Bahrain girl teen protester re-arrested in spite of health conditions
14/11/2011 – Bahrain Freedom Movement

Holding up a banner with photos of injured anti-government protesters, women protesters stand in public on February 19, 2011 to bring attention to human rights abuse by Bahrain military security officials. Image: Al Jazeera English/cc

(WNN) Manama, BAHRAIN: Following the late September arrest of 38 women and 7 girl protesters during a pro-reform rally at a local shopping center in Bahrain’s capital city of Manama, one teenager has been re-arrested in spite of her ongoing health conditions and hospital stay.

Seventeen-year-old Ashwaq Al Magabi suffers from a severe form of sickle cell anemia. The fatal disease can cause chronic pain, weakness and deteriorating damage to the bones, kidneys, lungs, eyes, heart, and liver. Ashwaq was sentenced in Bahrain’s penal court 26 days following her first arrest on October 19,2011. Her current sentence includes six months imprisonment.

In March 2011 Bahrain officials set up a military tribunal court, called the ‘National Safety’ court, to handle cases involving government reform protesters and human rights activists, in what Human Rights Watch called a “travesty of justice.”

Following international outcry by global governments as well as human rights groups, Bahrain’s Attorney General, Dr. Ali Fadl al-Buainian, asked that cases involving medical personnel who were arrested during the past months of reform protests and unrest in Manama be transferred to civilian courts October 7.

“All civilian cases should be tried before civilian courts,” said a spokesperson for the Foreign Office to the UK Mission to the United Nations on October 6.

On May 13, 2011 the U.S. Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission House Committee on Foreign Affairs brought Bahrain Center for Human Rights Director of Foreign Relations, Ms. Maryam Al Khawaja, before the Congress as part of a special expert panel brought to share her insights into the situation of human rights abuse in Bahrain.

“We have reason to believe that many of those who are being held incommunicado detention are being subjected to torture, and this, of course, raises high concern for their well being and for their lives,” said Maryam during the U.S. Congress hearing last May. …more

Bahrain TV station struggles as signal blocked
By Simon Atkinson, BBC News

WATCH: It’s your cue: LuaLua TV is using technology to make sure that although the service is blocked in Bahrain, every effort is made to broadcast as widely as possible

Rim Abdolah delivers her news bulletin with admirable gusto for a woman who knows hardly any of the target audience is watching. The Lualua TV presenter has been with the station since its launch in July.
Aimed at people in Bahrain, it carries news and talk shows about the country.

But since its inception, it has only managed to reach to televisions in the Gulf kingdom for four hours – before the signal was blocked.

“As a broadcaster I’m very upset and frustrated because we try to work hard to put our work out to let everyone see it, especially in Bahrain,” Miss Abdolah says.

“But it’s very disappointing, no-one in Bahrain can see us.”

Reports from the satellite provider show the signal is being blocked from within Bahrain.
Screens Presenter Rim Abdolah is frustrated that the channel is blocked in Bahrain

While not officially blaming the country’s government, station management say it is hard to see who else would intervene.

Miss Abdolah’s pink headscarf stands out brightly against the blue backdrop of the news studio.

And while it was intended to run the channel from Bahrain’s capital Manama, it failed to get a licence there.

So instead, it operates thousands of miles from the Gulf, in a two-storey industrial unit on a drab north London estate – with cables running through the front door to a satellite dish in the car park.

The station was formed in the aftermath of pro-democracy protests earlier this year, which ended after Bahrain called in the Saudi military to crush the uprising. Bahrain protest The station was formed in the aftermath of pro-democracy protests in Bahrain

Several people were killed in clashes with security forces, while hundreds of people were detained including doctors, teachers and opposition leaders – many of whom allege they have been tortured and now face military trials.

Thousands of demonstrators had gathered for several days in the centre of Manama, inspired by the popular uprisings which toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.

They demanded a greater say in government and an end to what the majority Shias said was systematic discrimination against them in jobs and services. …more

Bahrain Journalist Jailed Overnight
IPI: Journalists Have Right to Work without Fear of Imprisonment
11 November 2011 – International Press Institute

By: By Nisha Thanki
Shi’ite Bahraini men sit on a wall with graffiti that reads ”People want self-determination”, as they attend a rally held by the Wefaq opposition party, in the village of Boori, south of Manama, October 14, 2011, to mark the 8-month anniversary of the February 14 uprising. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

VIENNA, 11 Nov. 2011 – Jaffer al-Alawai, a prominent journalist, blogger and poet, was arrested on 8 November. He was released after spending over 24 hours in custody. It is still unclear why he was arrested and whether he will be formally charged. Al-Alawai previously worked as an anchor for the Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation, the state-controlled, sole television channel in Bahrain. Previously this year, al-Alawai was dismissed from his position there along with many other journalists. He is now well known for his poetry, which he tweets, and for being the leader of a youth group called Taa AlShabab.

On 8 November, al-Alawai’s house in Boori was surrounded by armed forces and subsequently searched. It followed an incident in which some protesters cut through his house during a protest. He was summoned to the police station in Hamad Town to be interrogated.

Mr al-Alawai has written on Twitter since that he was not ill-treated during his time in custody nor was he asked about his writing. It remains unclear why al-Alawai was held for 24 hours.

Gamal Eid, the executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said: “Like many Bahraini journalists, he is a victim of the government campaign of retribution. Not only is he a victim of the government, but also a victim of the Saudi Arabian and American retaliation campaign.” There was no mention of al-Alawai’s arrest in any local newspapers.

The case of al-Alawai follows the intimidation of a number of journalists and bloggers. The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights “fears that his detention is due to (his) being a media professional who has expressed views in support of democracy”. There has been a wave of dismissals from the state television this year, which is thought to be based on religious and political affiliations. The accounts of threats and harassment against journalists in Bahrain have been disturbing.

Earlier this year IPI reported on the cases of two journalists who were arrested and tortured to death. Karim Fakhrawi, creator of Al-Wasat newspaper, was detained in March 2011. Authorities claimed that he died from kidney failure, yet his body showed clear signs of torture. …more

Iran rejects Bahrain’s claim of terror cell links
By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press – 13 November, 2011

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran rejects Bahrain’s allegations that a terror cell uncovered in the tiny island nation has links to the Shiite powerhouse’s Revolutionary Guard, an Iranian deputy foreign minister said.

Bahrain’s public prosecutor on Sunday alleged the cell planned attacks against high profile sites, such as the Saudi Embassy in the Bahraini capital Manama and a Gulf causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The cell purportedly had contact with Iran’s Guard, according to a Bahrain News Agency report, which gave no further details to back up the allegations.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian said the claims were “baseless and fabricated” and urged the Bahraini government to focus instead on repairing the “deep schism” between its ruling Sunni monarchy and Shiite majority.

Abdollahian spoke to the Arabic Language al-Alam channel late on Sunday.

“We reject such deceptive allegations,” he said. “We believe it is necessity to deal peacefully and democratically with legitimate demands voiced over the past months by the Bahraini people.”

Bahrain’s Sunni leaders have repeatedly accused Iran of encouraging Shiite-led protests that erupted in February in the kingdom, a charge Iran denies.

The Bahraini claim followed recent U.S. accusations that an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard — which is closely tied to Iran’s ruling clerics — was involved in a foiled plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington. Iran has denied the American charges.

Bahrain’s majority Shiites insist they have no political links to Iran. Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy and its Gulf allies claim that Iran seeks to gain another foothold in the Arab world through unrest in the tiny strategic nation, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

The unrest in Bahrain has killed more than 35 people since it began nearly nine months ago, inspired by Arab uprisings elsewhere. Protesters say they are seeking greater rights and an end to the Sunni dynasty’s hold on top political decisions. Bahrain’s rulers have offered some compromises, such as expanding the powers of parliament, but not enough to satisfy the opposition.

The Iran-Bahrain tensions are not limited to politics.

On Saturday, Iran summoned Bahrain’s envoy to Tehran to protest what it called mistreatment of Iranian football players and supporters following a 2014 World Cup qualifier in Manama.

Iran’s official IRNA agency said security forces failed to confront some Bahraini supporters who threw water bottles and other objects at the Iranian players and supporters.

Latest Bahrain trials begin tomorrow
14 November 2011 – International Transport Workers’ Federation

Dr Kate Webb reports for the ITF on why November is going to be a critical month in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Tomorrow, November 15th, three officers of the Gulf Air union will appear in court on unspecified charges concerning “national security”. In a fortnight a group of sports journalists and athletes that includes the country’s top-scoring footballer, A’ala Hubail, are to be tried for “illegal assembly and inciting hatred against the regime”, and on November 28, the doctors arrested at the Salmaniya Medical Complex, already tried in a military court, will, after international outcry, be retried in a civilian court.

In the middle of this period, on November 23, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) – set up by King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and chaired by the international jurist, M. Cherif Bassiouni – will produce its report into whether or not there were human rights violations during the spring uprisings.

A lot rides on this report. The fate of hundreds of protestors already imprisoned or still going through the courts may depend upon it. And for the Bahraini state – where financial services have overtaken oil as the nation’s prime business – at stake is its credibility on the world stage and ability to do business in the international market. In America, after objections from a handful of senators, Hilary Clinton has decided to delay a $53 million arms sale to Bahrain until the BICI’s findings are announced; while complaints raised by international trade unions and the European Parliament about the mistreatment of workers have put the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement in jeopardy. …more

Royal Fact Finding Commission: Five Fatal Breaches of the Standards of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
النسخة العربية من التقرير – Bahrain Mirror

Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Bahrain Mirror observed that the Royal Commission for Inquiry had committed five fatal breaches of the standards of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Bahrain Mirror monitored those violations through the preliminary assessment of the establishment and the works and practices of the Commission. It sought the help of the Human Rights organizations and prominent Human Rights figures. The breaches included the following:
-The Commission was established by an individual will not by the principle of national consultation

-The mistakes in selecting the members of the Commission
-Marginalization of the role of the national non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
-Circumventing the role of the United Nations and other international actors
-The mistakes in the practice, professionalism and neutrality

1. The Commission was established by an individual will not by the principle of national choice

The publication of the Truth Commissions issued by Office of The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights states that the national choice is one of the core principles to establish a Truth Commission and it stresses that “..the decision to have a commission must always be taken by nationals. This decision should be based on a broad consultative process to seek especially the views of victims and survivors, and make clear the functions, strengths and limitations of truth commissions” [Page 5], and under the section of “Consultation” in establishing a Truth of Commission the publication says: “The consultation should explicitly include victim communities and civil society organizations, and should allow for a period of significant input into the fundamental mandate of the commission, as well as feedback on specific draft terms of reference as they are developed” …more