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

Abdulhadi AlKhawaja’s statement about ending his hunger strike
28 May, 2012 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

Internationally prominent Human Rights, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, announced today that he is ending his 110 days hunger strike this evening. Alkhawaja informed his family that in spite of not succeeding in achieving the main demand of his hunger strike: “freedom or death”, he was still able to achieve his overall goal of shedding light on the ongoing human rights situation in Bahrain.

Throughout his hunger strike, which began on the 9th of February he was able to assist activists both inside and outside Bahrain to bring attention to the continuous human rights violations and the situation of the political detainees, this was the ultimate goal.

Taking into account the policy of the Bahraini Authorities in force-feeding him which was imposed since the 23rd of April, a blatant violation and torture according to international regulations, and in response to countless requests from those in solidarity with him, and his inmates in the detention center, Al-Khawaja announced today that he will put an end to his hunger strike. Alkhawaja will comply with a medical program set for him by doctors to return to a normal diet. He informed his family of his appreciation for their support, and his gratitude to those in solidarity with him inside and outside the country.

In regards to the appeal in which Al-Khawaja appeared before on the 22nd of May, he informed his family that he reiterates his testimony, which was made before the court hearing. His testimony included denying all charges against him, and testifying about the violations he was subjected to including but not limited to: physical assault during arrest, arbitrary arrest, solitary confinement, unjust trial, mental and physical torture since his arrest 13 months ago (on the 9th of April 2011).

These are the violations that have been documented and endorsed by the report issued by the “Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry”. Al-Khawaja repeated what was mentioned in the BICI report in his testimony before the court adding that he considers his continued arrest and trial a crime that the judiciary is involved in due to lack of independency, and therefore he refuses to appear before the court and demands his immediate release and the dropping of all malicious charges and the sentence issued by the National Safety Military Court. He also demands that after his release he be provided with the necessary guarantees that would enable him to continue his activities in defending human rights in absolute freedom.

Once again, BCHR reiterates its call to the government of Bahrain to end acts of intimidation, arrest and ill-treatment directed at human rights defenders in Bahrain and to release all detained HRDs, beginning with Abdulhadi AlKhawaja, immediately and without any restriction or conditions. The BCHR also calls on the government to grant full freedom to Abdulhadi Alkhawaja to travel to the country of his choice in order to receive the medical treatment that he is in desperate need of at the present time.
Best,

—
Maryam Al-Khawaja
Acting President / Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Head of International Office / Gulf Center for Human Rights

…more

The West’s Blind Spot in Bahrain
25 May, 2012 – By Julia Hanne

Last month in Bahrain’s capital of Manama, the police, supported by armored vehicles and troops, fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters to ensure a Formula 1 race would be showcased as scheduled. Inside the stadium, spectators like BBC’s Dan Roan described the atmosphere as “relaxed”—like any other F-1 race. But across the city, burning tires set ablaze by pro-democracy protesters sent clouds of black smoke into the horizon as part of the opposition’s “three days of rage.” Now, the furor of the international media that surrounded the race has unfortunately already moved on, returning to ignoring the repression of the country’s democracy movement.

Until the F-1 race, Bahrain’s uprisings had been largely passed over by the international media. It took a Grand Prix to swing the spotlight onto a crisis that’s been neglected and downplayed by the western media and politicians in the past year. The fact that much of the media focus fell on the “recklessness” of the F-1 organizers raises the question: Why did it take the media circus of a Grand Prix to shine light on the ongoing repression in Bahrain?

The world’s silence reveals a double standard in the West’s demand for a free Syria while applauding a ‘slowly reforming Bahrain.’ Although Syria has been isolated by western governments that eagerly point out its democratic deficits, equally undemocratic Bahrain rarely makes the headlines. But the demands of the Bahraini opposition haven’t been met, flagrant human rights violations continue, and the protestors still take to the streets daily. This disregard has been facilitated by western PR companies hired by the Bahraini regime to make the international community believe “Bahrain is safer than London” and a “peaceful and quiet” place, says F-1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone, bewildered by calls for an international boycott.

The Bahraini government uses PR-agencies that are almost exclusively based in the U.S. and the U.K, such as New Century Media, M&C Saatchi, the Good Governance Group and Qorvis to restore its image. In the first weeks after the regime’s violent squelching of the protests, the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister signed a contract with Washington’s largest PR and lobbying firm, Qorvis, to cover public-relations services for $40,000 per month plus expenses. Qorvis employee Tom Squitieri, who previously had to resign from USA Today for plagiarism, wrote three articles about the uprisings in Bahrain—under the guise of raising media awareness—that appeared in the Huffington Post and the Foreign Policy Association without disclosing his affiliation with the PR company. Describing himself as an award-winning reporter, he labeled the objectives of Bahrain’s pro-democracy protestors as having “anger without purpose” and described them as “foot soldiers for puppet masters with a greater agenda,” alluring to Iran’s alleged influence. The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) found that Iran never played a role in Bahrain’s uprisings. ...more

Jidhafs Collective Punishment May, 2012

Bahrain police officer to face trial for torturing reporter
24 May, 2012 – Lebanon Now

A Bahrain police officer charged with torturing a female journalist during last year’s crackdown on anti-government protests will go on trial next month, the prosecution said on Thursday.

The officer who was not named was accused of torturing the Bahraini correspondent of France 24 and Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya, Nazeeha Saeed, when she was arrested on May 22 last year, according to a statement.

The prosecution “has referred the case to the high criminal court because the defendant is a public servant in the Ministry of Interior and has used force against the victim to make her confess to a crime,” it said.

“She beat her and caused her the harm described in a medical report,” the statement added.

The officer was charged of “attacking the body” of Saeed, by “slapping her, beating her with a plastic tubing, kicking her in all parts of her body, in addition to insulting her,” the statement said.

The first hearing has been set for June 6.

Saeed, who covered last year’s month-long demonstrations and a deadly crackdown on the Shia-dominated protests, was summoned by police on May 22 last year, without any idea of what awaited her, said media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

Saeed claimed she was badly beaten and humiliated by several police officers after she was accused of lying in her reports. She was released after midnight, and days later the Interior Ministry announced proceedings against those responsible for her mistreatment.

An international probe commissioned by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa accused police of using excessive force and torture in its clampdown on protests that broke out on February 14 last year.

Amnesty International estimates that 60 people have been killed since then.
…source

Looks like Royal Horseshit to me; Its basically another part of a horrible failed and easily manipulated system that uses ‘Harvard Business School’ methodologies as a means to ‘implementation’ and ‘certification’ of Human Rights compliance. In support of a system of lies that leverages ‘Human Rights’ as a tool to support ‘wicked’ agendas for profiteering from arms sales and securing ‘cheap oil’ at the expense of the suffering of people subject to the tyranny partnerships of greed and exploitation. Phlipn.

Human Rights Council
Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Thirteenth Session
Geneva, 21 May–4 June 2012
Draft report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review
Bahrain

Excerpted
Summary of the proceedings of the review process

A. Presentation by the State under review

5. The Head of delegation expressed Bahrain’s appreciation to the Council and to the
international organizations of the United Nations for the support provided to the Kingdom,
especially thanked the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, for the program
on the Universal Periodic Review during the past four years, which contributed effectively
to enhance the capacity of the concerned authorities regarding the implementation of
commitments and recommendations of the UPR, and hoped to continue this fruitful
cooperation and support in the future.

6. Bahrain reminded that it is the first member state in the Human Rights Council to
undergo the periodical review in 2008. Having 565 NGOs as in early 2012, Bahrain
reviewed the current second report including achievements realized with partnership of all
concerned entities including governmental, non-governmental organizations as well as the
activists from civil society.

7. The delegation stated that the past four years were full of events and developments
that much was documented in the advancement of human rights at various levels, and the
Kingdom does not pretend to be perfect and free from some of the obstacles that hinder the
implementation of the recommendations and commitments, but with determination and will
of honest work Bahrain will overcome these constraints.
A/HRC/WG.6/13/L.4
4

8. Major achievements have been reviewed during the past 4 years, starting with
education. Bahrain pays full attention to this sector, commits and provides educational and
cultural services to citizens as a right, prescribed in its constitution and education law.
Education For All Global Monitoring Report for 2011 showed that Bahrain is among states
of high performance achieving the EFA’s goals.

9. The delegation informed of the National Strategic Plan for Human Rights Education
that was reviewed based on the commitment in 2008, and a plan was developed to
encourage a human rights culture. A special subject on human rights has been included in
the citizenship course for all classes at different levels of education.

10. The delegation stated that the constitution of Bahrain provided for the right of all
citizens to enjoy equal health standards, without discrimination. In support to such right, the
Ministry of Health prepared developmental programs and plans in collaboration with the
World Health Organization and the government bears the full expenses of treatment
whenever it is inaccessible locally.

11. The delegation stated that Bahrain women have assumed leading positions and
proactive steps have been taken to involve them in activities alongside men. Bahraini
women are being empowered to be further involved in decision-making, leading and
ministerial positions, as well as in the private sector, civil society institutions and political
associations. The establishment of the Supreme Council for Women in Bahrain is a
milestone in the process of women empowerment. The Council is in process of studying the
removal of reservations on the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women or amend them so as to be consistent with national legislation and laws
while preserving the sovereignty of the state.

12. In respect of the nationality, the delegation informed of the discussions currently
underway on proposed amendments to the nationality law, in order to grant Bahraini
nationality to children of Bahraini women who are married to a non-Bahraini husbands,
…more

Saudi king warns of Lebanon civil war
24 May 2012 – By Andrew Roscoe – MEED

King Abdullah sent letter to Lebanon’s president highlighting concerns over increasing sectarian violence in Lebanon

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud has said he is “deeply concerned” about the increasing sectarian violence in Lebanon and has warned of the potential threat of civil war in the Levant country.

Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Saudi state news agency, reported that King Abdullah had said in a letter to Lebanon’s President Michel Sulaiman that “Saudi Arabia is deeply concerned and is following up on the recent developments of Tripoli events, especially the targeting of a main sect in the country’s social fabric.”

The letter was referring to the murder of a Lebanese Sunni cleric who opposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on 20 May in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli.

“Due to the gravity of the crisis and the possibility of it causing sectarian strife in Lebanon and putting it back in the shadow of the civil war, we are looking at your … attempts to … end the crisis … and keeping Lebanon away from foreign struggles especially with the Syrian crisis nearby,” the letter from King Abdullah to Lebanon’s president reportedly said.

…source

Democracy Is Not Freedom
24 May 2012 – MWC News – Jacob G. Hornberger

One of the ostensible goals of U.S. foreign policy is to spread democracy. Of course, the reality is the exact opposite. The U.S. Empire is one of the greatest lovers of nonelected dictatorships in the world, as manifested by its ardent support of such dictatorships as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Chile (under Pinochet), Guatemala (after ousting Arbenz), Iran (after ousting Mossadegh), Pakistan (under Musharraf), Yemen, Bahrain, and many others.

But the irony is that even if the U.S. Empire was the greatest democracy-spreader in the world, it still wouldn’t necessarily be spreading freedom by spreading democracy. The reason is a simple one: Democracy is not freedom.

In fact, as Ludwig von Mises pointed out, the only real advantage to democracy is that it enables people to peacefully change the administration of government.

Consider Syria, whose government is dictatorial in nature. Since Syria isn’t a democracy, the citizenry have but one way to oust the regime from power: violence — i.e., revolution.

But does a democratic system necessarily constitute a free society?

Absolutely not! A free society does not turn on whether people can peacefully change public officials. It instead turns on the extent of powers wielded by public officials, whether they are democratically elected or not.

Suppose people are living in a democratic society. Suppose also that whoever is elected president has the powers to force people to go to church, punish people for criticizing the government, confiscate weapons, and arrest, torture, and jail people for as long as he wants without a trial.

Would anybody consider that a free society, notwithstanding the fact that the president has been democratically elected? I think everyone would agree that that society is as far from being free as one could ever imagine.

It is not a coincidence that the word democracy is not mentioned one single time in the Constitution. The Framers understood that democratic regimes can be just as tyrannical as non-democratic regimes. Again, freedom turns on the powers that are wielded by public officials, whether they are democratically elected or not.

The Framers also understood that freedom is one of the natural, God-given rights with which all people have been endowed. Such rights preexist government. As Thomas Jefferson observed in the Declaration of Independence, people call government into existence with the aim of protecting the exercise of people’s rights.

The problem, as Jefferson also observed, is that the natural propensity of governments, including democratically elected ones, is to infringe, suspend, and abridge the very rights that the government was called into existence to protect.

Thus, while the Constitution called the federal government into existence with the aim of protecting people’s fundamental rights, it simultaneously limited the powers of the federal government to the few powers enumerated in the document.

Immediately after the enactment of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights was enacted. It made it clear that the federal government was prohibited from abridging people’s natural, God-given rights. It also outlined the judicial procedures that had to be followed before the federal government could punish people with arrest, torture, incarceration, or execution.

Thus, while the United States was established as a system in which people could peacefully oust public officials from office and replace them with others, our ancestors understood that that wasn’t sufficient to establish a free society. A free society necessarily involved severe restrictions on the powers that democratically elected federal officials would be permitted to wield.

Of course, it’s no surprise that U.S. officials try their best to convince Americans that democracy is freedom. If Americans are convinced that democracy is freedom, then they’ll be satisfied with the fact that there is an electoral process. They might even participate in it by voting, making them feel even more free. The idea is that Americans will look on the United States as a free country because there are elections, even as public officials assume the power to seize people, torture them, incarcerate them indefinitely without trial, or execute them with a kangaroo tribunal rather than after a legitimate jury trial — i.e., the same powers wielded by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, Cuba, and other non-democratic dictatorships around the world. …source

Iranian navy “saves US ship from pirates”
24 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Iran’s navy said on Thursday it saved an American-flagged cargo ship that was being attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Oman.

An Iranian warship responded to a distress signal from the US-flagged Maersk Texas, a cargo ship of 150 meters and 14,000 tonnes, which was besieged by “several pirate boats,” the navy said in a statement reported by the official IRNA news agency.

The cargo vessel “was saved by the navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran” on Wednesday, IRNA added.

The pirates “fled the scene as soon as they spotted the presence” of the warship. Maersk Texas “thanked the Iranian navy and sailed towards its destination safely,” it added.

It was the first time the Iranian navy protected a US ship from pirates.

Maersk Line told AFP that its vessel, Maersk Texas, had “thwarted an attack by multiple pirate skiffs at noon local while transiting the Gulf of Oman, northeast of Fujairah” but denied it had been helped by the Iranian navy.

“Maersk Texas heard from the Iranian navy over radio to the initial distress call, but our vessel received no assistance from the Iranian navy,” spokesman Kevin Steers said in an email sent to AFP in Washington.

“All hands onboard are safe and unharmed, and the vessel is proceeding on its voyage,” he added.

Iran’s navy keeps a presence in Gulf of Oman to protect cargo ships and transiting oil tankers and also defend the country against potential threats. …more

Iran and world powers agree to further talks
24 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Iran and world powers will meet in Moscow on June 18-19 to hold further talks to try solve a long-standing dispute about an Iranian nuclear energy program, European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Thursday.

Speaking after two days of discussions in the Iraqi capital between envoys from Iran and six leading powers to try to defuse Western fears of a covert Iranian effort to develop nuclear bombs, Ashton said it was clear both sides wanted progress and had some common ground but they also had significant differences.

“We have met with our Iranian counterparts over the last two days in very intense and detailed discussions,” Ashton said, representing six world powers at the talks in Baghdad.

She added that it was “clear that we both want to make progress, and that there is some common ground. However, significant differences remain.”

Iran’s chief negotiator stressed that Iran maintained the right to continue to enrich uranium and had made that point clear during the negotiations.

“Of the main topics in using peaceful nuclear, energy is the topic of having the nuclear fuel cycle and enrichment. We emphasise this right. This is an undeniable right of the Iranian nation…especially the right to enrich uranium,” Saeed Jalili said during a televised news conference after talks ended. …source

Iran Says Need for Democracy in Bahrain Discussed in Baghdad
By Robert Tuttle and Nayla Razzouk – 24 May, 2012 – Bloomberg

Iran stressed the need for democracy in Bahrain during talks with world powers in Baghdad over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili said at a press conference in the Iraqi capital. …source

Bahrain jails activist Zainab al-Khawaja over protest
24 March, 2102 – Shia Post

The Bahraini regime has handed a one-month jail term to rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja for participating in an anti-government protest last month.

A Bahraini court on Thursday announced the jail term for Khawaja, accusing her of “using force against a policewoman and insulting her as forces of order tried to disperse an unauthorized rally” on April 21, Lebanon’s Daily Star reported.

Khawaja is also accused of obstructing traffic on the same day by blocking a main road in the capital, Manama.

She was arrested one day before the Formula One Grand Prix in Manama while sitting peacefully in the middle of a main road leading to the Bahrain International Circuit.

The female activist was demanding the cancellation of the race and an end to the Saudi-backed crackdown on popular protests.

Zainab has been arrested several times for organizing protests demanding the release of her father, prominent activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on a hunger strike since February.

On Tuesday, a court adjourned to May 27 another case against Zainab al-Khawaja in which she is charged with holding a rally along with another woman in December in the middle of a roundabout on the flashpoint Budaiya Highway, outside Manama.

Another court also fined her 200 dinars (USD 530) on Monday for insulting a police officer.

…more

“To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair inevitable.” – Raymond Williams

Henry A. Giroux: The Occupy Movement and the Politics of Educated Hope
18 May, 2012 – By Henry A. Giroux – Truthout

American society has lost its claim on democracy. One indication of such a loss is that the crises produced on a daily basis by crony capitalism operate within a discourse of denial. Rather than address the ever proliferating crises produced by market fundamentalism as an opportunity to understand how the United States has arrived at such a point in order to change direction, the dominating classes now use such crises as an excuse for normalizing a growing punishing and warfare state, while consolidating the power of finance capital and the mega-rich. Uncritically situated in an appeal to common sense, the merging of corporate and political power is now constructed on a discourse of refusal – a denial of historical conditions, existing inequalities and massive human suffering – used to bury alive the conditions of its own making. The notion that neoliberal capitalism has less interest in free markets than an enormous stake in the dominance of public life by corporations no longer warrants recognition and debate in mainstream apparatuses of power. Hence, the issue of what happens to democracy and politics when corporations dominate almost all aspects of American society is no longer viewed as a central question to be addressed in public life.(1)

As society is increasingly organized around shared fears, escalating insecurities and a post 9/11 politics of terror; the mutually reinforcing dynamics of a market-based fundamentalism and a government that appears immune to any checks on its power render democratic politics both bankrupt and inoperable. The hatred of government on the part of Republican extremists has resulted not only in attacks on public services, the cutting of worker benefits, the outsourcing of government services, a hyper-nationalism and the evisceration of public goods such as schools and health care, but also in an abdication of the responsibility to govern. The language of the market with its incessant appeal to self-regulation and the virtues of a radical individualization of responsibility now offer the primary dysfunctional and poisonous index of what possibilities the future may hold, while jingoistic nationalism and racism hail its apocalyptic underbelly.

The notion that democracy requires modes of economic and social equality as the basis for supportive social bonds, democratic communities and compassionate communal relations disappears along with the claims traditionally made in the name of the social justice, human rights and democratic values. Entrepreneurial values such as competitiveness, self-interest, deregulation, privatization and decentralization now produce self-interested actors who have no interest in promoting the public good or governing in the public interest.(2) Under these circumstances, the 1 percent and the financial, cultural and educational institutions they control declare war on government, immigrants, poor youth, women, and other institutions and groups considered disposable. Crony capitalism produces great wealth for the few and massive human suffering for the many around the globe. At the same time, it produces what João Biehl calls “zones of social abandonment,” which “accelerate the death of the unwanted” through a form of economic Darwinism “that authorizes the lives of some while disallowing the lives of others.”(3)

As market relations become synonymous with a market society, democracy becomes both the repressed scandal of neoliberalism and its ultimate fear.(4) In such a society, cynicism becomes the ideology of choice as public life collapses into the ever-encroaching domain of the private, and social ills and human suffering become more difficult to identify, understand and engage with critically. The result, as Jean Comaroff points out, is, “In our contemporary world, post 9/11, crisis and exception has become routine and war, deprivation and death intensify despite ever denser networks of humanitarian aid and ever more rights legislation.”(5) In addition, as corporate power and finance capital gain ascendancy over society, the depoliticization of politics and the increasing transformation of the social state into the punishing state has resulted in the emergence of a new form of authoritarianism in which the fusion of corporate power and state violence increasingly permeates all aspects of everyday life.(6) Such violence with its ever expanding machinery of death and surveillance creates an ever-intensifying cycle, rendering citizens’ political activism dangerous and even criminal as is obvious in the current assaults being waged by the government against youthful protesters on college campuses, in the streets, and in other spaces now colonized by capital and its machinery of enforcement.(7)…more

Palestinian Unity Government Formed
POMED – 23 May, 2012

On Sunday, Fatah and Hamas reached an agreement to form a “national unity government.” Faisal Abu Shahla, a member of Fatah, said, “We hope this time the two sides are serious in implementing the agreement. The Egyptians have promised to follow up with both sides to make sure that the agreement is implemented.” The move towards reconciliation followed a Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Elliot Abrams weighed in on the unity deal, saying, “This announcement is interesting and potentially significant, but not in obvious ways.” Having the agreement facilitated by the Egyptian General Intelligence Service indicates the organization still exerts influence on Palestinian politics. Abrams also pointed out the agreement “shows a continuing determination on the part of the Fatah old liners and Hamas leaders to sideline PA prime minister Salam Fayyad,” and posited that in the long run the unity government will not last due to Fatah and Hamas chasm of disagreement. Abdel Bari Atwan believes that the Palestinian cause has largely gone unheeded due to an “Israeli propaganda machine [that] has become adept at obscuring the Palestinian cause with other stories while its own atrocities against the Palestinians continue unnoticed.” As the Palestinians have done everything in their power to gain equal status, Atwan writes, “I believe the third intifada is on its way.” …source

Jailed Bahraini activist AngryArabiya pens prison plea
23 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

A leading Bahraini rights activist has written an impassioned letter from prison condemning the continued abuses in the country and refusing to accept the country’s legal system. Zainab al-Khawaja, known for her tweets using the pseudonym AngryArabiya, was arrested last month and has been charged with a number of offenses, including assaulting a police officer.

Al-Khawaja denied the charges, which she said were politically motivated, and refused to accept the legitimacy of the country’s courts.

In the letter al-Khawaja admitted to longing for freedom so she could see her two-year-old daughter, but said if she cut a deal with the authorities it would undermine the pro-democracy cause in the country.

She also said she would continue to refuse to attend trials in the country, even if it meant her sentence was extended.

“Yes, I do dream of my daughter, while I sleep and also when I’m awake, but when I am home with her, I know my mind won’t be at peace. Jaffar, an innocent man who was shot in the face with birdshot gun, Jaffar who lost both his eyes. Jaffar who was sentenced in a trial that lasted less than 15 minutes, without a lawyer, without any family members,” the letter said.

Last year a government commissioned review found widespread use of torture in Bahraini jails, as well as abuses by the security forces.

The country’s Western-backed government claims to have conducted a series of reforms, but activists say little has changed on the ground.

The full text of the letter is below:

The judge might think that I will be attending my next trial session. He told my lawyer the last time I was not present that he might have considered releasing me had I gone to court. Not only does that statement carry no weight when spoken by a judge who is ruling in an unfair political trial but what he should release is that it is not my release from prison that I seek.

Yes, I do dream of my daughter, while I sleep and also when I’m awake, but when I am home with her, I know my mind won’t be at peace. Jaffar, an innocent man who was shot in the face with birdshot gun, Jaffar who lost both his eyes. Jaffar who was sentenced in a trial that lasted less than 15 minutes, without a lawyer, without any family members, the judge looked at the blind injured man, and he shouted “Don’t bother sitting, you are sentenced to 2 years in prison.”

I could hold my daughter in my arms, but ill close my eyes and imagine Jafffar hearing his daughters voices after months and months living in prison, in darkness. But as he reaches out to his babies, a guard shouts at him “You’re not allowed to touch them!”

Among them ill see, a handmade wrist band, made by a political prisoner. Hassan Oun, a boy who has been arrested more than 5 times in his young life. Hassan Oun who is a torture victim who spoke out, he dared to come forward and speak up. But his courage did not save him from the hands of his torturers. Hassan was re-arrested, and we could not save him from being subjected to the same nightmare again. Though I never met Hassan, I did meet his younger brother. I still remember his smile as he drank warm milk and told me to take a picture of him “who knows, I might be the next detainee” he said. In a call from prison I was told Ahmed has been injured, when he went to hospital he was detained, for the second time.

In the same prison the Oun brothers are detained in there are hundreds of other political prisoners. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are cells kept for specific families, for example the family of 14yr old martyr Ali Al-Shaikh. Not only was Ali killed, but his family are being punished. Many of his family members have been in and out of jail. Some, the ones who witnessed the killing, have not come out.

I might get released, but young Mansoor won’t be waiting to ask me “what abuses are we documenting today?” Although a high school student he was determined to become an activist, to help in any way he could. Last time I spoke to him he did not ask me what he could do to help, but he asked me to plz pray for him, to pray that they don’t take him back to the interrogation room.

If I get released, every village I pass through will shout the names of countless prisoners of conscience. All the walls will show me their faces. Around me, I will see their grief-stricken mothers and fathers, their wives, their children crying for her children as I write. I am not Zainab only, I am Jaffar and Hassan, I am Ahmed and Abbas, I am Masooma and Mansoor. My case is the case of hundreds of innocent political prisoners in Bahrain, my release, without them, means nothing to me.

I will not be attending my trials, no matter how many they are. Freedom, and not my release, is what I want and dream of. I will sit in my prison cell, I will listen to its walls reciting the poetry of another political prison Sadeq Al-Ghasra, reminding me that our struggle for liberty shall continue not only from inside this prison but even from under the soil.

All my admiration, for my imprisoned brothers and sisters. Whose determination and patience give me hope.

Zainab Alkhawaja Isa Town Prison 19th May 2012

..source

UN:Bahrain to mull ways to improve rights record
By John Heilprin – Associated Press – 23 May, 2012

GENEVA—Bahrain has agreed to consider recommendations to release political prisoners, outlaw torture and join the International Criminal Court, a move that could open it to international prosecutions of alleged abuses, the U.N.’s top human rights body said Wednesday.

In its highly anticipated review of the Gulf kingdom’s record, the U.N. Human Rights Council said Bahrain will consider 176 recommendations submitted by other nations. The council’s report, part of a process that all 193 U.N. members are required to undergo every four years, reflects international concern about the 15-month Bahraini uprising by majority Shiites against the ruling Sunni monarchy.

Nations are not required to adopt the recommendations of other countries that are included the report, but often nations will reject recommendations without first agreeing to consider them. Among the other recommendations included in the report are for Bahrain to consider abolishing the death penalty, commuting death sentences to prison terms and improving laws that protect freedoms of expression and assembly.

Bahrain also has agreed to consider a recommendation to release political prisoners, a major concern of some Western nations over jailed Bahraini activists such as Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on a hunger strike since February. He and others have claimed that they suffered abuses and torture, and demanded their release.

Al-Khawaja and seven other activists were sentenced to life in prison last year by a military-run court as part of crackdowns by Bahrain’s Sunni rulers on a Shiite-led uprising calling for a greater political voice in the Gulf kingdom. A civilian court retrial was ordered in April for 21 people convicted of anti-state crimes, with the court adjourning the case until May 29. …more

Kuwait’s cabinet boycotts parliament as crisis grows
23 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Kuwait’s cabinet on Wednesday boycotted parliament for a second day as MPs accused the government of plotting to dissolve the opposition-controlled house.

The government and opposition are at loggerheads over two requests to question Finance Minister Mustafa al-Shamali over alleged financial and administrative irregularities.

The government insisted on Tuesday that the two grillings must be debated separately while the opposition, which has a majority in parliament, wants to merge the two and have a single debate.

When the opposition insisted on a vote to resolve the dispute, all government ministers led by Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah, in power for the past six months, walked out of the session.

The government ministers failed to attend parliament on Wednesday, forcing the cancellation of the session because under Kuwait law parliament sessions are illegal if no ministers attend.

MP Jamaan al-Harbash told reporters the opposition agreed that the two grillings be discussed separately on the same day but the government turned down the concession.

“This is proof that the government wants to escape from the debate…in a bid to prevent exposing serious embezzlements, violations and corruption,” charged Harbash, an Islamist opposition lawmaker.

Adel al-Damkhi, another Islamist opposition MP, warned that the government boycott was the prelude to dissolving parliament which was elected just over three months ago.

“The government is preparing the Kuwaiti people to dissolve parliament,” he said.

MP Mubarak al-Waalan claimed the government move was an attempt to “cover up and rescue corrupt officials.”

But Information Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah said the government was still extending its hands of cooperation to MPs provided that laws were not violated.

The finance minister is accused of wide-ranging violations in his ministry and several departments under him, including the oil-rich emirate’s sovereign wealth fund. …more