House raids and mass arrests: the Black Scare is well under way
28 July, 2012 – Cautiously Pessimistic –

[excerpt] – This week[28 July 2012], three houses were raided in Portland, and subpoenas served to a number of individuals in Portland, Olympia and Seattle, summoning them to appear at a grand jury on Thursday August 2nd. This follows on from more house raids in Seattle earlier in July, and is clearly one aspect of the broader project of repression that’s seen the FBI setting up fake terror plots. The FBI’s search warrant states that they are looking to seize items which may be evidence regarding the crimes of conspiracy to destroy government property, interstate travel with intent to riot, and conspiracy to travel interstate with intent to riot. Those items include: Clothing and related items worn during commission of offenses; paint; sticks and flags similar to those used or carried during the commission of the offenses, and material for making flags; anti-government or anarchist literature, documentation or communications related to the offenses, flares, computers or electronic storage media of any kind.

So, anti-government or anarchist literature, paint, black hoodies, and material for making flags are all evidence of crimes now. For those of you who aren’t aware what a grand jury is, they’re pretty serious shit. The famous Fifth Amendment, which gives you the right to silence, doesn’t apply to them; in fact, it starts “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury…” If someone who’s been subpoenaed for a Grand Jury refuses to testify, they can be jailed for contempt of court. …more and HERE

URGENT – FAST FORWARD – 2 November, 2012

Dear Capr supporter,

On October 25, 2012 a fifth subpoena was served to Matthew “Maddy” Pfeiffer to appear before the federal grand jury on November 7, 2012. Early this week, they declared their intent to resist the grand jury. You can read their statement at our website: HERE. We are preparing to support Maddy as they go in front of the grand jury next week. Check our website for updates on what you can do.

Matt Duran and Kteeo Olejink are still being held in contempt of court at Seatac Federal Prison and continue to need your support. Please consider writing or sending them books, donating money so we can fill up their commissary or having a solidarity action in your community. We recently received a letter from Kteeo and wanted to pass it on to you. Thank you for your continued support.

Kteeo’s letter:

“I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the incredible and constant support that I have been receiving since being locked up at the FDC over a month ago.

I want to thank my family for their unwavering support, pride, and love—throughout this situation and throughout my life.

I want to thank my closest friends for supporting me out of love, regardless of political beliefs; for your constant letters, for keeping my life on the outs in order, for spreading the word of my incarceration, and for reminding me daily that I am never alone.

I want to thank all the incredible support team for getting the word out there; through the internet, through word of mouth, radical media, anarchist media, lefty media, and mainstream media. I want to thank you all for all the fundraising you have been doing; and for your constant reminder of solidarity and friendship.

I want to thank my wonderful attorney; you are such a badass!

I want to thank all of my old friends from across the States and the world who are spreading the word to their friends and networks both through the use of technology and face to face communication (which I have to say is pretty rad).

To all of the rad people organizing on our behalf, I thank you for dedicating your precious time, energy, and love to our release and well-being.

I want to thank all of my new friends who have heard about our case from mutual friends, the internet, political groups; any number of forms of media; ya’ll have been consistently writing letters and spreading the word since day one. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

To a whole lot of anarchists who have written me every day, thank you!

To a whole lot of people who are not anarchists, who have written to me every day, thank you!

To those who have made it their life’s work to write prisoners, thank you!

To those who are writing me because they have experienced the red scare, and said never again, thank you!

To all of you who have inquired about donating (I hope I gave you the info), those who donated, and those who are planning benefits, thank you!

To my community of downtowners, thank you for having my back. Thank you for not forgetting me, thank you for loving me, thank you for proving that communities can be strong regardless of political beliefs, and for proving that all of this is about so much more than political affiliations.

So, to all of you; I know I did not do anyone any favors by staying out of the public eye until my incarceration, but every single one of you has done so much to bring light to what is going on.
Every single one of you has done so much to bring light to what is going on. Every single one of you helps me to grow stronger every day.

To all of those who have written me; I have received about 100 letters every week since I have been in here (over 400 letters so far), and I am so sorry to all of those I have not written back yet. All of your words, artwork, and photos have inspired me and I can not thank you enough. Again, I’m really very sorry if I have not written you back yet; postage is a bit of an issue. Also to all of you who have sent me books, most of them have not contained return addresses, but I still want to let ya’ll know that they are loved by myself and my new friends on the inside. To the friend that sent me Soledad Brother and the beautiful letter within days of being here, I do not have an address for you, but I love you and your words have helped to strengthen my resolve.

Anywho…to all of you again, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!

Keep smiling, keep struggling; in solidarity, gratitude, and love,

Kteeo

PS: ….to another old friend, I got your postcard. Live to eat.”
Katherine Olejnik #42592-086
FDC SeaTac,
P.O. Box 13900
Seattle, WA 9819

Bahrain: One year after security forces killed his child, father arrested while the killers enjoy full impunity
Bahrain Center for Human Rights

Instead of Arresting Policemen Involved in Killing His 14-year-old Son, Authorities Detain the Father for Peacefully Protesting

The Bahrain center for Human rights expresses its concern over the arrest and act of intimidation practiced by the Bahraini regime toward the relatives of the victims killed by the security forces to stop them from demanding justice.

On 26 Oct 2012, Jawad Al-Shaikh was arrested from a peaceful protest in Manama that demanded self-determination and breaking the siege of Aleker village which was living under high security restrictions for the past few days before the protest (More details: bahrainrights.hopto.org/en/node/5487); dozens of people were attacked and a number of peaceful protestors were arrested among them Jawad Al-Shaikh.

Jawad was kept in police custody for over 48 hours before he was finally presented to the Public Prosecution on Monday 29 Oct 2012, in a violation of the Bahrain Law, which states that the decision of the Public Prosecutor should be made within 24 hours to keep or release the detainee. The Public Prosecution ordered detaining him for 15 days pending investigation on charges of “illegal gathering”. He was not allowed the presence of a lawyer during the interrogation. Such acts are “business-as-usual” for the Judiciary and Public Prosecution in Bahrain, the BCHR recently have issued a detailed statement. (Read More : The Judiciary and Public Prosecution in Bahrain are Tools to Oppress the Human Rights Activists and Political Opponents)

Jawad is the father of a 14 year old boy Ali Al-Shaikh who was killed with a shot to his neck from behind last year on 31 Aug 2011, the morning of Eid Al-Fiter. Jawad Al-Shaikh, says that the government tried to force him to sign documents stating that Ali was not killed by regime forces. A few months later he was summoned by police for interrogation. Security forces have numerously raided the family’s home and ripped pictures of Ali off the wall. They constantly smash the pictures on his grave as well as throwing away any flowers which the family leaves on their son’s grave. Ahmed Al-Shaikh, the cousin of Ali Al-Shaikh, who is a witness of his killing was arrested on January 5 2012. Ahmed has been charged with illegal gathering. Until this day, no official of any rank has been held accountable for the death of Ali.

Jawad, like many other fathers and relatives of the killed victims, has been participating in protests, peacefully demanding justice for his killed son.

The BCHR believes that Jawad Al-Shaikh has been arrested for practicing his legitimate right in peacefully assembly to raise awareness about the case of his killed son, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The BCHR also believes that this arrest is an act of intimidation directed at all other relatives of killed victims who continue to accuse the regime with the killing of their sons and continues to participate in peaceful protests to demand justice. …more

Bahrain activist sentenced for anti-king web posts
Associated Press – 1 November, 2012 – The Olympian

MANAMA, Bahrain – A civil court has sentenced an online activist to six months in prison on charges of insulting the Gulf nation’s king in Twitter posts, the official news agency said Thursday.

The activist, whose name was not released, was among four people arrested last month for allegedly defaming Bahrain’s monarch in cases that mirror other social media crackdowns by Gulf Arab rulers. Court rulings on the three other Twitter activists are expected next week.

The official Bahrain News Agency said that in addition to the sentence, the court on Thursday ordered the activist’s laptop and mobile phone confiscated.

Bahrain has been hit by unrest for nearly 21 months as the island’s Shiite Muslim majority seeks a greater political voice in the Sunni-ruled kingdom that hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

The prosecutions have brought strong criticism from media freedom groups – as has the government’s announcement Tuesday banning public demonstrations.

The ban is the most sweeping attempt to quash the kingdom’s anti-government uprising since martial law rules went into effect during the early months of unrest last year. It sharply increases pressure on political groups from the Shiite majority.

Shiites comprise about 70 percent of Bahrain’s 525,000 citizens, but claim they face systematic discrimination such as being denied top political and security posts. The Sunni monarchy has made a series of concessions – including giving more powers to the elected parliament – but opposition groups say the reforms do little to loosen the ruling family’s hold on power.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday joined the U.S. government in criticizing the move by Bahrain’s rulers.

The U.N. chief said the restrictions violate international human rights standards, including respect for freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said.

“The secretary-general believes these restrictions could aggravate the situation in the country and urges the government of Bahrain to lift them without delay,” he said.

Ban reaffirmed that the only way towards greater stability and prosperity is an inclusive national dialogue that addresses the legitimate aspirations of all Bahrainis, del Buey said.

…source

MOSCOW: A senior Russian diplomat has warned the West against trying to predetermine a future leadership of Syria.

Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Twitter Friday that such attempts would contradict guidelines for a political transition in Syria approved in Geneva in June.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that the administration would push for a shakeup in the Syria opposition leadership so that it better represents fighters on the frontline. Washington believes that a revamped rebel leadership could rally wider international support and prevent extremists from hijacking the rebellion.

Russia has been the main supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, shielding it from U.N. sanctions over a crackdown on the 19-month uprising, in which at least 36,000 people have been killed, according to opposition activists.

…source

Protesters in Sanabis massive in tribute with the political prisoner Hassan Mushaimae

Another fine piece of total fabrication(bullshit) from “The Hill”. When Mark Toner was directly asked if his “public scolding” of Bahrain had been discussed with the Bahraini government he appeared to have absolutely no clue. The actual “Scolding” was not much more than a few words, quite to the contrary of The Hills story. The “scolding” Toner delivered is nothing new and has been uttered repetitively over the past two years of the al Khalifas relentless, tortuous and murderous bloody crackdown on protests. The only thing missing was the reference to the al Khalifa’s as “friends” and that usually follows when the King dispatches one of his relatives to visit the US in a week or two to kiss some State Department Ass. Phlipn out.

HERE is the “lengthy condemnation” of Bahrain “protest crackdown” that has been in practical effect for the last two years.

State condemns Bahrain’s crackdown on political demonstrations
By Julian Pecquet – 31 October, 2012 – The Hill

The State Department issued a tough and lengthy condemnation of Bahrain’s crackdown on protesters Wednesday, saying the United States is “deeply concerned” by the U.S. ally’s decision to outlaw public gatherings.

“Freedoms of assembly, association and expression are universal human rights,” department spokesman Mark Toner said. “We urge the government of Bahrain to uphold its international commitments and ensure that its citizens are able to assemble peacefully and to express their views without fear of arrest or detention.

“We urge the government of Bahrain to work with responsible protest leaders to find a way for peaceful and orderly demonstrations to take place. The decision to curb these rights is contrary to Bahrain’s professed commitment to reform and will not help advance national reconciliation nor build trust among all parties. We also urge the opposition to refrain from provocations and violence; violence undermines efforts to reduce tensions, rebuild trust and pursue meaningful reconciliation in Bahrain.”

The Persian Gulf kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has been rocked by protests since the government quashed an Arab Spring-inspired uprising in February and March of last year, leaving more than 80 people dead. Bahrain has since established a commission of inquiry that faulted the government for systematic torture and made several recommendations to alleviate tensions.

The latest measure also threatens legal action against protest supporters amid intensifying complaints of discrimination against the Sunni-ruled country’s Shiite majority. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid bin Abdulla al-Khalifa justified the decision by accusing protesters of fomenting violence and disrupting the economy.

Al-Khalifa on Wednesday called the ban “temporary.”

“Interior Minister: banning rallies & gatherings is a temporary decision until security is restored to protect national unity,” the Interior Ministry said on Twitter. “Freedom of expression is protected within the constitution and law.”

The Obama administration has been criticized for not supporting the pro-democracy movement in Bahrain, as it has in other Arab Spring countries. Republican candidate Mitt Romney has declined to challenge President Obama on the issue.

Great Britain has criticized Bahrain, despite signing a defense cooperation agreement with the country earlier this month.

“A blanket ban of this nature is excessive,” Alistair Burt, the British minister for the Middle East and North Africa, said Tuesday.

“Peaceful protest is a democratic right. I hope the Bahraini government will rescind this measure as quickly as possible.”

The human-rights group Amnesty International has also weighed in.

“Even in the event of sporadic or isolated violence once an assembly is underway, the authorities cannot simply declare a blanket prohibition on all protests,” Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, the Middle East and North Africa Program deputy director at Amnesty International, said in a statement.

“Such a sweeping measure amounts to nothing less than nullifying the rights to freedom of association, expression and assembly. Law enforcement officials must act to protect peaceful protesters rather than using the violent acts of a few as a pretext to restrict or impede the rights of all.” …source