Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing on The Human Rights Situation in Bahrain
April 29, 2010
It is important to mention that this is the first time the United States Congress hold an official on the record hearing on Bahrain. On the record means that it will be published in the Congressional record and everyone will have access it to it. These are the people who attended the hearing as witnesses:

1. Joe Stork, Human Rights Watch
2. Stephen McInerney, Project on Middle East Democracy
3. Mohammed Alansari, Bahrain Society for Public Freedom (from the government)
4. Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle eastern Affairs – Library of Congress
5. Katie Zoglin, Freedom House

The Hearing was chaired by Congressman James McGovern, who is the co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) and Congresswoman Donna Edwards who is a member of the TLHRC. It is vital to mention that Congressman McGovern he is being the co-chair of the Commission and for him to attend; does elevate the issue and topic to high circles among the leadership in the Congress. In other words, for him to come is a sign that there is a serious concern about Human Rights Violations in Bahrain. The hearing started at 12 noon and ended at 1:45pm. There was a very high attendant to an extent some time during the Hearing some people stood because they were not enough chairs. Also, many members of Congress staffers were in the attendee and they were constantly taking notes. …more

Bahrain’s Embassy in the U.S. Responds to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing on the Situation in Bahrain

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, April 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Kingdom of Bahrain’s Embassy in the U.S. recognizes the concerns of the Tom Lantos Human Rights commission but disagrees with the grievances aired in the commission’s hearing on April 25.

Bahrain is a progressive Arab nation and a longtime ally of the United States. Historically, Bahrain has been at the forefront of ensuring civil liberties and democratic reforms in the Middle East. Bahrain respects and protects all religions and ethnic groups.

The political unrest exhibited in Bahrain was characterized by violent sectarianism. Bahrain’s situation is unique from our neighbors in the greater region like Syria, Libya, and Egypt and it is wrong for the commission to treat the situation in Bahrain as indistinguishable. Actions in response to the protests went to stabilize the duress in our country and preserve our multicultural, multi-ethnic society.

The protesters did not use peaceful tactics and during the height of unrest, protesters overran our main thoroughfare and threatened our infrastructure. Bahrain was under siege and any sense of normal life was brought to a halt. Schools, businesses and ministries could not operate. The financial harbor was temporarily shut down due to road blocks and the main hospital was transformed into an opposition political command center. …more

Britain’s Royal Wedding – “Dirty little Secret” in Bahrain
by Finian Cunningham

The British royal wedding is turning swiftly into a public relations disaster, with news that Bahrain’s Crown Prince is respectfully turning down his invitation to the event because of the “situation reigning” in the Persian Gulf kingdom.

However, the real story behind the headlines is that the diplomatic shuffle reveals that the British establishment is well aware of the vicious repression being conducted by the Bahraini rulers along with the armed forces of neigbouring Gulf states, including Western allies Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa reportedly said that that he did not want his presence to “tarnish” the royal wedding due to take place at Westminster Abbey in London this Friday. …more

Counter-revolution: 250 missing in Bahrain
22 April 2011

In a span of one month, King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain unleashed a merciless repression campaign against his subjects.

More than 80 % of the adult population participated in this spring’s peaceful protest movement, demanding the democratization of the monarchy.

• Washington is concerned that the nationalist awakening will call into question the concession contract for Juffair, a port which is home to the fifth US fleet and the naval command of CentCom.
• Paris is afraid that a revolution would jeopardize the recent defense agreements signed with the kingdom.
• London considers that any loss of power suffered by the monarch would spell a loss of its influence over this former colony which has had a semblance of independence only since 1971.
• Riyad fears that any advancement toward democracy or social progress in neighboring Bahrain might ignite a similar movement in Saudi Arabia.

That is why, on March 13th, the King received US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and, under his oversight, called for the intervention of Saudi troops.

Since they entered the territory, 25 mosques were completely destroyed (including the historic mosque of Amir Mohammad), and 253 others were damaged. …more

Washington censors Libyan TV plus Arab TVs covering violent clampdown in Bahrain

On 23 April 2011, Libyan state television antennas were hit by NATO airstrikes. Transmissions were cut off for more than 30 minutes before they could resume.

According to NATO’s mouthpiece, the target were not the antennas – since NATO respects and promotes freedom of the press – but the adjoining compound of Muammar Gaddafi.

Meanwhile, going by Saudi media reports, the U.S. Department of State asked Arabsat, the satellite management company, to suspend broadcasting by Libyan channels.

Moreover, a jamming station – located in rebel-controlled Libyan territory and coordinated with another station operating from Saudi territory – is used by Washington to obstruct any program on Arab television channels, regardless of where they are, covering the brutal repression in Bahrain. …source

BAHRAIN
McCarthyism in Manama?
By Kanya D’Almeida

WASHINGTON, Apr 27, 2011 (IPS) – As the savage crackdown on the majority Shiite opposition movement drags on in Bahrain, King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa’s military regime – backed by the hefty armed forces of Sunni- dominated Saudi Arabia – has moved from launching outright assaults on peaceful protestors on the streets of Manama in broad daylight into the murky waters of what experts are calling state terror, featuring all the old tactics of petrifying a population into submission.

On top of facing over 1,500 troops from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)’s most formidable army, the Bahraini people appear to be increasingly encountering the far more sinister face of a monarchy desperate to retain power in the oil-rich Gulf state as regimes topple around it. Midnight knocks on doors, unmarked vehicles whisking activists away in the dead of night and relentless suppression of the media are fast pushing Bahrain into an abyss of impunity, critics here say.

“What we are seeing in [Bahrain] today is like what the United States saw in the 1950s under McCarthyism,” Dr. Muneera Fakhro, a leader of the left-leaning Wa’ad party, told a gathering of activists, reporters and policy heads at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington Tuesday. …more

MANAMA, Bahrain, April 28 (UPI) — A court in Bahrain sentenced four people to death Thursday for their roles in the killing of two police officers in March in the capital of Manama.

Besides ruling that the four men would be executed, the National Safety Lower Court also sentenced three people to life in prison for the same incident, Gulf News reported.

The defendants can appeal the verdicts before the National Safety Court of Appeals.

Prosecutors argued the seven men were involved in a plotting and carrying out a crime for terrorist purposes, offering confessions of killing the two police officers as support, Gulf News said. …source