Report exclusively obtained by Al Jazeera says 23-year-old had been electrically tortured before drowning in January.

Autopsy finds torture behind Bahrain drowning
Matthew Cassel – 18 May, 2012 – Al Jazeera

On most mornings Yousef Mowali would leave his home near Bahrain’s international airport to go for a stroll. The 23-year-old had been diagnosed with schizophrenia a few years earlier and liked walking, both for exercising and relaxing.

On January 11, Mowali left for his morning walk and never returned.

Police said they found Mowali’s body floating in the water on January 13 in the Amwaj area, not far from his family’s home in Muharraq. A state doctor reported the cause of death as drowning and ruled out signs of violence.

However, Al Jazeera has exclusively obtained a report from a second autopsy performed by an independent forensic pathologist that concludes Mowali was electrically tortured and unconscious when he drowned.

If true, Mowali’s death would be the first of a person in police custody since the government promised reforms, following the release of a report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), which looked at the early months of unrest surrounding last year’s pro-democracy uprising.

The government-sponsored commission found that Bahrain’s Interior Ministry and national security agency employed “a systematic practice of physical and psychological mistreatment, which in many cases amounted to torture” during the early months of the crackdown in 2011.

BICI also reported five deaths as a result of police torture. Mowali’s death could be the sixth – and an indication that the mistreatment of prisoners in Bahrain has not stopped, despite the government’s promises. …more

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Victim of Bahrain Security Forces Shotgun Blast

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Broadly, ammunition for shotguns is referred to as “shot,” and consists of pellets of a certain material inside a cartridge. Bahrain Watch has observed two sizes of metallic birdshot in Bahrain: #2 birdshot (pellet diameter of about 3.8mm), and #8 birdshot (pellet diameter of about 2.2mm).

Bahrain’s top cartridge: Victory Starlight by G&L Calibers Ltd. (Cyprus):

The most popular shotgun shell being used by Bahrain’s Secuirty Forces is the Victory Starlight, a product of Cyprus G&L Calibers Ltd; The shell is identifiable by the word “STARLIGHT” in all-caps, shaped semi-circularly over the marking “32gr”, indicating a load weight of 32 grams,. To the right, a large “8” (shot size) is located above a vertical line, broken by the marking “70” (shell length). The shell metallic headstamp reads “Victory 12″.

Birdshot from UK manufacturer Gamebore(US Owned) has also been seen in Bahrain. The shell can be identified by the presence of the Gamebore logo, followed by “67mm” (length of the shell), and “8 – 32gms,” where the 8 is shot size and a load weight of 32 grams. The Gamebore cartridge has been observed in use for #2 and #8 shot sizes.

Bahrain: Bloody Night and Health Care for the Demonstrators in a Crisis
18 May, 2012 – Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights expresses (BYSHR) its deep concern after the riot police using birdshot in all the villages in Bahrain to suppress the protests.

According to information of BYSHR, More than 20 injured were treated at home last night (17 May)

Many pro-democracy demonstrators refuse to be treated in the hospital for fear of arrest and ill-treatment.

In other cases of use the birdshot against the demonstrators, Bahraini authorities arrested Mr.Ahmed Aoun – Injured by birdshot – from a private hospital in Bahrain after he was waiting there for surgery on his eye due to his injury by riot police.

According to Aoun’s family, he still needs urgent surgery.

The BYSHR stresses that health care, especially for pro-democracy demonstrators in a crisis.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) demanding the authorities to allow pro-democracy demonstrators access to health care without being subjected to legal prosecution. …more

Kuwait Speaker urges democracy before Gulf union Advanced form of union inevitable
17 May,2012 – Arab Times

KUWAIT CITY, May 17, (AFP): Gulf monarchies must respect human rights, freedom of expression and allow for popular participation before turning the six-nation council into a union, Kuwait’s parliament speaker said on Thursday.

“It is inevitable that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states will have no choice but to improve their relations to an advanced form of a union,” Ahmad al-Saadun said on his Twitter account.

This will make the member states “capable of confronting potential challenges targeting their interests, security and even their very existence,” Saadun said. But he insisted that all member countries of the proposed union must have similar regimes that are open to their people and respect human rights and freedoms.

This should include “freedom of expression and the right of popular participation in decision-making which we hope will be achieved in all GCC states shortly so the union can be established under its umbrella,” the veteran opposition figure said.

The GCC consists of Bahrain and Kuwait, the only two states with elected parliaments, in addition to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar, which have appointed or partially-elected assemblies.
Gulf leaders agreed on Monday to allow more time for further discussions over a Saudi proposal to turn the GCC into a union likely to start with the kingdom and unrest-hit Bahrain.

The union was first floated by Saudi King Abdullah in December. Bahrain’s state minister for information, Samira Rajab, said it could follow the “European Union model.”

The GCC was formed in 1981 when the Sunni-dominated monarchies of the Gulf aimed to bolster security after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran which was followed by an eight-year war between Baghdad and Tehran. …more

Denied no longer, US officials admit US-Saudi cash & logistical support arming terrorists in Syria.

US Officially Arming Extremists in Syria
by Tony Cartalucci – 16 May, 2012 – The Land Destroyer

May 16, 2012 – Recently reported in “Brookings Announces Next Move in Syria: War,” it was stated that “by the US policy think-tank Brookings Institution’s own admission, the Kofi Annan six-point peace plan in Syria was merely a ploy to buy time to reorganize NATO’s ineffective terrorist proxies and provide them the pretext necessary for establishing NATO protected safe havens from which to carry out their terrorism from.” It was also examined in detail, how in 2007, US, Saudi, and Israeli officials admitted they were creating a militant front of extremists for the sole purpose of causing the destabilization of Syria we see today, and ultimately overthrowing the Syrian government. It was noted how these extremist militants had direct ties to Al Qaeda.

Now it is fully admitted that weapons, cash, and logistical support is indeed being provided to terrorist forces in Syria by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other Gulf States. This, despite a current UN ceasefire the West has continuously berated the Syrian government for violating, indicates that indeed reorganizing, rearming, and redeploying NATO’s terrorist proxies is complete, and another round of destructive violence has begun.

In the Washington Post’s article, “Syrian rebels get influx of arms with gulf neighbors’ money, U.S. coordination,” not only is this admitted, but claims made by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have been confirmed that Syria’s historically violent Muslim Brotherhood, stated in 2007 by Seymour Hersh as being a direct proxy of US-Saudi-Israeli funding and support, is also directly arming and funding contingents of extremists committing acts of terror across Syria.

Areas across Syria that have until now been portrayed as centers for “pro-democracy” protests, racked by violence depicted as “repression” by Syrian troops, are now admitted by the Washington Post to be areas where “material is being stockpiled.” This includes the flashpoint city of Idlib on the Turkish-Syrian border, in the suburbs of Damascus, and along Syria’s border with Lebanon. And again, in 2007, Seymour Hersh revealed that the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia had planned to array extremists along Syria’s border to commit the very violence now being admitted by the Post today. …more

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UN to investigate Libya mercenaries
18 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

UN human rights experts say they will visit Libya next week to examine the use of mercenaries to fight the uprising that eventually brought down Muammar Gaddafi’s four-decade dictatorship.

Faiza Patel, head of the UN Human Rights Council panel, says it also aims to collect “direct and first-hand information” on private companies offering military aid, consultants and security to Gadhafi’s regime.

Patel and another expert said on Friday they will spend four days in Libya at the invitation of the government, which claims to have evidence linking Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, to the supervision and planning of the recruitment of mercenaries in the civil war that ended the regime.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor said in April that Libya also claims to have evidence linking Gaddafi’s son to executions. …more

Bahrain: A Hot Potato Across The Persian Gulf
By: Shahira Salloum – 18 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Fifteen months into their uprising, Bahrainis balk at both the proposed union with Riyadh and statements reviving the Iranian claim to their country.

Tensions are running high between the two coasts of the Persian Gulf.

The war of words pitting Saudi Arabia and Bahrain against Iran may be part of a regional struggle that is essentially over Syria rather than Bahrain. But Bahrain is its current focus, and it is the Bahraini people who are being made to pay the price.

The escalation was triggered by the announcement of Saudi Arabia’s plans to merge with Bahrain under the guise of forming a Gulf union, and fuelled by Iranian statements that were made in response.

Some of these went as far as reviving Iran’s former claim to Bahrain.

The conservative newspaper Kayhan, which is seen as speaking for supreme leader Ali Khamenei, ran an editorial Tuesday which maintained that “the Islamic Republic, as guarantor of the safety and territorial integrity of Iran, reserves the right to want the return of a separated province to the Islamic homeland.” It claimed that “the Bahrainis consider themselves to be Iranians, and reports indicate that they are eager to return to Iran.”

The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, had earlier remarked that if Bahrain were to unite with any other country, it should be with Iran and not Saudi Arabia.

Tensions with Iran have also been used by the Bahraini authorities to justify cracking down harder on the opposition.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Propagation Coordination Council urged Iranians to hold demonstrations in protest at “the American plan to annex Bahrain to Saudi Arabia.”

This followed a statement by a group of Iranian MPs warning the Saudis that the anti-regime protests in Bahrain would extend to their territory if it the proposed union was set up.

The foreign ministry’s spokesman, Ramin Mahmanbarast, was more diplomatic, remarking that “the solution to the crisis in Bahrain lies in fulfilling the legitimate demands of the people.”

Such statements provoked a flurry of angry Saudi, Bahraini and Gulf responses.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal had warned Iran — at the conclusion of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Riyadh at which the planned union was discussed – that “it has no business, whatsoever, in what happens between the two countries, even if extends to union.”

The Bahraini government for its part summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires to protest against his country’s “brazen interference” in its affairs.

It also upped the ante that by signalling that although no proclamation of the union with Saudi Arabia was made at the Riyadh gathering, one would be forthcoming ahead of the GCC’s next regular annual summit due to be held in Manama in December. The Bahraini king’s media advisor, Nabil al-Hamar, tweeted what he termed the “good news” that it would be formally established at special GCC summit to be convened in the Saudi capital.

Tensions with Iran have also been used by the Bahraini authorities to justify cracking down harder on the opposition. On Wednesday they published a list of 20 people they said were wanted for committing “terrorist crimes” against the security forces. The harassment and arrest of opposition activists has also been stepped up.

But how do the Bahraini people feel about Riyadh or Tehran’s perceived designs on their country? The responses of prominent Bahrainis quizzed by Al-Akhbar about the proposed union with Saudi Arabia and the Iranian reaction varied.

Liberal opposition activist Munira Fakhro drew a distinction between theory and practice as far as the former prospect is concerned. …more

No Investigation into Past Misuse of US-origin Helicopters, Armored Vehicles, and Rifles
US PRESSES AHEAD WITH ARMS SALE DESPITE ONGOING VIOLATIONS
16 May, 2012 – Bahrain Watch

[Manama] On 11 May 2012, the US State Department announced it would proceed with an arms sale to Bahrain. The sale is reported to include patrol boats, air defense systems, fighter jet parts, and night-vision equipment. The sale also includes refurbishment for Bahrain’s fleet of Cobra helicopters. The Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) opened fired on protesters from Cobra helicopters last year.

Arms sales to Bahrain’s Government are problematic, as the Government has failed to address continuing human rights violations and implement promised reforms. Bahrain Watch’s Government Inaction project details the Government’s continuing noncompliance with most of the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI).

Bahrain Watch has also documented the deployment and use of various US-origin weapons over the past year by both the police and BDF. US law limits the permitted uses of certain US-origin weapons, and requires that buyers submit to investigation, including on-site inspection, to verify compliance. Bahrain Watch believes that misuse of US-origin weapons in Bahrain may have been responsible for at least three deaths and numerous injuries. The US Government has not announced any investigation or on-site inspection relating to the misuse of US-origin weapons in Bahrain.

Details are included below about US-origin weapons that were deployed or used against protesters in possible violation of their permitted uses. Given the evidence presented, Bahrain Watch believes that the US Government should conduct an investigation to understand whether Bahrain has broken its obligations to the US before continuing with any arms sale. …more

Protesters join biggest demo in Syria’s Aleppo: activists
18 May, 2012 – Agence France Presse – The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Protesters took to the streets on Friday for the biggest demonstration in the Syrian city of Aleppo since the uprising against Bashar Assad’s regime began 15 months ago, monitors said.

“These are the most important events in Aleppo since the beginning of the revolt. Thousands of people demonstrated in various districts despite the repression,” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.

He said the tens of thousands of protesters on the streets across the country, are “the largest gatherings since the ceasefire went into effect” on April 12.
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