Posts from — July 2011

Teachers arrested for striking
AI-Index: MDE 11/040/2011

The former president and vice-president of the Bahrain Teachers’ Association (BTA) have been detained since the end of March. They are now facing trial and Amnesty International believes they are likely to be prisoners of conscience.

Jalila al-Salman and Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb, together with several other board members of the BTA, were arrested in March and April 2011. While their colleagues were released, they were brought to trial before the National Safety Court of First Instance (a military court) on 15 June on charges which include “inciting hatred towards the regime”, “calling to overthrow and change the regime by force”, “calling on parents not to send their children to school” and “calling on teachers to stop working and participate in strikes and demonstrations”. After further hearings on 22 and 29 June – their trial was transferred to a civilian court and postponed until further notice.

Jalila al-Salman’s house in Manama was raided on 29 March by more than 40 security officers. She was reportedly taken to the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) in Manama where she remained for about a week during which she was reportedly beaten, including with objects, and held in solitary confinement. She is believed to have been transferred to the custody of the military and held there for around two months, before being transferred again to a detention centre in ‘Issa Town in Bahrain, where she is currently held. Jalila al-Salman’s family were not aware of her whereabouts until soon after her transfer to the detention centre in ‘Issa Town and have only been allowed to see her there on two occasions. The second of these visits was on 16 July, and was under very strict surveillance.

Amnesty International has reviewed statements issued by the BTA. One of them, published on 13 March, called on teachers and employees of the Ministry of Education to go on strike, and on parents not to take their children to school during large-scale demonstrations in Bahrain. Amnesty International has also listened to speeches delivered by Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb that made similar appeals. It has, however, seen no evidence that either of them advocated violence of any kind in these or other activities. Consequently, although the organization does not have the full details of the evidence presented so far in the trial, it believes that they are likely to be prisoners of conscience detained solely for exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly as leading members of the BTA.

Additional Information

After the February-March 2011 unrest in Bahrain, the Minister of Human Rights and Social Development dissolved the board of the BTA and other associations and substituted the board members by government-appointed members. Local human rights organizations have reported that many teachers and members of the BTA have been subjected to torture, detention and harassment for their participation in peaceful protests. All teachers have reportedly been released except the two mentioned above.

Hundreds of people have been detained in Bahrain in connection with anti-government protests since mid-March when Bahraini armed and security forces crushed the protests. Scores of detainees, including medical doctors and prominent opposition activists, were brought before military courts for leading the protests and in some cases for calling for regime change. On 29 June the King of Bahrain issued a decree transferring all cases being examined by military courts to ordinary civilian courts. …more

US money ended up in Taliban hands: report
By Agence France-Presse on Monday, July 25th, 2011

US government funds earmarked ostensibly to promote business in Afghanistan have landed in Taliban hands under a $2.16 billion transportation contract, The Washington Post has reported.

Citing the results of a year-long military-led investigation, the newspaper said US and Afghan efforts to address the problem have been slow, and all eight of the trucking firms involved remain on US payroll.

Moreover, the Pentagon extended the contract for six months last March, the report said.

The investigation found “documented, credible evidence … of involvement in a criminal enterprise or support for the enemy” by four of the eight prime contractors, the paper noted.

According to The Post, investigators followed a $7.4 million payment to one of the eight companies, which in turn paid a subcontractor, which hired other subcontractors to supply trucks.

The trucking subcontractors then made deposits into an Afghan National Police commander?s account, already swollen with payments from other subcontractors, in exchange for guarantees of safe passage for the convoys, the report said.

Intelligence officials then traced $3.3 million, withdrawn in 27 transactions from the commander?s account, that was transferred to insurgents in the form of weapons, explosives and cash, the paper said.

“This goes beyond our comprehension,” The Post quoted Representative John Tierney as saying.

Tierney, a Democrat, was chairman of a House oversight subcommittee that charged that the military was, in effect, supporting a vast protection racket that paid insurgents and corrupt middlemen to ensure safe passage of the truck convoys that move US military supplies across Afghanistan, the paper said.
…source

State Department Assembles Secret Private Army in Iraq
Monday, July 25, 2011

Once the U.S. military pulls out of Iraq by next January, the State Department will be left to defend itself and its diplomats against hostile Iraqis. To ensure their safety, officials are assembling a force of 5,500 security contractors—equal in size to an army brigade. But how the State Department intends to handle this large group of armed mercenaries is anyone’s guess, because it has refused to share information with the federal watchdog overseeing post-war activities.

For months now Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction (SIGIR), has tried unsuccessfully to audit the State Department’s private army. He wants to know how many State contracting personnel will manage the guards, what the force’s rules of engagement will be, and how the guards will be directed to handle threats.

But State isn’t talking to SIGIR, insisting Bowen has no authority to inspect the mercenary program.

To date, the department has spent nearly $3 billion on security contractors in Iraq. Among the companies that are benefiting from this new arrangement are SOC [Securing Our Country], which has a deal for $973 million to guard the Baghdad embassy, and the British firm Global Strategies Group, which has been hired to protect diplomats at the consulate general in the southern city of Basra for $401 million.

Bowen isn’t the only one concerned about the State Department’s plans.

“They have no experience running a private army,” Ramzy Mardini, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, told Wired’s Danger Room. “I don’t think the State Department even has a good sense of what it’s taking on. The U.S. military is concerned about it as well.” …source

IHRC: Bahrain – Head of University Department Imprisoned
19 April 2011

The crackdown on academics and free thought continues as Dr Masaud Jahromi is inexplicably imprisoned.

Dr Masaud Jahromi, Chairman of the engineering department at Ahlia University in Bahrain, was arrested at 2:30AM on 14th April 2011; having been beaten and dragged from his bed in front of his family. His family, students, friends and colleagues are unaware of his whereabouts and health.

Dr Jahromi is a widely respected academic and engineer. He was awarded his PhD from the University of Kent, UK; having already earned his MSc and BSc from the University of Manchester, UK, and the University of Bahrain respectively.

Professor Hamed al-Raweshidy, who supervised Masaud at the University of Kent, is shocked that a former student is being mistreated like this. “Masaud was one of the hardest working, cooperative, and mild mannered individuals I have ever come across. He was not only my top student, but also a wonderful professional. There is no doubt in my mind that the Bahraini authorities have got this completely wrong”.

Massoud Shadjareh, the chair of IHRC, said:
“The indiscriminate arrests in Bahrain continue, as the case of Dr Masaud Jahromi reminds us. His imprisonment highlights the sorry state of affairs where the Bahraini regime has ceased to feel obliged to even offer an excuse before imprisoning its citizens.”

For more information please contact the Press Office of the IHRC at (+44) 20 8904 4222, or via email at info@ihrc.org . Alternatively, you can call (+44) 7903053362. …source

Qatar-Saudi patch-up bad for Arab Spring?
Published: July 25, 2011 at 3:37 PM

DOHA, Qatar, July 25 (UPI) — Signs of deepening ties between Qatar and Saudi Arabia after a decade of differences could mean trouble for the Arab Spring and media freedom in the region, the Foreign Policy Web site said.

An analysis by United Arab Emirates columnist and microblogger Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi on the Web site sets out to explain “How Saudi Arabia and Qatar became friends again — and why their rapprochement could mean an early end for the Arab Spring.”

The roller-coaster-like diplomatic relations between the two energy-rich neighbors dates to 1992 when a border clash caused the death of two guards. Relations went downhill from there.

Several incidents marked increasing tensions between the neighbors, some of them caused by Saudi ire over al-Jazeera’s airing of television programs that offended Riyadh.

However, in subsequent contacts Qatari overtures managed to calm the Saudis and relations improved further after al-Jazeera was ordered “not to tackle any Saudi issue without referring to the higher management,” Qassemi said, citing e-mail sent by an al-Jazeera employee to The New York Times.

Recent rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Qatar led to the Qatar television channel softening its media coverage of Saudi political developments, in particular those concerning Saudi dissidents, Qassemi said.

Qatari and Saudi ties are growing warmer, he said. For instance, in the past few weeks, Qatar Airways has been allowed to operate a lot more flights to Saudi Arabia — from 35 to 60 per week.

In September, a delegation of 100 Saudi businessmen will visit Qatar to discuss joint business opportunities, including the establishment of a Saudi-Qatari bank and joint industrial zone.

Al-Jazeera, long-banned in the kingdom, has also been given the green light to set up a Saudi bureau.

The friendly relations are likely to continue at least till 2022 when Doha will play host to the FIFA World Cup, for which it has earmarked $65 billion-$100 billion and invested considerable political capital, Qassemi said.

“For the tournament to go as smoothly as possible, a pragmatic Qatar will need the full cooperation of its largest and only land neighbor,” he said.

Saudi firms are likely to be awarded lucrative infrastructure contracts or supply essential raw materials to Qatar over the coming decade before the World Cup.

“We will likely see Doha’s freewheeling foreign policy stay within the bounds of Riyadh’s interests,” Qassemi said.

“Above all, Qatar will spare no effort to make certain that nothing stands in the way of its global coming-out party.”
..source

At least 100,000 join Oslo march in grief and unity
By Johan Ahlander and Aasa Christine Stoltz
OSLO | Mon Jul 25, 2011 4:30pm EDT

OSLO (Reuters) – At least 100,000 people rallied in Oslo and tens of thousands more marched in cities across Norway on Monday in a nationwide expression of grief and unity over the massacre of 76 people by Anders Behring Breivik.

Breivik told a judge in a closed hearing on Monday his bombing and shooting rampage aimed to save Europe from a Muslim takeover, and said that “two more cells” existed in his group.

Police said they could not rule out the possibility that others were involved in Friday’s attacks and they revised down the death toll to 76 from 93: eight dead in a bomb blast in Oslo and 68 at a Labour Party youth camp on Utoeya island.

Stoltenberg addressed the evening crowd, many of them holding up red and white roses for remembrance, his voice trembling with emotion: “By taking part you are saying a resounding ‘yes’ to democracy.” He called the Rose March a “march for democracy, a march for tolerance, a march for unity.”

“Evil can kill a person but never conquer a people.”

In a country of 4.8 million, where a single murder makes front-page news, the solidarity rally was probably the biggest since World War Two.

“We are a small society and I think that makes everyone feel affected whether directly involved or not,” said Jonas Waerstad, 26, who was one of the marchers.

Earlier in the day, a handful of enraged protesters awaited Breivik at Oslo District Court.

“Get out, get out!” shouted one, banging on a police car he wrongly believed contained the self-confessed mass killer. In fact police drove Breivik to the court in another vehicle.

“Everyone here wants him dead,” he said, adding that he knew one of the dead and three survivors of the attacks.

“We want to see him really hurt for what he did,” said Zezo Hasab, 32, among the jeering protesters outside the court.

Breivik had wanted to explain in public why he perpetrated modern-day Norway’s worst peacetime massacre. He was denied a public platform, but judge Kim Heger in his news conference, gave an account of what the accused 32-year-old had said.

After the hearing, a police jeep drove away carrying an unshaven Breivik, with close-cropped blond hair and wearing a red jumper with a lighter red shirt underneath.
[Read more →]

Police will examine Norwegian gunman claims of ‘two more’ cells
By RFI

NORWAY – Article published the Monday 25 July 2011 – Anders Behring Breivik has taken back his initial statement of how he executed single-handedly Friday’s car bombing and mass shooting, saying at Monday’s closed court hearing that he has “two more cells” working with him. Police are taking the claims seriously and will be investigating them, a court official said.

Breivik, who stands accused of killing at least 76 people in a bomb attack in central Oslo and a shooting rampage on the nearby island of Utøya on Friday, told the court hearing he had “two further cells” in his organisation, according to the court registrar.

Judge Kim Heger ordered the Norwegian twin attack suspect to be remanded in custody for eight weeks, following the 32-year-old man’s not guilty plea.

Breivik will remain in solitary confinement for the first half of his remand, with a ban on all communications with the outside world in a bid to aid a police investigation into his acts.

“There is an immediate risk that the accused would tamper the evidence if he were now released,” said Judge Heger at a press conference following Breivik’s first hearing on Monday.

Judge Hedger added that the 32-year-old suspect confessed to carrying out the twin attacks, but refused to acknowledge his guilt.

Breivik said the killings had been necessary to prevent Europe being taken over by Muslims.

His declared objective had been to inflict the greatest possible loss on Norway’s governing Labour Party, which he blamed for encouraging immigration.

At least eight people died in Friday’s initial car bombing outside the prime minister’s office, in a calculated distraction for police allowing Breivik to shoot at least 68 youngsters attending a summer camp on the island of Utoeya, 40 kilometres away.

Norway’s maximum prison sentence is 21 years but the attacks have triggered calls for the country to reinstate the death penalty.

“This isn’t just another event. This is something extremely serious that requires a response, a European response, a shared response to defend freedom, to defend democracy, calling on people to rise up and fight radicalism, to respond against xenophobia,” announced Spain’s prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in a joint news conference with Britain on Monday. …source

Royal commission undermined on first day working day
shiapost | July 24, 2011

The anti-regime demonstrations took new dimensions yesterday when the youth took to the streets in various places. After the Friday prayers hundreds of youth staged their protest in Duraz, Bani Jamra, Barbar, Sitra, Al Ekr and other towns.

They were viciously attacked by the regime’s forces. Many of the demonstrators have sustained serious injuries but were unable to get to the hospital for fear of kidnapping and further torture. Children and women were savagely beaten. Tear and chemical gases were extensively used causing extreme forms of nausea and pain. Makeshift clinics were busy treating the wounded.

A case against more than fifty members of the Al Khalifa regime has been lodged at the International Court at the Hague. The international writ has been sponsored by 14 international human rights bodies. Nine international lawyers had prepared its contents ensuring its compliance with the rules and requirements of the court. Among the delegation which presented the case to the Prosecutor’s office were Haytham Manna’, Dr Loa’i Deeb, Mr Abdul Hameed Dashti, a Kuwaiti lawyer and Dr Fouad Al Ibrahim. The delegation met the ICC Prosecutor, Moreno Ocampo and discussed the case with his staff. Several media channels were present at the entrance of the Court. There is mounting pressure on the ICC to act against senior members of the regime including the dictator, Hamad, himself. …more

Bahrain commission begins investigation of protest abuses
Monday, July 25, 2011 – by:Maureen Cosgrove at 8:49 AM ET

JURIST – An independent commission on Sunday began investigating human rights violations related to the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Bahrain. The chairman of the five-person Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), Cherif Bassiouni [academic profile], announced that the group’s investigation would focus on 30 police officers [Reuters report] alleged to have committed violations of procedural laws, as well as the country’s army. Bahraini authorities have promised that the commission will have access to government files and will be permitted to interview witnesses without supervision. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official websites] announced [press release] in June that Bahrain had agreed to permit a UN commission to investigate [JURIST report] human rights violations related to protests shortly after Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa [official website] agreed to the investigation [JURIST report]. Thirty-three people died during the unrest and more than 400 were injured. The commission is scheduled to publish the results of the investigation by October 30.

Bahrain, along with several other Middle Eastern and North African nations, has faced criticism from international human rights organizations for its handling of pro-reform protests in recent months. In May, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said the government of Bahrain should suspend prosecution of civilians in military courts and set up an impartial commission to investigate torture allegations [JURIST report]. Also in May, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] urged the government of Bahrain to release detained activists [JURIST report] and exercise restraint against protesters. She expressed concern over the prosecution of medical professionals and the death sentences [JURIST report] handed to four activists. In April, human rights organizations including HRW and Doctors Without Borders (DWB) [advocacy website] criticized Bahrain [JURIST report] for human rights abuses related to anti-government protests. In March, the OHCHR expressed concern [JURIST report] over violence against protesters in Bahrain. …source

Bahrain says Saudi rotating troops, no new deployment
By PRAVEEN MENON – REUTERS MANAMA

Saudi Arabia has been rotating some of its troops in Bahrain, the Bahraini state news agency BNA said on Saturday, following reports more Saudi troops may have been sent to quell unrest in the Gulf island state.

Security forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were sent into Bahrain in mid-March to help clear the streets of protesters who had been staging demonstrations since February.

The troops were part of a Peninsula Shield force set up by Gulf Arab states for their mutual defense.

“The Peninsula Shield forces present in Bahrain reposition certain military units … as part of a routine operation,” BNA quoted a Bahraini defense official as saying.

A Reuters witness saw no troop movements on Saturday evening on a causeway joining Saudi Arabia to neighboring Bahrain, and a Bahraini opposition spokesman declined to comment on the report of a possible deployment of fresh forces.

On Friday, tens of thousands of people rallied in support of Bahrain’s largest Shiite opposition group after it pulled out of government-led national reform talks earlier this week.

The dialogue was initiated by the Gulf kingdom’s Sunni rulers after a four-month crackdown that began in March to crush weeks of pro-democracy protests led by the Shiite majority.

In late June, a government source had said Saudi Arabia would withdraw most of its 1,000 troops from Bahrain.

Emergency rule, imposed in March, was lifted in June.

Bahrain’s Sunni rulers have accused demonstrators of pushing a sectarian agenda with the backing of Shiite power Iran.

The opposition denied this and said it was seeking greater political freedoms and access to jobs.

Bahrain, where the US Fifth Fleet is also based, said it had asked for support in line with a defense pact between Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which also include Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar. …source

After leak, Amnesty’s website blocked in Saudi
By AYA BATRAWY, Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — Amnesty International said Saudi authorities on Monday blocked the group’s website inside the kingdom following criticism of a controversial new anti-terrorism draft law.

The London-based group said the bill, which was reviewed by a Saudi government committee in June and has yet to be passed, allows authorities to prosecute peaceful dissent as a terrorist crime.

Amnesty on Friday posted on its website the full Arabic text of the anti-terrorism draft law along with an internal review of the law by a Saudi security committee.

Hours after the website was blocked Monday, Amnesty moved the text of the bill to another Amnesty-administered website called “Protect The Human Blog”, which could be accessed by residents in the kingdom.

“Although the Saudi authorities have blocked our main international site, they haven’t yet blocked any Amnesty U.K. site, as far as we know. So we’re hosting the Arabic version of the release for all to see,” the group said in an online statement.

Although Saudi Arabia has not seen the kind of unrest that has gripped the Middle East, it has taken steps to prevent pro-democracy protests from spilling over into the oil-rich kingdom.

Amnesty did not say how it obtained the draft bill, which labels offenses such as harming the reputation of the state and endangering national unity as terrorist crimes. Such language is typically used to prosecute political opponents of the Saudi monarchy, which has minimal tolerance for dissent and bans political activity.

The law, if passed, would carry harsh punishments, including a minimum prison sentence of 10 years for challenging the integrity of the king, Amnesty said.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia released a statement dismissing Amnesty’s criticism and saying the bill is meant to assist security forces in tackling terrorist activity. …more

Poet Al Jalawi – Violence Against Writers in Bahrain ‘as Bad as Ever’

AP – A man punches his fist into the air during a Saturday protest denouncing the alleged destruction of Shiite sites during a government crackdown on the largely Shiite spring uprising in the country.

The poet Ali Al Jalawi has been imprisoned twice in his home country Bahrain. He has now fled to Germany where he spoke to SPIEGEL about the dangers facing writers and activists — and why, despite everything, he wants to return home.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Al Jalawi you are a famous poet in your home country of Bahrain but you are now seeking refuge in Germany. Why?

Al Jalawi: Following the democratic protests in February, there have been raids across the country and many people have been imprisoned. I recited a poem to demonstrators on a large square in the center of the capital Manama. Afterwards I heard that my parents had been visited by the security forces and I knew that I would have to leave Bahrain. First, I travelled to Lebanon and then came to Germany.

SPIEGEL: What were you afraid might happen?

Al Jalawi: In the 1990s I was in prison twice. The first time I was imprisoned because of a poem that I wrote when I was 17 and the second time it was because I had joined a campaign for political rights. I was tortured and I do not ever want to experience that again.

SPIEGEL: Has violence against writers increased in recent months?

Al Jalawi: There were always three big taboos which were not to be written about: sex, religion and politics. If you wrote about them you would go straight to prison. In recent years the situation improved a bit but now it is as bad as it has ever been. I know two writers who died after spending two days in prison.

SPIEGEL: What are your plans in Germany?

Al Jalawi: My temporary visa has just expired but fortunately the writers’ organisation PEN arranged a fellowship for me in Weimar. I am very grateful — it saved me from a lengthy asylum application.

SPIEGEL: Do you believe that the situation in Bahrain will soon change?

Al Jalawi: No. The royal family and the ministers have been in power for a very long time and they will do every thing they can to extend their power. I think that I will have to stay in Germany for a long time. But even though my country is a desert, I want to go back. I left my wife and 10-year-old son behind. …source

Bahraini security forces attack revolutionaries
shiapost | July 25, 2011

According to the Lebanese Al-Manar TV, the security forces attacked yesterday the revolutionary youths in Sanabes, Ma’amir, Akr and Nowiderat areas in which the demonstrators called for true reforms and stopping the ceremonial talks.

Based on the report, the security forces’ attacks were made in a bid to prevent the gathering of February 14 revolutionary youths coalition.

In this relation, opposition to the assaults against religious sites in Bahrain was the motive to hold a conference dubbed “Mosques for God” in Sanabes in which the participants chanted slogans for reforms and change.

The people of Bahrain started uprising on February 14 and since then they have been suppressed by the security forces with the cooperation of Saudi troops and so far hundreds of people have been killed, injured or detained but the whereabouts of hundreds of detainees have not yet been known.

ABC: Arrested Bahraini doctor speaks out about torture at detention
Tanya Nolan reported this story on Wednesday, July 20, 2011 12:22:00 – ABC

ELEANOR HALL: Yesterday we brought you an interview with Human Rights Watch on its report accusing the government in Bahrain of engaging in a concerted attack on the country’s medical community.

The report documents the cases of 48 medical staff who were arrested after treating protesters injured in the uprisings earlier this year.

This morning The World Today spoke to one of the doctors charged. The doctor asked that the voice be disguised to protect their identity.

Tanya Nolan reports.

TANYA NOLAN: A doctor that served the kingdom of Bahrain for 16 years describes the moment the regime turned against them.

BAHRAINI DOCTOR: I was kidnapped from my house. I wouldn’t call it arrest because they present at my house 3am in the morning with civilian clothes, civilian cars, no identities were shown.

They were like militias or thugs. We didn’t know that they were security forces.

TANYA NOLAN: It was late March and this doctor’s first thought was that they were being rounded up for treating protesters involved in the anti-government uprisings earlier in the year.

The doctor was taken to a place they later identified as the central intelligence building in the capital Manama.

Despite knowing of other doctors and nurses also rounded up this doctor couldn’t believe their own government could be behind the secretive detention and questioning about alleged links to Iran and terrorist groups.

BAHRAINI DOCTOR: They were asking me about weapons and where do we hide the weapons.

They tried – they tried to link me to Iran and to Hezbollah and they were asking who from the United States supporting you – very weird questions. I thought it had zero relation to me.

TANYA NOLAN: Why do you think you were being held?

BAHRAINI DOCTOR: Definitely for helping treating protesters.

TANYA NOLAN: And you know this because some of your colleagues were treated in the same way? Arrested and detained without any charge?

BAHRAINI DOCTOR: Yes. Actually all of us, we were detained, arrested in the same way.

We were tortured and I think we were targeted basically because we were the first line of witnesses who witnessed the crimes of the regime and the brutality of the regime against the protesters. …more

[cb editor: The work from the “independent panel” has yet to happen or provide anything definitive and given the possibility that it might discover criminality in actions of the police, it seems an impossibility that any finding might be directed at the al Khalifa’s themselves. To appease “the powers in the West” it seems likely there will be some who, rightfully accused and convicted of the crimes against the people of Bahrain, that will also be “scapegoats” to misdirect blame from the al Khalifa’s. It should be noted that the “independent panel” has no prosecutorial powers. The panel can provide no relief or shine little light on the horrendous crimes the continue daily against the people of Bahrain at the direction of the house of al Khalifa and the house of Saud. Another absurd charade endorsed by the West intended to international demands for a broken recipe of Human Rights compliance and misdirect of the on looker unentangled in an understanding of real events in Bahrain. In short it’s can only be seen as a crass manipulation of public opinion. ]

Bahrain: Panel probes Bahrain protest crackdown
Fact-finding mission, appointed by the king, begins inquiry into the crackdown that left more than 30 people dead.

A legal panel appointed by the king of Bahrain is starting its inquiry into a crackdown on protests that left more than 30 people dead earlier this year.

Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, who set up the fact-finding mission following diplomatic pressure, said the panel is “completely independent and consists of international experts”.

The panel will be headed by Cherif Bassiouni, a US-based legal professor and UN war crimes expert, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in international criminal justice.

The fact-finding mission also includes lawyers from the UK, Iran, Kuwait and Canada, who are said to have been given access to government files and all government agencies and officials.

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, who reported extensively from Bahrain during the protests and subsequent crackdown, said the panel also promised secrecy for witnesses who want to testify about events that occurred in February and March.

“Obviously, there is quite a lot of scepticism about how credible in fact they are because the panel was set up by the king. This was after repeated efforts by other groups to come in and do independent investigations. They were denied access,” Stratford said.

‘Shia mosques demolished’

Meanwhile, a Bahraini cleric said authorities had demolished 30 Shia mosques during their five-month crackdown on dissent in the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom.

Seyyed Abdullah al-Ghoreifi said the mosques were destroyed as part of a government campaign against the Shia majority demanding greater freedoms and more rights.

Al-Ghoreifi spoke during a rally on Saturday on the outskirts of the capital, Manama.

The demolitions are likely to further inflame sectarian tensions in the island kingdom, the home of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Hundreds of protesters, activists and Shia doctors and lawyers have been detained since February when protests began. Dozens have been convicted of anti-state crimes in a special security tribunal.

Saudi Arabia has been rotating some of its troops in Bahrain, the Bahraini state news agency BNA said on Saturday, following reports more Saudi troops may have been sent to quell the unrest in the Gulf state.

Security forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were sent into Bahrain in mid-March to help clear the streets of protesters.

The troops were part of a Peninsula Shield force set up by Gulf Arab states for their mutual defence.

“The Peninsula Shield forces present in Bahrain reposition certain military units … as part of a routine operation,” BNA quoted a Bahraini defence official as saying.

A witness saw no troop movements on Saturday evening on a causeway joining Saudi Arabia to neighbouring Bahrain, and a Bahraini opposition spokesman declined to comment on the report of a possible deployment of fresh forces.

On Friday, tens of thousands of people rallied in support of Bahrain’s largest Shia opposition group after it pulled out of government-led national reform talks earlier this week. …source

Washington’s Allies Run Amok: Saudi and Emirati Forces Open Fire on Unarmed Protesters in Bahrain
by Finian Cunningham – Global Research, July 24, 2011

A shocking new video shows Saudi and Emirati forces firing indiscriminately at a crowd of unarmed youth protesting against the autocratic US-backed Bahraini government [1].

The attack took place after Friday prayers in the Shia village of Duraz, about 15 kilometres west of the capital, Manama, where the US Navy Fifth Fleet is based with some 4,000 personnel.

All three Gulf states are key allies of the US, with Washington supplying each with billions of dollars worth of military equipment. The three autocratic regimes have also been crucial supporters of the US and NATO’s nearly five-month military assault on Libya – allegedly conducted to defend the human rights of the Libyan people.

In the latest outrage against human rights in Bahrain, the video shows two jeeps racing towards a crowd of young males, almost running some of them over. Uniformed police then jump out of the vehicles and start firing shotguns and rubber bullets at the fleeing protesters. Many in the crowd were obviously young teenagers, dressed in shorts and barefoot.

Despite claims by the Bahraini regime that it has ended a three-month state of emergency and that it has opened a process of national dialogue and reform, the latest outrage in Duraz clearly shows that repression and excessive use of force is a continuing reality for the mainly Shia-led pro-democracy movement.

Last week, a 47-year-old mother, Zainab Hassan Al Jumaa died from teargas inhalation after police launched a similar attack on the Shia town of Sitra. Several other Shia towns and villages are routinely assailed by armed forces – nearly a month after the so-called end of emergency powers.

The video of the attack in Duraz shows personnel in Bahraini ministry of interior vehicles wearing Bahraini state uniforms. But security sources have confirmed to Global Research that the personnel include troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It is an open secret that Saudi and Emirati troops disguise themselves as Bahraini police, which in itself is a transgression of international law.

Last month, Bahraini head of state King Hamad Al Khalifa declared an end of a state of emergency that began in mid-March when thousands of Saudi and Emirati troops entered the Persian Gulf kingdom to suppress a peaceful pro-democracy uprising. During the following months nearly 40 civilians have been killed by pro-state forces, hundreds have been injured, and more than 1,000 arrested and held in detention without charges.

Some 400 people have been brought before martial courts and sentenced to years of imprisonment. Currently, 48 doctors, nurses and paramedics are being prosecuted for “inciting hatred against the rulers” and for breaching medical codes after the medics treated hundreds of protesters who had suffered horrendous state-inflicted injuries.

Up to 2,000 workers have been sacked from their jobs, accused of supporting anti-government rallies. This has caused untold economic hardship and amounts to “collective punishment”. …more

Bahrain: the crisis of monarchy
Christopher M Davidson, 25 July 2011

About the author – Christopher M Davidson is a fellow of the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Durham University, and a former assistant professor of politics at Zayed University, Dubai. He is the author of The United Arab Emirates: A Study in Survival (Lynne Reiner, 2005), Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success (C Hurst, 2008) and The Persian Gulf and Pacific Asia: From Indifference to Independence (C Hurst, 2010)

The turmoil in the tiny Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain continues, even if it has tended to be overshadowed by events elsewhere in the Arab world such as the war in Libya and the intensifying unrest in Syria. Yet if the current developments there are barely reported in international media, they are nonetheless vital: for they both represent a key milestone in the country’s political history (even, it might be argued, its ongoing revolution), and have key ramifications for its closest neighbours and its most powerful international partners.

The Al-Khalifa ruling family is attempting to manage the crisis that erupted with the popular demonstrations for political reform in February 2011. The government convened a “national dialogue” about the unrest in early July. But it is fast running out of space for manoeuvre. Here the decision of Al-Wefaq, the largest Shi’a opposition party, to withdraw from the “dialogue” process is significant. Al-Wefaq was always a tolerated opposition movement and therefore very much part of the Al-Khalifa’s establishment. So at a time when the king and prime minister are trying to persuade their various allies that they are willing to discuss political reform and that they also still enjoy some basic level of legitimacy, the party’s stance is a major blow for the regime.

In reality, the Al-Khalifa now have no legitimacy in the eyes of the majority of the Bahraini population. Most of Bahrain’s people are still Shi’a, despite the government’s determined attempts over the past decade to manipulate the sectarian imbalance by trying to naturalise large numbers of invited Sunni immigrants. The understandable Shi’a resentment at such policies and the discrimination they represent have since February 2011 been expressed in protests, most of which have been put down with bloody force. …source

Until 1971, Britain remained a presence in the Persian/Arab Gulf, defending the small Shaykhdoms of the region, at the same time, of course, protecting British economic and political interests. It was inevitable, therefore, that as the Shaykhdoms developed and their populations benefited from education, conflicts between competing interests occurred, conflicts that led to perplexing problems for the Rulers of these small states and for the British Government. Such was the case in Bahrain, where in the decade of the 1950s, Bahraini nationalists seeking modernization collided with their Ruler. As a result, three Bahrainis were imprisoned on the British Island of St. Helena. The British role in the exile of the Bahraini three embarrassed Her Majesty’s Government and served to illustrate the archaic nature of Britain’s role in the Gulf.

In March 1956, demonstrations and a general strike disrupted the British protected state of Bahrain. On 2 March, the Bahraini public heard news reports stating that Jordan’s King Husayn had fired his long serving British military adviser, Lieutenant General John Bagot Glubb (Glubb Pasha). That day, British Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd arrived in Bahrain for what was initially planned as a brief visit. At 7:00 p.m. Minister Lloyd and his party landed at the RAF/BOAC airport in Muharraq. The Ruler, Shaykh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, was present to greet him. Lloyd’s entourage consisted of 28 persons, among them 13 women. The male members of the group left the airport in a line of cars; the visiting women followed in taxis. The procession traveled from the airport via a road along the sea-front. Crowds lined the route, shouting anti-British slogans. Some in the crowd began to throw sand; others threw rocks. “The mob, though behaving riotously, did not appear particularly menacing.”1

Bahrain commission to investigate army, torture claims
July 25, 2011

MANAMA, July 25 — A commission tasked by Bahrain to investigate weeks of protests that rocked the Gulf island kingdom said yesterday it would look at the role of the security forces in the unrest and examine charges of torture.

At a news conference marking the launch of the five-member panel’s investigation, chairman Cherif Bassiouni said his team would look at 30 police officers being investigated by the Interior Ministry for allegedly not following procedures.

He said the army would also be investigated.

“We will investigate the role of the army. The army is not above the law and not beyond the law,” Bassiouni said, adding most of the incidents under investigation happened while the military was in charge.

Bahrain’s Sunni rulers imposed martial law and crushed weeks of pro-democracy protests led mostly by the Shi’ite majority in March, lifting the state of emergency some four months later.

During the crackdown, hundreds of people were arrested, most of them Shi’ites, and some 2,000 who were sacked.

Tensions are still simmering in the Gulf Arab state, with small protests erupting daily in Shi’ite villages ringing the capital since emergency law ended on June 1.

King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa set up the panel of human rights and legal experts in June after facing international criticism for the crackdown, including from long-time ally the United States, whose strategic Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain.

Panel chief Bassiouni is an Egyptian-American law professor and U.N. war crimes expert who was involved in the formation of the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) and recently headed a UN inquiry into events in Libya.

The commission also includes Canadian judge and former ICC president Philippe Kirsch, British human rights lawyer Nigel Rodley, Iranian lawyer Mahnoush Arsanjani and Kuwaiti Islamic law expert Badria al-Awadhi.

TORTURE CLAIMS

Bahrain has said it will give the commission access to official files and allow it to meet witnesses in secret. But opposition groups have argued bias may mar a mission set up by the government.

Bassiouni said the panel was investigating the 33 deaths recorded during the protests and crackdown, as well as 400 cases of injuries. He also said the commission would investigate claims of torture in detention, including of several medical workers.

“(The mandate) also includes a number of allegations of torture including that of the offences which occurred against medical personnel, which are well documented by international human rights groups,” Bassiouni told reporters.

Bahrain denies any systematic abuse by police and has said all charges of torture will be investigated.

The government has accused protesters of a sectarian agenda backed by Shi’ite power Iran, just across Gulf waters.

Despite the opposition’s denials, such suspicions linger among the Sunni population and highlight sectarian tensions that continue to divide the kingdom.

Bassiouni told reporters the panel would hand over its report to the king in October but said the real task would be to act on the commission’s recommendations.

“The risk is that there are too many high expectations of what we may be able to accomplish,” he said. “It becomes a matter of internal significance to act on the recommendations … this crisis had a traumatic effect on the people of Bahrain.” — Reuters …source

UK parliamentary panel calls for ‘end to torture and politically motivated arrests’ in Bahrain
Wednesday, 20 July 2011 – By RAY MOSELEY – Al Arabiya

A British parliamentary committee called on Wednesday for immediate action to ensure an end to torture and politically motivated detentions in Bahrain and accused Iraq of widespread human rights abuses, including torture and poor conditions in prisons.

The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee also said it plans to launch in inquiry in the autumn concerning aspects of British foreign policy and the Arab Spring.

In a report on human rights around the world, the committee said events of the Arab Spring should remind the Foreign Office that there are risks for the United Kingdom in failing to take a stronger and more consistent stance against rights violations by foreign regimes.

It said the committee was less confident than the Foreign Office that there is little conflict between Britain’s simultaneous pursuit of commercial interests and improved human rights standards abroad.

The Foreign Office, it recommended, should take a more robust and consistent position on human rights violations in the Middle East and North Africa. It said the Foreign Office should have treated Bahrain as a “country of concern” in its 2010 annual human rights report.

The committee welcomed the Bahrain government’s establishment of a commission to investigate recent events involving protestors but said: “We remain concerned that immediate action is needed to ensure an end to torture and politically motivated detentions.”

Human rights, it said, should be at the heart of Foreign Office work in implementing its so-called Arab Partnership program. The government recently announced a four-year, £110 million partnership fund to support political reforms, give economic aid and carry out public finance reforms. …more

The European Role and the Aspirations of the Arab People
Posted: 7/22/11 06:12 PM ET

For Europe, both the declining U.S. interest in international affairs and the fact that Russia’s approach to international diplomacy has reverted to the Soviet mentality, represent an opportunity for the continent to play an exceptional and effective role, both internationally and regionally. In truth, the Middle East, the Gulf region and North Africa are all geographically proximate to Europe, in addition to being the theater where many European strategic and economic interests come together. In the past few decades, the European role was merely that of a proxy, in the era of the American and Soviet superpowers during the Cold War, despite the historical relations between Europe and the Arab region, stretching from the Middle East to the Gulf and North Africa.

However, this decade has seen a shift in the relations with Europe, with the wave of change that swept the region with the beginning of the year. Yet the sovereign debt and Euro-zone crises have both held back the European Union, and brought many European countries into a shortfall of, or even to reneging on, the promises and pledges they had made.

The idea of applying the principle of a Marshall Plan-like initiative, in order to ensure the success of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, has regressed, leaving only promises behind and an absence of the means to execute them. But the European interest in the events of Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Iran and Lebanon, as well as in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, has not regressed. On the contrary, every time the United States has lagged behind in Libya or in Syria for example, the European countries have helped resuscitate American interest, so that it may not fall into the slumber that usually comes when it fixates itself upon its domestic affairs, especially during an elections period.

For instance, when the Obama Administration made a faux pas two weeks ago, which could have otherwise come at an exorbitant cost, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs of the European Union — Catherine Ashton — took charge and succeeded at reversing a terrible draft statement by the Quartet on the Middle East. Further, Europe plays an equally important role in light of that played by Russia in the Security Council and at the regional level, providing, for example, absolute protection for the regimes in Tripoli, Damascus and Tehran, with total disregard for the demands of the people in those countries. …more

Scores hurt as protesters and military loyalists clash in Cairo
By MUSTAPHA AJBAILI – Al Arabiya And Agencies

More than 200 people were wounded in Egypt’s capital Cairo on Saturday during clashes between pro-democracy protesters angry at the ruling military council’s handling of the transition period and army loyalists.

The military has been traditionally regarded with respect in Egypt. The fact that protesters marched to convey their displeasure was in itself a highly significant matter.

The two sides pelted each other with stones and Molotov cocktails, prompting the army to fire in air to disperse the crowds.

“Down with the military,” the protesters chanted, branding its leader Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi “an agent of America.”

Such chants were regarded by veteran analysts as signifying overt disrespect toward the country’s highest military leader – again, a most unusual occurrence.
An Egyptian army officer shakes hands with a protester. (REUTERS Photo)
An Egyptian army officer shakes hands with a protester. (REUTERS Photo)

Ambulances were seen tending to the injured, as an army helicopter flew overhead shining its spotlight into the crowd.

Marshal Tantawi vowed on Saturday to build “the pillars of a democratic state which promotes freedom and the rights of citizens.”

Marshal Tantawi, whose military council took over after a popular uprising forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down in February 2011, was seen leaving the compound before the protesters arrived.

Egyptian youth protesters vowed to remain in Tahrir Square until their demands are met, after violence broke out in a number of Egyptian cities between military police and protesters on Friday, in which up to 10 people and four policemen were hurt.

The army denied using force against demonstrators.

Protesters now in their 15th day of demonstrations have been camped in Tahrir and other squares across the country to back demands for more freedom for the civilian government, led by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, an end to military trials and setting a time frame for the completion of the demands for reform.

In his speech to mark the anniversary of the 1952 revolution that overthrew the debauched King Farouk in a bloodless coup, Marshal Tantawi said his mandate was to deliver an elected government to Egypt.

“We are committed to pressing ahead in turning Egypt to a modern civilian state,” Marshal Tantawi said in his speech.

“We are moving forward on the path to entrenching democracy that upholds freedoms and the rights of citizens through free and fair elections,” he added in a pre-recorded speech, his first address to the public since Mr. Mubarak was ousted. …source