Posts from — May 2011

Bahrain: 9 demonstrators were sentenced because of the freedom of assembly
May 26th, 2011

Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) is deeply concerned about sentencing of 9 demonstrators Today in National Safety court ( Military court) .

Today 26 May 2011 , 9 demonstrators sentenced :

1- Fadhel Abbas Ahmed was sentenced to one year imprisonment for taking part in illegal protests and disrupting public order.

2-Salman Abbas Ahmed was sentenced to one year imprisonment for taking part in illegal protests and disrupting public order.

3-Nasser Hood Ebrahim was sentenced to one year imprisonment for taking part in illegal protests and disrupting public order.

4-Ali Mohammad Abdullah was sentenced to one year imprisonment for taking part in illegal protests and disrupting public order.

5-Mohammed Adel Ahmed was sentenced to one year imprisonment for taking part in illegal protests and disrupting public order.

6-Abdullah Yousif Ali was sentenced to one year imprisonment for taking part in illegal protests and disrupting public order.

7-Jaafar Mahdi Hassan was sentenced to one year imprisonment for taking part in illegal protests and disrupting public order.

8-Abdulsalam Mohammed Jassim was sentenced to two year imprisonment for taking part in illegal protests and disrupting public order.

9-Ali Khalifa Hassan was sentenced to Four year imprisonment for taking part in illegal protests and disrupting public order and The obtaining of publications that contain content inciting the overthrow of the regime. …source

Bahrain’s abuse of dissenters: four detailed cases

A pattern of widespread abuse emerges from these cases, including detention without trial, beatings, and lack of access to lawyers and family.

By Roy Gutman, McClatchy Newspapers / May 26, 2011
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The first sign that Bahrain’s security forces were going to detain former Bahraini parliamentarian Jawad Fairooz came at 8:30 p.m. May 2, when about 30 masked men carrying submachine guns broke down the front door of his house.

“What are you doing in my house?” Fairooz’s wife screamed as the men, some in military uniforms, flooded into the front hall. One pointed a submachine gun at her head. “Where is Jawad?” he demanded.

Fairooz, a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso, had been elected to the Bahraini parliament in 2006 and again in November 2010, but he’d resigned in February to protest police violence against peaceful demonstrators who were demanding democratic reform, Bahrain’s response to the “Arab spring” toppling of dictatorial regimes in Egypt and Tunisia.

RECOMMENDED: Bahrain protests: 5 key facts

Now he was about to feel the brutal force of Bahrain’s crackdown on the opposition.

Fairooz is one of about a dozen prominent opposition leaders and human rights advocates now behind bars in the island kingdom, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet. President Barack Obama referred to them in his speech last week on the Middle East, in which he pointedly told Bahrain that “you can’t have a real dialogue when parts of the peaceful opposition are in jail.”

A detailed examination of Bahrain’s arrest and treatment of the dissidents shows widespread and systematic abuse that raises questions about whether the country’s Sunni Muslim government has crossed a line beyond which it can’t restore social peace in the predominantly Shiite Muslim country.

Interviews and email exchanges with relatives of four of the jailed politicians yielded startlingly similar stories of dramatic and humiliating middle-of-the-night raids by 30 to 40 masked gunmen, followed by weeks of beatings and abuse in custody. None of the men has been charged with a crime. …more

Bahrain: Formula One Should Take Account of Rights Crisis
Arrests, Detentions Should Raise Questions for Racing Officials
May 26, 2011

Letter to Federation Internationale de l’Automobile and Formula One Teams Association Regarding Sadly, serious violations like arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, and alleged torture by Bahraini authorities pre-date the imposition of martial law in mid-March. There is little reason to think that ending martial law on June 1 will make much difference in Bahrain’s menacing human rights climate. Tom Porteous, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch

(Washington, DC) – The international racing bodies responsible for scheduling Formula One events should take full account of continuing serious human rights violations when they consider rescheduling a 2011 race in Bahrain, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch expressed its concerns in a letter sent jointly to the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA).

The government cancelled the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix, which had been scheduled for March, due to widespread pro-democracy and anti-government protests. On June 3, at a meeting in Barcelona, the FIA is expected to decide whether to reschedule the event for later in the year. Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa recently decreed that martial law, imposed on March 15, would be lifted on June 1, a few days before the FIA meeting.

“Sadly, serious violations like arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, and alleged torture by Bahraini authorities pre-date the imposition of martial law in mid-March,” said Tom Porteous, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. “There is little reason to think that ending martial law on June 1 will make much difference in Bahrain’s menacing human rights climate.”

Human Rights Watch questioned whether a successful Formula One event could be held in an environment characterized by large-scale arbitrary arrests, prolonged incommunicado detentions, credible allegations of torture, and mass dismissals of workers, in violation of Bahraini as well as international law. According to recent news reports, those dismissals and arrests include about a quarter of the staff of the government-owned Bahrain International Circuit, the site of the annual Bahrain Grand Prix. …more

Query about missing car lands Bahraini activist in jail

By ROY GUTMAN
McClatchy Newspapers

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Mohammed Hassan Jawad was missing his car – he’d left it at Pearl Roundabout in Manama, Bahrain, during anti-government protests in mid-March – so he did the logical thing: He visited the Bahrain police to inquire where they’d taken it when crews demolished the intersection.

That was the last his family heard of him for 45 days, until his name and photo flashed across government television. He was about to go on trial for taking part in a conspiracy to topple the Bahraini monarchy.

The arrest of Jawad, a human rights activist who’s campaigned on his own for the rights of detainees and prisoners but isn’t affiliated with any major political group, illustrates the arbitrariness of the judicial process that the Sunni Muslim minority regime has introduced under martial law.

Along with Ebrahim Sharif and Hassan Mushaima, Jawad was charged May 16 with “conspiring to topple the regime forcibly and collaborating with a terrorist organization working for a foreign country,” according to the government-run Bahrain News Agency.

Jawad, 64, had been arrested once before: last December, when he took part in a demonstration demanding the release of political prisoners – and promptly got thrown in jail. Under the pressure of human rights organizations, he was released in January, according to a member of his family. He, along with tens of thousands of others, took part in the anti-government demonstrations that began Feb. 14. That seems to be the basis of the charges.

Family members were able to talk with him at his first court appearance, and they think he suffered abuse bordering on torture while in solitary confinement. They learned that he’d been hung by his hands for three weeks and subjected to electric shocks. He had pains in his pelvis and was missing teeth. His legs were swollen, he was covered in scrapes and he looked terrible, they said.

A family member pleaded with McClatchy Newspapers to publicize his case, writing in an email: “In this cruel situation we are going through, you are the only hope for us, to deliver our sounds and screams, our pains and suffering, to the world.” ...source

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
The Resistance in Obama Time

Over 2,600 Activists Arrested in the US Since Election

By BILL QUIGLEY Counterpunch

Since President Obama was inaugurated, there have been over two thousand six hundred arrests of activists protesting in the US. Research shows over 670 people have been arrested in protests inside the US already in 2011, over 1290 were arrested in 2010, and 665 arrested in 2009. These figures certainly underestimate the number actually arrested as arrests in US protests are rarely covered by the mainstream media outlets which focus so intently on arrests of protestors in other countries.

Arrests at protest have been increasing each year since 2009. Those arrested include people protesting US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Guantanamo, strip mining, home foreclosures, nuclear weapons, immigration policies, police brutality, mistreatment of hotel workers, budget cutbacks, Blackwater, the mistreatment of Bradley Manning, and right wing efforts to cut back collective bargaining.

These arrests illustrate that resistance to the injustices in and committed by the US is alive and well. Certainly there could and should be more, but it is important to recognize that people are fighting back against injustice.

Information on these arrests has been taken primarily from the newsletter The Nuclear Resister, which has been publishing reports of anti-nuclear resistance arrests since 1980, and anti-war actions since 1990.

Jack Cohen-Joppa, who with his partner Felice, edits The Nuclear Resister, told me “Over the last three decades, in the course of chronicling more than 100,000 arrests for nonviolent protest and resistance to nuclear power, nuclear weapons, torture, and war, we’ve noted a quadrennial decline as support for protest and resistance gets swallowed up by Presidential politicking. It has taken a couple of years, but the Hopeian addicts of 2008 are finally getting into recovery. We’re again reporting a steady if slow rise in the numbers willing to risk arrest and imprisonment for acts of civil resistance. Today, for instance, there are more Americans serving time in prison for nuclear weapons protest than at any time in more than a decade.”

In the list below I give the date of the protest arrest and a brief summary of the reason for the protest. After each date I have included the name of the organization which sponsored the protest. Check them out. Remember, they can jail the resisters but they cannot jail the resistance! …more

Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tacoma Leonard Peltier March and Rally Reportback

THE MAY 21ST REGIONAL LEONARD PELTIER MARCH AND RALLY IN TACOMA
March web site has photos http://leonardpeltiermarch.wordpress.com/

The sound of drums could be heard from miles around, as a few hundred marched for Leonard Peltier in Tacoma. Most of the marchers were Native people, many Puyallups and other Salish people, the Native Student Alliance, Portland America Indian Movement, other Native people and Tacoma, Puyallup and Portland Chapters of the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee. Along with non-Native allies from the Jericho Movement, Industrial Workers of the World, Jobs With Justice, peace and justice activists, labor activists and a few anarchists. Once the march reached downtown, the drums and the Leonard Peltier Honor song vibrated off the buildings. The march was a long one from Puyallup land to downtown Tacoma, with the all Native security team looking out for the well-being of all
the marchers.

The police were out in force, again, trying to make some kind of political statement against the march. They threaten anyone who lagged behind and to that I explained that we had a permit to arch, even those that might be a little slow. Even though, as we had done in the past, only marched in one lane of the street, the police blocked both lands. So those who were in cars that could not get by, only have the police to blame. Near the court house the police tired to move the march on to the sidewalk, but we marched around them. When they told me to move on to the sidewalk, I told
them we had a permit to march from Portland Ave. Park to the court house and that is what we were going to do and that is what we did. I heard reports of the police calling Native people “Chief” and “Tonto” and other harassing remarks. They gave out a number of traffic tickets, including to people who parked in two hour zones, some of them had been parked there for less than two hours. We just did what we came there to do and viewed the police actions as proving our point. …more

Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Update on Amelia Nicol, Anti-Police Terror Prisoner
May 25, 2011 by denverabc
Denver, CO

[excerpt]

On Friday May 6th, over one hundred people, mostly young, poor, and angry, took to the streets in defiance of the Denver Police Department. They participated in a march, called to confront “police terror” in the Denver Metro area. Specifically, they marched to remember the deaths of Marvin Booker and Oleg Gidenko, two people murdered by area police departments in the last year.

As the the march ended, a small firework was set off in the street. Police used this act as a justification to chase one alleged participant down an alley, where she was tackled and beaten by police. This person would later be identified as Amelia Nicol, a 20 year old Colorado resident. She now faces outlandish charges including attempted murder.

We call on all people to support Amelia as she fights these attempts at intimidation and repression, and the police’s broader attack on social movements in Denver.

Marvin Booker, a homeless street preacher, died at the hands of five sheriff’s deputies in the Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center in downtown Denver on July 9, 2010. He was tackled, beaten, placed into chokeholds, tazed, and kicked. He eventually succumbed to the officers’ brutal attack. He was murdered for refusing to leave his shoes in the booking area of the jail.

Oleg Gidenko was shot in the head by Aurora Police Officers. Oleg was in a truck with several friends. They had been hanging out, allegedly drinking in the truck while it was parked in a lonely industrial park in Aurora. Aurora Police Officers approached the truck, armed, supposedly because they suspected the occupants of breaking into cars in the area. As the police aimed their weapons at the truck, one officer shot Oleg in the head. Another occupant, Yevgeniy Straystar. was also shot, but would survive. With two occupants, including the driver, shot and a passenger trying to hide on the floor of the truck as it took repeated fire from police officers, the truck lurched forward, bumping into one of the officers. This action, though it took place after the firing had started, and after Oleg was dead, was used as the justification for the shooting.

Many other high profile cases of police terror have been documented in the metro area over the last year, including the beating of whole families, rape and child molestation, and mishandling of evidence. Few, if any, officers are ever punished.

On May 6th, the fourth in a series of marches was held to show direct opposition to the police terror plaguing the metro area. For several hours the crowd snaked through downtown and the arts district. The police response to this fourth march was much heavier than previous marches, and riot police flanked the march for a good portion of the route. Despite the heavy police presence and attempts at intimidation, Amelia would end up being the only arrest during the march. …more

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Students boycott University of Bahrain
By staff & agencies

TEHRAN — Hundreds of students have reportedly boycotted the University of Bahrain to protest against al-Khalifa regime’s brutal crackdown on the pro-democracy protesters.

The students have said that they are not attending classes due to the government’s so-called protection measures and extra security protocols practiced at the university campus.

According to Press TV, earlier this week, classes at the University of Bahrain resumed after authorities installed new surveillance cameras across the university.

The facility was ransacked around two months ago during the political unrest that has gripped the Persian Gulf state for over three months.

All students must now re-register with the university and sign a code of conduct. Each student is given a compulsory identification card that must be worn at all times on campus.

According to Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), the University of Bahrain is planning to accept only pro-government students and those refusing to sign a pledge of loyalty to the government will be expelled from the only national higher education institution in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.

Since the beginning of anti-regime protests in Bahrain in mid-February, Manama has launched a harsh crackdown on anti-government protesters, rounding up senior opposition figures and activists in dawn raids and arresting doctors, nurses, lawyers and journalists who have voiced support for the protest movement.

Scores of protesters have been killed and many others have gone missing ever since the protests broke out.

Bahrainis condemn death sentences

On Monday, hundreds of Bahrainis poured into the streets across the country to protest against the death sentences handed to two anti-government protesters.

The opposition condemned the verdict describing it as a political move aimed at suppressing the anti-government movement.

On Sunday, a military court upheld the death sentences for two anti-government protesters for their involvement in the killing of two police officers during anti-regime demonstrations.

“The National Safety Appeals Court upheld the death sentence Sunday against Ali Abdullah Hasan al-Singace and Abdul Aziz Abdullah Ibrahim Hussein,” BNA reported.

U.S. complicitous in regime’s crimes

The U.S. administration is not willing to reveal the truth about the Bahraini regime and its brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, says a Bahraini political activist.

Washington “would not really uncover the truth and the true face of the (Bahraini) regime. And this is why the Bahraini people consider the U.S. as an accomplice in what is going on in Bahrain,” Saeed al-Shehabi, a member of Bahrain Freedom Movement, told Press TV on Sunday.

The Americans “are aware of what is going on (in Bahrain) — the British embassy is there, the U.S. embassy is there in Manama. They saw how the trucks went and destroyed the mosques, how various villages were attacked and were ransacked,” al-Shehabi added. …source

Latest Guantánamo Death Highlights Need for Independent Investigation

May 19, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today renewed its call for an independent investigation into all deaths at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility after the death of another detainee, reported last night by the U.S. military as an “apparent suicide.” The prisoner, a 37-year-old Afghan identified as Inayatullah Nassim, had been held without charge or trial since September 2007. Seven other prisoners have died at the camp, including five reported as suicides, but the causes of death have never been independently verified.

The following can be attributed to Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU Human Rights Program:

“This latest death highlights the immediate need for a full and independent inquiry into deaths at Guantánamo. It also underscores the tragic consequences of indefinite detention and unfair trials of detainees. This man was imprisoned at Guantánamo for nearly four years, with no end in sight. If there is credible evidence against detainees then they should be charged and prosecuted in a fair trial or safely settled or released – that is the way for justice to be served according to American law and values.” …source

Hundreds of students reportedly quit the University of Bahrain to protest against Al khalifa
Tuesday 24 May 2011 22:20

Hundreds of students have reportedly quit the University of Bahrain to protest against the ruling regime’s brutal crackdown on their anti-government peers.

Students say they left classrooms due to the government’s so-called protection measures and tight security at the campus.

Classes at the University of Bahrain resumed a couple of days ago after authorities installed new surveillance cameras across the university.

The facility was ransacked around two months ago during the unrest that has gripped the Persian Gulf state for over three months.

All students must now re-register with the university and sign a code of conduct. Each student is given a compulsory identification card that must be worn at all times on campus.

According to Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), the University of Bahrain is planning to accept only pro-government students and those refusing to sign a pledge of loyalty to the government will be expelled from the only national higher education institution in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.

Since the beginning of anti-regime protests in Bahrain in mid-February, Manama has launched a harsh crackdown on anti-government protesters, rounding up senior opposition figures and activists in dawn raids and arresting doctors, nurses, lawyers and journalists who have voiced support for the protest movement.

Scores of protesters have been killed and many others have gone missing ever since the protests broke out. …source

Bahrain Use of Force May Hit Economy as Shiites Opposed to Ruler Protest
By Glen Carey – Mar 25, 2011 11:46 AM MT – Bloomberg

Bahrain Turn to Violence May Hit Economy Shiite Lines Harden

March 24 (Bloomberg) — James Rickards, senior managing director for Omnis Inc., talks about the political unrest in Libya, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Rickards speaks with Margaret Brennan on Bloomberg Television’s “InBusiness.” (Source: Bloomberg)

“Death, death to Al Khalifa!” Shiite Muslim mourners chanted as they followed the coffin of Bahia al-Aradi through Manama’s narrow streets. “Down, down with Hamad!”

Rage at Bahrain’s Sunni ruler, King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, permeated the March 22 funeral of the first woman killed after his crackdown against the opposition a week earlier. The slogans show how protesters have been radicalized by the violence against them: When Shiites started rallying in February they were asking King Hamad for rights, jobs and Cabinet changes, not demanding his overthrow.

The Al Khalifa family’s decision to quell the protests, arrest their leaders and invite a Saudi-led force to help restore order may backfire on the island nation’s economy. Lacking the oil wealth of its Gulf Cooperation Council neighbors, the Al Khalifas have promoted their country as a corporate hub — “Business-Friendly Bahrain” — an image under threat after mass protests around the financial district and the prospect of more violence.

“The crackdown and the use of GCC forces are both very polarizing,” Jane Kinninmont, a senior research fellow on the Middle East and Africa at London-based Chatham House, said in an e-mail. “It will take the country years to recover from this.”

Activists defied the state of emergency and held demonstrations in Manama and villages around the country today to protest government violence, eliciting more attacks and arrests, the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights said.
Tear Gas, Gunfire

Mohammed al-Maskati, president of the society, said warplanes flew low over the Shiite villages and security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters and in at least two villages, Karzakan and Dumistan, fired live ammunition. He said one man in his 70s died as a result of inhaling tear gas, while many people wounded in the clashes were unable to reach medical facilities because of checkpoints set up by the police.

There was no one immediately available from the Interior Ministry late today to comment on the unrest, according to the ministry’s media office.

Instead of “stabilizing what is a highly charged political situation,” the government’s actions may have entrenched sectarian divisions, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said March 18, explaining why it cut Bahrain’s credit rating by two levels. S&P forecast “damage to Bahrain as a tourist destination and, more importantly, as an offshore financial center in relation to other competing cities in the Gulf.” …more

May 25 (GMM) Organisers of the Bahrain grand prix must boost their staff numbers if the race is to be rescheduled in 2011.

The Financial Times reports that, as the troubled island Kingdom’s government cracked down on protesters recently, about a quarter of the Bahrain International Circuit’s staff was arrested, suspended or sacked.

The potentially damaging claim was revealed by one of the detained staff who, according to the report, “declined to be named for fear of retribution”.

The source said two senior staff are among those who were detained.

“They (police) were all slapping and kicking me as they led me down the corridor,” he said.

“He put my head between his legs, flipped me on to the floor — and then the beatings really began.”

The Sakhir circuit declined to comment, but a government source said the staff were removed for applauding the cancellation of the race.

“Allegations are exaggerated or unfounded to gain international sympathy,” claimed government spokesman Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Mubarak al-Khalifa.

The deadline for the rescheduling of the 2011 race is June 3. …source

Heavy clashes erupt in Yemen
Posted on » 2011-05-25

Sanaa
Yemeni loyalist forces fought street battles with guards from a powerful tribal federation whose leader has sided with protesters demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule, witnesses said yesterday.

At least four gunmen were killed in the clashes, which dimmed prospects for a political solution to a transition of power tussle following a nearly four-month-old revolt inspired by protests that swept aside the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.
“The clashes were violent. The sound of machinegun and mortar fire could be heard everywhere. I saw smoke rising from the entrance of the interior ministry,” one witness said.

The shooting, in the sandbagged streets surrounding a fortified mansion belonging to the wealthy and politically powerful Al Ahmar clan, pitted loyalist forces against guards of Sadiq Al Ahmar, head of the Hashed tribal federation from which Saleh also hails.
Four tribal guards were killed, and six other people were wounded, an opposition leader said. Fighting in the same area of the capital on Monday killed seven people, among them a bystander, a police officer and five tribal gunmen.

The government accused Ahmar’s men of igniting the clashes on Monday by firing on a school and the headquarters of state news agency Saba. Ahmar’s office said government forces opened fire when his guards prevented them from entering a school where Ahmar said Saleh loyalists were stockpiling weapons.

Early on Tuesday, tribal mediators were holding talks in the Ahmar house to try to bring an end to the fighting, a source in Sadeq al-Ahmar’s office said. But the government said the mediation had not brought a resolution. …more

Some Saudi troops in Bahrain may be UK-trained, says minister

London, May 25, IRNA – Saudi troops dispatched to help quell pro-democracy protests in Bahrain may include numbers who were trained by Britain, Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey has acknowledged.

“It is possible that some members of the Saudi Arabian National Guard which were deployed in Bahrain may have undertaken some training provided by the British military mission,” Harvey said. “The Ministry of Defence has extensive and wide-ranging bilateral engagement with Saudi Arabia in support of the government’s wider foreign policy goals,” he said.

In a written parliamentary reply published Wednesday, Harvey confirmed that the Ministry of Defence’s engagement with Saudi Arabia includes training provided to the Saudi Arabian National Guard, delivered through the British mission. MPs have raised a series of concerns about the role of Saudi troops deployed in Bahrain, including reports that they have been involved in abuses and in the transfer of some prisoners to Saudi Arabia.

In an interview with IRNA last week, Foreign Office spokesman Barry Marston insisted he had seen no evidence that the activity of the forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council has gone “beyond protecting key installations.” Marston also disputed testimony from protesters that British arms have been used against demonstrations, further saying he had “no evidence to suggest that United Kingdom supplied equipment has been used during the recent protests in Bahrain.”

A group of MPs, led by Labour representative Katy Clark, have been calling on the UK government to pressure Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to end “their repressive measures” in Bahrain by suspending arms sales to both countries. At the end of March, Harvey confirmed that the British Military Mission to the Saudi Arabian National Guard “continues to operate as an essential part of our bilateral relationship.”

“Training forms an integral part of the British Military Mission’s activity,” he said, but refused to provide a breakdown of military programmes and whether it included internal security training, saying it was not possible to do so “without prejudicing relations between the UK and other states.” …source

Iraq’s Maliki says Bahrain may ignite sectarian war

An anti-government protester flees after riot police fire rounds of tear gas to disperse them in the mainly Shi’ite village of Diraz, West of Manama, March 25, 2011. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

An anti-government protester flees after riot police fire rounds of tear gas to disperse them in the mainly Shi’ite village of Diraz, West of Manama, March 25, 2011.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s Shi’ite prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, said on Friday military intervention by Sunni Arab neighbors in Bahrain could spark a sectarian war in the region and must end.

Bahrain has witnessed a month of protests from mainly Shi’ite demonstrators seeking constitutional reform. Its ruling al Khalifa family, from the minority Sunni population, has cracked down on the rallies and called in troops from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

“The situation in Bahrain is different from those in Libya and Egypt. In Libya and Egypt the issue is not sectarian while in Bahrain it has become between Sunnis and Shi’ites,” Maliki told the BBC Arabic television service in an interview aired on Friday.

“We did not move to support the Shi’ites in Bahrain but we called for interference in Bahraini affairs to be stopped and don’t want to make it a sectarian issue. Because if it happens, it will be like a snowball, it will get bigger if it is ignored … The region may be drawn into a sectarian war.”

Maliki has previously criticized the intervention by Gulf states in Bahrain. Shi’ites in Iraq have also demonstrated in support of Bahraini demonstrators.

Like Bahrain, Iraq has a Shi’ite majority that complained about decades of oppression under a Sunni ruling class.

Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion which toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein and enabled Iraq’s Shi’ite majority to take power, Baghdad has had uneasy relations with its Sunni Arab neighbors.

Tensions remain between Iraq’s Shi’ites and Sunnis eight years after the invasion which unleashed a sectarian war that peaked in 2006-7. …source

The Irish Times – Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Medics in danger in Bahrain

Madam, – As your readers may be aware, a number of Irish-trained doctors practising in Bahrain have been recently imprisoned. Their sole “crime” was to follow the Hippocratic Oath and treat those injured in anti-government protests. At the time of writing, their fate is uncertain and their lives may be in danger.

I therefore read with disbelief the remarks attributed to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (Home News, May 16th) in which it refused to criticise the arrest of its graduates as it “does not comment on political matters or individual cases”.

This silence may relate to the fact that RCSI runs a medical school in Bahrain supported by the regime that has thrown our colleagues in jail. If this is indeed the case then, in my opinion, the college is guilty of moral cowardice and a shocking abandonment of the defence of medical ethics. Furthermore, by failing to condemn a blatant abuse of human rights and patient welfare, I believe this respected institution has damaged the reputation and honour of Irish medicine.

Unfortunately, the RCSI is not alone in its silence. Other, usually vocal, medical bodies, such as the Irish Medical Organisation, appear also to have lost the power of speech on this issue. This attitude is in marked contrast with the IMO conference of 2009, where a motion was passed condemning the state of Israel for its war against Gaza. At the same event in 2011, it appears the Bahraini regime was deemed unworthy of any officially-recorded criticism.

In spite of this apparent failure of medical leadership, I believe there is yet time for an appropriate response. Our Government must protest at the imprisonment of these doctors at the highest level in Europe. Furthermore, we should immediately make it clear that they and their families will be offered full political asylum and citizenship of Ireland upon their release. That is the very least we owe these brave colleagues. Action must be taken immediately as soon it may be too late. – Yours, etc,

Dr RUAIRI HANLEY,

Beaufort Place,

Navan, Co Meath.

…source

Bahrain: ongoing secret detention of former MPs, Mattar Mattar and Jawad Fairuz
25 May 2011

Alkarama is concerned at the arrest and apparent disappearance of two former Bahraini Members of Parliament in Bahrain, following unusual methods of arrest. Mr Jawad Fairuz, aged 48 and Mr Mattar Mattar, aged 35 were both arrested on 2 May 2011 and have not been heard of since.

Both men are members of the Al Wefaq political party, the main opposition party in the Bahraini Parliament. They resigned from their seats as members of Parliament in February 2011 in protest of the government crackdown on protestors, which has led to a number of deaths and other human rights violations. In addition, Mr Mattar, had spoken to Al Jazeera English the day before his disappearance – see here for the full interview.

The media as well as supporters of Mr Mattar report that he was the subject of a ruse to go to a location where a group of masked men in civilian clothing were waiting to arrest him. Despite attempting to escape them, Mr Mattar was arrested and taken away to an unknown location. Mr Fairuz was arrested in front of his home. Both men were arrested in the evening of Monday 2 May. Since their arrests, which took place without a warrant and without any reasons being given, there has not been any news as to the fate of the two men.

Alkarama is concerned that their arrests may be related to the critical stance both men had taken on Bahrain policy on dealing with protests as well as the general political situation in the Kingdom. We fear that they are at risk of mis-treatment during their secret detention, which the UN has declared is “is irreconcilably in violation of international human rights law” (See Special Procedures study on secret detention – symbol number A/HRC/13/42)
In light of these concerns, Alkarama has written to the His Majesty the King of Bahrain, as well as to the Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and its Permanent Mission in Geneva to request further information on Mr Fairuz’s and Mr Mattar’s behalf. …more

Google warns against facial recognition database
Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has warned Governments against ‘foolish’ legislation – and said facial recognition is too creepy even for Google

Matt Warman
By Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor 11:57PM BST 18 May 2011

Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, has said that the search giant would not build a database capable of recognising individual faces even though it is increasingly possible.

Mr Schmidt, speaking at Google’s ‘Big Tent’ conference on internet privacy, said that the rapid development of facial recognition technology has been one of the things that has surprised him most in a long career as a computer scientist. Such “surprising accuracy” was, however, he said, “very concerning”.

Asked a question about coining the phrase “crossing the creepy line” to describe an aspect of how Google thinks about privacy, Mr Schmidt indicated that, for him, a database utilising facial recognition advances was “unlikely” to be a service that Google would create. He suggested “some company by the way is going to cross that line”. …more

Anonymous and the Arab uprisings
The cyberactivists discuss their work and the broader global push for freedom of speech and freedom from oppression.
Yasmine Ryan Last Modified: 19 May 2011 18:16

Anonymous’s rapid rise from the depths of geekdom to becoming a catalyst and nerve centre for real-life revolutionaries is one that has taken even some of its own members by surprise.

The loosely-knit hive brings anonymous techies, hackers and, increasingly, activists together under a single appellation, united in their non-violent but often illegal collective action.

With high-profile campaigns, centred on “distributed denial of service” (DDoS) attacks that knock target websites offline, it has been transformed from a fringe group of law-breaking pranksters that emerged in 2006 into an international movement that draws new recruits by their thousands.

In an interview with a group of Anons conducted on their home turf, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), they tell Al Jazeera that they are fighting, above all, for the free flow of information.
Click here to see Al Jazeera’s interactive timeline of Anonymous

“You can’t make a decision on something if you don’t know anything about it,” one Anon says.

“I’m into this because it’s a more modern and technical approach than traditional activism like protesting against [the] G8 or something like that,” another adds.

While some traditional activists have criticised the group for its methods, few would argue that its unique cocktail of anonymous civil society and collective action has proven to be powerful agents of change.

Indeed, Amnesty International, the prominent human rights NGO, chose to focus its 2011 annual report on what it describes as the “critical battle [that is] under way for control of access to information, means of communication and networking technology”.

Widney Brown, senior director of international law and policy at Amnesty’s international secretariat, told Al Jazeera that Anonymous’ outrage over government and corporate pressure against WikiLeaks underlined the hotly contested power dynamics that surround information.

“The desire to be able to speak freely about what is going on in your life is something that’s always there, but what we have with social media is the ability to amplify it,” she says.

“Governments are obviously threatened by the fact that activists have become so effective at using these new technologies and social media,” she says.

Amnesty considers the use of non-conventional methods by cyberactivists in defense of these principles as justified, so long as they are not violating other people’s legitimate right to privacy and security, Brown says.

Yet for Anonymous, personal privacy is not always sacred, as the very public nailing of the HBGary security firm – the firm’s CEO’s had his email hacked and his reputation destroyed in a stinging revenge attack, after threatening to reveal the identity of leading Anons – in February demonstrated. …more

Zain Bahrain participates in Love and Loyalty Festival

Zain Bahrain is an active participant in the ongoing week-long Love and Loyalty Festival taking place at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre. The Festival, held under the patronage of Supreme Council for Youth and Sport First Deputy Chairman and President of Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa is an occasion for the telecoms company to put its best offers in post-paid and the upgraded Zain Broadband 2.0 before eager customers.

There was much action at the Zain Bahrain stall where customers could sign up for Zain Hewar bundles of free minutes, SMS and MMS which are tailored to suit different customer needs.

For Zain Broadband 2.0 deals, the first 150 customers who sign up for the full-on New Value 4 and double-up offer at the Festival will get a free Samsung R440 laptop. The first 250 customers to opt for new value 2 and value 2 double-up packages will get a free Huwaei X5 smartphone.

On this occasion, General Manager Mohammed Zainalabedin praised the strong and wise leadership of the ruling family of Bahrain for their role in steering the nation towards the right direction, “Zain Bahrain is a proud member of the Kingdom’s corporate community and Zain Bahrain walks the talk when it comes to participating actively in the Kingdom,” he said.

Bahrain: Beginning of international awareness amid more anti-Shia campaign
Bahrain Freedom Movement – 23/04/2011 – 1:46 p | Hits: 243

As the ramifications of the Al Khalifa snub to Catherine Ashton, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs threaten serious rifts between Europe and GCC, the international pressure on Bahrain’s dictatorship has already been stepped up.

Yesterday UK’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague has criticised the Al Khalifa for their human rights abuses and attacks on free speech and medical rights of citizens. He defended the rights of Bahrainis to protest peacefully and express their views. Ms Ashton had earlier called for the immediate release of political prisoners whom Amnesty International had considered “prisoners of conscience”, and the right of Bahrainis to determine their destiny. The United States has yet to declare a clear stand on the ongoing revolution in that country and stop its double standard policy. Washington has expressed less negative stands to the pro-democracy protests in other countries; Libya, Yemen and Syria but supported the Saudi invasion and the violent crackdown against the pro-democracy movement in Bahrain.

The Western media, meanwhile has also shown a positive approach to the events in this Gulf state. The Guardian has published several articles and reports over the past week highlighting the repression of the Al Khalifa regime. It has highlighted the plight of tens of Bahraini students at British universities after their scholarships had been terminated by the regime in revenge to their participation in anti-regime demonstrations. The Foreign Office has also reacted by stressing that those students had done nothing wrong when they expressed their views freely and peacefully. Their scholarships should not have been stopped, FCO said. Today, The Times has published a similar article on . On Thursday, The Independent newspaper dedicated its front page to the deteriorating situation in Bahrain under the title: “Bahrain’s secret terror” which highlighted the various policies of the regime towards Shia activists, including the arrest of doctors, nurses, artists, footballers, teachers, women and children. In addition to the printed media, American media has taken a keen interest in Bahrain’s revolution which has been totally disowned by the US. CNN, NBC, Washington Post and others have published positive reports on the situation. This sudden awakening of the conscience is positive and has been welcomed by Bahrainis who have felt abandoned by the governments of the “Free World”. …more

Bahrain business cuts Iran, Lebanon, Iraq ties
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The Associated Press

An influential Bahraini business group decided Tuesday to freeze ties with Iran, Iraq and Lebanon in response to what it sees as foreign meddling during Shiite-led protests in the kingdom.

The move by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry is likely to ratchet up tensions between the small island nation – which ruled by a Sunni monarchy and is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet – and its heavily Shiite neighbors.

The group last month called for a boycott of goods from Iran, which has criticized the crackdown by Bahrain’s government on Shiite protesters demanding greater rights. In freezing ties, the chamber said it acted to highlight its displeasure toward “some countries that have intervened in the kingdom’s affairs during its crisis.”

It specifically blamed Iran for “continued interference” and criticized unnamed groups in Lebanon for creating “an atmosphere of chaos and tension and division among the people.” That appeared to be a reference to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

Bahrain’s minority Sunni rulers and their Gulf Arab allies have accused Iran of fueling and seeking to benefit from the unrest. Tehran denies the charges.

At least 30 people have been killed since protests broke out in February, and hundreds of demonstrators have been detained. Bahrain’s Shiites, who account for about 70 of the country’s 1 million citizens, have long claimed they are subject to discrimination and are seeking greater rights and political freedoms.

Amnesty International, a leading human rights group, this week urged Bahrain’s king to overturn the death sentences against two people arrested during the protests.

The sentences were upheld by a special closed-door appeals court presided over by military and civilian judges on Sunday. The defendants were convicted of killing two policemen during a government crackdown on the unrest in March.

Bahrain Authorities Declare War on Media in All its Forms
ANHRI has condemned today the Bahraini authorities for blocking the access to the dependent Al-Qudus Al-Arabi newspaper website on Monday 23th May 2011 in Bahrain.
Wednesday, May 25,2011 10:31 – IkhwanWeb

ANHRI has condemned today the Bahraini authorities for blocking the access to the dependent Al-Qudus Al-Arabi newspaper website on Monday 23th May 2011 in Bahrain. The blocking decision has been taken in the wake of publishing an article the editor-in-chief Abdel Bari Atwan has written under the title “the Saudi intervention in Bahrain is very dangerous”. Atwan has criticized Saudi Arabia for sending one thousand soldiers to participate in suppressing the peaceful demonstrations in Bahrain, considering this to be an unprecedented intervention in a crisis that one the region sovereign countries is facing and warning of a possible sectarian tension which may lead to a regional war.

This action is a new phase within a series of measures taken to suppress the general freedom in the kingdom in the wake of the peaceful protests which the Bahraini authorities has dramatically succeeded in suppressing due to the help of the Saudi military forces. Since then the Bahraini authorities have specifically targeted media, internet, and human rights activists.

In 21 March 2011, the Bahraini government has revoked all licenses belonging to the 2Connect company owned by Ibrahim Sherif, president of Al Waad opposition party, few days later after his arrest for participating in the peaceful protests.

On Saturday 2 April, the Bahraini authorities have issued a resolution to close the independent “Al Wassat”, a newspaper that does not support the government nor the opposition, just because it has published news about the protests in Bahrain.

Also the notable human rights activist Nabil Ragab, president of Bahrain Human Rights Center, has been investigated by the martial prosecutor after being charged of posting fake photos on twitter blog that show signs of torture on the body of Ali Issa Sakr, a citizen who died in the jail in 9 April 2011, before the assault on his home with tear gas grenades for the second time on Saturday 21 May 2011 by dawn. …more

Protests Against Obama At Buckingham Palace

Media Summary
A bewildering variety of protesters turned up at Buckingham Palace for President Obama’s visit, calling for the release of Londoner Shaker Aamer from Guantanamo and an end to US interference in Libya and other Arab nations. London, UK. 24th May 2011

A bewildering variety of protesters turned up at Buckingham Palace for President Obama’s visit, calling for the release of Londoner Shaker Aamer from Guantanamo and an end to US interference in Libya and other Arab nations. London, UK. 24/05/2011

First to arrive were the Shaker Aamer and London Guantanamo campaigns with around a dozen protesters in orange jumpsuits, several with black hoods and one man in chains wearing an Obama mask. They urged Obama to carry out his earlier promise to close down Guantanamo, and in particular to send home Londoner Shaker Aamer, held for 9 years without charge or trial. His family in Battersea includes one child born after he was detained who he has yet to see.

Other groups arrived around half an hour later, including Stop the War who were calling for an end to the war in Afghanistan and the bombing in Libya. They brought with them a cowboy with two six-shooters which he aimed at targets scattered around the Middle East on a large map of the world.

There was also a large group of Libyan protesters supporting Gadaffi, with green flags and scarves, also calling for an end to NATO attacks on Libya which are killing civilians, and the embargoes which are making life hard for the people of the country.

At each end of the protesters were two groups of Syrians, both with Syrian flags, one against the dictator president Assad responsible for the army firing on and killing peaceful demonstrators in Syrian and the other group with large professionally produced placards and posters supporting him.

Another large group were Bahrainis, protesting about the use of Saudi troops against protesters there. At times the groups were rather mixed together, and with many of the placards only in Arabic it was hard to tell who was who. There were also protesters from Iraq and I think a few from Iran, along with several indiduals pleading particular causes, including Peter Tatchell with a placard calling for the release of Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning who exposed US war crimes and anti-gun campaigner and former boxer King David.

I didn’t see Obama, although I imagine he was somewhere in the large motorcade that came past the demonstrations and may have noticed that something was happening, but the media were out in force for the event and doubtless he and his advisers, along with the UK government will have seen some of them on TV and in the press. …source

Bahrain: Ongoing trials against demonstrators and more than 30 have been sentenced
May 25th, 2011

Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) is deeply concerned about sentencing of 4 demonstrators yesterday in National Safety court ( Military court) .

On 25 May 2011 , 4 demonstrators sentenced :

1- Rashid Adnan Alawi Al Sayad was sentenced to one year imprisonment for taking part in illegal protests and disrupting public order.

2-Sayad Ahmed Mustafa Mohammed was sentenced to one year imprisonment for taking part in illegal protests and disrupting public order. ( Activist and Had interviews with the media – attached his photo with Al-Jazeera English).

3-Hassan Jaafar Ali Mhanna will be jailed for one year after being convicted of participating in illegal protests for criminal ends. He got another three-month prison sentence over driving a vehicle the registration plate of another one. However, the court found him not guilty of inciting the overthrow of the ruling system.

4-Hassan Isa Mohammed who was found guilty of holding pamphlets calling for the overthrow of the kingdom’s ruling system and social fabric. one-year prison sentence.

Cases on-going:

1- fifteen people are charged with murdering a Pakistani national called Abdulla Malik Abdulla, attacking other people, taking part in illegal assemblies for criminal ends and disrupting public security, the court decided to adjourn the hearing to next Sunday, May 29 in order to enable the suspects to meet their relatives and appoint lawyers.

2-Ali Yussef Abdulwahab Al Taweel and Ali Atiya Mahdi Al Shamloul are accused of killing policeman Ahmed Al Mrissi while on duty in Sitra village.The case has been adjourned till 29 May, 2011.

3- Raed Jassim Mohammed, Qassim Hameed Khatim, Mohammed Hassan Ali, Mohammed Ibrahim Jassim and Hassan Mohammed Abd Al Khadhr Al Asfoor, as well as Salman Ahmed Mohammed who was tried in absentia, faced charges of attempting to murder a civil inspection group for terrorist ends, possessing unlicensed weapon and taking part in illegal protests at the GCC Roundabout “Pearl” in order to disrupt public security.The case has been adjourned till 30 May, 2011.

4-Ali Yussef Yaqoob is accused of attempting to security officer on March 15, 2011, the court heard three witnesses, including the victim, who asserted that the suspect used a GMC to run over the policeman who was, along with his colleagues, trying to disperse protestors who were throwing pebbles at security officers and blocking roads. The case has been adjourned till 30 May, 2011. …source