Posts from — January 2012

angryarabiya – Now chants of “we demand the release of our political prisoners” #bahrain

“Power in defense of freedom is greater than power in behalf of tyranny and oppression.” Malcolm X

bahrainiac14 المبرقعة – The police forces started shooting and what’s funny is Indians started selling onions next to bab albahrain #manamamarch

The mask could be easily adapted for emergency in home use, especially for at risk individuals – infants, elderly and those with repository or heart conditions or disease. The air nozzle (cap outlet) could be fashioned with an additional filter that could be exchanged more frequency (vinegar soaked sock + elastic band). This design could be very useful when gas is penetrating into the house during a “saturation bombing”.

The first thing to remember about tear gas is that it is primarily a fear weapon. Yes, the gas hurts. But the fear caused by tear gas grenades is a much more effective means of crowd dispersal than the gas itself. So rule number one is to calm down. Tear gas is most often delivered to its target in the form of grenades. These fit onto the end of gas guns and are fired with blank shotgun cartridges. So, when tear gas is being used you will hear gunshots. Look around make sure they are only firing tear gas a not bird shot as well, then look up. The grenade will be arcing toward its destination trailing white smoke. If the grenade is not headed directly at you, there is no reason to move. So don’t move just yet. Warn people that there is a grenade incoming, and figure out where it will land. If it is headed toward you, you may want to prepare to hold your breath and then as calmly as possible get out of the way of the exploding grenade. The grenade is supposed to explode in the air, but it does not always. After the explosion, a small gas emitter remains. It is metal and about the size of a hockey puck. It will be hissing and spewing out tear gas.

The wind is your friend. Move upwind of the gas. This will blow the majority of the gas away from you. Do not panic. Do not run. Panic is precisely what the police are trying to create. If you have gloves and something to protect your face, you can pick up the gas emitter and lob it back at the police. This is a considerate thing to do to protect your fellow protesters. The emitter will be hot, so gloves are recommended.

WARNING: Picking up the gas emitter will ensure that your clothing is saturated with tear gas. This is extremely unpleasant and will require very thorough laundering with
harsh detergent. Prevent contact between gassy clothes and your face, as the chemical agents are active even days later. WARNING: Do not pick up a grenade which has not exploded. You can be injured if/when it goes off in your hand. Some are, of course, duds. But it is not safe to assume that unexploded grenade at your feet is a dud.

Assuming you don’t have a gas mask (which is essential for prolonged operation in a tear‐gassy environment), a bandanna or other cloth which has been soaked in vinegar or
lemon juice will allow you to breathe long enough to escape the gas. Mask up! Cider vinegar is less harsh‐smelling and is recommended. Breathing in vinegar is not pleasant, but compared to tear gas it’s like fresh air. Unfortunately, the vinegar’s protective effect does not last long (minutes), and your bandanna will be saturated with gas afterward. So bring several. Retying a gassy bandanna around your face is not a good idea. Make sure the bandanna fits tightly around your nose and mouth. You must wear goggles. Goggles, which are air tight. It is one thing to have severe upper respiratory pain. It is another to have that and also have burning, watering eyes.
[Read more →]

On 27 March 2011, Fadhila Al Mubarak was asked to pull over at a checkpoint because she had a CD with revolutionary songs playing in her car. She had her 9 year old son with her in the car at the time of the arrest. According to BCHR she was insulted, called names and cursed at.

No contact during detention
It took four days for Fadhila Al Mubarak’s family to find out in which police station she was held in custody. She was detained for about one month and during the period of her detention, her family was not allowed to visit her nor talk to her over the phone. When family members tried to appoint her a lawyer, the request was rejected by the military court. …more

TIRE FIRE REPORT
2002 May – California, USA Legislative Report

Excerpt – All smoke contains toxic chemicals, different types of smoke can vary in the proportions of individual toxic constituents and toxicant classes. However, there is enough similarity between smoke types to make comparisons useful. Each tire contains about 2 gallons of oil that is similar to heating oil. Therefore tire fire smoke is probably most like an uncontrolled oil fire. Tire fire smoke is particularly irritating probably in part because sulfur dioxide is generated from the sulfur in tires.

There are a number of irritating chemicals that have been identified or are also most certainly present in tire fire smoke such as sulfur dioxide, xylenes, aldehydes, toluene, and styrene. Respirable small particles composed of a carbon core with numerous chemicals attached are also a major component of smoke. Some smoke constituents (e.g. irritants and small particles) are known to trigger asthma attacks in people with preexisting asthma. Stanislaus County data on clinic visits and phone calls seems to indicate that asthmatics did experience exacerbation of symptoms. People who have been exposed to tire fire smoke, for example at the Westley tire fire, have reported symptoms that would result from exposure to irritants. Forest fire smoke and secondhand tobacco smoke exposure have also been associated in a number of studies with exacerbation of asthma.

As noted above, tire fire smoke contains many tiny particles small enough to be inhaled into the deep lung. Those particles small enough to be inhaled into the lung are referred to as PM10 because they are 10 μm (10 millionths of a meter) or less in diameter. PM10 is known to cause increased emergency admissions to hospitals for patients with lung and heart disease. Each 10 μg/m3 increase in 24 hour average PM10 concentration has been associated with a 1% increase in daily mortality in epidemiological studies conducted in a number of cities, primarily in elderly people who have pre-existing heart and/or lung disease. In London in the early 1950’s, there were days when the PM10 concentrations were extreme (several thousand μg/m3) and thousands of people died. A concern of many people is the possibility of contracting cancer because of exposure to tire fire smoke. Tire fire smoke contains a number of known cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens). The major carcinogens of concern are the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a large group of fused six carbon ring structures that are formed with virtually all types of combustion sources to a greater or lesser extent. These combustion sources include, for example, wood burning, automobile and diesel engines and tobacco smoke.

…complete report PDF HERE

cb editor: I respectfully disagree with the notion that democracy comes from a strong middle ground or that reform can be put forth as one sided dialogue. Especially when the one sided dialogue is but more meaningless blather that follows 40+ years of one-sided reforms that have yet to be delivered upon. The current situation in Bahrain is frequently referred to stalemate and the opposition is called uncompromising, when they are refused a chair of equality, at a table where reform agendas are set by the ruling regime. The regime , it seems, is the only party that stands at a cross-roads in Bahrain. It would seem the choice is clear, free the political prisoners, stop the human rights abuse and expedite the reforms the regime promised in 2002. It seems very clear, the regime must reform and move on with a truly democratic government or it will perish through revolution. Phlipn.

Post-BICI Bahrain: between reform and stagnation
Elham Fakhro and Kristian Coates Ulrichsen – 19 January 2012 – Open Democracy

As the first anniversary of the February 14 uprising approaches, the regime and the country at large find themselves at a crossroads in which there is dangerously little space for a strong middle ground.

Nearly two months have elapsed since the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) published a report into the unrest that shook this Persian Gulf archipelago last year. Its 513 pages laid bare the excessive use of force, systematic mistreatment, and culture of non-accountability, as the Bahraini government responded to a popular movement that challenged its grip on power. It also found no evidence of any Iranian involvement in the protests, thereby contradicting regime narratives that ascribed them to external intervention rather than domestic grievances. In response, King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, pledged to initiate reforms, and established a national commission to oversee their implementation. Yet the measures taken to date have left unaddressed many of the roots of Bahrain’s political and economic inequalities, and ongoing clashes between protesters and security forces have if anything, intensified. The result has been the empowerment of radical voices across the political spectrum and the marginalisation of Bahrain’s political middle ground.

This places the regime – and the country at large – at a crossroads as the first anniversary of the February 14 uprising approaches. BICI has neither provided the closure the ruling family hoped for, nor satisfied the expectations of the political and popular opposition. The continuing violence has hardened positions on all sides and reinforced the absence of trust and goodwill necessary to any political settlement. The emergence of radicalised splinter groups means it is no longer possible to speak of a ‘regime-opposition’ dichotomy. Elements of the opposition are growing more violent, while extremist groups calling on the regime to crush the opposition once and for all have intensified in recent weeks. Competing narratives have diverged sharply since BICI, illustrating the chasm that has opened up where the moderate middle used to be. …more

Following elBoazizi, Badreia Ali burnt her self to death , “Al khalifa killed my mother”, said her son

Take me, if I come back someday a scarf for your fringe
Cover my bones with herb baptized from your pure heels
And tighten my hands‪ with a tuft of hair, with a thread waving at the tail of your dress ‪ .. ‬
Put me, if I come back, a fuel in the fire of your kiln
A clothesline on the roof of your house
Because I miss the stand on your daytime prayer
Mahmoud Darwish [An Arab Poet]

Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Ahmed did not know that he would be the fuel to his mother’s stove in every sense. He was the fire his mother set herself to on the roof of their house whose sanctity was violated by the tyrants.

That fire started to burn Badriya’s heart, since her son Ahmed had been arrested in April 2011, Badriya was no longer that woman, and her soul has completely departed our world.

The Ominous April
On the third day of that ominous April, the young man Mohammed Tarif, turned to his friend’s house Ahmed Mushaima when he was chased by the repressive authorities – The intelligence services discovered it. Badriya had an appointment with visitors of the dawn “Sanabis neighborhood filled with mercenaries from beginning to end” A witness said.

According to the pattern described by Mr. Bassiouni in his report about Bahrain, heavily armed masked men stormed Mushaima’s house, broke down the door, and headed to the hall, grabbed Ahmed’s head and kept thumping it to the wall, and the air conditioner. They did the same thing with his friend. Badriya and her daughter came out afraid; mercenaries took Ahmed and went to his mother.

In front of Bardiya, the mercenaries took a plank that had nails protruding from it, and hit Ahmed. The face of her sonwas soaked in blood, the more he cried and told them I did not do anything the more they beat him. Ahmed fled from their hands to his mother’s lap! But Mercenaries pulled him and yelled at his mother and sister. “Leave him or we arrest you too. We arrest women as well” They raised their arms and shouted at Badriya. “You shelter terrorists! Don’t speak, don’t or defend him.”

It was hard for Badriya…
At a distance of 10 houses, Badriya screams were heard. The mercenaries wreaked havoc in the house (in their own systematic way) scattered and smashed the furniture, and before they got out they wrote on the wall “long live Khalifa.”

It was hard for Badriya that her son sought her lap shelter, but did not protect him. Like other thousands of mothers, she slapped on her head, and sobbed into tears. But she was not to bear that. She was crying throughout the week non-stop. Suddenly she stopped speaking! She remained like that for days. She locked away her tears and talk. Her neighbors came to visit her, but she no longer recognized them, “Everyone in the neighborhood knew her, she was very social, and a permanent attendee at the funerals,” says her daughter Zahra.

Days later, the news came that several detainees fell as martyrs in the jails. “My mother was about to die when she heard it”. Fear and anxiety took control of Badriya’s heart. She suffered a severe psychological disorder that impacted on her cognition.

“She has become obsessed, she walks the street, stands suddenly, and then back down, as if she doesn’t know the way, or doesn’t know where to go” one of her neighbors said painfully. During that period a grandson was born for the family. She did not have any expression or reaction, her feelings completely froze, only a broken heart.. She would lower her head and drift away; her mind was with Ahmed, “What on earth did they do with him?” …more

Timoney Discusses New Job Training Bahraini Police
18 January, 2012 – Robert Siegel – NPR

Robert Siegel talks to John Timoney, senior vice president for business development and senior consultant for police and security matters for Andrews International, a consulting firm with offices throughout the U.S. and the world. He has been recruited by Bahrain for police training. Timoney is a former Miami and Philadelphia police chief, who won accolades for fighting crime and curbing police shootings of civilians. But his handling of street demonstrations during the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit in 2003 brought lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union over the same issues of excessive force and unlawful arrests.

…listen to NPR Story HERE

Bahrain Opposition Says King’s Measures Fall Short
By NADA BAKRI – 15 January, 2012 – NYT

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Bahrain’s king on Sunday announced constitutional amendments that will give the elected Parliament greater powers of scrutiny over the government, but the concessions fell short of the opposition’s demands for change.

The move by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa came nearly a year after long-simmering dissent in Bahrain, an important American ally in the Persian Gulf, erupted against the monarchy. A sweeping crackdown that polarized the country managed to end most of the protests, though the riot police and demonstrators still clash almost daily.

In a nationally televised address, King Hamad said that the new measures had emerged from the national dialogue that he organized last year to try, at least symbolically, to bridge the gulf between the government and the opposition. The amendments will give Parliament the right to approve cabinets proposed by the Sunni Muslim monarchy and will grant legislators authority to question and remove cabinet ministers.

Since 1971, the cabinet in Bahrain has been led by the king’s uncle, Prince Khalifa bin Sulman al-Khalifa, the world’s longest-serving unelected prime minister and a figure deeply resented by the opposition. Under the new amendments, opposition leaders said, Parliament would still not have the power to question or dismiss the prime minister himself. A consultative council appointed by the king also limits the power of legislators.

“Our people have proven their desire for continuing with reforms,” the king said during his speech. “We complete the march today with those who have an honest patriotic desire for more progress and reform.

“I must mention here that democracy is not just constitutional and legislative rules; it is a culture and practice and adhering by the law and respecting international human rights principles,” the king said.

The king’s speech follows the release of a report by a panel of respected international jurists in November. Led by M. Cherif Bassiouni, an Egyptian-American law professor, the panel recommended sweeping changes, which the government has said it will pursue.

The opposition praised parts of the report, but it has dismissed the government’s response, saying that it has not addressed the deeper political imbalance in a country divided, in the simplest terms, between the Sunni monarchy and a Shiite Muslim majority.

Opposition leaders had a similar response on Sunday, saying that the king’s amendments did not reflect their demands for establishing a full constitutional monarchy.

“His speech fell short of our expectations,” said Sayyid Hadi Hasan al-Mosawi, a former legislator and a member of Wefaq, the largest legal opposition group. Speaking by telephone from Bahrain’s capital, Manama, he said, “The measures did not reflect any of the opposition or the people’s demands.”

Wefaq withdrew from the national dialogue, which started last July, because it said the process did not go far enough in offering far-reaching changes.

“The speech did not even tackle the core of the problem,” Mr. Mosawi said.

In a statement, Wefaq said the speech was full of “insignificant trivia” and “far from the demands of the Bahraini people who have taken to the streets for months to demand democratic transformation and to reject the dictatorship.” …source

…Sayed Mohamed Story Blog – Great Coverage of Protest HERE

Bahrain: Activists defy ban on downtown protest
(AP) – 39 minutes ago

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Witnesses say Bahraini riot police have chased anti-government protesters out of the center of the island kingdom’s capital.

The scuffles Wednesday came a day after authorities denied the country’s main Shiite-backed opposition party, Al Wefaq, permission to hold protests in central Manama.

Witnesses say hundreds of protesters were scattered throughout the old city and diplomatic area, and police used stun grenades to disperse some of them.

Bahrain’s majority Shiites have been the driving force behind widespread protests inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings over the past year.

Wednesday’s protests erupted a day before Bahrain hosts an air show that runs through Saturday. …source