Posts from — March 2012

Even Bahrain’s use of ‘Miami model’ policing will not stop the uprising
3 December, 2011 – theguardian

Bahraini leaders have hired the architect of Miami’s brutal policing methods, showing their disregard for reform

Chief Timoney graduates from Thug in Miami(top) to Brutality in Bahrain(below)

In 2003, as a photography student in Chicago, I travelled to Miami to cover protests by trade unionists and other activists at a meeting of the Free Trade Area of the Americas. I had just returned from witnessing the repressive tactics of the Israeli army against Palestinians – invasions, curfew, violent crackdown on unarmed protests – but never expected to see them deployed at home in a US city.

I was shocked when I reached Miami and found it similar to a West Bank town under occupation. The city was largely empty save for police vehicles speeding in every direction and helicopters hovering above. Once the protests began, it was impossible to move more than a few feet in any direction without confronting the police and their brutality. The thousands of police dressed in full riot gear and armed with teargas, rubber bullets, batons, electric tasers – all of which were used against protesters and journalists – were everywhere around Miami.

The “model”, as Miami public officials called it at the time, was the brainchild of police chief John Timoney. After leading the head-bashing of protesters as Philadelphia’s police commissioner during the Republican party’s national convention in 2000, Timoney was hired by Miami and given more than $8m to introduce a level of police brutality unlike any we had ever seen in the US.

In the weeks following the protests, journalist Jeremy Scahill wrote:

“No one should call what Timoney runs in Miami a police force. It’s a paramilitary group. Thousands of soldiers, dressed in khaki uniforms with full black body armour and gas masks, marching in unison through the streets, banging batons against their shields, chanting, ‘back … back … back’. There were armoured personnel carriers and helicopters.”

Journalists who were not embedded with the police were deliberately targeted. I myself was hit with teargas and rubber bullets and chased by police who tried to detain me and confiscate my photography equipment. The suffocating display of a violent police force became known as the Miami model, elements of which were frequently used in following years against other large-scale demonstrations in the US.

Now the Miami model is coming to Bahrain. The Associated Press reported on Thursday that Timoney has been hired by the kingdom’s interior ministry “as part of reforms” following the release of a report last week by a government-sponsored fact-finding commission.

As the ruling family continues the crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators it has not been a hard task to find spent teargas canisters and other items marked “Made in USA” covering village roads.

In 2010, the US gave $20.5m to Bahrain for “peace, security and stability”. Calculated per capita, the military aid to the kingdom (which hosts the US navy’s fifth fleet) comes out at roughly $10 more per person than the $1.3bn the US gave to Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship in Egypt that same year.

Looking to the US not only to fund the crackdown but also to help spin it, the regime has hired a number of US public relations firms. One of the PR agents, Tom Squitieri of TS Navigations, has been given space by Huffington Post and Foreign Policy blogs to write articles in defence of the ruling family.

Zakaria: Incarceration nation
By Fareed Zakaria – 22 March, 2012

“Mass incarceration on a scale almost unexampled in human history is a fundamental fact of our country today,” writes the New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik. “Over all, there are now more people under ‘correctional supervision’ in America – more than 6 million – than were in the Gulag Archipelago under Stalin at its height.”

Is this hyperbole? Here are the facts. The U.S. has 760 prisoners per 100,000 citizens. That’s not just many more than in most other developed countries but seven to 10 times as many. Japan has 63 per 100,000, Germany has 90, France has 96, South Korea has 97, and ­Britain – with a rate among the ­highest – has 153….

This wide gap between the U.S. and the rest of the world is relatively recent. In 1980 the U.S.’s prison population was about 150 per 100,000 adults. It has more than quadrupled since then. So something has happened in the past 30 years to push millions of Americans into prison.

That something, of course, is the war on drugs. Drug convictions went from 15 inmates per 100,000 adults in 1980 to 148 in 1996, an almost tenfold increase. More than half of America’s federal inmates today are in prison on drug convictions. In 2009 alone, 1.66 million Americans were arrested on drug charges, more than were arrested on assault or larceny charges. And 4 of 5 of those arrests were simply for possession….

Bipartisan forces have created the trend that we see. Conservatives and liberals love to sound tough on crime, and both sides agreed in the 1990s to a wide range of new federal infractions, many of them carrying mandatory sentences for time in state or federal prison. And as always in American politics, there is the money trail. Many state prisons are now run by private companies that have powerful lobbyists in state capitals. These firms can create jobs in places where steady work is rare; in many states, they have also helped create a conveyor belt of cash for prisons from treasuries to outlying counties.

Partly as a result, the money that states spend on prisons has risen at six times the rate of spending on higher education in the past 20 years. In 2011, California spent $9.6 billion on prisons vs. $5.7 billion on the UC system and state colleges. Since 1980, California has built one college campus and 21 prisons. A college student costs the state $8,667 per year; a prisoner costs it $45,006 a year.

The results are gruesome at every ­level. We are creating a vast prisoner under­class in this country at huge expense, increasingly unable to function in normal society, all in the name of a war we have already lost…. …more

Deaths through MOI deliberate and directed misuse of less-than-lethal “Tear Gas” since 14 February, 2011

1 – Alhaji Isa Mohammed from Ma’ameer, died 25.3.2011 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
2-fetus Houra from Sanabis, cited in 29.3.2011 bcoz of toxic gas that her mum has been breath in her pregnancy period
3- khadeeja from sanabis , died 5.4.2011 in her house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
4-the child Mohammed farhan from sitra, died 30.4.2011 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
5 – Zainab altajer from sanabis , died 2.6.2011 in her house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
6 -S.adnan from almarkh, died 23.6.2011 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
7 -Zainab aljuma from sitra, died 15.7.2011 in her house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
8- issa altawil from sitra, died 31.7.2011 in her house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
9-S.jawad S.ahmad from sitra, died 14.9.2011 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
10 -jaffer lotallah from abusaiba, died 30.9.2011 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
11 -infant sajida 6days frm albelad-alqadim, died 11.12.2011 n her house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
12- abd-Ali almwali from almugsha, died 17.12.2011 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
13- salma muhsin from barbar, died 14.1.2012 in her house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
14 -child Yaseen Al-asfour from ma’amir ,died 20.1.2012 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
15-saeed al-sekari from alne’am ,died 25.1.2012 in his house in a’ali bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
16- zahra’a al-hawaj from alne’am ,died 1.2.2012 in her house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
17-abd-Ali abdullah from alma’amer,died 1.2.2012 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
18- Ali al-hayki from samaheej ,died 6.2.2012 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
19- Fatima albasri from alnabih salih ,died 12.2.2012 in her house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
20-mansoor salman from sitra,died 17.2.2012 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
21-abida hussain from alsehla,died 25.2.2012 in her house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
22-habeeb almula from alsihla ,died 29.2.2012 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
23-infant yehgya yousef 1.5M from rasroman ,died 5.3.2012 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
24-sakeena marhoon from abu saiba ,died 6.3.2012 in her house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
25-jaffe jaseem from almugsha, died 17.3.2012 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
26-Sabri mahfudh from shahrakan, died 18.3.2012 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
27-abida Ali from jedhafs, died 23.3.2012 in hir house in a’ali bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
28- ahmad abdulnabi from shahrakan, died 24.3.2012 in his house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
29-the Indian lady neesha , died 21.2.2012 in her house bcoz of suffocation by tear gas
end………………as of 3/26/2012

March 1996: The Ruling Al-Khalifa Family murders Isa Qambar and threatens to “wipe out villages”!
jeeran.com

1 March: The Bahraini security forces attacked the small village of Abo-Gowa, 5 km west of the capital Manamaat 8.30 pm local time. The siege by 400 fully-armed riot police continued until 3.00 am of Saturday, 2 March. House-to-house breaking-in took place and many young people were arbitrarily detained. Screams of women were heard as the undisciplined forces attacked houses and started beating people indiscriminately. This latest attack comes as part of a series of attacks on residential areas implementing the policy of “preventative measures” referred to by the prime minister in his recent statements on the events. Other areas that were attacked in the past few days include Dair, Daih, Sanabis, Duraz, Bani Jamra, Jonnossan, Karzakkan, Malkeya, Sitra, Marwazan, Arad, Demestan and Samahij.

At midnight of 3 March, the undisciplined and forces mounted a vicious attack on the village of Demestan (south-west of Bahrain). Families were attacked and many youths were snatched. Later, a similar attack was mounted against Karbabad village and clashes resulted in many people arrested.

3 March: The Bahraini crown prince, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa arrived, Sunday 3 March, in London starting a tour that took him to Washington and back to London. US circles advised him to resort to dialogue. Lord Avebury propsed an initiative to resolve the crisis but the crown prince refused.

At evening (5 March) Sanabis, 5 km west of Manama, was besieged and Budaya Highway was sealed-off in that area. Heavy clashes were reported, houses were raided and many were arrested. It was also reported that live ammunition was fired as well as rubber bullets and tear gas.

One of the leading lawyers, Mr. Abdulla Abdul Rahman Hashim, was summoned by the intelligence department at 12.00 am of 5 March. Mr. Hashim was accused of agitation and contacting outside organizations. The outside organization refers to the BBC Arabic Radio which interviewed Mr. Hashim on the political situation in Bahrain.

6 March: Several loud explosions, believed to be those of gas cylinders, were heard in Ma’amir area (Sitra) and around Manama. The students of Sehla Intermediate, Jedhafs Secondary, Sheikh Abdulaziz Secondary, Jaberya Secondary schools staged simultaneous demonstrations. Security forces continued raiding houses and amongst the twelve arrested on 6 March from Sanabis is Dr. Nabil Al-Sadadi, 38 years old. The authorities continued publishing statements ahead of the major US-Gulf business conference to be held on 10 March. The nervous security forces have been mounting security operations in Sanabis and Daih as these are the nearest areas to the conference venue. An explosion in Isa Town on Wednesday 6 March at 22.00 local time resulted in the death of one person and injury of two others, according to government’s sources. The explosion occurred at the automatic teller machine of a local bank. The explosion in the National Bank of Bahrain is still a mystery. The person who was killed is Mohammed Hassan Taher Samih from Iskan-Jedhafs (new residential area of Jedhafs). Two persons were also injured one of them is serious. The injured are Mohammed Al-Mukhtar and Aqeel Naji, both from Iskan-Jedhafs. On Tuesday night (5 March) riot police attacked Iskan-Jedhafs and arrested several people.

9 March:Students in several schools marched in protest against the mass jailing of innocent peaceful people and the intimidation of residents by foreign-staffed security forces. Demonstrations re-surfaced in Jedhafs, Sanabis, Nuaim, Jabreyah, Sheikh Abdulla, Ahmad Al-Omran, Manama secondary (girls) and several other schools. Security forces stormed Jidhafs boys and girls schools and arrested many students. Similarly, riot police entered and attacked other schools to silence students. The notorious Khalid Al-Wazzan and his units attacked the small village of Jannossan again and arrested many people. …more

Bahrain Regime Violations in Pictures in Beirut
27 March, 2012 – Al Arabiya

Under the sponsorship of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, “Bahrain Forum for Human Rights” inaugurated Monday in “Golden Tulip” Hotel in Beirut a 2-day photo exhibition entitled “Will of the Fields is more Persistent than Rifles of the Army”.

The event, which revealed in photos the violations that the Bahraini authority practiced against peaceful, armless demonstrators in the fields, began with Bahraini revolutionary songs, an opening speech for “Bahrain Forum for Human Rights” Chief Youssef Rabih, and another statement for the event sponsor delivered by Sheikh Hasan Al-Masri.

In his statement, Rabih pointed out that the Bahrain Forum in Beirut wanted to deliver a message that “oppression intensifies when democracy is absent”.

He stressed unity between the Shiites and the Sunnis in Bahrain, stating that “Bahraini Sunnis and Shiites, Conservatives and Liberals will always support each other in saying that : We demand freedom and justice… and you must hear this voice.”

The Bahraini activist indicated that “this exhibition responds to the misleading media which boycotted the developments in Bahrain to cover other revolutions that we are also proud of.”

Rabih added that the forum has sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, asking him to interfere in the case of imprisoned Bahraini activist Abdul Hadi Khawaja who has been on a hunger strike for 45 days now.

In an exclusive statement to Al-Manar Website, “Bahrain Forum for Human Rights” chief emphasized that “the peaceful movements and the sacrifices assure that the Bahraini people are full of life, and that the regime’s tanks, armored vehicles and toxic gases cannot destroy them.”

“Photographers are everywhere. They are on the roofs, in the fields, and behind the windows to uncover the real moral crisis of the Bahraini regime,” he said.

For his part, Sheikh Hasan Al-Masri considered that the real Arab Spring is that which calls for human rights, freedom, and justice, adding that “we tell the leaders what Sayyed Moussa Al-Sadr said 30 years ago: Do just or else you will look for your nation and find in the dunghill of history.” …more

Video via PressTV HERE

Bahrainis urge ruling Al Khalifa dynasty to relinquish power
27 March, 2012 – PressTV

Bahraini anti-government protesters wave national flag as they rally in Budayia City, west of Manama, March 9, 2012.

Bahrainis have staged nationwide anti-regime protest rallies to call on the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty to relinquish power, saying the British-backed regime has lost legitimacy.

The demonstrators also called for the immediate release of prisoners and urged the government to stop the brutal crackdown on protests.

Protests were reported in several towns and villages across the country, including towns near the capital, Manama.

The rallies came a day after Saudi-backed Bahraini troops attacked anti-regime protesters in Sitra, southeast of Manama. Witnesses say the rally was broken up after regime forces backed by armored vehicles fired tear gas at demonstrators.

Bahraini troops also attacked a protest rally in the western village of Shahrakan on Saturday, killing one person.

Bahrain’s main opposition bloc al-Wefaq said in a statement the 31-year old Ahmed Abdul Nabi died of asphyxiation after regime forces fired a tear gas into his family’s house in the village.

Bahraini troops heavily rely on tear gas and stun grenades to disperse peaceful anti-government protesters. Several Bahraini civilians, mostly senior citizens and kids, have died from asphyxia after regime troops fired tear gas in residential areas and into homes in violation of international standards that Bahrain is a signatory to.

Amnesty International has warned about the Bahraini government’s misuse of tear gas against anti-regime protesters and has called for an investigation into the tear gas-related deaths. …more

Bahrain-Update: New charges brought against human rights defender Mr Naji Fateel
27 March, 2012 – Frontline Defenders

On 21 March 2012, the Bahraini public prosecution brought new charges against human rights defender Mr Naji Fateel who has been in detention since 14 February 2012.

Among the charges brought against him are the charges of “planning and executing an illegal assembly” and “rioting” in the area of Beni Jamra on 24 January 2012. Naji Fateel is a board member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights and attended the Front Line Defenders 2010 Dublin Platform.

As a result of these new charges his detention has been extended by one week and he is now expected to appear before a court on 30 March in relation to the charges. The new charges seem to have been brought against him as a way of keeping him in detention for as long as possible so that he can not continue his human rights activities.

On 14 February 2012, Naji Fateel, was arrested by a group of masked men in plain-clothes as he was taking part in a peaceful demonstration to protest against human rights violations in Bahrain. Other human rights defenders arrested with him on 14 February have been released.

According to information received by Front Line Defenders Naji Fateel has been ill-treated while held in detention including being verbally abused for belonging to the Shi’a majority in the country, and being denied access to food and other items brought to him in prison by his family. He is held in harsh conditions in the Dry Dock detention centre in an overcrowded cell, along with other prisoners held for serious criminal offences. The toilets are said to be in poor repair and there is no access to hot water, and food and drinking water are reportedly of poor quality. …more

editor: Much of the Western Journalism and even a large number “Human Rights Analysts” are referring to the situation in Bahrain as an event that occurred last year between February and April of 2011. Some do so out of ignorance and the convenience of an easily manipulate internet – they make their stories from that which “comes to the top”. Others do so maliciously to hide the brutal reality of crimes being committed by the regime against its citizens everyday. The BICI report establishes “arbitrary boundaries”, set to limit discussion of King Hamad’s “crackdown” to a narrow band of time. It also seeks to misdirect attention from the reality that the report was designed for political objectives under the pretense of a legitimate investigation. Its principal, Cherif Bassiouni was appointed and “deemed legitimate” by Western governments who find the politics of a regime change in Bahrain inopportune. All this charade has been designed to that protect a regime who to this hour continues to commit brutal crimes against its own democracy seeking people.

The BICI report has become a vehicle for misleading world opinion that events in Bahrain were in the past and that causalities and victims are an event in last year past, rather than a present reality. The skillful manipulation of facts by hired public relations firms and the deliberate misdirection away from the reality on the ground is deplorable. Internet sorts and information stacking has become a target for manipulation so that information that vilifies the opposition, misleads the public to the extent of oppression in Bahrain and promotes a “uprising of reform” rather than the “reality of revolution” facing the broken and corrupt al Khalifa regime and its fearful partners in the West.

The report below, from Bahrain Center for Human Rights helps to establish a reality of events as the relate to that which has occurred since the BICI report and the charade of reform it promotes. Phlipn.

Press Release Bahrain Centre for Human Rights on 26 March 2012

BCHR publishes today its new report Post BICI Report, presenting the main key findings from the ongoing effort to document human rights violations occurring in the state of Bahrain since the publication of the Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) in November 2012. Our investigative report supports the rights of victims, no matter their political or religious background. It is unaffiliated with the Bahraini government or any foreign government and is firmly centered on domestic civil society advocacy of human rights.

This report is the second publication from the BCHR chronicling the events since February 14th 2011. The first, Bahrain: The Human Price of Freedom and Justice, was pivotal in addressing the widespread and systematic violations of human rights and international law.

You can find the report here or here if you are in a country where direct access to our website is not available.

Executive Summary

This is a report by The Bahrain Center for Human Rights presenting the main key findings from the ongoing effort to document human rights violations occurring in the state of Bahrain since the publication of the Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry in November 2012. Our investigative report supports the rights of victims, no matter their political or religious background. It is unaffiliated with the Bahraini government or any foreign government and is firmly centered on domestic civil society advocacy of human rights.

This report is the second publication from the BCHR chronicling the events since February 14th 2011. The first, Bahrain: The Human Price of Freedom and Justice, was pivotal in addressing the widespread and systematic violations of human rights and international law. …more

Bahrain Center for Human Rights Report November 2011 HERE

Dozens join Bahrain hunger strike
26 March, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Dozens of Bahrainis are beginning a hunger strike on Monday in solidarity with human rights leader Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who has now gone 46 days without food.

The protest will begin with a march in the capital Manama, with activists planning to walk silently through the streets to highlight the lack of international media coverage.

Afterwards activists will publicly pledge to refuse food to highlight Al-Khawaja’s plight.

Al-Khawaja, also a Danish citizen and founder of the Gulf Center for Human Rights, was sentenced to life in prison in June 2011 for organizing peaceful protests calling for democratic reform in the tiny Gulf state.

Said Yousif, deputy head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), said organizers were expecting around 50 people to participate in open-ended hunger strikes.

“It will be a call to the international community and the UN and the Danish government to save him, and ask for his urgent release before he dies,” he said.

The BCHR on Monday produced a report documenting continued human rights abuses committed by Bahraini security forces since a government-commissioned human rights report in November last year.

At least 31 people have been killed since the government-funded Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry highlighted systematic methods of abuse deployed by security forces, the report said.

Twenty of those recently killed, BCHR claimed, were due to suffocation from excessive use of tear gas.

Victims are often placed in isolated detention centers, where they are tortured and beaten without access to medical care, the report said. …more

Bahraini journalist Lamees Dhaif honored with Tully Free Speech Award
22 March, 2012 – By Wendy S. Loughlin – Inside SU

Lamees Dhaif, an independent Bahraini journalist and human rights activist, will come to Syracuse University April 2 as the recipient of the 2012 Tully Award for Free Speech. The award, presented annually by the Tully Center for Free Speech in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, is given to a journalist who has faced a significant free speech threat.

dhaif“We are excited to bring Lamees to Syracuse to hear her stories,” says Tully Center Director Roy Gutterman. “Our students and community can learn a lot from her and reflect on the role of reporters who take great risks to report the news.”

The award ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in Newhouse 3. Dhaif will also visit SU classes and meet with students during her time on campus.

Dhaif has worked for several newspapers in Bahrain, including Akhbar Al-Khaleej, Sadaa Al Isbou’a, Al-Qabas, Al-Afaaq and Al-Waqt. Following widespread government censorship in response to massive anti-government protests in the capital Manama, Dhaif took to Twitter, Facebook and her blog (http://lameesbahrainperceptions.blogspot.com/), where she continues to cover the Arab Spring in Bahrain.

Dhaif has endured several challenges to free speech, including a 2009 legal complaint for insulting the judiciary after she wrote a series uncovering allegations of bias against women in Bahrain’s family courts. Though the case was dropped, officials made it clear that they could revive the charges at any time. Following large-scale anti-government protests in the spring of 2011, Dhaif was again called into court for criticizing the regime. These charges were also dropped, but the stakes were raised when pro-government forces wielding Molotov cocktails attacked her home.

Despite these threats, she has remained unbowed in her hard-hitting criticism of the government’s attempts to suppress the protest movement. In addition to her large social media audience and reporting published on her blog, she also writes a weekly column for the Saudi newspaper Alyaum and presents a television program on the Kuwaiti television station Al-Rai.

She has received several awards for her reporting, including a 2008 Excellence Award in Journalism from the Regional Conference on Women, and has been honored as the best writer by the Women’s Union at the 2009 International Women’s Day. …more

editor: At the risk of perpetuating the sectarian perspectives out there, Dr. Seznec offers another perspective on the prospects for reconciliation in Bahrain below. The one trend I would draw attention to is the continued reference to the BICI report as the basis of “all truth” regarding Human Rights in Bahrain. There are voluminous reports spanning regarding the regimes abuse and repression. The BICI was a politically expedite tool to deflect the regimes critics and to serve as a firewall between it and the growing pressure on Western governments to solve a problem of dissonance in their foreign policy in the Middle East. Bahrain perhaps more than any other regime in the Middle East personifies the gross hypocrisy of US foreign policy for democracy seeking peoples of the Middle East. Phlipn

Is Reconciliation in Bahrain Possible?
By Jean-François Seznec – Visiting Associate Professor George Town – 20 March, 2012

The total number of Bahraini citizens is reported to be about 570,000 nationals, less than half of a total population of over 1.2 million.[1] Nevertheless, this very small number makes up an amazingly complex society comprised of groups and subgroups with different interests and agendas. A short unpacking of Bahraini society may shed some light on the problems facing the Kingdom in 2012, and perhaps guide us through possible steps toward reconciliation.

Bahrain has often been described as a country with a majority Shi’a population dominated by a Sunni royal family. The Shi’a in Bahrain tend to be mostly Arabs originating from the Arabian Peninsula. The Bahraini Arab Shi’a, the largest group within that community, have extensive family and religious links with the Shi’a of the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia and the Shi’a of Iraq. The Arab Shi’a have traditionally been the farmers, pearl divers, and tradesmen of Bahrain. They tend to be linked to the Northern villages of Bahrain and are, by and large, less well-off than all other Bahrainis. However, there is now a large middle class within this group as well as some wealthy and successful families.

There is also an important group of Shi’a of Persian descent, who tend to be professionals and intellectuals. There are also a few Isma’ili families, mainly merchants originating from the Indian subcontinent.

The Sunnis come from very diverse backgrounds. The largest number are Arabs also originating mainly, but not solely, from the Arabian Peninsula. They are often referred to as the Muharaqqis, a reference to the island of the same name that is now linked to the mainland and is a major economic center in Bahrain today, where they have lived for centuries. There is also a small but very powerful group of Sunni Arabs that originate from Persia. Some of the main merchant families belong to this group. These families have branches throughout the Gulf and strong links in each of the GCC countries. There are a few Sunni families that originated from the Indian subcontinent . There are also a number of Sunnis of Persian origin and ethnicity, often referred to as Ajam. They tend to be successful, highly educated professionals, many of which are involved in the financial sector. …more

Revolution 99 Updates: Bahrain Our Evil Buddy. Media and Us Government, working together so you don’t know
26 March, 2012 – by Worldwide Hippies

There were No, Zero, Nada stories from any Main stream Corporate news outlets about Bahrain this morning. Voice of America, and Global Research were virtually the only one’s reporting about the United States funded Kingdom.

There were a few UBEAT fluffy articles in the Arab press.Worldwide Hippies is using this page today to highlight the trials and censorship going on there.

Your tax dollars are being spent to torture, murder, and violently put down any protests there.

Owners of Corporate Media are also the owners of the weapon factories here in the US doing big business in Bahrain. Interesting!

Bahrain and Belarus Added to an ‘Enemies of the Internet’ List

A media rights group has added to its list of countries with the most restrictions on Internet freedom. At the same time, the group removed Libya and Venezuela from a list of countries considered under surveillance.

Reporters Without Borders released the lists earlier this month in its latest “Enemies of the Internet” report.

The report notes the importance of the Internet and social networks in the Middle East during what has been called the Arab Spring. It says social media like Facebook and Twitter have been firmly established as tools for protests and vehicles for freedom.

The group identifies twelve countries as “Enemies of the Internet.” Among them are Burma, China, Cuba, Iran and North Korea. The list also includes Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Bahrain and Belarus are the newest additions to the list. Reporters Without Borders says Bahrain used repressive measures to block news and information after unrest began in the Arab world last year. The group says the government has used a combination of methods to suppress the opposition. These include keeping international media away from the country, arresting bloggers and harassing human rights activists.

Delphine Halgand heads the Reporters Without Borders office in Washington. She says Bahrain has a very developed system for watching and blocking online communications. She says the country has increasingly used these systems in reaction to the political unrest.

DELPHINE HALGAND: “The authorities in Bahrain were able to arrest bloggers and netizens for what they are publishing online. And actually even one of these people who was arrested for what he was publishing online died when he was in detention.” …more

Saudis arm terrorist gangs in Syria: Report
3 March, 2012 – Shia Post

Saudi Arabia has reportedly provided the rebels in Syria with a great number of weapons and military equipment.

Media reports say that Riyadh is not the only arms supplier to Syrian rebels. The United Arab Emirates and Qatar are also reportedly providing the gangs with weapons.

The three Arab countries transport the military equipment through Turkey, reports say.

The latest reports of transporting weaponry to the Syrian rebels come one day after Syrian government forces arrested a large number of gunmen with different nationalities in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on February 20 that “some foreign countries” are fueling the turmoil in Syria by supporting and funding “armed terrorist groups fighting against the government.” …source

End of game in the Middle East
by Thierry Meyssan – Voltaire Network – 14 February, 2012

For eleven months, the Western powers and the Gulf States have led a campaign to destabilize Syria. Several thousand mercenaries infiltrated the country. Recruited by agencies in Saudi Arabia and Qatar within the Sunni extremist community, they came to Syria to overthrow the “Alawite usurper” Bashar al-Assad and impose a Wahhabi-inspired dictatorship. They have at their disposal some of the most sophisticated military equipment, including night vision systems, communication centers, and robots for urban warfare. Supported secretly by the NATO powers, they also have access to vital military information, including satellite images of Syrian troop movements, and telephone interceptions.

This has been falsely portrayed to the Western public as a political revolution crushed in blood by a ruthless dictatorship. Of course, this lie has not been universally accepted. Russia, China and the Latin American and Caribbean member states of ALBA repudiate it. They each have a historical background that allows them to readily grasp what is at stake. The Russians have Chechnya in mind, the Chinese think of Xinjiang, and the Latin Americans of Cuba and Nicaragua. In all these cases, beyond ideological or religious appearances, the methods of destabilization by the CIA were the same.

The strangest thing about this situation is to observe the Western media deluding themselves that the Salafists, Wahhabis and Al-Qaeda fighters are motivated by democratic principles, while they continue to demand on Saudi and Qatari satellite airwaves the head of the Alawi “heretics” and Arab League observers. It matters little if Abdel Hakim Belhaj (number 2 of Al-Qaeda and current military governor of Tripoli, Libya) came personally to install his men in northern Syria, and Ayman Al-Zawahiri (current leader of Al-Qaeda since the official death of Osama bin Laden) has called for a jihad against Syria: the Western press pursues its romantic dream of a liberal revolution. …more

Russian Arms Flow Must Stop to Clear Way for Syrian Ceasefire
23 March, 2012 – Human Rights First – Brenda Bowser-Sode

Washington, DC – As the situation in Syria grows increasingly dire by the day, Human Rights First is urging the United States to redouble its efforts as part of The Friends of Syria Group to secure an international arms embargo that would limit the flow of weapons to all sides, a step that would support the ceasefire outlined in Joint UN-Arab League Envoy Kofi Annan’s plan. The group notes that this should include the United States discontinuing its own business with companies arming the Syrian regime, including the Russian-based arms dealer Rosoboronexport.

“In the face of Russia’s previous vetoes in the Security Council for such an arms embargo one thing remains clear, their state run arms company Rosoboronexport is the most significant enabler of Assad’s brutal crackdown. They have supplied him with the firepower and heavy weaponry needed to flatten cities and slaughter civilians,” said Human Rights First’s Sadia Hameed. “The U.S. should discontinue its own dealings with Rosoboronexport. The Treasury Department should also take immediate action to designate sanctions for Rosoboronexport and other companies providing material support for the commission of atrocities in Syria.”

While weapons pour into the regime unabated, today’s news reports from Syria indicate that opposition groups are running low on ammunition and are struggling to sustain themselves against Assad’s offensive attacks that have killed at least 8,000 people. The death toll rises each day. …more

Israelis rally to condemn Tel Aviv’s war plans against Iran
26 March, 2012 – Shia Post

Hundreds of anti-war activists have rallied in Tel Aviv to warn the authorities of the Israeli regime against a potential military attack on Iran over its nuclear energy program.

The campaigners fear that mounting pressure on Iran can escalate into an all-out regional war, the effects of which will reverberate globally.

The protest followed a recent spontaneous Facebook campaign in which a large number of anti-war activists working on the internet united in their opposition to potential war against Iran.

On Saturday, the participants in the march held signs with captions such as “No to War with Iran,” and “Talks, not Bombs,” as well as “No to pre-emptive suicide.”

Jeremy Corbyn, the chair of the ‘Stop the War Coalition,’ told Russia Today that isolating Iran and allowing Israel to continue with its threats will lead to very dangerous developments.

“The way forward has to be de-escalating the tension and denuclearizing the region, otherwise somebody somewhere is going to develop a nuclear weapon,” he said.

He urged people to think about the consequences of a possible attack on Iran, saying it would dramatically affect the world economy and result in an inconceivable human loss should it happen.

“If we let slip the dogs of war, we will all regret it,” he concluded.

A recent poll conducted by the Israeli daily Haaretz in cooperation with Tel Aviv University in early March showed that 58 percent of the respondents were against a military strike by Israel on Iran.

The US and Israel accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran refutes the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and member of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful use.

The IAEA has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production. …more

Human Rights Defender Abdulhadi AlKhawaja “freedom or death” Strike Reaches 48 Days

Imprisoned HRD AlKhawaja: My hunger strike is a part of my human rights defence inside jailAs Received from AlKhawaja’s lawyer, Mr Mohamed AlJishi: In a one-hour private visit, I met Abdulhadi Al Khawaja today in Jaw Central Prison. Signs of fatigue were clearly shown on Al Khawaja. He was pale and lost lots of weight. I sent him all the people’s plea to stop the strike as they need him alive to struggle for Bahrain, and for his own risk.

Abdulhadi Al Khawaja told the lawyer: “I thank who ever stand in solidarity with me and people of Bahrain outside and inside the country. The case is not only about me. It’s about all wrongfully detainees in Bahrain. My hungerstrike is a part of my Human rights defence inside jail. It’s very important to focus on all detainees as I’m just a part of them. I will continue with my hunger strike till I reach my demands despite the consequences. I’m aware that freedom is expensive and we must sacrifice to gain it.”…more

Amnesty International said Palestinian hunger striker risks death
By Agence France-Presse – 23 March, 2012 – The RawStory

Amnesty International on Friday urged Israeli authorities to release Palestinian prisoner Hanaa al-Shalabi who has been on hunger strike for more than a month, saying she was “at risk of death.”

The watchdog said Shalabi should be “immediately” released or charged “with a recognisable criminal offence” and “promptly” put on trial.

“The woman could die in detention after 37 days on hunger strike,” Amnesty said in a statement.

Shalabi has been on hunger strike since her arrest in the northern West Bank on February 16, when she was originally ordered detained without trial for six months.

She was among more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released in October in a trade for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held by Gaza Strip-based militants for more than five years.

According to Amnesty, the 30-year-old “is allegedly affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement but has never been charged with a criminal offence.”

Earlier this week she was moved to Meir Hospital in Israel.

“Hanaa al-Shalabi was transferred this evening to Israel’s Meir hospital after her state of health deteriorated,” Palestinian prisoner affairs minister Issa Qaraqaa told AFP on Monday.

And Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said an independent doctor had examined Shalabi on behalf of the group “and concluded that her health had deteriorated considerably and her life was at risk.”

A PHR doctor noted “a weakening of musculature, weight loss of 14 kilos (31 pounds), a very feeble pulse and a fall in blood sodium levels,” it said. …more