Posts from — July 2011

Front Line registers Bahrain Center for Human Rights activists as “Human Rights Defenders”
Left: Sayed Yousif Al Mohafdah, Right: Laywer Mohammed Al Jishi
18th July 2011

In an international recognition of the efforts of the human rights defenders in Bahrain, a number of members of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) received certificates from Front Line registering them in the organization as “Human Rights Defenders”. The registered members were Sayed Yousif Al Mohafdah (board-member in BCHR) and Lawyer Mohammed Al Jishi (attorney for detainees in political cases).

Front Line is an international foundation operating from Dublin for the protection of human rights defenders globally. According to its definition of “Human Rights Defenders” they are individuals who through peaceful means work for the preservation of rights declared by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and others. Front Line strives to provide rapid and practical support to human rights defenders who are in danger and works to increase their identification and recognition as individuals under threat. Front Line has a Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations [1].

“Human rights defenders are people who make extra-ordinary sacrifices, often putting their lives at risk for the human rights of others. They are usually either on the move or on the run and they are the people who change society – that is why they need and deserve our support and why Front Line is so pleased to welcome this cross party support for human rights defenders today” said Mary Lawlor, Director Front Line [2].

Andrew Anderson said that the foundation granted membership to human rights defenders to encourage them to continue their brave work in shedding the light on human rights abuses in Bahrain and to provide some sort of international cover for them due to the dangers they are faced with. Moreover, the foundation installed a security system on the house of the Head of BCHR Nabeel Rajab which was attacked with tear-gas twice in the past two months.

Registering these human rights defenders is considered a recognition and appreciation of their brave work in defending human rights despite the dangers of assault and arrest faced by them. Particularly with them being constantly targeted such as the attempt to arrest Sayed Yousif Al Muhafdah who became active in recent years as a defender of human rights in Bahrain and a human rights blogger. His house was raided in the early hours of the morning and he was banned from travel and was delayed in other instances. Moreover, Lawyer Mohammed Al Jishi was also previously banned from travel and went through interrogation with other lawyers working in cases that were brought before the Military Prosecution in relation to participation in a lawyers’ demonstration at Lulu Roundabout demanding the rule of law on those responsible for the death of many young men in the past February. This comes after a long list of assaults they went through (see BCHR detailed statement [3]) and continued their activities despite them to document the abuses made by the Bahraini regime who took advantage of the “State of National Safety”. …more

Indian Black Money Deposits in Swiss Banks crosses US$ 1.4 Trillion , largest from any Nation in the World
July 19, 2011 – Written by jafrianews

JNN 19 July 2011 : This is an Article written by the Once India’s MP Kuldip Nayar, exposing the facts of the Indian Black Money ,and the Hipocracy of these western countries , which makes laws for International Money laundering and other things , But factually the biggest Market of all the Plundered and looted Wealth of the Developing Nations , whethere India , Pakistan or any other Developing country, they provide safe Heaven for the criminals of National and International repute . And encourage them to loot and Plunder their National Wealth , so the economies of these countries can benefit from the money kept in their Banks. While the Poor People of these Nations live under the Poverty line and dont have excess to food for even One time of a Day.

Now as the Writer Narrates his Personal experiences and observances are as follow :

” I do not think there is any top civil servant or a leading politician in South Asia without the blemish of having a foreign bank account. But the pressure in India on the Manmohan Singh government to bring back the black money stashed abroad has been relentless. But instead of taking any concrete action, the government seems to be trying its best not to let the gamut of black money come to light. Therefore, it is understandable why it is seeking clarifications on the Indian Supreme Court’s indictment: “The issue of unaccounted monies held by nationals and other legal entities in foreign banks is of primordial importance to the welfare of the citizens.”

It had warned the government not to presume that the money hidden in Switzerland was a result of tax evasion. It could be money that has been laundered after being earned from gun-running, drugs, terrorism, etc. The government is yet to give a justification why it has taken the route of entering into double taxation pacts with foreign countries in order to have the names of the tax evaders. Black money from India in Swiss banks, according to the Swiss Banking Association report in 2006, amounted to as much as $1,456 billion. The amount is reportedly more than the deposits of all other countries put together. And it is 13 times the country’s total foreign debt. With this amount, it is estimated, some 450 million people in India could get Rs 100,000 each.

After clearing its foreign debt, India will be left with a surplus almost 12 times larger than its total foreign debt. If this surplus is invested, the amount of interest will be more than the annual budget of the central government. So even if all taxes are abolished, the central government will still have a cushion. My calculations are on the basis of the 2006 figures given by the Swiss Bank Association. The amount must have risen considerably since then.

Expressing lack of faith in investigations this time the Supreme Court has constituted a Special Investigation Team headed by two retired SC judges to probe all black money-related cases. The court itself is supervising the pace of investigation. While announcing the verdict, the court has observed that “politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen are known to park their funds abroad and then try to get them into the country through foreign institutional investors’ route”.

Very pinching remarks but every word is true. I wonder if there would be any effect on the government which has shown little agility to pursue the cases of black money abroad. …more

Obama’s Bush-League World: Is the Obama National Security Team a Pilotless Drone?
By Tom Engelhardt, July 19, 2011
Originally published in TomDispatch

George W. who? I mean, the guy is so over. He turned the big six-five the other day and it was barely a footnote in the news. And Dick Cheney, tick-tick-tick. Condoleezza Rice? She’s already onto her next memoir, and yet it’s as if she’s been wiped from history, too? As for Donald Rumsfeld, he published his memoir in February and it hit the bestseller lists, but a few months later, where is he?

And can anyone be surprised? They were wrong about Afghanistan. They were wrong about Iraq. They were wrong about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. They were wrong about what the U.S. military was capable of doing. The country imploded economically while they were at the helm. Geopolitically speaking, they headed the car of state for the nearest cliff. In fact, when it comes to pure wrongness, what weren’t they wrong about?

Americans do seem to have turned the page on Bush and his cronies. (President Obama called it looking forward, not backward.) Still, glance over your shoulder and, if you’re being honest, you’ll have to admit that one thing didn’t happen: they didn’t turn the page on us.

They may have disappeared from our lives, but the post-9/11 world they had such a mad hand in creating hasn’t. It’s not just the Department of Homeland Security or that un-American word “homeland,” both of which are undoubtedly embedded in our lives forever; or the Patriot Act, now as American as apple pie; or Guantanamo which, despite a presidential promise, may never close; or all the wild, overblown fears of terrorism and the new security world that goes with them, neither of which shows the slightest sign of abating; or the National Security Agency’s surveillance and spying on Americans which, as far as we can tell, is ongoing. No, it’s scores of Bush policies and positions that will clearly be with us until hell freezes over. Among them all, consider the Obama administration’s updated version of that signature Bush invention, the Global War on Terror.

Yes, Obama’s national security officials threw that term to the dogs back in 2009, and now pursue a no-name global strategy that’s meant not to remind you of the Bush era. Recently, the White House released an unclassified summary of its 2011 “National Strategy for Counterterrorism,” a 19-page document in prose only a giant bureaucracy with a desire to be impenetrable could produce. (Don’t bother to read it. I read it for you.) If it makes a feeble attempt to put a little rhetorical space between Obama-style counterterrorism and what the Bush administration was doing, it still manages to send one overwhelming message: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, et al., are still striding amongst us, carrying big sticks and with that same crazed look in their eyes.

The Global War on Terror (or GWOT in acronym-crazed Washington) was the bastard spawn of the disorientation and soaring hubris of the days after the 9/11 attacks, which set afire the delusional geopolitical dreams of Bush, Cheney, their top national security officials, and their neocon supporters. And here’s the saddest thing: the Bush administration’s most extreme ideas when it comes to GWOT are now the humdrum norm of Obama administration policies — and hardly anyone thinks it’s worth a comment. …more

CIA Vaccination Program to Catch Bin Laden Makes Middle-East Even More Suspicious of Vaccinations
By Shiran Shen, July 28, 2011

CIA polioSince the global anti-polio campaign was launched in 1988, the number of polio cases has dropped by more than 99 percent. As of now, only Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan still suffer from the spread of polio. Supporters of the anti-polio campaign estimated that the elimination of polio would produce a net benefit of $40 billion — $50 billion by 2035. However, the global anti-polio campaign has recently been complicated by the scandal that the CIA ran an operation to verify Osama bin Laden’s location by gathering DNA samples through a false-flag hepatitis B vaccination program. This incident also further complicates the already strained U.S.-Pakistan relationship after it was uncovered that a Washington nonprofit funnels money from Pakistan’s spy agency to lobby Congress on Kashmir.

Resistance to vaccination gained much momentum in the wake of 9/11 and the subsequent War on Terror. In Nigeria and Pakistan, at least, Muslim clerics have taken on roles to spread rumors that America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were part of a wider war on Islam. In 2003, religious leaders in Nigeria led the resistance to vaccination campaigns by spreading rumors that the shots were in fact sterilization drugs, part of a Western conspiracy to reduce African birthrates. In 2007, Taliban clerics in Pakistan also joined the anti-vaccination campaigns. Resistance also developed in extremely poor areas in Uttar Pradesh in India. It took a tremendous effort from the World Health Organization to reach out to religious authorities to dismiss these misconceptions.

And now these efforts are jeopardized by the CIA’s polio vaccine plot in Pakistan.

According to a Guardian report, the CIA worked with Shakil Afridi, a surgeon in Khyber Agency—a tribal agency that borders Afghanistan to the east—to lure families in for hepatitis B vaccinations. In addition to giving the shots, the medical team collected DNA from the blood of the patients. To make the vaccine drive seem less suspicious, Afridi even started in a poorer part of town before moving to Abbottabad.

The vaccination plan was conceived after American intelligence officers tracked an al-Qaeda courier…to what turned out to be bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound last summer.

The agency…wanted confirmation that bin Laden was there before mounting a risky operation inside another country. DNA from any of the Bin Laden children in the compound could be compared with a sample from his sister, who died in Boston in 2010, to provide evidence that the family was present. …more

Bahrainis to stage anti-US Friday sit-in
shiapost | July 28, 2011

Anti-government protesters chant slogans in a mosque in Bahrain. (file photo)

Bahrain’s February 14 Movement has called for a mass sit-in in front of the US embassy in Manama to condemn Washington’s interference in the internal affairs of the Persian Gulf country.

The spokesman of the Bahraini movement, Abdul Raouf al-Shayeb, said that the demonstrators intend to voice their opposition on Friday against the US support of the Al Khalifa regime.

The protesters seek to maintain the right to determine their own destiny, al-Shayeb added.

The main Bahraini opposition group, al-Wefaq, has also called for fresh rallies on Friday.

Al-Shayeb’s remarks come as Saudi-backed Bahraini regime forces continue cracking down on peaceful demonstrators.

On Wednesday, the regime forces attacked the protesters in the village of Nuwaidrat, according to witnesses.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates deployed their first batch of military forces to Bahrain in mid-March.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia deployed more forces in Bahrain in an attempt to further help the ruling regime clamp down on anti-regime demonstrators.

In June, a military court in Bahrain tried seven opposition activists including al-Shayeb in absentia for “plotting to overthrow the ruling system.” The opposition spokesman was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

Anti-regime protesters have been holding demonstrations across the country since mid-February, calling on the ruling family to relinquish power.

Scores of protesters have been killed — many under torture — and numerous others detained and transferred to unknown locations during the regime’s brutal onslaught on protesters. …source

Why Is Obama’s State Department Uneasy About Democracy?
Jul. 7 2011 – 5:16 pm – Forbes – Richard Miniter

RABAT, Morocco—This past weekend Americans weren’t the only people celebrating their freedom.

On July 1, Morocco, became the first Arab country to peacefully vote itself into freedom–complete with a bicameral congress, elected president, protections for religious minorities (including the long-established Jewish community) and equal rights for women.

Yet the response from Washington was… cue the crickets.

The noisy silence is telling. President Barack Obama has said nothing about the first Arab country to become a democracy without U.S. tanks rumbling through its streets or mass uprisings of its citizens. Nor have congressional Republicans said much.

Washington, especially Obama’s State Department, has a democracy problem. Too many see democracy promotion as a Bush-era priority, others see democracy as “cultural imperialism,” and still others see dangers, not opportunities. The fear is that the Muslim Brotherhood or some other radical Islamist group may come to power.

The democracy doubters couldn’t be more wrong. The 19th century classical liberal thinkers were right about universal values being universal and people having a natural longing for natural rights.

Only by denying ordinary people their rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly is mass support of extremists born. Give people rights and an outlet and the extremists will sidelined. Of course, this must be done gradually and with care, as Morocco has done steadily since 2000.

The Morocco democracy referendum won with the participation of 73.46% of eligible voters, according to Morocco’s constitution council, the government body that supervised the referendum. By contrast, the most recent national election (for an assembly with far weaker powers) attracted only 37.5% of eligible voters. Almost three-quarters of Moroccans did not see democracy as a foreign import, but as a natural right long delayed in arriving.

And the huge turnout was a remarkable rebuke to the radical Islamists who called for a boycott. Al Qaeda’s North African wing, Al Qaeda in the Magreb (AQIM), has repeatedly thundered its opposition to democracy, which, in their view, substitutes the views of the majority for the strict Sharia law of God. They lost, overwhelmingly.

Some 97.5% of voters voted yes, indicating that almost three-quarters of adult Moroccans want real, Western-style democracy. Another 1.5% voted no, with the balance casting blank or spoiled ballots.

But Washington’s mindset is mired in the late 1960s and 1970s, when many of the senior policy makers graduated from college. Perhaps they read too much Marx and too little Mill, leaving them mentally unprepared for a complex world.

Thus, the few official statements from the State Department have been clueless and damaging.

In the run-up to the July 1 referendum, a State department spokesman used a single tepid adjective to describe the move toward the Arab world’s first peaceful democratic revolution: “encouraging.”

When I went to the Casablanca office of Ahmed Charai, publisher of L’Observateur and number of other Moroccan newspapers and magazines, I could tell the adjective still stung. His English was good enough to know that “encouraging” is what you say about a D student who has finally managed a C+.

Over the next few days, I heard that word “encouraging” parsed by a number of other prominent Moroccans, including the Minister of Interior Saad Husar, who oversees the nation’s internal police forces. The word seemed insultingly small and careful; a word best reserved for a development in North Korea.

It is not a word for a dramatic shift from an absolute (though relatively gentle) monarchy with a weak consultative assembly to a constitutionally limited monarchy with a strong, sovereign parliament and an elected president who can remove executive branch officials without entreating the king. …more

Bahrain reinstates 564 sacked workers
Manama: Wed, 27 Jul 2011

A total of 564 workers sacked as a consequence of the recent unrest in Bahrain have been reinstated so far, while dismissals of 370 workers had nothing to do with recent incidents, said the kingdom’s Labour Minister.

A total of 244 sacked workers didn’t submit any complaints after they found other jobs or made settlements or retired, Jameel Humaidan pointed out.

A committee, in charge of looking into dismissals of workers, has submitted its final report to concerned authorities.

Ministry officials are holding regular meetings with companies’ managers to finalise new lists of workers to be reinstated. – TradeArabia News Service

…source

NATO seeks urgent exit strategy in Libya
by Staff Writers – London (UPI) Jul 26, 2011

NATO is seeking an urgent exit strategy from Libya that will end the fighting and decide the future of embattled leader Moammar Gadhafi, even if that means letting him stay in the country though out of power, it emerged Tuesday after British and French foreign ministers met in London.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said NATO and even members of the opposition Transitional National Council wouldn’t oppose Gadhafi staying in Libya as long as he gave up power.

In the only Libyan voice of dissent reported so far, activist Soliman Albrassi, living in London, said allowing Gadhafi to stay in Libya would be a recipe for civil war, the BBC said.

Hague and Juppe received support for the proposal from former British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, who said it would be important to avoid a “blood bath in Tripoli” — seen as a likely outcome if a final military push to the Libyan capital triggered close combat.

Hague said: “What happens to Gadhafi is ultimately a question for the Libyans … What is absolutely clear, as Alain (Juppe) has said, is that whatever happens, Gadhafi must leave power. He must never again be able to threaten the lives of Libyan civilians nor to destabilize Libya once he has left power.”

“Obviously him leaving Libya itself would be the best way of showing the Libyan people that they no longer have to live in fear of Gadhafi,” Hague said.

“But as I have said all along, this is ultimately a question for Libyans to determine.”

Juppe said the allies were in “perfect cooperation” in Libya and “must continue to exert strong pressure on the Libyan regime with the same methods.”

“If we did not intervene four months ago it would have been a massacre in Benghazi and I think we may be proud to have taken this courageous decision,” Juppe said.

Diplomacy is being driven by lack of results from the military campaign as it drains NATO resources amid constant Libyan opposition pleas for more military aid, food and medical supplies.

NATO decision-makers are treading cautiously to forestall an escalation that could pit them against a moral dilemma or — worse — require large-scale military commitments on ground.

Military analysts said more than half of Tripoli’s key installations are in ruins after NATO bombardment and missile strikes and rebel action. There were renewed reports of worsening shortages of food and fuel in the Gadhafi ranks. …more

Athletes rally in Baghdad, demand release of Iraqi football player detained in Bahrain
SAMEER N. YACOUB Associated Press

5:45 a.m. EDT, July 27, 2011
BAGHDAD (AP) — Dozens of athletes rallied in Baghdad on Wednesday, demanding the release of a 16-year-old Iraqi football player detained in Bahrain earlier this year when the country was swept by anti-government protests.

Hussein Aboud, a coach in Baghdad’s al-Hadoud club, says the arrest of Zulfiqar Naji was not justified and was politically motivated. Naji plays for Bahrain’s al-Muharraq club, and his supporters say he did not participate in protests against the Bahraini government.

“We demand the release of Naji, whose arrest was unjustifiable,” Aboud said. “He is being kept in prison because Bahraini authorities want to show that the protests are a foreign conspiracy.”

Video: Surveillance video captures Norway blast

The Baghdad protesters were wearing their club jerseys. They held posters of Naji and banners urging the Iraqi government to intervene to ensure his immediate release.

His father, Abdulameer Naji, accused the Iraqi government for doing little to help.

“The whole family has been living in constant ordeal for the past four months,” the father said. “My son did nothing wrong, and he is now in custody based on false information.”

Earlier this month, Iraq’s foreign ministry said it was trying to obtain the release of the young player from Bahrain’s custody.

Hundreds of opposition supporters, protesters and at least 150 athletes and sports officials have been detained since Bahrain imposed martial law in March to quell dissent. Dozens have been tried in a special security tribunal with military prosecutors.

Bahrain lifted the emergency rule in June. The country’s Sunni rulers also halted trials in the military-linked tribunal and shifted all protest-related detainees to civilian courts.

Several weeks ago, FIFA said Bahraini football officials have given the sport’s governing body assurances that national team players haven’t been disciplined during political turmoil in the Gulf kingdom. …source

Bahrain Students Feel Regime’s Wrath
Tuesday, 26 July 2011

The way the authorities in Bahrain are responding to the protests that have crippled this island kingdom since February 14, 2011 shows they are not short of means to suppress demands for more rights and freedom.

When the people decided to go to the streets to pressure the regime into making genuine political reforms, doctors, teachers, taxi drivers, businessmen, lawyers and people from all walks of life joined in support of the protesters’ cause. The regime was taken by surprise and it suddenly realised that thwarting the formal opposition was not enough, and that it needed to do something more drastic to deter its critics.

More than 2,000 public servants, doctors and workers from both the public and private sectors were dismissed from their work. Thousands more men, women, minors, doctors, nurses and journalists were arrested, interrogated and tortured in custody.

According to reports, at least four people have died under torture in prison. To spread fear, checkpoints were set up to intimidate. Security forces carried out night-time raids on villages to terrorise. The main Salmaniya medical centre and private hospitals were raided to round up wounded protesters and put them in jail. A state of terror has gripped the island since the violent crackdown in March on the Pearl square protesters. The intention has been very clear; to silence everyone.

Within this context and against this gloomy backdrop, the regime hunted down students who took part or were suspected to have taken part in the demonstrations. They were called Bahrain university for questioning. Those found “guilty” of so-called offences were suspended for one year or expelled from university for good, and referred to the police. The offences ranged from being photographed at a demonstration, holding a banner or waving a flag, blogging, tweeting or posting a comment on Facebook.

One of the affected students said that there were no set rules for handing down the “disciplinary” actions against them. No one knew exactly why they was suspended or expelled from the university, and students were not able to get copies of their academic credits.…more

The Courtship of Iran and Pakistan
By Abolghasem Bayyenat, July 25, 2011

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari greets Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; photo by Alireza Sotakbar, courtesy of ISNAPakistani President Asif Ali Zardari paid a second visit to Tehran last weekend after having been there only three weeks ago. Official reports by Pakistani and Iranian sources broadly characterized the visit as “part of the ongoing process to strengthen bilateral ties, step up consultations with countries in the region for peace and stability at a time when tension was developing in some parts and for promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan and fighting militancy.” But this rationale hardly warrants two head-of-state level official visits in such a short span of time. After all, lower-level officials could have dealt with such concerns, as in the past.

On the other hand, contrary to some far-fetched speculation, Pakistan is not likely to be playing a mediating role between Iran and the West (when Pakistan’s relationship with the United States is so vexed) or acting as a mediator between Saudi Arabia and Iran (when the two countries are now on better speaking terms).

In light of recent developments in Pakistan’s foreign policy, Zardari’s made two visits in three weeks to Tehran because of the unfolding political crisis between Pakistan and the United States provoked by the U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideout near Islamabad in early May. Pakistan strongly condemned the raid as a blatant violation of its national sovereignty. It restricted the U.S. military’s access of its soil for conducting drone strikes on suspected militants and reducing the number of U.S. military advisors in Pakistan. The United States retaliated by freezing $800 million worth of military aid to Islamabad.
Reasons for Attraction

Even in the absence of a crisis in U.S-Pakistan relations, Iran and Pakistan have abundant rationales for establishing a dependable framework for closer bilateral relations. Apart from the cultural and religious bonds between the two nations, economic and security considerations drive relations of the two countries. …more

West must support democracy in Arab world as it did in Central Europe

Western leaders must support democracy in the Arab world now in 2011 as they did in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989. The time for viewing dictatorships as defenders of Western civilization is finished.

By Laszlo Bruszt and David Stark / July 27, 2011
Fiesole, Italy

The summer has not brought consolidation to processes of political change in North Africa. The political landscapes in Egypt and Tunisia are highly volatile. With only a few months before crucial elections, it is still highly uncertain who and what can guarantee that elections will widen and not narrow the road to consolidated democracy.

This situation is remarkably similar to the one Central Europeans experienced during their summer of uncertainty in 1989. But, whereas Western leaders offered a new vision about political change in Eastern Europe, the clumsy steps by Western leaders in 2011 do nothing to promote guarantees for democratic outcomes in North Africa, and they might actually have detrimental effects.

Democratic transitions in Central Europe in 1989 and those in North Africa today have an important feature in common. Authoritarian regimes on both continents were embedded in geopolitical pacts: External support given to these repressive regimes was seen as integral for sustaining regional stability.

In Eastern Europe, interventions by key Western leaders, at a highly uncertain and crucial conjuncture, helped reframe notions of regional security. Confronting head-on the dominant views that saw regime change in these countries as a potential threat to stability, they pictured democratization as an opportunity to recast global and regional frameworks.

RELATED: People-powered democratic revolts – do they last?

Central European democrats in 1989, like their North African counterparts in 2011, confronted a dual problem in uncharted territory. While challenging the domestic rules of the game that sustained authoritarianism, they also challenged the regional rules of the game that sustained these oppressive regimes. In so doing, they threatened external actors who took for granted that their interests were best served by the status quo. …more

Breivik failed to achieve his goals: Oslo Imam
shiapost | July 27, 2011

Attacks carried out by Anders Breivik did not help him achieve his goals, and all ethnic and religious communities in Norway are united as never before, director of the World Islamic Mission in Oslo, Najeeb-ur-Rehman Naz told the ITAR-TASS news agency.

A mourning service will be held in Norway`s largest mosque tonight in memory of those who died in twin attacks last Friday.

“This is a real tragedy, and it has nothing to do with religion”, said Rehman Naz.

Statistics say migrants make up 28% of the Oslo population, half of them come from Muslim countries. …source

Norway: Democratic Defiance Amid Devastation
Posted by: Simon Maghakyan, July 26, 2011

Tragedies often bring out anger, outburst, and, sometimes, hate. Not so much in Norway. Amid the devastating massacre of dozens, Norway is making sure its soul of tolerance is not stained with blood. Below are top five inspiring quotes by Norwegian officials.

1. Mayor of Oslo: “We shall punish the terrorist, and this will be his punishment: more democracy, more tolerance, more generosity.”

2. Norwegian Prime Minister: “…the answer to violence is even more democracy.”

3. Diplomat Steinar Gil: “Norway will not change. Evil will not prevail.”

4. Norwegian Prime Minister: “With the strongest of all weapons — the free word and democracy — we stake our course for Norway.”

5. Crown Prince of Norway: “Tonight the streets are filled with love. We have chosen to meet hatred with unity. We have chosen to show what we stand for.”

Norway’s message is clear: counter terror with more democracy. As Ernest Hemingway has said, courage is grace under pressure. May the Norwegian victims rest in peace. And may Norway’s democracy prevail. …source

Mounting fears for Bahraini teachers held after protests
27 July 2011 – Amnesty International

Bahrain’s authorities must immediately release two teachers held since they led a strike in March if they are being held solely for their involvement in peaceful protests, Amnesty International said today amid claims one of them was tortured.

Jalila al-Salman and Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb were among several board members of the Bahrain Teachers’ Association (BTA) arrested in Manama after the group called for a teachers’ strike amid wide-scale pro-reform protests in March.

Their colleagues have since been released, but the two – the group’s former president and vice-president – are still facing trial on charges that include “inciting hatred against the regime” and “calling to overthrow and change the regime by force”.

“None of the statements made in relation to the teachers’ strike advocated violence of any kind. If these teachers are being held solely because they led a peaceful demonstration, they must be released immediately,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director.

“We are very concerned about reports that Jalila al-Salman was beaten in custody – Bahraini authorities must immediately set up a full, impartial and independent investigation into these allegations and bring to justice anyone found responsible.”

Following the unrest in Bahrain in February and March, the Minister of Human Rights and Social Development dissolved the BTA’s board and replaced them with government appointees.

More than 40 security officers raided Jalila al-Salman’s house in Manama on 29 March. At first, she was reportedly taken to the Criminal Investigations Directorate and held in solitary confinement and subjected to beatings for about a week.

She was then transferred to a detention centre in ‘Issa Town, just south of the capital, where she remains. Her family learned of her whereabouts two months after her arrest, but have only been allowed to visit her on two occasions, under strict surveillance.

Both Jalila al-Salman and Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb appeared before a military court several times in June before their cases were transferred to a civilian court and postponed until further notice. …more

The Pearl’s Pillars
by Maryam Al-Khawaja

Five arms stretched from the ground
Each palm embraced the pure limp bodies in shrouds

Their reflection was a wide glow in the dark night

Shining down on the peaceful crowds
Five arms stretched from the ground
Each palm held a cry of “Allahu Akbar”
Held a revolutionary song
Held a poem of defiance
Held a scream for freedom

Five arms stretched from the ground
Palms covered with a grave of flowers
Fingertips pointing towards the heavens
A mother’s tears celebrating a wedding’s last hours

Five arms came down with vengeance
But heroes stood their ground
Flowers in hand
Bullets were the only answer they found

She stood there
Flag held high
The red splattered blood on the earth
As the remaining white screamed “I am peaceful!”

Five arms stood no more
Like the fresh buds of spring
Arms emerged from every futile earth
Rising above lands
Diseased with money and power

The red seeped through the earth
With the cries of the martyrs’ children
The ground shook
And the throne broke
King came down on his knees
In the air echoed the crown prince’s pleas

“I promise you words
Words worth your blood
Come now, don’t delay
Come to dialogue I say
Hand in hand
Pull me out from the quicksand
And in this dark hour
Help me stay in power”

The young voice drowned his pleas
Thus into hiding he fleas
“Accountability, accountability,
You have lost your credibility
When your army shot our sons
Using U.S. made guns”

So the tribe caught her
and beat her with knives and swords
Then showered her with stones
As they cried to the world
“Stone her she is sectarian
She eats at Lebanese restaurants
And owns Iranian rugs
Our unarmed tanks she hunts
No we swear those are not our thugs”
And foreign hands played the melody to their cries
As they spread propaganda and lies

Plays of deceit
Created by their playwrights
“You are Shiaa
Every year
We discover and foil your plan
Of overthrowing our clan
In the restaurant you were trained
And the rug in conspiracy we framed
Close down the restaurant
The rugs tear to bits
Quickly quickly
Before they discover our fibs”

Slowly but surely
From beneath the rubble
A fist emerged
“Do what you will
My voice you cannot kill
My land I will never betray
And from the path of righteousness I will not stray
I stand against every foreign intervention
While you invite them to kill and put my people in detention
My determination will not heed
Nor will your plays succeed
For I am not Shiaa
Nor am I Sunni

I am forever only Bahraini!

The Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t pose a threat to democratic reform, a top military official said this week.
Wednesday, July 27,2011 11:39 – by Desmond Shephard

The Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t pose a threat to democratic reform, a top military official said this week. Major General Said el-Assar, in an attempt to quell international worries of the growing Brotherhood popularity in the country, said fears of the Islamic group are unfounded.

He said the Brotherhood had a right to participate in the political life and future of Egypt as does any other group in the country.

“They are not seeking to have a religious country,” said Assar, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) that took control when ousted President Hosni Mubarak relinquished power.

“They have to have the same rights as all Egyptians.”

Assar assured an audience on Sunday at the United States Institute of Peace, a government-funded organization, that the military council is eager to hand over authority to civilian parliament and president to be elected later this year.

Elections are scheduled for November, after having been pushed back from an initial September date. Ongoing protests here in Cairo are continuing to call for the end of military rule, despite the timetable established by the ruling junta.

The general continued to say that the 1979 Camp David Accords with Israel will not be amended and the military remains committed to international treaties.

However, he was reported to say that newly elected officials must respond to public sentiment in Egypt. …source

[cb editorial note: In a slightly contrary position to the article below, the military build up of Saudi Arabia as a counter force or provocateur to Iran increases Saudi belligerence in the region. Consequently the villages and communities that would engage in local opposition to an ally (al Khalifa) that endorses Saudi Arabia’s side of a more aggressive regional conflict, also become victims to it’s scourge, even though in their opposition they do not necessarily subscribe to Iranian goals or conduct themselves contrary to Western regional ambitions.

As Saudi Arabia becomes more aggressive and militarily powerful it will discern any enmity within it’s lackeys as a single opposition and lash out against it even though this may not be the reality. Saudi Arabia lacks the sophistication and depth of intelligence to understand or discern the difference between local opposition and those who would engage a regional conflict. In short the house of Saud is out of order for such discernment.

The emerging military role for Saudi Arabia is reminiscent of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq as it engaged in adventuresome conflicts with Iran and it’s neighbors amid strong US and European backing – we all know his demise, hung at the hands of his allies surrogates. It seems Kings and Tyrants make some very dangerous friends – so it is with greed and oil.

A giant takes down the forest because it is too uncoordinated to cut down one tree. Foolish are those who would give the giant an axe that is made to take down the forest. The uprising in Bahrain maybe an good example of this phenomena. ]

Article – Germany Arms Saudis Against Iran
By Julio Godoy

BERLIN, Jul 25, 2011 (IPS) – Germany’s delivery of armoured tanks to Saudi Arabia is not aimed at repressing local or regional popular uprisings, but to improve Saudi military capabilities in a likely war against Iran, diplomatic and military experts say.

The German government’s decision to deliver 200 state-of-the-art Leopard 2 armoured tanks to the Saudi monarchy – a deal estimated at 1.8 billion euros – has triggered a wave of criticism by opposition leaders, commentators, the church and human rights groups.

Despite this criticism, the German government has defended the delivery of the tanks to Saudi Arabia, arguing that the Saudi monarchy, albeit a despotic regime, is “a pillar of stability” in the Middle East.

The German government also cites lack of U.S. or Israeli opposition, as justification for the deal with Saudi Arabia.

Contrary to the apprehension expressed by opposition leaders, commentators, and human rights groups, diplomatic and military experts believe that the Saudi regime will not use the German tanks to repress local popular uprisings demanding democratic reforms, but to eventually wage a war against Iran.

“To repress domestic enemies, the Saudis can use better suited equipment, including some 2,000 armoured troops transport vehicles,” said Josef Joffe, publisher of the weekly newspaper ‘Die Zeit’.

Joffe is considered one of the most outspoken defenders among German media of the U.S.-Western European military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). He also has links to the U.S. and to the Israeli governments.

By delivering the Leopard 2 tanks to Saudi Arabia, Joffe added, “Germany, together with the U.S.A. and Israel, is sending a message to the region, specifically to Iran: Here is more [military] deterrence. This argument should not be sneezed at.” …more

Special to The Narco News Bulletin
By Erin Rosa – July 26, 2011

US Officials Say They Won’t Give a Reason for Blocking Mexican Human Rights Defender’s Flight
When Asked About the Incident, Transportation Security Administration Agency Cites ‘Security’ Matters

Mexican mathematician and human rights defender Raquel Gutiérrez Aguilar was blocked from traveling from her home country to Europe by the US government, according to a brief statement from the country’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agency. However, the TSA and other government agencies won’t say why Gutiérrez Aguilar, an internationally respected author and analyst of social movements, was stopped mid-flight and barred from crossing into US airspace.

“The United States has the authority to deny access to US airspace. For security reasons, we will not discuss the details surrounding when or why access is denied,” the TSA told Narco News in a statement. The agency wouldn’t disclose anymore information about the incident. The US Embassy in Mexico City directed questions to the TSA.

On July 20, Gutiérrez Aguilar boarded a Aeroméxico flight from Mexico City to Barcelona, for a connecting flight to Rome, Italy. In the early dawn hours of July 21, the flight was forced to land in the Mexican city of Monterrey because it had been denied passage into US airspace, according to passenger Gutiérrez Aguilar. She wrote an open letter after the incident, stating that, “The flight was going normally until a little after midnight when the captain said that we would be returning to Monterrey because US airspace had been closed off.”
[Read more →]

Obama’s Expanded Militarism
By Kailash Srinivasan, FPIF – July 20, 2011

Last month’s release of the National Strategy for Counterterrorism has brought much joy to many foreign policy liberals. Finally, the ghosts of the Bush administration have been exorcised. Finally, the president speaks of law and allies instead of war and an “axis of evil.” Coupled with the recent announcement of a timetable to end combat operations in Afghanistan, liberals have taken heart at the apparent shift in national security strategy. Such sentiments are understandable given the foreign policy quagmire of the past decade.

And yet, those who laud the new announcement as a fundamental realignment fail to realize that the self-limitations on the part of the United States are, in many cases, vast expansions in authorization for the use of force against “ungoverned spaces.” The symbol of this expansion of power is the predator drone, which will police these ungoverned spaces by surgical strikes of unlimited scope.

Drones are the perfect weapons for the post-Cold War world of globalization that has radically compressed our notions of time and space and made a formerly predictable international environment chaotic. Drones, which can move with speed across vast geographic spaces, are the ultimate tool for a global policeman who aspires to maintain order over vast distances. As such, the new American strategy is both a dramatic departure from and a culmination of the Pentagon’s post-Cold War strategic paradigm. …more

A Visit from the FBI
By Yasir Aladdin Afifi, July 21, 2011

Patriot ActsThis August, Voice of Witness will release Patriot Acts: Narratives of Post-9/11 Injustice, edited by Alia Malek, an author (A Country Called Amreeka) and former Department of Justice attorney. A collection of oral histories, Patriot Acts tells the stories of men and women who have been needlessly swept up in the War on Terror. In their own words, narrators recount personal experiences of the post-9/11 backlash that have deeply altered their lives and communities. For more information on the book, visit Voice of Witness.

In this excerpt of oral history, edited by Alia Malek, Yasir Aladdin Afifi describes how he discovered that he was enmeshed in the FBI’s web of surveillance.

In October 2010, I took my car to my mechanic in Santa Clara for an oil change. As the mechanic was elevating the car on the hydraulic lift, I noticed that there was something like a piece of string or wire coming out from the back. Then, when the car was fully elevated, I noticed this black device under the back of the car. I asked the mechanic to pull it out, and he handed it to me. He was somewhat freaked out.

There was a big, black rod attached to something that looked like a walkie-talkie. I wasn’t freaked out because I had an idea of what it was— it looked like a tracking device! I didn’t think it was normal at all, and I had a feeling it was the FBI who’d put it there.

When I got home, some of my friends and I Googled the serial number of the tracking device. What came up was “Federal Property Tracking Device GPS, $1500, $4,200, $3,200.” I was thinking about selling it. I’m a salesman, that’s what we do! …more

U.S. and Mexican Governments Continue to Brush Aside Perspectives of Drug War Victims
By Tania Arroyo, July 22, 2011

Guatemalans marching for Cabral(Pictured: Guatamelans marching after murder of Facundo Cabral.)

On July 8, the “war on drugs” claimed another victim, the songwriter Argentine Facundo Cabral, the victim of an ambush in Guatemala. Cabral, a tireless pacifist, was killed when three carloads of gunmen ambushed the vehicle in which he was riding. This is an irreparable loss to the Argentine and Latin American people.

The victims of this drug war have mostly been anonymous, from the perspective of the global media. But the war has begun to claim some famous people, like Cabral. In Mexico the murder of the son of renowned intellectual Javier Sicilia has led to the emergence of a strong and important social movement calling for an end to the war on drugs. This movement forced President Felipe Calderon to initiate a dialogue with society: an imperfect dialogue but dialogue at least.

Despite this social message, on June 22, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced in Guatemala that the U.S. government would spend nearly $300 million this year helping governments in Central America confront the mafias that smuggle cocaine to American consumers. At the same event, President Felipe Calderon called for more resources from the international community to fund this ill-advised strategy to combat crime. He dismissed the notion of a symbolic contribution, “because this is not about charity,” and asked for an amount equal to the billions of dollars received by criminals to run their operations.

Ironically, the next day, Calderón met with Javier Sicilia in México for a dialogue that seemed to have deaf ears. Sicilia said to the Mexican president, “Watch carefully our faces. Search carefully our names. Hear our words. We represent innocent victims. Do we look like collateral damage or statistics?” He asked Calderón to apologize for the 40,000 deaths caused by the struggle against organized crime. The president responded that he wouldn’t apologize for having pursued the offenders. “Javier, you’re wrong,” he said. “I regret not having sent federal forces in earlier.” …more

Bahrainis stage fresh anti-govt. rallies
shiapost | July 26, 2011

Thousands of Bahraini anti-government protesters have poured into the streets across the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom to call for the removal of the Al Khalifa royal family from power.

Demonstrators staged rallies in several villages to also voice outrage over the Saudi-backed violent suppression of peaceful protesters in Bahrain, a video obtained by Press TV showed.

Regime forces attacked and rounded up dozens of protesters during a rally in the island city of Sitra, situated 12 kilometers (7 miles) southeast of the capital Manama. There were several women among the demonstrators, the report added.

Meanwhile, an international commission set up by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has launched a probe into the Saudi-backed regime’s crackdown on popular protests in the country.

The panel, which consists of a team of six non-Bahraini investigators, will examine the controversial role of security forces during popular demonstrations that have rocked Bahrain in recent months.

“We will investigate the role of the army. The army is not above the law and not beyond the law,” said Cherif Bassiouni, chairman of the panel.

It will also investigate allegations that opposition activists and protesters have been tortured by the Saudi-backed regime’s forces.

The development comes as Saudi Arabia deployed more forces in Bahrain on Saturday in an attempt to further help the Al Khalifa family clamp down on anti-regime demonstrators. …more

US Concern for Rights Conspicuously Absent in Bahrain
by Anthony Newkirk, July 26, 2011

It is becoming painfully obvious that the United States is hostile to the “Arab Spring.” In Egypt, U.S. military aid programs remain in force, and in Yemen a “secret” U.S. war may be in the offing. In the United Arab Emirates plans may be afoot to develop a for-profit rapid reaction force (to crackdown, surely, on UAE citizens for “publicly insulting” their leader). The U.S. government continues to support the Israeli blockade of Gaza. But perhaps the quintessential example of U.S. reactionary policy is in the tiny Kingdom of Bahrain.

July 1 marked the beginning of a “national dialogue” in Bahrain that King Hamad Isa bin Al Khalifa called to promote reconciliation in his strife-torn land. But it is unclear what the point of the national dialogue is when the king is also attempting to silence Bahraini civil society. The country’s ongoing domestic conflict between an unpopular Sunni elite and a Shia majority came to a boil in February when mostly Shia Bahrainis began protesting against long-standing discrimination. The ruling family offers the pretext that over half of the country’s 500,000 citizens are under the thrall of Shia Iran. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been proclaiming that the United States will stand up for human rights in Bahrain and also ensure its status as a “major non-NATO ally.”

Send in the Marines

On March 16, one month after the demonstrations began, King Hamad imposed martial law and police attacked Pearl Roundabout, where most of the protesters were camped out. Two days earlier, at least 1,000 Saudi troops and 500 UAE police attached to the Peninsula Shield Force (PSF) entered Bahrain. Although part of the occupation force may have already left Bahrain after the official end of martial law last month, the PSF presence in Bahrain may last long-term in order to “protect its borders.”

A report recently issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW) details ongoing human rights violations, including torture, disappearances, and a systemic crackdown on the majority Shia. Such matters should be of grave concern to the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, which officially plays a key role in formulating U.S. human rights policy. …more