Posts from — July 2011

Bahrain opposition fears reform talks not serious
By shiapost – July 6, 2011Posted in: Bahrain

DUBAI: Bahrain’s opposition said on Wednesday the first session of a national dialogue for reforms in the Gulf island kingdom raised questions over whether talks aimed at easing tensions after unrest this year can succeed.

The country’s Sunni rulers crushed mostly Shia-led pro-democracy protests in March. After a four-month crackdown, Bahrain hopes to lay the groundwork to heal deep rifts.

But opposition groups said the first working session of the dialogue on Tuesday night left them concerned that their main demand — a representative, directly elected government — would never reach a consensus in break-out groups where some 60 people were allowed only five minutes to present their views.

“To reach a complete solution to the big problems, you have five minutes to speak? What is that?” asked Sayed al-Mousawi of the main Shia opposition group Wefaq. “Is this dialogue?”

The organisers of the national dialogue have said sessions will continue over a two-week period and then convene again if consensus is not reached on specific issues.

Bahrain faced international pressure to begin reconciliation after the fierce crackdown in which hundreds of mostly Shias were arrested in the tiny Gulf island state, a financial hub and host to the Fifth Fleet, the US Navy’s main regional outpost. …more

Bahrain’s main Shiite opposition formation will shun parts of the national dialogue which the authorities say aims to bring forward reforms in the restive kingdom, a member said on Thursday.

“We will boycott the meetings of the economic and social committees but will continue to attend the meetings of the political and rights committees,” Khalil al-Marzooq a leading member of the Islamic National Accord Association (Al-Wefaq), told AFP.

Bahrain’s Al-Wefaq to shun part of dialogue
AFPBy Joseph Eid | AFP – 9 hrs ago

“We believe the dialogue should discuss major political and security issues,” Marzooq said.

“This dialogue will not lead to a solution … and it does not fulfill the needs to pull Bahrain out of its political crisis,” Marzooq said.

Al-Wefaq’s former MP said that the dialogue participants do not fairly represent society and that those participating are not being given chance to speak during the sessions.

Bahrain on Tuesday held the first session of its national dialogue, which is attended by about 60 participants each in simultaneous sessions on politics, the economy, human rights and social issues — the four axes on which the dialogue is to focus.

The sessions are scheduled for three times a week — on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The dialogue comes after Bahraini security forces carried out a mid-March crackdown on Shiite-led protesters who had been demonstrating for reforms in the Sunni-ruled, Shiite-majority kingdom since February 14. …more

Jordan: The King’s Survival Strategy
By William Fisher – The Public Record
Jun 25th, 2011

Jordan’s King Abdullah II and his new government appear to be racing the clock to begin enacting political and economic reforms before the largely peaceful street demonstrations turn ugly.

Whether his proposed reforms will be seen by the people as going far enough, and whether he can light a fire under his government to actually begin implementing the first serious reforms – these are the key questions that remain to be seen.

The recommendations were produced by a 52-member National Dialogue Committee. They include proposing an increase in the number of seats in Parliament from 120 to 130, call for an independent panel of retired judges appointed by royal decree to oversee elections, instead of the Interior Ministry, and a new draft law to make it easier to form political parties and encouraging participation by women. …more

ACLU Supports Moving Terror Suspect to U.S. Court but Questions Unlawful Military Detention
July 6, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed support for the transfer of terror suspect Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame to the federal criminal justice system. But his imprisonment and interrogation for over two months aboard a Navy ship raises serious questions about unlawful detention.

The following can be attributed to Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU National Security Project:

“We welcome the announcement that the Obama administration will prosecute Warsame in the criminal justice system. Unlike the discredited military commissions, federal courts are able to achieve justice and unquestionably have jurisdiction over the material support and conspiracy crimes with which Warsame is charged. But the Obama administration has put a criminal conviction at risk by holding Warsame in unlawful military detention for over two months. The government could have obtained intelligence through law enforcement rather than military interrogation, as it successfully has in hundreds of terrorism cases, without jeopardizing its criminal case. We are deeply concerned that the Obama administration continues to assert a worldwide war authority wherever terrorism suspects are found, and it is incumbent upon Congress to impose necessary and wise limitations on the administration.”

Saudis and Anglo-Americans take note of divergent interests
Voltaire Network | 1 July 2011

At a recent meeting that discretely took place on the Molesworth NATO air base in the UK, Prince Turki al-Fayçal conveyed to his Anglo-American allies the official Saudi position with regard to the “Arab Spring.”

In the first place, Riyad does not perceive the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain as being color revolutions triggered by the U.S. It looks at them instead as popular movements instigated by Iran.

It logically follows that Saudi Arabia deployed its regular troops to Bahrain and Yemen, and its Wahhabi mercenaries to Syria and Libya. Moreover, Riyad intended to transform the Gulf Cooperation Council into a coalition of Sunni monarchies to lead the ideological combat and repression against the influence of the Iranian Shia Revolution.

Besides, in spite of mutual expressions of friendship, Washington and Riyad have come to realize that they are no longer as inter-dependent as in the past. The United States looks to a future chiefly based on gas instead of oil, while Saudi Arabia beholds the dwindling of its reserves, with China as its principal commercial partner.

Although they rely on the Saudis to corrupt Lebanese, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders with billions of petrodollars, and that they enlist Al-Qaeda contingents in Syria and Libya, the Anglo-Americans are speculating on the collapse of the Saudi monarchy in the medium term. They envision the remodeling of North Africa structured around Morocco and the Berbers, and of the Middle East around Turkey and the Muslim Brothers.

During the meeting, Prince Turki al-Façal brought up the need for his country to obtain nuclear weapons if Iran was doing the same. This issue has been covered by the Guardian, the first outlet to release the thrust of the proceedings.

In this connection, Riyad is not without knowing that the Iranian military nuclear program is nothing but a hoax proliferated by U.S. war propaganda. Thus, the announcement was intended as a message that Riyad anticipates to be dumped by its Anglo-American allies and is planning its own defense should the revolutions backed by Iran continue to spread.

The closest partners in the world are preparing to divorce by mutual consent.…more

HRW: Bahrain: Investigate New Death in Custody
Thorough, Prompt, and Impartial Inquiries Needed
April 13, 2011

(Manama) – The death of businessman and activist Kareem Fakhrawi on April 12, 2011, shows the urgent need for thorough and impartial investigations into allegations of torture, Human Rights Watch said today. It was the fourth detainee death reported by the Bahrain government in nine days.

At Fakhrawi’s funeral on April 13 in Manama’s Hoora district, a crowd of mourners demanded to see his corpse because of concerns he had been tortured. They wrestled the shrouded body from pallbearers on the way to the cemetery, and took videos and photographs of the body.

“Four detainee deaths in nine days is a crime, not a coincidence,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The government tells families of detainees nothing about their whereabouts or well-being while they are alive or about the circumstances of their deaths.”

Fakhrawi, 49, had been detained since April 3, after he went to the Exhibition Centre police station to complain about a predawn police raid on the house of a relative, one of two nephews who were being sought by the police. The photos of Fakhrawi’s body show a red area on each of his upper arms to his shoulders, similarly discolored areas on his legs, and what appears to be blood on the right side of his neck. Human Rights Watch did not see the body. The Bahrain News Agency, in a Tweet, said an official at the military’s Bahrain Defense Force Hospital “confirmed the death of Kareem Fakhrawi was from kidney failure.” …more

‘Bahrain natl. talk is merely a monolog’
Wed Jul 6, 2011 7:21AM
Interview with Collin Cavell, Professor at Holyoke Community College, Seattle

see video here

There is only a “national monologue” in Bahrain as the Manama regime’s call for a dialogue appears to be an appeasement on the heels of the severe suppression of anti-government protests.

Press TV has interviewed Collin Cavell, a professor at Holyoke Community College in Seattle, to elicit his opinions on the so-called national dialogue which has been described by some as a gesture to quiet down international criticism of the brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters in the Persian Gulf littoral state.

Following is the text of the interview (also supported by Mohammed al-Maskati, head of the Youth Society on Human Rights in Manama and Raza Kazim with the Islamic Human Rights Commission in London).

Press TV: Mr. Cavell, despite human rights situation in Bahrain of the torture taking place reportedly of the political opposition members who are in prison and that is why they cannot join the national dialogue, now we are seeing however that the national dialogue has started. Al-Wefaq and Al-Waad, two of the opposition parties, have joined it.

Do you think this is however a step in the right direction or as some are calling it just a gesture to please the international community?

Cavell: Well, this national monologue is a one-way talk between the king and himself. It is not a dialogue, it is a sham, it is a farce and the only way that this supposed dialogue can have a positive outcome is if the regime makes the minimal concession of allowing the position of prime minister to be elected or placed by the largest electoral party or society in the National Assembly.

That is the minimal concession that will make any positive step forward. Other than that the entire monologue would be a sham.

Press TV: Let’s see where this dialogue idea originally came from. Collin, is it, do you think, Washington that has advised the monarch now to open talks “with all options on the table” rather how strong an influence do you think the US has on the monarch’s policies because we did see the very harsh crackdown on the protests which of course was supported from the (P) GCC [(Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council] members as well.

I’d like you to point to the US as well right here and tell us if you think this is some advice that the United States is currently giving the Bahraini monarch?

Cavell: Absolutely. I am quite sure that the United States has told crown prince Salman Bin Hammed bin Isa al-Khalifa as well as king Hammed the same thing that they must allow the position of prime minister to have some democratic aspect to it and the only way that the minimal possible way that can happen is to allow the largest party of the National Assembly to appoint the prime minister.

So for the US they have told this to the crown prince, they have told this to the king logically whether the two can do that and gang up on one of the richest men in the world is very questionable and I do not see it happening.

Press TV: Collin, the thing is what people and political observers have been saying is that the US is actually not looking for a regime change in Bahrain but it is looking for regime alteration.

What is the rationale behind the approach that the United States government is taking on Bahrain? Do you think it is looking for that regime alteration keeping the fundamentals of the structure of government rather than changing the regime?

Cavell: I am not saying that the US is an honest broker in this process. No, what it is looking for is to maintain its hegemonic control of the region and in order to do that it has to replace the autocratic leaders that has been supporting for the last 40 or 50 years with a new generation of leaders and they have to make some minimal window-dressing with democratic appendages to make it appear that it is popular and the minimal concession that must b made in Bahrain for there to be democratic peace and for there to be continued foreign investment in the country is for the position of prime minister to be appointed by the largest electoral party in the National Assembly.

Now that is what the US would ultimately like to happen otherwise there will be no civil peace in Bahrain and there will be a continuous decline in foreign direct investment in the country.

Press TV: Collin, do you think that the strategy that the Bahraini government is taking, the crackdown we are seeing it is continuing, do you think that this crackdown is going to continue or it might even lead to other serious military confrontations?

Cavell: Absolutely, the crackdown will continue, the arrests, the detentions, the disappearances of the anybody who opposes the regime will continue.

The dialogue as an attempt for the Bahraini regime to say the reconciliation is on the way and business is back to normal but as I said unless that minimal concession is made this national dialogue or as I call it ‘monologue’ will amount to nothing.
…source

The United States reverse policy on the Middle East will backfire as regional autocrats, traditionally backed by the US, find out that the American administration is an existential threat to them.

Press TV talks with Colin Cavell, a former assistant professor at the University of Bahrain, who points out that Arab autocracies fear US foreign policy that seeks to transform regimes in Mideast once popular uprisings take hold.

Press TV: Let’s reflect on what American political activist Noam Chomsky has said – “The US and its allies will do anything to prevent democracy in the Arab world. It (the US) says it supports democracy so why should it want to stifle pro-democracy movements in the Arab world”. Can we have your opinion on that?

Cavell: US principles are in support of democracy when it speaks as a government; US actions on the other hand are often anti-democratic as is the case with its current support for all of the autocratic regimes in the Gulf region, Middle East and North Africa.

What is happening now is that the US fears that if they continue to support the creations that they have endowed and financed and supported with weaponry over the past forty to fifty years that they will lose all control in the region.

What is happening now with the initiative of the Obama Administration and the State Department – and I know some of your viewers will object to this, but – they are trying to refashion the governments of the Middle East, to change the rulers that they have supported in the ME. They did not initiate this, but it is what is happening.

To get ahead of the game they are trying to install client regimes in these particular states who will continue to serve US interests and have a semblance of democracy, but as in all democracies it will be a very limited democracy.

Press TV: When we look at what Robert Gates said about Iran, Syria and Libya; it’s interesting that they don’t put Saudi Arabia, Yemen, or Bahrain into the equation as if they are model democracies. I’d like you to reflect on what Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor has said regarding Bahrain (audio extract played). Basically this message says that the repression goes on, but we’re still a supporter of Bahrain. Would you please provide your comments to what you’ve just heard?

Cavell: US policy in the region is selective, it’s biased, it’s uneven, it’s hypocritical absolutely. It’s trying to gradually push for transformation of the autocratic regimes in the ME without losing its traditional allies and it cannot do that all simultaneously at one point and so it’s been very quiet when it pushes for democratic reforms in Bahrain whereas in regards to Egypt or Tunisia it can support those quite quickly.

This is a policy that is based upon gradual change in the region and it’s a policy that is going to backfire. Why will it backfire? – Because the remaining autocratic regimes see President Obama as a threat to their existence. Obama’s administration is an existential threat to their existence.

In the US there are different factions to the political system. The Bush administration would let the Gulf monarchs do whatever they wanted to; they would have a wink of the eye and they may spout democratic slogans at some point, but nothing would ever happen and no one ever expected anything to happen.

In the Obama administration there is a slight difference and people are seeing change happen. And as our other guest, Sara Flounders admitted that the US is behind much of the military action in the region and the financial subversion of the existing autocratic regimes that is going on. So we do see a difference between the policies of Obama and Bush and the autocratic leaders in the region know this. And they will spend lots of dinars and rials in the upcoming election to unseat Obama. …source

‘US seeks capitalist Middle East’

Interview with Colin Cavell, Fmr University of Bahrain Assistant Prof., Seattle

The sentencing of eight opposition activists to life in prison by a military court in Bahrain for “plotting to overthrow the ruling system” has provoked anger around world.

Press TV has interviewed Colin Cavell, a former assistant professor in the University of Bahrain, regarding the ruling and the lack of action by the US and the UN in Bahrain and its human rights violations.

Press TV: An official of the Human Rights First, Brian Dooley, has been to the court, he said “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.” Do you agree with his assessments?

Cavell: Well from the perspective of legal juries prudence when you are summarily rounded up in the middle of the night by armed thugs, and you are disappeared to some jail or prison who knows where, because your family is not notified where you are taken to, and when you are beaten to submission, and then told weeks later, you would be put on trail the next morning, and you go there, and found guilty, and sentence to either to life in prison or several multi year sentences, then this is what we call a farce. It is not fair, it is what legal expert around world refer to as kangaroo courts. Kangaroo referring to Australian animal that jumps around. Because when you have no due process, and it is arbitrary, then the courts can do whatever it wants without any rhyme or reasons, and that is exactly what is happening here with these savage sentences of these human rights activists, these defender of democracy, these fighters for freedom in Bahrain.

Press TV: Let me ask you about statement that Michael Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights made back in June 2010, before visiting the US base, he went to villages, and talked to people in Bahrain, and later announced that US will double its military presence in Bahrain to do the second phase of the construction there. Is this the reason why that the US does not want to push the Bahrain regime for reforms, and possibly lose the overall presence in there?

Cavell: Definitely the US does not want to give up its military presence in Bahrain. The fifth fleet stationed there, has a docking rights in Bahrain, and they police the entire Middle East region from Bahrain, so the US does not want to give that up. However, on the other hand the Obama Administration is engaged in a policy, I would say generational necessity, to get rid of autocratic client in the region. It’s already engaged in transplanting transitioning different the regimes in Tunisia and in Egypt, and in Yemen, its former clients autocratic states. As well as also chipping to supplant the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya as well as the Assad in Syria, which is not his client states. So it’s trying to transform the entire region, can he do so and ignore the Persian Gulf monarchy? I don’t think so. So I agree with Mr. Ali Ahmad and Mr. Jafar al-Hasabi that the Bahraini regime is deceiving the world, and deceiving itself, when it is putting on these trials and attempting to look legitimate. However there is disagreement, I do think that the US wants to transition these monarchies regimes to traditional capitalist regime and they are going slow at it, because they cannot do all transitioning and transforming at same time.

Press TV: The role of the UN is also under question; just recently UNESCO in Paris asked Bahrain to chair a meeting of a UNESCO’s mission to preserve world heritage sites. But Bahrain’s regime demolished several mosques during protests, so how does that explain the role of the UN in Bahrain?

Cavell: Well, I know Ban Ki-moon Secretary General of the United Nation has spoken out against the violence in Bahrain against the opposition. Why UNESCO is doing this I cannot explain, however, I can say that just yesterday the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek came out against the regime in Bahrain and spoke quite strongly against the violence of the regime and many others, specially the news papers in the US, they are not all claiming that Bahraini Crown Prince is the human rights advocates, there are other news papers that have charged him royally. So there is mix opinion of that in the US and also around the world condemnation of the Bahraini regime in general. …source

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Bahrain Students: Expelled, detained, and prosecuted for expressing their views , as the country starts the National Dialogue
06 July 2011

Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) expresses its deep concern for the continuing and escalating systematic targeting of university students by the Bahraini regime and the Ministry of Education, which are supposed to protect the students’ right to education, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Despite previous calls[1] from BCHR and other rights groups[2] , the Bahraini authorities continued targeting students with expulsions from universities, arrests and prosecution in military court. Up to now, around 300 students have been reportedly expelled in less than two months.
Interrogating Students On Campus

Investigation committees has been established to interrogate the students in University of Bahrain, Bahrain Polytechnic, Bahrain Training Institute and other educational institutions, accusing them of false and baseless allegations like “participating in marches to overthrow the regime” and criminalizing their exercise of basic rights for expressing their opinions.

The investigation process, as described in detail by the students, was as far as could be from professionalism and respect to the students. More than 20 students from Bahrain Polytechnic said almost the same story about the process. They were called for a meeting without knowing the reason; a panel of four headed by Deputy CEO, Dr. Mohammed Al Aseeri, who has been recently appointed, started with reading the accusations that were all around “participating in marches to overthrow the regime” which they all denied.

Students were asked:
– Do you have a facebook account?
– What is your username?
– Have you posted anything anti-government? (They were shown screenshots of their facebook accounts if they deny that they have)
– Have you participated in any marches to overthrow the regime?
– Have you been to lulu (Pearl) roundabout? When? And how many times?
– How long have you been studying in the university?

The answer to the questions above would be followed by one of the members of the investigation panel stating that the student is studying because of the generosity of the king and the ruling family and that they should be more appreciative for the education they were getting. …more

Senate Judiciary Committee Passes Bill on U.S. Civilian Contractor Accountability Abroad
For Immediate Release: June 23, 2011

Washington, D.C.— Today, the Senate made significant strides in closing a pernicious accountability gap for private contractors who commit serious crimes while deployed abroad. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (CEJA), S.1145, designed to hold civilian contractors to the same standards of accountability as Defense Department contractors and service members.

While U.S. troops are held to account under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and private contractors who work in support of DoD’s mission are subject to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, there is an open question of whether civilian contractors not contracted by DoD or working in support of DoD’s mission can be held to account under any jurisdictional statute.

The current ambiguity under U.S. law can lead to absurd results that run counter to our national security and foreign policy interests. In certain circumstances, a U.S. contractor may commit a serious crime like rape or murder with impunity if he happens to work for the State Department rather than the Defense Department, for example. …more

Bahrain’s Human Rights Crisis
Detentions, Torture, Killings, Military Trials Since Protests Began
July 5, 2011

– download report .pdf

Bahrain has brutally punished those protesting peacefully for greater freedom and accountability while the US and other allies looked the other way. The announcement of an independent investigative commission is a very promising first step for holding perpetrators of abuses accountable.

(Washington, DC) – The Bahrain government, since March 2011, has been carrying out a punitive and vindictive campaign of violent repression against its own citizens, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today.

“”Bahrain’s Human Rights Crisis” (click “Download the Report” to the right for the full paper) summarizes Human Rights Watch’s research on the ground since pro-democracy protests began in February. Human Rights Watch found widespread arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detention, torture, and unfair military court trials, as well as summary dismissals of workers accused of sympathizing with the protests. The government has failed to investigate the abuses or hold anyone accountable for these actions. On June 29, the king announced an independent commission of international rights experts to investigate and publicly report on alleged human rights violations.

“Bahrain has brutally punished those protesting peacefully for greater freedom and accountability while the US and other allies looked the other way,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The announcement of an independent investigative commission is a very promising first step for holding perpetrators of abuses accountable.” …more

The silencing crime: Sexual violence and journalists

Few cases of sexual assault against journalists have ever been documented, a product of powerful cultural and professional stigmas. But now dozens of journalists are coming forward to say they have been sexually abused in the course of their work. A CPJ special report by Lauren Wolfe
Chaotic public events are often the setting for sexual abuse of journalists. CBS correspondent Lara Logan was assaulted at this political demonstration in Cairo. (AP/Khalil Hamra)
Published June 7, 2011

NEW YORK
Nine years passed before Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya spoke publicly about the brutal rape she endured while reporting on right-wing paramilitaries in May 2000. On assignment for the Bogotá daily El Espectador, Bedoya was abducted, bound, blindfolded, and taken to a house in the central city of Villavicencio, where she was savagely beaten and raped by multiple attackers.

• Download the pdf

Since she began speaking out, Bedoya said, she has encountered a number of journalists—from Colombia to the United States to Europe—who had been raped or sexually abused but chose to stay quiet because of cultural and professional stigmas. By making her own case more visible, Bedoya said, she hopes to encourage these journalists to “denounce what’s happened to them and be able to ask for justice.”

The 2000 attack on Bedoya was notable in one respect: The assault was reported to authorities and CPJ documented it at the time, making it one of the relatively few recorded cases of sexual assault against a journalist.

Now, the vicious sexual assault of CBS correspondent Lara Logan in Cairo in February has brought the issue into sharp focus, prompting journalists worldwide to begin speaking out in numbers previously unknown. Over the past four months, CPJ has interviewed more than four dozen journalists who have undergone varying degrees of sexual violence—from rape by multiple attackers to aggressive groping—either in retaliation for their work or during the course of their reporting. They include 27 local journalists, from top editors to beat reporters, working in regions from the Middle East to South Asia, Africa to the Americas. Five described being brutally raped, while others reported various levels of sexual assault, aggressive physical harassment, and threats of sexual violence. A similar range of experience was reported by 25 international journalists; two reported being raped, five others described serious sexual violation—ranging from violent, sexual touching, to penetration by hands—and 22 said they had been groped multiple times. Most of the reported attacks occurred within the past five years, although a small number of cases date back as far as two decades.

Many of the assaults fall into three general types: targeted sexual violation of specific journalists, often in reprisal for their work; mob-related sexual violence against journalists covering public events; and sexual abuse of journalists in detention or captivity. Although women constitute the large majority of victims overall, male journalists have also been victimized, most often while in captivity or detention. …more

Saudi-backed forces attack Bahrainis
By shiapost – July 5, 2011Posted in: Bahrain

Saudi-backed government forces have launched an attack on a village in northeastern Bahrain where the people had staged an anti-regime protest.

On Monday, the protesters, who had taken to the streets of Nuwaidrat, called for the implementation of reforms and demanded that Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa step down, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Bahrainis have been holding peaceful demonstrations across the Persian Gulf kingdom since mid-February, calling for an end to the absolute monarchy of the Al Khalifa family.

But the authorities have been brutally suppressing all opposition.

On March 14, troops and police forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government’s crackdown.

Dozens of people have been killed so far and many more wounded in the Saudi-backed attacks on demonstrators.

Hundreds, including doctors, nurses, teachers, and students, have also been abducted.

And many doctors and nurses have been tried in military courts on charges of helping anti-regime protesters. …more

Secretary-General welcomes start of national dialogue in Bahrain
5 July 2011

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the start of a process of national dialogue in Bahrain, taking note of Government steps to improve the political atmosphere by creating an investigations commission, transferring some trials to civilian courts and releasing detainees.

He encouraged the Bahraini authorities to take further steps towards political, economic and social reforms in accordance with the country’s international human rights obligations.

“As the dialogue process gets under way, he urges the Government to do everything possible to ensure a genuine, all-inclusive and meaningful dialogue that will lead to tangible political, economic and social reforms which meet the legitimate aspirations of all Bahraini people,” according to a note released by the spokesperson of the Secretary-General.

Mr. Ban said the process is essential for healing social tensions and promoting greater national unity and stability.

Bahrain was recently hit by unrest similar to the popular protest movements in countries across North Africa and the Middle East this year, notably including Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria and Yemen.

The Secretary-General had last month called for a process of political dialogue that would be “genuine, inclusive and lead to tangible outcomes which address the legitimate aspirations of all Bahrainis.” …more

Delegation travels to Bahrain in bid to secure doctors’ release
03 July 2011 By Susan Mitchell Health Correspondent

An Irish delegation that includes several politicians plans to travel to Bahrain on July 12 in an effort to pressurise the Bahraini authorities to release arrested doctors and nurses there.

The group will include MEP Marian Harkin, former minister for foreign affairs David Andrews and Fianna Fáil senator Averil Power.

The group wants the Bahraini authorities to release the doctors and nurses who were arrested during the pro-democracy demonstrations in the Gulf nation earlier this year.

Their plight has been followed by the world’s media but has a particular resonance in Ireland as three of the Bahraini doctors trained at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI).

The group includes orthopaedic surgeon Professor Damien McCormack, who is one of a number of doctors to criticised the RCSI for its failure to condemn strongly the actions of the Bahraini authorities.

The RCSI’s critics claim it has been compromised by its financial interests in Bahrain. The RCSI denies this. It said working quietly behind the scenes was more effective. …more

Jul 5, 2011
Tunisian prison on fire, inmates escape: Witnesses

TUNIS – AT LEAST one person died on Tuesday when fire broke out at a Tunisian prison and inmates escaped in an incident that highlights the country’s lawlessness six months after the president was ousted.

Witnesses said ambulances rushed to the prison in Gassrine, about 300km south-west of Tunis, to take dozens of injured people to the local hospital.

‘Hundreds of locals have gathered to learn the fate of the prisoners,’ a local resident named Majed told Reuters by telephone. ‘We see ambulances transporting the injured, they seems to be dead.’ A second witness confirmed the account. A medical source told Reuters that one person died.

There has been a spate of prison fires in Tunisia over the past few months. Often the fires are started deliberately by inmates who then, in the confusion, stage mass breakouts.

Tunisia electrified the Arab world in January when protests forced President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to leave the country.

Tunisia’s revolution inspired uprisings in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world. — REUTERS …source

cb Editor Note: There have been a “rash of stories” like the one below from the western media in the days that have lead up to the so called National Dialogue. It appears they are complicit reclaiming a narrative that puts King Hamad in the drivers seat. There has been little to no reporting in the western media about the thousands who have protested against the so called “national dialogue” and were attending the funeral of the latest to be slain in Hamad’s bloody reign. To be clear the “national dialogue” is solely at the design, control and construct of King Hamad, the Shura Council under Hamad’s control has veto power over anything the “dialogue” yields. The “national dialogue” has emerged as a propaganda tool with a hand picked “opposition” at the table as benefactors to the new power structure to be brokered by Hamad.

Much of the opposition remain in Hamad’s prisons with disposition of their appeals and trials postponed until the fall. Hamad seeks to use the detained as hostages to help protect his “national dialogue” sanctioned by the West. Hamad will lead the families of the detained on under the pretense that if all goes well for Hamad’s Bahrain in the coming months perhaps the arbitrary and brutal sentences and charge will be thrown out or reduced. As the opposition, those who reject Hamad’s table of delusion and illusion rise up this summer, Hamad and the West will find renewed justification for the more brutality and more reasons to back away from democracy. This same style of retreat from democracy will occur through out the Arab world for nascent democracies that would prove problematic for Military strategies against Iran or that otherwise threaten US hegemonic aims in the Middle East and North Africa.

The process and the end game are anything but decided and it will prove a long hot and difficult summer for the opposition and the West, which it seems has been grossly under estimated the opposition probably though incompetence and reliance on the inept bureaucracies used to effect manage and interpret change in a volatile world. While the Western spin might make the brutality more palatable for the poll numbers and reelection bids it will do little to change a growing catastrophe in Bahrain or the region. …disturbingly 1979 Iran keeps ringing in my ears? …could it be this is truly the aim of the West, a proxy country to help justify and launch a war against Iran – a sort of sick vindication for 1979 Iran, old warriors and structural demons redeeming regrets with echoes of, could of, should of, would of, scenario against Khomeini’s successful revolution in 1979? what a tidy but delusional package of victories the West could have – scary stuff, very disturbing.

Coming days critical for future of Bahrain
Published: July 4, 2011 at 12:30 PM

MANAMA, Bahrain, July 4 (UPI) — The next few days and months are crucial in helping Bahrain find a solution to solving its problems, the head of National Dialogue says.

National Dialogue begins Tuesday and Issa Abdul Rahman, who heads the organization, said some 300 people from all walks of life will take part to suggest solutions to the country’s problems, Gulf News reported.

“Since February we have had many unfortunate incidents so now we have reached a stage where we need to move forward and focus on the future,” Rahman said. “We have to find a solution for the future of Bahrain.”

Political dissent earlier this year left at least 30 people dead and hundreds injured when government troops opened fire on unarmed civilians. Curfews and other strict security measures were lifted last month.

“I think the mistakes that were made will be identified by the international independent committee that was formed recently,” Rahman said. “The experts that are on the committee have a high profile in international organizations. They will be able to identity who made mistakes and prevent them from happening again.”

Rahman said it is important that issues be correctly identified and addressed.

“We didn’t want to have a National Dialogue and then discover in a few months that not all the areas of concern were not addressed,” Rahman said. …more

Saudi Arabia will dominate Bahrain talks
By shiapost – July 5, 2011Posted in: Bahrain, Middle East

Dubai – Saudi Arabia doesn’t have a seat at Bahrain’s crisis talks, but it carries a critical voice in everything from the tone of debate to the eventual offers on the table.

After four months of Shia-led protests and harsh crackdowns, Saudi Arabia has become the protector, patron and political gatekeeper for Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy in the Gulf leadership’s front-line fight against the Arab Spring.

How Bahrain’s rulers approach the talks – whose first official session is scheduled for Tuesday – largely depends on how far Saudi Arabia is willing to allow concessions on its tiny Gulf neighbor. For the powerful Saudi royal family and its Gulf partners, Bahrain represents a line that cannot be crossed.

Any setbacks by Bahrain’s 200-year-old ruling Al Khalifa dynasty is considered a threat to all monarchs and sheiks in the Gulf – and a possible opening for Shiite power Iran to make headway among the pro-Western Gulf states anchored by Saudi Arabia.

“Bahrain is crucial to Saudi national interest and Riyadh will provide it with all they have to show they are committed to preserving the rule of the Khalifas,” said Ayham Kamel, a Middle East analyst at the Eurasia Group in Washington. …more

Six Wars and Counting
4 July, by Tom Engelhardt

President Obama recently reshuffled his top Washington warriors, sending CIA Director Leon Panetta, a man who knows Congress well, on to the Pentagon to replace retiring Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. In turn, the president is bringing in General David Petraeus, present Afghan War Commander, former Centcom commander, and former Iraq War commander (as well as “Bush’s general”), to run the Agency.

Whatever the local politics involved, and the Petraeus appointment ensures that the potentially popular general will be on the political sidelines for campaign year 2012, these moves catch the zeitgeist of our Washington moment. Since the bin Laden assassination, in which U.S. military special operations forces “commanded” by Panetta took out the al-Qaeda leader, a new face of American war, “where sovereignty is irrelevant, armies tangential, and decisions are secret,” has been emerging according to Foreign Policy in Focus analyst Conn Hallinan.

With the latest news (revealed last week by the New York Times) that the U.S. has launched a significant “intensification” of its secret air campaign against Yemeni tribesmen believed to be connected with al-Qaeda, the U.S. is now involved in no less than six wars. Count ‘em, if you don’t believe me: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, and what used to be called the Global War on Terror. …more

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

New Immigration Legislation Would Allow for Indefinite Detention
By Erin Hustings on June 3, 2011 Tweet this

As the US immigration detention web rapidly expands, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) continues to document the existence of numerous problems within the system that harm and sometimes kill detainees. Inability to meet the advanced and chronic health care needs of survivors of persecution, dangerous disregard for ethical obligations, and the overuse of solitary confinement to “treat” behavioral issues are just some of these problems. Incredibly though, despite our unwieldy and inefficient detention regime, some see a need for more. This sentiment has given rise to proposed legislation – H.R. 1932, the “Keep Our Communities Safe Act” – which would subject more people to mandatory detention while their immigration cases are pending and would allow for the indefinite detention of some people who the government is unable to deport.

A well-attended hearing was held on this bill on Tuesday, May 24th by the House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee. Witnesses offered widely divergent accounts of whom the legislation would affect, and how. Supporters of the bill described immigrants with long rap sheets from countries such as Cuba and Vietnam (with whom the US lacks the diplomatic relationships or agreements necessary to arrange for deportation). Such individuals are currently released after a short period of detention but are subject to safeguards that require them to stay in contact with immigration officials. H.R. 1932 would allow for the continued incarceration of people like this, ostensibly to keep our communities safer.

On the other hand, an ACLU attorney cited sympathetic clients who would be indefinitely detained under H.R. 1932, including an asylum seeker, a decorated Gulf War veteran, and a man who’d fled the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror in Cambodia as a young child. ACLU attorney Arulanantham affirmed that, “most of the immigrants covered by the proposed legislation are anything but dangerous.” In addition, he emphasized the potentially crippling expense of expanding and lengthening detention: at an average of $122 per day, its cost dwarfs that of community supervision, at about $9 a day. …more

Saudis urge political prisoners’ release
By shiapost – July 2, 2011Posted in: Middle East

Saudi protesters have taken to the streets in the eastern city of Qatif in Saudi Arabia, demanding the release of political prisoners in the Arab country.

Despite tight security measures, the protesters held the anti-government demonstration following t
he Friday Prayers.

The protesters also condemned Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the crackdowns on anti-government protests in neighboring Bahrain, and urged the immediate withdrawal of Saudi troops from the tiny Persian Gulf sheikdom.

Protests are illegal in Saudi Arabia and political parties are banned.

Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province has been the scene of anti-government protests over the past months and authorities have arrested scores of people, including bloggers and writers, for taking part in anti-government demonstrations.

Saudi protesters in the east are calling for human rights reform, freedom of expression and the release of political prisoners some of whom held without trial for more than 16 years.

In March, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates deployed troops to Bahrain to help the Manama government crush the nationwide protests. Yet, the protests have only grown more popular. …source

Bahrain’s Hard Justice: Activists Sentenced to Death and Life
By Karen Leigh Wednesday, June 29, 2011

In February, the wheelchair-bound, gray-haired Shi’a anti-government activist Abduljalil al-Singace was released from a six-month prison stint in Bahrain. He celebrated by joining a Shi’a anti-government rally that marched to the King’s palace in Riffa. There, he was sought out and congratulated by hundreds of admirers. Several weeks later, he was re-arrested in a pre-dawn raid and taken to a prison in the island nation’s capital Manama. After that, news of Singace — one of the island kingdom’s most famous opposition figures — grew scarce.

Then, a week ago, Singace was sentenced to death in a military court, along with seven other prominent Bahraini activists, the highest-profile verdict in the weeks since the regime began trying arrested members of the opposition. Another 13 were handed sentences ranging from two to 15 years in prison. …more