Posts from — September 2011

Bahrain unrest ‘big blow to businesses’
Manama: Sun, 11 Sep 2011

Bahrain’s businessmen have suffered heavily due to the recent unrest, with 21 per cent of them saying they will not be in a position to overcome the repercussions, said a report.

While 36 per cent confirmed the possibility of overcoming the difficulties faced by them, 43 per cent were unable to predict future economic conditions and 28.4 per cent said average losses exceeded their capital by 76 per cent to 100 per cent, according to a survey conducted by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI).

The study also found that 87 per cent of institutions and companies incurred losses and only 5 per cent made profits.

New investments dropped by 70.4 per cent, profits by 86.4 per cent, Bahraini companies’ reserves by 43.8 per cent and 55.5 per cent of businessmen found financing difficult, BCCI chairman Dr Essam Fakhro told our sister publication Akhbar Al Khaleej.

The commercial sector suffered the most followed by services, contracting and industrial sector, Dr Fakhro said. – TradeArabia News Service …source

‘Bahrain regime enjoys Western silence’
shiapost – September 9, 2011
by Ali al-Ahmed, Director of IGA

The Saudi-backed Bahraini regime continues its brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters as it feels at ease with the silence of the West, a political activist had told Press TV.

“There hasn’t been a single statement coming out of Washington, regarding the doctors, regarding those people who are in jail, regarding the victims who are falling every day,” said Ali al-Ahmed, the director of the Institution for [Persian] Gulf Affairs, on Thursday in an interview with Press TV.

He also mentioned that the Western silence makes the Al Khalifa regime feel secure and confident in committing these atrocities.

Ahmed further added that the US continues to support the Bahraini regime as it seeks to undermine the revolution in the country.

“The US and the West feel that freedom in the Middle East or people power in the Middle East will undermine the interest of the West and will create independent, vibrant countries that will compete with the dominant interest of the US and [the] Western countries,” he said.

His comments come as recent video footage aired earlier in the week by the Arabic language Al-Alam news channel showed regime forces had used poisonous tear gas grenades against the protesters.

The poisonous tear gas grenades have allegedly been supplied to the Al Khalifa regime by the US. …source

US supplying toxic tear-gas to Bahrain
shiapost – September 11, 2011

Bahraini protesters say regime forces are now using toxic and stronger ammunition against peaceful anti-government demonstrators. They say the tear gas used by the Saudi-backed Bahraini troops to disperse protesters are now supplied by United State.

However, it was also reported that United Kingdom have also supplied arms to Bahraini regime.

The manufacture of these toxic wide range smoke grenades is NonLethal Technologies Inc. situated at 9419 Rt 286 Hwy West Homer City, PA 15748 USA.

http://www.nonlethaltechnologies.com

This Chemical Irritant is a particular kind or species of matter with uniform properties; “shigella is one of the most toxic substances known to man” and it is cause of many dangerous diseases.

The Arabic language Al-Alam news channel reported on Tuesday that it has obtained a video footage showing that the poisonous teargas grenades used by Bahraini security forces against demonstrators were supplied by the Americans.

Two weeks ago, 14-year-old Ali Jawad was killed following Eid al-Fitr prayers when Saudi-backed Bahraini forces shot him directly in the face by a tear gas canister at close range in the southern city of Sitra.

Thousands of anti-government protesters have been staging demonstrations in Bahrain since mid-February, demanding political reforms and a constitutional monarchy — a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on popular protests.

Scores of people have also been killed and many others have been injured in the Saudi-backed crackdown on peaceful protesters in Bahrain.

“We have offered so many sacrifices and cannot back down and end up empty handed. The reactions of the security forces result in damaging the country, but the people are patient and peaceful,” Sheikh Isa Qassim said in June. …source

Anti-govt. protests continue in Bahrain
shiapost – September 11, 2011

People in Bahrain continue to stage anti-government protest rallies, calling for the downfall of the repressive Al Khalifa regime, Press TV reports.

Bahraini protesters took to the streets in several villages across the country on Saturday night.

Chanting slogans against the ruling family, the protesters also demanded the release of demonstrators held by the regime.

On Friday, thousands of people poured to the streets in a demonstration organized by Bahrain’s largest opposition bloc, al-Wefaq.

According to organizers, the Friday protest was to show that the people of Bahrain would not back down from their demands.

Protesters have been calling on the ruling Al Khalifa family to release its decades-long grip on power.

The Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have killed scores of people and arrested hundreds more during crackdowns on the peaceful anti-government protesters. …source

If King Hamad won’t listen then he must leave
(AP) –Sep.9,2011

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — The harsh crackdown on anti-government protests in Bahrain has failed to silence people’s demands for greater rights, a senior Shiite cleric in the Gulf kingdom said Friday as thousands of opposition supporters rallied on the outskirts of the capital.

The latest demonstration was staged by people who say they were unfairly fired from their jobs simply for being members of the island nation’s Shiite community, which led the months of protests. Thousands of Shiite professionals accused of having a role in the protests have been fired from their jobs.

Shiites make up a majority of Bahrain’s people, but they have long complained of discrimination at the hands of the country’s ruling Sunni dynasty and a lack of economic opportunities.

A police helicopter flew over the large demonstration, which was backed by Bahrain’s biggest opposition party, Al Wefaq. The crowd chanted slogans against Bahrain’s 200-year-old Sunni monarchy. Some protesters demanded their jobs back and others urged opposition leaders not to compromise with the monarchy.

“Our revolution will continue,” the protesters chanted. They warned the rulers: “If you don’t want to listen then you have to leave.”

Bahrain is a strategically important nation in the Persian Gulf and is the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

The U.S. has appealed to its ally to listen to protesters’ demands for more political freedoms, but a government-led national dialogue produced no compromise with the Shiite opposition, which only had token representation at the talks.

Bahrain’s senior Shiite cleric, Sheik Isa Qassim, said the “politics of fear” and the Sunni rulers’ refusal to reform has strengthened the resolve of Shiites.

“Those who refuse to reform and continue to ignore the people’s demands for rights should know that the masses will not submit to despots,” the cleric said during Friday’s sermon in the opposition stronghold of Diraz, northwest of the capital, Manama.

More than 30 people have died since February when protests inspired by other Arab uprisings began in Bahrain.

Hundreds of activists have been detained and brought to trial on anti-state charges in a special security court.

Bahrain lifted emergency rule in June. Since then, government opponents have clashed with police almost every night.

Friday’s protest dispersed peacefully, although groups of opposition supporters marched to Manama’s Pearl Square, the heavily guarded former epicenter of Bahrain’s uprising.
…source

Bahrain security authorities to take legal action against demonstrators
English.news.cn – 2011-09-10 08:30:57

MANAMA, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) — A top Bahraini security official said Friday that the government will carry out “zero tolerance” policy against the country’s biggest opposition group, Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, for flouting rules in a gathering.

Al Wefaq held its weekly gathering on Friday in the capital that was attended by thousands of its supporters, who according to Public Security chief Major-General Taraq Mubarak bin Daina failed to abide by the law and committed irresponsible acts.

He pointed out that the protestors taking part in the march organized by Al-Wefaq chanted slogans and wrote incitement slogans on walls.

“Legal action would be taken against participants in a rally. All legal procedures would be taken against violators who are responsible for these acts, in line with the law,” he said.

“The provisions of the law stress the need to maintain discipline and public order, avoid any legal violations, prevent speeches and discussions contravening public order and inciting criminal acts,” bin Daina said in a statement.

The majority of the participants were Shi’ites who chanted slogans against the government.

Bahrain is a close U.S. ally that has been struggling to contain popular protests demanding political and economic reforms since February this year. The protests have affected thousands of citizens who were sacked from their jobs for taking part in illegal gatherings. …source

The ‘Costs of War’ project

The ‘Costs of War’ project, which involved more than 20 economists, anthropologists, lawyers, humanitarian personnel, and political scientists, provides new estimates of the total war cost as well as other direct and indirect human and economic costs of the U.S. military response to the 9/11 attacks. The project is the first comprehensive analysis of all U.S., coalition, and civilian casualties, including U.S. contractors. It also assesses many of the wars’ hidden costs, such as interest on war-related debt and veterans’ benefits.

Estimates by the ‘Costs of War’ project provide a comprehensive analysis of the total human, economic, social, and political cost of the U.S. War on Terror. Among the group’s main findings:

1. The U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan will cost between $3.2 and $4 trillion, including medical care and disability for current and future war veterans. This figure does not include substantial probable future interest on war-related debt.
2. More than 31,000 people in uniform and military contractors have died, including the Iraqi and Afghan security forces and other military forces allied with the United States.
3. By a very conservative estimate, 137,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan by all parties to these conflicts.
4. The wars have created more than 7.8 million refugees among Iraqis, Afghans, and Pakistanis.
5. Pentagon bills account for half of the budgetary costs incurred and are a fraction of the full economic cost of the wars.
6. Because the war has been financed almost entirely by borrowing, $185 billion in interest has already been paid on war spending, and another $1 trillion could accrue in interest alone through 2020.
7. Federal obligations to care for past and future veterans of these wars will likely total between $600-$950 billion. This number is not included in most analyses of the costs of war and will not peak until mid-century. …more

Protest like nobody’s watching
Posted by Guest – Fri, Sep 9, 2011

War is SO over
by Sharon Miller, CODEPINK San Francisco intern

One of the things that I’ve been thinking, as we near the 10th anniversary of 9/11, is that it wasn’t long after the attacks that many Americans embraced the security state, perhaps under the impression that constant surveillance was the only thing standing between the United States and the terrorists. For example, in the San Francisco Bay Area, advertisements like this one began showing up on public transit. We have been encouraged, by the government and by the media, to police each other according to our own definitions of “normal” and “suspicious.”

One effect of the level of community surveillance that became commonplace after 9/11 is a culture in which we police ourselves to avoid arousing suspicion. Self-policing affects how much of ourselves and our thoughts we choose to reveal to others. For several years, I worried that being too vocal about my opposition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would get the attention of those who would brand me as suspicious and place me under surveillance. Some would respond that if I had nothing to hide, the constant threat of surveillance shouldn’t bother me. However, there have been reports of unsuspecting civilians being caught in the security/surveillance dragnet, who actually had “nothing to hide”—that is, nothing that could reasonably be interpreted as a threat to public safety.

For example, I recently found this chilling report about Minnesota’s Mall of America from NPR and the Center for Investigative Reporting. The biggest mall in the country has established its own counterterrorism program, which gives a sinister, dystopian meaning to the term “mall security.” Journalists obtained 1,000 pages of “suspicious activity reports” on various shoppers stopped and questioned by security guards at the Mall of America dating back to 2005. Guards at the Mall of America interrogate an average of 1,200 people annually, ostensibly based on suspicions that they may be plotting terrorist attacks there. If a mall’s security force is included in the Orwellian-sounding Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative, it begs the question: who else is watching us, and where?

At the same time, I just can’t remain silent. I refuse to let my fear be used to justify war after endless war. On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I refuse to give in to my fear of being “discovered.” I will be joining CODEPINK and other activists and members of the community in a public local action for peace and justice. What will you do? …source

Let’s Cancel 9/11
Bury the War State’s Blank Check at Sea
By Tom Engelhardt – September 8, 2011. – Tom Dispatch

Let’s bag it.

I’m talking about the tenth anniversary ceremonies for 9/11, and everything that goes with them: the solemn reading of the names of the dead, the tolling of bells, the honoring of first responders, the gathering of presidents, the dedication of the new memorial, the moments of silence. The works.

Let’s just can it all. Shut down Ground Zero. Lock out the tourists. Close “Reflecting Absence,” the memorial built in the “footprints” of the former towers with its grove of trees, giant pools, and multiple waterfalls before it can be unveiled this Sunday. Discontinue work on the underground National September 11 Museum due to open in 2012. Tear down the Freedom Tower (redubbed 1 World Trade Center after our “freedom” wars went awry), 102 stories of “the most expensive skyscraper ever constructed in the United States.” (Estimated price tag: $3.3 billion.) Eliminate that still-being-constructed, hubris-filled 1,776 feet of building, planned in the heyday of George W. Bush and soaring into the Manhattan sky like a nyaah-nyaah invitation to future terrorists. Dismantle the other three office towers being built there as part of an $11 billion government-sponsored construction program. Let’s get rid of it all. If we had wanted a memorial to 9/11, it would have been more appropriate to leave one of the giant shards of broken tower there untouched.

Ask yourself this: ten years into the post-9/11 era, haven’t we had enough of ourselves? If we have any respect for history or humanity or decency left, isn’t it time to rip the Band-Aid off the wound, to remove 9/11 from our collective consciousness? No more invocations of those attacks to explain otherwise inexplicable wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and our oh-so-global war on terror. No more invocations of 9/11 to keep the Pentagon and the national security state flooded with money. No more invocations of 9/11 to justify every encroachment on liberty, every new step in the surveillance of Americans, every advance in pat-downs and wand-downs and strip downs that keeps fear high and the homeland security state afloat.

The attacks of September 11, 2001 were in every sense abusive, horrific acts. And the saddest thing is that the victims of those suicidal monstrosities have been misused here ever since under the guise of pious remembrance. This country has become dependent on the dead of 9/11 — who have no way of defending themselves against how they have been used — as an all-purpose explanation for our own goodness and the horrors we’ve visited on others, for the many towers-worth of dead in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere whose blood is on our hands.

Isn’t it finally time to go cold turkey? To let go of the dead? Why keep repeating our 9/11 mantra as if it were some kind of old-time religion, when we’ve proven that we, as a nation, can’t handle it — and worse yet, that we don’t deserve it?

We would have been better off consigning our memories of 9/11 to oblivion, forgetting it all if only we could. We can’t, of course. But we could stop the anniversary remembrances. We could stop invoking 9/11 in every imaginable way so many years later. We could stop using it to make ourselves feel like a far better country than we are. We could, in short, leave the dead in peace and take a good, hard look at ourselves, the living, in the nearest mirror.

Ceremonies of Hubris

Within 24 hours of the attacks of September 11, 2001, the first newspaper had already labeled the site in New York as “Ground Zero.” If anyone needed a sign that we were about to run off the rails, as a misassessment of what had actually occurred that should have been enough. Previously, the phrase “ground zero” had only one meaning: it was the spot where a nuclear explosion had occurred.

The facts of 9/11 are, in this sense, simple enough. It was not a nuclear attack. It was not apocalyptic. The cloud of smoke where the towers stood was no mushroom cloud. It was not potentially civilization ending. It did not endanger the existence of our country — or even of New York City. Spectacular as it looked and staggering as the casualty figures were, the operation was hardly more technologically advanced than the failed attack on a single tower of the World Trade Center in 1993 by Islamists using a rented Ryder truck packed with explosives.

A second irreality went with the first. Almost immediately, key Republicans like Senator John McCain, followed by George W. Bush, top figures in his administration, and soon after, in a drumbeat of agreement, the mainstream media declared that we were “at war.” This was, Bush would say only three days after the attacks, “the first war of the twenty-first century.” Only problem: it wasn’t. Despite the screaming headlines, Ground Zero wasn’t Pearl Harbor. Al-Qaeda wasn’t Japan, nor was it Nazi Germany. It wasn’t the Soviet Union. It had no army, nor finances to speak of, and possessed no state (though it had the minimalist protection of a hapless government in Afghanistan, one of the most backward, poverty-stricken lands on the planet).

And yet — another sign of where we were heading — anyone who suggested that this wasn’t war, that it was a criminal act and some sort of international police action was in order, was simply laughed (or derided or insulted) out of the American room. And so the empire prepared to strike back (just as Osama bin Laden hoped it would) in an apocalyptic, planet-wide “war” for domination that masqueraded as a war for survival.
[Read more →]

Beyond Streetbook
by Jillian C. York – 09/08/2011 – technology review

On-the-ground reporting of the Arab Spring revolutions will foster a more nuanced discussion of how digital tools matter, and how they don’t.

Half a year out, we’re still learning how revolutionaries took hold of Facebook and Twitter to assist in overthrowing not one but two regimes.

The subject continues to be debated, largely across a false dichotomy of Gladwell (“the revolution will not be tweeted”) versus cyberutopianism (“it’s a Facebook revolution!”). Amongst close followers, including many revolutionaries themselves, however, the reality is more subtle: The revolution will be tweeted, and Facebooked, but it will also be fought, sometimes bloodily, on the streets.

In “Streetbook,” John Pollock deftly illustrates the impact of social media tools in Tunisia and Egypt, the two countries in which, thus far, we have seen the true Arab Spring. Pollock’s conclusion—that digital tools contribute greatly to the offline organizing necessary to topple a regime—fits the narrative put forth by the various activists he interviews (as well as the many I’ve seen speak at various fora this year), while his narrative offers an insider’s view into just how those tools have been used.

Indeed, in Tunis and Kasserine, Mahalla and Cairo, digerati took hold of social media, combining online with offline organizing to great effect. Elsewhere in the region, however, such as on the streets of Hama and Manama, such tools have been widely used yet have enabled little change, the power of each regime stronger than that of the opposition.

Last week, I attended a workshop at the University of Kentucky, Louisville’s Center for Asian Democracy, in which a clutch of academics debated the connections between new media and democratization, and the parallels of such between Asia and the Arab world. Central to the discussion was the distinction between “democracy” and “democratization,” two words that have been used largely interchangeably in mainstream reporting of the Arab Spring.

While democracy—though not quite yet achieved—is hopefully the outcome of the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings, there has been little credit given to the democratizing prospects of social media tools elsewhere: the strengthening of the public sphere, the development of protest movements, and—as Samir Garbaya is quoted as saying in “Streetbook”—”the transfer of the interaction from social networks to manifestation in the real world, on the street.”

Through his interviews and in detailing the tactics of previous uprisings, Pollock sets forth plausible courses of action for would-be revolutionaries, while at the same time working toward an understanding of how digital tools were part of the process in working toward overthrowing Tunisia’s Ben Ali and Egypt’s Mubarak. That process may be what matters most if democracy is the end goal; and if so, then we ought not discount the in-between process of democratization. In other words, even if it takes months more to bring down Syria’s Assad, or to change the face of Bahraini governance, digital tools have already helped set the groundwork needed for civil society to move forward in those goals.

At the same time, what “Streetbook” touches on only briefly is regime control of the Internet, which as we have seen varies wildly from country to country. Observers take note: While in Tunisia, the regime had a firm grasp on social media, censoring and surveilling for the better part of a decade, and in Egypt, the regime resorted to a complete shutdown of networks to quell dissent, regimes are quickly learning from each other’s mistakes and beefing up their arsenals. Both Syria and Bahrain appear to have a stronger grasp on the Internet than their predecessors, which will most certainly hamper the ability of activists to use digital tools to much effect.

Therefore, the experiences of Pollock’s subjects should not necessarily be seen as a lesson for understanding digital activism writ large, but rather as a study of methods.

With his piece, Pollock accomplishes what more well-known columnists have failed to: provide a sober view into the lives of modern revolutionaries without resorting to common tropes about what this all means. I am hopeful that reporting like his will set the stage for a more nuanced discussion of why digital tools matter … and where they don’t.

Jillian C. York is the Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She writes regularly about free expression, politics, and the Internet, with particular focus on the Arab world. She is on the board of directors of Global Voices Online, and writes for Al Jazeera English, and the Guardian’s Comment is Free. …more

Bahrain panel: 101 activists on hunger strike
AP – Wed, Sep 7, 2011

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — More than 100 jailed Bahraini activists — including doctors who treated injured protesters during months of anti-government protests and crackdowns in the Gulf kingdom — are on hunger strike, an international panel said Wednesday.

The Bahrain Commission of Inquiry said in a statement that 84 opposition supporters are on hunger strike in prison. In addition, 17 detained activists have been hospitalized by the Interior Ministry for their refusal to eat.

Hundreds of activists have been imprisoned since February when Shiite-led demonstrations for greater rights began in the Sunni-ruled Bahrain, the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. More than 30 people have been killed since protests inspired by Arab uprisings began in February.

Large clashes broke out between riot police and youth protesters after a celebration over the release of one of the doctors from prison in northern city of Dih.

An unknown number of protesters were wounded when security forces fired shotguns, according to witnesses. Clashes between youth and police are a near nightly occurence in Bahrain, but Wednesday evening’s clashes in Dih were the largest in weeks, witnesses said.

The five-member panel has been set up in June to investigate the unrest. Wednesday’s statement said an international expert on hunger strikes will join the panel to visit the striking detainees and evaluate their condition.

“Medical advice will be provided and the expert will discuss the challenges of hunger strike,” the statement said, adding that the hunger strike started nine days ago.

Among the jailed activists on hunger strike are doctors who are on trial in a special security court on charges of participating in efforts to overthrow Bahrain’s 200-year-old monarchy.

The doctors’ trial is being closely watched by rights groups, which have criticized Bahrain’s use of the security court, which includes military prosecutors and civilians and military judges.

The case against 11 health professionals was back in the special tribunal on Wednesday. After the hearing, the eleven defendants were released from custody, although they remain charged with anti-state crimes, a lawyer for one of the doctors said. It was not immediately clear if the released doctors continue to strike.

The lawyer, Hassan Radhi, told The Associated Press the trial adjourned until Sept. 26.

Other jailed opposition supporters have joined the strike, including two prominent Shiite activists, Abdul Jalil al-Singace and Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. They were sentenced to life in prison in June for their role in protests.

The Bahrain Commission of Inquiry includes international judicial and human rights experts. They started the probe with the consent of the Sunni rulers.

The commission’s findings are expected Oct. 30.

Shiites comprise about 70 percent of Bahrain’s 525,000 people, but are blocked from top political and security posts. …source

Editorial Board Opinion – Washington Post
Bahrain needs U.S. attention now
By Editorial, Friday, September 9, 6:57 PM

BAHRAIN HAS BECOME the hidden story of the Arab Spring. While the popular uprisings in Libya, Syria and Yemen have dominated the news in recent months, far less attention has been paid to the tiny but strategic Persian Gulf emirate, which hosts the U.S. 5th Fleet. That’s partly because Bahrain’s ruling al-Khalifa family deflected criticism from the massive crackdown it launched in March by promising to initiate a dialogue with its opposition and implement political reforms. The regime, however, hasn’t delivered — and now it is risking a new explosion of unrest that could destabilize not just Bahrain but the region around it.

The latest trouble began with the promised National Dialogue, which unraveled soon after it began in July. The government gave the largest opposition party five out of the assembly’s 300 seats and left some crucial reform issues — such as the reform of parliamentary districts — off the agenda. Most of the opposition walked out before the “dialogue” concluded with several minor recommendations. One of them would increase the powers of the regime’s principal hard-liner, Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, who has been in office since 1971.

Another conciliatory initiative, a commission to investigate the unrest, has been undermined by the behavior of its Egyptian chairman, who has made public statements preemptively exonerating the ruling family. A promise to rehire thousands of workers fired from their state jobs because of their suspected support for the opposition has been only partly fulfilled. And while some political prisoners have been released — a group of doctors were freed this week after they and other prisoners staged a hunger strike — hundreds remain jailed and the regime continues to use a “court of national safety” to imprison opposition leaders.

Rather than moving toward reconciliation, Bahrain is more polarized than ever, and the fault line increasingly falls between the ruling Sunni elite and majority Shiite population. Clashes between protesters and police occur almost every night in Shiite villages, and the Aug. 31 death of a 14-year-old boy who the opposition says was struck by a tear gas canister has magnified the tension. Thoughtful Bahrainis worry that a new eruption of mass protests is imminent and that it may lead to a purely sectarian conflict that could spread to Saudi Arabia and even Iraq.

The United States has considerable leverage in Bahrain — through the 5th Fleet, military aid programs and a free-trade agreement. But the Obama administration has been timid here as elsewhere during the Arab Spring. In May, President Obama made a strong statement about Bahrain during a speech on the Middle East in which he promised to support the cause of democratic change across the region. But there has been no follow-up; no senior U.S. officials have visited Bahrain in months, and the administration has had nothing to say about the deteriorating situation. This is shortsighted: If Bahrain blows up, vital U.S. interests will be at risk. The administration should use its influence now — before the crisis resumes. …source

Thousands of Bahrainis march, demand rights
Reuters September 10, 2011, 12:54 am

MANAMA (Reuters) – Some 20,000 protesters marched near the Bahraini capital of Manama on Friday, shouting anti-government slogans and vowing to stick to their calls for democratic reforms in the Gulf island ruled by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.

“Down, down Hamad,” they chanted, waving Bahraini flags and raising their fists in the air as police helicopters buzzed overhead.

Small-scale protests and clashes with security forces have erupted almost daily outside Manama, in the villages where Bahrain’s majority Shi’ite population mostly resides.

Tensions have been simmering since the Sunni-ruled kingdom, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, quashed mass pro-democracy protests this March. Anxieties are also now rising ahead of a by-election scheduled for later this September.

The election aims to fill seats of parliamentarians from the largest Shi’ite party, Wefaq, who resigned en masse when Bahrain used force against the protests. The government said the demonstrations had a sectarian agenda instigated by its regional Shi’ite rival Iran.

The Friday March, organised by Wefaq, was entitled, “No backing down, we are insistent on our demands.”

The mostly Shi’ite-led protesters have demanded a greater share in government as well more powers for the legislature, whose authority is neutered by an upper council appointed by the king.

The government tried to respond by launching a National Dialogue to initiate reforms, but many Shi’ites and opposition figures criticised the talks as cosmetic. Wefaq eventually pulled out of the dialogue.

Friday’s march comes a week after thousands took to the streets to protest the death of a 14-year-old boy who activists said was killed after being hit by a tear gas canister at a protest outside Manama. The government denied police were responsible for the boy’s death.

Some residents worried the death could be a trigger for more clashes in Bahrain, a tiny country that sits on the fault lines of tension between Sunni Gulf Arab states and Shi’ite Iran. Saudi Arabian and UAE forces entered Bahrain earlier this year to help the government crush mass protests, citing fears of outside interference that indirectly pointed at Iran.

Protesters on Friday wrote out the Arabic word “Salmiya” along the sidewalk where protesters were marching. The word, which means, “Peaceful,” was spelled out using empty tear gas canisters and sound grenades which litter the streets after riot police break up village protests.

Pumping their fists, protesters also shouted out “Thank you, thank you” as a speaker recited the names of some 47 medics who had treated demonstrators in February and were arrested during the March crackdown on charges ranging from incitement to storing weapons, which they denied.

The 14 medics who still had not been released from prison started a hunger strike earlier this month, prompting many other jailed activists and Shi’ite leaders to join them.

The government released the medics on Wednesday even as investigators said more than 80 other detainees were also refusing food.
(Writing by Erika Solomon; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Cleric: Bahrain crackdown failed to end protests

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) – The harsh crackdown on anti-government protests in Bahrain has failed to silence people’s demands for greater rights, a senior Shiite cleric in the Gulf kingdom said Friday as thousands of opposition supporters rallied on the outskirts of the capital.

The latest demonstration was staged by people who say they were unfairly fired from their jobs simply for being members of the island nation’s Shiite community, which led the months of protests. Thousands of Shiite professionals accused of having a role in the protests have been fired from their jobs.

Shiites make up a majority of Bahrain’s people, but they have long complained of discrimination at the hands of the country’s ruling Sunni dynasty and a lack of economic opportunities.

A police helicopter flew over the large demonstration, which was backed by Bahrain’s biggest opposition party, Al Wefaq. The crowd chanted slogans against Bahrain’s 200-year-old Sunni monarchy. Some protesters demanded their jobs back and others urged opposition leaders not to compromise with the monarchy.

“Our revolution will continue,” the protesters chanted. They warned the rulers: “If you don’t want to listen then you have to leave.”

Bahrain is a strategically important nation in the Persian Gulf and is the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

The U.S. has appealed to its ally to listen to protesters’ demands for more political freedoms, but a government-led national dialogue produced no compromise with the Shiite opposition, which only had token representation at the talks.

Bahrain’s senior Shiite cleric, Sheik Isa Qassim, said the “politics of fear” and the Sunni rulers’ refusal to reform has strengthened the resolve of Shiites.

“Those who refuse to reform and continue to ignore the people’s demands for rights should know that the masses will not submit to despots,” the cleric said during Friday’s sermon in the opposition stronghold of Diraz, northwest of the capital, Manama.

More than 30 people have died since February when protests inspired by other Arab uprisings began in Bahrain.

Hundreds of activists have been detained and brought to trial on anti-state charges in a special security court.

Bahrain lifted emergency rule in June. Since then, government opponents have clashed with police almost every night.

Friday’s protest dispersed peacefully, although groups of opposition supporters marched to Manama’s Pearl Square, the heavily guarded former epicenter of Bahrain’s uprising.
…source

Bahrain: Escalation of revolution as people insist on regime change
Bahrain Freedom Movement – 09/09/2011 – 4:21 p

The international pressure on the Al Khalifa regime has forced it to “drink the poison” and release the medical staff whose members had been accused by the Al Khalifa and Al Saud officials of the most serious crimes, including killing patients, falsifying evidence and plotting to overthrow the regime. Their release on Tuesday 6th September has exposed the lies, fabrications and most important of all, the crimes, committed by the regime.

Doctors and nurses were tortured extensively over their six months incarceration. They were beaten, hung in the chicken position, forced to stand for days, deprived of sleep, the use of electric shocks and tasers over their bodies, spitting in their mouths and stuffing their mouths with human secretion. Women medics were sexually assaulted. International human rights bodies, including Physicians for Human Rights and Doctors Without Borders repeatedly issued statements accusing the Al Khalifa of torture and calling for their immediate release. On Tuesday, Irish doctors and supporters staged a hunger strike in Dublin in support of Bahraini medics, among them were Professor McCormack and Tara OGrady. The victims themselves had been on hunger strike when they were released. It was a major defeat of the Al Khalifa dictatorship. Many Bahrainis also staged hunger strike in support of the prisoners who had been on strike for a week. Dr Abdul Jalil Al Singace and Abdul Hadi Al Khawaja led the hunger strike inside their cells and were followed by many inside prison and outside. Men and women from Bilad Al Qadeem, Al Zinj and Al Salihiya also participated in the hunger strike earlier this week.

International angry voices are rising against the moral failure of the US government and its allies as they maintain their support to Al Khalifa dictatorship. Of particular concern to the world is the justification of the Saudi occupation of Bahrain. On 8th September, CNN published a long report on the American immoral stand on Bahrain. Its Foreign Affairs editor, Joost R. Hiltermann ended his article with these wrods: “Washington retains real leverage over the regime. Bahrain is firmly under the U.S. security umbrella in the Gulf, and the United States provides Bahrain with funding for military purchases ($19 million in 2010) as well as military training assistance. The United States should be more assertive about using this influence: The current policy of continuing military-to-military relations without regard for the political and human rights situation is counterproductive, could be interpreted as violating U.S. law, and exposes the Obama administration to accusations of double standards in its approach to the Arab Spring.

For the moment, Bahrain is the first successful chapter of the Arab counterrevolution spearheaded by Saudi Arabia – it is the place where the West has broken its promise to support the Arab people in their struggle for a greater say in politics and greater control over their destinies. It is time for the Obama administration to push the country back onto the road toward reform, using pro-democracy forces within the regime, its supporters and the opposition to show the way.

Meanwhile, Bahrain revolutionaries are preparing for a final assault to re-occupy the iconic Pearl Roundabout in what they have called “The final return” on 23rd and 24th September, the days of the by-elections. So far, at least three people have made the perilous attempt to occupy the Roundabout which is being defended by the Saudi and Al Khalifa troops. Abdul Qadir Darwish, Mohammad Al Hayki and Mohammad Jaffar Al Ekri had been able to cross those defences and take up positions at the Roundabout. They were all arrested, beaten and tortured by members of the regime’s Death Squads.

The people have continued their revolution with great zeal and determination. This morning a large demonstration was staged at Mhaza District of Sitra calling for regime change and shouting “Down with Hamad”. Last night people of Sitra also demonstrated against the regime whose forces reacted with fury, smashing cars and breaking people’s properties. Over the past week, several demonstrations were held at various locations; from Sitra and Ma’amir to Bouri, Duraz and Bani Jamra to Sanabis, Daih and Jidhafs. Demonstrations took place at the town of Dair, near the airport. At the protests held yesterday at Aali, called for by the 14th February Youth, harsh measures were adopted to crush the will of the people. In addition to tear and chemical gases, regime’s forces used shotguns that led to serious injuries to several people. Images of the victims have infuriated Bahrainis who feel that they are the victims of an unholy alliance between the Al Khalifa and the Western countries, especially US.

Bahrain Freedom Movement
9th September 2011

…source

CIA ‘Shocked’ Prisoners They Sent To Libya Were Tortured
Middle East and North Africa, Security and Human Rights, Torture, USA | Posted by: Tom Parker, September 8, 2011 at 4:36 PM

This past weekend has provided a few new insights into what Dick Cheney’s policy of ‘working the dark side’ actually entailed and offered a piquant example of the law of unintended consequences.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) was able to gain access to the headquarters of Libyan Intelligence after the organization’s building in Tripoli fell to rebel control. HRW’s researcher found files detailing the relationship that developed between the CIA and Gadhafi’s external intelligence service in the years after September 11th.

It is worth recalling that Libyan Intelligence had been behind (among other crimes) the murder of a British policewoman in London in 1984, two US servicemen in Berlin in 1986, and the downing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, which resulted in 270 fatalities.

Libya also supplied the Provisional IRA with major arms shipments, including AK 47s, heavy machine guns and Semtex explosives, for over two decades.

While Libya’s relationship with the West certainly improved in the 2000s, there was no suggestion that Gadhafi’s dismissive attitude towards human rights had similarly evolved.

President Bush’s Press Secretary Ari Fleischer acknowledged as much in this April 2003 comment on the composition of the UN Human Rights Commission:

“[The] Commission cannot expect to have Libya be its chair, to reelect Cuba, and not have people wonder if they really do stand for human rights.”

Yet, at the same time that Fleischer was criticizing the UN, the CIA was arranging to render terrorism suspects to Libya where they could be jointly interrogated by Libyan and US intelligence officers.

In one memo discovered by HRW, the CIA’s former Deputy Director of Operations Stephen Kappes wrote to the Head of Libyan Intelligence, Moussa Koussa:

“We are eager to work with you in the questioning of the terrorist we recently rendered to your country.”

Seeking to head off criticism at the weekend, US officials claimed that they sought assurances that the human rights of rendered individuals would be protected, and indeed communications between the CIA and Libyan intelligence have language seeking to indemnify the Agency from subsequent allegations of mistreatment.

In essence, the US got lawyered up and is now channeling Claude Rains’ Vichy police chief in the movie Casablanca who closed Bogart’s nightclub for unlicensed gambling, even as he pocketed his winnings from the roulette table, with the immortally cynical line:

“I am shocked, shocked that there is gambling going on here.”

Unfortunately for the US government, a victim of the extraordinary rendition program, Abdel Hakim Belhaj, also went public last weekend with a graphic account of his own experiences, which demonstrate all too vividly just how empty the charade of diplomatic assurances actually was.

And here comes the twist: Belhaj is now head of the Libyan rebels’ military committee for restoring order in Tripoli, a position he holds courtesy of US and NATO airstrikes to oust Colonel Gadhafi from power.

Belhaj is a former commander of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), which waged a low-level insurgency campaign against Gadhafi in the 1990s. The LIFG was defeated by Gadhafi in 1998 and its leadership fled to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. There are reported connections between LIFG and Al Qaeda in this period. Now, he’s family.

Belhaj claims that in 2004 he was abducted in Malaysia, tortured in a CIA ‘black site’ in Thailand and then rendered to Colonel Gadhafi’s Libya where was held in solitary confinement for 6 years and repeatedly tortured by Libyan officials.

Amazingly, Belhaj doesn’t want revenge – he wants justice:

“If one day there is a legal way, I would like to see my torturers brought to court.”

He may yet get his wish. A British public inquiry into the treatment of ‘suspected terrorists’ overseas has already announced that it will examine Belhaj’s case.

And the CIA might have got away with it too, if hadn’t been for those meddling rebels… …source

cb editor: While FP Chief Ashton’s comments are welcome, she seems to miss the point as do many others, especially in the West, that whether these trials are held in Military or Civilian Courts they are a SHAM, they are trumped up, false charges meant to justify detention and to crush all opposition to a ruling and tyrannical Monarchy. Due process has been absent as warrant-less arrests, beatings and charge-less detentions continue to this day.

It seems either naivety or simply a ruse for anyone to suggest, given the climate of politics and human rights abuse, that any trial in any court bringing charges against the opposition leadership, prisoners of conscience and the arbitrarily detained could ever be fair or just at this point in history. What is absent in the present narrative are the charges against those committing real crimes, the al Kahlifa regime. It’s time for International powers to put coercive pressure on the al Khalifa’s to release all opposition leadership and prisoners of conscience and begin a fair and equitable process for ceding power. Barring this revolution and it’s unpredictable outcome seems inevitable.

EU’s Catherine Ashton hails release of Bahrain medics
By AFP – Published: September 8, 2011

BRUSSELS: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton hailed Thursday the release on bail of Shiite medics in Bahrain who had been detained during pro-democracy demonstrations this spring in the Gulf state.

While applauding the special court’s decision to release seven doctors and three ambulance drivers, pending the verdict on September 29, she called for the need to use civil courts.

Ashton “again urges the Bahraini authorities to conduct all trials of civilians in civilian courts, with due process and full rights to a fair and transparent trial, as promised by His Majesty King Hamad last month,” a statement from her office said.

She added that she looks forward “the upcoming conclusions of the independent Commission of Inquiry on the events surrounding the unrest earlier this year.”

Some of the released medics had led a hunger strike for more than a week, according to the opposition.

The independent panel of foreign experts set up by Bahrain’s monarch to investigate the crackdown on protesters said more than 100 detainees had gone on hunger strike, 17 of whom were hospitalised after their health deteriorated.

Bahraini authorities have charged 24 doctors and 23 nurses — including several women — from Manama’s central Salmaniya hospital of incitement to overthrow the regime, during the protests in the Gulf kingdom that is ruled by the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty.

All the medical staff have now been released pending the verdicts, Bahaini officials said. …source

Bahraini “Sham” Trials Condemned
For Immediate Release: September 8, 2011

Washington, DC – The military trial of 20 doctors and other medics who treated injured protestors during pro-democracy protests resumed this week, further undermining Bahrain’s claim to respect human rights. The remaining doctors who had been in detention – some for many months – were released, but the charges against them still remain. Some are in extremely poor health after 9 days on hunger strike and are need of immediate medical treatment. Despite assurances that these cases would be tried in civilian courts, the cases are slated to proceed in military court and verdicts are anticipated by Sept. 29.

“Trying civilians in military courts that offer inadequate legal protections is a sham process,” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley. “It exposes the Bahraini Government’s real intentions to crack down on peaceful activists. The United States Government should publicly condemn these trials and make clear that Bahrain’s decision to prosecute people for peacefully expressing their views will have consequences for the relationship between the United States and Bahrain.”

The Bahraini authorities announced on June 26 that they were transferring all cases from military courts to civilian courts. On August 18, government authorities made an about-face and announced that the doctors would be tried in a military court. Bahrain’s military court does not meet international standards for a fair trial.

Among those on trial is Roula Al-Saffar, the head of the Bahrain Nursing Society, who spent four months in detention before her release last year. She studied at Widener University in Pennsylvania and at the University of North Texas. She also worked for many years as a nurse at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.

“In July, I spoke to several of the medics who have been detained, including Roula and others on trial today, “ said Dooley. “I heard credible, detailed and consistent stories from them of torture in detention. The United States should not be aligned with a regime that perpetuates such abuses.” …source

Bahrain job purges linger as protest flashpoint
AP By BRIAN MURPHY -August 8, 2011

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — One afternoon in May, police in Bahrain led away security guard Mahdi Ali from his job at the Gulf kingdom’s state-controlled aluminum plant. He claims he was blindfolded and beaten so severely that the bruises still have not healed.

His only offense, he insists, is being part of Bahrain’s Shiite majority as it presses for greater rights from Sunni rulers who have Western allies and powerful Gulf neighbors on their side.

The 44-year-old Ali now counts himself among Bahrain’s purged: Hundreds of Shiites — some say thousands — dismissed from jobs or suspended from universities for suspected support for demonstrators.

“My only crime is being Shiite,” said Ali, who claims he has been effectively blacklisted from finding a new job. “I’ve paid for it by being dismissed, arrested, tortured and insulted.”

With Bahrain’s Arab Spring crisis moving into its eighth month, the mass dismissals remain a major point of anger feeding near-daily street clashes on the strategic island — which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

The coming weeks could be critical in assessing the chances for any significant reconciliation efforts in Bahrain. The alternative is an increasingly divided and volatile nation where the region’s biggest political narratives intersect: Western security interests, Gulf Arab worries about spillover uprisings and Iran’s ambitions to cast wider Middle East influence.

“Bahrain had these tensions long before the current Arab upheavals. And it may end up as one of the most enduring and most complex dilemmas after the Arab Spring has run its course,” said Sami Alfaraj, director of the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies.

Shiites account for about 70 percent of the population of some 525,000 people, but claim they face systematic discrimination by the 200-year-old Sunni dynasty. Bahrain’s rulers, meanwhile, court Western and Sunni Arab backing by raising fears that Shiite power Iran is pulling the strings of the protests as a foothold to undermine other Gulf monarchs and sheiks. …more

The Movement in Bahrain – Still Alive, Regardless of Media Neglect
September 8, 2011 – by NADA ALWADI – Counter Punch

He runs impulsively and courageously, carrying his country’s flag as if he were carrying his own dream. He looks young, athletic, and fearless. He jumps over a bridge’s fence and runs to the place where many of his countrymen were killed not long ago. Then he raises his flag and waves it high, trying to avoid the policemen running to stop him. He was standing in that same spot six months ago, carrying that same flag and living that same dream. Today, his dream is besieged, just like the spot where he is standing. Soon, dozens of riot police rush out from four vehicles, surround him, take him down, and confiscate his flag. There, his punishment awaits him—a brutal beating by the police, who then take him away.

His name is Mohamed Ali Alhaiki, an ordinary young man who was the talk of Bahrain few days ago. On Saturday, Mohamed—who was fired from his job after participating in the anti-government protests—decided to carry the Bahraini flag and walk with it right to the middle of Pearl Roundabout in the center of the capital Manama.

Mohamed’s symbolic action, which was filmed and posted on YouTube, will be remembered by hundreds of thousands of Bahrainis who have participated in pro-democracy protests since February 14th. They will remember this like they remember Ali Jawad Al-Sheikh, the 14-year-old boy who was killed a few days earlier on the morning of Eid—one of two days of celebration for Muslims—while he was participating with his friends in pro-democracy protest in his village.

Although protests have continued on the streets of Bahrain every day since the Saudi-led crackdown on Pearl Roundabout last March, there has been very little coverage of the Bahraini movement in the international media.

There are several reasons for this. First, six months after the movement started, it’s clear to Bahraini activists that the United States is not in favor of any changes. The US wants to protect its interests in Bahrain—most importantly, securing the Navy’s Fifth Fleet—and avoid any direct confrontation with Saudi Arabia, which is calling the shots in Bahrain right now. The US’s posture has played a major role in marginalizing Bahrain in the eyes of the international media. …more

Iran offers IAEA full oversight over its nuclear effort
Voltaire Network – 7 September 2011

Iran is prepared to give the International Atomic Energy Agency “full supervision” of its nuclear programme for five years if UN sanctions are lifted.

“We have proposed that the agency keep Iran’s activities and nuclear programme under full supervision for five years, providing the sanctions are lifted,” the nuclear chief, Fereydoun Abbasi Davani, told ISNA news agency on Monday.

Iran is under four sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment amid international fears that it seeks to build a nuclear weapon – a charge Tehran flatly denies. …source

Bahraini Opposition Figure Discloses Al-Khalifa Torturing Techniques against Revolutionaries
8/29/2011 1:26:17 AM

LONDON (BF)- Ali al-Mashima’, the son of Bahrain’s renowned opposition leader Hassan al-Mashima’, said various torturing techniques are used in the al-Khalifa prisons to extract information and punish the revolutionary forces, and revealed that Bahrain’s prince has a direct role in the torturing and interrogation of the detainees.

“Nasser, the son of the Bahraini king is involved in the torturing of the detainees and this has been revealed and proved to us,” Ali al-Mashima’ told BF on Sunday.

He also reiterated that Sheikh Mohammad al-Meghdad and Sheikh al-Mahrous, two of the opposition leaders, have confirmed the presence of Nasser al-Khalifa in the process of their interrogation and torturing.

Bahrainis have been waging protest rallies since mid-February, demanding an end to the Al Khalifa dynasty, which has ruled the country for over 40 years.

Violence against the defenseless people escalated after a Saudi-led conglomerate of police, security and military forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states were dispatched to the tiny kingdom on March 13 to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds more arrested in a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in Bahrain, home to a huge American military installation for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf.

Rights activists in Bahrain have repeatedly said that the government’s harsh tactics and intimidation against opposition forces cannot smother the popular uprising in the Persian Gulf country.

People are being tortured, kidnapped, sexually harassed and assaulted, houses being stolen and raided, villages being raided, and worshipping places are being demolished, the human rights activists reported.

Also, the Muslim Women Movement in a recent statement protested at the brutal and cruel behavior of the Bahraini regime towards women in the country, and revealed that the Al-Khalifa regime has imprisoned innocent pregnant women in horrible dungeons.

“They keep pregnant women in terrifying prisons, martyr their husbands under torture and attack people’s homes at night and create panic and horror,” the statement said in April, addressing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moo. …source