Posts from — August 2011

London riots used by Iran, Bahrain to justify government crackdowns
By Elizabeth Flock – Posted at 09:35 AM ET, 08/10/2011

A pro-regime Bahraini newspaper contends that British Prime Minister David Cameron, right, and the King of Bahrain, Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa, left, have a few things in common. (ANDY RAIN – ASSOCIATED PRESS) It was only a matter of time before connections were drawn between London’s ongoing riots and the wave of demonstrations that has swept more than a dozen Arab countries over the past year.

But the connections aren’t being drawn by British protesters, seeking to connect themselves to a wider cause.

Instead, they’re claimed by government supporters in Iran and Bahrain, as a means of legitimizing the violent crackdowns on uprisings in their own countries.

After a cabinet meeting Wednesday, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went on state radio to urge the U.N. Security Council to take action over the British riots, saying that it was hypocritical in its reactions to such events.

“If one percent of this happens in countries that oppose the West, they scream until they are hoarse,” Ahmadinejad said.

By criticizing the actions of the British government against protesters, Ahmadinejad was seemingly trying to legitimize his own.

Ahmadinejad also called on British officials to listen to the demands of their people, a move that prompted Guardian reporter Haroon Siddique to call Ahmadinejad a “funnyman.” Many others picked up on the irony of the call from Ahmadinejad, whose government has been condemned internationally for its handling of protests and dissent:

Ahmadinejad: “No, no, no Britain! You’re supposed to wait until protesters go home, then kidnap them at night.” http://bit.ly/okPnAmless than a minute ago via TweetDeck Favorite Retweet ReplyMatt Duss
mattduss

In Syria, a country whose president has been under increasing fire from the international community to step down after killing demonstrators, state-run television also ran stories about the chaos in Britain.

Footage that showed a British policeman chasing and knocking a man down was accompanied by a caption that read: “Cameron: ‘We face a problem confronting the gangs in Britain.’” …more

Freed Bahraini detainees still to face trial
August 11, 2011 01:49 AM – By Isabel Coles – Reuters

DUBAI: Bahrain has released more than 100 detainees who had been facing military trials over their roles in anti-government protests earlier this year, but some of them will still be prosecuted in civilian courts, one of those set free said Wednesday. A panel of international lawyers which Bahrain’s Sunni Muslim monarchy invited to investigate the protests that mainly involved the Gulf state’s Shiite Muslim majority, said Tuesday that a total of 137 people had been released.

Among the detainees, who walked free Sunday, were Jawad Fairouz and Matar Ibrahim Matar, former members of parliament in the largest Shiite political bloc, Al-Wefaq.

Fairouz, who expects proceedings against him to be dropped, said some other detainees had been told they could not leave the country pending prosecutions in a civilian court.

“I heard they took some photos of them to show that they are in good health, so that later on when they re-appear in court [they] shouldn’t [make] any claims [that they had been] tortured,” said Fairouz, who had been charged with spreading false news and taking part in illegal gatherings.

“When they released us they didn’t take any signature or any commitment from us [that would require us to be] referred to the civil court,” he said.

Among those likely to face trial in a civilian court is lawyer Mohammad al-Tajer, who was detained in April after defending people arrested during the protests, Fairouz added.

More than 1,000 people were detained after Bahrain crushed demonstrations in March for greater political freedom and an end to sectarian discrimination that Shiites say they face in access to land, housing and state employment.

The kingdom attributed the unrest to manipulation by Iran of its Shiite co-religionists in Bahrain and denied persistent allegations of torture during and after the wave of detentions.

It has responded to international criticism of the crackdown by funding an international legal commission to investigate the events, but activists and rights groups say the panel is cut off from people who fear reprisal for testifying.

Bahraini opposition activists have also faulted the panel’s head, Cherif Bassiouni, for praising the authorities for cooperating with the investigation, and suggesting that abuses were individual acts, not official policy.
…source

[cb editoral note: BICI has issued the following statement in attempt to reestablish “legitimacy” in light of it’s arrogant and prejudicial statements in previous dialogue with the press – regardless, any Investigating body organized by a criminal party it is to investigate; I.e., a regime that as a daily practice demonstrates it’s armed and violent aggression toward those who oppose it, will never have credibility even if its leadership could be seen as sincere.

Furthermore even if the investigation could yield a significant degree of credible reporting and it may, a dichotomous finding and conclusion seems inevitable. This investigation is designed to be manipulated and to satisfy the pressures for “proper conduct” from al Khalifa by the West. It is the price of atonement the West demands in order to keep al Khalifa in it’s good graces and to “save face”. It is purely a political arrangement and a product of failed Western interventionist practice that blinds it from truth and justice that it is not prepared to demand.

In the end the investigation will arrive at a conclusion, there will be blame and conjecture from all sides that leaves an ambiguity void of any means to satisfy the demand for justice except that which a violent and tyrannical King chooses. This entire process seems designed by al Khalifa to leave his victims even more estranged from access to power and to preserve his reign with approval from the West as an important pillar of Western military strategy against a demonized Iran. ]

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry Statement

In view of the fact that certain statements made by chairman of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (“BICI”) have been interpreted as prejudging the outcome of the Inquiry, the BICI has decided to issue the following statement on how it has worked, will continue to work, and determine the contents of its report.

1. The BICI is still at the beginning of its investigations. It has not reached any final conclusions. Its work continues to be independent and free from any interference, either by the government of Bahrain, any other government, or any interest group, either within or outside of Bahrain. The BICI hires its own staff, conducts its own investigations, has its own budget, and acts in every respect as an independent commission.

2. In carrying out its responsibilities, the BICI has so far met with a number of government officials, as well as opposition leaders, representatives of civic organizations, and individual victims and witnesses. It has conducted unscheduled visits to several detention and prison facilities, as well as police stations, and its investigators have spoken to detained individuals outside the presence of any public official. It has also reviewed arrest and conviction records.

In the short period since July 24, the BICI has:

* Met with over 200 persons in prisons and detention facilities and injured persons in hospitals; 50 senior government officials, including several members of cabinet; 18 opposition parties and civil society organizations; 90 students who have been suspended from their studies; and 105 persons who have been arbitrarily dismissed from their work positions.
* Received 300 complaints from dismissed employees.
* Recorded 140 allegations of physical abuse and torture in prisons and police stations.
* Secured the release of 151 persons from prisons or detention facilities. This number includes 137 persons who were charged with misdemeanors and were pending trial. These cases were transferred from the military court system to the civilian court system by a Royal Order at the request of the BICI chairman.
* Instigated an investigation by the Ministry of Interior into 2 police officers and 10 police personnel charged with physical abuse and torture.
* Received statements from 348 witnesses and victims of alleged arbitrary arrest and detention, physical abuse, and torture.
* Received over 900 emails, many of them containing information about events, and alleged victimization, either by the sender or claimed to be known by the sender.

3. All of the above has been done in cooperation with individual witnesses and victims, representatives of political opposition groups and civil society organizations, and the government. The BICI wishes to acknowledge with appreciation the hundreds of victims and witnesses who have come forward with their information. In addition, the BICI wishes to reassure them and others of the safety and privacy of these communications. We have taken and will continue to take all possible measures to safeguard the confidentiality of all information received, and we sincerely believe that there is no reason for anyone to believe otherwise.

4. It is important for anyone following the work of the BICI to know that while all of what is described above is taking place, there can be no final conclusions that can be derived therefrom. Conclusions and recommendations will occur after investigations are complete, and a more complete record is established. As of now, it can be stated that the BICI has had the cooperation of witnesses and victims, civil society organizations, opposition groups, and the government. The chairman of the BICI has publicly credited the Ministry of Interior, National Security Agency, the Attorney General, and the Military Prosecutor General for their cooperation, and it is only fair to do so. This should not be interpreted by anyone as covering up or overlooking the responsibility of any organization or any person for any illegal act. The BICI will continue to gather evidence and the conclusions in its report will be based on that evidence, in whatever direction it may lead and at any and all levels of responsibility.

5. We look forward to the continued cooperation of all parties concerned, and we hope that the heightened level of anxiety that exists in Bahrain society, and particularly with respect to the victims and families of victims of those who have been arrested, detained, tried and convicted, physically mistreated and tortured, does not carry them to any unfounded conclusions or judgments on the BICI and its work. We remain committed to the truth, and to continuing our work on the basis of impartiality, fairness, and neutrality. …source

STC, RIM sign partnership deal
10 Aug 2011 – Arab News

RIYADH: The Saudi Telecom Company and the Canadian Research in Motion Company (RIM) on Monday signed a partnership that aims to provide a wide range of content, applications and smart solutions for Blackberry users across the Kingdom.

The agreement, signed in Riyadh by Ibrahim Al-Omar, STC’s retail sector vice president, and Sandeep Sahgal, RIM’s Middle East managing director, focuses on exchanging expertise between the two companies in a manner that serves mutual interests and enables customers to enjoy up-to-date services and technologies.

As a result of the new partnership, STC announced the launch of BlackBerry bold 9900 device with its exceptional design, touch screen and the Blackberry 7 system, thus demonstrating the elegance and practicality in one device.

Al-Omar said: “The strategic partnership between STC and RIM is based on launching the level of coordination between the two companies in order to serve their common interests and fulfill customers’ need for technologies and unique services. STC’s interest in this partnership confirms its major role in launching and providing current and new smart devices to its customers, which is based on STC’s strategy that revolves around the customer. STC was the first to bring the blackberry services into the Kingdom giving it a leading market position there, and resulted in doubling the number of customers in the BlackBerry service, which prompted us to meet their expectations by providing services and products that suit various tastes.”

Sahgal said: “We are pleased with our partnership with STC and the opportunity to introduce our new collection of Blackberry smart devices to our customers in the Kingdom.” He added: “According to a GFK report, the Blackberry Curve 8520 is the bestseller between July 2010 and July 2011. A report issued by CANALYS Company about the smart devices’ shipments in the second quarter 2011 proved that the Blackberry device is the bestseller in the market. In addition to that the Blackberry community in the Kingdom registered one of the highest levels of using the BBM application in the world (99 percent). …source

[cb editorial note: a bit bothersome but no real surprise as AlJazeera moves into it’s “new community” in NYC.]

Al Jazeera Changes Plan to Rerun Documentary
Tuesday, August 9, 2011 – The New York Times
By Brian Stelter

Al Jazeera English has quashed several planned rebroadcasts of “Shouting in the Dark,” an hourlong documentary about Bahrain’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that had its debut last week and brought complaints from Bahraini authorities.

The decision this week to halt the repeats raised concerns among Al Jazeera’s staff members that the channel was succumbing to political or diplomatic pressure from Bahrain and its ally Saudi Arabia.

In response to inquiries by The New York Times, a spokesman for Al Jazeera said Tuesday that the documentary would be rebroadcast on Thursday and would be paired with a round-table discussion.

The episode illustrates the thorny issue of independence for Al Jazeera, one of the world’s biggest satellite news organizations, which is financed by the emir of Qatar and is perceived by some people to be a diplomatic tool of the country. Al Jazeera insists that the Qatari government does not interfere in the network’s editorial operations.

Al Jazeera’s Arabic and English language channels both came under scrutiny in February and March for their coverage of Bahrain, an island kingdom just north of Qatar in the Persian Gulf. Viewers perceived that the Arabic channel, in particular, paid less attention to the Bahraini protests than it did to the earlier protests in Tunisia and Egypt. Qatar joined Saudi Arabia in sending troops into Bahrain to violently quell the protests in March.

Bahraini authorities helped to limit news coverage of the crackdown by blocking journalists from entering the country and expelling some who were already there. …more

Please — let’s not call these the ‘BlackBerry riots’
Aug 9, 2011 14:30 EDT – REUTERS – by: Jon Boyle

[cb editor note: the author of the article states, “there is another thing: BBM messages are largely untraceable. ” due to encryption features on the BlackBerry. This isn’t correct there are BlackBerry encryption “crack codes” that can be used to make “encrypted communication” visible to government or spies – see HERE] and HERE]

Please — let’s not call these the ‘BlackBerry riots’
Aug 9, 2011 14:30 EDT – REUTERS – by: Jon Boyle

Here we go again: Young people, rioting in the streets, railing against leadership, using their mobile phones to outsmart law enforcement caught off guard by the nimbleness of cool kids in what would be a B-movie script if it wasn’t unfolding in real time.

But this time it isn’t happening in some far off, ambiguously backward Middle Eastern place. No, this is happening in the homeland of Sir Thomas Moore, Winston Churchill and Kate Middleton.
[Read more →]

Bahrain Torn apart by the Injustices of Wahabi Al Khalifa & Saudi Rulers
August 10, 2011 – Jafria News

JNN 10 Aug 2011 Manama : Brutal crackdowns on Bahraini protesters have revealed a bloody rift between the country’s Wahabi rulers and the Shia majority. Sectarian violence have torn the nation apart – as it has done elsewhere around the world.

This is an Article written by Patrick Cockburn, who is a Independent Journalist , and have tried to give a factual condition of the Bahraini Kingdom. So we are publishing this article for our readers .

Is there a fatal connection between the initial letter “B” and places torn apart by struggles for power between different religious communities? I started as a journalist in Belfast in the early 1970s when the city was convulsed by sectarian warfare between Catholics and Protestants. In later years, I moved to Beirut to cover the many-sided civil war, at the heart of which was the conflict between Muslims and Maronites. After 2003, I spent long months in Baghdad, writing about the fighting between Shia and Sunni which culminated in the slaughter of 2006-7.

Even so, it is surprising to find Bahrain added to the list of places polarised and traumatised by sectarian differences, in this case between Shia and Sunni. The confrontation between the ruling Sunni minority led by the al-Khalifa royal family and the Shia majority is not entirely new. There have been crises in relations between the two in the past. But the ferocity and cruelty of what has transpired on this small island in the Gulf over the last five months has shocked and surprised its 1.2 million people, half of whom are Arabs.

Among those puzzled is Cherif Bassiouni, the highly distinguished Egyptian-American legal scholar, who has been asked by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa to lead an inquiry into the events which followed the start of the Arab Awakening on 14 February. Compared to Iraq or Libya, Bassiouni notes that the casualties were light – about 33 dead – “but this relatively small number has had a traumatic effect on society”. He describes the two sides as producing wholly different accounts of what happened. He says “it is like a murder scene where you have the dead body, but nobody can agree if the bullet came from the right or the left”.

He is convinced he has the backing of the King and the Crown Prince for an inquiry which will be somewhere between a fact-finding investigation and a truth commission. He suspects that in order to reverse sectarian polarisation, a cleansing of the security forces may be needed as well as a government-backed programme for reconciliation.

Many Shia believe that the King will be unable or unwilling to deliver on his commitments to Bassiouni. Alaa Shehabi, the wife of a jailed Shia businessman, says: “It is a big problem if the King didn’t know what was happening, and a bigger problem if he did know and is Pretending ignorance.

One does not have to go far in Bahrain to find out why the Shia are so angry. In Graham Greene’s Our Man in Havana, his fictional Cuban police chief Captain Segura distinguishes between two classes of people, the torturable and the untorturable. It is not a distinction that has made much impression on the Bahraini security forces, going by the wholesale repression that began on 15 March, which followed the arrival of a Saudi-led military contingent. Protesters in Pearl Square were beaten and the 300-foot monument in the square was dismantled. Every part of Shia society was targeted – mosques and religious meeting places were bulldozed. Frantic families searched for relatives who had disappeared into police and army custody and were not heard of for weeks.

Some human-rights activists were expecting to be arrested, but were amazed and shocked by the brutality with which they were treated. Zainab Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja had suspected that her father, Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja, a human-rights activist, would be detained and he had told his family he was willing to go voluntarily. Instead, a band of masked police broke into his house at 3am and dragged him downstairs, breaking his jaw as they did so. His interrogators continued to beat him on his fractured jaw and threatened him with rape unless he confessed. When Zainab saw him weeks later in military court, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment, his face was so badly swollen that he told his family: “I cannot even smile at you anymore.”

Zainab and her father are among the few of those mistreated who are willing to say what happened on the record. Others gave me appalling accounts before saying anxiously: “Please don’t give my name or any detail which would let the police know that I talked to you.”

Any expression of sympathy for the protesters invited punishment. As Zainab was speaking to me in a coffee shop in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, a woman and child came to sit opposite us. The woman said she had worked for years in a government ministry dealing with the special needs of the disabled, but she had just been suspended. One count against her was that she had cried on the phone when talking to a senior official, saying: “It is wrong what is happening to the Shia in Bahrain.”

Government officials and members of the Minority Wahabi community have a strikingly different picture of what happened in Bahrain. “There are almost totally different narratives,” Bassiouni told me. Mariam Ahmed al-Jalahra, assistant under-secretary at the Ministry of Health, tries to change the complete picture falsely, by narrating a completely fabricated story about how the Salmaniya Medical Complex was taken over by doctors sympathetic to the protesters. Where she twist[s] the story 180’ Degree[s], as [to] what is not possible as per the prevailing conditions there, as the sympathizer can not let harm to her her or his supporter , but as she in her own words twist[s] as “What happened was beyond disaster,” she says, adding that patients were put in danger and had to be moved to other hospitals. She herself was stopped at the hospital gates by protesters, though she was allowed to proceed when her driver identified her as a doctor. “This was something scary,” she says. She denies that any doctor is being punished for treating injured protesters, but says that those who broke rules should suffer sanctions. While to get the complete story what happened at the Sulamaniya Medical complex , please follow the link and get the details. [see link HERE for Sulamaniya Medical Story]

What comes across in talking with Jalahra and other Wahabi is an exaggerated sense of victimhood in the face of mostly minor infringements of the law by the protesters. Two Sunni consultants from the 1,000-bed Salmaniya Medical Complex separately told me that they were very worried that they had been put on a “shame list” because they disagreed with fellow doctors, almost all Shia. Again there is a lack of a sense of proportion.

When I asked Sunni doctors what they thought of allegations, for which there is strong evidence, that their Shia colleagues have been tortured, they replied blandly that the matter was under investigation and, in any case, they doubt that mistreatment in prisons is as bad as was reported.
[Read more →]

British riots: a crisis of ideology and political leadership
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
By Richard Seymour, London

You’ve probably heard it said a dozen times today: “It’s like 28 Days Later out there.”

Every thirty seconds, there’s a new riot zone.

I’ve rarely known the capital to be this wound up. It’s kicked off in East Ham, then Whitechapel, then Ealing Broadway (really?), then Waltham Forest… It’s kicked off in Croydon, then Birmingham, then (just a rumour so far) Bradford…

The banlieues (outer-suburbs) of Britain are erupting in mass civil unrest.

Until now, the claim has been that this is merely a criminal enterprise. At a stretch, it was orchestrated criminality, using Twitter and Blackberry messenger.

If you’re following what’s happening in Britain, that’s an impossible position to sustain. A few looters here and there might be evidence of little more than opportunism.

But clashes with police in several major cities, including the two largest cities, doesn’t look like mere entrepreneurialism to me.

And as it spreads to hitherto unexpected places, it certainly doesn’t look orchestrated.

Part of the reason for the spread is probably that the aura of invincibility on the part of British riot police has been seriously damaged by these riots.

Protesters in Britain are used to being contained and out-manouevered by police. That makes it seem as if the police are omnipotent.

This situation has underlined very clearly that law and order is generally maintained by consent, not coercion. The police are not all powerful, despite their technological and organisational advantages, which is why they rely on good “community relations”.

In those areas where there are long-standing grievances and sources of resentment, it seems, that consent has been withdrawn. As a result of the unpredictable way in which this unrest has unfolded, the police have ended up being out-played, and sometimes out-numbered.

Yet, as important, there is also an underlying crisis of ideology and political leadership for the police.

Amid the Hackgate scandal, which has shattered their credibility, and following the killing of a suspect under circumstances that were only ineffectually and temporarily concealed, they are (potentially) facing a complete collapse in relations with black British communities.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and the police leadership will be evacuating themselves over this prospect. The painstaking attempts to overcome the complete mutual hatred and distrust that characterised such relations in the 1980s made some headway.

Of course, police harrassment, brutality, killing in custody, and so on, did not come to an end. Institutional racism proved durable.

But there was definitely an amelioration between Broadwater Farm and the Lawrence Inquiry. And that is one advance which, I believe, they don’t want to put through the historical shredder.

So, despite politicians such as the Liberal Simon Hughes ranting and demanding that the police use the water cannon, and despite the ritual denunciations and tough talk about the law from (another Liberal) Lynne Featherstone, I suspect the police are quite unsure as to how they’re supposed to be handling this. …more

Release on bail and ongoing judicial harassment faced by Mr. Mohamed Issa Al Tajer
9 August 2011

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the release on bail and ongoing judicial harassment faced by Mr. Mohamed Issa Al Tajer, a prominent human rights lawyer.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Bahrain.

New Information:

According to the information received, on August 6, 2011, Mr. Mohamed Issa Al Tajer was released on bail. Before his release, he was forced to sign documents stating that he would appear before courts and be available for interrogation at any time if summoned. He was also required to declare that he would not carry out “activities against the country”.

The Observatory firmly denounces the continued judicial harassment faced by Mr. Mohamed Issa Al Tajer, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning his peaceful and legitimate human rights activities as a defence lawyer, and moreover condemns the lack of due process in the trial held against him over the past months before the Lower National Safety Court (see background information).

The Observatory also condemns the ill-treatments suffered by Mr. Al Tajer while in detention: he was reportedly beaten on his head, forced to stand up with his hands against the wall. He also suffered from deprivation of sleep and was forbidden to go to the toilet. He also reportedly heard other prisoners being tortured.

The Observatory recalls the judicial proceedings launched against Mr. Al Tajer took place within the context of an intensified crackdown against activists, including human rights defenders, who have supported or are alleged to have supported the protest movement which started in Bahrain in February 2011. Hundreds of individuals are still arbitrarily detained, and access to the majority of these detainees, including by their lawyers, is not guaranteed. Concern about the physical integrity and life of those arrested are consequently high.

Background Information:

At around 11 pm on April 15, 2011, a group of more than 20 masked and armed plain-clothes men, belonging to security forces, entered without any warrant the house where Mr. Al Tajer was present with his wife and young children. At 00.30 am, after thoroughly searching the house and confiscating computers and mobile phones, the men arrested Mr. Al Tajer and took him to an unknown destination. After his arrest, Mr. Al Tajer was detained incommunicado for five weeks and was then allegedly transferred to the Gurain military prison.

In addition, Mr. Al Tajer appeared before the Lower National Safety Court on June 12, 16 and 23, 2011 and could only meet with his family and lawyer on these occasions.

On June 23, 2011, Mr. Mohamed Issa Al Tajer appeared before the Lower National Safety Court in Manama on four charges: “inciting others to develop hatred or hostility towards the system of Government” pursuant to Article 165 of the Bahraini Criminal Code; “deliberately releasing malicious news or rumours about (…) the State” pursuant to Article 168; “inciting others (…) to hate or show contempt for a certain faction (…) undermining the public peace” pursuant to Article 172; and “taking part in a demonstration (…) with the aim of committing crimes (…) aimed at undermining public security” pursuant to Article 178 punishable by a prison sentence of up to three years. Mr. Al Tajer was blamed for committing all those crimes because he reportedly made a speech in which he addressed the public in the Pearl Roundabout’s last March to denounce Bahrain’s human rights record. In the charge sheet against him, it was stated by the prosecution that by making such speech he jeopardised the country stability and security and caused the public to reject the National Dialogue, which was then called for by the Government.

The verdict in this trial was to be issued on July 5, 2011, but shortly before that date, on June 26, the authorities announced that all remaining court cases will be transferred from the special military courts to civilian courts. Thus, Mr. Al Tajer’s trial was suspended and transferred to civil courts. …more

Lobbyists Jump Ship In Wake Of Mideast Unrest
Bahrain Qorvis – First Posted: 03/25/11

NEW YORK — One of Washington’s best-known lobbying and public relations firms has been upended in the wake of the turmoil in the Middle East due in part to its representation of some of the region’s autocratic governments.

In the last two months, more than a third of the partners at Qorvis have left the firm to start their own lobby shops, partly because of the firm’s work on behalf of such clients as Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the Central African nation of Equatorial Guinea, say former employees.

“I just have trouble working with despotic dictators killing their own people,” a former Qorvis insider tells The Huffington Post. “People don’t want to be seen representing all these countries — you take a look at the State Department’s list of human rights violators and some of our clients were on there.”

The governments of Bahrain and Yemen, which have been condemned by the United Nations for their brutal crackdowns that resulted in dozens of protesters killed and hundreds injured, are both represented by Qorvis through a subcontract to British public relations giant Bell Pottinger. Saudi Arabia, which last week sent troops to assist in riot control in Bahrain and has long been cited for its poor human rights record, is a longtime client of the firm. And Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich dictatorship considered one of the most corrupt and undemocratic regimes in the world, likewise pays Qorvis to burnish its reputation.

Several former Qorvis staffers blamed the firm’s current management for cultivating such “black hat” clients, noting that much of that business came about through the firm’s partnership with Bell Pottinger, the United Kingdom’s largest public relations firm, which took heat for representing Sri Lanka during that South Asian country’s brutal crackdown on rebel groups during the last two years. “They have zero conscience in what they do,” says the first former insider, referring to Bell Pottinger. A spokesperson for Bell Pottinger did not return calls for comment.

Such “black hat” countries pay well — Equatorial Guinea pays Qorvis $55,000 per month and Saudi Arabian initially paid Qorvis $14 million per year back in 2002 to polish its reputation in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, though in recent years the latter contract has been much less lucrative. “These scumbags will pay whatever you want,” says the former insider. “You can charge retainers that are huge.” …more

BCHR Open Letter to Head of the Bahraini Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) re statement to Reuters
09 Aug 2011
Open Letter:

Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni
Commission Chair, Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Dear Sir,

Subject: Your interview with Reuters on 5 August 2011

Your appointment to the independent commission tasked with investigating recent human right abuses in Bahrain was encouraging news for all those involved in the field of human rights. It is, therefore, with deep disappointment and regret that we at the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) read your recent comments. The comments suggest that, without completing anywhere near a full investigation, you are willing to espouse the view of the political establishment whilst paying lip-service to the concept of a fair and independent enquiry.

This is all the more surprising as your hasty comments contradict a vast range of published reports by well respected human rights groups who have spent time and resources investigating the situation in Bahrain. Indeed, your comments that “there was never a policy of excessive use of force” in Bahrain contrasts grimly with the news, published just days before, of an armed raid on the offices of Médecins Sans Frontières by the Bahraini authorities. Claims of torture by detainees are so widespread that it is hard to believe that they were carried out by a few bad eggs within the security forces.

Countless reports catalogue a range of human rights abuses which targeted specific segments of society, most notably medical workers. The well respected human rights group, Physicians for Human Rights, published a thorough report which detailed the systematic persecution of medical workers. Such organised, wide scale discrimination strongly indicates the collusion of high ranking government officials and renders your initial judgment that such abuses were “a case of people at the lower level acting, and there not being an effective chain of communication, control” premature and, potentially, extremely damaging to the credibility of the commission.

Even if we were to accept the extremely unlikely situation that the Minister of Interior (as currently suggested by you) was unaware of the actions of lower level government officials, Bahrain is still subject to the obligations outlined in the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment which requires it, in Article 16, to prevent acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment when such acts are committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. Bahrain has clearly failed to maintain its obligations under this Convention.

Your current views seem to be based on a range of false assumptions. Most notably, that “it’s totally untrue that people are afraid of coming forward”. These comments are surprising, as those interviewed by the commission thus far are not representative of the vast range of people affected by the governmental crackdown on protestors. We are aware of a number of individuals who, initially subjected to torture, have since been subjected to further torture as punishment (and as a warning to others) for speaking out about the treatment they received. Whilst we, and a number of other organisations, are strongly encouraging individuals to come forward and speak to the commission about their treatment, the off-hand comments of the commission are insulting to those who have suffered, and continue to suffer, under the policies of the current regime and discourage participation in the commission’s investigation.

These concerns lead us to seriously question the legitimacy of this commission and its ultimate findings. You appear to have accepted without question the assertions of the government as to the number of political prisoners, the treatment they received and the governments “willingness” to rectify the mistakes of “rogue” individuals within the government framework. Because the Ministry of the Interior is ‘extraordinarily willing’ to listen to the commission, it does not follow that there was not a systematic policy of violence. This argument is a non-sequitur and questionable at best.

This defies the very objective of the commission; to reach an independent and impartial conclusion as to the human rights abuses committed in Bahrain and the cause of such abuses. Recent news regarding the release of prisoners, whilst encouraging, should in no way subtract from the commission’s stated goal.

Nabeel Rajab
President
Bahrain center for Human Rights
09 Aug 2011
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Reconciliation in Bahrain still faces obstacles
National Editorial – Aug 9, 2011

Six months after demonstrations in the Pearl Roundabout degenerated into violence, Bahrain is still troubled by regular street protests. The crackdown on the opposition and subsequent reconciliation efforts have so far failed to restore complete calm, much less heal the deep political divisions.

There have been efforts. In the past week, an international commission investigating the violence has made some progress. Two former MPs from the opposition Al Wefaq party were set free on Sunday, among 41 prisoners who reportedly have been released.

In the worst of the violence, there was wrongdoing on both sides. But there will be no reconciliation possible unless security forces are held to account. The commission, appointed by King Hamad Al Khalifa, has indicated its readiness to investigate regime loyalists, visiting Al Gareen prison to interview prisoners from the opposition and arresting police officers on charges of torturing detainees. This investigation needs to show its evenhandedness if it is to resolve the bloodshed.

But even that is just a starting point. There needs to be a distinction between investigating the crimes of the recent protests and the fundamental process of reform that was at issue in the first place. It remains clear that only a political solution can provide for Bahrain’s future.

For decades, Bahrainis have been negotiating issues including fairness in housing and land allotments, political prisoners, representation in parliament and the constitution. The February protests began as a peaceful, cross-sectarian movement to address these issues. The subsequent violence, encouraged radical elements on both sides and aggravation of the Shiite-Sunni split has only made a resolution more difficult. …source

Panic on the Streets of London
Published on Tuesday, August 9, 2011 by Penny Red
by Laurie Penny

I’m huddled in the front room with some shell-shocked friends, watching my city burn. The BBC is interchanging footage of blazing cars and running street battles in Hackney, of police horses lining up in Lewisham, of roiling infernos that were once shops and houses in Croydon and in Peckham. Last night, Enfield, Walthamstow, Brixton and Wood Green were looted; there have been hundreds of arrests and dozens of serious injuries, and it will be a miracle if nobody dies tonight. This is the third consecutive night of rioting in London, and the disorder has now spread to Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol and Birmingham. Politicians and police officers who only hours ago were making stony-faced statements about criminality are now simply begging the young people of Britain’s inner cities to go home. Britain is a tinderbox, and on Friday, somebody lit a match. How the hell did this happen? And what are we going to do now?

Hole in the Wall

In the scramble to comprehend the riots, every single commentator has opened with a ritual condemnation of the violence, as if it were in any doubt that arson, muggings and lootings are ugly occurrences. That much should be obvious to anyone who is watching Croydon burn down on the BBC right now. David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, called the disorder ‘mindless, mindless’. Nick Clegg denounced it as ‘needless, opportunistic theft and violence’. Speaking from his Tuscan holiday villa, Prime Minister David Cameron – who has finally decided to return home to take charge – declared simply that the social unrest searing through the poorest boroughs in the country was “utterly unacceptable.” The violence on the streets is being dismissed as ‘pure criminality,’ as the work of a ‘violent minority’, as ‘opportunism.’ This is madly insufficient. It is no way to talk about viral civil unrest. Angry young people with nothing to do and little to lose are turning on their own communities, and they cannot be stopped, and they know it. Tonight, in one of the greatest cities in the world, society is ripping itself apart.

Violence is rarely mindless. The politics of a burning building, a smashed-in shop or a young man shot by police may be obscured even to those who lit the rags or fired the gun, but the politics are there. Unquestionably there is far, far more to these riots than the death of Mark Duggan, whose shooting sparked off the unrest on Saturday, when two police cars were set alight after a five-hour vigil at Tottenham police station. A peaceful protest over the death of a man at police hands, in a community where locals have been given every reason to mistrust the forces of law and order, is one sort of political statement. Raiding shops for technology and trainers that cost ten times as much as the benefits you’re no longer entitled to is another. A co-ordinated, viral wave of civil unrest across the poorest boroughs of Britain, with young people coming from across the capital and the country to battle the police, is another. …more

Professor McCormack rebuts misrepresentation & inaccuracies in official statements in the Bahrain media re Irish delegation.

Professor Damian McCormack, head of the recent Irish humanitarian delegation to Bahrain rebuts the misrepresentation and inaccuracies contained in recent official statements and commentary in the Bahrain media re the visit of the delegation. He also reiterates the delegation’s concern at ongoing risk of torture and ill treatment of medics in custody.

Full Text of Press Release
PRESS RELEASE

On 13 July 2011 an Irish humanitarian delegation travelled to Bahrain to offer solidarity to doctors, nurses and other health professionals currently held in prison or facing charges in Bahrain. The delegation consisted of myself Professor Damian Mc Cormack, Professor Eoin O’Brien, Ms Marion Hakin MEP, Ms Averil Power TD (member of the Irish Parliament) and Front Line representatives Deputy Director Andrew Anderson and Khalid Ibrahim.

In the course of the mission we heard repeated testimonies of torture and ill treatment, including the threat of sexual assault. One testimony stated:

“I was taken to a room blindfolded and handcuffed with my hands behind my back. After hours of standing against a wall I was verbally insulted and then placed in solitary confinement for 10 days in a small dirty cell, during which time I was tortured, sexually molested by both male and female interrogators and beaten with a hose on the back and neck. I was then moved to a gaol where I could hear other prisoners being tortured and I was interrogated repeatedly. I was filmed signing many papers the content of which no longer mattered to me, but among which was a confession that I had stolen drugs from the Hospital and that I had incited disturbance.”

This is typical of the experiences recounted to us and it should be added that all the statements given were clear, consistent and credible and on the basis of these interviews the delegation would like to reiterate our call for the release of the doctors nurses and other health professionals still in detention on humanitarian grounds pending the outcome of the Independent Commission of Inquiry and any resumption of cases in the civil courts. …more

Bahrain protests: ‘The repression is getting worse’
Ian Black Sitra – UK Guardian – August 8 2011

Months after its brief exposure to the Arab spring, Bahrain’s cat-and-mouse routine of protest and repression continues

Masked youths in the village of Daih, Bahrain, protest against the government from behind makeshift barriers. Photograph: Hasan Jamali/AP

Hassan Ali Salman is a stocky, fit-looking young man. But he flailed in vain as the police officers grabbed him, one forcing his T-shirt roughly up over his head as three or four others laid in with their wooden batons, dragging and pushing him to a line of waiting Land Cruisers and more helmeted cops.

Behind him, on a bare breezeblock wall, crudely drawn nooses encircle the names Hamad and Khalifa – in reference to the king of Bahrain and his uncle the prime minister – alongside graffiti demanding their execution and the overthrow of the regime.

The recent scene in Sitra, a short drive from central Manama, the capital, provided an ugly glimpse into the cat-and-mouse routine of protests and repression in this Gulf island state. Filmed secretly, posted on YouTube and distributed on Twitter, it exposes what Bahrain’s western-backed government prefers foreigners not to see.

In the nearby cemetery lies the grave of Zainab al-Juma, a disabled woman who died in July after inhaling tear gas from a police grenade. The black flag that marks her “martyrdom” hangs limp in the hot, still air. Another local victim was Ahmed Farhan, shot in March, his brains spilling out of his shattered head live on camera as horrified screams sounded all around.

Bahrain is far quieter now than during its brief exposure to the winds of the Arab spring in February and March, but unrest continues. Every night cries of “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) echo through the villages of a Shia underclass that has chafed under the Sunni Al Khalifa dynasty since the country’s independence from Britain in 1971.

“We go up on to the roofs and shout and then try to march to the entrance of our village,” said Abu Ali, a thirtysomething accountant and former prisoner from Karzakan who supports al-Wifaq, the Islamist movement demanding democracy and equal rights for all. “The repression is getting worse.”

Haydar, from nearby Diraz, described a savage beating, curses and threats of rape as he was forced to kiss the boots of the police officers who tormented him on 26 June. “They pulled my shirt over my head and every hundred metres they hit me in the face and kicked me,” he said. …more

Bahrain releases more than 140 detainees
By the CNN Wire Staff – August 8, 2011

(CNN) — Bahraini authorities have released more than 140 detainees, including two ranking former opposition members of Parliament and a prominent opposition lawyer, government officials said.

The two former MP’s are members of the largest Shiite opposition group, Al-Wefaq, which resigned from Parliament in February over the killing of pro-reform protesters, most of whom were Shiites.

Former Al Wefaq MPs Matar Matar and Jawad Fairuz were “tortured” while in the custody of Bahraini national security forces, Matar said. Following an interrogation with a military prosecutor, Matar said he, Fairuz and a few others were taken to what he believes was a military site. They were brought to an open area outside and told to raise their hands. Approximately five men began to beat them with sticks for about 30 minutes, Matar said.

The beating took place after Matar said he had completed answering questions from a military investigator. The security forces “didn’t want information.” They wanted to “send a message that we have a green light,” to do whatever they want, Matar said.

Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, said he believes — based on what people previously in detention have told him — about 98 percent of people in custody had suffered physically abuse, including beatings, elect shocks and sexual assaults. “No one was immune… very rarely will you find someone who was not abused,” Rajab said. There have other been credible allegations of torture by Bahraini security forces from human rights groups, including Physicians for Human Rights. …more

‘Rage Revolution’ slams police, military in Tahrir
Posted on August 7, 2011 by mat

The military police and riot police reportedly used force to break up a Ramadan iftar in Tahrir on Friday.
The ‘Rage Revolution’ page on the social networking site Facebook said that it was the third time in a week that the military police had used “excessive force and violence against peaceful demonstrators”.
It considered what happened on Friday after a collective iftar “for no clear reason” to be a blatant and scandalous aggression on freedoms”.

Activists on the page called on all “revolutionaries, political powers and the masses to take part in demonstrations next Friday to protest the continuous aggression”, after they had decided earlier to suspend their protests in the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

On Friday, activists and families were taking part in the iftar, which breaks the daytime fast during Ramadan.
“We were about 150 people, gathered near Omar Makram Mosque, when military police with batons dispersed us and started hitting us,” one of the participants, Ahmed Fares, told AFP.

“After the iftar, some people started calling for the hanging of [ousted president Hosni] Mubarak. The police charged us with batons, forcing us to run away down into the Metro station,” said activist Ahmed Naim. …source

Read more about Almahfoodh HERE

…source

New refugees face Tasers, tear gas
Saturday, August 6, 2011
By Jay Fletcher
Australian federal police drill on Christmas Island.

Federal riot police have the go-ahead to use Tasers, tear gas, batons, capsicum spray and handcuffs to force refugees onto a flight to Malaysia from Christmas Island. Immigration officials say they will film the ordeal to put online as a “potent message” to other refugees.

The first asylum seekers to undergo this ordeal arrived in Australian waters less than a week after the “Malaysia solution” came into effect. A boat carrying 55 Afghan, Iranian and Iraqi refugees was intercepted near Scott Reef on July 31.

More than one third of the asylum seekers on the boat are children.

A “cattle run” has been built to move the refugees into the island’s Phosphate Hill detention compound, the Daily Telegraph said.

News Limited published footage from the island of police in riot gear practising military drills and shouting “get back”.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard gave them authority to “use appropriate force” if the refugees try to resist their deportation.

She said the federal police were there to “do what was necessary” and it was “not a question of volunteering”.

“It means taking appropriate steps to get people to board the plane and disembark the plane at the other end,” she said on August 1.

The inclusion of Tasers in the “appropriate force” measures has been heavily criticised by human rights and legal groups.

Tasers have already led to several deaths in Australia. As well, the beanbag bullets police fired at refugees during protests in March may have fractured one refugee’s leg.

However, these “less lethal” weapons continue to be used with impunity.

The Australian Lawyers Alliance president, Greg Barns, said Gillard had authorised the use of dangerous and harmful weapons against traumatised people.

He told ABC Online: “These are vulnerable people who, in many, cases, have been brutalised by police in their own country.

“This is heavy-handed, jackbooted and unnecessary … [Gillard] is playing politics with human life.”

The Christmas Island Shire president Gordan Thompson expressed similar fears: “It’s going to be very disturbing for the people involved, both the asylum seekers and the people charged with removing them.”

When the new arrivals were told of the government’s plans, they began a hunger strike on August 5.

Michelle Dimasi, founder of advocay group Asylum Seekers Christmas Island, said a man from among the new arrivals phoned her. He said: “We need help … The women and children are in a bad way.”

But the immigration department denied it. A spokesperson said: “Just because someone misses a meal or two does not mean they are on voluntary starvation.”

Immigration minister Chris Bowen has repeatedly said the government would not back away from its “tough message”.

He told Sky News on August 1 there was now “no question, that if you take that boat journey to Australia we’re going to take you back to Malaysia”.

Immigration spokesperson Sandi Logan later added: “We will be documenting [the forced deportations] so pictures get out far and wide.”

Immigration and customs officials will film the nightmare trial for the refugees from their moment of arrival to the distressing moment they are forced on planes bound for Malaysia.

The footage will likely be added to the federal government’s YouTube channel “No to people smuggling” — a government fear campaign against refugees trying to seek asylum in Australia.

The channel has operated since May 2010. It broadcasts short videos showing images of the inhumane conditions in Australia’s detention centres, the Christmas Island shipwreck in December and a graphic portrayal of a man drowning at sea.

A new video on the “refugees swap”, translated into eight languages, was uploaded on June 25.

It’s starkly similar to the Howard government’s scare tactics in 2000, when then-immigration minister Philip Ruddock designed similar videos — with sharks, crocodiles and spiders — to scare off asylum seekers from attempting to reach Australia.

At the time, Ruddock said: “Now when you see them you might think that they are a little sensational. You may think that they’re horrific.” But he said the videos were based on “fact” and were necessary to keep refugees away from Australia.

The Labor government has taken this cynical stance to a new level, taking drastic measures to deter people seeking asylum in Australia but ignoring the refugee crisis worldwide.

The immigration department says it wants to reduce the time it takes to deport refugees to within 72 hours of their arrival in Australia. This stands in stark contrast to the 12 months or longer some refugees spend in detention while their claims are processed.

Refugee and human rights groups around the country have damned the refugee swap with Malaysia, labelling it a criminal human-trafficking deal.

Advocacy group Asylum Seekers Christmas Island said on August 4 the deal was “ethically abhorrent, legally questionable and practically unsustainable”.

“Australia can no longer call itself a compassionate, humanitarian country,” the group said.

Protests have been planned by refugees groups around the country to oppose mandatory detention and the “Malaysia solution”.

The Refugee Action Coalition Sydney said on July 26: “Australia should do everything it can to find new homes for refugees currently suffering in Malaysia. But this must not be at the cost of the wholesale undermining of Australia’s basic humanitarian obligation to welcome refugees in this country.” …source

Front Line delegate: A Gap between the Terrorism Law and its application on the “Security Cases” in Bahrain
02 October 2010 – Manama- Amani Almaskati – AlWasat News

The Head of the European Union office of Front Line, Mr. Vincent Forest, has stressed that there is a gap between the content of the law to protect society from terrorism acts in Bahrain and its application to detainees due to the security issues in Bahrain. Particularly in regards to not allowing them to meet with lawyers as provided for by law and international conventions which were adopted by the Kingdom of Bahrain, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was issued in Bahrain as law No. (56) for the year 2006.

This was during an interview conducted by the «Alwasat Newspaper» with Forest, who visited Bahrain to meet with Bahraini officials and diplomats in regards to those detained in relations to security issues.

He (Mr. Forest) stated that the targeting of human rights defenders in any country, would restrict the whole of society, and that countries that seek to put themselves in an advanced stage in the field of human rights, must realize that they must not differentiate between legislation and reality and have to work on reducing this gap.

Following is the text of the interview with Mr. Forest:

What is the Purpose of your visit to Bahrain?

– I am an envoy from «Front Line» on a mission for a period of three days to meet a number of senior officials, diplomats and human rights defenders in Bahrain, to discuss the matter of those detained in relations to security issues, and the dissolving of the board of the Bahrain Society for Human Rights as well as the prevention of a number of activists from traveling.

The basic idea of these meetings is to obtain information and answers to our questions by local officials on these issues, especially regarding the issue of the blogger Ali Abdulemam, as well as to express our concern and fears on these issues on the diplomatic level, and in this context, I met with officials in the French , American, German and British embassies. It is a part of our strategy at «Front Line» to exert pressure if anything happens to human rights defenders in any country.

Who are the officials you have met with?

– I met with officials in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Justice, Islamic Affairs and Social Development. This came after a formal request we made a week before the date of the meetings through the embassies in Belgium and Britain.
I am happy with the consent of the official authorities to these meetings, because it enabled us to raise our concern and our questions on subjects related to these cases.

What was the officials response to the questions you raised?

– In respect to those detained in relations to security issues, I was informed by officials from the Ministry of the Interior that the investigation is still ongoing, and when I asked about the charges brought against them I was assured that the picture was still incomplete, and they are still gathering information in order to obtain a complete picture in regards to the charges.

But we have noticed in «Front Line» that there is a gap between the contents of the anti-terrorism law in Bahrain, which has been applied to those detained in security issues, and what is applied in practice. For example, in the case of Abdulemam, it has been more than a month since his detention and interrogation without allowing him to meet with his lawyer, who asked to meet him seven times without getting any response. The same applies to other detainees, although the law gives the detainees the right to meet with their lawyers after two weeks of their detention.

This is a clear violation of the law, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was issued in Bahrain as law No. (56) for the year 2006, and this is a negative thing that has us concerned about the mechanism used in dealing with detainees, especially in light of the silence that has been ongoing through the investigation of their cases. ..more at BCHR

Open Letter to:Head of the Bahraini Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI)
August 7th, 2011 – Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights

Open Letter:

Mr. Cherif Bassiouni

Head of the Bahraini Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI)

Dear Sir,

Subject: Questions Relating to Your Interview with Reuters on 05/08/2011

WE, at the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), along with many people in Bahrain, had been very skeptical upon receiving news that a commission of inquiry, appointed by the King of Bahrain, had been established. Especially, since we were expecting one to be set up by the High Commission for Human Rights at the United Nations. This was until we heard the names of the individuals who were charged with the commission, for they were renowned for their work in international justice and human rights. We then became hopeful, that this may present itself as an opportunity for the victims of the latest human rights violations, to have their cases heard, documented and reported by a commission run by individuals whose reputation precedes them.

We therefore welcomed the commission from the start (HERE), and encouraged people to cooperate by testifying to your investigators, although many had been skeptical and frightened from coming forward.

Consequently, you cannot imagine our disappointment upon reading the content of your interview with Reuters (HERE). There are several points we wished to bring to your attention:

1. You stated in your interview that: “It’s totally untrue that people are afraid of coming forward. It’s not the case that they don’t have anxieties, but that’s because they’ve had bad experiences and they don’t know where this is going.” WE, at the BYSHR work directly with victims, and have been active the entire period following the February unrest in documenting cases of torture, abuse and mistreatment. We do not hesitate in stating that from our deliberations with victims, many, if not most, have told us that they are genuinely afraid of the consequences of their testifying once your esteemed Commission has left. Yet they came forward, despite that fear, in hope that this may help the situation and document the mass violations that took place. This is also despite the fact that we could not provide any real guarantees for their safety other than, as you mentioned, “the kings promise” which for many victims is no protection.

2. You stated in your interview: “What I have found so far is the extraordinary willingness of the minister to listen to anything we bring to his attention and act on it, whether it’s suspension of police officers, arrest of police officers, or release of detainees,”.

“It leads me to believe that on his part there was never a policy of excessive use of force or torture…that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I think it was a case of people at the lower level acting, and there not being an effective chain of communication, control.”

There are two point worth mentioning relating to this point. Firstly, we at the BYSHR believe that it is too early for a conclusion like that to be made given that the inquiry is still ongoing, and do not believe that cooperation on the part of the Minister exonerates him from responsibility. There are credible reports from international human rights organizations for many years now stating that torture and other violations in Bahrain are systematic. That you have concluded that it is not so, just 3 weeks into the investigation and before the commission concludes its work is unprofessional and puts the entire Commissions proceedings into question. Furthermore, it hurts the credibility of the Commission, as many victims now are refusing to testify to the commission when we refer them. …more

Bahrain protests to Qatar over al-Jazeera film

Doha-based news channel under fire over documentary showing how Facebook was used to target pro-democracy activists.

Bahraini papers accused the film, which was shown on al-Jazeera English, not its sister Arabic channel, of ‘lies and slander’. Photograph: Martin Godwin

Bahrain has protested to its neighbour Qatar about a film produced by al-Jazeera, the Doha-based satellite TV channel, which highlights continuing anti-government protests by Bahraini Shias. Bahraini papers attacked “lies and slanders” in the 50-minute documentary, which shows how Facebook was used to target pro-democracy activists – “unmasking Shia traitors” – and catalogues human rights abuses by the regime.

The film was shown on al-Jazeera English, not its sister Arabic channel, which has been attacked for pulling its punches in coverage of the unrest in Bahrain compared with its sympathetic approach to revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia and Syria.

Khamis al-Rumaihi, a pro-government Sunni MP, alleged a “hidden agenda” and accused al-Jazeera, owned by the emir of Qatar, of trying to foment unrest and undo the benefits of Bahrain’s national dialogue. Qatar, like the other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council, supported the Saudi-led Peninsular Shield military intervention in March, but unlike Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates did not send any troops.

Matar Matar, an al-Wifaq MP interviewed in the film and later jailed, was released from prison on Sunday pending his trial in a civilian court.

Until now the Bahraini government has been far more exercised by al-Alaam, the Iranian government’s Arabic-language channel, which is widely watched by Bahraini Shias and makes no secret of its hostility to the Al Khalifa dynasty. Bahrain has also attacked al-Manar, the TV channel of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, for broadcasting propaganda.

Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, denied reports on Gulf websites that Bahrain was being urged by Saudi Arabia to sever diplomatic relations with Qatar. “Relations between Manama and Doha are larger and deeper than a negative television programme,” he wrote on Twitter.
…source

Bahrain frees detainees including ex-MPs after unrest
DUBAI | Sun Aug 7, 2011 2:36pm EDT

DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrain has released a group of detainees, including two former members of parliament, charged over anti-government protests in the Gulf state earlier this year, opposition sources and state media said Sunday.

Those released included Jawad Fairouz and Matar Ibrahim Matar, former MPs from the Sunni-ruled kingdom’s largest Shi’ite opposition group Al-Wefaq, a member of the bloc said.

“I saw them and embraced them,” said Al-Wefaq member Sayed Hadi al-Mousawi. The bloc’s MPs quit parliament after Bahrain called in troops from fellow Sunni-led kingdoms to help crush the Shi’ite-led protests in February and March.

Bahrain has sentenced eight opposition members to life imprisonment over the protests, which demanded an end to the discrimination which Bahraini Shi’ites say they face, and called for a constitutional monarchy. A few Shi’ite groups sought the monarchy’s abolition.

Bahrain’s state news agency quoted the public prosecutor on Sunday as saying a decision had been taken to release some detainees whose cases were transferred from a military tribunal to civilian courts for review.

It referred to the MPs, who pleaded not guilty last month to spreading false news and joining illegal gatherings, as well as to previous releases of defendants who had been detained for a period equivalent to possible jail sentences.

It did not specify how many cases might continue.

The head of an international lawyers’ commission which Bahrain has asked to investigate the protests, the crackdown and its aftermath told Reuters Thursday that he expected the release of about 150 detainees.

Over 1,000 people were detained in the crackdown and at least four of them died in custody.

The commission follows a state-organised “National Dialogue” over the protests and crackdown in the kingdom, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

That process proposed last month expanding the powers of the elected parliament, a move Bahrain’s king approved while preserving the dominance of an upper house picked by his court. Opposition groups denounced the results as a farce. …source

(Writing by Joseph Logan; Editing by David Stamp)