…from beneath the crooked bough, witness 230 years of brutal tyranny by the al Khalifas come to an end
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Posts from — October 2011

Video from Saudi Arabia Activist that landed them in jail

October 23, 2011   No Comments

Woolsey and Payne Coddle Dictator in Bahrain

Woolsey and Payne Coddle Dictator in Bahrain
10/20/11 – Naiman – Policy Director, Just Foreign Policy – Huff Post

Folks who claim that it doesn’t matter who we elect to represent us in the House of Representatives should be compelled to confront a new piece of evidence: a report from Bahrain of a recent meeting between a U.S. Congressional delegation and representatives of Wefaq, the largest political party in Bahrain. The report illustrates a key political fact about the world in which we live: some of the most progressive congressional districts in the country, districts that won’t elect a Republican unless the Democratic incumbent is caught red-handed in a major crime the week before the election, are represented by people who, when the curtains of big media are drawn, oppose the basic human rights that most Americans take for granted.

People in these congressional districts could, if they wished, be represented in the House by people who are consistent supporters of human rights. The key obstacle to this development isn’t ideology or corporate power per se. It’s the lack of effective channels for communicating to voters what their Representatives in the House are doing on foreign policy issues. This lack is of course a symptom of corporate domination of the media. But the media isn’t totally under the control of corporations, and thanks to the internet, we can now communicate with each other for free. So this problem could be solved through effective organization, and every progressive district in the country could be represented in the House by people who are consistent supporters of human rights.

Lynn Woolsey represents California’s 6th Congressional district. The Cook PVI of this district is D23. Judged by the vote in presidential elections, the district is 23 points more Democratic than the country as a whole. It’s going to be a long time before a Republican gets elected there. ...more

October 23, 2011   No Comments

Armed Bahraini Youth block roadway to National Airport

Dangerous youth Armed with Rubbish Bins engage in street battle – these are the violent rioters that Congresswoman Woolsey (D-CA) spoke of earlier in the week – WTF were you smoking in the hookah the al Khalifa’s had you puffing on Congresswoman? This protest and that which is even less aggressive justifies King Hamad’s murders of protesters, using weapons supplied by the West and his imprisonment of the Political Society leadership? Democrats need to get a grip on reality.

October 23, 2011   No Comments

Bassiouni Report started as political tool for al Khalifa regime delayed, under goes rewrite to leverage arms sales from the West

Bahrain panel delays report on protest unrest
By Barbara Surk – Associated Press – October 20, 2011

MANAMA, Bahrain—An international commission investigating months of protests and crackdowns in Bahrain on Thursday delayed its final report on the unrest in the Gulf kingdom, saying it needs more time to review thousands of personal accounts and official documents.

The report by The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, which has been probing alleged abuses during the Shiite-led protests against the country’s Sunni rulers, was due Oct. 23. A statement by the five-member panel said the highly anticipated report has now been delayed until Nov. 23.

At least 35 people have been killed since February, when Bahrain’s Shiite majority started protests for greater rights in the tiny, but strategically important Gulf nation that is the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

The United States said earlier this week it will await the commission’s report before deciding on a $53 million arms sales to the violence-wrecked Bahrain, the Gulf country hardest hit by anti-government protests inspired by other Arab uprisings.

The delay of the final report will “ensure that every testimony, complaint, and item of evidence is considered and examined,” the Commission said in a statement posted on its website Thursday. It also said more time is needed “to prepare a final report that establishes the facts about what occurred in Bahrain during February and March 2011.”

The Commission is headed by Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, an Egyptian-born professor of international criminal law and a former member of U.N. human rights panels. It was set up in July with the consent of Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy.

Over the past months, the panel received more than 8,000 complaints, testimonies and documents. Its members have interviewed more than 5,000 witnesses and alleged victims of the unrest, including detainees, police personnel, doctors and journalists.

The panel also said it is still awaiting responses from various ministries and government agencies, and that its interviews aim to establish “whether these governmental institutions and their agents upheld the rule of law and respected international human rights law” during months of protests and crackdowns on dissent.

Bahrain imposed martial law in March and invited 1,500 troops from neighboring Gulf states to help quell dissent. Hundreds of protesters, activists, opposition leaders and Shiite professionals such as lawyers and doctors have been detained and hundreds of suspected opposition supporters have been purged from their jobs.

Dozens have been convicted of anti-state crimes in a special security court over the past months and sentenced to prison terms. Three protesters have been sentenced to death and eight prominent opposition figures got life in prison after they were convicted of trying to overthrow the Al Khalifa dynasty that has ruled Bahrain for more than 200 years.

Several doctors and nurses who had treated injured protesters were also convicted of anti-state crimes in the special tribunal that includes military persecutors and judges. Twenty medics were last month sentenced to prison terms, ranging from 5 to 15 years. …source

October 23, 2011   No Comments

Bassiouni indicates BICI report is simply political tool for al Khlafia regime

BCHR Statement: Cherif Bassiouni interview with Worldview
22 Oct 2011 – BCHR

Recent comments to the press, most notably the interview conducted with Worldview on October 4th 2011 with the Head of the Commission, underscore the growing concerns we at the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), have in respect to the report which is to be published by the Bahrain Independent Commission for Inquiry (BICI). Indeed, we were very surprised to learn that Mr Bassiouni had conducted yet another interview regarding the situation in Bahrain after publicly announcing that he would no longer agree to any further interviews after his comments to Al-Ayam.

BCHR welcomed the establishment of the Commission in June this year and have assisted the Commission to the full extent possible. It is, therefore, with a sense of growing dismay that we have followed the statements given and published on behalf of the Commission. The interview with Worldview has reinforced the conviction amongst many that the Commission’s findings have been pre-determined.

The strong implication maintained throughout the interview was that no blame could ever be presumed of the King of Bahrain or his cabinet, that they should be distanced from any fault attributed and that the fault lay with particular misguided individuals. The Head of the Commission’s remarks consistently reinforced this message. His response as to why the Commission was established was that he was “able to convince both the King and the cabinet that… you need to know how functional or dysfunctional your government is, in particular each ministry” with the clear implication that any dysfunction was somehow removed from the responsibility of the heads of government, notwithstanding that part of the Head of Commission’s investigation should have looked at whether the reality in Bahrain is that ministries do not act independently of the will of the monarchy.

Criticism in respect of the Commission was dismissed by Professor Bassiouni as a “campaign by the opposition to discredit the Commission”. We would suggest that such a ‘campaign’ was rather a reaction that happened amongst many Bahrainis because of statements which had been made early on in the commission and resulted in the frustration and anger of people who were victims of human rights violations. The language which was used in the interview with Worldview to describe the conflict in Bahrain is an example of this: the situation was presented as a “Shiaa rebellion” which created a Shiaa-Sunni split within the country. The use of the word “rebellion” implies violence, and many international human rights organizations have attested that the majority of the protests were peaceful. This over-simplified presentation of the facts insults the involvement of the many individuals from both the Shiaa and Sunni population who were involved in the peaceful protest movement. In addition, it backs the government’s claims that this was a Shiaa uprising, rather than protests led by citizens for legitimate demands. Reference is also made in the interview that, as part of the split in opinion, the Shiaa of Bahrain may be seeking an Islamic republic. The Head of Commission said, “if you go to the Shia they will say… maybe we do want an Islamic republic”. Such views have not been expressed by any of the major parties involved in the protest movement. Framing the request of the protest movement in this light is not only factually incorrect but also has damaging consequences in respect of future engagement with western governments. In addition, it may justify the Bahraini government’s excessive and widespread crackdown on the protesters, and their preferred narrative that the events represent a plot instigated by the Iranian government.

Possibly the most disappointing remarks emanating from the Worldview interview were in respect of the person sentenced to death and the arrest, detention and sentences of the medical staff of Salmaniya Hospital. In the interview, he began by confirming that the person who received the death penalty is guilty of his crime, and seemed to justify the sentence against him. Due to the conditions of the majority of detainees, as well as the widespread use of torture, any case presented before a military court in Bahrain needs to be re-tried, with proper evidence, and according to international standards. Then, he dismissed out of hand the numerous reports detailing abuses in the treatment of protesters, with ambulances being prevented from leaving hospitals to treat patients due to the presence of military personnel in hospital facilities with the intention of intimidating both medical staff and patients. Instead, he suggests that the medical staff who acted in accordance with the obligations of their profession were “not exactly angels” and that some of them had in fact attempted to take over the hospital. Such accusations have been condemned not only by human rights organizations worldwide, but also by international governments. This again legitimizes the Bahraini government’s narrative of events and is demonstrably disproved by documentary evidence shown in the Al-Jazeera documentary Shouting in the Dark, in which Sunni and Shia doctors attest to non-discrimination in their treatment of all protesters and show the cameras the ID cards of Ministry of Interior plainclothes thugs who were injured and came for treatment at the hospital. ...more

October 23, 2011   No Comments

Saudi Arabia out of Bahrain!

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Out of Iraq, ready to march on Iran?

Hawks Behind Iraq War Rally for War With Iran
by Jim Lobe, October 19, 2011 – Antiwar Forum

Key neoconservatives and other right-wing hawks who championed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq are calling for military strikes against Iran in retaliation for its purported murder-for-hire plot against the Saudi ambassador.

Leading the charge is the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), the ideological successor to the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), which played a critical role in mobilizing support for “regime change” in Iraq in the late 1990s and subsequently spearheaded the public campaign to invade the country after the 9/11 attacks. The group sent reporters appeals by two of its leaders for military action on its letterhead Monday.

In a column headlined “Speak Softly … and Fight Back” in this week’s Weekly Standard, chief editor William Kristol, co-founder of both PNAC and FPI, said the alleged plot amounted to “an engraved invitation” by Tehran to use force against it.

“We can strike at the Iranian Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), and weaken them. And we can hit the regime’s nuclear weapons program, and set it back,” he wrote, adding that Congress should approve a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iranian entities deemed responsible for attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, acts of terrorism, or “the regime’s nuclear weapons program.”

Kristol’s advice was seconded by Jamie Fly, FPI’s executive director, who called for President Barack Obama to emulate former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton when they ordered targeted strikes against Libya in 1986 and Iraq in 1993, respectively, in retaliation for alleged terrorist plots against U.S. targets.

“It is time for President Obama to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and stand up to tyrants who kill Americans and threaten our interests,” wrote Fly, who served on the National Security Council staff and the Pentagon under George W. Bush, in the online edition of National Review.

“It is time to take military action against the Iranian government elements that support terrorism and its nuclear program. More diplomacy is not an adequate response,” he wrote.

The FPI appeals, which have been echoed by other former Iraq war hawks such as Bush’s former U.N. ambassador, John Bolton, and Reuel Marc Gerecht at the neoconservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), came as analysts continue to debate the credibility of the alleged plot against Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir and how to react to it if, as the administration contends, it was authorized at a high level in Tehran. …more

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Not much US can do about al Khalifa Regime? Obama tell US Corporations to pull out of Air Show!

Bahrainis demand air show cancellation
Oct 20, 2011 – Shia Post

Bahrainis are calling on the organizers of next year’s Bahrain International Air Show to cancel their plans for holding the event in the crisis-hit country, Press TV.

The Bahraini people have called on the organizers of the Bahrain Air Show at Farnborough International Limited not to go ahead with organizing the exhibit for several reasons, Bahrain Freedom Movement said in an email.

“The first reason is that the country is unstable; it has serious human rights crimes committed by senior members of the regime,” the human rights group announced.

It also noted that the Bahraini regime has lost its legitimacy and is no longer representative of the Bahraini people.

The London-based group was referring to the deadly repression of anti-government demonstrations in Bahrain, with the help of the Saudi Arabian government, which deployed military equipment and troops to the neighboring country to help quash the popular revolt.

The group said that by inviting Saudi troops to occupy the island, the regime of ruling Al Khalifa regime has forfeited its sovereignty over the country and its rule is thus considered null and void.

Bahrain International Air Show, the second event in the Persian Gulf state, is scheduled for 9-15 January, 2012, in Bahrain, despite an ongoing brutal crackdown on peaceful protests that have demanded the downfall of the ruling Al khalifa family.

The Saudi-backed Al Khalifa regime has killed dozens of people and arrested hundreds of others, including physicians and academics, since the popular uprising began in the Arab sheikhdom in mid-February.

Some activists say they were tortured while in custody. International lawyers have also filed a lawsuit against the Bahraini regime at the International Criminal Court at The Hague. …source

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Not much US can do to check al Khalifa Regime? Obama tell Siemens to pull out of Bahrain!

Siemens opens Bahrain service centre
Manama: Mon, 17 Oct 2011

Siemens today (October 17) officially opened its centre for metallurgical services in Bahrain to facilitate the Middle East’s steel and aluminum industry.

The centre, based at Bahrain International Investment Park at Salman International City, will help to reduce downtime of machines for maintenance and repair, the company said.

The Middle East Service Centre for Metallurgical Services will handle manufacturing and repair of parts for example, cooling panels for steel-making furnaces, guides for rolling mills, gear boxes, etc. and will ensure an increase in component lifetime and reduction in costly and time consuming import of spare parts from Europe and South Asia, it said.

The facility was inaugurated by Bahrain’s Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro, who commended Siemens for investing in Bahrain, its people and its economy.

“From our base in Bahrain, Siemens is in a position to serve our partners faster, more economically and efficiently. By and large the market needs a workshop of this type in the region. The centre is close to a large customer base in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and being located at Bahrain International Investment Park at Salman International City it offers an attractive location with easy access by air and sea ports nearby,” explained Marek Szymanek, CEO of Siemens in Bahrain.
…more

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Regime forces attack, arrest Bahrainis

Regime forces attack, arrest Bahrainis
22 October, 2011 – Shia Post

Bahraini regime forces have attacked and arrested several peaceful anti-regime demonstrators in a number of villages on the island of Sitra, Press TV has learned.

Activists said that some eight people were detained and many more were injured after protesters took to the street across Bahrain as part of the so-called “Arrows of Dignity” event on Saturday.

Arrows of Dignity has been organized by activists to show solidarity with an unknown number of female prisoners behind bars in the Persian Gulf sheikdom.

Regime forces surrounded several towns in an attempt to block the event from spreading.

Since mid-February, thousands of anti-government protesters have been staging regular demonstrations on the streets of Bahrain, calling on the US-backed Al Khalifa family to relinquish power.

On March 14, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist Bahraini rulers in their brutal crackdown on peaceful anti-government protesters.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds more have been arrested in a brutal Manama-ordered and Riyadh-backed crackdown in the country, which hosts a huge American military installation for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf. …source

October 22, 2011   No Comments

The Arab Spring and the US War Machine

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Saudi protests not restricted to Shias but directed at all Muslims

Saudi protests not restricted to Shias but all Muslims
17 October 2011 – Islamic Invitation

Over the past few decades, protests against discrimination and inequality in Saudi Arabia have always been censored by the government. And the demonstrations are not occurring only in the eastern region of the country, which has a large Shia population. Many Shia citizens in Mecca, Medina, and cities on the Red Sea coast have also protested against the policies adopted by the Saudi ruling family.

Saudi Arabia is a diverse society in terms of religious denominations and the current protests can actually be regarded as a sign of the government’s inability to satisfy the needs and address the interests of all denominational groups.

However, the protests are not restricted to the Shias. The Sunnis, the country’s denominational majority, are also greatly dissatisfied with the current situation and are striving for more freedom within the autocratic ruling system.

The Saudi monarchy does not grant its citizens basic civil liberties, such as the right to vote, the right to self-determination, minority rights, and freedom of the press and the media, and the political structure of the country is reactionary and based on tribalism.

In fact, the Saudi government is trying to present a false image of itself to the world and convince everyone that it is following a system of governance that is completely based on Islamic principles and which should be regarded as an exemplary Islamic authority. However, the current Saudi system is just the opposite and does not grant its citizens the least of the rights that are clearly mentioned in the tenets of Islam and especially in the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (S).

Their cooperation with the arrogant powers of the West in the name of Islam and their support of dictators in countries like Bahrain and Yemen are additional signs of Riyadh’s paradoxical conduct, which has been strongly criticized by Saudi citizens during the recent demonstrations.

The protests in Saudi Arabia will continue to evolve into an uprising that is completely Islamic in nature. Islam never tolerates repression of the people under the pretext of defending the faith. …source

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Saudi Arabia’s ongoing repression of freedom of expression

ANHRI condemns the ongoing stifling of freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia
Cairo, 18 October 2011

ANHRI condemns the ongoing suppression of freedom of expression and harassment of activists by the Saudi authorities. A few days prior to the trial of the activist Waleed Aboul-Khair for his pro-democracy and human rights demands, the Saudi authorities detained Feras Baqna, Hussam Al-Nasser, and Khaled Al-Rasheed, members of the team of the “Mal3ob 3lena” show, broadcast on YouTube.

The team had posted an episode on poverty in Saudi Arabia on 10 October 2011. Staff of the show went to Jaradiya in the city of Riyadh, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Saudi Arabia. The episode showed scenes of houses and children in the neighbourhood, visibly affected by poverty. It also highlighted that while 11 Saudi billionaires occupy advanced positions among the world’s rich according to Forbes, 20 percent of the Saudi population lives in poverty. In the span of five days, the video had over 500 000 views. The team of the show was summoned for investigation to a police station where they are being detained. They have not been released or brought to trial.

It is worth noting that a new hearing should be fixed for the case of the rights activist Walid Aboul-Khair whose trial started on 11 September. By the end of the first hearing, the judge refused to inform Aboul-Khair of the date of the next hearing. However, the second hearing is expected to take place in the next few days. Among Aboul-Khair’s charges are “offending the judiciary system and its employees”, “communicating with foreign entities”, and “turning public opinion against the public order of the country”, all of which are fabricated charges related to his opinions in support of reform. …more

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Bahrain regime continues to target freedom of expression by taking journalists and photographers to trials that criminalize their exercise of that freedom

Bahrain regime continues to target freedom of expression by taking journalists and photographers to trials that criminalize their exercise of that freedom
October 14, 2011 – BCHR

Trials of journalists as a punishment for publishing facts or expressing their opinions, confirms lack of seriousness of the Bahraini regime in reconciliation and the reform of the political situation in the country

BCHR appeals to conscience to condemn the repression and intimidation campaigns and save the freedom of expression in Bahrain

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses concern for the continuation of the Bahraini authorities in its campaign against media professionals, journalists, photographers and practitioners of freedom of expression, after months of being subjected to campaigns of arrest, dismissal from work, and torture in detention centers since February and March, as many of them started, during these days, receiving summons to appear before the judiciary in the criminal courts in a move aimed directly to criminalize their exercise of a fundamental right to freedom of expression which is guaranteed by charters of human rights, and threatened by these trials to undergo imprisonment if convicted.

Bahrain Center for Human Rights came to know that four of the photographers who were arrested in the past months had been summoned to attend the trials in the Criminal Court on charges related to taking pictures of events and demonstrations, posted on the Internet and social networking site “Facebook”, and participating in peaceful demonstrations that have been described as un licensed gatherings. Of these photographers was Mohamed AlSheikh – head of Bahrain Photographers Society – under construction – who won several international awards [1] in photography, and was arrested and detained between May 9, 2011 to July 2, 2011, and subjected to torture in detention centers, especially in the center of West Riffa, where he was arrested, and was blindfolded, beaten on the face, and kicked in the abdomen and the back and hit on the feet with plastic hose, was beaten on the knees until he suffered from difficulty standing, was hit with cable on the back, was deprived from food and drink and going to the toilet in the first 33 hours following his arrest until he signed premade confessions. He was subjected to further beatings after being transferred to AlQudaibiya center for five days and was threatened that his wife and family will be harmed. His photographing tools and professional cameras and computers with estimated value of more than BD 5500, were confiscated at the time of his arrest, and were not returned to him after his release.

Mohammed AlSheikh has been brought before military court in June 28, 2011 without informing his lawyer or his family, and was charged with several charges, before being released on July 2, 2011. But he received a new summon few days ago to appear before the Criminal Court on October 23, 2011 on charges related to “participation and filming unlicensed marches and incitement to hatred of the regime by broadcasting fake pictures detrimental to the Kingdom of Bahrain over the Internet and Facebook and foreign agencies..” AlSheikh was dismissed from his job earlier in the Aluminum Bahrain Company (ALBA), where he worked as an engineer. His dismissal came as part of the dismissal campaign which targeted workers supporting the popular pro-reform movement. His name and picture was published last April in pro-government forums demanding his arrest. [2] . …more

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Testimony – al Khalifa regime creates families of Human Rights victims

October 22, 2011   No Comments

War profiteers, greedy governments and sleezy sales people turned Arab Spring into ‘bloody hell’

They cited Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Britain and the U.S. as the top suppliers of arms since 2005 to the five Arab Spring countries covered in the report — Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen. The equipment cited in the report included small arms; smooth-bore weapons over 20mm; ammunition; bombs, rockets, missiles and explosives, armored vehicles; and toxic agents.

Exporters Armed Arab Spring Crackdown
Written by David Rosenberg – October 18, 2011 – The Media Line

Repressive regimes had all the equipment they needed to quash protests, Amnesty Says

Many of the world’s governments calling for change and human rights in the Middle East were playing a key role in blocking it by selling arms to the region’s repressive regimes, Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday.

Egypt, whose security forces killed 850 people and left thousands of others injured in 18 days of protests before President Husni Mubarak was forced out of power, bought or approved to buy millions of dollars worth of sub-machine guns and armored vehicles from Germany in the years beforehand, as well as assault weapons, tear gas and ammunition from the United States.

Amnesty cited 17 countries in Europe and North America that sold arms and equipment to despotic regimes with records of humans rights abuses that could be – and, when Arab Spring unrest erupted 10 months ago, were – used against civilians. The London-based human rights organization urged the world’s governments to adopt a systematic and comprehensive system for governing the global arms trade.

The sales recorded by Amnesty in its report Arms Transfers To The Middle East And North Africa: Lessons For An Effective Arms Trade Treaty were relatively small and involved relatively unsophisticated weapons. But Brian Woods, manager of arms control at the organization’s international secretariat, said they enabled governments to repress protests and rebellions.

“You don’t need a jet fighter or a submarine to violate human rights. You can do that with rubber-coated bullets, tear gas, pistols and sniper rifles. We’ve seen it on our television screens,” Wood told The Media Line.

Although the governments of the Middle East and North Africa routinely score low on the observance of human rights, the Arab Spring unleashed an unprecedented wave of killings, arrests and repression. The United Nations estimates that some 3,000 have been killed in Syria in a rebellion that shows no sign of ending. In Libya, fighting probably left more than 10,000 dead – two thirds of them on the rebel side before strongman Mu’amar Al-Qaddafi was ousted in August. In Yemen, some 1,800 have been killed in fighting.

As governments were quelling rebellions with arms often bought from abroad, Western leaders were urging them to observe human rights and belatedly imposing arms embargos, the report’s authors asserted.

They cited Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Britain and the U.S. as the top suppliers of arms since 2005 to the five Arab Spring countries covered in the report — Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen. The equipment cited in the report included small arms; smooth-bore weapons over 20mm; ammunition; bombs, rockets, missiles and explosives, armored vehicles; and toxic agents.

“Governments that now say they stand in solidarity with people across the Middle East and North Africa are the very same as those who until recently supplied the weapons, bullets and military and police equipment that were used to kill, injure and arbitrarily detain thousands of peaceful protesters in states such as Tunisia and Egypt,” said Helen Hughes, Amnesty’s principal arms trade researcher. …more

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Solidarity

Bahraini opposition supporters in UK express concern for jailed political leader
Sat Oct 22, 2011 – Steve McCaul, Press TV, London

Anti-regime Protesters in London Stand in Solidarity for imprisoned and gravely ill Haq leader Hassan Mushaima

Blindfolded, beaten and injected with an unknown substance. This is what Bahraini opposition leader Hassan Mushaima has reportedly been subjected to in jail.

He was arrested in March this year, after returning to Bahrain with the promise that he wouldn’t be taken by the authorities. He had been treated for cancer, an illness which is said to be attacking him once again. According to his family, the lack of appropriate treatment, along with his harsh prison conditions, is slowly killing him.

His life sentence has just been upheld by a Bahraini special court. Hassan was a vocal campaigner for the opposition Haq movement for many years in London. He was also treated for his illness at a hospital here. But the British government are accused of staying silent over human rights abuses in Bahrain. That’s why protesters are in front of the home of the Prime Minister

In a recent report by Amnesty International, Britain was listed as a “major arms supplier” to Bahrain, along with France, Germany and the US. The Government has licensed around eight million pounds of guns, ammo and vehicle sales to Bahrain since two thousand and six. A Downing Street spokesperson said that they’re reviewing their arms exports in light of the Arab uprisings.

The Bahraini government meanwhile denies that Hassan has been mistreated in any way.

Just metres away is the home of Prime Minister David Cameron. What protesters here want to get across is that his silence on human rights in Bahrain is costing lives. The government has promised to look again at arms sales to the country, but for these people here, it’s not enough. …source

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Bahrain: Medics Describe Torture in Detention

Bahrain: Medics Describe Torture in Detention
October 21, 2011 – Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch

Appeals Court Should Void Flawed Convictions

The appeals court should decisively overturn the unfair verdicts against the medics and dismiss outright all politically motivated charges. The new hearing should also disallow allegedly coerced confessions.

(Beirut) – Medical staff convicted by a military court of alleged serious crimes during the period of anti-government protests in Bahrain in early 2011 were subjected to abuse and torture in detention, Human Rights Watch said today. Given the fundamental unfairness of the trial, including that civilians were tried in a military court, Bahrain’s High Court of Appeals should reverse the convictions of 20 medical staff when they hear their appeal on October 23, 2011, and order an independent investigation into the defendants’ allegations of abuse and torture.

The prosecutors should drop all charges based solely on their exercise of freedom of speech and assembly, and ensure a new trial for defendants in a civilian court only if there is evidence of possible criminal activity, Human Rights Watch said. On October 5, Attorney General Ali Al Buainain announced that the appeal will “be equivalent to a retrial.” Human Rights Watch interviewed 7 of the 20 medical staff convicted of serious crimes, who told of severe abuse in detention and extensive violations of their rights to a fair trial.

“The appeals court should decisively overturn the unfair verdicts against the medics and dismiss outright all politically motivated charges,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The new hearing should also disallow allegedly coerced confessions.”

On September 29, the National Safety Lower Court, a special military court, convicted the 20 doctors, nurses, and paramedics on charges including forcibly taking over the Salmaniya Medical Complex and refusing treatment to patients based on sectarian affiliation. The court also convicted the 20 of transparently political offenses, such as “instigating hatred against the ruling system,” “incitement to overthrow the regime,” and “spreading false news.”

On March 16, the Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) took control of the Salmaniya Medical Complex, the largest medical complex in Bahrain. Beginning on March 17, security forces arrested 48 medics, 28 of whom separately face lesser misdemeanor charges before a civilian court for speech-related offenses. …more

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Bassiouni, “oh shit somebody plans on using this report”, calls for do over to better serve new political interests

Report on Bahrain unrest delayed to November 23
By Habib Toumi, Bureau chief – October 21, 2011

International panel postpones probe into incidents that rocked Bahrain in February and March

Manama: An international panel investigating the incidents that marred Bahrain in February and March and their consequences has postponed the release of its much-awaited report to November 23.

The Bahrain Independent commission of Inquiry (BICI) on Thursday attributed the postponement to “the substantial number of testimonies presented by Bahraini citizens and foreign nationals and the large amount of information presented to the BICI from political activists, civil society organizations, and governmental agencies.”

According to the BICI, Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni, Chairman of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) this week briefed King Hamad Bin Eisa Al on the developments relating to the work of the Commission, which included investigations into thousands of complaints filed by Bahraini citizens and foreign nationals.

“The Commission Chairperson informed His Majesty that approximately 9,000 written complaints were received by the BICI from both citizens and foreign residents who claimed to be victims of human rights violations,” the BICI said. “Moreover, the BICI conducted over 5,000 personal interviews with individual complainants at the Commission’s offices during which allegations of human rights violations against those individuals and their families were investigated.”

Article continues below

The BICI said that it deeply appreciated the large amount of information, testimony, and complaints received from political societies, human rights activists, and civil society institutions.

“This information has assisted the BICI in identifying the nature of the human rights violations that occurred during the events of February and March 2011 and related subsequent events. To this day, the BICI continues to receive information from these non-governmental sources to which the Commission attaches great importance as it sheds light on the events under investigation and their consequences.”

The panel said that it was still awaiting responses from various ministries and government agencies to its enquiries regarding their role during the events.

“This is in line with the Commission’s examination of the policies and practices of these agencies during the events under investigation, which aims to establish whether these governmental institutions and their agents upheld the rule of law and respected international human rights law,” it said.
[Read more →]

October 22, 2011   No Comments

As US “ponders weapons sales” the abuses continue

Bahrain sentences 20 protesters to jail
20/10/2011 – VOB

A Bahraini military court has given six-month jail terms to 20 more people arrested during anti-regime protests in the tiny Persian Gulf country.

Thursday’s verdicts came as the court issued more than 130 convictions related to anti-government demonstrations against the ruling monarchy. The harsh sentences have drawn international criticism. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed “deep concern” over the sentences and called for the release of all political detainees in Bahrain. The Saudi-backed Al Khalifa regime of Bahrain has been dealing with protesters harshly since the popular uprising began in the Persian Gulf sheikhdom in mid-February. Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds of others, including physicians and academics, have been jailed. Some of them say they were tortured while in custody. International lawyers have filed suit against the Bahraini regime at the International Criminal Court at The Hague. …source

October 22, 2011   No Comments

UPI Story implies US will vet weapons use against civilians beyond the context of BICI report as a condition of Arms Sales – is it misdirection or substance? And what of misuse of “riot control” weapons?

U.S. monitors end use of sold weapons
Published: Oct. 20, 2011 – UPI

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) — Washington supports Bahrain’s right to defend itself, though any military agreement includes monitoring of end use, the U.S. State Department said.

Washington put a $53 million arms agreement with Bahrain on hold to wait out a report from an independent commission monitoring the human rights situation in Bahrain.

Amnesty International, in an assessment of arms transfers, criticized nations like the United States, Russia and several European countries for supplying weapons to regimes that later responded with force to anti-government protesters.

Mark Toner, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Washington supports Bahrain’s right to self-defense.

“Whenever we conduct these kinds of sales, whether they be to Bahrain or elsewhere in the world, we always include an end-use monitoring component that allows us to see if these are being used for the purpose for which they were intended,” he added.

Bahrain called in security support from members of the Gulf Cooperation Council for help in responding to a Shiite uprising against the Sunni regime early this year.

Toner added that it could be “a matter of months” before vetting procedures regarding arms sales are completed.

The Pentagon in September notified Congress of the proposed sale of armored vehicles and wire-guided missiles to Bahrain. …source

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Mr. Sobhani misses the fundamental threat facing Bahrain’s New Democratic rule – how will Bahrain protect it’s self from Saudi Arabia

CNN Editor’s Note: Rob Sobhani is the President of Caspian Energy Consulting, a group with interests in energy and infrastructure projects. He engages extensively with heads of state in the broader Middle East for work and wrote the book, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia: A Leader of Consequence. He holds a PhD from Georgetown University. [Including interests in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia}

Iran’s Target: Bahrain
10/20/11 03:37 – Rob Sobhani CEO, Caspian Group Holdings

In 1892 at the old souk in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, the American Mission Hospital was established. Six years later, American philanthropists opened the American Mission School to deliver quality education to citizens of this Arab nation. A famous Arab proverb symbolizes the struggle these Americans faced in running a hospital and school in the later days of the 19th century: “A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.” Today this 100-year friendship between the island nation of Bahrain and the United States is in jeopardy by the same government that wanted to assassinate a Saudi diplomat in Washington, DC.

One of the fundamental goals of the Islamic regime in Tehran is to overthrow the monarchy in Bahrain and install an Islamic Republic. This has been a goal of the clerics since they came to power in 1979 and as early as last year, an advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, stated, “Bahrain is Iran’s 14th province.” In fact, Iran has hijacked the recent protests by Bahrainis for better living conditions as a means to overthrow this pro-American ally.

The key question President Obama and members of the U.S. Congress have to ask themselves is: how can Washington protect Bahrain from Iran and at the same time assist its rulers in their challenge to address the grievances of its citizens? This is an important question because the stability of the energy-rich Persian Gulf is tied to Bahrain. The U.S.-Bahrain relationship is vital to America’s energy security and those of its allies. Fully 67 percent of the world’s proven crude oil reserves are situated in the Persian Gulf and approximately 30 percent of the daily global crude oil exports pass through the territorial waters of Bahrain on the way to consumers worldwide. …more

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Election time, Obama apologists make excuses, lack imagination, attempt to create false narrative on US inaction in bharain – US could freeze al Khalifa assets, pull US investmetn and credit lines, forbid 5th fleet commerce, implement sanctions for use of US weapons against civilians, bring charges in international courts against the al Kahlifa’s for crimes against humanity – that’s just a warm-up

U.S. Has Few Options to Curb Crackdown in Bahrain
By Emile Hokayem – Oct 19 2011 – The Atlantic
Though the Persian Gulf island nation is a close U.S. ally and the host of its Fifth Fleet, there’s not much that American pressure or diplomacy could do that it isn’t already

A teenager joins anti-government protesters as they try to get back to Manama’s Farook Junction, also known as Pearl Square / Reuters
MANAMA, Bahrain — On Tuesday, the U.S. reached a tentative deal to sell Bahrain, the site of a short-lived uprising and a brutal and sweeping crackdown with sectarian overtones, $53 million in arms. Though the arms deal is not final, it has already drawn criticism from human rights groups and inside Bahrain.

Very soon, the Arab uprising that the U.S. has said the least about is likely to make America’s life in the Persian Gulf a lot harder. Bahrain dropped off of the radar this summer. This won’t last.

With the international attention elsewhere and unserious attempts at a national dialogue going nowhere, protesters are taking back to the streets and clashing with police in villages around the capital Manama. By-elections to fill the seats of opposition parliamentarians who resigned during the uprising attracted a meager 17 percent of voters. Later this month, an independent investigation commission will submit a report and recommendations about the bloody events of February and March. Whether it will name those who directed the repression, call for a reversal of the often severe and unfair punishments inflicted on protesters, or serve as a national healing mechanism is still unknown, as is the willingness of the Bahraini government to implement its suggestions.

It is doubtful that the report, however needed, will be a game-changer. Two entrenched, increasingly sectarian narratives have crushed any goodwill and middle ground. The battered opposition is struggling to devise a political strategy and contain its frustrated youth, some of whom risk being radicalized. The opposition last week released a new platform, the Manama Document, which restates its demands but is unlikely to inspire its base. The Sunni ruling elite, confident that it won this round decisively and restored a measure of normalcy, is displaying as much complacency as intransigence. …more

October 22, 2011   No Comments

Bahrain’s Terrorist Security Forces in Action

October 21, 2011   No Comments

Two Weeks in Bahrain – Sham Military Trials do nothing to stop demands for Democratic Rule

Two weeks in Bahrain’s military courts
Reporter in Bahrain- 20 Oct 2011 – AlJazeera

The families of six of the hundreds of people given long jail sentences speak out about the “abuse of justice”.

Teachers, professors, politicians, doctors, athletes, students and others have all appeared in Bahrain’s military courts. In just two weeks, 208 people were sentenced or lost appeals, leading to a cumulative total of just less than 2,500 years in prison.

Many of those imprisoned took part in massive pro-democracy protests earlier this year. Others, families say, were in the wrong place at the wrong time and were targeted by virtue of their religious sect.

One lawyer, who represents dozens of the convicted and who asked not to be named, told Al Jazeera the total number of how many have stood in front of military courts is not clear – but he estimates at least 600. “Well over 1,000 people have been arrested since the crackdown began,” he said.

In an attempt to quell the uprising, the island’s rulers invited Saudi and other Gulf troops to Bahrain in March and called for a three-month state of emergency, or what it called the “National Safety Law”.

With the emergency law, came the military trials of hundreds of people in “National Safety Courts”. According to the lawyer, the courts were basically military courts, since both judge and general prosecutor were drawn from the military judicial system.
Click here for more of our in-depth coverage on Bahrain

Death sentences were given out from trials that lasted less than two weeks. Many hearings lasted only a matter of minutes before verdicts were handed out. According to lawyers and defendants’ families, the main form of evidence in most cases were the confessions of the accused.

“This is not necessarily wrong,” said the lawyer. “But if there were claims of torture then these confessions should be obliterated and should not be accepted in a court of law.”

“They intentionally bring them in front of the court after a period of time once the wounds are healed, so they won’t appear in court,” the lawyer said. “If [the court agrees to a] request [for the defendant] to be examined by a forensic doctor, [the court] delays the test until the scars are healed.” Despite numerous claims of torture, no forensic doctor hired by the government has confirmed a defendant’s claims.

A handful of defendants who are found innocent in the military courts are so just to make it seem somewhat fair, he continued. “It’s pure luck.”

October 6 was the final day of the military court hearings, when cases and appeals were to be transferred to regular civilian courts. However, prisoners’ families and their legal teams are far from optimistic that the change of venue will allow for a fairer trial.

“There is no difference between military and civilian courts, [in both] the verdicts are political,” the lawyer said. “There is someone upstairs who is telling them to do this.”

The lawyer pointed out that, during the protests in February, the king pardoned dozens of people in the middle of their trial. However, the powers granted to the king only allow him to issue pardons once a case is complete.

“These courts are nothing but political tools,” the lawyer said.

Below are brief testimonies made to Al Jazeera by family members (some of whom asked to remain anonymous) of people who have either been sentenced or lost appeals in the final weeks of Bahrain’s military courts. All of the family members who spoke to Al Jazeera claimed their loved ones were tortured soon after their arrest and were held incommunicado for months.

The methods described by families (and by the imprisoned themselves) are consistent and signify systematic abuse and torture against the prisoners that has also been documented by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other international rights groups. …more

October 21, 2011   No Comments