Posts from — March 2012

Bahrain mosque damage shows plight to ease unrest
21 March, 2012 – By Brian Murphy – Associated Press – The Daily Star

MANAMA: At some point before dawn, the vandals struck with brutal efficiency, smashing the windows at one of Bahrain’s oldest Shiite mosques. Then the attackers walked over the broken shards to ransack offices and prayer areas – making sure to pull down some framed parchments with Quranic verses.

The attack last week, described by scholars and custodians of the centuries-old site, was quickly overshadowed by another wave of clashes in Bahrain’s 13-month-old uprising by the kingdom’s Shiite majority.

But even as the beleaguered Sunni monarchy claims progress toward reconciliation, the battered facade of the Sasa’a bin Sawhan mosque underscored the deep anger and suspicions that still feed the Arab Spring’s longest-running street battles – which show no signs of ending.

“I am horrified,” said Bahrain-based historian Jassim al-Abass following the March 13 attack on the site, which has connections to the earliest periods of Islam in the 7th century. “Instead of protecting mosques, officials are letting this happen.”

Bahrain’s Shiite mosques have been one of the most sensitive targets in the government’s crackdown on dissent and later attempts to make amends. Shiite clerics claim at least 38 mosques and affiliated sites, such as charity offices, were destroyed after the revolt began in February 2011. Bahrain’s Shiites – who account for about 70 percent of the population but allege they face widespread discrimination – rose up to demand a greater political voice. Some activists place the number of destroyed mosques at 55 or higher.

On Tuesday, a report given to Bahrain’s king, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, reaffirmed plans to rebuild 12 Shiite mosques demolished last year by authorities. It’s unclear, however, what progress has been made on the sites.
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Our Story

The participation of women in the Egyptian revolution didnt come as a surprise to us, nor do we view it as an extraordinary phenomenon.

Women are part of every society and form a part of the social, political and economical spectrum. It is history that tends in most cases to ostracize the participation of women and keep them in the shadow while highlighting the participation of men and attributing leading roles exclusively to them. This is why we want to document and share Her-story.

This project intends to shed the light on the participation of women and to document their experiences as part of the historical memory of the Egyptian revolution. It is also a tool for women empowerment everywhere and a source for researchers, students and everyone interested in the matter.

The investigation for the filming aspires to cover a variety of women from all spectrums of the Egyptian society and different regions in Egypt. The investigation will be continuous and work hand in hand with the filming crew. Our objective is to produce a minimum of two messages per week and make them available on the website as soon as they are done. So far the videos will be subtitled in English and Spanish, and we are working on covering other languages. …more

editor: British Foreign Office Minister Alastair Burt and President Obama have reassured everyone that the weapons their countries supply to Middle East Tyrants are only being used to to defend borders and external threats. These are truly highly advanced smart weapons able to discern when they are being used “inappropriately” then apparently they “Switch-off”. It seems the only thing being “switched-off” is acknowledgement of the trail of blood from weapons sales to Human Rights abusers that stain the door steps and halls of Westminster and Washington. Phlipn

Minister defends Britain’s role in arms trade
21 March, 2012 – By Oliver Hotham – politic.co.uk

Britain plays a huge role in the international arms industry.

Foreign Office minister Alastair Burt has defended Britain’s role in the international arms trade.

In a hearing before the Commons’ foreign affairs committee examining the UK’s response to last year’s Arab Spring, Mr Burt argued the arms trade has value and is governed by strict rules which prevented Britain supplying Gulf states with tools for repression.

He denied allegations that British-supplied arms had been used by the government of Bahrain to suppress protests in last year’s Arab Spring, saying the weapons supplied had been for border control.

The responsibility for overseeing such transactions lay with the foreign affairs committee, he said, in a heated exchange with committee member Ann Clwyd during the hearing.

However the minister accepted that, with regards to the arms Britain supplies Gulf states, “none of it is very nice” and that Britain was indeed involved in “supplying things people might find uncomfortable”.

Britain cannot rule out “difficult trade”, he added.

The Foreign Office minister also denied claims that British ally Saudi Arabia had been involved with repression in Bahrain.

Last year’s protests in Bahrain saw the government use deadly force against peaceful protesters, with 84 dead and thousands wounded. It has been alleged that arms used by the government were supplied by British arms dealers.

Britain is the world’s fifth largest exporter of arms and British company BAE Systems is one of the world’s largest arms developers.

Bahrain economy slows to 1.3% growth
By Reuters – 21 March, 2012

Bahrain’s economic growth slowed in the final three months of 2011, a sign that political unrest is continuing to weigh on businesses after an uprising against the government was crushed early last year.

Inflation-adjusted expansion in gross domestic product deccelerated to 1.3 percent quarter-on-quarter from 2.2 percent in the third quarter of 2011, the statistics office said on Wednesday. On an annual basis, GDP expanded 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter after a 2.9 percent rise in July-September.

Overall, economic growth in the small non-OPEC oil exporter roughly halved to 2.2 percent last year, the worst performance since a 0.3 percent contraction in 1994, when oil prices fell to US$13 per barrel. They are currently above US$120.

“Given the high oil prices last year, for an oil producer a 2 percent growth is not particularly impressive,” said Gabriel Sterne, a senior economist at Exotix in London.
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“That is mainly due to the political tensions that we have seen. Nothing was really resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.”

The Sunni-controlled island kingdom, a Gulf financial hub, was hit hard in February and March by its worst sectarian unrest since the 1990s, which forced banks and shops to close and triggered an outflow of funds. Total investment parked in Bahrain’s mutual funds dropped by nearly US$800m last year to US$8.4bn, central bank data show.

Last year’s economic growth “is satisfactory in light of current economic challenges and the economic outlook in the near term looks positive”, Central Informatics Organisation president Mohammed al-Amer said as he announced the GDP data.

“Improving local and global indicators are also expected to result in economic stability (and) encourage local and foreign investors to reconsider shelved investment decisions. However, restoration of economic growth rates which were prevalent before the crisis will take some time,” he said.

Output growth in the hydrocarbon sector, which accounts for a third of Bahrain’s $26 billion economy, more than halved to 2.4 percent quarter-on-quarter during October-December, the data showed. …more

Pray for Ali Abdulemam
20 March, 2012 – by Alaa Shehabi

It is very difficult to imagine what life is like for Ali Abdulemam, the blogger turned fugitive. How can anyone hide for a year on an island that is 55 kilometres by 18 kilometres, and that has turned into a police state, where the state conducts nightly raids on homes, and where the secret police are everywhere?

As we mark the one year anniversary of Abdulemam’s forced disappearance, the online community needs to do more to raise the plight of one of the pioneers of blogging in the Arab world. His work over a decade ago in establishing one of the foremost political forums in the country, bahrainonline.org, paved the way for the biggest revolution in the history of the country, and he is the one now paying the price. He is also paying the price for using his real name, but in targeting Abdulemam, the government has now created multiple anonymous Abdulemams.

Abdulemam was sentenced in absentia to 15 years imprisonment on charges of attempting to overthrow the monarchy. A bizarre charge to make against someone who spent hours in coffee shops with a laptop smoking a sheesha, flipping through Ali Wardi’s books, listening to Iraqi music or mingling with the blogger community of Cairo and Belarus. There is a reason why he is considered one of the most dangerous men in the country and one of the biggest threats to the state, and that reason is that his forum offered dissidents a voice. During his second arrest, his torturers, digitally illiterate at the time, forced him to take down the site. Abdulmam’s colleagues, thankfully managed to restore the site.

He would not have known or even expected this at the time from his prison cell, but his forum was pivotal in the call for a Day of Rage on 14 February, and in fact, it was there that the Pearl Roundabout was proposed as gathering point, and was subsequently occupied. It should have been no surprise then, that when the uprisings took place in Egypt, Bahrain and Syria, historically active bloggers such as Ala’a Abd El Fattah, Ali Abdulemam and Razzan Ghazawi, would be top of the list of the most wanted people in their country. …more

Palestinians mark 9th anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s death
20 March, 2012 – The Voice of Palestine

RAFAH, (PIC)– The Ministry of Youth and Sports held in collaboration with the General Administration for Children and the Directorate of Rafah a solidarity stand on Monday on the Egypt-Gaza border in commemoration of the American activist Rachel Corrie’s assassination by the Zionist occupation in 2004.

Dozens of children, international activists from different nationalities, and representatives of the governmental and national affairs participated in the stand expressing their heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the activist Rachel Corrie for her sacrifice and solidarity with the Palestinian people and insisting to continue what she began.

At the end, the participants planted an olive tree where Rachel was killed to keep her memory alive. …source

What Palestinian political prisoners are fighting for
Ameer Makhoul – The Electronic Intifada – 20 March 2012

Khader Adnan’s hunger strike was in protest of Israel’s entire system of repression.

Someone with back turned to camera spray paints “Peace not apartheid” and Khader Adnan stencil on West Bank wall
(Issam Rimawi / APA images)

The case of the freedom fighter Khader Adnan reminds us of where the strength of the Palestinian people lies. This is the strength that was squandered and dissipated in the Oslo process and the pursuit of a state at the expense of national liberation.

With his historic hunger strike and his heroic resolve in his fight against the occupying state, Adnan has reaffirmed an important principle of resistance to colonialist regimes: when the people, or individuals, who are their victims remain resolute, the world will react. Sympathy turns into solidarity, and that in turn can nurture a growing movement of support for the struggle which is capable of shaking the foundations of the colonialist system.

His case has also confirmed the fact that the colonizer’s agencies can never protect its victim. Its project can only be defeated by breaking the dominance of those agencies and the rules they enforce.

Adnan’s battle for life and dignity is a model to be emulated in the Palestinian liberation struggle. It has lessons to offer the participants in that struggle, including prisoners and international solidarity activists, on how their work can be integrated.
Campaign of defiance

Adnan seized the initiative and declared an open-ended hunger strike to protest against his imprisonment under an administrative detention order. His aim was clear: to defy both the order and the Israeli system of oppression. He also was seeking to serve notice that Palestinians refuse to accept the treatment meted out to them by the occupation authorities.

The campaign he triggered illustrated how the components of popular struggle can be brought together. Inspired by the prisoner’s determination, Palestinians in the 1948 territories responded quickly. A popular media and mobilization campaign was rapidly launched, both locally and internationally. A variety of youth and other grassroots organizations became immediately involved, as did prisoners’ families and political groups. …more

Russia says Assad “making a lot of mistakes”
20 March, 2012 – Lebanon Now

Russia said Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was “making a lot of mistakes” despite repeated calls from Moscow for his troops and rebel forces to cease violence and seek dialogue.

“We believe that the Syrian leadership responded incorrectly to the very first manifestations of the peaceful protests,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Kommersant FM radio in a pre-recorded interview.

“The Syrian leadership – despite the numerous promises it has made in response to our calls – is making a lot of mistakes,” said Lavrov.

“And the things that are actually moving in the right direction are coming too late,” Lavrov added.

His comments came amid growing signs that Russia could drop its support for Assad after a year of violence that Syrian opposition activists say have claimed more than 9,100 lives.

Russia had earlier on Tuesday said it was ready to back either a UN Security Council statement or resolution on Syrian peace envoy Kofi Annan’s proposal on ending the crisis as long as it contained no ultimatums.

Lavrov last week had also accused Assad of making errors and moving too slowly on reforms. But his latest comments suggest that Russia was unhappy with his leadership from the early stages of the bloody conflict.

…source

Bahraini regime forces fire tear gas at demo near Manama
20 March, 2012 – Shia Post

Bahraini regime forces have once again used tear gas to disperse protesters holding a demonstration near the capital, Manama, Press TV reports.

Protesters held the demonstration against the ruling Al Khalifa family in the northern village of Muqsha, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) west of the capital on Tuesday.

Bahraini activists say regime forces also used live rounds against the protesters in Muqsha, who were mourning the death of the latest victim of the government’s violent suppression of demonstrations in the country.

The main Bahraini opposition group, al-Wefaq, said 27-year-old Sabri Mahfud died due to inhalation of tear gas fired by regime forces during a demonstration near Manama on Sunday.

Mahfud was the second victim of the Manama regime’s brutality since March 17.

The tear gas attack on Bahraini demonstrators in Muqsha comes as King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa claimed on Tuesday the “doors to dialogue were, and remain, open.”

The Bahraini monarch also claimed the government has made “significant progress” in implementing reforms in the sectors of “security, judiciary, social policy and media” since February 2011.

However, Bahraini opposition groups said last week the promised reforms were not enough and that they had made “no change on the ground.”

Bahraini demonstrators hold King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa responsible for the death of protesters during the popular uprising in the country that began in February 2011. …more

Six convicted of watching Arab Spring videos to be sentenced in Zimbabwe
20 March, 2012 – gahana mma

Six Zimbabweans convicted of conspiracy to commit public violence after they were caught watching footage of Arab Spring protests will be sentenced Tuesday. The Zimbabweans face six to 10 years in prison or a $2,000 fine.

They were among 46 people arrested on February 19, 2011, during an academic meeting where a video on events in Tunisia and Egypt was shown.

The verdict was met by dismay by some.

“I am very disappointed that they were found guilty,” defense lawyer Alec Muchadehama said shortly after hearing the verdict on Monday.

Rights activist Munyaradzi Gwisai said the verdict was “not surprising.”

“We are not deterred,” Gwisai said. “We are not intimidated.”

Police released 40 of the attendees, but charged the rest with treason or attempt to overthrow the government by unconstitutional means. Those charges were altered to conspiracy to commit public violence.

The government has said the six were plotting an Egyptian-style uprising in the southern African country. Critics have called the charges politically motivated.

The defendants were allegedly watching video footage of protests that led to the ouster of Presidents Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, 87, has a history that it is similar to the toppled leaders. He has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 and has been accused of rigging elections and instituting repressive laws to tighten his grip on power.

The arrests may be an indication authorities are worried the winds of change sweeping across North Africa may inspire Zimbabweans to rise up, too. …more

Doctors say Palestinian hunger striker is critical
20 March, 2012 – By Diaa Hadid Associated Press – The Daily Star

A Palestinian woman holds a poster of Hana Shalabi who has been on hunger strike for 35 days, during a rally in solidarity with

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: A Palestinian woman who has refused food for the past month to protest her imprisonment by Israel without formal charges is in grave danger of dying, a medical rights group said Tuesday.

Hana Shalabi lost 14 kilograms (31 pounds), her muscles are wasting and she is in excruciating pain, said Ran Cohen of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, which has provided her a doctor. She has taken only water since her arrest on Feb. 16.

“We are worried. Her physician has demanded she be transferred to hospital,” said Cohen. Israel Prison Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said that for the time being, Shalabi is being monitored at a prison clinic.

Shalabi, 30, a supporter of the militant Islamic Jihad group, is being held without formal charges, an Israeli system called “administrative detention.” She is scheduled to be released in another three months.

Israeli military officials say they use administrative detention to hold people who pose an immediate risk to the country’s security, or when displaying incriminating evidence would reveal Israeli intelligence-gathering networks.

More than 300 of some 6,000 Palestinians currently held by Israel on security-related charges are in administrative detention. Rights activists say international law allows this practice only in exceptional cases and that Israel blatantly violates these restrictions.

Prison authorities say 20 Palestinian detainees have launched hunger strikes in support of Shalabi in the past two weeks. Earlier this year, administrative detainee Khader Adnan staged a hunger strike for 66 days. He ended the protest after reaching a deal with the Israeli authorities to free him in April.

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King Hamad says commission’s report on tackling police abuse and politicised sackings is an “impressive beginning”.

Bahrain praises ‘progress’ toward reforms
20 March, 2012 – AlJazeera

The government says it has begun planning an independent “ombudsman’s office” to oversee the police.

Bahrain has claimed “significant and broad progress” toward reforms in a report following up earlier recommendations to correct widespread abuse committed during the government’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests last year.

The report, submitted by the country’s National Commission to King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa on Tuesday, is meant to gauge what progress the government has made since November, when an independent investigation concluded that security forces had killed unarmed protesters and tortured and abused prisoners during the crackdown.

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Iniquity (BICI), led by human rights lawyer Cherif Bassiouny, recommended in November that the government investigate and punish instances of torture, end arbitrary detention, and review cases that had been tried in military courts.

The National Commission claimed in its report that progress had been made, citing the creation of a new police code of conduct and an independent office to oversee and prosecute the police. The report also said the government had begun to rebuild Shia places of worship and reinstate Shia workers who were fired during the unrest.

King Hamad welcomed the National Commission’s evaluation, saying it represented “significant and broad progress” and an “impressive beginning”.

Reforms have included “security and judicial reform, enhancing educational curricula, establishing a detailed plan to reform the media, [and] working tirelessly to ensure that employees are reinstated,” the king said.

Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall, reporting from Manama, said King Hamad “gave a very clear, strong statement about the improvements that have been taking place”.

The government has conducted police trainings, released prisoners, improved prison environments and set up a fund to compensate torture victims, Vall said.

‘Significant progress’

Al Wefaq, the country’s largest Shia opposition bloc, has pointedly refused to take part in the National Commission’s work, and the body is made up mostly of pro-government figures. Ali Saleh al-Saleh, the commission’s chairman, is the head of the upper house of parliament, which is appointed by the king.

Saleh said he “received utmost co-operation and transparency from the government” and singled out long-serving Prime Minister Khalifa ibn Salman Al Khalifa, viewed by the opposition as the symbol of the monarchy’s corruption and anti-Shia policies, for praise.

The government says it has fulfilled most of the requirements, and a new website touts its progress.

“I would say about 90 per cent of the recommendations have been implemented. It’s been hard. We’ve had to swallow a lot of pride,” said Abdelaziz bin Mubarak al-Khalifa, an official from Bahrain’s information affairs authority.

Bahrain’s main opposition groups, however, said little progress and no efforts at dialogue had been made. Many in the opposition have said they would only negotiate with the government after all political prisoners are released.

“Torture is still going on in Bahrain,” said Ali al-Aswad, a former member of parliament. “So whatever [the government] says, it is something only written on the websites or in the paper.”

Abdul Jalil Khalil, the head of Al Wefaq, told Al Jazeera he was not happy with the reforms and that even “full implementation” of BICI’s recommendations might not be enough to satisfy them.

“BICI deals with violations and human rights abuses committed by the Bahraini security forces in cracking down on protests. But, what the opposition really wants is more serious political change that will give them more say in parliament and government,” he said.

Inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, the kingdom’s predominantly Shia population took to the streets in February 2011, demanding greater freedoms in the Sunni-led kingdom and an end to widely perceived corruption. …more

Syria’s Activists (I): Rethinking Revolution
By: Ernest Khoury – 20 March, 2012 – Al Akhbar

After one year of intensive work on the ground, some of Syria’s opposition activists are convinced it is time for an appraisal and overhaul of strategy and tactics in dealing with media, foreign support, and internal political organization.

Damascus – Winning the trust of young Syrians organizing the peaceful or military campaigns against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is not easy. This is not surprising given that many of them have been detained for days, weeks, or months for participating in the uprising.

But when the suspicion is finally broken and trust is achieved, it becomes possible to listen to those who are creating the news, not those who speak in their name. They are willing to offer their appraisal of the first year of their “new life,” as some like to call it, that started on March 15 of last year.

The young men and women active in Damascus and the area surrounding it agree on a number of very general points. Based on discussions with the activists, they can be summarized as follows:

– The world does not support Syria. They merely talk and make declarations.

– The positive aspects of keeping the internal opposition without a known political leadership outweigh the negatives.

– The blood and suffering of the dissidents has not been employed properly, internally and externally.

– The media performance of the youth of the Local Coordinating Committees (LCC), the Syrian Revolution General Commission, and the Supreme Council of the Revolution has varied greatly.

– The international and regional situation has not, and will not, allow for an external military intervention, at least in the near future.

– The military performance of what has become known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has fluctuated depending on the area. In any case, the military command needs an overhaul, leading to unification, organization, financing, and arming.

The positive aspects of keeping the internal opposition without a known political leadership outweigh the negatives.
This runs counter to the call for the unification of the opposition, seen by many activists as an excuse for the Arabs and the West who are unwilling and ill-prepared to do anything against the regime now.

Activists acknowledge that everyone is aware that the opposition’s veterans, inside and outside Syria, are not ready, in any form and at any price, to work together in a united framework. The reasons cited are numerous but many are personal. …more

UN Rights Office Concern at Bahrain Protest Deaths
GENEVA March 20, 2012 (AP)

The U.N.’s human rights office has expressed concern about the number of protesters in Bahrain who have died after security forces used tear gas against demonstrators.

A spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says the Geneva-based office has received “worrying reports of the disproportionate use of force by Bahraini security forces.”

Rupert Colville told reporters Tuesday that human rights groups claim 30 people have died because of tear gas since anti-government protests began in Feb 2011.

Colville says the figures have been rising in recent months. He says the government disputes the figures.

The U.N. human rights office is sending an expert team to Bahrain at the end of the month for talks with the government. …source

Annan Proposal Receives Russian Support
20 March, 2012 – POMED

On Tuesday, Russia announced its position supporting Kofi Annan’s proposal, announcing that the documents should be revealed and that Moscow stands ready to head back to the U.N. Security Council. Additionally, France circulated an additional draft statement for the Security Council “deploring the turmoil and backing peace efforts by U.N.-Arab League Envoy Annan.”

“The Security Council should support them not as an ultimatum, but as a basis for the continuing efforts by Kofi Annan aimed at reaching accord between all the Syrians, the government and all opposition groups on all key issues, such as humanitarian corridors, halting hostilities by all parties, the beginning of a political dialogue and offering access to the media,” Lavrov said at a news conference. A change in the Russian position alludes to the fact that Moscow’s support for Assad may be waning. “We are supporting the need to start a political process, and to do that it’s necessary to have a cease-fire first,” Lavrov said. “Russia will do everything for that, irrespective of the decisions made by the Syrian government. We disagree with many of those, by the way.”

Meanwhile the relative calm of Damascus was interrupted Monday night by a three-hour gun battle between opposition and government forces. Syrian state media reported that government forces had stormed a “den of armed terrorist groups” in the Damascus suburb of Mezzeh. Spokesman for the FSA reported that the attack was a part of an FSA operation on the Political Security Directorate and that 87 government soldiers were killed in the assault. …source

Open Letter to Bassiouni by Ali Mahdi Alaswad
by Ali Mahdi Alaswad – 20 March 20, 2012

Dear Prof. Cherif Bassiouni,

I feel compelled to write to you as someone who had genuine faith in your commission from the very beginning, on the date of the report from the Implementation Commission.

As a resigned MP I encouraged people to testify to the BICI, argued with the skeptics that BICI could be a force for good and spent much time promoting your Commission far and wide.

Whilst I understood the limitations of your remit I was over all encouraged by your final report and believed it could be the first step towards the democratic change that the people of Bahrain have been crying out for.

Like many I saw the potential of your Commission to finally end the gross violations that the people of Bahrain have suffered for decades and that have been horrifically accelerated since February 2011.

It is for this reason more than anything else that I must respectfully register my disappointment with your recent comments in your interview with Sir David Frost on Al Jazeera English (March 20th 2012).

You claim very clearly and confidently that since you and your fellow investigators entered Bahrain there have been no more allegations of torture and mistreatment.

I must sadly inform you that this claim is false and given your role in Bahrain and continued presence you should know this. The fact that you cannot recognize this suggests that either you are being fed incorrect information that you are not verifying, or you are remaining willfully ignorant of the reality. I hope it is not the latter, but whatever the reason, you are overlooking the facts and this is extremely unhelpful to the Bahraini people.

If you had simply stated that there has been no torture since July 2011 at least we would know that you believe this to be the case. But I found it truly astounding that you claim that there have been no further allegations.

In January there were two cases of deaths whilst in custody which can be attributed to torture. Since you are clearly not aware of these cases I shall report them to you now and I hope you can change your stance with immediate affect.

On 13th January 2012 the body of 24-year-old Yousif Ahmed Muwali was found on a beach. He had last been seen 5 days previously when he was arrested during a demonstration. When his family was able to see his body they found clear marks of torture. Tell me, Professor Bassiouni, how do you think Yousif came to be washed up on a beach a few days after being arrested, with signs of torture on his body?

The second case relates to 37-year-old Muntadher Saeed Fakhar who died on 25th January 2012. He was arrested and taken to Hoora Police station where at some point over the next 24 hours he died. …more

Editor: The majority opposition appears to have agreed to talks toward reform. The two major precondtions reported for the talks are release of the prisoners and reemployment of the “sacked” from their jobs for reasons related to the “uprising”. These are preconditions of convenience, raise productivity, get scores protesters off the streets through reemployment and keep the majority opposition out of the totally unacceptable role of being jailers to their brothers. It curious one of the most deadly problems, the lethal use of nonlethal weapons, the single largest killer of Bahrainis did not make the list. Also woefully absent are demands for the total exodus of Saudi Forces and advisers from Bahrain and the cessation of all politically related trials, the medics come to mind as a clear example.

Of Course it seem most obvious demand absent form the list, the immediate removal of Prime Minister Khalifah ibn Sulman al-Khalifah. And perhaps it loses something in the translation, but the majority opposition groups said the results of the dialogue should be agreed by the public and insisted that the outcome should be “revealed to the people so that an agreement can win popular and legal legitimacy.” Is this to mean deals made would be offered for public acceptance after the fact? Watch out for those devils in the details. We know everyone has Bahrain’s future in mind but be careful to ask whose future Bahrain? Phlipn.

Bahrain: Opposition ready for dialogue with monarchy
20 March, 2012 – The Muslim News

Bahrain’s opposition political leaders said they were ready for dialogue with authorities on Monday in a bid to end the political deadlock in the Gulf kingdom, but demanded a referendum on the outcome.

The five main opposition associations, led by the Al-Wefaq party, said in a statement that the two sides of the dialogue should agree beforehand on its “agenda, mechanism, and time frame, in order to help create initial confidence.”

The groups also demanded that the dialogue include opposition leaders jailed in the wake of a brutal crackdown last year on a month-long protest demanding democratic change.

The opposition acknowledged that they have not received any invitation for talks, but said they were preparing in case negotiations were initiated and had agreed to form a “joint delegation” for any future talks.

The groups said they welcomed any dialogue “leading to a political resolution guaranteeing justice and equality and protecting interests of people from all walks of life in the country in the absence of a security solution with its adverse consequences.”

The statement was released following a meeting of the groups, including the National Democratic Action Association, or Waed in Arabic, the Nationalist Democratic Rally Association, Alekha National Society, and National Democratic Assembly.

Political parties are banned in Bahrain and licensed associations act as de facto parties.

The five groups said the results of the dialogue should be agreed by the public and insisted that the outcome should be “revealed to the people so that an agreement can win popular and legal legitimacy.”

They reiterated that the dialogue should be based on the offer tabled by Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa days before the clampdown in March last year.

The crown prince had said he supported vesting the parliament with full powers and pledged to tackle naturalization, administrative and financial corruption, and sectarian tensions. …more

Syrian rebels committing human rights abuses: HRW
20 March, 2012 – Al-Akhbar

Armed opposition groups in Syria have kidnapped, tortured, and executed members of the security forces and supporters of President Bashar Assad, the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.

The rights group condemned the tactics by opposition fighters, who have long accused government troops and loyalists of carrying out similar abuses.

“The Syrian government’s brutal tactics cannot justify abuses by armed opposition groups,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, in an open letter to dissident groups.

“Opposition leaders should make it clear to their followers that they must not torture, kidnap, or execute under any circumstances,” she added.

Syria’s armed opposition is highly fragmented and many militias do not appear to belong to an organized command structure or to be following political opposition groups such as the Syrian National Council (SNC) and the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change (NCB).

The year-long uprising in Syria, in which the United Nations says more than 8,000 people have been killed, started as a peaceful protest movement. But it has become increasingly violent as daily clashes between rebels and security forces have continued around the country.

HRW cited dozens of YouTube videos in which Syrian security forces or their alleged supporters confessed to crimes, apparently under duress.

At least 18 of the videos showed detainees who were bruised, bleeding, or suffering from other signs of physical abuse, the groups added.

One video showed a man hanging from a tree by his neck in front of several armed fighters with commentary indicating that he was a member of the Shabbiha, the feared irregular forces loyal to Assad.

HRW said some of the attacks appeared to have sectarian motivations, targeting members of Assad’s own Alawi sect.

Human rights abuses by armed rebels pose a problem for Syria’s political opposition, which is struggling to exert control over militias fighting the regime.

The SNC reneged on its original goal of a peaceful revolution, and has endorsed military action, but so far its attempts to coordinate and command divided armed groups have yielded few results. …more

editor: Just a hunch but with all the reform in the air, the Bassiouni “final report” is due and it all seems too well orchestrated to me – I’m expecting lots of praise for things the regime has done, especially those in the last few weeks; police code of conduct, zero tolerance… The other items of accomplishment will be the “National Dialogue” that never was, the cessation of military courts, the hiring of Timoney and Yates, elections, change in structure of government, removal of “bad Ministers” then promoted, some words from Bassiouni repeating calls for release of the prisoners, elation for charges against some scape-goat cops, blah, blah…. And of course there will be, as with the initial release of the report, theatrics of harsh words of condemnation for regime short comings – some bullshit notion of fair and balanced, I suppose. Redux of Bassiouni’s original rebuke for regime abuses that have seen impunity for the abusers, with no real mention of those who give the orders or enable them.

There will be a new wave of harsh words for the escalating violence coming from the youth and a new definition of “extremist elements”. This will give the regime another tool to isolate them and it will make tolerable the regime brutality as it is directed toward the “extremists”, all the while turning the Villages into prisons camps – looks kind of like Gaza to me? Its been taking shape for a while… Maybe they can spin it as economic opportunity and use their model of “excellence” to train law enforcement in the US on how to lock-down their growing number of “undesirable neighborhoods”.

The grand charade nears completion – Bassiouni has set the bar on the front-end of the charade. Once he seemed to have genuine harsh words for the regime and much of the opposition were pleasantly surprised by his words that cleverly lend credibility to whole show. Little did anyone realise that Bassiouni would be setting the bar for which he would also be proclaiming it clear. The referee making the rules that go unheeded by the team that hired him – sounds a foul to me! All of this must surely have been in the fine print.

All the hoop-la won’t mean a damn thing as King Hamad proceeds with his State Department picked team, of Public Relation Democrats profiteering from Bahrain’s misery. In the process, a much anticipated “New Dialogue for Reform” will emerge with the blessing of some, while those who had a different or dissenting view have been or will be politely and sometimes not so politely, hushed or pushed aside. And get ready, if you won’t be “shut-up” they’re going make you into an “extremist”.

The only real “precondition” or demand to the finale so far has been that the prisoners must be released. And everyone wants the prisoners released. Is this demand anything new or any real surprise? It would suck being your brothers jailer and it would be damn hard, having called for their release, to take on the job of being their jailer. Unsurvivable I expect.

Seems the winds might be changing direction, maybe a storm moving in??? Just another dusty day out here in the desert. Phlipn.

HM King Hamad Will Receive The Final Report Tomorrow
19 March, 2012 – BNA

Manama, March19(BNA) His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa will tomorrow (Tuesday) receive the final report of the National Commission incharge of following-up the implementation of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry(BICI) recommendations.

HM the King will patronize a ceremony in this regard at the Royal Convention Hall. Head of the National Commission and Shura Council President Ali bin Saleh Al-Saleh and Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al-Khalifa will then hold a joint press conference. HM King Hamad issued a Royal Order establishing The National Commission.

Newspapers editors in chief, GCC, Arab and foreign news agencies, reports and correspondents of Arab and foreign TV channels will attend the ceremony,ensuing a remarkable media coverage.

UN must listen to true Bahrainis’
20 March, 2012 – Daily ribune

United Nations officials must listen to ordinary residents in Bahrain instead of yielding to those who have subversive agendas, Akhbar Al Khaleej Editor-in-Chief Anwar Abdulrahman said.

He was part of a delegation which went to Geneva to expose the reality of the Bahraini situation. They had explained how it was unfair that UN delegations visiting Bahrain only met with the
opposition.

It is time they meet residents of the Bahraini society, which reaches today to 1.2 million, out of which a majority comes from different countries, Mr. Abdulrahman explained, addressing a press conference yesterday at the Akhbar Al Khaleej
premises.

“We asked them to meet those residents who are educated and civilised. They also have an opinion.

“Additionally, we asked them to meet Bahrainis who are involved in politics, businessmen, and even students so that they can give them a clearer picture,” he said. Other members of the delegation included Shura Council member Sameera Rajab, activists Fatima Salahuddein, Mohammed Al Najim, Marwa Al Obaidly and lawyer Nabeel Saeed.

Ms Salahuddein, meanwhile, called for Bahrainis to have a clear enough voice in airing their opinions. There’s so much of misrepresentation “because there’s a constant presence of the Opposition in the UN.”

“We as a civil community, have to do the same. Our voice should also be heard like theirs. The crisis which took place has only one voice and it is against Bahrain,” she said.

Additionally, Ms. Al Obaidly said the Bahraini youth should be prepared to face the opposition and give a truthful account of the reality. They also need to involve themselves in the political scene and receive training to speak out, according to Mr. Al Najim.

Baseless accusations
The Bahraini delegation had also participated in a forum, organised by an Islamic Iranian society based in London.

Mr. Abdulrahman recounted the insults and mistreatment they had to endure during the course of the forum. “We were surprised that this society is part of the Iranian Al Abrar Association and headed by Iranian Masoud Shad Jarah,” he said.
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