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

US and Russia concerned by Lebanon security situation
21 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

The United States and Russia on Monday voiced concern about security in Lebanon after two clerics were shot and killed amid violence between between pro and anti Syrian groups.

US State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner issued a statement welcoming a pledge by the Lebanese authorities to probe the shootings and urged all sides to show restraint amid fears the violence in Syria was spilling into Lebanon.

“We are concerned by the security situation in Lebanon following the shooting of Sheikh Ahmad Abdul Wahad and Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Merheb near a Lebanese Army checkpoint in the northern region of Akkar,” Toner said.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry also called for calm, saying Lebanese politicians should show restraint.

“Moscow is seriously concerned over the rise of public discontent in Lebanon…we are calling on Lebanese politicians to show restraint and high patriotic responsibility in this uneasy moment both for the country and for the region,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Lebanese troops shot dead two clerics, including anti-Syrian figure Abdel-Wahad, when their convoy failed to stop at a checkpoint in the Akkar region of north Lebanon on Sunday, sparking protests across the country.

The killings come after a week of intermittent clashes between rival groups in the second city of Tripoli. …source

Lebanon’s Sunni Street Takes Charge
Ibrahim al-Amin – 21 May, 2012

The tensions erupting and moving to different areas indicate that a big problem is looming over the country. The main political forces do not need to be told. The exceptional intensity of anger at street-level is enough to turn a minor incident into a major explosion. The killing of a politically-active sheikh thus threatens to set the country ablaze.

The basic issue is clear, though many try to avoid or to embellish it. Anger is gripping the Sunni street. Its causes vary. Domestically, it is due to the exclusion from power of the forces which lead the majority of Sunnis. Regionally, it is due to the Syrian crisis, and the failure to topple a regime which for most Sunnis represents minority rule by a different sect.

But the enraged Sunni street is not, at present, seeking to hold its own to account for their shortcomings. It is instead punishing them by ignoring their wishes.

This constituency wants to secure the “rights” it believes it has been robbed of. These are not confined to regaining an agreed share of power, or getting rid of those they do not consider to be their genuine representatives. They extend to acquiring the right to support the Syrian opposition with money and arms, not just politically and rhetorically.

This constituency has lost trust in the state so long as it is not under its supervision. People now want the realization of Saad Hariri’s slogan: Either me, or the people’s wrath. …more

UN pushes Bahrain on rights record
21 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Bahrain faced calls at the United Nations on Monday to release its political prisoners, including prominent rights activist Nabeel Rajab who is charged with tweeting insults against the government.

The Gulf kingdom came under scrutiny by members of the UN Human Rights Council, which is examining Bahrain’s rights record as part of its four-yearly review process.

“France condemns the arbitrary arrests and ongoing charges against defenders of human rights, trade unionists and campaigners for simply expressing their opinions,” said French ambassador to the UN in Geneva Nicolas Niemtchinow, who highlighted the case of Rajab and fellow activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.

Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, has been leading anti-government protests following a brutal crackdown on Shiite-led demonstrations against the ruling Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty in March 2011.

Rajab was detained on May 5 for “insulting a statutory body via Twitter” and also faces trial for taking part in a Manama demonstration three months ago.

Khawaja was convicted last June of plotting to overthrow the government and has been on a hunger strike since February 8.

At the meeting France requested a “humanitarian response” for the dissident and Denmark said he should be released for treatment.

The United States meanwhile called for a review of the convictions of all people involved in non-violent protest and Britain recommended new trials for all defendants convicted in military courts.

Human rights campaigners welcomed the setting up of an independent commission of inquiry following the crackdown in which 35 people were killed but said more must be done to implement its recommendations. …source

Obama signed an arms deal giving the Saudi dictatorship $60 billion of weapons

Saudi Arabia and the Arab Spring: the West’s counter-revolutionary force
21 May, 2012 – By Ahmed El Bassiouny – Socialist Worker Canada

Recent human rights violations in Saudi Arabia highlight its role in countering protesters. During the whole of the Arab Spring, the Western-backed Kingdom has played a counter-revolutionary role across the region.

First, Saudi Arabia provided shelter for Western-backed Tunisian dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, after being over-thrown. Riyadh refused to give up Ben Ali for trial in Tunisia, proving the Kingdom’s strong opposition to the uprising in Tunisia and acting as a solid wall standing between the Tunisian protesters and their demands for justice. A very similar incident happened in Yemen: after the injury of Ali Abdullah Saleh during the bombing of his presidential palace, everyone could safely bid that Saudi Arabia would kick in to save him. Saleh fled to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, and then to the US.

It’s unforgettable that Saudi Arabia (armed with US and Canadian weapons) sent troops to Bahrain to “deal” with the Shia-dominated demonstrations. The main goal was to amputate any uprising action in the gulf area, and protect the US Fifth Fleet.

When it came to Egypt—another Western-backed dictatorship—Saudi Arabia rushed into trying to strengthen their ties with the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), by offering financial support. At the exact same time, Saudi Arabia offered financial, political and media support to the major parties in Egypt—the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis. That was in an attempt to win an ally, one that would allow shaping of the region’s politics to their liking. Saudi Arabia has also been arming sections of the Free Syrian Army tied to the Western-backed Syrian National Council, in order to undermine the revolutionary movement in Syria and pave the way for confronting Iran.

Surprisingly, Saudi Arabia’s counter-revolution measures did not stop at backing corrupted regimes; it extended to manipulation of the media. The resignation of Wadah Khanfar, the director general of Al-Jazeera, happened after a week of extensive visits between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Al-Jazeera provided outstanding coverage of the political changes in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen. Khanfar was replaced by a member of the Qatari Royal family, as punishment to the satellite network’s independent coverage.

Any discussion of “humanitarian intervention” in the region needs to remember the Saudi-American alliance, at its strongest in years, which is trying to undermine the Arab Spring across the region. …source

Well-known Beit Jala restaurant destroyed by Israel, again
Ryan Brownell – The Electronic Intifada – 21 May, 2012

Beit Jala – In the early morning of Thursday, 3 May, representatives from several human rights organizations were scheduled to have breakfast in the popular al-Makhrour restaurant near Bethlehem.

The purpose for the scheduled workshop was to discuss house demolitions and property confiscation by Israeli forces in Area C, a zone comprising 60 percent of the West Bank that is under full Israeli control.

As people arrived for the meeting, though, the first thing they saw was a bulldozer leaving the site, alongside some Israeli officials. The restaurant — which is located beside the village of Beit Jala — had been demolished two hours earlier.

“It was bizarre,” said Mohammad Zeidan, director of the Arab Association for Human Rights. “The timing … we couldn’t really believe what we were seeing.”

Just before dawn on that day, Israeli soldiers surrounded and sealed off the area, and proceeded to destroy the restaurant and an adjacent building owned by the Qesieh family. The demolition was carried out under the pretext of a demolition order issued in 2005.

“The restaurant was already gone,” said Odna Copty of the Association for the Rights of the Internally Displaced in Israel. “It is always sad to hear about these things, and to read about them. But when you expect it to be there, and it’s gone, that’s always something different.” …more

Al-Wefaq demands international community a genuine stand
21 May, 2012 – Shia Post

We, opposition blocs demand the international community a genuine stand regarding human rights violations in Bahrain.

After six months following the release of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), prisoners of conscience are still subjected to torture in all detention centres in addition to Jaw and Dry Dock prisons.

UPR Review of Bahrain in the UN
The authorities in Bahrain have escalated their excessive use of force against citizens. During the past few months, a dramatic increase of security’s use of birdshot against protesters in the street has been documented in many different areas, resulting in severe injuries in different parts of the body.

After six months following the release of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), prisoners of conscience are still subjected to torture in all detention centres in addition to Jaw and Dry Dock prisons. Home raid incidents without legal warrants, have also increased and stealing house-holders’ valuable belongings and money. This drawback only proves that Bahrain authorities have not stood up to their promise to implement the BICI recommendations.

The authorities’ behavior is considered as an insult not only to the Bahraini people, but also to the BICI members and to the international community including all international human rights organizations which have not hesitated to condemn the authorities for the shocking violations committed against citizens and residents in Bahrain.

This requires a serious and genuine stand by the international community and its human rights organizations with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) meetings of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council to take place this week. The UPR will review Bahrain record since 2008 in its 13thsession. Bahrain has not delivered obligatory reports required by seven international treaties.

We call on all victims of torture to give in written testimonies to political and human rights organizations in Bahrain. We also ask them to reveal these facts to the local and international Medias as some are still not known to the local and international communities.

Solidarity with Palestine
We consider the attendance of both Bahrain’s ambassadors to the United States and Brussels to the European Jewish Congress a few days ago as normalization with Israel; this matter is totally unaccepted amongst all factors of the Bahraini community and its political parties.

We stand in total solidarity beside the Palestinian prisoners in their hunger strike fight and demand they be immediately released. We also call for unity in Palestine in their struggle to free their country and establish the state of Palestine.

Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society
National Democratic Action Society (Waad)
Nationalist Democratic Assembly Society
Alekha National Society
National Democratic Assemblage (Unitary)

…source

Egypt’s top cleric: Shias bring instability
21 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Egypt’s top Islamic cleric on Monday denounced Shia houses of worship in an outburst against the Muslim sect, telling Iran’s envoy in Cairo that the husseiniyas promoted “instability.”

Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the imam of the prestigious Sunni Al-Azhar institute, met with the envoy a day after scholars from Al-Azhar and Islamist groups issued a statement condemning what they said were attempts to spread Shiism in Egypt.

Shias are estimated as a tiny fraction of Egypt’s population of 82-million, most of them Sunni Muslim. Shiism is dominant in Iraq and Iran, a regional rival to Egypt and the conservative Gulf monarchies.

Tayyeb told the envoy that Al-Azhar “rejected any husseiniya in Egypt because of their negative effects in destabilising the country and fracturing unity and weakening the national fabric,” Al-Azhar said in a statement.

Sunnis have traditionally opposed Shiism, which teaches that many of the Prophet Mohammed’s companions revered by Sunnis were corrupt and usurped power from his rightful successor and cousin, Ali.

“We are not against Shiism. They can do whatever they want in their countries, but if we are to draw closer to them, we don’t want to hear insults against the companions,” Mahmoud Azab, Tayyeb’s dialogue adviser, told AFP.

Over the past decades, Al-Azhar has tried to promote a measure of reconciliation between the two streams of Islam, recognizing Shia jurisprudence as legitimate.

But the sect remains taboo in Egypt, partly because of its association with Iran, which has low-level diplomatic representation in Cairo after Egypt broke off ties following Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

In a recent debate ahead of a May 23-24 presidential election, one front-runner, Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, said Shiism must not be allowed to enter Egypt, while another candidate has been forced to battle rumours that he secretly embraced Shiism. …source

Israel’s army has said it will investigate an incident that has been caught on video in which troops appear to stand by without intervening as settlers shoot at Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israel to investigate footage that showed settlers shooting Palestinians as soldiers stand by
By Phoebe Greenwood, Jerusalem – 21 May, 2012

The footage, filmed by local Palestinian women hiding in their homes on the outskirts of Asira village, shows an alarming and rapid escalation in violence, captured from the moment a group of settlers, some masked and armed with guns, descended from their hilltop settlement. The Yitzhar settlers claim Palestinians had lit fires around their outposts.

In a statement, the army said: “During the confrontation, live fire was used; the incident is currently being investigated by the division commander.

“That said, it appears that the video in question does not reflect the incident in its entirety.”

The amateur footage appears to show the settlers gathered on the outskirts of the village throwing rocks, quickly met with a shower of stones from Palestinian youths who rushed from their homes to confront the mob. A few minutes later, Israeli boarder police are seen arriving at the fray.

In the scenes that follow, several of the Jewish settlers armed with M4 rifles – one wearing what appears to be a police cap – are seen to point their guns at the group of Palestinian men and open fire. The Israeli soldiers present appear to do nothing to stop them from shooting.

In this moment, Fathi Asayira, 24, is shot in the head. The urgent yells of Mr Asayira’s neighbours rushing to help him are captured in the footage, which has been collected and posted online by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. Mr Asayira is currently in a stable condition in a hospital in Nablus. Five other Palestinians were injured by stones thrown during the incident.

“The video footage raises grave suspicions that the soldiers present did not act to prevent the settlers from throwing stones and firing live ammunition at the Palestinians,” explains Sarit Mitchell, director of B’Tselem, a group that is closely monitoring an alleged increase in violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

“The [settler attack] itself is not unusual but it is rare for settlers to open fire. They have no authority to use live ammunition but in any case, you can see this was not a life threatening situation. And most severe of all, several soldiers are standing by and letting this happen.”

According to the United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in occupied Palestinian territory, the number of settler attacks on Palestinians and their properties has increased by 144 per cent since 2009. More than 90 per cent of complaints filed by Palestinians about settler violence have been closed by the Israeli police in recent years without indictment.

B’Tselem has issued an urgent request to Israeli Judea and Samaria Police to arrest and prosecute those involved in the attack. The rights group has also written to the Military Police to request an investigation into why the Israeli soldiers failed to intervene to stop the violence.

The Israeli Defence Force issued a statement on Monday acknowledging live ammunition had been fired during the incident and that Israeli soldiers had been present. “The incident is currently being investigated by the division commander. That said, it appears that the video in question does not reflect the incident in its entirety,” it read. ..source

Bahrain: Human Rights Body Should Target Repression
20 May, 2012 – Human Rights Watch

United Nations member states should scrutinize Bahrain’s deplorable human rights record during the country’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council on May 21, 2012. The international community should push Bahrain to adopt specific measures to ensure free expression and peaceful assembly, end torture, free political prisoners, and establish credible accountability mechanisms for continuing abuses.

(Geneva) – United Nations member states should scrutinize Bahrain’s deplorable human rights record during the country’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council on May 21, 2012, Human Rights Watch said today. The international community should push Bahrain to adopt specific measures to ensure free expression and peaceful assembly, end torture, free political prisoners, and establish credible accountability mechanisms for continuing abuses.

Under the UPR process, the Human Rights Council examines the human rights record of each UN member state once every four years. The process began in 2008, and Bahrain is the first country to undergo a second UPR round.

“The UPR should focus on Bahrain’s routine suppression of basic political rights like freedom of association as well as the grave human rights violations committed in the brutal 2011 crackdown against pro-democracy protesters,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Countries should ask Bahrain why it hasn’t released scores of prisoners whose only crimes were to call for greater political rights.”

The voice of the international community has been subdued regarding Bahrain’s manifold violations, especially compared with the international response to abuses in Syria, Libya, Iran, and other Middle Eastern countries, Human Rights Watch said.

Bahrain’s second UPR will follow more than a year of violent suppression of what began as peaceful protests. In mid-March 2011, as the demonstrations continued, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa declared a “State of National Safety” and established special military courts. These courts convicted and sentenced to prison hundreds of protesters for exercising their rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, despite statements by Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifaon state television that, “It is among the rights of citizens of Bahrain to gather and march peacefully.”

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), appointed by King Hamad and consisting of five renowned international jurists, concluded that the government’s security forces had violently crushed pro-democracy demonstrations and documented widespread and systematic violations of international human rights law, as well as Bahraini law by Bahraini forces.

The commission recommended voiding all convictions based on people’s peaceful statements or protests, investigating allegations of torture against ranking officials, and revising laws that criminalize speech and peaceful assembly.

But Bahrain has conducted few reviews of the military court sentences and released even fewer prisoners. None of the accused protest leaders, whose convictions were based solely on their political statements and associations, have been freed, Human Rights Watch said. …more

Mansour inquires about Kuwait travel warning
May 21, 2012 -Lebanon Now

Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour contacted his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah to inquire about Kuwait’s travel warning for Lebanon, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

“[The Kuwaiti minister] said the decision was a result of the events that some Lebanese areas witnessed,” the NNA said, adding that Sabah “promised to reconsider the decision once the reasons that led to taking it [are resolved].”

The NNA added that Mansour received a phone call from Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi and discussed latest Lebanese developments.

On Saturday, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain urged their citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon, where clashes in Tripoli linked to the conflict in neighboring Syria have left 10 people dead. On Monday, Kuwait made a similar move.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, two people were killed in street battles in Beirut after army troops shot dead a Sunni cleric, Ahmad Abdel Wahed, when his convoy allegedly failed to stop at a checkpoint in North Lebanon.
…source

Bahrain: Nabeel Rajab granted bail, but remains in prison
21 May, 2012 – Index On Censorship

Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab is to remain in prison, despite being granted bail. Rajab, who was arrested earlier this month, was granted bail on the charge of “insulting an official authority”, but remains in prison on a second charge of “organising illegal demonstrations”. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights head faces two years in prison if convicted of the second charge. The first charge relates to four posts on Twitter which suggested the interior ministry had not carried out proper investigations into civilian deaths.

Bahrain defends human rights record at U.N.
21 May, 2012 – Associated Press – The Daily Star

GENEVA: Bahraini officials have defended the troubled Gulf kingdom’s record before the U.N. Human Rights Council, saying it has moved to investigate abuses and compensate victims since majority Shiites began an uprising in February 2011 seeking to end the political controls of the ruling Sunni monarchy.

A 38-member delegation led by human rights minister Salah bin Ali Mohammed Abdulrahman appeared Monday for a review of Bahrain’s rights record at a sensitive time following the monarchy’s crackdowns on dissent.

Members of the 47-nation council, whose report on Bahrain is due Wednesday, called on the nation to grant new trials to activists convicted in military courts.

A Bahraini court last month ordered a full re-examination of the cases against mostly Shiite activists found guilty last year of plots to overthrow the Western-allied Sunni dynasty. …source

Bahraini court fines daughter of opposition activist
Mahmoud Habboush – Safe World for Women – 21 May, 2012

A court in Bahrain on Monday fined Zainab al-Khawaja, the daughter of a prominent opposition activist, for insulting a government employee and her lawyer said she was still detained pending trial in a different case.

Bahrain, a U.S. ally that hosts Washington’s Fifth Fleet, has been in turmoil since a democracy protest movement led by its majority Shi’ites erupted last year after revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.

Its Sunni Muslim rulers have rejected opposition calls for an elected government and protests and clashes with police continue weekly.

Khawaja, daughter of jailed uprising leader Abdulhadi al-Khawaja who has been on hunger strike for more than three months, was arrested a month ago for trying to stage a protest in the capital Manama during Bahrain’s Formula One Grand Prix.

“She was fined 200 dinars ($530) for insulting a public servant,” lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi told Reuters, adding the court will try her for attempting to stage a protest on May 24.

“She could be fined again or sentenced to prison,” he said.

The authorities have dubbed the opposition Iranian lackeys because most of them are Shi’ites, as in Iran. They have vowed to get tough on security as talks with the opposition stalled.

The desire to contain Shi’ite dissent in Bahrain and counter Iran’s sway drove efforts to unify the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which stumbled at a meeting of their leaders last week. …more

Report exclusively obtained by Al Jazeera says 23-year-old had been electrically tortured before drowning in January.

Autopsy finds torture behind Bahrain drowning
Matthew Cassel – 18 May, 2012 – Al Jazeera

On most mornings Yousef Mowali would leave his home near Bahrain’s international airport to go for a stroll. The 23-year-old had been diagnosed with schizophrenia a few years earlier and liked walking, both for exercising and relaxing.

On January 11, Mowali left for his morning walk and never returned.

Police said they found Mowali’s body floating in the water on January 13 in the Amwaj area, not far from his family’s home in Muharraq. A state doctor reported the cause of death as drowning and ruled out signs of violence.

However, Al Jazeera has exclusively obtained a report from a second autopsy performed by an independent forensic pathologist that concludes Mowali was electrically tortured and unconscious when he drowned.

If true, Mowali’s death would be the first of a person in police custody since the government promised reforms, following the release of a report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), which looked at the early months of unrest surrounding last year’s pro-democracy uprising.

The government-sponsored commission found that Bahrain’s Interior Ministry and national security agency employed “a systematic practice of physical and psychological mistreatment, which in many cases amounted to torture” during the early months of the crackdown in 2011.

BICI also reported five deaths as a result of police torture. Mowali’s death could be the sixth – and an indication that the mistreatment of prisoners in Bahrain has not stopped, despite the government’s promises. …more

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Victim of Bahrain Security Forces Shotgun Blast

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Broadly, ammunition for shotguns is referred to as “shot,” and consists of pellets of a certain material inside a cartridge. Bahrain Watch has observed two sizes of metallic birdshot in Bahrain: #2 birdshot (pellet diameter of about 3.8mm), and #8 birdshot (pellet diameter of about 2.2mm).

Bahrain’s top cartridge: Victory Starlight by G&L Calibers Ltd. (Cyprus):

The most popular shotgun shell being used by Bahrain’s Secuirty Forces is the Victory Starlight, a product of Cyprus G&L Calibers Ltd; The shell is identifiable by the word “STARLIGHT” in all-caps, shaped semi-circularly over the marking “32gr”, indicating a load weight of 32 grams,. To the right, a large “8” (shot size) is located above a vertical line, broken by the marking “70” (shell length). The shell metallic headstamp reads “Victory 12″.

Birdshot from UK manufacturer Gamebore(US Owned) has also been seen in Bahrain. The shell can be identified by the presence of the Gamebore logo, followed by “67mm” (length of the shell), and “8 – 32gms,” where the 8 is shot size and a load weight of 32 grams. The Gamebore cartridge has been observed in use for #2 and #8 shot sizes.