Bahrain police officer to face trial for torturing reporter
24 May, 2012 – Lebanon Now

A Bahrain police officer charged with torturing a female journalist during last year’s crackdown on anti-government protests will go on trial next month, the prosecution said on Thursday.

The officer who was not named was accused of torturing the Bahraini correspondent of France 24 and Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya, Nazeeha Saeed, when she was arrested on May 22 last year, according to a statement.

The prosecution “has referred the case to the high criminal court because the defendant is a public servant in the Ministry of Interior and has used force against the victim to make her confess to a crime,” it said.

“She beat her and caused her the harm described in a medical report,” the statement added.

The officer was charged of “attacking the body” of Saeed, by “slapping her, beating her with a plastic tubing, kicking her in all parts of her body, in addition to insulting her,” the statement said.

The first hearing has been set for June 6.

Saeed, who covered last year’s month-long demonstrations and a deadly crackdown on the Shia-dominated protests, was summoned by police on May 22 last year, without any idea of what awaited her, said media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

Saeed claimed she was badly beaten and humiliated by several police officers after she was accused of lying in her reports. She was released after midnight, and days later the Interior Ministry announced proceedings against those responsible for her mistreatment.

An international probe commissioned by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa accused police of using excessive force and torture in its clampdown on protests that broke out on February 14 last year.

Amnesty International estimates that 60 people have been killed since then.
…source

Looks like Royal Horseshit to me; Its basically another part of a horrible failed and easily manipulated system that uses ‘Harvard Business School’ methodologies as a means to ‘implementation’ and ‘certification’ of Human Rights compliance. In support of a system of lies that leverages ‘Human Rights’ as a tool to support ‘wicked’ agendas for profiteering from arms sales and securing ‘cheap oil’ at the expense of the suffering of people subject to the tyranny partnerships of greed and exploitation. Phlipn.

Human Rights Council
Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Thirteenth Session
Geneva, 21 May–4 June 2012
Draft report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review
Bahrain

Excerpted
Summary of the proceedings of the review process

A. Presentation by the State under review

5. The Head of delegation expressed Bahrain’s appreciation to the Council and to the
international organizations of the United Nations for the support provided to the Kingdom,
especially thanked the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, for the program
on the Universal Periodic Review during the past four years, which contributed effectively
to enhance the capacity of the concerned authorities regarding the implementation of
commitments and recommendations of the UPR, and hoped to continue this fruitful
cooperation and support in the future.

6. Bahrain reminded that it is the first member state in the Human Rights Council to
undergo the periodical review in 2008. Having 565 NGOs as in early 2012, Bahrain
reviewed the current second report including achievements realized with partnership of all
concerned entities including governmental, non-governmental organizations as well as the
activists from civil society.

7. The delegation stated that the past four years were full of events and developments
that much was documented in the advancement of human rights at various levels, and the
Kingdom does not pretend to be perfect and free from some of the obstacles that hinder the
implementation of the recommendations and commitments, but with determination and will
of honest work Bahrain will overcome these constraints.
A/HRC/WG.6/13/L.4
4

8. Major achievements have been reviewed during the past 4 years, starting with
education. Bahrain pays full attention to this sector, commits and provides educational and
cultural services to citizens as a right, prescribed in its constitution and education law.
Education For All Global Monitoring Report for 2011 showed that Bahrain is among states
of high performance achieving the EFA’s goals.

9. The delegation informed of the National Strategic Plan for Human Rights Education
that was reviewed based on the commitment in 2008, and a plan was developed to
encourage a human rights culture. A special subject on human rights has been included in
the citizenship course for all classes at different levels of education.

10. The delegation stated that the constitution of Bahrain provided for the right of all
citizens to enjoy equal health standards, without discrimination. In support to such right, the
Ministry of Health prepared developmental programs and plans in collaboration with the
World Health Organization and the government bears the full expenses of treatment
whenever it is inaccessible locally.

11. The delegation stated that Bahrain women have assumed leading positions and
proactive steps have been taken to involve them in activities alongside men. Bahraini
women are being empowered to be further involved in decision-making, leading and
ministerial positions, as well as in the private sector, civil society institutions and political
associations. The establishment of the Supreme Council for Women in Bahrain is a
milestone in the process of women empowerment. The Council is in process of studying the
removal of reservations on the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women or amend them so as to be consistent with national legislation and laws
while preserving the sovereignty of the state.

12. In respect of the nationality, the delegation informed of the discussions currently
underway on proposed amendments to the nationality law, in order to grant Bahraini
nationality to children of Bahraini women who are married to a non-Bahraini husbands,
…more

Saudi king warns of Lebanon civil war
24 May 2012 – By Andrew Roscoe – MEED

King Abdullah sent letter to Lebanon’s president highlighting concerns over increasing sectarian violence in Lebanon

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud has said he is “deeply concerned” about the increasing sectarian violence in Lebanon and has warned of the potential threat of civil war in the Levant country.

Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Saudi state news agency, reported that King Abdullah had said in a letter to Lebanon’s President Michel Sulaiman that “Saudi Arabia is deeply concerned and is following up on the recent developments of Tripoli events, especially the targeting of a main sect in the country’s social fabric.”

The letter was referring to the murder of a Lebanese Sunni cleric who opposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on 20 May in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli.

“Due to the gravity of the crisis and the possibility of it causing sectarian strife in Lebanon and putting it back in the shadow of the civil war, we are looking at your … attempts to … end the crisis … and keeping Lebanon away from foreign struggles especially with the Syrian crisis nearby,” the letter from King Abdullah to Lebanon’s president reportedly said.

…source

Democracy Is Not Freedom
24 May 2012 – MWC News – Jacob G. Hornberger

One of the ostensible goals of U.S. foreign policy is to spread democracy. Of course, the reality is the exact opposite. The U.S. Empire is one of the greatest lovers of nonelected dictatorships in the world, as manifested by its ardent support of such dictatorships as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Chile (under Pinochet), Guatemala (after ousting Arbenz), Iran (after ousting Mossadegh), Pakistan (under Musharraf), Yemen, Bahrain, and many others.

But the irony is that even if the U.S. Empire was the greatest democracy-spreader in the world, it still wouldn’t necessarily be spreading freedom by spreading democracy. The reason is a simple one: Democracy is not freedom.

In fact, as Ludwig von Mises pointed out, the only real advantage to democracy is that it enables people to peacefully change the administration of government.

Consider Syria, whose government is dictatorial in nature. Since Syria isn’t a democracy, the citizenry have but one way to oust the regime from power: violence — i.e., revolution.

But does a democratic system necessarily constitute a free society?

Absolutely not! A free society does not turn on whether people can peacefully change public officials. It instead turns on the extent of powers wielded by public officials, whether they are democratically elected or not.

Suppose people are living in a democratic society. Suppose also that whoever is elected president has the powers to force people to go to church, punish people for criticizing the government, confiscate weapons, and arrest, torture, and jail people for as long as he wants without a trial.

Would anybody consider that a free society, notwithstanding the fact that the president has been democratically elected? I think everyone would agree that that society is as far from being free as one could ever imagine.

It is not a coincidence that the word democracy is not mentioned one single time in the Constitution. The Framers understood that democratic regimes can be just as tyrannical as non-democratic regimes. Again, freedom turns on the powers that are wielded by public officials, whether they are democratically elected or not.

The Framers also understood that freedom is one of the natural, God-given rights with which all people have been endowed. Such rights preexist government. As Thomas Jefferson observed in the Declaration of Independence, people call government into existence with the aim of protecting the exercise of people’s rights.

The problem, as Jefferson also observed, is that the natural propensity of governments, including democratically elected ones, is to infringe, suspend, and abridge the very rights that the government was called into existence to protect.

Thus, while the Constitution called the federal government into existence with the aim of protecting people’s fundamental rights, it simultaneously limited the powers of the federal government to the few powers enumerated in the document.

Immediately after the enactment of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights was enacted. It made it clear that the federal government was prohibited from abridging people’s natural, God-given rights. It also outlined the judicial procedures that had to be followed before the federal government could punish people with arrest, torture, incarceration, or execution.

Thus, while the United States was established as a system in which people could peacefully oust public officials from office and replace them with others, our ancestors understood that that wasn’t sufficient to establish a free society. A free society necessarily involved severe restrictions on the powers that democratically elected federal officials would be permitted to wield.

Of course, it’s no surprise that U.S. officials try their best to convince Americans that democracy is freedom. If Americans are convinced that democracy is freedom, then they’ll be satisfied with the fact that there is an electoral process. They might even participate in it by voting, making them feel even more free. The idea is that Americans will look on the United States as a free country because there are elections, even as public officials assume the power to seize people, torture them, incarcerate them indefinitely without trial, or execute them with a kangaroo tribunal rather than after a legitimate jury trial — i.e., the same powers wielded by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, Cuba, and other non-democratic dictatorships around the world. …source

Iranian navy “saves US ship from pirates”
24 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Iran’s navy said on Thursday it saved an American-flagged cargo ship that was being attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Oman.

An Iranian warship responded to a distress signal from the US-flagged Maersk Texas, a cargo ship of 150 meters and 14,000 tonnes, which was besieged by “several pirate boats,” the navy said in a statement reported by the official IRNA news agency.

The cargo vessel “was saved by the navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran” on Wednesday, IRNA added.

The pirates “fled the scene as soon as they spotted the presence” of the warship. Maersk Texas “thanked the Iranian navy and sailed towards its destination safely,” it added.

It was the first time the Iranian navy protected a US ship from pirates.

Maersk Line told AFP that its vessel, Maersk Texas, had “thwarted an attack by multiple pirate skiffs at noon local while transiting the Gulf of Oman, northeast of Fujairah” but denied it had been helped by the Iranian navy.

“Maersk Texas heard from the Iranian navy over radio to the initial distress call, but our vessel received no assistance from the Iranian navy,” spokesman Kevin Steers said in an email sent to AFP in Washington.

“All hands onboard are safe and unharmed, and the vessel is proceeding on its voyage,” he added.

Iran’s navy keeps a presence in Gulf of Oman to protect cargo ships and transiting oil tankers and also defend the country against potential threats. …more

Iran and world powers agree to further talks
24 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Iran and world powers will meet in Moscow on June 18-19 to hold further talks to try solve a long-standing dispute about an Iranian nuclear energy program, European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Thursday.

Speaking after two days of discussions in the Iraqi capital between envoys from Iran and six leading powers to try to defuse Western fears of a covert Iranian effort to develop nuclear bombs, Ashton said it was clear both sides wanted progress and had some common ground but they also had significant differences.

“We have met with our Iranian counterparts over the last two days in very intense and detailed discussions,” Ashton said, representing six world powers at the talks in Baghdad.

She added that it was “clear that we both want to make progress, and that there is some common ground. However, significant differences remain.”

Iran’s chief negotiator stressed that Iran maintained the right to continue to enrich uranium and had made that point clear during the negotiations.

“Of the main topics in using peaceful nuclear, energy is the topic of having the nuclear fuel cycle and enrichment. We emphasise this right. This is an undeniable right of the Iranian nation…especially the right to enrich uranium,” Saeed Jalili said during a televised news conference after talks ended. …source

Iran Says Need for Democracy in Bahrain Discussed in Baghdad
By Robert Tuttle and Nayla Razzouk – 24 May, 2012 – Bloomberg

Iran stressed the need for democracy in Bahrain during talks with world powers in Baghdad over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili said at a press conference in the Iraqi capital. …source

Bahrain jails activist Zainab al-Khawaja over protest
24 March, 2102 – Shia Post

The Bahraini regime has handed a one-month jail term to rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja for participating in an anti-government protest last month.

A Bahraini court on Thursday announced the jail term for Khawaja, accusing her of “using force against a policewoman and insulting her as forces of order tried to disperse an unauthorized rally” on April 21, Lebanon’s Daily Star reported.

Khawaja is also accused of obstructing traffic on the same day by blocking a main road in the capital, Manama.

She was arrested one day before the Formula One Grand Prix in Manama while sitting peacefully in the middle of a main road leading to the Bahrain International Circuit.

The female activist was demanding the cancellation of the race and an end to the Saudi-backed crackdown on popular protests.

Zainab has been arrested several times for organizing protests demanding the release of her father, prominent activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on a hunger strike since February.

On Tuesday, a court adjourned to May 27 another case against Zainab al-Khawaja in which she is charged with holding a rally along with another woman in December in the middle of a roundabout on the flashpoint Budaiya Highway, outside Manama.

Another court also fined her 200 dinars (USD 530) on Monday for insulting a police officer.

…more