Bahrain backs away from ban on two Shiite political groups
April 16, 2011 – by Paul Richter – Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Washington — Bahrain backed down Friday from its threat to disband the country’s main opposition party after unusually strong criticism from the United States that the strategic Persian Gulf nation was closing the door to promised political reforms.

One day after the Bahraini Justice Ministry said it would shut down two Shiite Muslim political parties, including the moderate Wefaq, the state-run news agency said the government would not act until it had finished investigations of the two groups.

Foreign Minister Sheik Khalid ibn Ahmed Khalifa also said on Twitter that the official statement from the Justice Ministry had been “incorrect” and that “all societies, including Al Wefaq, are encouraged to participate in elections and serve the people through parliament.”

The Obama administration, a strong ally of the Bahraini government, had defended the parties as “legitimate political societies” and had urged reversal of the decision. U.S. officials also spoke privately with senior Bahraini officials and dispatched the chief U.S. diplomat for the region, assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman, to Manama, the capital.

A U.S. official said late Friday that Bahrain’s intentions remain somewhat murky because of the conflicting signals.

The Obama administration has come under growing criticism from human rights groups in the Middle East for not doing more to try to halt Bahrain’s crackdown on the opposition. …more

Report: Amal, First Political Party in Bahrain and the Region under Kangaroo Military Trials
29 Nov 2011 – BCHR

The General Secretary of the Isalmic Action Society (Amal), most of its board members and more than 200 of its active members were arrested in an attempt to hamper the work of the oppositional society. 14 members of the opposition society, including its General Secretary were sentenced by military court on 4 Oct 2011 up to 10 years in jail which renders the society almost non-operational without its leaders. before that, and on March 28th 2011, the regime raided the building of the society. All the doors and gates were destroyed, the rooms were severely damaged, all electronic devices and computers were stolen or broken, and the private files of the society were stolen.

In this report issued Oct 2011 by the Isalmic Action Society (Amal) a documentation of all attacks on the political society, which is registered under the laws of the Ministry of Social Development (currently, human rights) in Bahrain since 2002.

The report is a call for urgent intervention to stop the illegitimate military sentences against people who have no guilt but the call for democracy and for respecting the global human rights. …source

Saudi Arabia accused of repression after Arab Spring
01 December, 2011 – BBC

Amnesty International has accused Saudi Arabia of reacting to the Arab Spring by launching a wave of repression. In a report, the human rights group said hundreds of people had been arrested, many of them without charge or trial. Prominent reformists had been given long sentences following trials Amnesty called “grossly unfair”.

So far unrest has largely been confined to the Shia minority in the east of the country. The report comes a little more than a week after clashes in the eastern region of Qatif left four people dead – apparently the first deaths in this year’s unrest.

Shia in the area have complained for years of economic discrimination and religious persecution, and were angered by the harsh suppression of Shia protesters in neighbouring Bahrain earlier this year. Saudi troops entered Bahrain to assist the authorities there.
‘Blindfolded and handcuffed’

In its 73-page report published on Thursday, Amnesty accuses the Saudi authorities of arresting hundreds of people for demanding political and social reforms or for calling for the release of relatives detained without charge or trial.

The report says that since February, when sporadic demonstrations began – in defiance of a permanent national ban on protests – the Saudi government has carried out a crackdown that has included the arrest of mainly Shia Muslims in the restive Eastern Province.

Since March, more than 300 people who took part in peaceful protests in Qatif, Ahsa and Awwamiya in the east have been detained, Amnesty says. Most have been released, often after promising not to protest again. Many face travel bans.

Last week 16 men, including nine prominent reformists, were given sentences ranging from five to 30 years in prison. Amnesty said they were blindfolded and handcuffed during their trial, while their lawyer was not allowed to enter the court for the first three sessions.

“Peaceful protesters and supporters of political reform in the country have been targeted for arrest in an attempt to stamp out the kinds of call for reform that have echoed across the region,” said Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa director, Philip Luther.

“While the arguments used to justify this wide-ranging crackdown may be different, the abusive practices being employed by the Saudi Arabian government are worryingly similar to those which they have long used against people accused of terrorist offences,” he said.

Amnesty says that the government continues to detain thousands of people on terrorism-related grounds. Torture and other ill-treatment in detention are widespread, it says – an allegation Saudi Arabia has always denied. …more

Soros: World Financial System on Brink of Collapse
By Brenda Cronin – December 1, 2011 – Bloomberg News

The world financial system not only isn’t functioning, it’s on the brink of collapse, according to investor George Soros.

The Hungarian-born philanthropist, who recently spent time in countries where his charities are active, such as Africa, said he sees a growing bifurcation between emerging and developed countries – and he’s more confident about prospects for the emerging ones.

Despite their assorted problems, including corruption, weak infrastructure and shaky government, developing countries are relatively unscathed by the “deflationary debt trap that the developed world is falling into,” Mr. Soros said at a New York gathering to mark the 10th anniversary of the International Senior Lawyers Project, a group that provides pro bono legal services around the world. Mr. Soros was among those honored by ISLP, for his work as founder and chairman of the Open Society Foundations, which supports democracy and human rights.

The current global financial system is in a “self-reinforcing process of disintegration,” Mr. Soros warned, and “the consequences could be quite disastrous. You have to do what you can to stop it developing in that direction.”

While the economic and fiscal woes of the developed world remain critical, Mr. Soros said his recent travels gave him a sense of optimism about Africa and the Arab world.

“A lot of positive things are happening,” he said. “I see Africa together with the Arab Spring as areas of progress. The Arab Spring was a revolutionary development.”

However, he noted, Hungary’s 1956 revolution changed the political atmosphere but didn’t bear fruit until 1989.

“You can’t expect immediate success but what is happening will have a lasting impact,” he said. …source

The Price of Freedom and Democracy: Defiant Bahrainis and the Arab Spring
December 01, 2011 // 2:00pm — 6:00pm

Watch right now HERE

Russia Delivers Missiles to Syria: Report
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE – 1 Dec 2011 12:38

MOSCOW – Russia has delivered supersonic cruise missiles to Syria despite the violence shaking the Arab country and Israel’s furious condemnation of the deal, a news report said on Dec. 1. “The Yakhont supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles have been delivered to Syria,” a military source told the Interfax news agency without disclosing when the shipment was made.

Russia signed a contract reportedly worth at least $300 million (222 million euros) in 2007 to supply its traditional Arab world ally with a large shipment of the cruise missiles. Reports said Russia intended to deliver 72 of the missiles to Syria in all.

The deal immediately angered Israel, which fears the weapons may fall into the hands of Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon.

Russia has since also come under growing pressure from Washington, which wants all military sales to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime halted because of his deadly crackdown on Syrian street protests. But Moscow has defended Assad against global pressure and this week argued that its arms sales were permitted under international law and would continue.

Another Russian official told Interfax that the missiles, which operate as part of the Bastion mobile coastal defense system, “will be able to protect Syria’s entire coast against a possible attack from the sea.” Each Bastion system is equipped with 36 cruise missiles as well as truck-mounted radar and other equipment.

It was not immediately clear how many of the missiles Russia has delivered to Syria so far. …source

FBI Storing Information on Activities Protected by the First Amendment, Memos Obtained by ACLU Show
01 December, 2011 – ACLU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

NEW YORK – The FBI has been illegally using its community outreach programs to secretly collect and store information about activities protected by the First Amendment for intelligence purposes, according to FBI documents released today by the American Civil Liberties Union.

“The trust that community outreach efforts aim to create is undermined when the FBI exploits these programs to gather intelligence on the very members of the religious and community organizations agents are meeting with,” said Michael German, ACLU senior policy counsel and a former FBI agent. “The FBI should be honest with community organizations about what information is being collected during meetings and purge any improperly collected information.”

FOIA documents showing instances of inappropriate intelligence gathering include:

• San Francisco FBI memos, written in 2007 and 2008 by agents who attended Ramadan Iftar dinners under the guise of the FBI’s mosque outreach program, documenting participants’ names, conversations and presentations. The 2008 memo also recorded participants’ contact information and descriptions of their opinions and associations.
• A 2009 San Jose, Calif. FBI memo describing FBI participation in a career day sponsored by an Assyrian community organization. Agents detailed conversations with three community leaders and members about their opinions, backgrounds and charitable activities.
• A 2007 San Jose, Calif. FBI memo describing a mosque outreach meeting attended by 50 people representing 27 Muslim community and religious organizations, identifying each person by name and organization and analyzing their “demographics.”

“Except under certain special circumstances, the Privacy Act bars the FBI from maintaining records like these describing how Americans exercise their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and association,” said Nusrat Choudhury, a staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. “Congress passed this law to prevent records obtained by the government for one purpose from being used for another reason without a person’s consent, but that is precisely what the FBI has done. …more

UAE: Activists Planning Hunger Strike
Five Held Since April, Accused of ‘Publicly Insulting’ Officials
November 11, 2011 – HRW

Every month that these men remain locked up on absurd charges of insulting UAE rulers further undermines the government’s claim that this is an open and tolerant country. This trial is all about zero tolerance for political dissent and has nothing to do with justice or security. Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch

(Abu Dhabi) – Five activists jailed seven months ago for “publicly insulting” United Arab Emirates officials plan to begin a hunger strike on November 13, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. The activists said the hunger strike will continue until authorities release them unconditionally and end all judicial proceedings against them.

In a joint statement on November 11, they detailed violations of their basic rights by judiciary, prosecution, and prison officials, including their prolonged detention on politically motivated charges and a patently unfair trial. The five said they were “compelled” to go on a hunger strike after languishing in prison for seven months and having “exhausted all possible means of redress.” International rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have documented numerous fair trial violations and say that the case against the five is a gross violation of their right to freedom of expression.

“Every month that these men remain locked up on absurd charges of insulting UAE rulers further undermines the government’s claim that this is an open and tolerant country,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “This trial is all about zero tolerance for political dissent and has nothing to do with justice or security.”

The prosecution of the five men violates guarantees of free speech under the UAE’s constitution as well as international human rights law, Human Rights Watch said. …more

[cb editor: The BICI report is about what I expected it to be, a political tool for the regime. The Human Rights focus of the BICI has provided an expedient distraction away from the narrative for Democratic reform. The reform dialogue of the hour is all about abusive behavior of security forces – similar to what we are used to in the West when the police get out of hand in a local community. King Hamad has already hired a cadre of Western consultants to help him put his “police state” in order. “quid pro quo” – bribes masquerading as consultant fees. And now the narrative shifts and is focused on dealing with “policing reform”, giving it the neoliberal language that Washington likes to regurgitate. It’s all designed to lose the dialogue of Human Rights abuse and Democratic Reform. Corrective action and respect for a dictator that the US knows as a “vertically integrated trading partner”. Surely King Hamad is due to win some kind of “excellence awards” along the way. It’s how these bastards operate. There is a dissonance in the West and how the Neoliberals relate to the world, they can only hear the voices in their own head, just like the psychopath that hears “god” telling him to murder children on the play ground. ]

Bahrain taps ex-Miami chief for police training
(AP) – 01 December, 2011

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Bahrain’s Interior Ministry says a former Miami police chief will lead training programs for the Gulf kingdom’s forces as part of reforms after an independent report detailed abuses against pro-reform protesters.

The announcement Thursday says John Timoney will head a team of law enforcement advisers from the U.S. and Britain.

Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy has promised to address shortcomings noted in last month’s independent commission report, which cited examples of torture and excessive force against Shiite-led demonstrators demanding greater rights.

Timoney served as Miami police chief from 2003-2010. He previously was commissioner of Philadelphia police and held various posts in the New York City Police Department. …source

Rajab Discusses Report On Bahraini Crackdown
01/12/2011 – Bahrain Freedom Movement

Earlier this year, a pro-democracy uprising in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain was met with a severe government crackdown. At least 35 people were killed. Now, the country’s leadership is in the process of examining its reaction to those protests. Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab talks to Melissa Block about the government report that details systemic abuse by its authorities.

The kingdom of Bahrain may be taking some steps toward reform. Bahrain is the small island state in the Persian Gulf, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet. Earlier this year, Bahrain was swept up in protests as the Arab Spring uprising spread. At least 35 people were killed. And a new human rights report commissioned by the Bahraini government detailed systemic abuse of those who were detained.

Nabeel Rajab, a leading Bahraini human rights activist, was among those targeted by the government. Mr. Rajab is here in Washington this week to receive a Democracy Award from the Woodrow Wilson Center, and he joins me here in our studios. Welcome and congratulations.

NABEEL RAJAB: Thank you very much.

BLOCK: Why don’t you tell us your personal story of what happened in your encounters with the government forces during the uprising this spring?

RAJAB: Well, what happened to me is not different than what happened to hundreds and thousands of Bahraini people. Unfortunately, as you know, we have many people die. What has happened to me is much less than what happened to many people who lost their life fighting for freedom and social justice.

BLOCK: You did suffer some physical abuse yourself at the hands of Bahraini authorities.

RAJAB: Yeah, several time. The last was in last March when I was kidnapped from my house by 25 masked, armed men when they pull me from my bed and beat me in front of my children. And masked me, blindfold me, handcuff me, took me to unknown place, torture me for a couple of hours. Then they brought me back home. Thank God, I came back two hours later. Many people never came back.

BLOCK: I mentioned the human rights report released last week. It was commissioned by the Bahraini government, and it details over hundreds and hundreds of pages abuses during and after the protests. It was presented to the king at the palace. It doesn’t sound like a whitewash. Did it feel to you like a frank and full accounting of what happened?

RAJAB: Well, it’s not frank and full. It is report by the regime that has committed all those violation occurred in Bahrain since last September. So, you don’t expect the report to be as credible, as independent as human right group like Human Rights Watch or Amnesty or FIDH. But there are a lot of things in this report positive.

They talked about systematic torture, systematic violation. They talked about unfair trial were going on. They said about most of people in jail today because of expressing their freedom of expression. They talked about the thousand people who were fired from work, fired from their school and university. And they made it so clear this is illegal.

But we have not seen government taking this recommendation into consideration. People are still in jail. People are still being tortured. Excessive use of force going on against protestor (unintelligible) and those responsible for all those violation are still in their job committing the same crimes. So, we have not seen yet any positive step by government to implement those recommendations.

BLOCK: The Bahraini king has just appointed a new national commission on reform. It does include some opposition political parties and civil society groups. Do you think that signals a new approach by the kingdom, a genuine tilt toward the kind of democratic reform that you’re seeking?

RAJAB: Well, you have a long process to go, but there are couple of negative things we’re seeing. For example, appointing many people who were part of the problem in the same commission to implement those recommendations. I don’t think this will send a positive message to the people.

BLOCK: Even though it does include opposition political parties and members of civil society?

RAJAB: It’s like bringing cat and dog in the same cage. And you just want to watch them fighting than you want to achieve anything. Let’s see what is going to happen in the coming days. We’re looking forward to see the international community headed by United States taking a tougher position. You can’t continue having two different language towards two different revolution. In Libya and Syria, one language, and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia is different language.

People of Bahrain, people of Saudi Arabia, people of Kuwait, people of United Arab Emirates, they deserve to have democracy. So, we urge the United States government to treat all revolution in equal manner.

BLOCK: Mr. Rajab, it’s good to meet you. Thanks for coming by.

RAJAB: Thank you very much.

BLOCK: Nabeel Rajab is president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. In a statement to NPR, the State Department had this to say about Bahrain. President Obama and Secretary Clinton have been frank, in public and in private, that mass arrests and brute force are at odds with the universal rights of Bahrain’s citizens and will not make legitimate calls for reform go away. The statement adds that the U.S. intends to hold the Bahraini government to its commitments and to encourage the opposition to respond constructively to secure lasting reform.

Tomorrow, we’re scheduled to talk with a representative of the government of Bahrain. …more