crowd later moved onto the United States Embassy on the outskirts of Khartoum. The police opened fire but it was unclear whether the embassy had been breached, The A.P. reported.

Thousands of Palestinians joined demonstrations after Friday Prayer in the Gaza Strip. Since there is no American diplomatic representation in Gaza, the main gathering took place in Gaza City, outside the Parliament building, where American and Israeli flags were placed on the ground for the crowds to stomp. Some demonstrators chanted, “Death to America and to Israel!” Palestinians also clashed with Israeli security forces in Jerusalem and held protests in the West Bank.

Witnesses in Cairo said protests that first flared on Tuesday — the day J. Christopher Stevens, the American ambassador in Libya, was killed in an attack in neighboring Libya — continued sporadically Friday, with protesters throwing rocks and gasoline bombs near the American Embassy and the police firing tear gas. The bodies of Mr. Stevens and three other Americans killed in the Libya attack were returned to the United States on Friday.

In Lebanon, one person was killed and 25 injured as protesters attacked restaurants. There was also turmoil in Yemen, Bangladesh, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, India, Pakistan and Iraq, and demonstrations in Malaysia. In Nigeria, troops fired into the air to disperse protesters marching on the city of Jos, Reuters reported. In Syria, about 200 protesters chanted anti-American slogans outside the long-closed American Embassy in Damascus, news reports said.

State media in Egypt said more than 220 people had been injured in the clashes since Tuesday. In the Egyptian Sinai, a group of Bedouins stormed an international peacekeepers’ camp and set fire to an observation tower, according to Al Ahram Online, a state-owned, English-language Web site.. Three people, two Colombians and one Egyptian, were injured in the ensuing clashes.
…more

Outsourcing Its Security, Gulf Shows Fear of Public
By: Abd-al-Hadi Khalaf- 13 September, 2012 – Al Monitor

On Jan. 4, 2007, Bahraini runner Mushir Salem Jawhar won a marathon in Israel, thus becoming the first athlete from an Arab country to participate in an Israeli sports tournament. The Bahrainis were not happy to see one of their nationals raising their country’s flag in the Tiberias Sports Stadium. [The incident] was met with a wave of condemnation.

As a result, the Bahraini Athletics Federation removed Jawhar’s name from the federation’s lists, and the authorities decided to confiscate his passport and strip him of his Bahraini [citizenship]. The poor guy returned to Kenya, his country of origin, and to his real name, Leonard Moshiromaina, by which he was known in sports stadiums before he was brought to Bahrain as part of a campaign that aims to naturalize foreign athletes.

The “scandal” of the Kenyan/Bahraini runner did not put an end to the policy of athlete naturalization in Bahrain or other Gulf Arab states. Apart from requiring new naturalized athletes to not participate in sports competitions in Israel, Bahrain has not stopped the naturalization of athletes.

As we have seen in the London Olympics recently, 10 out of 13 male and female participants representing Bahrain were Kenyans and Ethiopians. To Bahraini sports officials, these athletes are the fastest and probably the cheapest way to raise the country’s flag in international arenas. As long as it is possible to obtain athletes from Africa and Asia, Bahraini officials will find no reason to provide the necessary infrastructure, services and training plans to prepare local athletes.

Bahraini officials perhaps also found it to be a prudent approach to rely on foreign athletes when they saw most Bahraini football players and other Bahraini athletes take part in the protests that swept the country at the height of the Pearl Roundabout uprising.

Athlete naturalization is offset by a more prevalent and dangerous [phenomenon] in the social fabric and political future of the Gulf countries: security naturalization. This is represented by granting Gulf citizenship to foreigners after they are recruiting into the armed forces, security services and police. …more

Dagestan: Syria comes to Russia
by F. William Engdahl – Voltaire Network – 13 September, 2012

The assassination of the most respected Sufi religious leader in Dagestan, Russia’s volatile Caucasus, comes as Salafist jihadists in Libya murder a US Ambassador who was actually a key player in ousting Gaddafi and bringing the Salafist Muslim Brotherhood and Jihadists into power. Throughout the entire Islamic world today, a wave of hate is being unleashed in the name of Islamic fundamentalism that could bring a new world war. This is the consequence of the Greater Middle East Project put in play in 2010 and earlier by circles in Washington, London and Tel Aviv. Manipulating religious fervor is an explosive cocktail as F. William Engdahl shows here.

Part I: Syria comes to the Russian Caucasus

On August 28 Sheikh Said Afandi, acknowledged spiritual leader of the Autonomous Russian Republic of Dagestan, was assassinated. A jihadist female suicide bomber managed to enter his house and detonate an explosive device.

The murder target had been carefully selected. Sheikh Afandi, a seventy-five-year old Sufi Muslim leader, had played the critical role in attempting to bring about reconciliation in Dagestan between jihadist Salafi Sunni Muslims and other factions, many of whom in Dagestan see themselves as followers of Sufi. With no replacement of his moral stature and respect visible, authorities fear possible outbreak of religious war in the tiny Russian autonomous republic. [1]

The police reported that the assassin was an ethnic Russian woman who had converted to Islam and was linked to an Islamic fundamentalist or Salafist insurgency against Russia and regional governments loyal to Moscow in the autonomous republics and across the volatile Muslim-populated North Caucasus region.

Ethnic Muslim populations in this region of Russia and of the former Soviet Union, including Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan and into China’s Xinjiang Province, have been the target of various US and NATO intelligence operations since the Cold War era ended in 1990. Washington sees manipulation of Muslim groups as the vehicle to bring uncontrollable chaos to Russia and Central Asia. It’s being carried out by some of the same organizations engaged in creating chaos and destruction inside Syria against the government of Bashar Al-Assad. In a real sense, as Russian security services clearly understand, if they don’t succeed in stopping the Jihadists insurgency in Syria, it will come home to them via the Caucasus.

The latest Salafist murders of Sufi and other moderate Muslim leaders in the Caucasus are apparently part of what is becoming ever clearer as perhaps the most dangerous US intelligence operation ever—playing globally with Muslim fundamentalism. …more

I couldn’t find a Department of State briefing on the killing of residents in Bahrain who suffocated via US Military grade CS Gas fired into their homes. One can only imagine a death as horrible the one suffered by US Ambassador Chris Stevens as he suffocated to death just like the Bahrainis who met with a similar gruesome end. Phlipn – out.

[excerpt from DoS briefing on killing of Ambassador Chris Stevens in Libya – full text HERE

So let me give you a little bit of the chronology to the best of our knowledge. Again, the times are likely to change as it becomes a little bit more precise, but this is how we’ve been able to reconstruct what we have from yesterday.

At approximately 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time yesterday, which was about 10 p.m. in Libya, the compound where our office is in Benghazi began taking fire from unidentified Libyan extremists. By about 4:15, the attackers gained access to the compound and began firing into the main building, setting it on fire. The Libyan guard force and our mission security personnel responded. At that time, there were three people inside the building: Ambassador Stevens, one of our regional security officers, and Information Management Officer Sean Smith. They became separated from each other due to the heavy, dark smoke while they were trying to evacuate the burning building. The Regional Security Officer made it outside, and then he and other security personnel returned into the burning building in an attempt to rescue Chris and Sean. At that time, they found Sean. He was already dead, and they pulled him from the building. They were unable, however, to locate Chris before they were driven from the building due to the heavy fire and smoke and the continuing small arms fire.

At about 4:45 our time here in Washington, U.S. security personnel assigned to the mission annex tried to regain the main building, but that group also took heavy fire and had to return to the mission annex. At about 5:20, U.S. and Libyan security personnel made another attempt and at that time were able to regain the main building and they were able to secure it. Then, due to continued small arms fire, they evacuated the rest of the personnel and safe havened them in the nearby annex.

The mission annex then came under fire itself at around 6 o’clock in the evening our time, and that continued for about two hours. It was during that time that two additional U.S. personnel were killed and two more were wounded during that ongoing attack.

At about 8:30 p.m. our time here in Washington, so now 2 o’clock in the morning in Libya, Libyan security forces were able to assist us in regaining control of the situation. At some point in all of this – and frankly, we do not know when – we believe that Ambassador Stevens got out of the building and was taken to a hospital in Benghazi. We do not have any information what his condition was at that time. His body was later returned to U.S. personnel at the Benghazi airport.

Iran says Israeli threats to strike “foolish”
al Akhbar – 14 September, 2012

An aide to Iran’s supreme leader said Israel’s military threats endanger Israeli citizens, and that Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was ready to strike back against any Israeli aggression.

Yahya Rahim-Safavi, military adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the increasing threats from Israel to strike Iranian nuclear facilities were “foolish,” the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported on Friday.

“The boldness and foolishness of Israeli officials in threatening the Islamic Republic, have put Israeli citizens one step away from the cemetery,” he said.

“If, one day, the Israeli regime takes action against us, resistance groups, especially Hezbollah … will respond more easily,” Safavi, a former commander in chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said.

Israel’s far-right leader Benjamin Netanyahu has made increasing hints in recent weeks that Israel could strike Iran and has criticized US President Barack Obama’s position that sanctions and diplomacy should be given more time.

The heightened rhetoric has stoked speculation that Israel may attack before US elections in November.

“A decision has been taken to respond and the response will be very great,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a TV interview this month in reference to any attack on Iran. …source

Bahrain: blocked UN website after Oral Intervention given by Prominent Human Rights Activist at the Human Rights Council
September 14th, 2012 – BYSHR

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its deep concern regarding the blocking of the UN (http://webtv.un.org) Website after the oral intervention given by Mr.Mohammed Al-Maskati-President of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights 0n 13 September 2012 at the Human Rights Council (Session 21) which was focused on reprisals.

Dozens of Bahraini citizens have informed the BYSHR that they could not enter the Web Site of the UN after the intervention of Mr. Maskati at the Human Rights Council. ( Mr.Al-Maskati intervention: http://byshr.org/?p=1168)

This blocking means that the people of Bahrain will not be able to lively follow up the UPR discussion on Bahrain scheduled on 19 September 2012.

Mr. Al-Maskati intervention at the Human Rights Council dealt with reprisals against human rights defenders in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. Mr. Al-Maskati also talked about the threats received by Mr. Al-Maskati during his intervention during the meetings of the Human Rights Council.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights believes the blocking part of the on-going campaign of attacks directed toward human rights defenders in Bahrain including Mr. Maskati himself which aimed at preventing them from continuing their legitimate human rights work. …more

Pillay Condemns Bahrain’s “Reprisals and Intimidation” against Critics
14 September, 2012 – POMED

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay included Bahrain among the 16 nations accused of allowing government members to undertake “reprisals and intimidation against individuals” critical of regimes. Pillay said, “People may be threatened or harassed by government officials, including through public statements by high-level authorities. Associations and NGOs may see their activities monitored or restricted. Smear campaigns against those who cooperate with the U.N. may be organized. Threats may be made via phone calls, text messages or even direct contacts. People may also be arrested, beaten or tortured and even killed.” The report ranges from June 2011 to July 2012 and cites additional cases in Algeria, Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan, among others.

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists called for the immediate release of Ahmed Radhi, a freelance journalist who was first detained four months ago after making critical comments about Bahraini-Saudi relations. Radhi now faces terrorism and other anti-state charges. CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said ”Bahrain must halt this practice of prosecuting critical journalists for their dissenting views.”

Finally, Mehdi Hassan writes that “While the fighting in Syria is debated in the corridors of the United Nations building and reported on the front pages of the world’s newspapers, the unrest in Bahrain is quietly ignored by our leaders,” and he calls the approach of the U.S. and U.K. “a moral disgrace.” …source

Shia towns in Syria under months-long blockade by Wahhabi insurgents
Voltaire Network – 14 September, 2012

More than 80,000 Shia Muslim in the northwestern Syrian towns of Nebbol and Az-Zahra’ are suffering from starvation under a siege imposed by Wahhabi terrorists.

The extremists are reportedly affiliated with the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA), which has been fighting against the government forces over the past year.

The blockade has caused grave food and medical shortage in the towns, some 20 km away from the flashpoint city of Aleppo.

The towns had a population of 60,000 Shia Muslims but have been hosting an additional 15,000 displaced Shias taking refuge in there.

Thousands of others including families of the opposition escaping conflicts and Sunni Muslims refusing to join the anti-government camp have also fled to the towns.

In late June, insurgents practically cut off roads to Nebbol and Az-Zahra’ after clashes spilled over to Aleppo, accusing the residents of supporting Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

The armed gangs have threatened to kill the people who tried to directly or indirectly enter basic needs for the people in the besieged towns.

Bread is a rarity due to lack of flour and patients are in dire need of medicine, while the residents live under constant threats of massive cleansing operations by the insurgents.

Syria has been the scene of deadly unrest since mid-March, 2011, and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Damascus blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists and says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside. It accuses certain Western and regional countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, of arming and funding the insurgents. …more

Bahrain Attends Session On Harassment and Reprisals
13 September, 2012 – BNA

Geneva – (BNA) Bahrain today affirmed Bahrain’s commitment to continue cooperation with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and all UN agencies.

“The Kingdom is keen on preserving its precious record to maintain security and stability and consolidate human rights”, Bahrain Permanent Representative to the UN office and other international organisations Dr. Yusuf Abdulkarim Bucheeri said.

He affirmed Bahrain’s resolve to continue promoting equality between citizens, beyond any discrimination on the basis race, language, religion, gender or personal opinion.

Dr. Bucheeri voiced Bahrain’s stance as he led the Kingdom’s delegation to attend a discussion session on intimidation and reprisals against people and organisations that cooperate or co-operated with the UN and its representatives.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 21st session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)`. He pointed out Bahrain’s strides in providing an arsenal of laws guaranteeing personal and religious liberties, freedom of opinion and publishing as well as the right to set up NGOs and trade unions.

He highlighted legislations guaranteeing equality between all citizens before the law in rights and duties – being an essential guarantor to ensure the stability of Bahraini society.

Addressing the session, he also affirmed Bahrain’s full cooperation with local and international watchdogs to promote human rights and basic liberties.

“Bahrain has allowed human rights watchdogs to visit jails, attend trials and launch their periodic reports in the Kingdom”, he said, deploring the one-sided approach adopted by human rights watchdogs.

“Some watchdogs are not evenhanded in dealing with the information they get, hearing one party and ignoring official replies”, he said, describing the approach as premeditated partiality.

Dr. Bucheeri urged the UN to rely on credible sources when documenting allegations of harassment and reprisals – especially when it comes to audio visual media, blogs and social websites. …source

Critical Bahraini journalist detained for four months
13 September, 2012 – Committee to Protect Journalists

New York, September 13, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the ongoing imprisonment of Ahmed Radhi, a freelance journalist who was first detained four months ago after making critical comments about Bahraini-Saudi relations. Radhi now faces terrorism and other anti-state charges which he says were lodged after he was abused and forced into making a false confession.

“Bahrain must halt this practice of prosecuting critical journalists for their dissenting views,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Authorities should release Ahmed Radhi immediately.”

Radhi, a contributor to several local news websites, has been imprisoned since May 16, when he was held for several days without a lawyer present and without his family’s knowledge of his whereabouts, the reports said. He was last in court in Manama on August 30, when his detention was extended for 15 days, according to news reports. Although that extension appears to be running out, his next scheduled date was not immediately clear.

The case dates to May, when in press interviews Radhi made comments criticizing a proposed union between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, news reports said. Radhi posted the comments on his Twitter and Facebook accounts, saying the union would justify the occupation of Bahrain by Saudi troops, which had been sent in March 2011 to stifle popular protests. The journalist’s family has said they believe his detention is a result of the public comments he had made, according to the Bahrain Center of Human Rights.

On June 16, a local court charged Radhi with “igniting a flame to achieve a terrorist purpose,” “possession of flammable substances (Molotovs),” and “participation in assembly to disturb public security and using violence to achieve that,” according to news reports. Radhi has told the court that he was tortured into making a confession and made to sign papers he had not read, the human rights group said. No evidence has been provided to support the allegations, the group said.

In a June letter to the human rights center, Radhi said security forces had beaten and blindfolded him and subjected him to physical and psychological torture to force him to confess to the charges brought against him, the Bahraini human rights group reported. In addition to his freelance work, Radhi has also worked for the pro-government daily Al-Ayyam and as a correspondent for the Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV before the government withdrew his accreditation, news reports said. …more

Radical Allies and Moderate Subversives: U.S. Foreign Policy Threatens America’s Interests in the Gulf
13 Septemebr, 2012 – Anna Therese Day – Huffington Post

Just weeks ago, Nabeel Rajab, the “Gandhi of Bahrain,” spent his birthday in a prison cell. Originally “jailed for a tweet,” Rajab, the renowned president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, now faces up to three years in prison for allegedly inciting violence among protesters against the Bahraini monarchy. Bahrain has been engulfed in turmoil since early 2011 when the US-backed Al-Khalifa regime launched a violent crackdown against the nation’s popular non-violent reform movement. The regime has since selectively targeted the island’s ethnic-majority, its Shia population, and has gained a terrifying reputation for using brutal torture tactics on those citizens detained. Recently, Bahrain’s appeal courts upheld the sentence of 20 other opposition activists, ignoring domestic and international outcry.

In the Spring of 2011, I met Rajab and his family in their home in Bahrain. His then nine-year-old daughter, Malak, joined us for the interview. Just hours before our arrival, masked state security forces raided the Rajab’s family compound in the middle of the night, bombarding the grounds with teargas and forcing their way into the Rajab’s home with heavy weaponry. Needless to say, little Malak was far too traumatized to attend school that day.

Now Malak joins her brother, 15-year-old Adam, and her mother, Sumaya, to demand justice for her father whose appeal verdict will be announced on Thursday, September 27th. This date comes after the Bahraini court decision to postpone his hearing this week, a move that his lawyers claim was an attempt to prolong his jail-time. A countless number of international human rights organizations have joined in this call to action, and nearly 20 members of U.S. Congress demanded Rajab’s release in a letter to the King of Bahrain. Following his August 16th sentence, U.S. State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland called on Bahrain to “vacate” the charges against Rajab and called for “the government of Bahrain to take steps to build confidence across Bahraini society and to begin a meaningful dialogue with political opposition and civil society.”

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

These condemnations from the State Department, however, are not reflected in U.S. policy toward the Bahraini monarchy. Despite the well-documented violence against its citizens, the U.S. Department of Defense resumed arms sales to Bahrain, rekindling a relationship that sold $200 million worth of weaponry to the regime in 2010. American companies added further insult to injury by hosting international oil and natural gas conferences and the 2012 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, amidst the curfews and kidnappings that characterized daily life for the majority of Bahraini citizens. This gaping distance between America’s actions and words continues to send a far louder message to Bahraini civilians than the lip-service of the U.S. Department of State.

Bahrain’s Radical Regime, Moderate Subversives

Rajab is famous throughout not only the Middle East and North Africa, but also internationally for his tireless human rights advocacy and his pioneering commitment to using social media for social justice. Identified by Al Jazeera as “the informal leader of the Bahraini uprising,” Rajab responded that he plans to “forever remain in civil society” when I asked him about any potential political aspirations. Throughout the entirety of the uprising, his commitment to reform has been as steadfast as his tactics have been innovative. …more