Posts from — June 2011

[Editor Note: Zainab and Maryam, I know this is a devastating blow and I know that you also know this isn’t anywhere close to the end of this fight. Your father is fighting the good fight and there are many of us in the world who stand solidly by his side. Your are not alone. The labor for his release and the freedom of all detainees will not cease on this end until all are free. My thoughts, hopes and mediation are for your fathers freedom.]

Bahraini activist’s father jailed for life
Zainab al-Khawaja aka angryarabiya gained international attention after tweeting about human rights abuses in the country

Activist Zainab al-Khawaja
Zainab al-Khawaja’s father was jailed for life, her husband and brother-in-law are also in custody.

The Bahraini activist whose prolific tweeting has focused international attention on human rights abuses was briefly arrested during a court hearing at which her father was jailed for life and her uncle was also imprisoned, her sister said.

Zainab al-Khawaja, known on Twitter as angryarabiya, comes from one of Bahrain’s most conspicuous dissident families. Her husband and brother-in-law are also in custody but have yet to be charged. She came to prominence in April after staging a 10-day hunger strike to demand her relatives’ release.

She was in court when her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, one of the country’s leading rights activists, was given a life sentence, her younger sister, Maryam, said.

“Right after they read out the verdicts my father shouted, ‘The struggle will continue,'” said Maryam, 23, who left Bahrain in March and has been protesting from overseas, tweeting as maryamalkhawaja. “He was beaten and forcefully removed from the court. My sister stood up and chanted, ‘Allahu akbar’ [God is great], and she was forcefully removed from the court and arrested. She was charged with contempt of court but then was made to sign a pledge not to speak in court again and then she was released.”

With official pressure building up on family members within Bahrain – Zainab was briefly arrested last week – it is now largely up to her younger sister, an activist with the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, to sustain the pressure on authorities. …more

Updates: Harsh sentences to 21 prominent oppositional leaders and Human Rights defenders

Update – 22 June 2011

Today the martial court issues verdicts against 21 rights activists and political opposition leaders after months of detention.

Eight Bahraini rights activists have been given life sentences by a military court, which found them guilty of plotting a coup against the government during two months of unrest that rattled the country earlier this year.

Another 13 political and rights activists were given sentences of between two to 15 years, as the government attempts to crush dissent that has erupted in the tiny kingdom in February following popular uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world.

The verdicts were immediately condemned by rights groups who said all those found guilty had been campaigning to end discrimination at the hands of the Sunni dynasty. Almost all activists who took to the streets of Manama in February and March were Shia Muslims, who make up 70% of Bahrain’s population, but feel largely disenfranchised.

Rights groups have urged Bahrain to halt the special military court proceedings, with Human Rights Watch deeming them a violation of international law.

“Most defendants hauled before Bahrain’s special military court are facing blatantly political charges, and trials are unfair,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

In a meeting earlier this month with U.S. President Barack Obama last week, Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa pledged he is seeking national dialogue with the protesters. Bahrain’s crackdown contradicts statements the prince made, Human Rights Watch said.

Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab also said he disapproved of the trials.

“This court does not meet international standards for human rights and for fair trials. The people were sentenced for expressing their opinion and for opposing the government,” Rajab said. “This goes against the government saying it wants a dialogue.”

Bahrain’s ruling dynasty had instead claimed that the men were part of a “sedition ring”, backed by Iran and Hezbollah, who were trying to topple the regime.Among those given life sentences were leading members of opposition political groups. Leading rights activist Adbul Hadi al-Khawaja, whose daughters Zainab and Maryam are prominent members of the Bahrainhuman rights movement, was one of those condemned to life in prison. Zainab was reportedly removed from the courtroom after protesting against the sentence

Among those who received lesser sentences was Ibrahim Sharif, a secular leftist Sunni, who was accused by a state-run newspaper of having links to “a foreign country” – a veiled reference to Iran.

The Guardian spoke to Sharif at the former focal point of the rights demonstrations in Manama in February where he said he was the only prominent member of the Sunni community to be campaigning more openly for equal rights for the kingdom’s majority Shia base.

“Things have to change here, or else the country will suffer and the kingdom could be imperilled,” he said at the time, standing in Pearl roundabout, a landmark in the central city that was later demolished under government orders.

As verdicts were read in a military court this morning, members of the public gallery chanted “solidarity, solidarity, we shall overthrow the regime”. Bahraini security officers were congratulating each other inside the courthouse, according to bystanders present.

The trials were held despite the government pronouncing the end of three months of martial law earlier this month, which had given the exclusively Sunni security forces extra powers of detention and arrest.

Activists called for protesters to again take to the streets in Manama on Wednesday in defiance of the verdicts and the government, which has vowed to continue a crackdown on dissent. Up to 30 doctors and nurses from key city hospitals were last week also put on trial accused of subversion and if using government facilities for political purposes.

Details of the verdicts

In custody:

1- Abdulwahab Hussain Ali ( life sentence imprisonment) – arrested 16 Mar 2011
2- Hassan Ali Mushaima.( life sentence imprisonment) – arrested 16 Mar 2011
3- Mohammed Habib Al Safaf. ( Al Miqdad) ( life sentence imprisonment) – arrested 16 Mar 2011 [and was in prisone between Aug 2010- 28 Feb 2011]
4- Ebrahim Sharif Abdulraheem Mossa ( 5 Years imprisonment) – arrested 16 Mar 2011
5- Abduljalil Mansoor Makk. (Al Miqdad) ( life sentence imprisonment) arrested 27 Mar 2011
6- Abduljalil Abdullah Al Singace.( life sentence imprisonment) – arrested 16 Mar 2011 [and was in prisone between Aug 2010- 28 Feb 2011]
7- Saeed Mirza Ahmed. (AlNouri) ( life sentence imprisonment) – arrested 16 Mar 2011 [and was in prisone between Aug 2010- 28 Feb 2011]
8- Abdul Hadi Abdullah Mahdi Hassan (AlMukhodher) ( 15 years imprisonment) – arrested 16 Mar 2011 [and was in prisone between 13 Aug 2010- 28 Feb 2011]
9- Abdullah Isa Al Mahroos.( 15 years imprisonment) – arrested 16 Mar 2011 [and was in prisone between Aug 2010-28 Feb 2011]
10- Abdulhadi Al Khawaja ( life sentence imprisonment) – arrested 9 April 2011
11-Salah Hubail Al Khawaj.( 5 years imprisonment) – arrested 21 Mar 2011
12- Mohammed Hassan Jawad.( 15 years imprisonment) – arrested Mar 2011 [was arrested for few weeks last year]
13- Mohammed Ali Ismael. ( 15 years imprisonment) – arrested Mar 2011
14- Al Hurr Yousif Mohammed.( 2 Years imprisonment) – arrested Mar 2011 [and was in prisone between Aug 2010- 28 Feb 2011] …more

One blogger sentenced to life imprisonment, another to 15 years in jail
Published on Wednesday 22 June 2011.

Reporters Without Borders is shocked by the long jail sentences that a military court passed today on 21 activists accused of belonging to terrorist organizations and trying to overthrow the government. Eight of them, including human rights activist and blogger Abduljalil Al-Singace, got life sentences. Thirteen others received sentences ranging from two to 15 years in prison. Ali Abdulemam, a blogger who was tried in absentia, was given 15 years.

“The only crime committed by Abdulemam and Al-Singace was freely expressing opinions contrary to those of the government,” Reporters Without Borders said. “These sentences, handed down at the end of trail that flouted defence rights, are typical of the intransigence that the authorities have been showing towards those identified as government opponents, who have borne the full brunt of their repression. The international community must call the government to account on its strategy of stifling all dissent.”

The head of the pro-democracy and civil liberties movement Al Haq, Singace was rearrested on 16 March after being held from September to February. He was previously arrested in 2009 for allegedly trying to destabilize the government because he used his blog (http://alsingace.katib.org) to denounce the deplorable state of civil liberties and discrimination against Bahrain’s Shiite population.

Abdulemam is regarded by fellow Bahrainis as one of his country’s Internet pioneers and is an active member of Bahrain Online, a pro-democracy forum that gets more than 100,000 visitors a day despite being blocked within Bahrain. A contributor to the international bloggers network Global Voices, he has taken part in many international conferences at which he has denounced human rights violations in Bahrain. He was also detained from September to February but avoided being rearrested and has been in hiding for several months. …more

Swedish activist gets life sentence in Bahrain
Published: 22 Jun 11 12:12 CET

A Swedish citizen and democracy activist was sentenced to life imprisonment in Bahrain on Wednesday after being convicted of “terrorist activity”, according to the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR).

The life sentence for Mohammed Habib al-Muqdad comes on top of a 20-year sentence he received in May for allegedly kidnapping a police officer.

According to Wednesday’s ruling, al-Muqdad was guilty of “terrorist activity” with the intention to overthrow the regime.

“Since he was last released from prison he has been fighting for democracy in Bahrain,” Mohammed Al-Maskati, chairman of BYSHR told The Local.

Al-Muqdad was previously incarcerated for what the regime sees as “oppositional activity” after being arrested in August 2010 when he was held isolated without being able to contact his family or lawyer.

Al-Muqdad, who has dual-citizenship, was then brought in again and convicted in May together with eight others to 20 years in prison after allegedly kidnapping a police officer.

He is in his fifties and is a Muslim scholar from central Sweden, who lived in the country for many years, only returning to Bahrain in the 2000s after there had been some reforms in the country.

Swedish authorities tried to get to see him in conjunction with his last sentence but have met with difficulty as Bahraini law does not recognize dual citizenship. …more

BAHRAIN: Heavy sentences for human rights and dissenting activities
22 June 2011

On June 22, 2011, the National Security Court of Bahrain has sentenced to life imprisonment 8 of the 21 human rights defenders and political activists whom have been brought to trial under charges linked to supposed “terrorist activities”. The 13 others were sentenced to two to fifteen years’ imprisonment.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) express their utmost concern regarding this decision, as they consider that the charges are politically motivated and the right to a fair trial has been disregarded. Accordingly, FIDH and OMCT call for the immediate and unconditional release of those detained.

The 21 defendants have been brought to trial and charged with ”organising and managing a terrorist organisation”, “attempt to overthrow the government by force and in liaison with a terrorist organisation working for a foreign country,” and the “collection of money for a terrorist group”. FIDH and OMCT have considered since the beginning of the trial that the proceedings against them actually aim at sanctioning their involvement in the peaceful protests demanding democracy, the respect for human rights and/or political changes in the country(1).

Out of the 21 individuals sentenced, seven persons have been tried in absentia. Among the 14 who are under detention, several reported that they had been kept in solitary confinement and subject to continuous torture. Mr. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, former Director of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR)(3), who has been sentenced to life imprisonment, has regularly declared that he has been subjected to torture and other threats and bore at several occasion visible signs of torture. Moreover, the trial was not held in public. On May 12, 2011, at the second hearing, international observers were prevented to access the Court. Since then, international observers – even journalists covering the events – have been quasi systematically banned from entering the country.

“The judiciary in Bahrain has failed to guarantee the most basics of fair trial. We fear that the Special Appeal Court, if referred to, will not be able to restore the confidence of the Bahraini people through achieving an independent justice” said Souhayr Belhassen, President of FIDH. …more

Bahrain protesters hit streets after life sentences for 8 Shiite activists
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, June 22, 1:55 PM

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Bahraini protesters poured back to the streets Wednesday after a security court sentenced eight Shiite activists to life in prison in the latest blow by the Western-backed kingdom to cripple the biggest Arab Spring opposition movement in the Gulf.

The fast and angry reaction to the verdicts — the most significant display of unrest in weeks — underscored the volatility in the island nation after four months of unrest and raised questions about whether any credible pro-reform leaders will heed calls by the Sunni monarchy to open talks next week.

In size, Bahrain is little more than a speck off the coast of Saudi Arabia. But it draws in some of the region’s major players: hosting the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet and serving as a growing point of friction between Gulf powers Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Security forces used tear gas to drive back hundreds of Shiite marchers trying to reach a central square in the capital Manama, which was once the hub of their protests for greater rights. In other Shiite areas, protesters gathered in the streets but were held back by riot police. No injuries were reported.

Bahrain has allowed two major rallies this month by the main opposition party, but the confrontations Wednesday were among the biggest challenges to security forces since martial law-style rule was lifted June 1.

Shiites account for 70 percent of Bahrain’s population of some 525,000, but claim they face systematic discrimination such as being barred from top government and political posts.

The protests — claiming at least 31 lives since February — have put U.S. officials in the difficult position of both denouncing the violence and standing by Bahrain’s rulers and their call for dialogue. In response, opposition groups have increased demands that include an end to the political trials and withdrawal of a Saudi-led regional force helping prop up Bahrain’s ruling family. …more

Foreign Office Minister concerned about sentencing in Bahrain
22 June 2011

“It is deeply worrying that civilians are being tried before tribunals chaired by a military judge, with reports of abuse in detention, lack of access to legal counsel and coerced confessions.”
Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt MP

Foreign Office Minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt said:

“I am extremely concerned by the process surrounding today’s sentencing of 21 opposition members and the nature of many of the charges. One of those found guilty is Ibrahim Sharif, a prominent moderate politician who has been a constructive participant in Bahraini politics and represents a registered political party. He was sentenced to five years. It is deeply worrying that civilians are being tried before tribunals chaired by a military judge, with reports of abuse in detention, lack of access to legal counsel and coerced confessions.

The Bahraini Government has committed to a National Dialogue on 1st July, which must be supported with concrete actions to address the long-term challenges facing Bahrain. We will also expect any appeals process to thoroughly and transparently address the substantial concerns that have been raised in these tribunals.” …source

Bahrain rights activists jailed for life
Military court finds eight campaigners guilty of plotting coup during protests in Sunni-ruled kingdom

Bahraini Shia Muslims chant slogans to free prisoners during a sermon. Photograph: Hasan Jamali/AP

Eight Bahraini rights activists have been given life sentences by a military court, which found them guilty of plotting a coup against the government during two months of unrest that rattled the country earlier this year.

Another 13 demonstrators were given sentences of between two to 15 years, as the government attempts to crush dissent that has erupted in the tiny kingdom since February following popular uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world.

The verdicts were immediately condemned by rights groups who said all those found guilty had been campaigning to end discrimination at the hands of the Sunni dynasty. Almost all activists who took to the streets of Manama in February and March were Shia Muslims, who make up 70% of Bahrain’s population, but feel largely disenfranchised.

Bahrain’s ruling dynasty claimed that the men were part of a “sedition ring”, backed by Iran and Hezbollah, trying to topple the regime.

Among those given life sentences were leading members of opposition political groups. Leading rights activist Adbul Hadi al-Khawaja, whose daughters Zainab and Maryam are prominent members of the Bahrain human rights movement, was one of those condemned to life in prison. Zainab was reportedly removed from the courtroom after protesting against the sentence. …more

Show Trial Verdicts Further Stain Bahrain’s Reputation
For Immediate Release: June 22, 2011
Human Rights Defenders

Washington, D.C.—Today, verdicts of 21 defendants were pronounced in Bahrain’s large political show trial. The verdicts expose the travesty of Bahrain’s military courts, and make the prospects of reconciliation even more remote, said Human Rights First.

“This was not a fair or proper legal process by any standard—there was evidence of torture, denial of proper contact with lawyers and failure to provide basic legal safeguards. This was a sham trial, another stain on Bahrain’s already discredited human rights record,” said HRF’s Brian Dooley, who was refused entry to observe the court hearings on May 12.

Eight of the 21 defendants were sentenced to life in prison, including prominent human rights defender Abdulhadi Al Khawaja. The other 13 were given between two and 15 years imprisonment.

“The verdicts undermine the Bahraini authorities’ attempts to show that normalcy has been restored. They continue to commit serious human rights violations, including pronouncing people guilty after unfair trials,” added Dooley. …more

Bahrain Silences Student Voices
June 20th, 2011 at 7:33 pm

University of Bahrain students — who now face expulsion if they don’t sign a loyalty pledge to the embattled regime of King Hamed ibn Isa Khalif — are appealing to human rights groups to take up their cause.

Not only does the university require students to sign the pledge — which states “I acknowledge that not signing this document means I do not wish to continue my education in the University of Bahrain” — but the kingdom’s Education Ministry has also adopted a “zero-tolerance policy” to any sort of political discussion or activism at the school.

The crackdowns on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly on the campus come on the heels of ongoing anti-government protests in Bahrain as well as escalating tensions between the Gulf state’s Sunni and Shiite Muslim populations.

Described by Human Rights Watch in 2005 as “a poster child for political reform in the Middle East”, Bahrain has grown increasingly intolerant of dissent since the civil unrest began earlier this year. Newspapers and the Internet are now being routinely censored by the regime and since February more than 60 journalists have been arrested, threatened or fired because of their work.

The loyalty pledges and the ban on student activism were introduced following a violent campus altercation between Shiite protestors and Sunnis in March.

“Many friends of mine had to drop the school because they could not sign this pledge,” said a source familiar with the University of Bahrain who spoke with FrumForum on condition of anonymity.

One student said his family wants him to sign the pledge because “’there are no other universities who will accept me if they kick me out.”

He went on to describe the consequences for refusing to sign the pledge: “If we decide to not sign it, they call us to go to the police station and we can’t get out from there except if we sign it. That has happened to some other students — they were at the police station seven hours until they signed.” ..more

Doctors in Bahrain splashed patients with blood, military court told
22/06/2011 – 12:48 am – Hugh Tomlinson Manama – Last updated June 21 2011 12:01AM

Doctors splashed bags of blood over patients to exaggerate their wounds, it was claimed at the trial of 48 medics accused of plotting to overthrow the monarchy in Bahrain.
They were also said to have used Salmaniya hospital as a terrorist base, taking hostages, hoarding guns and commandeering ambulances to run weapons to Pearl Square, which was the hub of the protests against the ruling regime in the capital in February and March.

The trial has prompted an international outcry amid accusations that detainees have been tortured and forced to sign false confessions.
Bahrain has been accused of staging show trials to justify its violence against anti-government protesters, which left more than 30 people dead. About 500 people have been arrested since the regime moved to crush the unrest in March. Those charged are now on trial before a military court.

Seven prosecution witnesses appeared yesterday to describe a collapse of control at Salmaniya, which bore the brunt of casualties when government troops first attacked Pearl Square on February 17 in a pre-dawn raid that killed four people. The witnesses told that the court that with the foreign press swarming around the hospital, the doctors played to the cameras.
“One of the women [accused] handed out blood bags to soak the patients and make their wounds look worse,” a detective for the Interior Ministry told the court.
The only evidence of this came from confessions signed by the defendants, and the testimony of “confidential witnesses”.

The medics all claim that they have been tortured in custody and forced to sign papers while blindfolded. Human rights groups have received allegations that detainees have been beaten with rubber hoses and wooden boards studded with nails. One doctor described to The Times how he was made to stand hooded for hours in a cold room before being handed unseen documents to sign. …more

Type : Report
Title : Do No Harm: A Call for Bahrain to End Systematic Attacks on Doctors and Patients
Source : Physicians for Human Rights
Date Added: 21-Jun-2011
Publication Date : 1-Apr-2011

Thousands of protesters in the small island Kingdom of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf took to the streets calling for government reform in February and March 2011. The Government’s response was brutal and systematic: shoot civilian protesters, detain and torture them, and erase all evidence. On the frontline, treating hundreds of these wounded civilians, doctors had first-hand knowledge of government atrocities.

This report details systematic and targeted attacks against medical personnel, as a result of their efforts to provide unbiased care for wounded protestors. The assault on healthcare workers and their patients constitutes extreme violations of the principle of medical neutrality and are grave breaches of international law.

While in Bahrain, PHR investigators spoke with several eyewitnesses of abducted physicians, some of whom were ripped from their homes in the middle of the night by masked security forces. For each doctor, nurse, or medic that the government disappears, many more civilians’ lives are impacted as patients go untreated.

Physicians for Human Rights uncovered egregious abuses against patients and detainees including torture, beating, verbal abuse, humiliation, and threats of rape and killing. Our report also includes documentation of other violations of medical neutrality including the beating, abuse, and threatening of six Shi’a physicians at Salmaniya Hospital; government security forces stealing ambulances and posing as medics; the militarization of hospitals and clinics that obstruct medical care, and rampant fear that prevents patients from seeking urgent medical treatment. see report here

WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) — Mercenaries from Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan are being recruited by officials in Bahrain to help restore security to the country, a Saudi scholar claimed.

Bahrain is under increasing scrutiny for the response by the Sunni minority leadership to a Shiite uprising in the country. Doctors without Borders claimed that Bahraini security officials were using hospitals as torture chambers as part of a crackdown.

Ali al-Ahmad, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, told Radio Australia’s Contact Asia program that the royal family was recruiting mercenaries from Asia to help with its crackdown.
Ahmad said there were no Shiites in the national security forces. Given the fact that Sunnis are in the minority, he said, the country has a “need to import mercenaries” from other places. He claimed “the majority of them” are coming from Pakistan, though he said he’s seen reports of some from countries such as Somalia, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Washington was criticized for its support for Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Bahrain, however, was recently added to the country’s list of human rights abusers.
…more

Bahrain: A program on Bahrain TV presents confessions of prisoners and targets opposition political leaders and human rights activists.
June 21st, 2011 – BYSHR

Every Monday at 9:30 pm, Bahrain TV (the governmental channel) presents a program entitled “Dialogue with Saeed Al-Hamad”. The program focuses on presenting confessions of prisoners sentenced by the Military Court, or individuals that have spoken to the media during the protests in Bahrain since the 14th of February. The program also targets prominent human rights activists due to their work in exposing the human rights violations and political opposition figures. …more

Updates about the trial of prominent oppositional leaders and Human Rights defenders

Update – 22 May 2011 – BCHR

At the hearing of the prominent 21 activists, Lieutenant Isa Sultan was brought as a witness. Isa Sultan is the person in charge of the case and investigations. According to people present at the hearing, he was sweating and appeared very nervous. He said that the defendants were working in coordination with Iran as they all followed Velayat-Al-Faqih and wanted an Islamic Republic. He also said that they received payments of “Khums” which is Islamic taxation. The lawyer asked him how he knew this if there were checks or such, and he responded that they received it all in cash and then used it to buy gas and car tires for the youth to burn on the streets. He then said that the defendants were receiving directions from Hezbullah who told them they must achieve a constitutional monarchy.

Two other witnesses were then questioned who were in charge of the arrest of AbdulJalil AlMuqdad and Hassan Mushaima. The first person was Nawaf Aldoseri and another person who said that they conducted the arrests in a legal manner. When they were about to question Bader Ghaith (the person in charge of Abdulhadi Alkhawaja’s arrest and named as a top torturer by several victims during previous cases) the lawyer asked that the other 3 witnesses be brought for questioning. Salah Alkhawaja’s wife immediately identified Bader AlGhaith as being the person who beat her when arresting her husband and sexually harassing her. The court was adjourned till Wednesday the 25th of this month.

During the last hearing the judge ordered that the detainees be taken out from solitary confinement, but many of them remain in solitary confinement. In the other cases, security personnel had brought a mattress into the cells of the detainees where they were held in solitary confinement and an Indian or Philipino prisoner who have criminal charges to stay in their cells with them. The detainees are not able to even communicate with them due to the language barrier.
[Read more →]

Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Update on Ayat
Posted on the Justice for Bahrain facebook group by Mohammed Sadiq today, 21/06/11

Ayat’s family went to visit her in prison this morning having been told that they could come, but when they arrived at the gates they were told that they can not see her because they didn’t register for the visit and the reason they called them was to register for the next visit. However, after her family protested, they manged to see her for 5 minutes only and were constantly accompanied by a prison guard. Her brother that the prison guard was listing to every word and kept interrupting in the conversation, so they could not ask her about her treatment in the prison she had recently moved to, especially that this prison is for criminals who serving sentences for murder, drugs, prostitution etc. Her brother also noted that his sister had lost a lot of weight.

Her brother stated, regarding the video featured yesterday on Bahrain TV showing Ayat apologizing for reading her poem, that it was recorded during her torture period. The video is actually 20 minutes long and the officials only showed 1 minute.

Ayat’s appeal is tomorrow. We urge you to pray for her and contact human right organisations to put pressure on the Bahraini government to release her as she should not even be in prison since she has committed NO crime.

Ayat was told her about the global support and solidarity for her case and she sends her salutes and thanks every one who helped in her campaign. …source

UN Human Rights Council: Double-standards tarnish positive initiatives at international rights body | 20/06/2011

International community fails to address human rights crisis in Bahrain

(Geneva – 17 June 2011) On Friday, the UN Human Rights Council wrapped up its 17th Session, adopting a series of positive resolutions on Libya, Yemen and other issues, but failed to address the grave and deteroirating human rights situation in Bahrain.

The human rights crisis in Bahrain has become increasingly severe since mid-March 2011, when the government violently put down pro-democracy and anti-government street protests. Government authorities have launched a harsh campaign of retributive repression against individuals who supported or participated in the protests that began in mid-February, including targeting demonstrators, opposition leaders, peaceful critics, rights activists, journalists, doctors, labour unionists, and students.

According to Laila Matar, UN representative of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), “Arbitrary detention, allegations of torture, extrajudicial killings and other serious rights violations have become routine in Bahrain, but the Human Rights Council continues to turn a blind eye, effectively abandoning the pro-democracy movement in the country.”

Saudi Arabia has lobbied hard behind the scenes at the Council to ensure no collective action is taken on Bahrain. “Member states of the “Western group,” including the United States, and other governments, have demonstrated blatant double-standards when dealing with various crackdowns in response to pro-democracy protests in the Arab region,” said Jeremie Smith, Director of the Geneva Office of CIHRS, “While Libya, Syria and Yemen have been dealt with by the Council through Special Sessions and strong joint statements, the situation in Bahrain has largely been ignored. This type of inconsistency does great damage to the credibility of this Council.” …more

250 people to participate in Bahrain’s National Dialogue
13:26, June 21, 2011

Bahrain’s National Dialogue would witness 250 representatives from political groups, unions, human rights societies and civil society organizations.

The dialogue headed by parliament chairman Khalifa Al Dhahrani will begin on July 1.

The National Democratic Action Society (NDAS) and Democratic Progressive Tribune, who are part of a seven-member alliance of opposition group, have confirmed their participation in the dialogue.

“We will participate in the National Dialogue , but certainly want our leader Ibrahim Sharif to be released before the process,” a NDAS spokesperson told Xinhua. Sharif is one of the 21 suspects standing on trial on charges of links with foreign power to overthrow the regime.

The largest opposition group, Al Wefaq National Islamic Society has not yet made its stance clear whether to participate in the dialogue. …more

Bahrain has a long history of Human Rights abuse. The USA and it’s lacky, the UN, has a long history of ignoring the problem. How long can the world sit back and allow the Al Khalifa regime to play lip service to Human Rights while it utterly crushes it’s own citizens? “Dialogue and Reform” are words for those who would subscribe to Bahrain’s “business as usual” approach. Al Khalifa behaves much as the most brutal of wife abusers. When the crisis of his violence comes, he declares repentance and promises change that seems to appear for awhile. The grand charade relieves and reassures his friends and advocates. The world returns to a “repentant norm” and the abuse reappears and often with far more devastating results.

It seems we are in that place again. UNSECO(The UN) pretends it’s okay, Obama and the US pretends it’s okay. They hear what they want to hear; the promise of reform, the lifting of “The National Safety Emergency” (AKA bloody crackdown), all the repentant dialogue. This time it’s a little different, everyone is witness to the crime on the Internet. It’s not so easy to hide anymore. Some even get it, salute to the F1 teams who wanted nothing to do with Al Khalifa’s festival of abuse.

The world has changed but too much denial remains. The enablers assume their familiar role. Bahrain’s Al Khalifa remains in control just as the husband who just smashed his wife’s face and bruised his child. And just like a wife abusers best friend who fears the loss of his drinking buddy, some of the Societies, those that might benefit for the so called “reform”, shove the wife and child into a closet. They pretend all is going well while other Society members are all but forgotten in King Hamad’s torturous dungeons. Strange how justice and freedom so often lose to the lust for power.

The consequence is likely something as tragic as the wife and child beaten bloody unto to death but with global dimension. Blow-back, the unavoidable civil war, the Iranian proxy everyone tried to avoid and warned about. And all the enablers saying “we never saw it coming”… All one has to do is take a look back at Al Khalifa’s history of Human Rights Abuse. Al Khalifa doesn’t get better, he’s pathological, he just becomes more brutal each time he repeats his crime, just like the wife abuser… ….where does anyone really expect this to end up? If Al Khalifa is not stopped now the disaster around the corner will likely cost the West for generations to come. Maybe the USA, my country, can find a way to stop enabling this bastard and actually do the right thing for once. It’s your choice President Obama. No bombs necessary. Mr.President, do you keep America’s drinking buddy around to beat his wife and child another day, or do you stop him from causing anymore grievous harm and suffering?

…for me, I think he needs to go and with great haste.

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Bahrain 2005 – see the document here

Jonathan Whittall, MSF’s head of mission in Bahrain, has recently returned from the country. He says that troops routinely tortured patients at the main Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) in the capital, Manama. “The security forces basically took control of the hospital on 17 March when tanks moved outside and set up checkpoints for anyone entering or leaving. Inside, many of the wounded with injuries that could have been sustained during the protests were taken to the sixth floor, where they were beaten three times a day.”

Action Alert: UNESCO / Bahrain – Bahrain to Chair UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee whilst destroying its own heritage
Wednesday, 15 June 2011 20:23

IHRC urges all campaigners to wirte to the Director-General of UNESCO calling for the removal of Bahrain from the committee’s list.

Contents
1. Summary
2. Background
3. Action Required
4. Sample Letter

1. Summary

On 19 June 2011 Bahrain will be chairing the 35th Session of The World Heritage Committee at UNESCO in Paris, France.

IHRC urges all campaigners to write letters to Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO calling for the removal of Bahrain from the committee’s list. Furthermore, condemning the decision to give Bahrain the chairing position while destroying its own heritage, including demolishing mosques, destroying traditional jobs and its social natives.

2. Background

The World Heritage Committee consists of 21 States who examine the proposals made by State Parties, in order to identify cultural and natural properties of outstanding universal value to be protected under itsConvention and further added to the World Heritage List.

The Committee members are:

Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Iraq, Jordan, Mali, Mexico, Nigeria, Russian Federation, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates.

Bahrain is currently undertaking brutal crackdown on protests with the support of GCC troops from Saudi Arabia. It will be chairing UNESCO’s 35th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris.

Bahrain has been carrying out a systematic destruction of heritage and culture over the past 50 years, where old buildings, palm tree huts, were demolished as well as a group of 21 ancient and licensed mosques, including one that is more than 640 years old. Furthermore many traditional industries such as carpentry have been destroyed.

Bahrain is a chain of islands where residents in the past used to rely on fishing as their main source of income. Bahraini residents feel that their history is being stamped out due to the demolition of their heritage and culture by the Bahraini government and feel that it is hypocritical for that same government to be chairing this event.

3. Action required

Write to Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO calling for the removal or Bahrain from the World Heritage Committee’s list and condemning the decision to give Bahrain the chairing position. …source and more actions you can take

US to probe Bahrain labour rights under trade deal
(Reuters)

17 June 2011
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration said on Thursday it would investigate charges brought by the largest US labour organization that Bahrain has failed to meet its obligations to protect workers’ rights under a free trade pact with the United States.

Richard Trumka, president of the 12.2 million-member AFL-CIO labour federation, hailed the decision published in the US Federal Register, the official publication used by the US government to make public regulatory actions.

“The egregious attacks on workers must end, and the Bahraini government’s systematic discrimination against and dismantling of unions must be reversed. These actions directly violate the letter and the spirit of the trade agreement,” Trumka said in a statement.

The AFL-CIO has urged the US government to notify Bahrain it could withdraw from the five-year-old free trade agreement over human rights abuses in the kingdom’s crackdown on anti-government protests.

“The trade union movement in Bahrain is critical to democratic and peaceful coexistence in a pluralistic society and should be part of a national dialogue to solve Bahrain’s crisis,” Trumka said.

“Yet instead of working toward dialogue with labor and civil society, the Bahraini government’s actions deal a dramatic setback to civil liberties and freedom of association,” he said.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama urged Bahrain’s rulers to hold accountable those responsible for human rights abuses in the crackdown and pressed for a compromise between the government and the opposition.

The trade agreement, which went into effect in 2006, eliminated tariffs on consumer and industrial trade between the two countries and made other reforms that opened the kingdom to more US farm and services exports.

When the agreement was completed in 2005, the US Trade Representative’s office said the pact’s labor provisions “fully support and complement the democratic reforms by the Kingdom of Bahrain in the political and labor areas.”

It requires Bahrain to enforce domestic laws that provide internationally recognized labour rights. …more