Posts from — June 2011

UN labour chief deplores call for Bahraini union leaders to resign or face legal action
ILO Director-General Juan Somavia
20 June 2011 –

The head of the United Nations labour agency today condemned a call by prominent business figures in Bahrain for trade union leaders in the Middle East nation to either resign or face legal action, describing the threat as an act of intimidation.

Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO, issued a statement in response to what he called “this confrontational ultimatum” by the Joint Committee of Major Companies in Bahrain – which are entirely or partly owned by the Government.

The small country has been beset by unrest in recent months as protesters have taken to the streets to demand greater democracy, part of a broader movement across North Africa and the Middle East since the start of the year.

As many as 2,000 workers at Government-owned enterprises have been dismissed from their jobs.

Mr. Somavia urged the Government to seek the immediate withdrawal of the business figures’ call for the 15 members of the Executive Committee of the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions to resign or face prosecution or civil law action.

Authorities should “do everything to bring all parties to the table of social dialogue,” he said, citing “the very positive announcement” last month by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa for a national dialogue to start on 1 July.

“The threat of criminal and civil prosecution… is an act of intimidation which takes Bahrain still further away from the course of respect for trade union rights on which it had embarked since 2002 and which has been widely recognized and praised by the ILO in the past,” Mr. Somavia noted. …more

Bahrain medics’ trial hears prosecution witnesses
By shiapost – June 20, 2011Posted in: Bahrain

DUBAI — Prosecution witnesses in the trial of 47 Bahrain doctors and nurses charged with supporting a Shiite-led protest in the kingdom appeared before a military tribunal on Monday, the state news agency BNA reported.

The 24 doctors and 23 nurses from Salmaniya hospital in Manama, not far from the capital’s Pearl Square that became the focal point of protests inspired by the Arab uprisings, are accused of “incitement to overthrow the regime by force.”

The prosecution witnesses told the court that some of the doctor defendants had handed round sachets of blood to be smeared on the injuries of some protesters before they were filmed by television crews.

Others testified that knives and two firearms were seized at the hospital, and that the facility had been used for political gatherings.

One prosecution witness alleged that medical staff discriminated in favour of Shiites when treating people injured in the protests.

The 47 accused medics were referred to a military court on May 4.

The medics have all worked at the Salmaniya Medical Complex, which was stormed by security forces after they drove protesters on March 16 out of Pearl Square.

BNA said the court set the date of the next hearing for June 30, when defence witnesses will be heard.

Authorities in the kingdom ruled by the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty have said that 24 people were killed during the unrest, most of them demonstrators. …source

Ex-editors in Bahrain reject charges of unethical coverage
June 20, 2011 01:29 AM
Associated Press

MANAMA, Bahrain: Lawyers for three former top editors of Bahrain’s main opposition newspaper Sunday challenged allegations of unethical coverage by their clients during mass anti-government protests in the kingdom.

The trial of the editors of Al-Wasat newspaper, who were forced to resign from Bahrain’s most widely-read newspaper after the government imposed emergency rule in March to quell dissent, is part of a crackdown on the island nation’s Shiite-led opposition.

The charges against the three former editors, who pleaded not guilty last month, include publishing false news and endangering public order. If convicted on all charges, they face at least two years in jail and hefty financial fines.

Two employees of Al-Wasat newspaper told Bahrain’s highest criminal court Sunday that the editors overlooked fabricated information because of the difficult conditions facing the kingdom’s only opposition paper during demonstrations against Bahrain’s Sunni rulers.

The two employees said the newspaper’s offices had been vandalized and its staff had been threatened, forcing the staff to work from home.

Al-Wasat’s founder and former chief editor, Mansoor al-Jamri, told the court during last week’s hearing that the paper published the fabricated items after it fell victim to a plot aimed at undermining Al-Wasat’s role as the main voice for pro-reform advocates. …more

MSF Alleges Torture in Bahraini Hospitals
By Shannon June 20, 2011

The humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders), alleges that Bahraini security forces regularly tortured patients at the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) in Manama. Recently returned from Bahrain, MSF’s head of mission Jonathan Whittall reports that after security forces took control of the hospital in March, “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.” The MSF testimony essentially describes a “torture chamber” within the hospital, providing new evidence that the crackdown has not been limited to protest leaders. Whittall says, “the hospital became a place to be feared.”

The 47 medical professionals currently on trial worked at the SMC hospital. After working with Bahraini doctors and nurses for months, MSF claims that the charges against them are groundless. Rather, Whittall says, “many of the doctors feel that they have been singled out and targeted because of their standing in society; because they spoke out against the violence, and that some worked at medical stations set up in Pearl Square during the height of the protests.” Whittall also agrees with many critics, that the recent reforms implemented by the regime have been superficial. …more

UK to be sued over Bahrain crackdown
By shiapost – June 18, 2011

A group of lawyers are set to take the United Kingdom to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague over its role in the brutal crackdown of Bahrainis.

The lawyers from Lebanon, Spain, France and Italy accuse Britain of selling arms, including sniper rifles, to the Manama regime and training Bahraini police forces, who are accused of using heavy-handed tactics against anti-government protesters in the Persian Gulf sheikdom, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The legal dossier targets both members of the British government and the Ministry of Defense.
It includes harrowing testimonies, medical records and photographic evidence of what are described as crimes against humanity.

“We know that they have trained Bahraini police how to capture and how to stop protests in Bahrain,” Chief Representative of Beirut-based International Coalition against Impunity, May el-Khansa, told Press TV.

The ICC has promised to examine the dossier within the next month, but it is not yet clear if it will open an investigation into the case.

The coalition of lawyers is now hoping that the ICC will refer the case to the United Nations for further investigation.

The United Kingdom has a long history of meddling in Bahrain.

The UK helped establish the Al Khalifa dynasty in Bahrain — whose ruling system was inspired by the British monarchy. …more

Bahrain: A mentally ill (mentally disabled) person has been detained for more than two months incommunicado.
June 19th, 2011 – BYSHR

“Hassan’s Medical Diagnosis”

On the 28th of March 2011, security forces stormed the home of Nooh Yahya Abdalqahir; the security forces wanted to arrest Mr.Mohammed Nooh, however he was not at home.

Mr.Hassan Nooh (mentally disabled) 29 years old, was in the house during that time, the security forces therefore arrested him instead of Mohammed until Mohammed surrenders himself to the police station.

On 29th March 2011, Mr.Mohammed surrendered himself to the police station in order for the release of Mr.Hassan.

The security forces have also on a later date arrested – Mr.Yousif and Mr.Jaffar – Nooh Yahya.

His family stated to the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), “we received calls from Mohammed, Yousif and Jaffar, but so far we have no knowledge of Hassan’s fate”.

The family expressed to the BYSHR, “their fear on the fate of Hassan especially that he is mentally disabled and cannot take care of himself.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its deep concern regarding the fate of Mr.Hassan Nooh and demands the disclosure of his fate immediately and to provide him with urgent medical care. As well as the investigation with whomever arrested a mentally disabled, and bringing them to trail. …more

iRevolution: Online Warriors of the Arab Spring premieres Sunday, June 19, 8:00pm ET & PT

CNN correspondent Amber Lyon reports from the digital edges of the democratic revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain on the movements spreading through North Africa and the Middle East. Using computers and cell phones, and social media like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, young citizen journalists have leveraged the technology of the Internet to call out injustices, demand democratic change, organize protests, and share news about how to evade authorities desperately trying to contain the spread of revolution.

CNN Presents – iRevolution: Online Warriors Of The Arab Spring debuts Sunday, June 19 at 8:00p.m. ET and PT it replays on Saturday, June 25 at 8:00p.m. ET and PT on CNN/U.S.

Though the historic changes sweeping the Middle East and North Africa have been collectively dubbed the “Facebook revolution,” Lyon reports how the digital roots of reform were actually sown years before the extraordinary street demonstrations of 2010 and 2011. Riadh Guerfali, whose online handle is “Astrubal,” is one of the founders of Nawaat, a crowd-sourced digital newspaper in Tunisia. In 2007, he launched a salvo with his exposé about the misuse of the president’s official airplane. His site was banned by the Tunisian government within days of its launch. Later, Astrubal created TuniLeaks, a website hosting the first set of WikiLeaks releases. The revelation that even the U.S. government suspected rampant corruption within the Tunisian regime, spawned even more outrage that ultimately led to President Ben Ali’s resignation.

From Tunisia, Lyon’s team travels to Cairo to report on activists Gigi Ibrahim and Mona Seif who are using the Internet to hold the new Egyptian government accountable for its actions, including allegations of torture. They take Lyon to the streets of Tahrir Square where activists use Twitter to battle alleged government enforcers. “Piggipedia” is a rogue’s gallery photo-sharing website used by Egyptian protestors to post the identities of authorities reported to have harassed demonstrators; the “Tahrir Diaries” serves as a digital blog that captures the testimony of protestors who report being emotionally, physically, and sexually tortured by authorities. …more

Published on Monday, June 20, 2011 by The Independent/UK
Bahraini Leadership Faces New Claims That Torture Took Place in Hospital
Human rights group says suspected protesters – and doctors and nurses who treated them – have been systematically abused
by Alistair Dawber

The government of Bahrain faces fresh allegations that it systematically tortured people it suspected of taking part in demonstrations against its autocratic rulers earlier this year, and of deliberately undermining the country’s health system as 20 doctors go back on trial today for their supposed role in the protests.

A Shia man from a village near Manama with shotgun wounds. One of the world’s most respected humanitarian organisations, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), alleges that security forces loyal to the tiny Gulf state’s authoritarian leader, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, regularly beat hospital patients who had injuries that could have been sustained during the rallies that started in February. (AFP/GETTY) One of the world’s most respected humanitarian organisations, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), alleges that security forces loyal to the tiny Gulf state’s authoritarian leader, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, regularly beat hospital patients who had injuries that could have been sustained during the rallies that started in February. It also says that, after working alongside the country’s doctors and nurses for months, the charges against them are without merit.

The MSF testimony is the first to document the existence of what was effectively a torture chamber maintained by Bahraini forces within the hospital. And it provides fresh evidence that retribution was not limited to the alleged ringleaders of the protests.

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.”

MSF says that young men with injuries such as broken limbs or gunshot wounds were particularly targeted for abuse, but that it did not appear that the security forces were looking for particular individuals.

“The hospital became a place to be feared,” says Mr Whittall, who was in the Salmaniya hospital at the same time as Bahraini troops and spoke to a number of eye-witnesses and victims of violence. “One patient was caught trying to leave and he was beaten both at Salmaniya and then later in jail – there was no evidence that he was a ringleader. The situation was so bad some people didn’t dare come to the hospital – in some cases, people had no access to healthcare and that is still the situation today.”

Some of the injured were removed from hospital, only to reappear later with more serious injuries, Mr Whittall adds. “One guy was brought into the hospital with a saw injury to the head, but he was removed by government forces and disappeared for weeks. His family had no idea what had happened to him until he reappeared with severe brain damage. There were no medical reports or any indication of what had happened to him during his detention.”

Unlike protests in other Middle Eastern countries, such as Tunisia or Egypt, where pro-democracy demonstrators have ousted unpopular dictatorships, Bahrain has effectively quelled its protests. Largely, those on the streets, who took over Manama’s central Pearl Square, were from the majority Shia population, who argue that they are denied the opportunities afforded to the minority Sunnis. The ruling al-Khalifa family are Sunni.

In March, Bahrain asked neighbouring Saudi Arabia, where the ruling royal family is also Sunni, to send in troops to put down the protests. ….more

Robert Fisk: I saw these brave doctors trying to save lives – these charges are a pack of lies
Eyewitness: Bahrain didn’t invite the Saudis to send their troops; the Saudis invaded and received a post-dated invitation – Tuesday, 14 June 2011

Has the Khalifa family gone mad? Yesterday, the Bahraini royal family started an utterly fraudulent trial of 48 surgeons, doctors, paramedics and nurses, accusing them of trying to topple the tin-pot monarchy of this Sunni minority emirate. The defendants in this flagrantly unfair military court are, of course, members of the majority Shia people of Bahrain. And since I was a witness to their heroic efforts to save lives in February, I can say – let us speak with a frankness that the Bahraini rulers would normally demand – that the charges are a pack of lies.

Doctors I saw, drenched in their patients’ blood, desperately trying to staunch the bullet wounds of pro-democracy demonstrators shot in cold blood by Bahraini soldiers and police, are now on trial. I watched armed policemen refusing to allow ambulances to collect the wounded from the roads where they had been cut down.
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These are the very same doctors and nurses I stood beside four months ago in the Sulaimaniya emergency room, some of them weeping as they tried to deal with gunshot wounds the like of which they had never seen before.

“How could they do this to these people?” one of them asked me. “We have never dealt with trauma wounds like these before.” Next to us lay a man with bullet wounds in the chest and thigh, coughing blood on to the floor.

The surgeons were frightened that they did not have the skills to save these victims of police violence. Now the police have accused the doctors and staff of killing the patients whom the police themselves shot.

How could these fine medical men and women have been trying to “topple” the monarchy?

The idea that these 48 defendants are guilty of such a vicious charge is not just preposterous. It is insane, a total perversion – no, the total opposite – of the truth. The police were firing at demonstrators from helicopters.

The idea that a woman and child died because they were rejected by doctors and refused medical treatment is a fantasy. The only problems medical staff encountered at the Sulaimaniya hospital – and again, I was a witness and, unlike the Bahraini security authorities, I do not tell lies – was from the cruel policemen who blocked patients from reaching the medical facility.

In truth, of course, the Khalifa family is not mad. Nor are the Sunni minority of Bahrain intrinsically bad or sectarian. The reality is clear for anyone to see in Bahrain. The Saudis are now running the country. They never received an invitation to send their own soldiers to support the Bahraini “security forces” from the Bahraini Crown Prince, who is a decent man. They simply invaded and received a post-dated invitation.

The subsequent destruction of ancient Shia mosques in Bahrain was a Saudi project, entirely in line with the kingdom’s Taliban-style hatred of all things Shia. Could the Bahraini prime minister be elected, I asked a member of the royal court last February? “The Saudis would not permit this,” he replied. Of course not. Because they now control Bahrain. Hence the Saudi-style doctors’ trial.

Bahrain is no longer the kingdom of the Khalifas. It has become a Saudi palatinate, a confederated province of Saudi Arabia, a pocket-size weasel state from which all journalists should in future use the dateline: Manama, Occupied Bahrain. …source

Bahrain expels a freelance journalist from kingdom
19 June 2011 -BCHR

Freelance journalist Finian Cunningham was ordered out of Bahrain on 18 June by the authorities as a result of his critical journalism covering the popular uprising and the subsequent, ongoing brutal repression of the peaceful pro-democracy movement. He had been living in Bahrain for three years, and was there at the outset of the recent uprising on 14 February.

In a recent interview for US-based blogtalkradio, on 12 June, Cunningham assessed the lifting of the state of emergency and the call for “national dialogue” by the Al Khalifa rulers as a hollow, cynical public relations exercise designed to deceive from the ongoing reality of state terror and violation of human rights. It appears, he added, that Washington and London are also trying to give legitimacy to the rulers by welcoming their initiative for slleged dialogue. Such an endorsement by Western governments is preposterous given the heinous realities of crimes against civilians and can only be seen as a cynical defense of the indefensible by the US and British.

Cunningham also wrote several articles posted on Globalresearch.ca and other news agencies detailing cases of murder of civilians by Saudi-backed forces, torture of prisoners and the illegal detention of medical personnel. He also higlighted US and British complicity in these crimes against humanity and these governments’ hypocrisy over their claims of supporting democracy and international law while turning a blind eye to what is happening in Bahrain.

He is now based in Belfast, Ireland, where he is continuing to work as a critical journalist on Bahraini politics, and the brutal repression by the regime against the people’s struggle for democratic freedom. He is currently writing a book on the exploitation by the unelected Al Khalifa monarchy of the population and natural resources of Bahrain.

Writing from Belfast today, Cunningham said: “My lasting impression of Bahrain is not the brutish nature of its illegitimate rulers, but the bravery and decency of its ordinary men, women and youth in their noble struggle for freedom. The night before I left Bahrain, on Friday 17 June, I witnessed a peaceful protest of up to 150,000 people in Sitra demanding their legitimate right for freedom. This was the biggest public rally by the pro-democracy movement since the Saudi-backed crackdown that began on 14 March with the invasion. After three months of state-sponsored murder and terror, the people of Bahrain have not been defeated by the despotic regime and their despotic allies. The people are showing that they are winning the battle of wills because they have truth and justice on their side, while the regimes have only the negative unsustainable energy that comes from hate, killing and destruction. The people are stronger than ever and are more determined than ever to bring democracy and freedom to Bahrain.” …more

U.S.-Saudi rivalry intensifies Existential
The quest for greater influence includes a tug of war over Jordan, just one example of the contest between the longtime allies split over the democracy uprisings sweeping the region.

Paul Richter and Neela Banerjee, Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2011

Reporting from Washington—
Senior U.S. diplomats have been dropping by the royal palace in Amman almost every week this spring to convince Jordanian King Abdullah II that democratic reform is the best way to quell the protests against his rule.

But another powerful ally also has been lobbying Abdullah — and wants him to ignore the Americans.

Saudi Arabia is urging the Hashemite kingdom to stick to the kind of autocratic traditions that have kept the House of Saud secure for centuries, and Riyadh has been piling up gifts at Abdullah’s door to sell its point of view.

The Saudis last month offered Jordan a coveted opportunity to join a wealthy regional bloc called the Gulf Cooperation Council, a move that would give the impoverished kingdom new investment, jobs and security ties. To sweeten the pot, the Saudis wrote a check for $400 million in aid to Amman two weeks ago, their first assistance in years.

The quiet contest for Jordan is one sign of the rivalry that has erupted across the Middle East this year between Saudi Arabia and the United States, longtime allies that have been put on a collision course by the popular uprisings that have swept the region.

“We do have a lot of friction there,” said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “The ‘Arab Spring’ has injected tension into the relationship.”

The Obama administration has generally supported the protests, and urged the region’s governments to share more power. But when President Obama demanded reform from Arab regimes in a major speech last month, he carefully avoided any mention of Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy that brooks little or no dissent.

Riyadh, which believes the U.S. is turning its back on loyal allies, is trying to step out of America’s shadow. It is embracing a foreign policy that often diverges from Washington’s — and sometimes seeks to undermine it. …more

Harsh crackdown on Shia worshippers in Bahrain
5:30 AM Thursday Apr 21, 2011

Bahraini Government forces backed by Saudi Arabian troops are destroying mosques and places of worship of the Shia majority in the island kingdom in a move likely to exacerbate religious hatred across the Muslim world.

“So far they have destroyed seven Shia mosques and about 50 religious meeting houses,” said Ali al-Aswad, an MP in the Bahraini Parliament.

He said Saudi soldiers, part of the 1000-strong contingent that entered Bahrain last month, had been seen by witnesses helping demolish Shia mosques and shrines in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

Mohammed Sadiq, of the Justice for Bahrain organisation, said the most famous of the Shia shrines destroyed was that of a revered Bahraini Shia spiritual leader, Sheikh Abdul Amir al-Jamri, who died in 2006.

A photograph taken by activists shows the golden dome of the shrine lying on the ground and later being taken away on the back of a truck. On the walls of desecrated Shia mosques, graffiti has been scrawled praising the Sunni King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and insulting the Shia. …source

MUST SEE WEBSITE

List of Demolished Mosques in Bahrain | pictures – videos – resources
May 1, 2011 by occupiedpalestine 0 Comments
Below an overview of some reported demolished or vandalized mosques, for actual updates go to
MAP | Demolished mosques in Bahrain – Google Maps
Amir Barbaghy Mosque

Bahrain opposition group calls for civil state with elected government
14:57, June 18, 2011

Protesters attend a demonstration called by Al Wefaq National Islamic Society[one of many political societies in Bahrain] in Sitra, near Manama, capital of Bahrain, June 17, 2011. Thousands of Shiites took part in a gathering organized by Bahrain’s largest opposition group on Friday to raise their demands for a civil state with elected government. (Xinhua/Mahmood Alsaleh)

Thousands of Shiites took part in a gathering organized by Bahrain’s largest opposition group on Friday to raise their demands for a civil state with elected government.

“We want a civil state with an elected government,” said Shaikh Ali Salman, leader of the group Al Wefaq National Islamic Society.

“Sacking staff from companies and students from universities is unacceptable. National unity is important at this stage despite media attacks. Security personnel who committed crime should also be held accountable,” he said in a speech during the gathering, which was held in Sitra under the theme of “A country for all”.

The speech called for more rights and mentioned the role of Crown Prince in the national dialogue which is scheduled to begin on July 1. …more

Spare us Bahrain’s sudden ‘concern’ for its Asian expat working-class Bahrainis against each other to justify its brutality
by Fahad Desmukh – guardian.co.uk, Saturday 18 June 2011 08.00 BST

The regime is trying to pit abused foreign workers and working-class Bahrainis against each other to justify its brutality

Since the Bahraini regime launched its crackdown on protesters in March, the government and its apologists have tried to justify state brutality by pointing to violence inflicted upon expatriate labourers – supposedly at the hands of protesters.

“Poor, innocent, Asian expats” is how they are now described. But just a few months ago there was little concern at a national level about the abuse of migrant workers. They represent 54% of Bahrain’s resident population, and as in the neighbouring Gulf monarchies, they constitute the bulk of the workforce. Most are from south Asia, and they are arguably the most marginalised community in the country.

Now their welfare has suddenly become a matter of concern for the regime and its apologists. After the start of the crackdown, the foreign minister scurried between the different expatriate community clubs and embassies, hailing the “strong relations bonding” them to the kingdom of Bahrain. Local state-run television suddenly started broadcasting news bulletins in Hindi, Urdu and Tagalog.

It all seems rather disingenuous. As a long-time “expat” myself, my initial reaction is to ask why there has never been this level of outrage from those same quarters when Asian workers have been brutally abused by their Bahraini employers or have been killed in the workplace due to criminal negligence. And why is it that when I tried to air my political views about Bahrain several years ago, I was put on a blacklist and banned from entering the country again? …more

HRC Action Alert: UNESCO / Bahrain – Bahrain to Chair UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee whilst destroying its own heritage
15 JUNE 2011 – BCHR

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

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. …source

Bahrain: Authorities targeting anyone who talks to the media with arrest and prosecution
18 Jun 2011 -BCHR

Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) expresses its extreme concern over the continuous violation of the right to freedom of speech and expression by the Bahraini regime towards all those who are speaking out their opinions and beliefs to the media and exposing the human rights violations committed by the security forces in Bahrain.

Foreign media and journalists have been interested since February 14 in the Bahraini uprising, many have been to the pearl roundabout, been present in protests and rallies and have interviewed protestors, to report later on to the whole world the peacefulness and civilized nature of the uprising, their legitimate demands and calls for political reform.

On March 18, Bahraini government imposed the Martial Law and has started a campaign to conceal the facts about the on ground situation and hide its ongoing brutality and crimes. In its attempt to silence and intimidate whoever would speak out and contact the media, Bahrain regime started targeting those who have appeared on television or talked to journalists about the uprising and exposed the violations.

“They are going to Target us one by one, whoever appeared on a camera”, said Sayed Ahmed Al Wadae, (Photo on top) an engineer graduated from the UK, on AlJazeera Bahrain: Fighting for Change documentary [1], as if he was foreseeing what was going to happen, however, it did not hold him form expressing his opinion and his demands for reform, as he spoke of discrimination against shia citizens and explained how he was attacked and beaten on the first crackdown on the pearl roundabout on February 20. On March 16, right after the crackdown on the protesters at the pearl roundabout, Sayed Ahmed’s house was raided late at night and he got arrested and held incommunicado for a month before getting released on 11 April to be arrested again weeks later and presented before the military court on May 23, to be sentenced to one year imprisonment for “taking part in illegal protests and disrupting public order” [2]. The sentence was later reduced to 6 month imprisonment by the court of appeals. …source

US Government Will Review AFL-CIO Complaint Against Bahrain
by James Parks, Jun 16, 2011

The AFL-CIO today applauded the U.S. Department of Labor’s decision to accept its complaint regarding the government of Bahrain’s failure to live up to its trade agreement commitments with respect to workers’ rights.

The complaint, filed April 21 with the Office of Trade and Labor Affairs, documents the Bahrain government’s repression of peaceful protests and attacks on the General Federation of Bahraini Trade Unions (GFBTU). Click here to read the complaint.

For two months, the union movement around the world and in the United States has called on the government of Bahrain to halt its all-out attack against workers. In retaliation for peaceful protests and as part of the Bahraini government’s overall crack down on dissent, more than 1,700 workers have been summarily dismissed from their jobs, frequently in contravention of Bahrain’s labor laws.

“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,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement.

Workers must be reinstated to their jobs and the elected union leadership must be allowed to function without fear of reprisals. Failure by the United States to intervene to support workers and their democratic institutions would make a mockery of the labor protections included in the free trade agreement. …more

Rhetoric Versus Reality: US Involvement in Bahrain
by grtv

While NATO continues bombarding Libya, they have quite a different approach with other countries–take for instance Bahrain. The country’s crown prince was in Washington DC last week and made a statement at a briefing with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “We are committed to changes and to find out ways to closer work with the US. We are a very important ally to the US,” said the prince.

Clinton expressed support for Bahrain, stressing it was a very important for the US. While they were talking about reforms, however, dialogue out of Bahrain shows that that is very far from the case overseas.

Michel Chossudovsky, the director of the Center for Research on Globalization, joins RT to talk about the matter. …source

Bahrain to lift ban on major opposition party
Government “taking steps” to reinstate Waad party, but opposition officials remain sceptical of talks with Manama. – Last Modified: 18 Jun 2011 17:53

Bahrain’s government is preparing to lift a ban on the country’s second largest opposition party, ahead of a national dialogue to ease the Gulf island kingdom’s political crisis.

Radhi al-Mousawi, a spokesman for the National Democratic Action Society, or Waad, said on Saturday that the government would lift the ban on its headquarters in the capital, Manama, and later at its office in Muharraq.

The state news agency BNA confirmed the news, citing the justice ministry as saying steps were being taken to lift the ban.

Authorities shut down Waad in April amid a crackdown by security forces on pro-democracy protests.

Welcoming political dialogue

Mousawi said the group had sent a statement to the government welcoming the political dialogue, set by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa to begin on July 1, and asked for the king to look into the case of Waad’s detained leader.

Ibrahim Sharif is in prison along with several other opposition leaders, including Hassan Mushaimaa, the president of the Shia Islamist party al-Haq.

Both are among 21 people facing trial on charges of plotting a coup with backing from “foreign terrorist groups”.

Bahrain’s Sunni rulers have accused the protesters, backed mostly by Shia groups but also by the secular Waad party, of being backed by Iran. Opposition groups deny the charges.

Bahraini opposition activists said that Waad had been under pressure to welcome the national dialogue in return for an end to the ban.

Both Waad and Wefaq, the largest Shia opposition group, have stopped short of saying they will join the talks. Some Wefaq members have said they are wary of taking part because of reports that dozens of groups will be invited.

Diluting the opposition

Government supporters say groups that are not political parties should attend to represent Bahrainis who are not politicised.

The opposition argues it will dilute their voice in negotiations.

Sheikh Ali Salman, head of Wefaq, told crowds in a rally of more than 10,000 people on Friday that too many groups would “be a social gathering, not a political dialogue”.

Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, Bahrain’s crown prince, who led an earlier round of talks that failed just as the government began its crackdown, called on all citizens to work for dialogue.

Seen as a moderate in the ruling family, Sheikh Salman is the preferred choice of the opposition to lead talks.

The opposition has criticised the king’s choice of the speaker of the state’s lower parliament, who is seen as conservative on political reform. …more

Bahrainis hold mass protest in Sitra
By shiapost – June 17, 2011Posted in: Bahrain

Thousands of Bahraini anti-government protesters have poured into the streets in the island city of Sitra, following a call by the country’s largest opposition group al-Wefaq.

The Friday rally was the second mass anti-government demonstration organized by al-Wefaq since the heavy mid-March government crackdown on protesters.

Witnesses say regime forces were closely monitoring the rally and a military helicopter was hovering over the city. But there were no reports of clashes or arrests.

The first protest rally was hold last Saturday under the banner “Bahrain, homeland for all” in the village of Sar 10 days after a state of emergency was lifted.

Al-Wefaq leader cleric Sheikh Ali Salman told protesters on Friday that the opposition was not against dialogue with the government if rights interlocutor and officials were involved.

“The success of dialogue, reform and transition to democracy need officials that believe in it. One of the problems of the past was that many officials did not believe in democracy and reform,” AFP quoted Salman as saying to the crowds.

Similar protest rallies were also held in some other Bahraini villages and towns. Witnesses say regime forces fired teargas at protesters in Karzakan village, west of the country.

Bahraini opposition demands the release of detained anti-government protesters, the suspension of trials against opposition activist and a halt to the dismissal of students and workers before the beginning of the national dialogue set for July 1. …more

Bahrain, Saudi Royal Wedding Set, Further Cementing National Ties
Riyadh Mosque Skyline
06/17/11 04:40 AM ET AP

MANAMA, Bahrain — Bahrain says the son of the island nation’s king and the daughter of Saudi Arabia’s monarch have agreed to wed – further cementing ties boosted by cooperation to crush pro-reform protests.

An announcement on the official Bahrain News Agency says Bahrain’s Sheik Khalid bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa signed a marriage contract Thursday with the daughter of Saudi King Abdullah. The Friday report did not give the woman’s name or when the ceremony would occur.

Such strategic family alliances are common among the Gulf’s Sunni leaders.

Saudi Arabia is leading a Gulf military force sent to Bahrain in March to help smother Shiite-led protests demanding greater rights. …source

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mary McGuire 202-747-7035

Continuing Abuses by Bahraini Government Demand Stronger Response by U.S. and International Community
Washington – June 17, 2011

Freedom House welcomes yesterday’s statement by the United States at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva listing Bahrain as one of several countries that should receive additional scrutiny by the body and urges stronger U.S. and international action in response to the ongoing abuses in that country.

Despite a violent crackdown by the Bahraini government, in which at least 31 people have been killed since demonstrations began in February, responses by most countries to the abuses taking place in the Gulf country—including by the United States—have been muted. Just last week, President Obama personally met with Crown Prince of Bahrain Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and reaffirmed the “strong commitment of the United States to Bahrain.”

“Freedom House welcomes yesterday’s call by the U.S. to focus the Human Rights Council’s attention on serious human rights violations occurring in the midst of protests by peaceful activists seeking political reform,” said Charles Dunne, senior program manager for Freedom House’s Middle East and North Africa program. “However, as an important ally to Bahrain, the United States must do more to stem the Bahraini government’s continued violence against and arrests of activists, journalists, medical professionals and demonstrators. We further urge the Bahraini government to cooperate fully with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and to investigate all allegations of violence in an accountable, just, and transparent manner.” …more

IslamicActionSociety
On Thursday 16th June 2011, @AmalSociety said:
#Bahrain Statement: provision of “Amal” staff to trials and the desire of tens of international lawyers to defend
——————————————-
In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most graceful,,

Islamic Action Society announces, according to the information issued by some human rights organizations and innocent detainees’ families, that the authority is to provide Islamic Action Society’s staff headed by the Secretary General Shaikh Moh’d Ali Almahfoodh to military trials within next week and to accuse them with fabricated charges that authority used to fabricate to other honorable strivers from the sons of this country.

In this context, many lawyers from different countries announced their readiness to defend the Secretary General and his faithful brothers from the Society’s staff, who were arrested during the last period of nightly raids on their houses or by the arrest of their loved ones as hostages until they surrender themselves to police.

Shaikh Moh’d Ali Almahfoodh and his friends and many other innocent citizens and leaders of this people are paying the cost of their defense of Bahraini people and not keeping silent on the unjust, the violations and the blatant suppression. What Sh. Almahfoodh did and stand for of moral principles toward the hardship of this great people, that are declared and undeclared, is the main reason for throwing the honorable such his eminence into detentions, and these stands are stemmed from deep faith in his eminence of religious, moral and historic responsibility that lying on his shoulders toward the people which matches with his principles and his jihad and sacrificing biography in which he bear the pain of detention, emigration and staying away from his family and homeland for many years ago.

Along four decades of his age, Sh. Almahfoodh sought with his companions to demand a democratic and just regime that is accepted by people and established on the bases of equality and freedoms respect which result from a real people participation in drawing their present and future, a regime in which people are treated on the bases of their efficiency and faithfulness, not on their sectarian affiliation or relations with corrupters, so Sh. Almahfoodh sought to a regime that rewards the good man on his goodness, and punishes the abusers who steal the country and use it for their interests, who arrested and tortured and killed the sons of this people in order to save their privileges at the expense of the homeland and citizens.

That is why today he is bearing the tax of this seek and this national brave stand toward his own people to confirm to us that defending the suffering of Bahraini people is an essential and urgent issue that cannot endure the delay, because every day more on this suffer, it means more victims fall and tortured, tried and imprisoned and possibly killed.

The trial of such ones like Sh. Almahfoodh is a trial of the people’s conscious and all that is clean and honor and national and faithful by the staff of corrupts and torture and violations that control the people’s and country’s fate. At a time when the American delegation visits Bahrain, it turns blind eye on the detention of the societies’ and movements’ leaderships in a clear reference to the US double standards in dealing with the political forces in Bahrain through separation and sorting.

Freedom to honorable, and the victory from Allah, and freedom to this great people,,
No right lost as long as demands behind it,,,

Islamic Action Society – Amal
Manam – Bahrain
16th june, 2011
…source