Saudi Arabia warns Iran over Gulf islands, Bahrain
02 May, 2012 – By Asma Alsharif – Reuters

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia repeated on Wednesday that it would not tolerate threats to the Gulf Arab states’ sovereignty, the latest warning to Iran after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to an island claimed by both Tehran and the United Arab Emirates.

The warning, the third in as many weeks by a member of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comes amid increased nervousness in the region over Iran.

Shi’ite-led unrest is resurgent in Bahrain a year after the ruling Al Khalifa family brought in Saudi and UAE troops to help suppress an uprising seen by Sunni Muslim Gulf rulers as sectarian in nature and driven by Shi’ite giant Iran.

“Any harm that comes across any of our countries is harm that touches us all,” Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Nayef said in a speech at a meeting of GCC interior ministers in Riyadh.

Nayef also condemned what he called Iran’s “occupation” of the island and its role in events in Bahrain.

“We stress that Saudi Arabia and the rest of the council countries are standing in a unified line with Bahrain and the UAE to protect sovereignty and stability, considering their security a part of the council’s security as a whole.”

Ahmadinejad made a rare visit on April 11 to Abu Musa, one of three Gulf islands also claimed by the UAE and located near oil shipping routes at the mouth of the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz.

Bahrain’s Formula One race last month drew fresh attention to ongoing clashes between Bahraini security forces and mostly Shi’ite protesters, although the main Shi’ite Islamist Wefaq party denies any links with Iran.
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United Arab Emirates: End Arrests; Free Political Activists – Stop Crackdown on Freedom of Expression, Association
30 April, 2012 – HRW

This wave of detentions against peaceful dissent is a telling indicator of UAE’s deepening abuses of human rights. Their latest action, against these nine men, has once again shown the UAE government’s intentions to silence anyone who peacefully expresses political opinions.
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director

(London) – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities should immediately and unconditionally release nine political activists held in the context of a widening attack on dissent, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. The government should stop threatening to revoke the citizenship of seven of them because of their political activity.

The authorities are holding the men solely on account of their affiliation with a non-violent political group and their peaceful criticism of the government, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said. The nine men belong to the Reform and Social Guidance Association (al-Islah), a non-profit organization that advocates greater adherence to Islamic precepts, which has been engaged in peaceful political debate and discussion in the UAE for many years.

“The UAE authorities need to end this wave of arbitrary arrests,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s deputy Middle East and North Africa programme director. “These men, who have not used or advocated violence, are held solely for exercising their right to freedom of opinion and expression. They are prisoners of conscience and should be released immediately and unconditionally.”

The most recent arrest was on April 20, 2012, when plainclothes officials from the UAE Amn al-Dawla (State Security) agency detained the chairman of al-Islah, Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Kayed al-Qasimi. His son, Abdullah Sultan, told Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that his 54-year-old father is being held, apparently without a detention order or charge, in the palace of the ruler of the Ras al-Khaimah emirate, who is his father’s cousin. The ruler has told family members that the basis of the detention relates to a “family matter.”

The government claimed through its official news agency in December 2011 that it had stripped six al-Islah members of their UAE citizenship. On April 9, the authorities detained the men – Dr. Ali Hussain al-Hammadi, Dr. Shahin Abdullah al-Hosni, Hussein Munif al-Jabri and his brother Hassan Munif al-Jabri, Ibrahim Hassan al-Marzouqi, and Sheikh Mohammad Abdul Razak al-Sediq – when they responded to a summons to appear at an Abu Dhabi office of the Interior Ministry. One of the lawyers for the detained men told Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that the authorities said they arrested the six for refusing to sign a pledge to seek another nationality. …more

Students at George Washington University, in Washington DC, walked out on a lecture by “Israeli” Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, on Monday night.
01 May, 2012 – moqawama.com

As Oren’s lecture “Ultimate Allies: “Israel” and the United States,” started, about 30 students raised signs, got up, and left the auditorium in silence.

Outside they were met by more protesters, holding signs reading “Oren supports colonialism,” “What are you going to do with 30 billion?” [in reference to US military aid to “Israel” over the next decade], and “What is the best way to stop terrorism? Stop committing it!”
In February 2010, a lecture Oren gave at the University of California, Irvine was disrupted by a group of student hecklers, shouting anti-“Israel” slogans.

Ten out of the 11 students were arrested in the incident, and they were later known as “Irvine 11”.
The US courts sentenced the 11 men to three years’ probation with the pretext of misdemeanors.

Since this incident, the “Israeli” ambassador lectures are periodically disrupted by protests – but these are mostly silent, at least inside the auditorium. …source

Qortbawi against using Lebanon to transfer arms to Syria
2 May, 2012 – Lebanon Now

Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi said on Wednesday that all Lebanese people reject using the country as a path to transfer arms to Syria.

“[The Lutfallah II vessel] operation is unacceptable to all Lebanese [because they] reject Lebanon be used as a path to transfer weapons to Syria,” Qortbawi told the Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio station.

The Lutfallah II was intercepted last week by the Lebanese navy off the coast of the northern city of Batroun.

Qortbawi commented on the April 4 incident when snipers targeted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea outside his Maarab residence, and said that the investigation into the matter was “confidential.”

However, he said: “The Attorney General of Mount Lebanon Claude Karam is personally taking care of [the investigation], and we cannot disclose anything.” …source

Anti-government protesters stage rally in Saudi Arabia’s east
2 May, 2012 – Shia Post

Anti-government protesters have rallied in the Qatif region of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, condemning the regime’s crackdown on peaceful demonstrators.

Calling for political reforms, the demonstrators on Wednesday once again took to the streets and condemned the authorities for arresting peaceful protesters and activists.

The rally comes in the wake of the security forces’ detaining of several people in Qatif over the past week.

The demonstrators also expressed their solidarity with prominent Egyptian rights activist and lawyer Ahmed al-Gizawi who was arrested earlier in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

Gizawi was arrested by Saudi security forces on April 17 upon arrival in Jeddah. The lawyer’s detention came without any prior notification and at a time he was in Saudi Arabia for Hajj pilgrimage.

Egypt’s Arabic Network for Human Rights Information issued a statement last month, saying Gizawi’s detention followed a sentence of one year in prison and 20 lashes delivered against him in absentia for criticism of the Saudi rulers.

Gizawi is being targeted for his activism in favor of Egyptian detainees in Saudi prisons, the statement added.

His arrest has strained relations between Riyadh and Cairo.

Saudi Arabia’s east has been the scene of anti-government protests since February 2011, with demonstrators demanding rights reforms, freedom of expression and the release of political prisoners.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also criticized the Al Saud regime for silencing dissent through intimidation and the violation of the basic rights of citizens. …more

Bahrain Reduced to “a Simple Dichotomy”
2 May, 2012 – POMED

Ed Husain penned an op-ed in the New York Times describing his experience as the guest of the Royal family in Bahrain. He describes Prince Salman bin Hamad as a “liberal’s liberal,” a western-educated reformer. He says the prince acknowledged the “dire” need to reform, but said the opposition is divided and led by pro-Iranian Shia Cleric Issa Qassim. Husain argues that instead of providing “diplomatic cover” for rioters and clerics “in the name of human rights and democracy” the U.S. should support reformers within the monarchy. Gregg Carlstrom wrote a response to Husain on the The Majlis saying that he had reduced Bahrain’s uprising to “to a simple dichotomy.” According to Carlstrom Husain’s central fallacy is presenting Qasim as a central figure in the uprising.The Arabist compares Husain’s description of the Prince as a “western-educated reformer” to similar claims made about former Arab leaders. The terms presented by Husain, reads the article, are essentially making the opposition agree to the monarchy’s terms.

A Bahraini doctor, one of 20 medics tortured into a confession, wrote an op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor expressing her fear despite the news of a “retrial” for Abudlhadi al-Khawajah, that the legal process is still being used “to deliberately deny justice.” Witness Bahrain interviewed Wafi Kamel Al-Majed, husband of imprisoned Zainab al-Khawaja, who described her conditions imprisonment, and said that the international community need not interfere in the situation, but simply cease giving support to the dictatorship “that is killing and torturing us and treating us worse than animals.” …more

Palestinian hunger strikers “close to death”
2 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Two Palestinian hunger strikers are at serious risk of death and should be immediately transferred to a civilian hospital, an independent physicians group said on Wednesday.

Bilal Thiab and Thaer Halahleh have been on hunger strike for 63 days in protest of their continued detention without trial in an Israeli jail.

A doctor from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel visited the men on Monday and concluded that Diab is at immediate risk of death while Halahleh is deteriorating rapidly.

“Both detainees suffer from acute muscle weakness in their limbs, which prevents them from standing,” the report said.

“They both suffer from an acute decrease in muscle tone and are bedridden, which puts them under dual threat: muscle atrophy and Thromobophilia, which can lead to a fatal blood clot,” it added.

The report recommended that both men be immediately transferred to a civilian hospital in order to receive adequate medical attention, a request so far refused by Israel.

The two men are held under so-called “administrative detention,” which enables Israel to detain Palestinians without charge indefinitely.

The system was highlighted earlier this year by the hunger strikes of Khader Adnan and Hana Shalabi, which led to international condemnation of Israel’s oppression.

Since beginning their hunger strike, they have been joined by about 2,000 more prisoners who began an open-ended protest on April 17.

Sahar Francis, head of the Palestinian prisoners’ rights charity Addameer, said there was little indication that Israel would reconsider their use of detention without trial.

Asked if she thought Thiab and Halahleh could die in the coming days, she said, “Unfortunately if Israel is insisting on their position that these people remain in administrative detention, then the detainees will continue in their hunger strike and we will be in a situation where I am afraid that is what will happen.”

“We could lose these two detainees or others of course, because even being 50 days in hunger strike it doesn’t mean you are still in good condition, you never know when the body could collapse,” she told Al-Akhbar. …more

A new case only prolongs al-Khawaja’s torture – Enough is enough
By Anders Jerichow – 4 May, 2012 – Politikens News

Why is it always the victim that has to be patient with his antagonist?

In the 1980s, a British prisoner in a Saudi prison was visited by his consul. The prisoner had been abused and had lost a third of his weight. His back was ruined and there had been attempts to rape him. But the consul leaned over to the prisoner and said: “Remember, we need them more than they need us”. In other words, endure your violent prison guards.

With that sort of logic, one could argue that the hunger-striking Bahraini-Danish activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja should be happy that his case is to be re-tried.

It was a military court that sentenced al-Khawaja to life – and life in Bahrain means life – in prison on June 22 last year. Now the Court of Cassation – the supreme court of appeal in Bahrain – has ruled that the case was flawed. It has to be tried again, this time in a civil court.

Should al-Khawaja be happy? He was beaten unconscious by hooded agents when he was arrested in the middle of the night. He was abused while he was in police custody. He was tortured, subjected to attempted rape, and for the past few months has only had his life as a weapon. That is why he went on the hunger strike that is close to costing him his life, while Bahrain’s royal Khalifa family has ignored the issue.

King Hamad al-Khalifa will say that the new decision is proof that Bahrain is a constitutional state that respects the rule of law.

But if the Khalifa family was just, it would say enough is enough. It is time to set free al-Khawaja. The ‘crime’ that Al-Khawaja has been sentenced for is simply that he has used his human rights – in particular his freedom of speech, his right to organise an opposition and his right to criticise his country’s establishment. And it is highly worthy of note that he has not been found guilty of violence, or for inciting others to use violence.

On the other hand his court case hitherto has been plagued with scandalous errors, and the Khalifa royals have refrained from prosecuting those of their own agents who have abused al-Khawaja.

As a result, four senior United Nations human rights rapporteurs have insisted that al-Khawaja be set free. Just as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others of the world’s largest and most respected human rights organisations have also done. Denmark, Great Britain and the United States have all urged Bahrain to end this shameful affair by letting al-Khawaja be treated in his second homeland, Denmark. …more

Saudis wouldn’t gain much from a union with Bahrain
By Una Galani – 2 May, 2012 – Reuters

Saudi Arabia’s call for Gulf nations to combine into a single entity appears to lay the ground for some kind of union with Bahrain. King Abdullah first highlighted the security issues facing the region when its leaders met in December – nine months after the kingdom sent tanks to tame a pro-democracy movement in Bahrain. Speculation is now swirling about how the relationship between the strongest and weakest members of the six-nation bloc could evolve, ahead of a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council this week.

The old idea of a Gulf union has taken on a new meaning after the Arab uprisings. Saudi Arabia hasn’t given any details on what it envisions beyond the existing cooperation on security and selected financial issues. But the six Gulf countries won’t easily set aside their political differences just to please each other. And plans for a Gulf monetary union, loosely based on the European model, appear to be stuck following the intention of the UAE and Oman to opt out.

That leaves the focus on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which already share strong links. As well as underwriting security of the island state, the house of Saud already partially bankrolls its finances. Bahrain gets roughly 150,000 barrels per day of oil from the offshore Abu Safah field, operated by Saudi Aramco under a decades old agreement. The revenues generated from its share of the field accounted for as much as 70 percent of Bahrain’s budget revenues in 2010.

A full fiscal union would help Bahrain lower its borrowing costs. Even with current Saudi support, it may run a budget deficit at four percent of GDP this year. The IMF estimates Bahrain’s gross public debt is around 40 percent of GDP. Total foreign debt is almost 15 percent. Bahrain’s gross domestic product is barely five percent of that of the two kingdoms taken together.

But a union formalising the status quo carries risks that don’t make it worthwhile. A pre-emptive move would pour fuel on the flame of the protests. It would also antagonise Iran, which once laid claim to the majority Shi’ite island. Any transfer of Saudi social austerity would also kill Bahrain’s raison d’etre among the Saudi businessmen and expatriates who escape to Manama to relax. Saudi rhetoric paves the way for a stronger union in the event that Bahrain’s regime is overwhelmed – but in that case, union would be just a name for annexation. In the meantime, the move isn’t worth the bother. …source

Bahrain: Police suppress protesters demanding the release of political prisoners
2 May 2012 – blottR

Extensive use of shotguns against protesters at Jidhaf Protest 02 May

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Jidhaf on Wednesday to demand the release of political prisoners, activists say.

Protesters chanted anti-regime slogans and were seen holding banners with the pictures of several political prisoners including al-Khawaja who has now been on hunger strike for more than 80 days.

Police forces fired a large amount of tear gas at protesters to disperse the crowd.

Twenty-one opposition activists, including hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, are to be retried after a Court of Cassation accepted their appeal, Al-Jazeera reported on Monday.

The group of men was imprisoned over their involvement in the Gulf kingdom’s uprising last year. They face charges which include “forming a terrorist group with intent to overturn the system of government.”

“The court is [ordering] that the trial take place again and that testimony from prosecution and defence witnesses be heard once more as if it is a new trial,” BNA, the country’s official news agency, said.

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike for more than 80 days, was condemned to a life sentence over his participation in last year’s uprising. The founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human rights protests his detention and has vowed to continue his hunger strike until he is released. …more

At least 20 dead after attackers storm Cairo protest
2 May, 2012 – Lebanon Now

Thugs attacked an anti-military protest near the Defense Ministry in Cairo on Wednesday and 20 people were killed, officials said, in the politically tense run-up to the first post-uprising presidential election.

The dawn assault sparked fierce clashes between the unidentified attackers and the protesters, who have been there for days calling for an end to military rule, with both sides hurling petrol bombs and rocks, the official said.

The army deployed troops in central Cairo to quell the clashes, a military source told AFP.

A security official said the army and security forces had formed a cordon between the protesters and the attackers, bringing the fighting to a halt.

A doctor at a field hospital set up in the area said 20 people had been killed and dozens injured.

Four presidential candidates announced they had temporarily suspended their campaigns over the killings.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Mursi told reporters he decided to suspend his campaign for 48 hours “in solidarity with the protesters.”

He blamed the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces because it is the ruling authority. SCAF “is the first to be responsible,” he said.

His main Islamist rival, Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, cancelled all his events for the day over the clashes, a campaign official told AFP.

Leftist candidates Khaled Ali and Hamdeen Sabbahi also announced they were suspending their campaigns.

Pro-democracy activists including the Coalition of Revolution Youth, as well as Abul Fotouh, have called for a march to Abbassiya at 5:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) to demand an end to the bloodshed in Cairo, where traffic in the center of the city had ground to a halt and created patches of grid lock across the capital.

Leading dissident Mohamed ElBaradei denounced the “massacre” outside the Ministry of Defense.
..more

Dozens of journalists, activists arrested as PA cracks down on dissent
Jillian Kestler-D’Amours – The Electronic Intifada – 1 May 2012

JERUSALEM (IPS) – The Palestinian Authority’s arrest of journalists and activists critical of its policies are threatening freedom of expression in the West Bank, according to local human rights groups.

“We monitored a new trend of arresting people and journalists and the oppression of freedom of expression,” Shawan Jabarin, director of the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq, said. “There are many people I’m sure that are afraid and will count to ten before they say anything. Maybe they’ll push people to speak underground instead of expressing their opinions freely.”

In the most recent case, the Palestinian Authority security forces summoned 23-year-old Hasan Abbadi for interrogation near his home in the West Bank village Sebastia, in the Nablus area. Abbadi, a student at An-Najah University, was accused of “creating disunity” through his political cartoons.

He spent some days in jail, before being released on 3,000 Jordanian dinars ($4,200) bail, and is currently awaiting trial.
Failure to protect freedom

“I think they’re using different words here and there, just to undermine these people in the eyes of the public and to say that they are creating trouble and creating divisions. It’s a political judgement more than [anything] illegal,” said Jabarin.

Jabarin said most charges leveled against Palestinian journalists are based on the Jordanian Penal Code, dating back to 1960. Palestinian attorney general Ahmad al-Maghni has failed to protect Palestinian freedoms in the West Bank and should be held responsible for the arrests, he added.

“Al-Maghni’s role is to protect the freedoms and the rights of the people in the face of arbitrary detention, instead of arresting people. Here, we see him acting quickly and exaggerating with all of these [charges]. And at the same time, he’s closing his ears and his eyes on the crimes going on,” Jabarin said.

“He is not taking into his mind that the law that he is using was approved in 1960 and these days, we are in 2012 and the main principle now in all the world is freedom of expression.” …more