Protesters in Karachi, Pakistan, tried to storm the U.S. Consulate on Sunday and Hizbullah’s leader called for more demonstrations, but much of the unrest over an Islam-bashing film seems to have ebbed. Now come the questions, Mike Giglio reports.

Arab Spring Countries Take Stock After Violent Anti-American Protests
by Mike Giglio – 17 September, 2012 – The DailyBeast

Farah Hached, a prominent lawyer in Tunisia, thought the authorities would be ready if the anti-American unrest came her country’s way. It had started last Tuesday, when protesters at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo stormed the 12-foot concrete walls and replaced the American flag with an Islamic one, while armed men in the Libyan city of Benghazi took advantage of a similar protest to attack the consulate there and kill the U.S. ambassador. The demonstrations spread as far as Yemen, Iran, and Iraq over the next two days. “The government had three days to prepare. They should have been ready,” says Hached, who runs Laboratoire Démocratique, a human-rights NGO in Tunis.

Instead, protesters breached the U.S. Embassy in Tunis on Friday, lighting fires and tearing down the flag. A venerable American school was also attacked, its students sent home early before the building was ransacked. Yet another cornerstone of the Arab Spring—the country that lit its fuse, in fact—had become engulfed in the furor over an anti-Islam film that gripped some of the same streets across the region last week that were claimed by pro-democracy protesters last year. “People are shocked,” Hached says.

Over the weekend, the United States pulled its nonessential diplomatic staff out of Tunisia, citing security concerns, and urged all Americans in the country to leave. It did the same in Sudan, where 5,000 people reportedly rallied at the U.S. Embassy on Friday. Marines have been sent to protect diplomatic sites in Libya and Yemen, while protesters attempted to storm the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, on Sunday. And the leader of Hizbullah, the militant group based in Lebanon, called for the U.S. government to be “held accountable,” encouraging protests next week.

But the unrest that swept across the Muslim world last week—sparked by a low-budget, Islam-bashing film made by provocateurs in America, excerpted on YouTube, and recently dubbed into Arabic—largely seemed to have calmed. As the violence ebbed, some turned their attention to what had happened and why, questions that seemed especially pressing for residents of the Arab Spring countries that are still working to find their footing after decades of authoritarian rule. …more

With firms like Bell Pottinger working for foreign governments, we must now question everything more, not less.

The inexorable rise of the PR men
By Alan White – 17 September, 2012 – New Statesman

Bahraini protestors clash with riot police in Manema. The Government of Bahrain is said to have spent $32.5m on PR firms since pro-democracy protests began. Photograph: Getty Images

In December 2010, a street vendor in Tunisia called Mohamed Bouazizi burned himself alive, thereby commencing the Arab Spring. The definitive history is still to be written, but it seems clear Bouazizi’s actions struck a nerve with a population that was tired of unemployment, inflation, corruption, lack of political freedom and poor living conditions.

Hardly anyone noticed, but seven months before Bouazizi took such drastic action, an American company put out a press release about the country, which is still viewable online. The company was called Washington Media Group, and it was celebrating the fact that it had been hired to work with the Tunisian government.

John Leary, the company’s vice president, is quoted: “Tunisia is also a stable democracy where American and European businesses can thrive. This is an important message for the international community and WMG has developed a number of innovative strategies to help ensure that message resonates with the appropriate audiences.” The country is described as “An international business success story”.

As the Arab Spring developed, and various leaderships reacted with increasing brutality, so the links between them and Washington PR firms were exposed. In March 2011, it was reported that more than a third of partners at another company – Qorvis – had jumped ship. One anonymous ex-employee was quoted: “People don’t want to be seen representing all these countries – you take a look at the State Department’s list of human rights violators and some of our clients were on there.”

It was only a matter of time before the link to the UK was made. Former staffers claimed that much of Qorvis’s work was coming to the firm because of its partnership with Bell Pottinger, the UK’s largest PR firm, set up by Lord Bell, who had previously worked as a media advisor for Margaret Thatcher. And who, according to his biographer, was once convicted for standing at his bathroom window and wanking in full view of passers-by, but that’s another story.

The sting came late in 2011, when reporters from the Bureau for Investigative Journalism posed as clients for Uzbekistan – which has expelled Human Rights Watch, allegedly boiled a religious prisoner to death, and is accused of torturing people to obtain confessions. They approached Bell Pottinger. We’d do well to remember what happened next.

According to the Bureau, the firm prepared a presentation entitled “Changing Perceptions of the Republic of Uzbekistan” outlining a “communications and media strategy” and a “public affairs programme focusing on key members of the government and influential opinion formers”.

One staffer, Tim Collins, boasted about how he’d worked for the Conservatives with David Cameron and George Osborne: “Edward Llewellyn, who’s the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, was my deputy in Central Office for a long time. Steve Hilton was my deputy in a different capacity. I know all these people. There is not a problem in getting the messages through to them.”

Then he talked about Search Engine Optimisation: “And where we want to get to […] is you get to the point where even if they type in ‘Uzbek child labour’ or ‘Uzbek human rights violation’, some of the first results that come up are sites talking about what you guys are doing to address and improve that, not just the critical voices saying how terrible this all is.” According to the report in the Independent, Bell Pottinger did make it clear that the Uzbek government would need to put genuine reforms in place if it were to improve its image, before going on to talk about other “dark arts” that could be deployed. …more

…for more on Bahrain’s PR Campaign SEE Bahrain Watch HERE

Saudi-Arabia: In continuation of the Suppressive Policies against the Peaceful Demonstrations, the Authorities Suppress Demonstrations that Condemns the Movie that Ridicule the Prophet and the Arrest of the Participants

Cairo – 17 September, 2012

ANHRI condemns the arrest of the Saudi authorities to a large number of protesters on Friday September 14, 2012 due to their protest against the movie that ridicule the prophet “Muhammad” “peace be upon him”.

Saudi Arabia witnessed on Friday number of demonstrations to condemn the movie that ridicule the Prophet “Peace be Upon Him”, in the Friday of “defending the prophet”. In which tens of the demonstrators assembled in front of “Macdonals” in the intersection of the street “Osman” with “King Abdullah” street in the area of “Bridah”. In addition the protest marsh using cars took place in the city of “El-Gouf”, in which the protesters raised the slogans to defend the “Prophet”, there were no security forces at the beginning but with the flow of the demonstrators, the emergency forces started to surround the marsh and arrested some of them.

A lot of the Arab countries witnessed on last Friday huge demonstrations to condemn the move that ridicules the prophet “Peace be Upon Him”. But Saudi-Arabia had a different opinion as it continues its suppressive policy against peaceful demonstrations and arrested some of the demonstrators before the beginning of the demonstrations.

Saudi-Arabia witnessed a wave of demonstrations during the last period to condemn the arbitrary arrests in the country. Moreover, the Saudi regime did not present the detainees before the courts and the policy of the regime is to suppress the demonstrations and arrest who participate in it, which had happened actually in the demonstrations to condemn the movie.

ANHRI said that “the Saudi regime became afraid of the word demonstrations whatever the aim. The regime suppresses any peaceful demonstration before it starts and with the same failed security method of firing tear-gas bombs, rubber bullets and the arrest of the demonstrators. In addition to, the regime legally prosecute the activists and the human rights advocates by false charges in an attempt to infanticide the people movement in the country. It could appear clearly in the eastern region in which a lot of protests are taking place since nearly a year and half”.

ANHRI calls for the immediate release of all the protesters in the Saudi prisoners. In particularly, they did not appear before the courts until although they were not arrested since years. …more

Canada closes Tehran embassy, kicks out diplomats
By ROB GILLIES – Associated Press – 8 September, 2012

Canada shut its embassy in Tehran on Friday, severed diplomatic relations and ordered Iranian diplomats to leave, accusing the Islamic Republic of being the most significant threat to world peace.

The surprise action reinforces the Conservative government’s close ties with Tehran’s arch foe Israel but also removes some of Washington’s eyes and ears inside the Iranian capital.

It comes as Iran’s talks with world powers over its nuclear program have stalled and Israel is weighing the option of a military strike to prevent it from developing atomic weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful objectives only.

The move also underscores the widening gaps between Western countries’ attempts to isolate and punish Iran and Tehran’s efforts to forge closer ties with energy-hungry Asian trading partners such as India and Pakistan to counter Western sanctions. Iran’s recent push to bolster and redefine its links with Asia makes the break with Canada a less serious blow to Tehran than it would have been years ago.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said that the Canadian embassy in Tehran will close immediately and Iranian diplomats in Canada have been given five days to leave.

A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, called Canada’s decision “hasty and extreme” and said that Iran would soon respond, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported.

A note in Persian posted on the door of Iran’s embassy in Ottawa read: “Because of the hostile decision by the government of Canada, the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Ottawa is closed and has no choice but to stop providing any consular services for its dear citizens.”

Baird said Canada was officially designating Iran a state sponsor of terrorism and gave a long list of reasons for Canada’s decision, including Tehran’s support for Syria’s embattled President Bashar Assad in that country’s civil war.

“The Iranian regime is providing increasing military assistance to the Assad regime; it refuses to comply with U.N. resolutions pertaining to its nuclear program; it routinely threatens the existence of Israel and engages in racist anti-Semitic rhetoric and incitement to genocide,” Baird said in a statement. “It is among the world’s worst violators of human rights; and it shelters and materially supports terrorist groups.”

Baird said he also was worried about the safety of diplomats in Tehran following attacks on the British embassy there.

Britain downgraded ties with Iran following an attack on its embassy in Tehran in November 2011, which it insists was sanctioned by the Islamic Republic’s ruling elite. After the attack, Britain pulled all of its diplomats out of Iran and expelled Iranian diplomats from U.K. soil.

Most European countries maintain a diplomatic presence in Tehran despite increased tensions over European Union sanctions that block imports of Iranian oil. The Swiss represent diplomatic interests of the United States, which broke ties with Tehran after protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy in the chaotic months following the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Fifty-two Americans were held for 444 days.

Canada’s break with Iran removes another channel for Washington to get first-hand diplomatic assessments of Iranian affairs. Canada and Britain had been main conduits of information for the U.S., which also maintains special Iranian monitoring offices in several locations including Dubai. …more

US embassy in Lebanon destroys documents amid protests
17 September, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Diplomats at the US Embassy in Beirut have started to destroy classified material as a security precaution amid anti-American protests in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.

A State Department status report obtained Monday by The Associated Press said the Beirut embassy had “reviewed its emergency procedures and is beginning to destroy classified holdings.”

It also said that local Lebanese employees were sent home early due to protests organized by Hezbollah over the anti-Islam film produced by in the United States.

Earlier Monday, the State Department renewed its warning to US citizens to “avoid all travel to Lebanon because of current safety and security concerns.”

It said US citizens “living and working in Lebanon should understand that they accept risks in remaining and should carefully consider those risks.”

The new alert, which superseded a May 8 warning, said the potential for a “spontaneous upsurge in violence remains” in Lebanon and that Lebanese authorities are not able to guarantee protection if violence erupts quickly.

The warning also noted that the Fulbright and the English Language Fellow programs that gave grants to American scholars to live and work in Lebanon during the academic year have been suspended “because of the deteriorating security situation and the increased possibility of attacks against US citizens in Lebanon.” …more

“Before our very eyes”

The dissemination of a video clip from the film “The Innocence of Muslims,” depicting an offensive image of Islam, has sparked a wave of anger in the Arab world. For Thierry Meyssan, things are more complex than they might seem because the clip was first released ​​in Arabic on YouTube and broadcast by the Salafist Egyptian Al Nasr TV channel. The film targets neither the U.S. nor the Muslim public, but only the Arab world. Its distribution was organized by the same people who also called for its prohibition. What lies behind this provocation?

Blasphemy as a tactic
by Thierry Meyssan – 17 September, 2012 – Volairenet.org

The circulation on the Internet of the trailer for a film, The Innocence of Muslims, sparked demonstrations across the world and resulted in the killing in Benghazi of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya and members of his entourage.

At first glance, these events can be located in the long line leading from Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses to the burnings of the Koran by Pastor Terry Jones. Nevertheless, this new attack differs from other incidents in that the film was not directed at a Western audience but instead was uniquely conceived as an instrument of provocation directed at Muslims.

In political terms, the affair can be analyzed from two angles: from the tactical perspective as an anti-U.S. manipulation; or from a strategic one, as an anti-Muslim psychological attack.

The film was produced by a Zionist group composed of Jews of double Israeli-American nationality and by an Egyptian Copt. It was completed several months ago but was released at a calculated moment to provoke riots targeting the United States. Israeli agents were deployed in several large cities with a mission to channel the rage of the crowd against American or Coptic targets (though not Israeli ones). Not suprisingly, their maximum effect was attained in Benghazi, the capital of Libya’s Cyrenaica region.

The population of Benghazi is known to harbor particularly reactionary and racist groups. It is useful to recall that at the time the cartoons of Mohammed appeared in September, 2005, Salafists attacked the Danish Consulate. In keeping with the Vienna Convention on diplomacy, the Libyan government of Muammar al-Gaddafi deployed troops to protect the diplomatic service then under attack. The repression of the riot resulted in numerous deaths. Subsequently, the West, seeking to overthrow the Libyan regime, financed Salafist publications which accused Gaddafi of protecting the Danish Consulate because he had allegedly been behind the cartoon operation.

On February 15, 2011, Salafists organized in Benghazi a demonstration commemorating the massacre during which shooting erupted, an incident that marked the beginning of the Benghazi insurrection that opened the way to the NATO intervention. The Libyan police arrested three members of the Italian Special Forces who confessed to having fired from the rooftops on both demonstrators and the police to sew chaos and confusion. Held prisoner throughout the war that followed, they were released when NATO seized the capital and smuggled them out of the country to Malta in a small fishing boat on which I was also a passenger. …more

The Western Art of Offending Muslims: the Sexual Weapon
By As’ad AbuKhalil – 17 September, 2012- Angry Corner – Al Akhbar

The Western art of offending Muslims is a long established art. Western Christians have excelled in it and modern Zionists (Jewish, Christian, and atheist) have merely incorporated the clichés of Western Christian hatred of Islam and Muslims. Of course, fanatical Muslim groups have deliberately exploited the release of The Innocence of Muslims in order to whip up hate and hostility and to advance their own horrific, fanatical agenda. But their ability to resonate has to do with history.

The sexual content of the movie tells the story. For centuries, Western Christians offended Muslims with their sexual obsession with the life of Mohammad. From the earliest encounter of Christians with Islam, the life of Mohammad was considered the primary object of theological wrath.

For Christians, Mohammad did not represent the ascetic ideal that is embodied in the Christian moral system. Furthermore, he did not perform the miracles that he was expected to perform as a legitimate prophet – in the eyes of Christians. But Mohammad’s sexual life was always on the mind of Christian critics.

Those who formed the Christian church and constructed the Christian value system, promoted an ascetic ideal for the believers. Thus, there are no references to the earthly pleasure preferences and concerns for Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus, as a Jewish man in his 30s, must have been married, and yet the accounts of Jesus life contain no references whatsoever to a wife. There is nothing in the official church accounts about any pleasures of the earth that Jesus enjoyed. That would have conflicted with Christian morality where happiness is to be sought in the “City of God” and not in the “city of man.”

An ideal Christian man would have lived his life like St. Augustine, who in order to resist the temptations of the flesh would not allow women to be in his vicinity and would not even chew his food to avoid experiencing pleasure. St. Augustine admitted in his “Confessions” that he used to plead for God to save him in earlier years but would add: “but not yet.”

Islam – to the chagrin of early Christian critics – did not share that ascetic morality with Christianity. A man who came to the Prophet to inform him that he would not get married and would devote his life to God, was met with a surprised reaction from the Prophet. We know what food the prophet enjoyed and we know that the Prophet enjoyed sex with his wives. That did not offend early Muslims who often bragged about the sexual prowess of the Prophet and his companions.

For early Muslims, this was not a weakness and it was not shameful. Muslims were aware that their religion did not abhor the enjoyment of earthly pleasures. Muslims only became defensive about such matters when they incorporated some of the Christian moral sensibilities of shame and politeness and even streaks of asceticism into their religious practice.

Yet, Christian polemics against Islam always resorted to sexual insults and taunting. The story of Zaynab Bint al-Jahash was a favorite story for Orientalists and for Christian polemicists (and the two often were one). For them, the idea that Mohammad was attracted to a woman was scandalous in itself, and that she was married to his adopted son, Zayd, only made the scandal more salacious to Westerners.

Contemporary Muslims became so aware of the Western Christian legacy of polemics that the story of Zaynab is now often ignored in Arab Muslim accounts. Unsurprisingly, the story of Zaynab made it into the film.

Fittingly, the producer of the film selected a pornographer to direct his film. He knew that sexual insults of the Prophet had to be included in the project for extra effect. He, growing up in Egypt, knew that contemporary Muslims are very sensitive on this subject. But this is not unique to Christian insults of Muslims and Islam. Western anti-Semites often used sexual insults against Jews and Judaism – and this is not the only similarity in the style of hate between anti-Semites and anti-Muslims. Yet, some Zionist Jews are in the forefront of the proponents of the Western ideology of hostility against Islam and Muslims.

Western views of Muslims have often focused on the sexual. The native Arab or native Muslim is seen as a sexual predator who is intent on adding yet another wife to his harem. The film that is being discussed and protested against did not appear in a vacuum. There is a long history of Western Christian hostility behind it. …source

Un Islamic Saudi Monarchy once again Demolishes a Mosque used By the Shia Muslims in Awamiyah
17 September, 2012 – Jafria News

JNN 17 Sept 2012 Qatif : Saudi security forces have demolished a Shia mosque in Eastern Province as anti-regime demonstrations continue in the country.

The Ein Imam Hussein Mosque was razed by the regime forces as part of the crackdown on protesters in the town of Awamiyah.

Prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nemr al-Nemr used to lead daily prayers in the mosque prior to his detention.

Sheikh Nemr was attacked, injured and arrested by the security forces of the Al Saud regime while driving from a farm to his house in the Qatif region of Eastern Province on July 8.

Rights activists say hundreds of political prisoners remain locked up in Saudi jails under harsh conditions and without access to a lawyer.

People are randomly arrested by the Saudi police just for looking suspicious and are even held behind bars for years before they are charged.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Saudi regime “routinely represses expression critical of the government.”

Since February 2011, protesters have held demonstrations on an almost regular basis in Saudi Arabia, mainly in Qatif and Awamiyah in the oil-rich Eastern Province, primarily calling for the release of all political prisoners, freedom of expression and assembly, and an end to widespread discrimination.

However, the demonstrations have turned into protests against the repressive Al Saud regime, especially since November 2011, when Saudi security forces killed five protesters and injured many others in the province. …source

Bahrain Pro-democracy movement buries democracy after its assassination by US and ‘friends’

Embassy Protests and Middle East Unrest in Context
By Stephen Zunes – 17 September, 2012 – FPIF

It seems bizarre that right-wing pundits would be so desperate to use the recent anti-American protests in the Middle East—in most cases numbering only a few hundred people and (except for a peaceful Hezbollah-organized rally in Lebanon) in no cases numbering more than two or three thousand—as somehow indicative of why the United States should oppose greater democracy in the Middle East. Even more strangely, some media pundits are criticizing Arabs as being “ungrateful” for U.S. support of pro-democracy movements when, in reality, the United States initially opposed the popular movements that deposed Western-backed despots in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen, and remains a preeminent backer of dictatorships in the region today.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney falsely accused President Obama of “apologizing” for what the Republican presidential nominee referred to as “American values” and of “sympathizing” with those who attacked diplomatic missions rather than promptly condemning them. (What apparently prompted this misleading attack was a tweet from the U.S. embassy in Cairo prior to the worst attacks reiterating U.S. opposition to “efforts to offend believers of all religions” and “the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.”)

What incited many of the protests was an outrageously offensive anti-Islamic movie produced by Christian extremists in California, but there is a lot more to the protests than this triggering event.

For years, the Christian right and Islamic right have sought to provoke extremism and hatred as part of an effort to seemingly validate the stereotypes of the other. As Hani Shukrallah remarked about the film in the leading Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, “The obvious, outward motive of such attempts is not difficult to discern: to show Muslims as irrational, violent, intolerant and barbaric, all of which are attributes profoundly inscribed into the racist anti-Muslim discourse in the West. And, it’s a very safe bet that there will be among us those who will readily oblige.”

The attacks on two U.S. consulate offices in Benghazi, which killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya, are far more significant, though these appear to have been the work of Ansar al-Sharia, an extremist Islamist militia which took advantage of a protest to launch their armed assault avenging the killing of a Libyan-born al-Qaeda leader by a drone strike in Pakistan. Ironically, the United States allied with these extremists in the armed uprising against the Gaddafi regime last year.

Indeed, last week’s tragedy in Libya should raise questions about the wisdom of backing such armed uprisings, even against a brutal dictator. In Egypt and Yemen, where dictatorships were overthrown largely through mass nonviolent action not supported by Washington, the worst damage protesters at the U.S. embassies could do was to seize parts of the grounds and burn the American flag. In Libya, where the dictator was overthrown in an armed revolution that was supported by Washington, two consulate buildings were destroyed and four Americans were killed in a coordinated assault with automatic weapons, mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades. Historically, autocratic regimes overthrown by armed struggle are far more likely to descend into violence and chaos (and/or a new dictatorship) than authoritarian regimes toppled through largely nonviolent methods.

In a country of barely 6 million people, more than 200,000 Libyans are armed members of militias outside the control of the Libyan government. Even though the recent Libyan elections appear to have been free and fair, and the winners largely consisted of moderates open to a democratic political system, the legacy of the war and the NATO intervention will likely remain a problem for some time to come.

In the rest of the region, where uprisings against dictatorships came largely in the form of unarmed civil insurrections, radical Islamists have been severely weakened, as the popular revolts demonstrated how U.S.-backed regimes could be toppled without embracing terrorism or extremist ideologies. The need to manipulate a hysterical reaction to an obscure, albeit offensive, film is indicative of just how desperate the far-right-wing Islamists have become in asserting their relevance. These extremists were able to stir up crowds in cities in more than a dozen Islamist countries with false claims that the film was a major Hollywood production which, like movies in Egypt and many other countries in the region, must have been subjected to review and approval by government censors before being released to the public.

Just weeks after approving a new law on childrens’ rights on 8 Aug 2012 [1] the violations against children in Bahrain have escalated seriously. At least 10 children have been killed since last year, hundreds were tortured and beaten, hundreds arrested and detained, even as young as 9 years. Other children were emotionally traumatized witnessing one or both of their parents killed, violently beaten, arrested and detained for months or seriously injured. They have also been suffering from the regime’s collective punishment procedures, such as randomly breaking into houses and the excessive use of teargas.

Children as Young as Five are Targets of Riot Police Excessive Use of Force
14 September, 2012 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

Extra Judicial killing of children

Hussam Al Haddad (16 years old) was killed by security forces on the night of 17th August 2012, according to an eyewitness and as confirmed by an official statement from the ministry of interior (MOI); AlHaddad was shot with shotgun pellets causing him to fall to the ground. The witness stated that AlHaddad got kicked repeatedly by men in civilian clothing while security forces stood idly watching. In the hospital family members and a BCHR representative were kept for hours before being allowed to retrieve his body for burial. In the Ministry of Interior’s statement about the killing of Hussam, they stated that security force officials were defending themselves and following legal procedures, calling the child a terrorist, they neglected to mention the fact that he was unarmed. In photos published next day of Hussam’s (16) body, birdshot injuries were visible on his left arm, back and left side of his body, as well as marks of severe beating on his back and shoulder. The location and depth of injuries indicate that he was shot at close range and that the shooting was intentional and not an act of self-defense [2] .

Hussam is one of 10 children killed by the security forces in Bahrain:

1 Yahya Yousif Ahmed, 1 month old, died 5-Mar-12, Suffocation by tear gas
2 Yaseen Jassim AlAsfoor, 14 years old, died 20-Jan-12 Suffocation by tear gas
3 Sayed Hashim Sayed Saeed 15 years old, died 31-Dec-11 shot – tear gas canister
4 Sajida Faisal 5 day old, died 11-Dec-11 Suffocation by tear gas
5 Ali Yousif Badah 16 years old, died 19-Nov-11 Run over by a Police car
6 Ahmed Jaber AlQattan 16 years old, died 6-Oct-11 shotgun
7 Ali Alshaikh 14 years old, died 31-Aug-11 shot – tear gas canister
8 Mohammed Abdulhussain Farhan 6 years old, died 30-Apr-11 Suffocation by tear gas
9 Sayed-Ahmad Sa’eed Shams 15 years old, died 30-Mar-11 Shotgun

The Ministry of Interior confirmed responsibility of the murder of Hussam as well as some of the other children that were killed since the popular uprising, like Ali Al Shaikh and Ali Al Badah. It is claimed that investigations have been launched for a few cases, however, we have yet to see any official being held accountable for these deaths.

Arbitrary arrest and Detention

In the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) “Post-BICI Part II” report it was stated that 123 children have been arrested (26.6% of total arrests) with an average detention periods of 91 days. The numbers in the report were for the period of post BICI from March 2012 to 18 Jun 2012 when the BCHR report was published. For the couple of months post the publishing BCHR part II report, arrests of children was escalated to close to 100 children in around 2 months.

Abdulla K. , 17 years, was arrested on 22nd June 2012. He was at home with his family when riot police broke into his house and started to conduct a search. They asked his parents who was on their roof and before Abdulla’s father could answer, they beat him. Then they shouted at his mother when she asked why they were breaking in without a warrant. Abdulla and his brother were scared of being tortured and arrested. The two of them went to the roof and jumped to attempt to get away. He injured his leg and was arrested by the riot police. They made him walk on his injured leg which caused him great pain. He was slapped and threatened with a shotgun as he was taken away. …more

Bahraini police face trial over torturing medics
17 September, 2012 – Lebanon Now

Bahrain’s public prosecution has charged seven police officers over the torture and maltreatment of Shiite medics detained in the aftermath of nationwide protests last year, authorities said on Monday.

The two defendants facing the “most serious” charges have been referred to the High Criminal Court over the “use of torture and threats against six medic detainees, for the purpose of forcing a confession,” said a government statement.

It said all coerced confessions were dismissed during the widely-criticized trial of the medics.

The rest of the officers would appear in the Lower Criminal Court, it said.

The seven officers are lieutenants at the Interior Ministry. Ten other officers accused of mistreatment were being questioned, it said.

The hearing is scheduled for October 1.

Bahrain’s appeals court acquitted in June nine medics and cut the jail terms of nine others on Thursday for their role in anti-regime protests last year. Two others remain at large.

The 20 doctors and nurses worked at Manama’s Salmaniya Medical complex, stormed by security forces after a crackdown on a protest encampment at the capital’s nearby Pearl Square in March 2011.

Nine of the medics were found not guilty, five were to be freed for time served, while four that were convicted still had their right for appeal, authorities said at the time.

Among the four are consultant orthopedic surgeon Ali Alekri, whose initial 15-year jail term was cut to five years and Ibrahim al-Damstani, the Bahraini Nursing Society secretary general, sentenced to three years.

The other two are doctors Ghassan Daif and Saeed al-Samaheji, who were both sentenced to one year in prison.

The medics had faced various charges, the most serious of which was occupying the vital medical center and possessing weapons while denying Sunni Muslims access to the hospital as Shiite demonstrators camped in the car park.

They were handed sentences of between five and 15 years by a semi-military tribunal last September but were retried in civil court after the public prosecutor dismissed confessions allegedly extracted under torture.

The doctors had also been accused of spreading false information, particularly concerning the condition of wounded protesters, illegal acquisition of medicines and medical facilities and of participation in demonstrations.
…source

West’s rebel worries leave Syria strategy struggling
17 September, 2012 – By Peter Apps – Reuters

WASHINGTON: France may be considering arming Syria’s rebels but the U.S. and other Western powers have yet to find opposition figures they genuinely trust as they worry over growing jihadi and sectarian forces.

The attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya’s Benghazi that killed its ambassador and anti-American demonstrations elsewhere this week over an obscure video that ridiculed the Prophet Mohammad might have no Syria links but will make nervous governments even more cautious.

Western officials say there is little doubt a growing number of foreign jihadi fighters are entering the fray, although it is far from clear whether any have direct links to Al Qaeda. But It is just one worry amongst many.

“This is not a situation where the U.S. can do much to shape what happens,” says Mona Yacoubian, a former State Department official and now fellow and Syria expert at the Stimson Centre. “There has always been a lot of caution within the Obama Administration on Syria and if anything things are getting more complicated.”

Working with Libya’s initially notoriously disorganized rebels, officials complained, was hard enough; but the opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad seems even more diffuse.

That makes policy-making much more complicated and supplying weapons, or even choosing who to talk to, more of a gamble.

“We badly need to identify some political and military leaders who can make clear that they seek a political settlement to bring all fighting to an end,” said one Western official on condition of anonymity. “Without that the blood letting reinforces the worst aspects of sectarianism and makes a soft landing ever less likely.”

Western states have been on a concerted offensive to push opposition figures towards greater unity, facilitating meetings that range from foreign-based conferences to Internet chats and small border gatherings.

But, beyond pushing in humanitarian aid they fear there is a limited amount they can do to change the situation on the ground.

“It’s a very difficult situation, and the lack of coherence of the opposition is probably the biggest single challenge,” says Melissa Dalton, a senior Pentagon adviser on Syria and the Middle East currently on sabbatical as a visiting fellow at the Centre for New American Security.

“Given everything that is at stake, the United States clearly cannot do nothing. But there are no good scenarios arising from this conflict, and so the most important strategy for the United States to pursue is mitigating the risks to its interests.”

That meant to prioritize tracking Syria’s chemical weapons, ensuring militant groups inspired by Al Qaeda were unable to set up safe havens and preventing weapons from falling into the wrong hands, she said. It also meant avoiding doing anything to make matters worse.

Current and former Western officials say their countries have lost confidence in the Syrian National Council (SNC), the largely foreign-based body initially courted as a government in waiting. With some of its meetings dissolving into fisticuffs, it is increasingly both too chaotic, too sectarian and simply lacking in a significant support.
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Iran nuke chief harshly criticizes atomic agency
17 September, 2012 – By George Jahn – Associated Press

VIENNA: Iran’s nuclear chief said Monday that “terrorists and saboteurs” might have infiltrated the International Atomic Energy Agency in an effort to derail his nation’s atomic program, in an unprecedentedly harsh attack on the integrity of the U.N. organization and its probe of allegations that Tehran is striving to make nuclear arms.

Fereydoun Abbasi also rebuked the United States in comments to the IAEA’s 155-nation general conference, reflecting Iran’s determination to continue defying international pressure aimed at curbing its nuclear program and nudging it toward cooperation with the IAEA inspection.

Revealing what he said were two sabotage attempts on his country’s nuclear program, he challenged the perpetrators to launch new attacks, saying his country is determined to learn how to protect its interests through such assaults.

The defiant speech was bound to give a greater voice to hardline Israeli leaders who say that both diplomatic efforts and economic penalties have had no effect on Iran, leaving military strikes as the only alternative to stopping it from developing nuclear weapons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a proponent of such an option, made a direct appeal to American voters on Sunday to elect a president willing to draw a “red line” with Iran.

In the past week, Netanyahu has urged President Barack Obama and other world leaders to state clearly at what point Iran would face a military attack. But Obama and his top aides, who repeatedly say all options remain on the table, have pointed to shared U.S.-Israeli intelligence that suggests Iran hasn’t decided yet whether to build a bomb, despite pursuing the technology, and that there would be time for action beyond toughened sanctions already in place.

In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel described Iran as “a threat, not only for Israel but for the whole world.” But she said she wants to see a “political solution” and that the international community should work together to try and find one, including the possibility of new sanctions. “The room for political maneuver is not yet exhausted,” she told reporters on Monday.

Iran has often warned that any Israeli attack would trigger a devastating response, and on Monday Abbasi suggested that such strikes would not succeed in slowing down his country’s nuclear program. He said without elaboration that experts have “devised certain ways through which nuclear facilities remain intact under missile attacks and raids.”

Tehran denies seeking nuclear arms, and Abbasi – an Iranian vice president whom the agency suspects may have been involved in nuclear weapons research – insisted on Monday that his country’s nuclear program is aimed only at making reactor fuel and doing medical research.

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Netanyahu: Iran six months away from nuclear bomb capacity
17 September, 2012 – The Daily Star

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sunday that Iran was just six to seven months away from being able to build a nuclear bomb.

The warning added urgency to his demand that President Barack Obama set a clear “red line” for Tehran in what could deepen the worst U.S.-Israeli rift in decades.

Taking to the television airwaves to make his case directly to the American public, Netanyahu said that by mid-2013, Iran would be 90 percent of the way toward enough enriched uranium for a bomb. He urged the United States to spell out limits that Tehran must not cross if it is to avoid military action – something Obama has refused to do.

“You have to place that red line before them now, before it’s too late,” Netanyahu told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program, saying that such a U.S. move could reduce the chances of having to attack Iran’s nuclear sites.

The unusually public dispute – coupled with Obama’s decision not to meet with Netanyahu later this month – has exposed a deep U.S.-Israeli divide and stepped up pressure on the U.S. leader in the final stretch of a tight presidential election campaign.

It was the clearest marker Netanyahu has laid down so far on why he has become so strident in his push for Washington to confront Tehran with a strict ultimatum. At the same time, his approach seemed certain to stoke further tensions with Obama, with whom he has had a notoriously testy relationship.

Senior U.S. officials say Iran has yet to decide on a nuclear “breakout” – a final rush to assemble all the components for a bomb – and they express high confidence that Iran is still at least a year away from achieving the capacity to build a bomb if it wanted to. This contrasts with Netanyahu’s timetable, although the Israeli leader stopped short of saying Iran had decided to manufacture a weapon.

Netanyahu showed no signs of backing down Sunday and even sought to equate the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran with the Islamist fury that fueled attacks on U.S. embassies across the Muslim world last week and shocked many Americans.

“It’s the same fanaticism that you see storming your embassies today. You want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?” Netanyahu asked in the NBC interview, in a clear emotional appeal to Americans still reeling from the angry protests sparked by a film that mocked the Prophet Mohammad.

There have been no accusations, however, of any Iranian role in stoking the violence that have swept Muslim capitals from the Middle East to Africa in the past week.

Netanyahu said a strong ultimatum was needed to Iran, which denies it is seeking a nuclear bomb. “They’re in the ‘red zone,’” he added, using a colorful American football metaphor that describes when a team is close to scoring a touchdown.

“They’re in the last 20 yards. And you can’t let them cross that goal line,” he said, “because that would have unbelievable consequences.”

Asked whether Israel was closer to acting on its own despite Obama’s call for more time for sanctions and diplomacy to work, Netanyahu said: “We always reserve the right to act. But I think that if we are able to coordinate together a common position, we increase the chances that neither one of us will have to act.”

Netanyahu’s sharpened rhetoric in recent days had stoked speculation that Israel might attack Iran before the U.S. ballot, believing that Obama would give it military help and not risk alienating pro-Israeli voters. But Netanyahu has drawn criticism at home for overplaying his hand, and he faces divisions within the Israeli public and his own government that will make it hard to launch a unilateral strike any time soon.

Possibly seeking to soften the edge with Washington, Netanyahu said he appreciated the president’s assurances that Iran would not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.

“I think implicit in that is that, if you’re determined to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons, it means you’ll act before they get nuclear weapons,” he said.

But Netanyahu, whose persistent “red line” demands have infuriated U.S. officials, again made clear that was not enough.

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US to head large-scale military drill in Gulf
17 September, 2012 – Al Akhbar
US meets ‘US film protest’ stirred its ‘power projection’ with more
Warships from around the world were assembling in the Gulf on Sunday for what the US military described as the most widely attended international naval exercise ever held in the Middle East.

The exercise, which Washington says involves maneuvers to improve mine detection and clearance, comes at a time of rising regional tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.

Tehran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world’s sea-borne oil exports passes, and target US military bases in the region if it was attacked.

The US Naval Forces Central Command said that the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 12 involved vessels and officials from 30 countries in six continents. It did not name the participating nations.

“This exercise is about mines and the international effort to clear them,” said Vice Admiral John W. Miller, Commander of the Central Command, in a statement on its website.

“Represented here are the best of our individual countries’ efforts dedicated to securing the global maritime commons and I look forward to seeing how this exceptional team of professionals moves forward.”

The West and Israel believe Iran is seeking an atomic weapon, while Tehran says its work is for peaceful purposes. Russia has also said that no evidence exists linking Iran’s nuclear program to military intentions.

Israel – the sole nuclear power in the Middle East – has been pushing Washington to spell out limits Tehran must not cross if it is to avoid military action, something US President Barack Obama has refused to do.

The official US Navy News Service said last month that Washington was cutting short home leave for the crew of one of its aircraft carriers and sending them back to the Middle East to prepare for any Iranian retaliation against an Israeli strike.

The Central Command said the Gulf exercise was starting on Sunday with a meeting for senior commanders when they would view the latest mine hunting and disposal inventions. In the second phase, sea maneuvers would be held including mine detection and clearance operations.

The Bahrain-based Central Command is responsible for an area comprising some 2.5 million square miles stretching from the Gulf to parts of the Indian Ocean. …source

Democracy protests hit Saudi Arabia, Bahrain
15 September, 2012 – By Ash Pemberton – GreenLeft

The governments of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have gone to great lengths to control information about the ongoing uprisings in their countries. This is part of their efforts to crush the democracy movements that have sought to overthrow the ruling monarchies.

The protests are part of the Arab Spring uprisings that began in Tunisia in late 2010 and spread across the Middle East and north Africa.

In Saudi Arabia, the al-Saud regime has tightened media laws since protests began. Protests in Saudi Arabia have been smaller in scale than other countries, but have provided a consistent challenge to the corrupt and despotic US-backed monarchy.

Jadaliyya.com said on April 2: “Relaying information or images of Saudi protests carries a prison sentence of up to ten years, with thousands of dollars in fines …

“Most Internet sites that carry information critical of the Saudi ruling family, as well as those that simply relay calls that challenge the status quo are blocked.”

This is combined with state-controlled media coverage that distorts the reporting of protests, often dismissing them as sectarian actions from Shia Muslims or plots run by the government of Iran.

This has left most of the population unaware of the struggles against the government.

The most active area has been in and around Qatif in the Eastern Province, where protesters have come under intense repression.

In an Jadaliyya interview with the organisers of the Eastern Province Revolution Twitter and Facebook page, a representative from the group detailed the collective punishment levelled at the democracy movement in Qatif. This included the arbitrary kidnapping of hundreds of people by the government, who offered their release if the protests stopped.

This “coincided with the complete blockade of Qatif and the setting up of checkpoints all over the region” in order to harass the population.

When this failed, the government formed gangs of armed thugs made up of prisoners to attack protesters. After this, the military was used to assassinate protest leaders, organisers and photographers.

Despite this, the movement has remained strong and protests have continued.

Al-Alam reported on September 7 that thousands protested in the city of al-Qatif, demanding the release of political prisoners and “political reforms based on justice and freedom in governance, and equality between the different sects and social classes”.

An Eastern Province Revolution representative told Jadaliyya: “Our biggest challenge is US support for Al Saud on all fronts, including intelligence and military. Al Saud cannot act against the people without the ‘Americans’.”

Saudi Arabia is the most powerful supporter of Western imperialism in the region, and plays a key role in aiding the projection of US power across the Arab world.

The Saudi government’s suppression of protests also extends to neighbouring Bahrain. Saudi tanks and troops invaded the country in April last year along with forces from the United Arab Emirates to help Bahrain’s al-Khalifa monarchy put down the big protests calling for its downfall.

The protests at first demanded democratic reforms, but began calling for the downfall of the monarchy after peaceful protesters were brutally attacked by police.

The protests — which at their height mobilised hundreds of thousands — were led mostly by Shia Muslims, who make up the majority of the population. Shia face systemic discrimination from the Sunni Muslim monarchy, who use this divide-and-rule tactic to maintain control.

Since the Saudi invasion, authorities have used violent harassment of protesters and Shia neighbourhoods, along with the jailing and torture of activists and critics and mass sackings of those suspected of involvement in protests.

The government has also engaged in an international public relations campaign to cover up its brutality and appear as if reforms are taking place.

Human rights group Bahrain Watch compiled in August a list of 18 Western companies employed by the government to improve its image, with total payments of at least US$32 million. The companies have generally helped the government paint protesters as violent, Iranian-backed theocrats fighting a benevolent government that is working to correct “mistakes” made in the crackdown.

The backing of Western companies is not surprising given Bahrain’s importance to Western imperial interests. It hosts the US navy’s fifth fleet which maintains a constant threat to nearby Iran. Bahrain is also an important financial hub for international capital.

However, thousands of people have defied the government’s ban on unauthorised protests, holding regular rallies against the regime.

As-Safir said on September 11 opposition groups hit back at government hysteria over disruptions in the capital Manama during recent protests, blaming the actions of security forces.

Head of the Al-Wefaq Party Abdul Jalil Khalil said: “The government’s decision to surround Manama with more than 40 security checkpoints, close the streets leading to it and use tear gas and stun grenades in the capital’s alleys are what disrupted traffic and caused economic losses.”

Political analyst Sara Marusek told Press TV on September 10: “The government, basically, is using strategies that are being imported by the United States.

“They’ve taken John Timoney, an NYPD cop, and they’re using the same sort of oppressive, supposedly non-violent strategy that basically hides the violence.”

Adding to Bahrain’s long list of political prisoners, 20 democracy activists had their lengthy jail sentences upheld on September 4 after they were retried in civilian courts. Officially charged with trying to overthrow the government, they were sentenced to between five years and life in prison for their roles in organising protests last year. …source

Human Rights Activist Maryam Al-Khawaja: ‘Diplomacy is Over’ with Bahrain
By Gianluca Mezzofiore – 14 September, 2012 – Maryam al-Khawaja -IBTimes

British diplomatic efforts on the Bahraini crisis have not worked out and the only way forward to stop human rights violations in the Gulf kingdom is to initiate a discussion on diplomatic and economic sanctions, Maryam al-Khawaja, activist and acting president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), told IBTimes UK in an exclusive interview.

After an unprecedented meeting with the Foreign Office in London, Maryam has acknowledged that the UK’s diplomatic method “is not working”.

“We’re going to need a little more time to convince the UK government that they actually need to do more about stopping the human rights violations,” she said.

“They believe in using the diplomatic methods, of putting pressure on the Bahraini government, but it’s been obvious after one year and a half of continuing violations that the diplomatic method is not working so we have to start looking at what does work.”

However, she welcomed the foreign affairs select committee’s decision to hold an inquiry into human rights abuses.

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Maryam, whose father Abudlhadi and sister Zainab are in jail for their role in pro-democracy protests in the tiny island kingdom, also called for the Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah and the prime minister Khalifah ibn Sulman Al Khalifah to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“As a human rights defender I believe that the king, the PM and the crown prince of Bahrain should be put on trial, albeit a fair and independent trial under international standards,” she said.

“If the Bahraini judiciary cannot provide that, then it should be the ICC. They need to be put on trial, and if found guilty of crimes they have committed during the past year and a half, then they need to serve time behind bars.”

The 25-year-old activist slammed the Bahraini government’s claims that significant reforms had taken place in the kingdom.

Constitutional changes ‘superficial’

In a letter to IBTimes UK, Fahad AlBinali, Bahrain’s spokesperson for the Information Affairs Authority, argued: “The recent ratification and implementation of the constitutional amendments last month granted greater legislative and monitoring powers to the elected chamber of parliament”.

The amendments include “further oversight and scrutiny over the government”, he wrote, for example the new ministerial appointments that can “reject the entire government”.

However, Maryam dismissed the change as “superficial” when set against “nonstop human rights abuses on the ground”.

“If we are still looking at things like extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, use of excess force, children in prison, kidnappings, systematic torture – what would it matter to the public or the human rights defenders if they have made a few changes to the legislative law?” she asked.

“If the human rights violations are still going on the ground, any political discussion right now will not probably have much of an effect,” she added. “To guarantee the best outcome of any political discussion, you need to stop the human rights violations on the ground first.”

That marks a difference with the Bahraini opposition leader and MP Ali Alaswad, who in an exclusive interview with IBTimes UK maintained that only political reforms could force Bahrain’s regime to respect basic human rights principles. “First, there should be political reform” leading to democratic elections, he said.

He added: “If there’s an elected and accountable government, the prime minister, for instance, can be questioned in parliament. This is not possible now.”

Sulmaniya Hospital occupation

One of the main problems of Bahrain remains division along sectarian lines.

With a Sunni monarchy, relying on a largely Sunni power base, the majority Shia population has for years been disfranchised and left on the margin of the country’s political life.

The government has mainly depicted the protests as Shia-led and based on sectarian demands.

In his letter to the IBTimes UK, AlBinali said the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) established that Shia doctors successfully occupied Sulmaniya Hospital, with medics who “moved in and out of their roles as political activists and medical personnel”.

It resulted in many sections “taken over and controlled by medical personnel, resulting in difficulties in the emergencies section”.

Maryam dismissed those accusations as “nonsense”. “The BICI report said there was no occupation of the Sulmaniya hospital,” she said. “How can you occupy such a huge complex when you are 20 to 25 doctors? Realistically anyone who looks at the case know that it doesn’t make any sense.”

“If they have cases when they have real evidence that someone has committed a crime, if they are able to provide them with a fair and independent trial according to international standards then they should be accountable,” she added.

Molotov cocktails

Maryam also replied to a common accusation by government officials that protesters used Molotov cocktails to target security forces and bystanders.

AlBinali stated in the letter that “adolescent rebels” who fight in the name of democracy “are harmful to innocent bystanders and police officers, and public and private property as well as themselves”.

But Maryam said the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights does not condone violence – although some distinctions had to be made. “You cannot equate young boys throwing Molotov cocktails and stones with police using systematic excess of violence,” she said.

“If you ask me when the last protester was killed by Bahrain I can give you a precise date: it was a 16-year-old protester shot with bird guns two weeks ago and he died in the streets,” she continued.

“When was the last police officer killed? I asked a police official during a live interview. He refused to respond, because he knew the response would be more than a year ago.”

Zainab al-Khawaja

Maryam’s sister, Zainab al-Khawaja, was arrested for the fifth time on 2 August on charges of tearing up a picture of the king.

“During her trial her lawyer tried to use an extract from the BICI report and the judge told the lawyer that the BICI report was a thing of the past and now we have to look towards the future,” Maryam said.

Bahrain’s spokesperson for the Information Affairs Authority said that Zainab had been arrested “for blocking a commercial and congested multi-lane road near the capital at night, obstructing the freedom of others, as well as endangering herself and others in the event of her causing an accident”.

Those charges date back to Zainab’s first arrest on 21 April 2012, when she staged a lone protest in the middle of a road, however.

“There’s one video where she’s sitting in a roundabout. That’s not obstructing traffic, she’s not even defying the law of gathering, she was by herself,” Maryam replied.

“She got dragged, beaten, punched, slapped, handcuffed and dragged from the other side and put in their car.

“We believe that Zainab, Abdulhadi and Nabeel Rajab and all the human rights defender who are targeted in Bahrain are targeted solely based on their human rights activities, not because they have actually committed a crime,” she said. …source

Bahrain approves UN rights recommendations
15 September, 2012 – By Habib Toumi

Bahrain said that it had approved 156 out of 176 recommendations set by the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) last May.

“The Kingdom has approved 143 recommendations fully and endorsed 13 others partially,” Salah Ali, the human rights minister, said.

However, Bahrain said that it had reservations about several recommendations “as they are contrary to the Islamic Shariah or to the constitution or are of political nature and interfere in the country’s sovereignty.”

Bahrain submitted the UPR reply to the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday.

“Bahrain has been making successive strides to guarantee the citizens’ constitutional rights and promoting legislations and democratic exercise towards achieving comprehensive justice and enforcing the rule of law in the state of institutions as urged by HM King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa,” the minister said in a statement.

Most of the recommendations set by the UN panel last May during Bahrain’s Periodic Review centred on 19 areas relating to human rights. They included penal justice, compensation of victims of the unrest, the law on nationality and teaching and training disabled people.

Other areas were family law, providing human rights training to public security forces, implementing the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) and the National Human Rights Organisation.

They also included media and press reform, children’s rights, human trafficking, international human rights covenants, national dialogue, social services, constitutional and legal amendments, safeguards for human rights, building places of worship, women’s rights, and rights of human rights activists.

“Bahrain remains committed to the follow-up and implementation of these recommendations on the ground over the coming four years and to providing regular updates,” the minister said.

A UPR Follow-up Committee has been formed with representatives from all ministries to expedite and oversee the implementation process.

“Bahrain will update the UN Human Rights Council on the progress of the implementation of the approved recommendations by late 2016.”

The minister said that Bahrain’s reply this week coincided with the royal decree to restructure the National Human Rights Organisation (NHRO).

The move will enable it to assume its duties fully, consolidate its independence, and strengthen its crucial role as a Human Rights Ombudsman in the Kingdom, he said.

“The decision is a crucial cornerstone in the reforms led by HM the King and aims to bring the NHRO in line with the Paris Principles,” the minister said. …more