BYSHR: Nurse and active member of the Bahrain Nursing Society facing four charges
May 10th, 2011

Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) is deeply concerned about Mr. Hassan Salman Al-Matooq, 29 years old.

On 24 March 2011, Mr.Matooq was arrested from the Salamanyia Hospital.
He is nurse, active member of the Bahrain Nursing Society and Freelance photographer.
On 9 May 2011, He was before National Safety Court ( Military court ).

It was first hearing session.
Attended without a lawyer ( His sister was present).

facing four charges:

1-Participating in rallies without the permission of the specialized body.
2-Gathering for more than 5 people without a authorization ( at Pearl Roundabout).
3- Fabrication pictures for the wounded.
4-Broadcast false news and fabricated photos about Bahrain to distort its reputation.

The case has been adjourned till 12 May, 2011 for the sentence.
Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights calls for protection of Medical Staff.
…more

May 11, 2011
THE ROVING EYE
Bahrain topples its own people
By Pepe Escobar

[excerpt] [is a must read – Pepe nails it like it is]

Break their skulls, no one is watching
Meanwhile, in Bahrain, state news agency BNA has announced, “The state of national safety is lifted across the kingdom of Bahrain from June 1, 2011.” That’s a decree by King Hamad al-Khalifa, who proves to be, in spite of himself, an admirer of English author George Orwell, as he characterizes a state of emergency as “a state of national safety”.

“National safety” in this case includes the state razing to the ground – with full Saudi input – over 20 Shi’ite mosques; the demolition of houses; the demolition of the Pearl roundabout – the symbol of the mass protests; and beating and jailing hundreds of protesters. The House of Saud’s Nayef best pal in Manama has got to be Bahrain’s Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa ibn Salman al-Khalifa, 75, who has held the cozy job for no less than 40 years – a world record.

In practice, what’s going on in Bahrain is a monarchy trying to get rid of its people. The tactics are straight out of the collective punishment playbook – as applied by the Americans in Fallujah in 2004 and the Israelis in Gaza for the past decades. The opposition to the al-Khalifas happens to be the absolute majority of Bahrain’s population, and is not exclusively Shi’ite, as the government insists on spinning. …more

Blindfolded, beaten and tortured: grim new testimony reveals fate of Bahrain’s persecuted doctors
Horrifying evidence sheds light on brutality of state crackdown on medical staff. Jeremy Laurance reports
Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Harrowing testimony of torture, intimidation and humiliation from a doctor arrested in the crackdown on medical staff in Bahrain has revealed the lengths to which the regime’s security forces are prepared to go to quash pro-democracy protests. Interviews obtained by The Independent from inside Bahrain tell of ransacked hospitals and of terrified medical staff beaten, interrogated and forced into signing false confessions. Many have been detained, their fate unknown.

Inspired by the pro-democracy protests which swept Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year, Bahrainis took to the streets in their thousands in February, demanding greater political rights and more equality for the Shia Muslim majority, ruled over for decades by a Sunni monarchy.

The state launched a fierce counter-offensive in mid-March, swiftly and brutally crushing the uprising with the backing of Saudi security forces.

The campaign of intimidation against the doctors and nurses who bore witness to the bloody crackdown began two months ago at Salmaniya Medical Complex, the main hospital in the capital Manama. It has since been extended to at least nine health centres which have been systematically attacked by the security forces over the past month, an activist cataloguing the abuses says.

Each incident follows the same pattern: police jeeps surround the centre, before armed men and women in masks close the gates and line all those caught inside up against the wall.

Police dogs are also used to spread fear among the staff. Though it is impossible to corroborate the accounts, they correspond with others emerging from Bahrain and from reports by international monitoring groups.

The latest crackdown followed protests by doctors at the refusal by the regime to allow ambulances from Salmaniya Hospital to attend to those injured in the protests.

Details of the assaults, collected by the families of those detained and passed to The Independent, show that at least 40 medical staff were arrested in nine health centres between 10 April and 27 April. Dr Ahmed Jamal, president of the Bahrain Medical Society, was arrested at his clinic on 2 May. …more

Bahrain expels Reuters correspondent
LONDON | Tue May 10, 2011 12:12pm EDT
LONDON (Reuters) – Bahrain said on Tuesday that it was expelling the Reuters correspondent in the Gulf kingdom.

Frederik Richter, who has been based in the capital Manama since 2008, was told to leave within a week after officials complained Reuters had lacked balance in its reporting during the recent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. “Reuters regrets Bahrain’s decision to expel its correspondent,” Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler said. “We stand by Frederik Richter’s reporting and we will continue to provide comprehensive and unbiased coverage from the country.”

An official at the Information Affairs Authority, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nezar al-Khalifa, said Bahrain was not closing down the Reuters operations in Manama and would accredit another correspondent nominated by the agency. We have no problem with Reuters. We’re not closing the office and (Reuters) can send in a replacement,” he said.

Popular protests across the Arab world this spring have put authoritarian rulers under pressure, leading many to impose curbs on the media. Before Bahrain, Syria, Libya and Saudi Arabia had expelled Reuters correspondents in recent weeks. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called the intensity of recent repression and attacks on the media in the Middle East and North Africa unprecedented. …more

…features guests from across the Arab world including Bahrain’s Human Rights Activist Maryam Alkhawaja who’s father, Human Rights Activist, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja is currently awaiting trail on “terrorism” charges for being part of the recent Pro-Democracy Protests in Bahrain.