Posts from — November 2011

A special report on the torture and human rights violations against the detainees in the case of “Alliance for the Republic”
See Full BCHR Report HERE

All the defendants insisted that what they have done was only practicing their legitimate right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly calling for civil, political, economic and social rights to all the people. Moreover, all their activities did not go beyond the frame of peaceful actions.

This brief report outlines some of what these activists have suffered with torture and human rights violations since their arrest until the time of writing of this report. It includes the following:

I. Violations during the arrest and detention.
II. Torture at the National Security Apparatus (Al Qal’ah).
III. Physical and psychological torture at the military prison (Al Grain).
IV. Violations related to the interrogations done by the National Security Apparatus and the Military Prosecution.
V. Violations related to trials before the Military Court.
VI. Vengeance on relatives of the detainees.
I. Violations during the arrest and detention:

All fourteen detainees in this case said that their arrests took place by raiding their houses or houses of their relatives after midnight. They had not been summoned or informed that they are wanted by any authority. No documents of a judicial warrant for their arrest or search were presented. The following are some examples of detainees’ testimonies about the detention process:

…MORE

Bahrain: Medics Describe Torture in Detention
October 21, 2011 – BCHR

Ill-Treatment, Torture in Detention

Authorities arrested Dr. Rula al-Saffar, 48, head of the Bahrain Nursing Society, on the evening of April 4 after summoning her to the Ministry of Interior’s Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID). She told Human Rights Watch:

I was handcuffed and blindfolded [and] interrogated for seven days. The interrogations started at 3:30 pm and went on until 5 or 6 a.m. the next day. I was electrocuted in my face and my head. They said, “We are going to rape you.” I was held in a very cold cell. They turned on the air conditioner, which made the cell even colder and I had no blanket. They forced me to stand and sit for long hours on the dirty floor.

Al-Saffar said interrogators forced her to sign a confession that she encouraged people to protest, refused treatment to Sunni patients, and stole blood from the blood bank so that protesters could simulate wounds. After 17 days, authorities transferred her to the Women’s Detention Center in Isa Town, where she was held until her release on bail on August 21. Al-Saffar said that during more than four months in detention she was allowed to speak with her family only once, for three minutes, and to meet with them another time for one hour. The special military court sentenced her to 15 years in prison.

Fatima Haji, a rheumatologist sentenced to five years in prison, was arrested on April 17 and held for 22 days. She said interrogators forced her to sign a document saying she had not been tortured and that she would not talk to the international media. She has written about her time in detention on doctorsinchains.org.

[The men started] asking me the size of my underwear, and the size of my bra. [One of them] kept asking me and I [was] not answering and he was hitting my head. My eyes were [in tears] … Then they started making fun and joking about my breast size. Then one of them asked me, “When [was] the last time you saw your husband?” I said, “Two or three days ago.” He said, “So you didn’t have sex for the last two or three days, it seems you want someone to do it with you right now.”

Dr. Ali al-Ekri, 44, told Human Rights Watch that men in military uniforms arrested him on March 17, while he was in the Salmaniya operating room. The special military court sentenced al-Ekri to 15 years on charges of possessing weapons and forming an organization to topple the regime. “I spent 14 days in solitary confinement,” he told Human Rights Watch.” I was constantly beaten by cables, hoses, and fists. One time I was forced to stand up for 24 hours.”

Dr. Ghassan Dhaif, 45, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Salmaniya, was arrested on March 19 at Bahrain International Airport while attempting to travel to the United Kingdom with his wife, Dr. Zahra al-Sammak, and their three children. He told Human Rights Watch that he was taken to a room at the airport where masked men in civilian clothes beat him. They then transferred him to the Interior Ministry’s Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID), where he was blindfolded and handcuffed from behind for 21 days.

I spent seven days in a solitary confinement [cell] that was 6 feet by 5 feet. I was blindfolded and handcuffed from behind and was sleep-deprived … I was not allowed to go to the toilet, that is why I had to pee in my pants. I was not allowed to sit or sleep. I collapsed several times. I was beaten every hour … what really hurt was [when] they would cover my ear, temple, and my neck then they would hit me with their hands.

On April 8, Dhaif said, authorities interrogated him for 10 hours uninterruptedly, during which they severely beat him. “I was not allowed to sit or drink water,” he said. “At one point, I was asked to sit down facing the wall. All of a sudden someone kicked my back. I felt like my back was broken.” The same day, after he was hospitalized for a few hours for his back pain, he was forced to sign a confession about 40 pages long.

Dr. Basim Dhaif, 47, brother of Ghassan Dhaif, was arrested at his home on the evening of March 19 by security forces. He told Human Rights Watch:

I was insulted and beaten in front of my wife and children at my home. In detention I was forced to stand for more than 12 days except [when] eating. I was blindfolded and handcuffed from behind … in total I was tortured for 26 days in CID. Eventually I was forced to sign confession papers under threat that they will hurt my family. I didn’t know what the contents [of these papers were].

Zahra Al-Sammak, 45, an anesthesiologist at Salmaniya sentenced to 5 years in prison, and Nada Dhaif, a dentist sentenced to 15 years, also told Human Rights Watch that they were ill-treated in detention.

On September 7, the authorities released al-Ekri and the other medics still in detention on bail, including Ghassan and Basim Dhaif. …source

International Committee of The Red Cross
Report on Treatment of “High Value” Detainees
February, 2007

Main Element of the CIA detention Program
1.1. Arrest and Transfer
1.2 Continuous Solitary Confinement and Incommunicado Detention
1.3 Other Methods of Ill-treatment
1.3.1 Suffocation by Water
1.3.2 Prolonged stress standing
1.3.3 Beating by use of a collar
1.3.4 Beating and kicking
1.3.5 Confinement in a box
1.3.6 Prolonged nudity
1.3.7 Sleep deprivation and use of loud music
1.3.8 Exposure to cold temperature/cold water
1.3.9 Prolonged use of handcuffs and shackles
1.3.10 Threats
1.2.11 Force Shaving
1.3.12 Deprivation/restricted provision of solid food
1.4 Further Element of the Detention Regime
2.0 Conditions of Detention in Later Stages
3.0 Health Provision and Role of Medical Staff
4.0 Legal Aspect Related to Undisclosed Detention
5.0 Fate of Other Persons who Passed Through the CIA Detention Program
Conclusion
Annex 1.
Annex 2.
Read Report HERE

Elderly Shiite ‘beaten to death’ by Bahrain police
The Shiite group Al-Wefaq declares the death of one of its prominent leaders after police forces attacked him, being one of many aggressions committed by the Sunni regime against the opposition Shiites
AFP , Thursday 3 Nov 2011

The elderly father of the second in command of Bahrain’s largest Shiite opposition group Al-Wefaq died of his injuries on Thursday after riot police attacked him a day earlier, the organisation said.

“Ali Hasan al-Dehi, 70, was attacked by riot police forces Wednesday evening” and died early Thursday, Al-Wefaq’s website reported.

His son, Hussein al-Dehi, is deputy head of Al-Wefaq.

The statement said the elder Dehi had told one of his sons, who had arrived home to find him on the floor, that “he had been beaten by riot police.”

Al-Wefaq member and former MP Sayed Hadi Moussaoui told AFP police were dispersing a protest in the western village of Dehi, when the man was attacked.

Moussaoui said members of Dehi household were harassed several times by the authorities, adding that the dead man’s wife had been “insulted” in the past without giving further details.

Earlier this year, Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy crushed pro-democracy protests, spearheaded by the majority Shiites, with the help of troops from other Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia.

Twenty-four people died during the crackdown, between mid-February and mid-March, according to official figures from Manama.
Four protesters have since died in custody.

The Gulf kingdom is awaiting a report by an independent commission of inquiry into the crackdown, which is expected on November 23.

Though mass protests have ended, tensions remain high as the trials of dozens of opposition figures and protesters continue in the capital. …source

More protests as the latest martyr is buried; an elderly Bahraini
Bahrain Freedom Movement – 03/11/2011

An elderly man was martyred this morning after being pursued and hit by members of the Death Squads operated by the royal court. Hajj Ali Hassan, 70, was returning home last night when he was set upon by those heavily-armed killers.

There was a protest against the regime near his house at the time. He was spotted by one of his sons as he opened the front door of the family’s house. The elderly man was unconscious for a short while with blood coming out of his mouth and head and soaking his clothes. Few minutes later he woke up and was askedd: Have you been attacked? He said: Yes. He was immediately transferred to Al Nu’aim Hospital where photos taken by his relatives show him in a bad state with blood on his clothes. He was immediately transferred to Salmaniya Hospital (which is run by the military) where he died a short time later. It is now clear that after the beating he had received, he was so frightened by the scene and the attacks that he went into coma before being transferred to the other hospital. He remained at the Intensive Care Unit for a short while before he passed away. This is yet another tragic case in which a Bahraini citizen was murdered for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, facing the murderous gangs operated by the regime. His son, Sheikh Hussain Al Daihi is a senior figure of Al Wefaq Society. On Tuesday the body of another martyr; Riyadh Abdulla Rashid, 45, had been buried after he had succumbed to wounds inflicted by the regime’s forces. He had lost the sight of one eye as a result of beating.
[Read more →]

Department of State – 2010 Human Rights Report: Bahrain

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The constitution prohibits such practices; however, there were multiple allegations during the year that security forces employed them. On February 8, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report asserting that “since the end of 2007, officials have repeatedly resorted to torture for the apparent purpose of securing confessions from security suspects.” The former detainees interviewed for the report claimed that security officials and prison guards subjected them to “abusive tactics” during interrogation. In some cases in 2009, Ministry of Health doctors found corroborative evidence of injuries that matched the detainees’ claims of mistreatment. According to senior government officials, the government initiated an investigation of HRW’s allegations. At year’s end the government had not published the investigation’s findings.

From August to December, local and international human rights NGOs asserted that security personnel had tortured more than two dozen detainees. During court proceedings from October to December, many of these detainees claimed that officers of the National Security Agency mistreated and tortured them. Detainees claimed that they had been beaten, suspended in painful positions, forced to stand for long periods, deprived of sleep, and subjected to electric shocks. During trial proceedings in October and November, defense lawyers requested an independent investigation into the torture allegations, to include independent medical exams. The prosecutor asserted in December that claims of torture had been investigated. At year’s end neither the court nor the government had released the findings of any such investigation.

Local human rights organizations and lawyers also reported alleged instances of abuse by law enforcement authorities in connection with the approximately200 men and juveniles detained between August and December.

Local human rights activists and attorneys alleged that many of the 23 Shia activists arrested in August and September and charged pursuant to counterterrorism legislation, including a prominent blogger, were beaten, subjected to electric shocks, hung upside down, and beaten on their feet (falaqa). During court sessions in October, November, and December (see section 1.e.), all detainees claimed they were beaten by National Security Agency officers, with some claiming they were subjected to electric shocks, made to stand for long periods of time, and made to sign confessions during or after mistreatment or torture. …source

Bahrain rights probe head says torture systematic
Tue Nov 1, 2011- Reuters secret

DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrain said on Tuesday it would push ahead with parliamentary reforms it hopes will end unrest in the Gulf Arab country in an announcement that came a day after the head of a rights commission said he had found evidence of systematic abuse.

The justice minister said constitutional amendments based on the results of a national dialogue launched this year to discuss reforms in the island kingdom would be presented to parliament after the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, which falls next week.

The statement came a day after the head of a fact-finding mission set up to investigate allegations of human rights violations in Bahrain during months of unrest said he now believed torture had been a systematic, though limited, policy.

The commission is due to present its final report to King Hamad on November 23. Several months ago Cherif Bassiouni had said he did not believe maltreatment was systematic, comments that provoked an angry reaction from majority Shi’ites in the Sunni-run kingdom.

“It is not possible to justify torture in any way, and despite the small number of cases, it is clear there was a systematic policy,” Bassiouni said in an interview with Egyptian daily Almasry Alyoum on Monday.

“I investigated and I found 300 cases of torture and I was helped in that by legal experts from Egypt and America.”

Bahrain crushed a pro-democracy protest movement earlier this year which was led mainly by Shi’ites, saying the uprising was sectarian in motive and backed by Iran.

Around 40 people have died, more than 1,000 detained and thousands lost their jobs in the unrest, which has continued despite the reforms promised by the national dialogue.

Bahrain invited an independent panel of high-profile international lawyers to look into protests and crackdown. …more

Bahraini Opposition Figure: Suppression of Protesters Backfires
02/11/2011 – Bahrain Freedom Movement

(FNA)- A prominent Bahraini political activist and opposition figure blasted the continued suppression of peaceful protesters in the tiny Persian Gulf island and warned the Al Khalifa regime that its suppressive tactics would backfire. “Bahrain’s authorities are seeking to bring the nation to their knees through suppressive actions but the regime’s policy will backfire,” member of the Society for Supporting Bahraini People Qassem al-Hashemi told FNA on Wednesday.

He lashed out at Al Khalifa’s brutal behavior towards protesting women, and stated, “Detention and torture of women by Bahrain ruling regime means crossing all the redlines and would be a milestone signifying the end of the Al Khalifa regime.” Hashemi condemned the violation of women rights by the Manama regime and reiterated, “The Bahraini regime has turned the page for its own collapse through such aggressive actions and its end and collapse is now definite.”

Earlier, the Muslim Women Movement in a recent statement had protested against 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-Moon.

The statement condemned the silence shown by the international organizations on the massacre of the Bahraini and Yemeni people by their tyrannical rulers, and said “Hundreds of the Yemeni and Bahraini women are in prison for the ambitions of their bullying rulers.” Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February, calling for an end to the Al Khalifa dynasty’s over-40-year rule.

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 – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar – were dispatched to the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom on March 13 to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors.

Yet, protests and rallies continued throughout the country in defiance of the martial law put in place by Manama since last month. People have announced that they will continue protests until the regime collapses. ….source

Their View: Standing for freedom in Bahrain
10/31/2011 – WP Editorial Republished by Silver City, New Mexico – Sun News

The following editorial appeared in the Washington Post:

The beleaguered reformist faction within Bahrain s ruling al-Khalifa family has good reason to thank the U.S. Congress. Until this month the Obama administration, which has enormous leverage over the Persian Gulf emirate, was blithely ignoring Bahrain s crackdown on domestic opposition and its failure to implement promised reforms.

Even as the regime staged unfair trials of peaceful opponents in special security courts, dismissed thousands from government jobs for participating in protests and violently repressed demonstrations in restless villages, the administration notified Congress in September that it intended to sell Bahrain $53 million in military equipment, including 40 armored Humvees.

Set aside for the moment the fact that Bahrain, an island nation that hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has no plausible use for armored vehicles other than against its own people. The sale sent the message to the regime s hard-liners that domestic repression would not damage relations with the United States. Little surprise that, not long afterward, 20 doctors and nurses who had treated injured protesters were sentenced to lengthy prison terms after a grossly unfair trial.

Fortunately, Bahrain s abuses — documented and denounced by every major Western human rights group — prompted a reaction in Congress. Legislation was introduced to block the arms sales, and a group of five Democratic senators, led by Robert P. Casey Jr., Pa., wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Oct. 12 to ask that the sale be put on hold. A separate letter was dispatched by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

The senators got a response. On Oct. 14, the State Department wrote to Casey to say that the administration would not proceed with the sale until after the independent international commission appointed to investigate the unrest in Bahrain — with the regime s cooperation — issues its report, scheduled for Nov. 23. Bahrain, meanwhile, was backpedaling: even before the senators letters were sent, the doctors sentences were nullified and their cases transferred to civilian court. The pro-reform foreign minister traveled to Washington to assure Congress that the commission s recommendations will be followed.

This is progress — but there is a distinct danger that the promises of the Khalifas and the State Department will prove hollow. The credibility of the commission has been under question ever since its Egyptian-born chief appeared, in an Aug. 8 interview, to preemptively clear the Bahraini government of a policy of using excessive force or torture. The regime has failed to deliver on pledges made by its reformists in previous trips to Washington.

Rather than tying itself to this uncertain process, the United States should set its own conditions for continued good relations with Bahrain. These should include accountability for the torture and killing of protesters; the release of all political detainees; and the initiation of meaningful political reform that enfranchises the country s Shiite majority. The current status quo in Bahrain is unsustainable; reinforcing it with U.S. military sales would be foolish as well as unconscionable. …source

Human rights violations continue in Bahrain
November 2, 2011 – PressTV

Bahrain may not be in the international media spotlight like it once was, but according to activists speaking at the House of Lords in London, human rights violations are taking place there every day.
And these violations, they say, have convinced most Bahraini people that regime change can be the only long-term solution. Speakers at the conference said that crimes committed in Bahrain had been referred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. These include murder, torture, unlawful detention and sham trials.

The activists said the US-supported Al Khalifa ruling family is trying to subvert democracy with the help of foreign forces.

Delegates at the House of Lords also called for the immediate withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain who were instrumental in crushing the pro-democracy uprising. The Bahraini authorities deny human rights abuses and say they are simply ensuring the national security and stability of the nation. According to the al Khalifas, so-called foreign forces are instigating riots in the county with the aim of fomenting sectarian warfare.

Many members of the Bahraini opposition are based here in London and face arrest or worse if they go back home. And most of them feel that the British government’s response to the Bahraini crisis has been woeful, effectively giving support to a despotic dictatorship against the will of the people.

Conference delegates urged the international community to condemn the Khalifas, to stop selling arms to them and to withdraw all support from their regime. But they rejected all foreign military intervention in Bahrain, saying that ultimately it’s up to the Bahraini people to liberate themselves. …source

Why the BBC ‘has let down Bahrain’s people’
World News — 02 November 2011 – Manama Press

MANAMA: The British Broadcasting Corporation moved from being a globally respected news organisation to joining the ranks of the yellow press during the unrest in Bahrain.

That is the view of Akhbar Al Khaleej Editor-in-Chief Anwar Abdulrahman.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Bahrain Chapter of the International Advertising Association meeting yesterday at the InterContinental Regency Bahrain, in Manama, Mr Abdulrahman said that the BBC had let down the people of Bahrain with its coverage.

“I have respected the BBC in the past but they seem to have had a mental change,” he said.

“What they said over the unrest turned them into yellow journalism. I suppose they were in competition with the Sun at that level of coverage and now we have a BBC that we can no longer trust.

“I hope we, as human beings, learn and repair our standards because the coverage of the BBC was damaging to Bahrain in the eyes of the world.”

He added: “The BBC broadcasts its news bulletins in every language. If only a few Bahraini teenagers burn tyres in the streets to hinder traffic, for the BBC this is big news.

“However, when the house of the most distinguished Bahraini woman journalist Sameera Rajab was attacked with Molotov cocktails last week, the BBC did not utter a word.

“I seriously question its integrity.”

To illustrate the differences in perception between the Arab world and the West, Mr Abdulrahman related the incident of a Bahraini student staying in the UK who one day found that the lady serving them in the cafeteria had disappeared.

On enquiring, he was told that she was facing some family problems. So he decided to visit her.

“Thank you for coming to visit me,” she said. “I am facing enormous problems. My husband has run away with another woman and, secondly, my 18-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant. These are facts of life I have to face.”

Suddenly she started crying and said: “But what is really tragic is that my dog has died.” …source

#Bahrain | 14 UOB student R Deprived of the right to education, ARBŊ(via @H_Alsankis)#UOB #FreeUOBstudents

Deprived of the right to education .. 14 students from the University of Bahrain are being held behind bars

1. Shawqi Radhi [22 years] College of Business Administration – were sentenced to prison for 15 years | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
2. Jawad Almahari [24 years] College of Law – were sentenced to prison for 15 years | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
3. Jassim Almukhodar [20 years] Bahrain Teachers College – were sentenced to prison for 15 years | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
4. Jassim Alhulaibi [19 years] Bahrain Teachers College – were sentenced to prison for 15 years | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
5. Yousif Ahmed [20 years] College of Business Administration – were sentenced to prison for 15 years | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
Was sentenced in the case of the events of the #UOB “13/3” as well as to pay a penalty of 349,300 BD | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
6. Jassim Ali Yahya [20 years] College of Business Administration – were sentenced to prison for 20 years | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
Jassim Ali Yahya is accused in the abduction of a security man in the North Sehla, was arrested on 16 March | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
7. Ali Almolani [20 years] College of Engineering – were sentenced to prison for 3 years | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
Ali Almolani was arrested at a checkpoint and was sentenced in the case of an illegal gathering and rioting crowds | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBs
8.Mohammed Ali Alsheikh [College of Business Administration] suspended for 45 days on pending investigation | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
Mohammed Ali Alsheikh was arrested after the suppression of self-determination in the Aali Village | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
9. Mohammed Nusaif [College of Engineering] suspended for 45 days on pending investigation | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
Mohammed Nusaif was arrested after the suppression of self-determination in the Aali Village | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
10. Abbas Mahdi [College of Applied] suspended for 45 days on pending investigation – arrested in Sanad on 3/10 | #Bahrain #FreeUOBstudents
11. Yasser Mansour Madan [College of Information Technology] suspended for 45 days on pending investigation | #Bahrain #FreeUOBstudents #UOB
Yasser Mansour Madan was arrested in Sanabis Village on 23/9 | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
12. Fadel Abbas Majeed [College of Business Administration] was arrested on 7/10 | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
13. Hussain Ali [College of Engineering] was arrested on 11/9 | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
14. S.Wael S.Hashim [College of Engineering] was arrested this morning 2 / 11 | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents
S.Wael was arrested after breaking into his house and broken down in the Aldair village | #Bahrain #UOB #FreeUOBstudents

These 14 students from the #UOB, who are still detained – we demand 2 release them, their place in the uni, not behind bars | #Bahrain

HRF: Jaleela Al Salman Released, Countless Others Remain Jailed
November 1, 2011 – B CHR

Washington, DC— Human Rights First today expressed relief at reports that Jaleela Al Salman, Vice President of the Bahraini Teachers Association, has been released from jail. On October 18, Al Salman was rearrested in a night raid and seized by masked men who entered her home without showing a warrant for her arrest.
“Jaleela’s release is welcome news, but her case and the high profile cases of the Bahraini medics are just the tip of the iceberg. There are countless less famous people who have been tortured and sentenced and who remain jailed after unfair trials,” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley, who spoke to Al Salman via Skype just days before her most recent arrest.

On September 25, Al Salman was sentenced to three years in prison. She was convicted following an unfair military court trial and was at home while she waited for her appeal, currently scheduled for December 11. Al Salman was originally in prison between March 29 and August 21. Her colleague, Mahdi Abu Deeb, President of Bahrain Teachers Association, was recently sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. Hear directly from Al Salman as she talks in her own words about the abuse she suffered in custody here.

The United States has notified Congress of its intention to sell $53 million in arms to the Bahraini government. A resolution of disapproval has been introduced in both chambers of the U.S. Congress and several members are objecting to the sale. Human Rights First said it’s likely not a coincidence that the Bahraini Government has released Al-Salman as the U.S. Government continues to considers the sale. …source

Bahrain Teachers’ Union Leader Released
Nov 2nd, 2011 – By shiapost

The Vice-President of the Bahrain Teachers’ Association (BTA) Mrs. Jaleela Al Salman have been released yesterday Tuesday November 1, 2011. She received the warm welcome at Headquarter Jamiat Al-Wifaq (the Islamic National Accord Association).

According to the Shia Post, the release of Mrs. Jaleela Al Salman came in to order after she was re-arrested on October 18 at 3:00am, following a home raid by security forces without an official notice or warrant for her arrest.

On 25 September 2011, Mrs. Jaleela Al Salman was senteced to 3 years imprisonment by a Military court with charges of inciting hatred towards the regime, calling for a teachers strike and attempting to overthrow the ruling system by force.

This comes among other charges alongside her colleague, Mahdi Abu Deeb, President of Bahrain Teachers Association, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. Mrs. Jaleela was also detained since 29 March 2011, only to be released on August 21 2011 with Head of the Nurses’ Society, Rula Al Saffar, after her health deteriorated for going on a hunger strike in protest of her illegitimate detention.

Masked security forces in civilian clothing broke in to Mrs. Jaleela’s house at 3:00am today for the second time this year, despite her father’s willingness to open the door after hearing noises. They claimed to be executing court order but lacked an arrest warrant.

It should be mentioned that after her release on August 21 2011, Mrs. Al Salman had to be treated for disc disorder and high blood pressure, as well as for having unstable heartbeats which she had developed during her 149 days in detention when she was on hunger strike.

Hundreds of people across Bahraini society have been detained since mid-March, when authorities cracked down on pro-reform protests. Scores of detainees, including medical professionals and prominent opposition activists, were brought before military courts for leading the protests and in some cases calling for a change of government. …source

Meanwhile, the Bahraini government has ratified without reservation both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). That’s a problem because Bahrain Polytechnic’s code — and others like it — directly inhibits students’ freedom of opinion and expression by preventing those who are involved with political activities…

Bahrain’s Youth Crackdown: Hard Lessons in Democracy Building
November 1, 2011 – by Brian Dooley – Huff Post

The Bahraini government has some key lessons for young people participating in the nation’s Arab Spring-inspired uprising — codes of silence, promises to not participate in political freedom efforts, and limits on free speech. It’s this sort of clumsy repression that exposes the reality behind the Bahrain regime’s attempts to present things as returning to normal. For Bahraini students, things are far from normal.

The Bahraini government’s inept handling of its students is a great example of why the kingdom is increasingly seen as a pariah state. Dozens of students were arrested and hundreds more were expelled earlier this year following large-scale peaceful protests calling for democratic reform in the Bahrain. These students faced aggressive interrogations about their possible participation in political protests and some were even asked to identify classmates in demonstration photos that appeared on social networking sites such as Facebook.

In August, in a much vaunted gesture of reconciliation, Bahraini King Hamad publicly ordered all students to be reinstated. Around that same time, he also ordered that all dismissed workers should be reinstated and he abolished military trials for civilians. Clearly he did not get the memo that these steps will only gain favorable publicity if they are actually carried out. Hundreds of workers are yet to be reinstated and dozens of students at the Bahrain Polytechnic are still dismissed.

The students of Bahrain Polytechnic remain caught up in the king’s doublespeak. Bahrain Polytechnic presents itself as the modern, progressive face of Bahrain. Its faculty is largely comprised of international teachers and its website claims that the university’s students will:
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Bahrain Probe Finds Torture Was Systematic
The commission has investigated thousands of individual cases of abuse and will fully release the findings later this month
by John Glaser – November 01, 2011 – Antiwar.com

Torture of Bahraini detainees was systematic, according to the independent human rights probe tasked with investigating widespread abuse since the outbreak of Arab Spring protests in Bahrain.

“It is not possible to justify torture in any way, and despite the small number of cases, it is clear there was a systematic policy,” Bassiouni said in an interview with Egyptian daily Almasry Alyoum on Monday.

“I investigated and I found 300 cases of torture and I was helped in that by legal experts from Egypt and America.”

The commission announced in August that more than 5,200 complaints had been examined, but the latest complaint it took into consideration for the report – scheduled for release on November 23 – was on October 31. The commission says it has “investigated every death and torture case.”

The revelations about widespread and systematic torture conforms with previous reports that some of the medical professionals who had been detained claimed they had been beaten with sticks and rubber hoses, given electric shocks to the face with cables, sexually abused, etc. All of the abuse was on the discriminated Shia majority and often explicitly racist[sectarian], as one nurse recalled being screamed at with “Shia pig!”

Bahrain has long engaged in torture in its time as a US ally. One year before the Arab Spring protests broke out, Human Rights Watch released a report noting torture on the rise despite a decade of promises from the regime for reform.

The torture included “electro-shock devices, suspension in painful positions, and beatings” while many detainees reported being threatened with rape or murder in order to elicit confessions.

After months of pressure, the Obama administration has decided to tie the latest arms deal with the Bahraini regime to the results of the probe, to be released later this month. …source

…Artist Mohammed Mirza HERE

Denial of Ignoring Torture in Afghan Prisons Not Credible–They Trained Afghan Military Police
Posted on October 31, 2011 by Jim White

Brig. Gen. Saffiullah, Afghan National Army Military Police Brigade commander, proudly displays his certificate from Robert Harward, left, on April 5, 2010. (Air Force photo)

Yesterday, the Washington Post finally caught up to where Marcy was over two weeks ago and discussed the UN report “Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghan Custody” (pdf). I’d like to move beyond the primary findings of the report, that torture is widespread in Afghan detention facilities and that the US continued bringing prisoners to these facilities long after other nations discontinued the practice due to concerns over reports of torture, and to examine US denials of knowledge regarding the torture.

First, to set the stage from the Post article:

Department 124 was long sealed off from the outside world; the ICRC, the United Nations and other organizations concerned with human rights were barred by Afghan officials from monitoring conditions there.

But American officials frequently went inside, according to Afghan officials and others familiar with the site. U.S. Special Operations troops brought detainees there, and CIA officials met with Department 124’s leadership on a weekly basis, reviewed their interrogation reports and used the intelligence gleaned from interrogations to inform their operations, the officials said.

And now the denial I’m most interested in:

One U.S. official in Kabul said the CIA officers and Special Operations troops would not have ignored torture. “Not in the post-Abu Ghraib era,” the official said. “All American entities out there are hyper-aware of these allegations and would report them up the chain.”

We will dismiss the CIA denial out of hand: documentation of CIA torture practices and the CIA’s attempts to have DOJ provide legal cover for them now fills many books. However, JSOC involvement in torture is less well-documented despite the fact that JSOC torture played a central, but under-reported, role in David Petraeus’ COIN strategy as implemented in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Petraeus’ primary operative in implementing the torture strategy in both countries was Stanley McChrystal. …more

U.S. Makes UNESCO Pay for Admitting Palestinians
Oct 31, 2011 – Peter Z. Scheer

Israeli Ambassador Nimrod Barkan huffed and puffed after his country’s Palestinian colony was admitted into the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Monday. Washington, bound by law, promised to cut off all U.S. funding for the organization, whose mission “is to contribute to the building of peace.”

(More on UNESCO and its mission HERE.)

This decision is quite separate from the issue of whether Palestine will be recognized as an independent member state by the United Nations, an issue that is yet to be decided. President Barack Obama and the conservative government of Israel are vehemently opposed to any international recognition.

Part of UNESCO’s work is to identify and protect World Heritage Sites, of which there ought to be many in the occupied territories, which include the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

UNESCO will lose $60 million, or nearly a quarter of its funding, because U.S. legislation from the 1990s “mandates a complete cutoff of American financing to any United Nations agency that accepts the Palestinians as a full member,” reports The New York Times.

President Obama had this to say at his Sept. 21 address to the General Assembly:

Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the United Nations—if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now. Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians who must live side by side. Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians—not us—who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them: on borders and on security, on refugees and Jerusalem.

Even if you take that argument for granted—that peace will not be found in the global center of diplomacy, but through the direct negotiations that have gone nowhere for decades—it’s an argument that the Palestinians would not find peace in the United Nations, not an argument that joining the U.N. would leave the Palestinians any worse off than they are now. And for now, they have UNESCO.

Saudi Arabia to Buy Up-armored Humvees
By US Defense Security Cooperation Agency – October 31st, 2011

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Oct. 26 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for 124 M1151A1-B1 Up-Armored High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs), 99 M1152A1-B2 Up-Armored HMMWVs and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $33 million.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has requested a possible sale of 124 M1151A1-B1 Up-Armored High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) and 99 M1152A1-B2 Up-Armored HMMWVs, with supplemental armor kits, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistical and program support.

The estimated cost is $33 million.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.

The proposed sale will provide a highly mobile and light combat vehicle capability enabling the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF) to rapidly engage and defeat perimeter security threats and readily employ counter and anti-terrorism measures. The RSLF already has HMMWVs in its inventory and will have no difficulty absorbing these vehicles.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The prime contractor will be AM General of South Bend, Indiana. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.

Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to Saudi Arabia.

There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.

This notice of a potential sale is required by law and does not mean the sale has been concluded.
…more

by Local Editor – moqawama.org – Novemebr 1, 2011

As western pressure and particularly US one is escalating towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, “Israeli” media is busy in the amplification of the campaign.

“Israeli” “Ynet” paper reported that as War Minister Ehud Barak failed in handling the Hamas rule in Gaza, he seeks to engage in bigger issues. The Gaza Strip is a minor issue for him.

“He has his sights set on Iran and the nuclear bomb threat, and Prime Minister Netanyahu is there with him. The situation reached the point where former Mossad Director Meir Dagan felt the need to openly warn against this dangerous move,” the paper revealed.

Advising that “Israel” must not carry out an overt strike against Iran, “Israeli” analyst Daniel Friedmann considered that “the issue is complex and the risks are so great that “Israel” cannot assume them.”

“Even if a certain element of surprise can be achieved in an expected strike, the risk to the striking force is clearly much greater than what it was in Iraq and in Syria,” the military analyst mentioned warning that “the extent of the disaster inherent in the possibility of “Israeli” soldiers dying on Iranian soil requires no elaboration.”

Fearing a high probability that Iran would respond by directing missile barrages at “Israeli” cities and at vital facilities, “Y net” considered that “such attacks could be supplemented by missiles from the Gaza Strip and from Lebanon.”

“Iran borders the Strait of Hormuz, which is used when transporting the oil of many states, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain an Iraq. Overall, a significant portion of the global oil consumption goes through there,” the paper threatened.

“One thing is clear. “Israel” cannot afford to assume all the risks inherent in a direct military operation against Iran. The decision on this matter must remain in the hands of Western powers,” it concluded. …source

U.S. Gulf buildup would be imprudent
Oct 31st, 2011 – By shiapost

BAGHDAD: Any buildup of U.S. forces in the Gulf after their withdrawal from Iraq would be imprudent, Iran’s foreign minister said on Monday, urging all nations to tread cautiously in a troubled region.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi made the comments in Baghdad days after U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Iran not to try to exploit the U.S. withdrawal at the year-end.

“Now, about the U.S. planning to build up their forces in the region … they are not following a rational and prudent approach,” Salehi told a joint news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari.

“The Americans always have a deficit, unfortunately, in rationality and prudence. So what I expect is that it’s about time for the Americans to be … more prudent and wise in their approach,” he said.

Washington is planning to bolster its military presence in the Gulf after it pulls out of Iraq, including negotiating to maintain a combat presence in Kuwait, and is considering deploying more warships in the area, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

Salehi said the region was entering a troubled period. “The consequences of these developments are not yet known to anybody, so one has to be cautious. Everybody has to be cautious, including the U.S.,” he said.

Iraq and the United States failed after months of talks to agree on keeping U.S troops in Iraq past the end of this year.

U.S President Barack Obama announced he would stick to plans to pull out the remaining force, about 39,000 now, by the year-end, nearly nine years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. .

U.S. officials have accused Iran of interfering in Iraqi affairs by supporting Shi’ite militias in Iraq.

On Sunday Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed the coming withdrawal of U.S. troops from neighbouring Iraq as a “golden page in that country’s history”.

“Iraq does not need anybody to meddle in its internal affairs. Iraq is an independent country,” Salehi said.

Asked if Iran was ready to make a deal with Iraq to train its forces and exchange intelligence information, Salehi said:

“Sure. (There is) no problem in such a suggestion, to make a thorough pact that includes all these (ideas),” he said. …source

Western Conspiracies to topple Syrian Government , Will Bring a Regional Turmoil
November 1, 2011 – by jafrianews

JNN Nov. 1st.2011:There is a conspiracy involving regional powers that is aimed at overthrowing the Assad regime in Syria, warned Beirut-based political analyst Kamel Al Wazne.

He argued that Syria’s neighbors are getting involved in the country’s political process out of a personal vendetta again President Bashar al-Assad. “As you can see, the regional powers haven’t been neutral with the situation that is taking place inside Syria,” Al Wazne told RT. ”Actually, some of these countries have been fueling weapons and money and a certain ideology to topple Assad’s regime.

The reason, Al Wazne says, is simple. “President Assad has taken a very strong position in the past, supporting the resistance in Lebanon, Iraq and Iran and the idea of a regional alliance against Israel,” he stated. “Certain regional powers – namely Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar – don’t like that.”

Still, Al Wazne sees Assad’s position as a strong one. “The president still has the biggest support in Syria, we have seen millions turning up to support him,” he said. “And he acknowledges that there is opposition in the country asking him for change. That’s why we are having constitutional reform. But there are also external powers – the so-called opposition in exile. Those are backed by the West and some Persian Gulf countries.”

Direct NATO involvement, he warned, would be unwise. “I think any attempt by the US or a Western power may backfire, as the situation in Syria is much different from the one in Libya,” he said. “We have to remember Muammar Gaddafi had a peace deal with the West, he had given everything he has to the US, setting up cooperation with the US intelligence and putting his money with the US, and they turned against him. The Syrian are more capable, unified and determined, they have the capability and the means to defend their country. The West knows that Syria will not be left alone in any confrontation.”

Canadian war correspondent Scott Taylor agrees with Al Wazne. “Syria is a little different in terms of geographic fault lines [from Libya],” Taylor told RT. “Any external involvement would have the potential to reverberate in the entire region. Iraq is not stable. The US is pulling out its troops, they are looking to relocating forces to Kuwait so they can still maintain some control over the area. Turkey has launched an incursion into northern Iraq [to] hunt the Kurds, and there is a Kurdish minority in Syria as well. Israel is on the border. You have got all kinds of things which would make it very hard to go in there and make a less-than-volatile situation.

“ Russian lawmakers, who went on a fact-finding mission to Syria recently, concluded that Damascus is indeed carrying out the democratic reforms it promised, and Al Wazne hopes the country can solve its problems without Western interference.

“The president will try his best to [unite] the country around him,” he said. “But the West have a vendetta against Assad, and thus we have to wait and see. There is a determination in the president and the Syrian people to find closure. But the conspiracy in my estimate will continue to act against the Assad regime.”

According to UN estimates, over 3,000 people – from both the opposition and Syrian law enforcement – have died since the violence broke out in March. Damascus says soldiers and police account for 1,100 of the dead. …more

U.S. Planning Troop Buildup in Gulf After Exit From Iraq
by Andrea Bruce – The New York Times – October 29, 2011

MacDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — The Obama administration plans to bolster the American military presence in the Persian Gulf after it withdraws the remaining troops from Iraq this year, according to officials and diplomats. That repositioning could include new combat forces in Kuwait able to respond to a collapse of security in Iraq or a military confrontation with Iran.
Related

The plans, under discussion for months, gained new urgency after President Obama’s announcement this month that the last American soldiers would be brought home from Iraq by the end of December. Ending the eight-year war was a central pledge of his presidential campaign, but American military officers and diplomats, as well as officials of several countries in the region, worry that the withdrawal could leave instability or worse in its wake.

After unsuccessfully pressing both the Obama administration and the Iraqi government to permit as many as 20,000 American troops to remain in Iraq beyond 2011, the Pentagon is now drawing up an alternative.

In addition to negotiations over maintaining a ground combat presence in Kuwait, the United States is considering sending more naval warships through international waters in the region.

With an eye on the threat of a belligerent Iran, the administration is also seeking to expand military ties with the six nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. While the United States has close bilateral military relationships with each, the administration and the military are trying to foster a new “security architecture” for the Persian Gulf that would integrate air and naval patrols and missile defense. …more