Glenn Greenwald replies to CNN’s attempt to discredit story about compromised Bahrain coverage

By Cory Doctorow – 7 Septemeber, 2012 – boingboing

Yesterday, I blogged Glenn Greenwald’s Guardian story about CNN suppressing its own award-winning documentary on human rights abuses in Bahrain, which Greenwald linked to CNNi’s commercial relationship with the ruling Bahraini regime. I was quickly contacted by two different PR flacks from CNN with a list of small, picky points it disputed about Greenwald’s article, presented as though this constituted a thorough rebuttal. I immediately noticed that CNN’s reps didn’t dispute that the company had threatened to cut off Amber Lyon’s severance payment if she continued to speak out on the issue, so I asked about it.

CNN’s reps both told me they couldn’t comment on “individual employees,” which is awfully convenient. How nice for them that they can prepare and circulate a dossier that disconfirms minor elements of its critics’ stories, but that it has some nebulous confidentiality code that prevents it from confirming the most damning claims made by those critics. Given that Lyon is no longer a CNN employee, and that she has divulged this threat, this feels more like an excuse than a reason. I certainly hope that CNN’s own investigative journalists wouldn’t accept such a pat evasion from the PR flacks that contact them.

Glenn Greenwald has published a thorough rebuttal to CNN’s memo:

In sum, CNNi’s response does not deny, or even acknowledge, the crux of the reporting, and simply ignores the vast bulk of the facts revealed about its coverage of, and relationship with, the regime in Bahrain. Indeed, one searches its response in vain for any explanation to the central question which New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof asked nine months ago:

Glenn Replies to CNNi HERE

Maryam al-Khawaja: “We had expected the verdicts”
8 Septemebr, 2012 – DW

Several members of the opposition in Bahrain have been given long-term prison sentences. Human rights activist Maryam al-Khawaja criticizes the verdicts.

Deutsche Welle: Mrs al-Khawaja, the verdicts passed against the human rights activists are extremely severe. They range from 5-year prison sentences to life imprisonment. The defendants were indicted among other crimes for ‘forming terror groups’. Are you surprised by the sentences?

Maryam al-Khawaja: We had expected them, and so we weren’t shocked. The sentences don’t mirror the state of the legal system in Bahrain because we all know it’s not independent anyway. But what the sentences do mirror is the increasing confidence of the regime. The reason is that the international community remains passive and so there are no consequences regarding human rights violations.

Why do you think there is no international pressure?

Bahrain is a very important country – both geopolitically and economically. In addition, it has very close ties to Saudi Arabia. Both states try to prevent international pressure regarding human rights violations.

Does this concern the entire international community, or are there different positions in different regions?

What we’re seeing is that the EU has a relatively high potential to influence the situation in Bahrain, whereas the United States has clear-cut interests in the country. Many Bahraini human rights activists are comparing the US position to Bahrain with that of Russia regarding Syria. We’re seeing that US interests are standing in the way of pressure against the government of Bahrain. And so, if you are expecting countries to exert pressure, you’d have to look at countries like Denmark, Norway, Switzerland – or South Africa.

The appeal process which just ended was not held before a military tribunal but before a civil court. What’s your assessment?

The proceedings provide a vivid example for the fact that the regime uses the judiciary as an instrument to prosecute its citizens. That’s why it doesn’t matter whether it was a civil court or a military tribunal. The decisions will always be made by the same people.

There have been accusations that the use of torture is widespread in Bahrain’s prisons. What do you know about that?

Several defendants have reported that they have been abused physically, psychologically and sexually. Individual reports may differ. But many of the accused have read out statements in the court rooms in which they describe the torture they were subject to in the prisons. Unfortunately, this has not led to any further investigation.

How does the opposition movement in Bahrain assess the verdict? Has it helped intimidate them?

I can’t speak for the opposition movement because I’m not a member myself. But initially, the Bahraini opposition movements didn’t demand the release of political prisoners. At the beginning, they only demanded that human rights be respected, that they be institutionalized and that the government appoint a human rights ombudsman. The verdicts that have just been passed don’t stop the opposition. They are now calling for political prisoners to be released. But even if all the sentenced people were released there would still be demonstrations and protests.

The government of Bahrain claims it has already started reforms in the area of politics and human rights. How do you explain this statement?

The regime has indeed taken a few steps, in compliance with the Bassiouni report that was published in November last year. But we’ve observed that most of the human dignity violations that are mentioned in the report are still being committed. You can say that the recommendations have only been implemented superficially. The main result of the implementation would have been to stop human rights violations altogether. But as long as they happen on a daily basis we can only speak of superficial changes.

Maryam al-Khawaja is Vice President of the “Bahrain Center for Human Rights”. …source

Saudi campaigner Mohammad al-Qahtani goes on trial
BBC – 8 September, 2012

Prominent human rights activist Mohammad al-Qahtani has gone on trial in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Qahtani, an economics professor, faces nine charges, including setting up an unlicensed organisation and breaking allegiance to the king.

Another rights campaigner, Abdullah al-Hamid, also appeared in court.

Human rights groups say political activists are regularly jailed for their work in Saudi Arabia, some without access to lawyers.

Mr Qahtani, a co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), is one of several Saudi human rights activists who are being tried on similar charges.

If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

Mr Hamid, who is also on trial, is another founder of ACPRA.

The BBC’s Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says supporters and relatives of Mr Qahtani and Mr Hamed were allowed into the courtroom but were later ordered to leave by the judge.

During the hearing, they were using Twitter to report on proceedings, giving the opening of the trial a measure of transparency that is unusual in Saudi Arabia, he says.

Mr Qahtani said he was told by the court to issue a new written response to his charges by Monday.

Speaking afterwards to the BBC, he said: “We have been doing our work for several years. The authorities kept quiet for a long time, but now they are coming after us hard. We are not going to be silent. We will continue to do our work.”

Amnesty International says Mr Qahtani faces other charges which include inciting public opinion by accusing authorities of human rights abuses, and turning international organisations against the country.

In April, rights activist Mohammed al-Bajadi received a four-year jail sentence, in what Amnesty said demonstrated “a blatant disregard for his fundamental rights”.

Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry has said there are no political prisoners in the kingdom. …more

Bahrainis Demand Downfall of Al-Khalifa Regime

FARS- 8 September, 2012

TEHRAN (FNA)- Bahraini protestors on Friday continued rallies in the capital and other cities across the island, demanding the overthrow of the Saudi-backed Al Khalifa dictatorial regime.

The Bahraini protesters chanted slogans like “al-Salmiyah(peacefulness)” to show the peaceful nature of their rallies but the al-Khalifa forces attacked demonstrators and arrested a number of them.

Other cities, including Sanabis and Karzakan, also witnessed huge rallies against the al-Khalifa regime.

Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling for an end to the Al Khalifa dynasty’s over-40-year rule.

Violence against the defenseless people escalated after a Saudi-led conglomerate of police, security and military forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar – were dispatched to the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom on March 13, 2011, to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors.

So far, tens of people have been killed, hundreds have gone missing and thousands of others have been injured.

Police clampdown on protesters continues daily. Authorities have tried to stop organized protests by opposition parties over the past month by refusing to license them and using tear gas on those who turn up.

The opposition coalition wants full powers for the elected parliament and a cabinet fully answerable to parliament.

…Photo and Video Coverage of Protest Courtesy FARS HERE

EU preparing for new Iran sanctions
8 September, 2012 – Al Akhbar

European Union nations waved the threat of new international sanctions against Iran over its contested nuclear drive Saturday, as Russia complained such measures harm its interests.

With frustration mounting over the lack of progress in talks between global powers and Iran, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Tehran has made no “substantial offer” to reassure the world of its nuclear intentions.

“Therefore we must prepare new sanctions,” he told journalists at the close of two days of informal talks among EU foreign ministers, their first since the summer break.

“Atomic weapons in Iran are not acceptable,” Westerwelle added.

Iran had a right to nuclear energy for civilian purposes, said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, but “we consider unacceptable, highly dangerous, the prospect of Iran possessing nuclear weapons.”

There was “a growing consensus” at the talks to slap new punitive measures against Iran failing a breakthrough in negotiations, ministers said.

Russia said this week that no evidence of Iranian plans to develop nuclear weapons exist.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said existing sanctions were having “a serious impact” and that it was “necessary to increase the pressure on Iran, to intensify sanctions, to add further to the EU sanctions.”

Iran has seen a 50 percent cut in state revenues from the oil sector and faces dire storage problems because it cannot sell, a diplomatic source said.

The calls came just as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov grumbled that US sanctions on Syria and Iran were harming Russian business interests because they were “increasingly becoming extra-territorial in nature.”

He said Russian banks were particularly being affected.

But Russia has stirred Western and Arab world anger by vetoing three UN Security Council resolutions to sanction Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and some EU ministers showed little sympathy for the stance.

“If Mr Lavrov wants to avoid sanctions it would be simpler to take part in a political consensus at the Security Council,” said Belgium’s Foreign Minister Didier Reynders.

“If he criticizes the sanctions because they affect the economy, we should also, we Italians, and we Europeans, be the first to criticise the sanctions,” said Giulio Terzi, Italy’s foreign minister. …more

Iraq’s Shocking Human Toll: 1 million killed, 4.5 million displaced, 1-2 million widows, 5 million orphans
8 Septemebr, 2012 – ShiaPost

We are now able to estimate the number of Iraqis who have died in the war instigated by the Bush administration. Looking at the empirical evidence of Bush’s war legacy will put his claims of victory in perspective. Of course, even by his standards — “stability” — the jury is out. Most independent analysts would say it’s too soon to judge the political outcome. Nearly six years after the invasion, the country remains riven by sectarian politics and major unresolved issues, like the status of Kirkuk.

We have a better grasp of the human costs of the war. For example, the United Nations estimates that there are about 4.5 million displaced Iraqis — more than half of them refugees — or about one in every six citizens. Only 5 percent have chosen to return to their homes over the past year, a period of reduced violence from the high levels of 2005-07. The availability of healthcare, clean water, functioning schools, jobs and so forth remains elusive. According to Unicef, many provinces report that less than 40 percent of households have access to clean water. More than 40 percent of children in Basra, and more than 70 percent in Baghdad, cannot attend school.

The mortality caused by the war is also high. Several household surveys were conducted between 2004 and 2007. While there are differences among them, the range suggests a congruence of estimates. But none have been conducted for eighteen months, and the two most reliable surveys were completed in mid-2006. The higher of those found 650,000 “excess deaths” (mortality attributable to war); the other yielded 400,000. The war remained ferocious for twelve to fifteen months after those surveys were finished and then began to subside. Iraq Body Count, a London NGO that uses English-language press reports from Iraq to count civilian deaths, provides a means to update the 2006 estimates. While it is known to be an undercount, because press reports are incomplete and Baghdad-centric, IBC nonetheless provides useful trends, which are striking. Its estimates are nearing 100,000, more than double its June 2006 figure of 45,000. (It does not count nonviolent excess deaths — from health emergencies, for example — or insurgent deaths.) If this is an acceptable marker, a plausible estimate of total deaths can be calculated by doubling the totals of the 2006 household surveys, which used a much more reliable and sophisticated method for estimates that draws on long experience in epidemiology. So we have, at present, between 800,000 and 1.3 million “excess deaths” as we approach the six-year anniversary of this war.

This gruesome figure makes sense when reading of claims by Iraqi officials that there are 1-2 million war widows and 5 million orphans. This constitutes direct empirical evidence of total excess mortality and indirect, though confirming, evidence of the displaced and the bereaved and of general insecurity. The overall figures are stunning: 4.5 million displaced, 1-2 million widows, 5 million orphans, about 1 million dead — in one way or another, affecting nearly one in two Iraqis.

By any sensible measure, it would be difficult to describe this as a victory of any kind. It speaks volumes about the repair work we must do for Iraqis, and it should caution us against the savage wars we are prone to. Now that Bush is gone, perhaps the United States can honestly face the damage we have wrought and the responsibilities we must accept from it. …source

Obama’s War on Humanity
by Stephen Lendman – 8 August, 2012 – OpEd News

Obama targets humanity at home and abroad. Illinoisans paying attention knew long ago. He served as senator for the state’s 13th district.

He sold out straightaway. Real estate interests had their man. Gentrification demolitions rewarded them. Poor folks were driven out. Most were Black.

Banking, finance, insurance, and real estate interests comprised his political base then and now. Needs of constituents he represented were ignored. Community uplift rhetoric disguised harming people who needed help.

Critics called his record kick back cronyism. Convicted felons and big monied interests funded him. Every dollar invested returned multiples.

Pay-to-play was always Chicago’s way. City and state politics are notoriously corrupt. Obama played the game down and dirty.

He earned his bona fides. He was well suited for bigger and better things in Washington. He was singled out and took full advantage. Nationally he betrayed the poor and disadvantaged the way he did in Illinois. Globally it’s much worse.

As US senator, his voting record told all. He supported power and big monied interests. He backed commodifying public education. He stood by medical providers in wrongful injury suits.

He opposed capping credit card interest rates. Mining companies loved him. He endorsed strip mining everywhere, including on public land.

He supported huge energy company subsidies, vastly expanded nuclear power, deregulation, harmful biofuels, other agribusiness interests, GMO food proliferation, and privatized healthcare.

He stood solidly for corporate friendly trade agreements, fraudulent financial deals, expanding America’s prison-industrial complex, repressive immigration legislation, police state laws, military tribunals, spying and secrecy, controlling the media, and he was still just a senator.

Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) executive director Mara Verheyden-Hilliard said he “eviserat(ed)” civil and human rights. He exceeded the worst of Bush. He silenced acquiescent liberals. They support someone they should condemn.

On August 1, Gerald Celente headlined “The Next Four Years,” saying:

“What will it take to change” America’s future? Voters have no choice. Both candidates tout their credentials. “Obama the Osama Slayer vs. Romney the Corporate Commando.”

Each says I’m your guy. “And what will they lead us to? Economic nirvana, world peace, environmental renewal, social harmony, cultural foment, spiritual enlightenment?”

Campaign 2012 comes down to “who is best qualified to destroy the most the slowest.” Why can’t people see what’s obvious? Why do people who should know better wear blinders?

Why do they mindlessly “drink the Kool-Aid?” At issue is stop playing follow the leader and start “lead(ing) yourself.” It can’t be “bought, given, or imposed.”

Grassroots activism alone offers change. It’s “having the courage not to cower to power. The dignity to claim your rightful and sacred place on earth. To respect yourself, demand it of others, and show respect to all who merit it.”

It means opposing corrupt political leaders “and the unprincipled and oppressive systems they represent.” When enough people change, so will policies.

Washington and Jefferson’s America “ended up led by freaks.” It happened the same way in Germany and Italy.

Bach, Beethoven, Goethe, Michelangelo, DaVinci, and Galileo ended up Hitler and Mussolini. Modern-day equivalents await in America.

Reagan, Bush I and II, Clinton, Bush, Cheney, and Obama showed steady downward decadence. Expect Obama term two or Romney to be worse. They’re two sides of the same coin.

European leaders and Arab League despots replicate their dark side. They’re “two-bit freaks,” says Celente. “And they’re dangerous.”

“They start wars, kill millions, destroy nations. They steal your money and give it to their friends.” They treat ordinary people like garbage. Why don’t they resist? “(T)hey argue among themselves why (one) freak is better than the other.”

They defend what they should condemn. They let Obama, Cameron, Hollande, Merkel, Monti, Harper, Netanyahu, and others get away with murder. If they won’t fight for what’s right, who will?

America is ground zero. Policies made here affect everywhere. Wealth extraction, mass killing, destruction, and dominance define them. Crackdowns target nonbelievers. Expect current harshness to get worse. …more

Bahrain takes legal action against opposition over march
by Angus McDowall – Reuters – 8 September

MANAMA (Reuters) – Bahraini authorities are taking legal action against the opposition Al Wefaq group for organising a banned anti-government march in which six protesters were arrested, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

It was not immediately clear what the action might entail, but the government has threatened to ban the group in the past and its statement comes despite calls from Washington for Bahraini leaders to pursue a meaningful dialogue with the opposition.

Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, has been in political turmoil since a protest movement dominated by majority Shi’ite Muslims erupted in February last year.

Opposition parties led by Al Wefaq are demanding full powers for the elected parliament to legislate and form governments. Many Shi’ites complain of being politically and economically marginalised, which the government denies.

Police used teargas and stun grenades to break up Friday’s march, which dozens of protesters took part in.

“The Interior Ministry holds Al Wefaq responsible for violating the law and encouraging their supporters to participate in a non-sanctioned event,” said a statement from the ministry distributed by the government’s public relations office.

The statement said Al Wefaq had been told a day earlier that its protest had not been authorised and that the demonstrators engaged in “the blocking of roads, vandalism and spreading fear and concerns among the business owners in the area”.

“The ministry affirms its support for free speech but reminds all citizens that freedom of expression does not include vandalism, spreading fear amongst the community and attempting to create chaos‫. The ministry has taken legal action to file a case against Al Wefaq,” it said.

It added that the ministry had also filed cases with the public prosecutor against the six arrested protesters.

“Wefaq has been threatened in the past, but the level and the wording, all of these show it is possibly more serious than at any other time,” Jasim Husain, one of the group’s leaders, said.

“But they are not threatening yet a ban. The wording is legal action.”

Armoured vehicles and riot police had closed off some of the main roads leading into the city, but dozens of protesters attended the march, which had been tweeted as “freedom for prisoners of conscience”.

Last week, a march attended by tens of thousands of demonstrators that had also been organised by Al Wefaq together with other opposition groups and which the authorities had approved passed off without incident.

On Tuesday jail sentences of between five and 25 years against leaders of last year’s uprising were upheld by a civilian court, prompting condemnation by Al Wefaq.

The United States in June said it was “deeply disappointed” that a Bahraini court had upheld verdicts against medics accused of participating in last year’s uprising, while President Barack Obama last year called on the government to talk to Al Wefaq.

…more

With western complicity, Bahrain’s crackdown on human rights continues
By John Lubbock – 7 Septmeber, 2012 – CeaseFire

Bahrain’s decision this week to uphold the sentences of all the prominent opposition leaders and activists was met with international condemnation by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay. Even the US has been voicing its discontent over the continued harsh sentences for those criticising Bahrain’s government.

Not that Bahrain’s government is listening. It seems to have stuck its head in the ground like an ostrich while repeating the mantra that it is “reforming”, presumably out of some other orifice.

So the rounds of appeals and protests continue indefinitely, with no end in sight. Bahrain has been stuck in political limbo since 1975 when the then Emir Isa ibn Salman al-Khalifa decided to dissolve the parliament and constitution because it refused to ratify his State Security Law – which allowed detention without trial for renewable periods of 3 years. The attempt by current King Hamad to bring back parliament and the constitution in 2001/2 was disingenuous and has now proved a complete failure.

What President Obama said last year – you can‘t have a real dialogue with parts of the peaceful opposition in jail – still stands. But it’s pretty obvious now that the BICI report, commissioned by the King last year, was just another PR stunt designed to present a veil of transparency over a state which has been the personal fiefdom of one family for almost 200 years. All the reforms they promised to make based on the recommendations of the BICI report have been superficial if they have been carried out at all, yet the government claims to have achieved most of them. You might like to compare Bahrain Watch’s assessment of the reforms with the government’s own assessment.

The most important recommendation of that report, to review convictions and release all those convicted because of exercising their rights to free expression, remains unmet. Sir Nigel Rodley, one of the report’s writers, clarified to Human Rights Watch last November that the report intended that the government free them and void their convictions. Almost a year later and the trials of the 13 opposition leaders and all the medical staff accused of ridiculous crimes like giving AK-47s to protesters are still ongoing. The doctors are due back in court next week, on the 11th of September, and Nabeel Rajab, President of Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Zainab Alkhawaja, activist and daughter of BCHR founder Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, are due back in court a day earlier, on the 10th of September.

Nabeel was given a three year jail term a few weeks ago for “inciting illegal protests” and has been in and out of jail on various tenuous charges such as insulting the people of Muharraq island, which were later dropped. Bahrain’s Penal Code, an incredibly vague document which can be put to all sorts of repressive purposes, was clearly criticised by the BICI report, though its recommendations neglected to call for the reform of these laws. …more