‘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)

Bahrain denies entry for Aljazeera staff: Report Sunday, 07 August 2011 02:14

DOHA: Bahraini authorities are so upset with Doha-based Aljazeera TV Channel that they are reportedly not allowing the Channel’s staff — both Qatari nationals and expatriates — into the country.

There is an unofficial entry ban on Aljazeera staff into Manama, say social networking sites in Qatar as well as in Bahrain. The move might be fallout of a documentary English Aljazeera telecast on Wednesday, they suggested.

This, however, could not be independently confirmed by this newspaper since it was a weekend and officials were not available for comment.

The documentary entitled ‘Shouting In The Dark’ aired a shocking account of the pro-democracy protests in Bahrain.

The film follows the unraveling of the protests in Bahrain from its initial days last February and documents the ruthless ways in which the security agencies handled the uprising.

The documentary has, meanwhile, triggered a heated debate on social networking sites in Qatar and Bahrain with a majority of participants faulting Aljzaeera English Channel for its portrayal of the Bahraini uprising.

People have also been twitting messages with most of them saying that they are with Bahrain and that Aljazeera English Channel had no business focusing on the goings on in the neighboring Bahrain.

People commenting on social websites in Qatar say they wonder how the Bahraini authorities have been able to blacklist entire Aljazeera staff and not allow them entry into their territory.

“It’s surprising how Bahraini authorities come to know that a particularly Qatari visiting Manama is working with Aljazeera because Qatari passports do not mention the holder’s nature and place of work,” said a commentator.

Another commentator said that one of his fellow Qatari friends who went to Manama by air was not allowed entry into the country and turned back by the airport immigration authorities.

“This is even true of those going to Bahrain by road via Saudi Arabia, They are being turned back from the border although they are all Qatari citizens,” said yet another commentator.

According to still another commentator, a senior administration official of Al Jazeera who resigned a year ago, was also not allowed to enter Bahrain.

The commentators are largely unhappy with Al Jazeera English Channel and say they wonder why it is supporting Shia protesters in Bahrain and spoiling Qatar’s relations with the friendly neighbour.

At least one commentator said that he backed the Bahraini move to prevent Al Jazeera staff from entering the country because the English channel was constantly supporting the Shia protesters.

A website in Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, reported yesterday that the Al Jazeera documentary could seriously strain Doha’s relations with Manama.

The Peninsula …source