Posts from — December 2011

Bahrain: End Takeover of Lawyers’ Group Revoke Order Canceling Election Results
December 20, 2011 – HRW

It seems that adding “human rights” to its name has only made this ministry more brazen in violating international standards for freedom of association. The ministry should immediately revoke its order and allow the members of the lawyers’ society to elect their officers without the heavy hand of the state.
Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch

(New York) – Bahraini authorities should immediately revoke an order canceling the results of the election for the Bahraini Lawyers’ Society’s governing board, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Lawyers’ Society, the official professional body for lawyers, held an election for new board members on November 26, 2011. Fatima al-Balooshi, minister of Human Rights and Social Development, issued an order on November 30 canceling the election results and reinstating the previous board and president to manage the affairs of the society for the coming six months. The ministry, which prior to June 20 had been called the Ministry of Social Development, has jurisdiction over civil society organizations in Bahrain under Law 21/1989. In its letter justifying the decision, the ministry said that the society “did not comply with the legal procedures.”

“It seems that adding ‘human rights’ to its name has only made this ministry more brazen in violating international standards for freedom of association,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The ministry should immediately revoke its order and allow the members of the lawyers’ society to elect their officers without the heavy hand of the state.”

The association’s annual election of officers was originally scheduled for April. The society postponed its election until November because the government imposed a state of emergency in March following pro-democracy demonstrations that started in mid-February.

Hameed al-Mulla, the newly elected president of the society, whose election was annulled by the ministry’s order, told Human Rights Watch that the ministerial order reinstated the board members and president who had been elected in 2009 for a six-month period. Al-Mulla, vice president during the previous term, said that five out of seven of the previous board members reject the ministry’s decision to reinstate them.

Al-Mulla said that the election had been held in accordance with both the society’s bylaws and government regulations, and that the society had notified the ministry of the election two weeks before holding its general assembly.

“The ministry refused to accept the notification letter when we tried to deliver it in person, so we sent it via special mail and received confirmation it had been delivered,” he said.

Representatives of the Bahrain Human Rights Society monitored the election, in which 85 eligible members elected the new board members, al-Mulla said.

In an earlier letter to the society, sent on November 23, the ministry asked for documentation to verify the membership of 135 of the group’s approximately 200 members, including the lawyer the ministry later reinstated to manage the society for the coming six months, al-Mulla and another member of the society told Human Rights Watch.
…more

Verified Sources Report:

20 Dec, 2011 – URGENT: Public prosecutor orders release of Zainab Alkhawaja and Masooma AlSayed on bail as case against them will be heard at later date.

16 Dec, 2011 – Slide Show – Zainab, Civil Disobedience. HERE

15 Dec. 2011 – At 10:00PM MST US – Zainab Alkhawaja and Masooma AlSayed will be detained for 7 days. According to lawyer: Masooma Alsayed was kicked in her leg and is now limping, was not seen by doctor Zainab when arrested had something sprayed in her eyes and was unable to see for approx an hour. Zainab in police station was beaten on head, arms and legs, as she was unable to see. Zainab recognized the voice of the policewoman who beat her, prosecutor refused to write it down lawyer attempted to show prosecutor video of the arrest, he refused to see it policewoman came in with bandaged arm claiming Masooma and Zainab hit her. Zainab refused to sign statement unless policewoman’s name was taken who hit her Prosecutor got angry and made everyone leave the room, awaiting decision.

15 Dec. 2011, At 7:50PM MST US – Zainab Alkhawaja, 27 year old Human Rights Defender has been arrested following a protest and has been charged with, illegal gathering, assaulting a female officer, inciting hatred against the regime. Masooma AlSayed also arrested has been charged with, illegal gathering, assaulting a female officer. At this hour both are awaiting a decision whether they will be held or released on bond.

….updates to follow.

MORE – Anonymous Source – 15 December, 2011

Today Bahraini security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of opposition supporters attempting to protest alongside a highway leading to the island kingdom’s capital (more details: HERE. *Zainab Alkhawaja, 27, *a human rights activist*, *has participated in this peaceful protest. She staged a sit-in on a roundabout with several women. The riot police have responded with shooting tear gas canister on the women where all of them left the place except Zainab. She continued her sit-in peacefully to exercise her right to freedom of expression in accordance to the declaration of the Human Rights. The police again shot tear gas canister, this time directly on Zainab: video – HERE

The female police came toward Zainab and handcuffed Zainab. As seen on recorded video HERE and the attached photos, Zainab has been slapped and hit on the face, dragged from the handcuff itself on ground all the way through to the pavement then to the street, she has her Muslim head scarf removed from her head. It’s very worrying the way she was ill-treated in public.

She, as well as another woman Ms Masooma alSayed were then taken to the police station and referred to the general prosecution “for taking part and calling for illegal gathering and one of them attacked public security female employee near Busaiba” MOI Tweet HERE The available videos clearly shows no kind of physical assaults practiced by Zainab.

At the general prosecution, Zainab told the lawyer that the female officer ” took my scarf off and tied it around my mouth to stop me from speaking”. Lawyer Zahra Masood who is with zainab Alkhawaja in the general prosecution, said that zainb looks tired & hardly opens her eye. She is still there (since around 9pm Bahrain time) as we write these words.

Zainab is mother of 1 year old child. Her husband, father and uncle are all in jail. He *father* is the prominent Human Rights activist AbdulHadi AlKhawaja, a former Regional Protection coordinator for the Middle East with Front Line and former President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR). He is now in jail and sentenced to life be military court for taking part in the Feb 14 protest. Her husband Wafi, was arrested along with her father and is now sentenced to 4 years in jail also by a military court.

Zainab has been targeted before, arrested from Bahrain UN house in June 2011 HERE and before that she summoned for interrogation at the police station.

See this video where Zainab talks about her activism, family, human rights, Abdulhadi and the difficulties of struggling for human rights in Bahrain: HERE More information about her below.

*We call you to take immediate action to guarantee the release of Zainab AlKhwaja and her fellow who were arrested and assaulted for merely exercising her right to freedom of expression and assembly in accordance to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Please take every action in your hand to call for her release and protection from further targeting and ill-treatment. The officers responsible for the seen
violence against AlKhawja can be easily identified and should be taken accountable for he clear assaults they have committed.

Tear Gas in Bahrain: Suppression and Suffering Through “Lethality Reduction”
December 19, 2011 – John Horne – EA Global

Visiting the website of Condor Technologies, a Brazilian “non-lethal” arms company accused this week of exporting tear gas to Bahrain, one is instantly impressed that they have thought very hard about how to present their business. The front page picture asks us to ponder: what on earth is “Lethality Reduction”?

On Sunday in Bahrain, a funeral was held for Abdulali Ali Ahmed, a 73-year man who choked to death in his home from tear gas inhalation. The funeral itself was attacked by police with tear gas.

This was a far from unprecedented development. The streets of Bahrain have been filled all week — indeed, all year — with the acrid, poisonous toxicity of tear gas. Abdulali’s death comes a week after the death of a 5-day-old child, Sajeda Faisal Jawad, killed in similar circumstances, and at least ten more deaths from tear gas have reportedly occurred in Bahrain since the wave of protests in February.

Footage from this week’s protests indicates a possible escalation of the use of tear gas, with activists reporting a new, harsher, “yellow” variety and police trapping people in buildings that have been gassed. The tactics also suggests that security forces are putting up a “smoke screen”, obstructing and preventing filming so police can beat protesters without the risk of being captured on camera.

Several companies in different countries stand accused of exporting tear gas to Bahrain. Canisters produced by French company SAE Alsetex and American firms Defense Technology (Federal Labs) and NonLethal Technologies have been identified by activists. British companies, similarly, have been doing good business with the Bahraini government. Indeed, in 2010, according to CAAT, the UK Government identified Bahrain as a “key market for UK arms exports” and granted export licenses to sales of “tear gas and crowd control ammunition, equipment for the use of aircraft cannons, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles and sub-machine guns”. …more

GlobalVoice: Bahrain: #OccupyBudaiyaSt Continues
18 Dec 2011

Bahraini protesters have been continuing with their daily protests despite a government crackdown, from a government that tells the world that it is implementing reforms and not involved in the killing of innocent people. This none forceful confrontation with protesters has resulted in two deaths and countless injuries since Thursday.

On Thursday, Bahrainis started their #OccupyBudaiyaSt protests. On that day, a 22-year-old man called Ali Al-Gassab was killed and activist/blogger Zainab Al-Khawajah was arrested for taking part in the Occupy Budaiya Street protest. The Occupy Budaiya Street protest aims at pressuring the government to release political prisoners and pay tribute to Bahrain’s 40-plus martyrs, killed at the hand of security forces since the unrest started in Bahrain in February.

On Friday, as the regime was celebrating the country’s National Day, thousands of Bahrainis packed the streets heading to Al-Gassab’s funeral. However, the hospital, allegedly refused to give the body to his family. Despite this set back, the crowds headed to the cemetery, in Abu Saiba village, also on the Budaiya Highway, where they chanted against the regime. Security forces chased the protesters away with tear gas and brutality. The most notable event was what was so called ‘Shakura Massacre‘; an incident that was caught by seven different cameras. It shows riot policemen on the roof of a building in Shakura village, along the Budaiya Highway, brutalizing around 18 men and leaving them with major injuries. The Interior Ministry tweeted in comment on this incident earlier on Saturday saying:

@moi_bahrain: Legal Affairs at MOI suspended some police personnel to investigate attack case against citizens in Shakhura yesterday (Friday).

Some netizens objected to the Shakhura being dubbed massacre, saying that none of the youth attacked was killed. Here is a video of the incident:

brilliant coverage of the Occupy Budaiya Protests HERE

Bahrain opposition urges dialogue with regime
December 19, 2011 – alakhbar

Five Bahraini opposition groups have called on the government to engage in “serious” dialogue to end a political crisis that flared with pro-democracy protests earlier in the year.

The groups, led by the Shia al-Wefaq, urged the ruling monarchy to embark on political reforms after months of unrest in the tiny Gulf state.

The coalition of opposition groups said in a statement on Sunday it favored “opening a serious dialogue with the regime to exit the current political crisis that is inflicting heavy losses on the country and people.”

Following a meeting on Sunday, they said the dialogue should be focused on “implementing drastic and comprehensive political and constitutional reforms,” dismissing the outcome of a national dialogue called for by King Hamad which they said excluded the opposition.

“It is not acceptable to talk about the outcome of the so-called ‘national dialogue’ as a suitable foundation for the wanted reforms because it is void of any real constitutional and political reforms,” the statement said.

The groups include the Arab nationalist and leftist Waed party, whose Sunni leader Ibrahim Sharif remains in prison since the crackdown on protests and has been convicted along with other leading opponents of plotting to overthrow the regime.

The opposition groups also condemned the recent heavy-handed response to small protests breaking out in villages of the Shia majority.

“We strongly condemn the campaign of collective oppression and terrorism practiced by security forces against peaceful demonstrators,” the statement said.

Bahraini security forces on Sunday fired tear gas and used batons to disperse several hundred pro-democracy demonstrators who gathered outside the capital Manama for the fourth day in a row.

Youth groups had called for a series of protests on the Budaiya highway which links Shia villages with Manama’s former Pearl Square, the focal point of the month-long pro-democracy uprising crushed in March.

Protests have again flared in Bahrain after a Saudi-backed military intervention crushed pro-democracy demonstrations earlier in the year, killing at least 35 people and wounding hundreds more.

Bahrain then imposed a heavy crackdown on dissent, imprisoning hundreds who took part in the protests.

A government-commissioned investigation found Bahraini authorities used systematic torture on detained activists, although opposition groups have dismissed the report as impartial. …source

Bahrainis Start Occupy Movement, Regime Forces Continue Excessive Crackdown
Local Editor – moqawama.org

Proving their intolerable vicious nature, Bahraini regime force attacked on Sunday thousands of mourners that attended the funeral of 73-year-old Ami al-Mouali, who was killed on Saturday by the Saudi-backed fire near the capital Manama.

The mourners were attacked after chanting slogans against the Bahraini regime, demanding the downfall of the ruling al-Khalifa family, Press TV reported.

On another hand, police forces also dispersed a Sunday protest constituted of hundreds of pro-democracy Bahrainis, who gathered outside the capital Manama for the fourth day in a row, AFP reported.

Also, the agency added that the Saudi-backed soldiers stormed live rounds and tear gas canisters on the protesters assembled at the Budaiya highway. Witnesses reported the forces using tear gas, and then throwing metal batons at demonstrators to disperse them.

In an attempt to grasp the world’s attention to the facts of Bahrain’s crackdown, Bahrainis started an “Occupy Budaiya Street” campaign on Thursday, during which 22 year old Ali al-Gassab was killed, while activist Zeinab al-Khawaja was arrested for taking part in the protests. …source

Ministry of Human Rights Continues Attempts to Take Over Civil Society Organizations and Cancel Bahrain Bar Society Elections
December 18, 2011 – BCHR

Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses its concern about the continued restrictions on the role of the civil society organizations and independent civil organizations, and the attempts to control them. Lately, the Ministry of Human Rights and Social development ruled that the current elected board of directors of the Bahrain Lawyers Society will no longer be in charge, and appointed the immediate past board of directors. This step appears to have been taken because the majority of the elected members are from the opposition.

On the 7th of December 2011, the Ministry of Human Rights and Social Development faxed a letter to the Bahrain Lawyers Society stating that “The immediate past Board of Directors is appointed back, while the current elected board is void”. The Society held its general assembly on the 26th of November 2011, and established a quorum with 86 lawyers out of 157 members entitled to vote, that is more than 53% of the members. The election was conducted under the supervision of Bahrain Human Rights Society, which confirmed the integrity of the elections. The Ministry of human rights failed to send a representative despite having been notified in advance, the immediate past president failed to attend as well. The elections were held after a delay of 6 months from the scheduled date because of the emergency state imposed in Bahrain. The elections resulted in selecting seven new members, with a majority from the opposition, and lawyers well-known for defending political prisoners, including some that have been taken to interrogation in the military prosecution during the emergency state because of their political stances. [1]

The new elected President Hameed Al-Mulla (The immediate past vice president) confirmed that the elections were held in accordance to the law, and that “the ministry is not legally entitled to cancel the authentic elections held by the society”.[2]

The Ministry of Human Rights is exploiting a law written in 1989 for the purpose of controlling the activities of the institutions of civil society, known as the law of Societies, to continue intervening in its management, and restrict its freedom. The law was repeatedly criticized by local and global organizations [3], because it violates the basic human rights in freedom of expression and assembly. This is the same law that the government used in 2004 to dissolve Bahrain Center of Human Rights, for standing up to the violations at that time. The center continued its work and its activities broadened inside and outside of Bahrain, and its reports became of higher importance to international bodies. …more

Bahrain: Dialogue With Teargas?
By William Fisher – The Public Record – December 19th, 2011

Aerial views of protesters clashing with police during an uprising earlier this year. Photo: Yana Kunichoff/Truthout

Some mainstream media are suggesting that the Bahraini version of The Arab Spring is over. Crushed was the word used by one of the mainstream US newspapers.

But the Sunni King of the tiny oil-rich country, Hamad-Bin-Isa-Al-Khalifa, says the independent report he commissioned is being implemented. The report concluded that peaceful demonstrators were being attacked by soldiers, arbitrarily arrested, taken to prison and tortured. The King has, unexplainably, accepted the report’s findings and promised to work with the people on long-overdue reforms. He is seeking patience from his majority Shia subjects.

But these subjects – at least what appears to be a substantial proportion of them – have run out of patience. They have been shot at, killed and wounded, arrested and tortured since March. They have no faith in the King’s reforms. They think he’s stalling to buy time. They are telling a very different story.

Their story is about peaceful demonstrations being broken up by security forces with live fire in addition to tear gas, batons and water canon. Their story is about continuing middle-of-the night home invasions by security men, threatening whole families, arresting the men, and taking them away to an uncertain future. Their story is about sick people in jail not getting adequate medical attention and prisoners being routinely tortured. Their story is about thousands of teachers, doctors and nurses being fired from their jobs. Their story is about thousands of students expelled from the university.

These Bahrainis will be satisfied with nothing less than the abdication of the King, the removal of his family from the most senior government posts, a new constitution and an election to create a parliamentary democracy. The King has won no trust from this group. Their mantra here, as it was for Mubarak in Tahrir Square in Egypt, is: The King Must Go!

There are other Bahrainis, however, who appear willing to attempt to participate in a dialogue with the Royals to determine for themselves whether His Majesty is serious about real reforms. But thus far, there has been virtually no action taken by the Government to begin creating any sort of dialogue.

So while the Royal family and its government remain unified and determined, a small divide has opened among two factions of protestors. How this will play out over time is unclear. But time appears to be on the side of the King, in whose name security forces, backed by the presence of troops from Saudi Arabia, appear prepared to continue their brutal crackdowns on dissidents. …more

HRDs from Gulf Region: Free the Courageous Defender Zainab Al-Khawaja Immediately Without Any Conditions
17 December , 2011 – Gulf Center for Human Rights

Beirut, December 17, 2011 — Human rights activists from the Gulf region gathered in Beirut at the invitation of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights expressed their solidarity with human rights activist, Zainab Al-Khawaja. Security forces in Bahrain arrested Al-Khawaja on December 15 during a peaceful sit-in protest in a public square in Manama. She was brutally beaten and taken to a police station. Human Rights activists demand her immediate release without conditions, as well as the release of all detained activists. The activists have also urged the Bahraini authorities to respect the civil and human rights of people in Bahrain.

Human Rights in the Gulf region

Beirut-Lebanon

…source

Saudi Prince Alwaleed’s Twitter Investment Was Made Via Secondary Market
December 18, 2011 – Kerry A. Dolan – Forbes

Billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed of Saudi Arabia purchased his stake in Twitter on the secondary market and not directly from Twitter, Forbes has learned.
Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed Takes $300 Million Stake In Twitter Kerry A. Dolan Kerry A. Dolan Forbes Staff
Prince Alwaleed’s Twitter Investment Isn’t For Politics Or Football Scores Chris Barth Chris Barth Forbes Staff

Ahmed Halawani, executive director for private equity and international investments for Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holding Co., explained that the investment in Twitter was made through a “special purpose vehicle” alongside other investors.

These special purpose vehicles have come into vogue as the demand for a piece of much desired social media companies like Facebook, Zynga and Twitter grew over the past year and a half. Special purpose vehicles are set up to buy shares in companies like Twitter from existing shareholders –usually early employees – who want to diversify their holdings. In this post here I explain how these investments work and some of the brokers that operate them.

Halawani declined to state the overall value of Twitter at which the investment was made. However, the New York Times is reporting that the Prince and Kingdom Holding purchased shares at a price that values Twitter at $8.4 billion. That jives with what Halawani said about the size of the Prince’s stake, which was described as “strategic” in a statement issued by Kingdom Holding early Monday. “The normal definition of a strategic stake is 3%, and you can assume [the stake purchased on behalf of the Prince and Kingdom Holding] was more than 3%,” Halawani said. At an $8.4 billion valuation, a $300 million investment equates to a 3.57% stake. …source

Saudi Prince Invests $300 Million in Twitter
By MARK SCOTT – December 19, 2011 – NYT

Prince Walid bin Talal holds assets worth an estimated $21 billion.Fahad Shadeed/ReutersPrince Walid bin Talal holds assets worth an estimated $21 billion.

LONDON — Prince Walid bin Talal of Saudi Arabia announced he had taken a $300 million stake in the social media site Twitter, as he continues to expand his holdings in the United States.

Prince Walid, who owns 95 percent of Kingdom Holding, said in a statement that the purchase was part of a strategy “to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact.”

With Twitter, Prince Walid — who also own stakes in American blue chip companies including Citigroup, General Motors and Apple — gains a foothold in the fast-growing social networking space. Under the terms of the transaction, Prince Walid and the Kingdom Holding Company purchased shares from early investors that value Twitter at $8.4 billion — the same value of its last fundraising round, completed this summer, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Twitter did not issue any new shares.

Twitter, the microblogging service, has more than 100 million active users and is part of an elite group of Internet companies that have rapidly attracted users and carry multibillion dollar valuations.

Twitter has been increasingly popular in the Arab world, where it was credited with playing a role in the recent social uprisings across North Africa and the Persian Gulf. Arabic-language messaging is the fastest-growing segment on Twitter, according to the data intelligence company Semiocast. The volume of Arabic messages increased 2,146 percent in the 12 months ended Oct. 31.

“We believe that social media will fundamentally change the media industry landscape in the coming years. Twitter will capture and monetize this positive trend,” Ahmed Reda Halawani, Kingdom Holding’s executive director of private equity and international investments, said in a statement.

Unlike many of its peers, Twitter is not rushing to go public. Earlier this summer, the company raised $800 million from private investors. The fund-raising effort, led by DST Global, the investment firm headed by the Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, valued the company at $8.4 billion. In the offering, Twitter issued $400 million worth of new shares, while early shareholders sold the rest.

Twitter’s patience contrasts with decisions by other social networking sites to brave the volatility of the public markets. Last week, the social game company Zynga raised $1 billion in an initial public offering that valued the company at $7 billion. But after its debut at $10 a share, Zynga’s stock closed at $9.50 on Friday.

Groupon, the daily deals site that raised $700 million in November, has been mixed. Shares of the company had dropped below the offering price, but have made a modest recovery of late.

The Saudi prince, who is a nephew of the country’s king, is one the of the Arab world’s richest men, holding assets worth an estimated $21 billion, according to Arabian Business magazine.

Kingdom Holding stock was up about 6 percent in midday trading on Monday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. …source

Will the Women of the Arab Spring be forgotten?
17 December, 2011 – Helena Williams – Huffington Post

A year ago Tunisian fruit vendor Mohamed Bouazizi torched himself out of economic despair. Little did he know that his act would spark the uprisings that tore through the Middle East and North Africa in 2011.

The revolutions represented many things to many people – although each country involved has a different story to tell, one common factor is the fight for human rights, and more specifically, the struggle for recognition and equality led by women who took to the streets.

But on the anniversary of Bouazizi’s self-immolation, Bahraini human rights activist Maryam Alkhawaja warns that a spreading anti-western feeling could cause the efforts of the female activists, bloggers and academics to extinguish.

“There is a fast-growing anti-western sentiment in the Middle East. To try to import the idea of feminism into the Middle East is not going to work – it needs to be addressed in a different way,” she said at last night’s ‘Women of the Revolution’ event hosted by The Frontline Club and BBC Arabic.

“We have to be able to create a movement in our own societies that say women have to be seen as equal within law and society. It will be more difficult if it is seen as a western notion that is being brought to the Middle East and imposed on them.”

The debate in London – chaired by Channel 4 News’s International Editor Lindsey Hilsum – brought together three female panellists; one from Bahrain, one from Libya, and one from Iran, who recalled their experiences of uprisings and described what they thought lies in store for the women of the Arab Spring.

“What we know from revolutions in the past is that women are there in the forefront, and then, ‘thank you very much sisters, we’ll be worrying about your rights and demands later, when we do more important things first'”, Hilsum warned.

But the three panellists were adamant that they did not want a repeat of what happened in Iran in 1979, when women who had supported the revolution against the Shah had their rights curbed. The threat of that happening now is very real, with few women in positions of power in the new emerging governments.

But Alkhawaja was adamant that women “must not go home.”

“This is setting a very important step. With this revolution, women have found a new voice for themselves”, she says.

“Pearl Square is the Tahrir Square of Bahrain. There, women read poetry, gave political speeches, and set up their own tents to talk about women rights and movements. One of the important things about the revolution in Bahrain was breaking the stereotype that exists in the western world.”

A self-professed Twitter activist and head of the foreign relations office for the Bahraini Centre for Human Rights, she is the daughter of prominent Bahraini human rights defender Abdulhadi Alkhawaja and has been working around the clock to make sure that every single protest and human rights abuse in Bahrain is documented.

She says that women have been at the forefront of the revolutions in her country.

“One of the most amazing scenes happened on 14 February. Everyone had gathered for the first set of protests – I was translating for foreign journalists. People were being attacked, and the men started running, but the women didn’t run. Instead, they picked up their flags and stood face to face with the riot police. …more

No Woman, No Peace
by Cristina Finch – December 19, 2011 – Human Rights Now

Just moments ago U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a comprehensive new plan by the U.S. government to help protect women and girls in conflict zones and ensure that peace processes include women.

The new plan by the Administration is the first ever U.S. national action plan and Executive Order to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. Often dubbed “the women’s resolution,” UNSC Resolution 1325 recognizes that significant action is needed to protect women and girls from armed conflict and include them in peace-building. States have been asked to create a national action plan to specifically address the issue of women, peace and security.

Coming just days after her speech at the UN announcing U.S. commitment to the protection of LGBT rights worldwide, today’s announcement is another welcome step to protect the human rights of some of the world’s most at-risk communities.

Women and girls are uniquely and disproportionately affected by armed conflict. In modern warfare, an estimated 90% of the casualties are civilians, and 75% of these are women and children.

But women and girls are not just victims of war; they are also powerful peace-builders whose efforts to prevent conflict and secure peace have been critical, yet largely unrecognized, under-resourced, and not integrated into formal peace processes.

Although women are often inescapably thrust into armed conflict, when the time comes to negotiate peace, women too often find themselves without a seat at the table. Only 1 in 13 participants in peace negotiations since 1992 have been women. Women have served as only 6% of negotiators to formalized peace talks and have never been appointed as chief mediators in UN-brokered talks. By creating and implementing a strong national action plan, the U.S. is taking an important step to strengthen the role of women as peace-makers. …more

Baby’s death threatens Bahrain reform agenda
By Simeon Kerr in Dubai – December 12, 2011

The death of a five-day-old girl has become the latest episode threatening to overshadow attempts by the Bahrain government to lift the state out of a year of protest and repression.

Al-Wefaq, the main Shia opposition party, says there is evidence to show that the infant died in her home on Sunday as a result of inhalation of tear gas fired by riot police. A more detailed coroner’s report has been requested, says Jawad Fairouz, a member of al-Wefaq.

But the minority Sunni-led government denied the claims, saying the health ministry had confirmed the cause of death as bacterial meningitis. The government also responded that the interior ministry had said skirmishes near the baby’s house were reported “much later” than the time of death.

The emotive issue comes at a sensitive time for Bahrain. King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa held talks on Monday with David Cameron, with the UK prime minister urging Bahrain to press ahead with reforms and reconciliation, including engaging the opposition. The US is sending an envoy to Bahrain to monitor the implementation of recommendations of a damning report by an independent commission of inquiry that reported last month. The UN human rights department is also sending a delegation to Bahrain.

The furore surrounding the death of the baby girl threatens to undermine the government’s stated intention to reform as the economy shows signs of recovery. The central bank says personal loans are growing at their fastest rate in three years as liquidity rises on higher oil prices. …more

Children in Bahrain: Victims of physical & sexual abuse, abduction, arbitrary detention and unfair trial
November 20, 2010 – BCHR

76 children between the prisoners in the latest security crackdown, making them 21% of the total detainees, whose numbers swelled to 355

“A child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child”
Article I of the International Convention for the Rights of the Child

Names of children and minors detained, the charges against them, and their ages

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights is following with grave concern the serious deterioration of security that comes within the framework of the ongoing crackdown launched by the authority against political activists and human rights defenders as well as all the Shiite villages and areas. The Center is also concerned about its impact and reflection on the human rights situation in the country, particularly in relevance to children. Children were part of the victims of this campaign which included the widespread waves of arbitrary arrests, continuous kidnappings, enforced disappearances, torture which is physical, psychological and sexual. It is believed that the National Security Apparatus is responsible for most of these cases, as well as the continuous physical assaults on the children of Bahraini villages by the Special Forces that are made up of foreign mercenaries. There are 76 children among the detainees from the latest security crackdown, which puts them at 21% of the total detainees, whose numbers swelled to 355. This raises concerns about the fate and future of these children who as a result of these conditions are deprived of their education, and an uncertain future which awaits them just like the hundreds of children, who were deprived from schooling and university education during the period of events prompted the dissolving of parliament in the nineties of the last century.

While Bahraini law prohibits those who are less than twenty-one years of the right to participate in the election on grounds of how young they are, which limits their ability to make sound and correct decisions. At the same time, the authorities hold children, who have reached the age of fifteen, full criminal responsibility and like adults they take full responsibility.
Children are the victims of arbitrary attacks on villages and the policy of collective punishment:
[Read more →]

URGENT APPEAL: Zainab AlKhawaja beaten, dragged and arrested
19 December 2011 – BCHR

Zainab Alkhawaja (@angryarabiya)’s trial will be tomorrow. According to her family, Zainab is being kept in a cell with 40 women imprisoned on charges related to drugs an prostitution, and there is only one shared bathroom.

When Zainab was taken to Budaiya police station to see her 2 years old daughter Jude, which never happened, she was subjected to verbal harassments and threats, told she would not be allowed to see her daughter again except once a week.

Acc to lawyer, charges against Zainab (details below) can get up to two years imprisonment.

Police officers who have assaulted Zainab were identified: Police woman Gumasha has beaten Zainab on her head, arms and legs and spat on her, used sectarian derogatory language. Officer Isa Yousif Mohammed BuKamal spat on Zainab Alkhawaja, and has beaten Masooma AlSayed in detention.

Interrogation with Massoma AlSayed and Zainab AlKhawaja started after 2 am and 4 am respectively (Bahrain time) and lasted for around 2 hours each. According to lawyer, interrogations were not recorded as per BICI recommendations.

Zainab Zainab AlKhawaja was charged with 1. illegal gathering 2. assaulting a female officer 3. inciting hatred against the regime.

Masooma AlSayed was charged with 1. illegal gathering 2. assaulting a female officer.

Masooma Alsayed was kicked in her rights leg and is now limping, was not seen by doctor. There are red marks around her wrists because of the handcuffs.

Zainab when arrested had something sprayed in her eyes and was unable to see for approximately an hour. At the police station was beaten on head, arms and legs, as she was unable to see. Zainab recognized the voice of the policewoman who beat her, public prosecutor refused to write it down. Lawyer attempted to show public prosecutor video of the arrest, he refused to see it.

Policewoman came in with bandaged arm claiming Masooma and Zainab hit her. Zainab refused to sign statement unless policewoman’s name who hit her was taken. Prosecutor got angry and made everyone leave the room.

Prosecutor decided that Zainab and Masooma will be detained for 7 days. They will be then presented to a judge who will decide whether to extend their detention or not.

Lawyer says they are worried about the safety of Zainab and Masooma as same police who beat them are transfering them to prison. The same police who arrested Zainab and Masooma are the ones who brought them to public prosecution and testified against them.

Zainab was examined today by the public prosecution’s forensic doctor.

Zainab and Masooma have now been moved to womens detention in Isa Town. Police are refusing to take clothes for Zainab Alkhawaja or allow her family to bring her glasses although she cant see well without them, they are also not allowing her toothbrush or soap despite her needing to change and clean up after being dragged on the ground …more

In the forth day of Violent Crackdown on protesters, Bahrain buries the fifth victim since BICI report

18 December, 2011 – BCHR

(AP) —Police in Bahrain on Sunday fired tear gas at thousands of demonstrators chanting anti-government slogans after the funeral of an elderly man who witnesses say died from tear gas inhalation.

The unrest Sunday is the fourth straight day of clashes between opposition supporters and security forces along a main highway west of the Bahraini capital Manama. At least 40 people have been killed since February, when Bahrain’s Shiite majority started campaigning for more rights from Sunni rulers in the Gulf kingdom that is the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

The start of the police attack at Qadam roundabout

Amir al-Mouali said his 73-year-old neighbor, Abdulali Ali Ahmed, was taken to a hospital Saturday morning after struggling to breath during a night of heavy clashes near his home along the Budaiya highway, which connects a string of Shiite villages west of Manama. Al-Mouali said Ahmed died Saturday evening.

In a statement Sunday, Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said Ahmed died of natural causes.

The demonstrations along the strategic highway has been going since Thursday. The Budaiya highway leads to a junction that is roughly half a kilometer (a quarter of a mile) south of Manama’s Pearl Square, the former focus of Bahrain’s Shiite uprisings. see extenisve update on situation from BCHR HERE

Bahrain police fire tear gas after funeral
(AP) – 3 hours ago – The Guardian UK

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Police in Bahrain on Sunday fired tear gas at thousands of demonstrators chanting anti-government slogans after the funeral of an elderly man who witnesses say died from tear gas inhalation.

The unrest Sunday is the fourth straight day of clashes between opposition supporters and security forces along a main highway west of the Bahraini capital Manama. At least 40 people have been killed since February, when Bahrain’s Shiite majority started campaigning for more rights from Sunni rulers in the Gulf kingdom that is the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Amir al-Mouali said his 73-year-old neighbor, Abdulali Ali Ahmed, was taken to a hospital Saturday morning after struggling to breath during a night of heavy clashes near his home along the Budaiya highway, which connects a string of Shiite villages west of Manama.

Al-Mouali said Ahmed died Saturday evening.

In a statement Sunday, Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said Ahmed died of natural causes.

The demonstrations along the strategic highway has been going since Thursday. The Budaiya highway leads to a junction that is roughly half a kilometer (a quarter of a mile) south of Manama’s Pearl Square, the former focus of Bahrain’s Shiite uprisings.

Government forces evicted protesters from the Pearl Square in March and tore down the pearl sculpture that marked the site.

The now heavily guarded square holds great symbolic value for Bahrain’s opposition movement, and protesters have repeatedly tried to retake it. …source

Thousand of combat and intelligence experts remain at massive Embassy-Base, Drones fully deployed from Turkey, thousands of former US military troops employed as mercenary “contractors”, making six digit paychecks, five times what they were paid as government troops and negotiations continue for troop and contractor immunity, leaving door open for return – is mostly a bullshit, cynical reelection stunt by Obama. HuAh Commander-in-Chief Sir!

US Pursues Legal Protections for Contractors Still in Iraq
December 14, 2011 – Stars and Stripes|- by Erik Slavin

BAGHDAD — The United States is still pursuing an agreement with the government of Iraq that could provide defense contractors working for the U.S. State Department with some legal protections in 2012, U.S. embassy and military officials said last week.

While diplomats and servicemembers working for the State Department are shielded by diplomatic immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law, the thousands of private contractors who will be working for the agency in have no such protections.

Contractors have lacked immunity from Iraqi law since 2009, when a new status of forces agreement excluded them.

However, with the pullout of the remaining 50,000 troops from Iraq this year, contractors say they now feel more vulnerable to danger, both from potentially corrupt Iraqi police and from anti-American groups.

“You have to cross a major Iraqi road and, should the [Iraqi police or Iraqi army] decide, they might begin detaining American personnel,” said one contractor, who asked for anonymity because his company has not authorized him to speak publicly.

It remains unclear whether a new agreement could include immunity, an idea which is highly unpopular in Iraq. Talks over allowing thousands of U.S. troops to remain in Iraq in 2012 collapsed in October after it became clear that Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki wouldn’t be able push immunity for troops through an Iraqi parliament vote.

Opposition to contractor immunity largely stemmed from a September 2007 incident, where 17 Iraqis died after a confrontation with Blackwater security contractors.

However, some legal protections for contractors could still be gained through a diplomatic chapeau agreement, State officials said.

Chapeau agreements vary in scope, but they are usually umbrella agreements that outline broad principles in a binding legal framework.

“We are still pursuing that option,” a U.S. Embassy official in Baghdad said last week on condition of anonymity.

James Jeffrey, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, broached the idea of an agreement spelling out the terms of conditions for contractors during an interview with Stars and Stripes in August.

At the time, such an agreement wasn’t ready for discussion because of ongoing negotiations for a broader security agreement involving a U.S. troop presence.

“All of the contactors that are coming in support of weapons purchases are coming out under the terms of the [foreign military sales] case,” Jeffrey said at the time. “Were there not to be a security agreement, we would probably negotiate with the Minister of Defense a chapeau agreement laying out some of the technical issues related to that.”

A major overseer of contractors is the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, which will manage up to 763 contractors and show Iraqis how to operate more than $11 billion in military weapons and equipment purchases. …more

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Repressing Democracy, With American Arms
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF – December 17, 2011 – NYT

Image – by Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters Clouds of tear gas a daily endurance for Bahrainis, like this woman at a highway protest west of Manama.

WHEN President Obama decides soon whether to approve a $53 million arms sale to our close but despotic ally Bahrain, he must weigh the fact that America has a major naval base here and that Bahrain is a moderate, modernizing bulwark against Iran.

Yet he should also understand the systematic, violent repression here, the kind that apparently killed a 14-year-old boy, Ali al-Sheikh, and continues to torment his family.

Ali grew up here in Sitra, a collection of poor villages far from the gleaming bank towers of Bahrain’s skyline. Almost every day pro-democracy protests still bubble up in Sitra, and even when they are completely peaceful they are crushed with a barrage of American-made tear gas.

People here admire much about America and welcomed me into their homes, but there is also anger that the tear gas shells that they sweep off the streets each morning are made by a Pennsylvania company, NonLethal Technologies. It is a private company that declined to comment, but the American government grants it a license for these exports — and every shell fired undermines our image.

In August, Ali joined one of the protests. A policeman fired a shell at Ali from less than 15 feet away, according to the account of the family and human-rights groups. The shell apparently hit the boy in the back of the neck, and he died almost immediately, a couple of minutes’ walk from his home.

The government claims that the bruise was “inconsistent” with a blow from a tear gas grenade. Frankly, I’ve seen the Bahrain authorities lie so much that I don’t credit their denial.

Jawad al-Sheikh, Ali’s father, says that at the hospital, the government tried to force him to sign papers saying Ali had not been killed by the police.

King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has recently distanced himself from the killings and torture, while pledging that Bahrain will reform. There have indeed been modest signs of improvement, and a member of the royal family, Saqer al-Khalifa, told me that progress will now be accelerated.

Yet despite the lofty rhetoric, the police have continued to persecute Ali’s family. For starters, riot policemen fired tear gas at the boy’s funeral, villagers say.

The police summoned Jawad for interrogation, most recently this month. He fears he will be fired from his job in the Ministry of Electricity.

Skirmishes break out almost daily in the neighborhood, with the police firing tear gas for offenses as trivial as honking to the tune of “Down, Down, Hamad.” Disproportionately often, those tear gas shells seem aimed at Ali’s house. Once, Jawad says, a shell was fired into the house through the front door. A couple of weeks ago, riot policemen barged into the house and ripped photos of Ali from the wall, said the boy’s mother, Maryam Abdulla. …more

…for those not clear on what the video is showing, the mall was an exit for the Protesters that were attacked in the streets by Security Forces.