An open letter to President Obama: People of Bahrain need your help

An open letter to President Obama: If there is any country where the USA can install democracy without a single bullet fired, it is Bahrain

Dear Mr. President,

In one of your recent addresses to international audience, you pledged that America’s “commitment—our responsibility—is to stand up for those rights that should be universal to all human beings”. The commitment you made is rooted in the founding principles of your country, echoed in the Declaration of Independence, which states that all men and women around the world are endowed with the right to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

These founding principles are undeniable truths that have guided the United States, since its inception, on a path toward justice and universal rights for all people. We call upon you, Mr. President—as the leader of this country and a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate—to wholeheartedly pursue these ends in your dealings with the popular uprising for democracy in Bahrain.

Mr. President, It is a known fact that because of its strategic and short-term interests, the United States has often aligned itself with repressive autocrats in the Middle East right from Egypt to Saudi Arabia and from Bahrain to Jordan.

The current uprising in Bahrain presents a test of America’s commitments to the American and universal values of human rights, freedom and democracy.

Therefore we, the undersigned, academics and researchers, teachers and students, lawyers and traders, women and men, young and old, U.S. citizens, Bahraini citizens, call upon you to use all the powers of your office to stand unequivocally behind the Bahraini People’s Movement, withdraw US support from King Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah’s security state, and establish 2011 as a watershed in US relations with the peoples of the Middle East.

All we want is freedom, free and fair elections, a representative government, equality of women and men, equality of Muslims and non-Muslims, equality of Shia and Sunni, and a responsible government in Bahrain. These basic rights cannot be achieved without moving to replace the current regime, and the transition process must include real representation from the pro-democracy movement.

While it is not the role of any other country to determine Bahrain’s leaders, the Bahraini people’s right to self-government has been obstructed by a military and intelligence apparatus that is trained and funded by Washington and London, fiercely loyal to the current King, and inimical to popular sovereignty. The current Prime Minister, an uncle of the King, widely known as Manama’s renditions czar, provides a constant reminder of American complicity in the Bahraini repression — as do the helicopters flying over the Pearl Square and the tanks that stood passively while the dictators forces killed peaceful protesters freely.

It is imperative that your administration rescind support from all Bahraini security forces opposing democracy and civilian control.

Compared to the U.S., Bahrain is a tiny nation with a population of 1 million, almost half of them foreign workers. The tiny island is home for 6,000 members of the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Bahrain’s military numbers about 9,000 personnel who remain totally dependent on the U.S. and U.K. for their training and equipment.

If there is any single country on this planet where the U.S. can constructively help the local people in achieving their aim of democracy without a single bullet fired, it is Bahrain.

Mr. President,

Accordingly, we kindly ask you to use your strategic and political influence forcing King Hamad Khalifah to resign, the current government be replaced by an interim civilian council representing proportionate number of Shias, Sunnis and Christians who will oversee a free and fair election in the next three months.

We kindly ask that you leverage American power in the United Nations Security Council to demand from Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay to send special envoys to Bahrain on a fact-finding mission to investigate the regime’s human rights abuses particularly against the 80% Shia majority who remain oppressed and discriminated against. Specifically, we call for the UN to inspect the condition of prisoners, investigate the claims of torture or other cruel and unusual treatment, and meet with members of the rights groups and lawyers concerning restrictions on their ability to defend their clients. During the past years the regime has systematically increased its violations of numerous articles within its own constitution that guarantee the right of freedom of speech and assembly.

The demonstrators have called for democratic regime change, not a US-facilitated transition to another despot, nor any intervention by the neighbouring dictator kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We urge you to help ensure that their demands are met, their rights are honored, and the Bahraini kingdom and its security apparatus ceases its attacks on journalists and peaceful protesters.

In the end, we would like to emphasize the importance for America of being seen as an advocate for human rights for all peoples in all parts of the world. Throughout the years, the vast majority of Bahraini people have expressed their utmost respect for Americans. We encourage you to stand on the side of the people in their time of difficulty by focusing on human rights and democracy in our motherland.

With Utmost Respect,
Citizens of Bahrain and the U.S.A.

…source

Arab Spring gives US a new chance in the Middle East
Michael Young – Aug 25, 2011

Barack Obama has not faced the continuing revolutions in the Arab world with any passion. Rather, the US president has often behaved as if these were annoying intrusions into his domestic agenda. Yet change has come, and whether Mr Obama likes it or not this will alter Middle Eastern attitudes toward the United States.

Mr Obama has been lucky – not a bad thing for a politician. The president has avoided taking the lead amid regional convulsions, failing to exploit openings to Washington’s advantage. He has not even outlined a strategy defining American interests and aims, beyond the generalities in his speech at the State Department last May. And yet the US administration has almost everywhere managed to fall on its two feet, with limited negative consequences. Those who predicted that the Arab Spring would be a disaster for the US have so far been proven wrong.

For a superpower that has spent 60 years claiming to be a sentinel of Middle Eastern stability, even stalemate, the record recently has been very different. Mr Obama helped push an old friend, Hosni Mubarak, out of office in Egypt. He has sought to midwife a new order in Yemen to replace that led by another partner, Ali Abdullah Saleh. He has blessed the removal of an ally in Tunisia, Zine Al Abedin bin Ali. He is demanding that Bashar Al Assad step down in Syria. And he has used the US military to help unseat Muammar Qaddafi in Libya. US support for the monarchy in Bahrain is the exception confirming the rule.

Mr Obama’s paralysing caution has been a mitigating factor. The president has tried, though not very convincingly, to play up the fact that the US, as the world’s leading democracy, has a desire to see democracy triumph elsewhere.

However, American abandonment of comrades in Egypt and Tunisia came only when there was no other choice. In Libya, Mr Obama seemed perpetually to move one step forward and two back in sponsoring Nato military action. In Syria it took the president almost six months of slaughter by the regime to take a stance against Mr Assad – though this would have been justified, even essential, much sooner, on both moral and political grounds.

Perception is important in politics. Mr Obama could have accumulated valuable cards by being out ahead of the transformations in the region. Ideas are equally important in this period of Arab upheaval, yet Washington has not been good at using its democratic ideals as a means of influencing what comes next in the Middle East and North Africa.

But perceptions can cut both ways and the reality is that, disturbing contradictions aside, in the public imagination the Americans today are increasingly perceived as having chosen the side of insurgent populations against overbearing despots. …more

Translated letter by Ebrahim Sharif, from prison, on the occasion of re-opening @Waad_bh’s headquarters (original: http://pastie.org/2428128)

Brothers (& sisters), partners on the path of national struggle;
Steadfast companions (male & female) members of Waad’s organization;
Respected attendees;

I greet you on this occasion, “shake your hands” and say that our party is not a building, headquarters and offices only; rather it is essentially the soul of the martyrs… Mohamed Bu-Naffoor, Mohamed Ghuloom and tens beside them.

It is the solid determination that does not compromise truth to our activists/strugglers and at their helm is the national symbol, Abdul-Rahman al-Noaimi, may God heal him… It is the rejectionist stance our youth took towards the statement that the organization compellingly released after being politically blackmailed.

In prison, oh companions, I found some of the best days of my life. I found that I can re-new my revolutionary youth, even if I am not a revolutionary, per se; rather demanding reform.Here, I re-discover myself. I read, I contemplate and I always think of you, to return to you after months or 5 years with my head held high. I am free in my prison, for detaining the body does not affect one at all, especially versus the authenticity of one’s stances and conscience.

Prison, dear friends, is not worth anything versus victory for people’s concerns and their legitimate dreams in a country that implements justice and equality for all.
On the path of truth & dignity, the biggest hardships & afflictions become small… And with you on the paths of resistance, we remain.

Long live our organization for people’s service;
Eternal glory to the martyrs of the national movement;
Victory & dignity to the people of Bahrain;

And peace be on you, & God’s mercy & blessings
…source

Bahrain’s inquiry chief meets with prisoners
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief – August 26, 2011

Head of commission discusses arrest, trials and allegations of torture with detainees held under National Safety Law

Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni meets with prisoners at Al Qurain prison.

Manama: Bahrain’s probe commission chief has reviewed with prisoners held under the National Safety Law their legal status and detention conditions, the commission has said.

“Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni, the chairman of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), visited Al Qurain prison where he met all the prisoners indicted under the National Safety Law,” the BICI said on Wednesday.

“Among those were the 14 political prisoners, convicted of collaboration in an attempt to overthrow the Bahrain regime and government. The prisoners were Ebrahim Sharif, Abdul Hadi Al Khawaja, Hussain Mushaima, Abdul Wahab Hussain, Jalil Singace, Mohammad Al Saffaf, Saeed Ahmad, Abdul Jalil Al Moqdad, Salah Al Khawaja, Mohammad Jawad, Abdul Hadi Hassan, Al Hurr Mohammad, Abdullah Al Mahroos and Mohammad Esmail.”

Bassiouni discussed the facility conditions, the personal circumstances of their arrest and their trials, allegations of torture and the status of the legal proceedings against them, BICI said.

The head of the five-member commission also visited the military public prosecutor and discussed the status of all cases under the National Security Law.

The meetings were part of a series of visits conducted by the BICI within the mandate of its investigation of the events of February and March 2011 and their consequences.

BICI staff have met a range of political and civic organisations as well as prisoners and detainees, health workers, trade union activists and representatives of large commercial organisations.

The commission has also issued two strong denials that at least one of its members had resigned and shut down its offices for three days following verbal abuses and aggressions. However, the commission said that it would continue its work. …source

Iran frees 100 political prisoners: report
Sat Aug 27, 2011

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran’s supreme leader ordered the release of 100 political prisoners Saturday including some involved in the huge protests against the disputed June 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The decision, reported late Saturday by the semi-official Mehr news agency, appeared timed to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which is in its final days, when compassionate release is sometimes issued to prisoners. The report did not name the pardoned prisoners and there was no indication it included two Americans who were sentenced to eight years’ jail last week for spying after they crossed the border from Iraq where they said they had been hiking.

“Based on an agreement of the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei), 100 prisoners charged with security crimes have been granted amnesty. Some of them were involved in post-election sedition two years ago,” Mehr said. The release comes as Iranian politicians start preparing for parliamentary elections due next March which will be the first national poll since the presidential race which brought unprecedented numbers of protesters onto the streets. Most reformists have yet to say whether they will run for election. Iranian authorities are likely to ban people from standing who were connected to the post-election unrest.

Opposition leaders Mehdi Karoubi and Mirhossein Mousavi have been held under house arrest since February when they called the first Green Movement demonstration for more than a year. The group International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran estimated at least 100 people were killed in the unrest which the government blamed on “seditionists” funded by Iran’s foreign enemies. Many more were arrested.

(Reporting by Hossein Jaseb; Writing by Robin Pomeroy) .source

BJDM Statement on Attack on Sheikh Ali’s Home
August 27, 2011

At around midnight last night, police attacked the home of Bahraini opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman.

Sheikh Ali, the General Secretary of the largest opposition party Al Wefaq, was asleep in the house when the attack took place, along with his family.

Police smashed windows, fired rubber bullets and sent tear gas into the home, located in the town of Bilad Al Qadeem.

Fortunately there were no serious injuries sustained in the attack, beyond the psychological damage caused by such high level harassment.

The tactic of terrorizing the homes of opposition activists has been well used by Bahraini Police in the past few months. Many others have faced the same treatment, which is an attempt to scare the opposition into silence.

Sheikh Ali is well known in Bahrain for his moderate views and his peaceful approach to political reform. He advocates dialogue as a form of change and in the past has encouraged protestors to remain peaceful.

But despite his insistence on peaceful activities he has not been treated in the same way by Bahrain authorities. This latest attack is another example of the punishment given to opposition leaders and activists who simply want to create a more just society.

Ali Al Aswad, a resigned MP for Al Wefaq, said:

“We wholeheartedly condemn this thuggish behaviour that has been inflicted upon Sheikh Ali. Everyone in Bahrain knows he is a moderate man who always encourages peaceful protest and dialogue. This is a clear attempt to try to scare the opposition and subsequently silence any criticism. However, we will continue to highlight injustice and not be intimidated or provoked by such an attack.” …source

Bahrain: First Widespread Protests in Months

Security forces in Bahrain heavily attacked numerous areas where protests were taking place and reports of numerous injuries were made. Riot police were targeting the head and upper body of the protesters. Police fired tear gas into people’s homes. Reports were made that police were using a “strange looking tear gas which is much more powerful and affects the nerves.” Additionally, two boys, ages 15 and 18 were arrested.

Reports also show that the Deputy Head of Waad Radhi Almosawi’s sister’s home was caught on fire as a result of the tear gas being shot at people’s homes.

In addition, sectarian tensions are increasing in Bahrain. …Source

(cb Editorial Bulletin – 26 August) – Bahrain “new hires” are filling a collapsing governments “security force” with dangerous, unregulated and poorly trained quasi-mercenaries. The new “security forces” appear to be largely ignorant criminals and thugs who’s own governments would not have them as proper “security agents” or military troops.

As the al Khalifa’s lose grip on their governance, they have unleashed a dangerous and unqualified “security force” as a scourge on the people of Bahrain, which they can neither maintain or control. The al Khalifa’s are importing and creating the destabilization of their own Nation. This is an emerging National Security Disaster. Below are pictures from early reports of an illegal weapon used to gas people today in Bahrain. It was likely produced by “security forces” imported from others nations who have training in guerrilla warfare and in making such weapons. This is a clear indication of the destabilizing effects of the failed regimes desperate effort to maintain power through violence for hire, against the people of Bahrain.

Above – mysterious substance used is gassing attack. Legitimate “international observers” and “commissions” have been denied the Bahraini people from the West by it’s complicity through silence that enables the Al Khalifa regime. Trusted and legitimate experts and resources to properly investigate, properly identify and catalog this substance and it’s use are non-existent in Bahrain. Below – image of a young man who was injured, suffocated and passed-out as a consequence of exposure this mystery gas, a weaponized substance, apparently manufactured by a increasingly “rouge security force”, hired by the al Khalifa regime to maintain their violent reign.

Update – 27 August – Below: An unknown weaponized substance has been used in Nabeeh Saleh. A chemical or quite possibly a biological agent has been introduced as a means of suppression against democracy protesters in Bahrain. This is a dangerous escalation in State Violence inflicted on the people of Bahrain. It is unknown if the Bahrain government has supplied this illegal weapon or if elements of al Khalifa’s “imported security force” have brought this weapon from their countries of origin or manufactured it using their training in guerrilla warfare.