UN human rights office slams sharp rise in Saudi Arabia executions in 2011
By Associated Press, 6 January, 2012
GENEVA — The U.N.’s human rights office has criticized a sharp rise in executions carried out by Saudi Arabia in 2011.

A spokesman for the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights says the number of executions jumped from 29 in 2010 to at least 70 last year.

Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva on Friday that the wide range of offenses for which the death penalty is pronounced was particularly troubling.

He says one woman was put to death last months after being found guilty of witchcraft.

Colville says Saudi Arabia’s growing use of the death penalty goes against an international trend for fewer executions.

He says the U.N. human rights office also criticizes the frequent use of “inhuman” double amputation for robbery offenses. …source

If you are the big tree,
We have a small axe
Ready to cut you down,
Sharpened to cut you down.

If you are the big tree,
Let me tell you this: we are the small axe
Ready to cut you down,
Sharpened to cut you down.

Marley

Human rights group urge Formula One teams to boycott Bahrain GP
guardian.co.uk, 8 January 2012

The 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix was dropped from the calendar after civil unrest in the country. Photograph: Franck Robichon/EPA

Human rights groups have urged Formula One teams to consider boycotting the Bahrain Grand Prix in April, amid continued political unrest in the Gulf kingdom.

Last March, Bahrain’s scheduled season-opening race at the Sakhir circuit was postponed after widespread political unrest in the country and the deaths of a number of pro-reform demonstrators. Efforts were made to reschedule the race, but the Gulf state was dropped from the 2011 calendar in June, after protests from Formula One teams and drivers.

“We will campaign for … drivers and teams to boycott. The government wants Formula One to tell the outside world that everything is back to normal,” said Nabeel Rajab, vice president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. “Formula One, if they come, they are helping the government to say [it is normal]. We would prefer it if they didn’t take part. I am sure the drivers and teams respect human rights.”

In November, the Formula One rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone, said in November that he would press ahead with plans to return the race to Bahrain. He also said that he did not believe the Grand Prix would become a focal point for protesters.

“It’s on the calendar. We’ll be there, unless something terrible happens to stop us,” he said. …source

U.S. Rights Activist Denied Entry Into Bahrain
by The Associated Press – 8 January, 2012

An American human rights activist, who intended to observe a protest-related trial in Bahrain, was denied entry into the Gulf kingdom on Sunday despite authorities’ pledge of transparency.

Richard Sollom, deputy president of the U.S.-based Physicians for Human Rights, told The Associated Press that Bahraini airport authorities gave no reason for their refusal to allow him into the Gulf country, which was hit hard by political unrest during last year’s Arab Spring.

Sollom charged that Bahrain authorities do not want international observers at the trial of doctors and nurses who treated injured protesters, which is set to resume Monday. International human rights organizations have harshly criticized the prosecution of the health professionals who were working at the state-run Salmaniya Medical Center during the massive protests in February and March.

“I am quite stunned. This was the first time a member of an international rights organization came to Bahrain after authorities promised to respect human rights and told us we can come and see for ourselves,” Sollom said in a telephone interview after he landed in Dubai Sunday evening. “We can see now that not much has changed,” he added.

Bahraini authorities could not immediately be reached for comment.

The government had made a pledge of transparency following an international inquiry into months of anti-government demonstrations and the ensuing crackdowns that accused Bahrain of rights abuses, including denying a fair trial to arrested protesters.

Sollom holds a U.S. passport. He arrived in Bahrain on Sunday morning with a five-year, multiple entry visa. He said he wanted to observe Monday’s retrial of 21 doctors and nurses who were convicted last year of anti-state crimes and received lengthy prison sentences from a special security court that was set up after Bahrain imposed martial law to quell dissent.

At least 40 people have died since February when Bahrain’s Shiite majority started demanding greater rights by marching on the streets in numbers never seen before in the strategic Gulf island nation that is ruled by a Sunni dynasty.

Bahrain is a critical U.S. ally and is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Washington has taken a cautious line with authorities, urging Bahrain’s leaders to open more dialogue with the opposition, but avoiding too much public pressure.

The government has accused the medics of participating in efforts to overthrow the ruling Al Khalifa family.

In November, independent investigators tasked by Bahrain’s king to probe the unrest were highly critical of the special security court that has tried the medics, opposition leaders and activists behind closed doors. A 500-page report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry said the court has issued harsh sentences including life in prison and death penalties and “denied most defendants elementary fair trial guarantees.”

The document also spotlighted abuses at the Salmaniya hospital. The authorities saw its mostly Shiite staff as opposition sympathizers. Dozens of doctors and nurses who treated injured protesters were detained during the crackdown. Many of them received prison sentences of five to 15 years.

Bahrain has abolished the special tribunal and has moved protest-related trials into civilian courts. …source