Bombs in Bahrain
7 November, 2012 – MPACUK

Bahrain’s tragic episode has unfurled further with explosions in various parts of the Bahraini capital of Manama. Two neighbourhoods witnessed explosions in what the state has described as a “terrorist attack.”

The silence about Bahrain is deafening; the media reports all focus on the sectarian rift between Sunni and Shiite groups and seldom on the actual humanitarian plight. We seem to have a massive reaction towards the crises facing the Syrians but we have hardly any such reaction regarding the crises of other Muslims around the world. We’re even silent about the Kashmiris and Palestinians who have been oppressed for decades; we have not been able to come out with a single practical solution for them. The question is; why?

The fact is that we are colonised still; as a nation we still suffer from the same mental disease of colonialism. Is it because the protesters are reportedly Shiites that we don’t care about Bahrain and kick the issue under the carpet? Why are we silent in our communities about Zionist Saudi murdering Shiites in Yemen or supporting the small uprising against Saudi tyranny? We know that mainstream media has suppressed the Bahraini protests and barely highlighted the uprisings in Arabia. However, what is our excuse as Muslims?

The greatest irony is that the King of Bahrain described the explosions as a terrorist attack and yet, what does he do? Not only are his mafia-style family the biggest terrorists in Bahrain, they are supported and upheld by our community and by international communities. After the Grand Prix, the reporting on Bahrain became silent once more. Reality is that the King will not actually do anything about the attack and continue on being a mobster, including banning of public gatherings.

It is time we stood up to tyranny and not hide behind sectarian lines to justify the support of tyrants. You might be a Sunni and the Bahraini supporters might be Shiite, but one thing is for sure; the tyrants ruling the Ummah have their Qiblah in Tel Aviv and Washington DC.

…source

Ahmadinejad lashes out at big-spending US elections
8 November, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Thursday dismissed US elections as a “battleground for the capitalists”, a day after Barack Obama’s re-election.

Ahmadinejad told a forum in Bali island intended to promote democracy that the Western system meant only the wealthy few held power.

At the start of the two-day Bali Democracy Forum, attended by leaders including Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the Iranian president criticized the situation in Europe and the US.

“An election, which is one of the manifestations of the people’s will, has become a battleground for the capitalists, and an excuse for hefty spending,” he said.

An estimated $6 billion was spent in US federal races, making the 2012 general election the most expensive poll in American history, experts have said.

Ahmadinejad, who did not comment directly on Obama’s victory over his Republican rival Mitt Romney, added that “democracy has turned into the rule of a minority over the majority”.

He said problems continued “even in countries who claim to be the forerunners of democracy”.

“Slavery, colonialism and rights abuses continue to be imposed on human beings,” he said, without singling out any countries in particular for criticism. ..source

Senior Obama campaign data crunchers agreed to describe their cutting-edge efforts with TIME. What they revealed was a massive data effort that helped Obama raise $1 billion. They remade the process of targeting TV ads and created detailed models of swing-state voters

How Obama’s data crunchers helped him win
TIME.com – By Michael Scherer – 8 November, 2012

(TIME) — In late spring, the backroom number crunchers who powered Barack Obama’s campaign to victory noticed that George Clooney had an almost gravitational tug on West Coast females ages 40 to 49. The women were far and away the single demographic group most likely to hand over cash, for a chance to dine in Hollywood with Clooney — and Obama.

So as they did with all the other data collected, stored and analyzed in the two-year drive for re-election, Obama’s top campaign aides decided to put this insight to use. They sought out an East Coast celebrity who had similar appeal among the same demographic, aiming to replicate the millions of dollars produced by the Clooney contest.

“We were blessed with an overflowing menu of options, but we chose Sarah Jessica Parker,” explains a senior campaign adviser. And so the next Dinner with Barack contest was born: a chance to eat at Parker’s West Village brownstone.

Four more years — Obama wins re-election

For the general public, there was no way to know that the idea for the Parker contest had come from a data-mining discovery about some supporters: affection for contests, small dinners and celebrity. But from the beginning, campaign manager Jim Messina had promised a totally different, metric-driven kind of campaign in which politics was the goal but political instincts might not be the means.

“We are going to measure every single thing in this campaign,” he said after taking the job.

He hired an analytics department five times as large as that of the 2008 operation, with an official “chief scientist” for the Chicago headquarters named Rayid Ghani, who in a previous life crunched huge data sets to, among other things, maximize the efficiency of supermarket sales promotions. …source

Bahrain arrests bombing suspects and blames Hezbollah
DUBAI – Reuters – 7 November, 2012

(Reuters) – Bahrain said it had arrested four suspects on Tuesday in the bombings that killed two people in the capital Manama and accused the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of being behind the attacks.

Public Security Chief Major-General Tariq Al Hassan said in a statement published by the official Bahrain News Agency (BNA) the suspects were detained after prosecutors issued arrest warrants and police were hunting for other killers.

The five home-made bombs on Monday bore the hallmarks of Hezbollah, the Shi’ite group allied with Iran, authorities said.

“Their terrorist practices prove that they have been trained outside the kingdom,” BNA said. “The hallmarks of Hezbollah are crystal clear.”

The Sunni Muslim-dominated, U.S.-aligned Bahrain government has been struggling since early last year to suppress pro-democracy unrest led mainly by the Gulf Arab kingdom’s majority Shi’ite Muslims.

BNA quoted Information Minister Samira Ibrahim bin Rajab as saying the bombings were staged by terrorist groups trained outside Bahrain and based in countries including Lebanon.

She said the groups were operating under principles set by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and that 19 pro-Iran satellite media channels were inciting their supporters in Bahrain to subvert the government.

The blasts in the capital Manama on Monday killed two street cleaners and wounded another, according to state media.

Some opposition activists have suggested the attacks, which came a few days after the government banned opposition gatherings with the stated goal of ensuring public safety, could have been the work of forces trying to justify the clampdown.

The government has repeatedly accused Shi’ite Iran of fomenting the turmoil, a charge the Islamic Republic denies. Hezbollah denies involvement in the Bahrain protests, but has criticized the government’s handling of them. …more

Bahrain vows to root out terrorism
7 November, 2012 – Trade Arabia

Bahrain’s Cabinet, at an extraordinary meeting, today affirmed its strong resolve to face terrorism firmly by taking the necessary steps to eradicate it from the kingdom.

A Bahrain News Agency report said that the meeting, chaired by His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, stressed that any attempt to justify or support terrorist and violent acts targeting innocent lives and posing a threat to their security, safety, livelihoods and lifestyles will be dealt with resolutely.

During the session, the cabinet urged all state bodies, particularly the security ones, to take the required measures in order to deal with the unprecedented surge in violence appropriately, calling upon all sides to cooperate fully and responsibly with the legal procedures to be taken or any other necessary steps required by the situation.

The cabinet condemned in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attacks that targeted a number of areas in the kingdom on Monday, leaving two expatriates dead and another critically injured, and offered its condolences to the families of the victims and wishing the wounded speedy recovery.

It expressed its full support for all the measures to be taken by the Interior Ministry and other security bodies in order to reinforce security, promote stability and arrest the perpetrators, stressing that the government will thwart any evil plans aimed at destabilise the kingdom or undermine its national unity.

The government pledged that it will deal with any acts aimed at jeopardising the security and safety of the citizens and resident decisively and relentlessly, in line with its constitutional responsibilities, the agency said. …source

Egyptians protest outside Saudi Arabia Embassy
7 November, 2012 – Jafria News

Egyptians have staged a sit-in at the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Cairo, 2 Egyptians protest outside Saudi Arabia Embassy demanding the release of their loved ones from Saudi prisons.

“My son has been detained in al-Kharj prison in Riyadh for three years unlawfully. He’s being subjected to extreme torture. As a consequence he lost his eyesight and is suffering from diabetes,” an Egyptian woman told.

Protesters also demanded fair trial for Egyptian prisoners in Saudi Arabia.

“My husband has been detained in a Saudi prison without neither a charge nor a trial. Undercover agents arrested him at work without issuing a download 212 Egyptians protest outside Saudi Arabia Embassy warrant,” another protester at the Saudi Embassy said.

The gathering is not the first demonstration to be held at the embassy.

In April, attorney Ahmed al-Gizawi was detained shortly after his arrival in Saudi Arabia on alleged drug charges.

His arrest sparked major protests in Egypt and the temporary closure of the Saudi Embassy.

Many Egyptians believe that Gizawi was detained for filing a lawsuit in Cairo against Saudi monarch King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz on behalf of download 315 Egyptians protest outside Saudi Arabia Embassy Egyptian citizens held without charge in Saudi prisons. …more

Bahrain: Twitter users sentenced to prison as authorities seek to extend their crack-down on social media websites
08 November, 2012 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses concern over the recent charges and prison sentences against twitter users for posts published on the social media site. The harassment of online activists and twitter users is a step in the continuation of the criminalisation of freedom of expression online.

On November 1, Abdullah Alhashemi was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment for defaming the king over Twitter[1]. On November 5, Salman Darwish was sentenced to 1 month imprisonment and Ali Mohamed Watheqi was sentenced to four months of imprisonment, both on the charges of defaming the king via social media. On November 12 Ali Alhayki expects to receive a verdict on the same charges[2]. The four men were all arrested during house raids on October 16 and the Ministry of Information announced the search for a fifth defendant.

Last month, the Minister of Justice announced an approach to enact further legislations which will restrict the use of the Internet, including social networks and modern mobile technologies[3].

In July 2012, the leading human rights defender Nabeel Rajab was jailed after receiving a 3 month prison sentence for a tweet in which he criticised the Prime Minster of Bahrain[4]. The prominent blogger Ali Abdulemam is missing since March 18, 2011 and was last year sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by a military court[5]. Bahrain was considered “not free” in the recent “Freedom of the Net”-report published by Freedom House[6]. Alarmingly, Bahrain has gone from a score of 62 in the 2011-report to 71 in the 2012-report, where 0 indicates the countries with the most internet freedom and 100 indicates the countries with the least internet freedom[7].

Bahrain Center for Human Rights considers the recent trials and sentences of online users for opinions expressed over online social networks as a direct violation of Article 19 of the Universal declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 states that: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers[8].

The authorities are using the prosecution of the internet users as an intimidation act to stop other internet users from spreading information and expressing views at time when internet may be last resort for people to express their opinions and exposing human rights violations.

Thus, based on the above information, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights demands that the Government of Bahrain:

1. Immediately release of Abdullah Alhashemi, Salman Darwish and Ali Mohamed Watheqi, Ali Alhayki and Nabeel Rajab as well as all detainees, including the activists and human rights defenders because they have been arrested based on reasons related to them practicing their fundamental rights of freedom of expression and peaceful assembling which are guaranteed to them by international laws.

2. The withdrawal of all actions that would restrict freedom of opinion and expression, or prevent the transmission of information. …more

Hezbollah slams Bahrain over accusations of being linked to bombings
8 November 2012 – Islamic invitation Turkey

Hezbollah has censured the Bahraini regime over accusations that the Lebanese resistance movement was involved in the recent bombings that killed two people in Bahrain.

“We condemn any sign of accusations against us in this issue. We believe Bahrain’s intelligence carried out these bombings in order to exploit them to crack down on the peaceful opposition and to avoid responding to their rightful demands,” Hezbollah said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

On November 6, the Bahraini regime said it had arrested four people suspected of involvement in the November 5 bombings that also injured one person in the capital Manama. Bahrain accused Hezbollah of being behind the explosions.

Hezbollah also stated that the latest allegations are part of a wider series of false accusations aimed at charging the Lebanese resistance movement with involvement in the uprising against the Al Khalifa regime.

The Bahraini uprising began in mid-February 2011.

Bahraini protesters hold King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa responsible for the death of the demonstrators during the uprising. …source

Former U.S. Diplomat: Saudi Arabia Most Supporting Terrorism States
8 November, 2012 – 9:34 – Islamic Invitation Turkey

Former U.S. diplomat revealed that Saudi Arabia is the most supporting countries of the terrorist criminal gangs in Syria, as it is responsible for the terrorist bombings in Iraq in order to ignite a sectarian war between the Iraqis themselves, stressing that everything has been carried out with the knowledge of the United States of America.

The Palestinian daily ‘Al-Manar’ quoted the diplomat as saying that “Saudi Arabia is one of the most active and most countries involved in the support of terrorist criminal gangs that shed the Syrian blood.”

“Riyadh is superior to Turkey, Qatar and other Middle Eastern parties in the field of supporting terrorism,” added the diplomat who served in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria and lately in Iraq in 2004.

The US diplomat noted that Saudi Arabia has established training camps for terrorist to train them on committing bombing and suicide attacks, where it spends on their families.

“The US is aware of the Saudi role, and is informed about recruitment of mercenaries carried out by Riyadh, as well as the bringing of militants from Afghanistan, Yemen and elsewhere into the Syrian territory,” he added.

The diplomat noted that al-Qaeda leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in July 2006 in Iraq, was in contact with Saudi security forces that were funding him to carry out terrorist attacks. …source

Detainee Adnan Al-Mansi Suffers Temporary Paralysis due to Severe Torture & Hemorrhage due to Sexual Assault While in Detention
07 November, 2012 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) is gravely concerned by reports from the attorney and the brother of Bahraini detainee Adnan Al-Mansi, 22. According to them, Al-Mansi was subjected to severe physical torture, including sexual assaults in the form of anal assault. Following his arrest on 30th May 2012, Al-Mansi has also been denied adequate medical treatment.

According to Attorney Manar Makki and Al-Mansi’s brother, Yousif Al-Mansi, Adnan Al-Mansi was arrested while he was at the Department of Immigration & Passports where he was taken to the Criminal Investigation Department. Al-Mansi was then subjected to physical and psychological torture by Bahraini security forces officers according to his family.

Al-Mansi was forced to stand in the sun for hours, then denied access to restrooms, and also subjected to water depravation. Adnan’s attorney reported that his client was “raped by MOI officials which has caused him a severe anal hemorrhage.” Additionally, Al-Mansi was severely beaten on the head which reportedly caused “temporary paralysis and a permanent headache.”
Attorney Makki subsequently sent several requests demanding his release, and for his client to be given adequate medical treatment. All his requests to the Bahraini government officials were denied– including the request for a detailed medical report on his condition.

As Al-Mansi’s health deteriorated further, he fell unconscious. He was taken for treatment in Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), which was later discontinued based on the prison physician’s recommendation. As per Al-Mansi, the prison hospital physician violated his Hippocratic oath by seeking to extricate information from him in order to pass on to security forces. He was later given a date for another hospital follow up visit by the end of this year before being returned to his detention cell.

Due to the severe anal bleeding resulting from sexual assaults in detention, physicians consulted by Al-Mansi’s family fear that his injuries will most likely cause a tumor. They also fear that his head injuries might cause permanent paralysis. Psychologically, Al-Mansi’s state is serious as he is severely depressed. The family sent a request for him to be seen by a psychiatrist but to no avail.

Adnan is accused by Bahrain’s MOI of “causing fire and making a bomb.” The MOI further alleges Al-Mansi confessed to these charges. Any statements attributed to him by the MOI cannot be verifiably confirmed given the extensively-documented record of the use of torture on Bahraini political detainees at the hand of security forces members.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights holds the Bahraini authorities responsible for the life of Adnan Al-Mansi and his physical and psychological well-being.

The BCHR calls on the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, The European Union and all close allies and international institutions to put pressure on Bahraini authorities to:

1. Immediately and unconditionally release Adnan Al-Mansi, who we view as a prisoner of conscience detained solely on the basis of his political opinion.
2. Provide Adnan Al-Mansi with proper and impartial medical treatment
3. Immediately drop all charges against Adnan Al-Mansi since confessions were extricated under torture. 4. To investigate the allegations of torture and assault made by Adnan Al-Mansi during his imprisonment in Bahrain and prosecute officials for any wrongdoings to the full extent of the law.
5. Hold Bahrain accountable for violating international human rights legislation it is party to.
…source

Nabeel Rajab has been jailed for three years for organising demonstrations through social networking sites

Human rights groups call for release of Bahraini activist
by Richard Norton-Taylor – guardian.co.uk – 8 November, 2012

Human rights groups have called for the immediate release of a leading Bahraini activist jailed for participating in “illegal” demonstrations and organising them through social networking sites.

Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was jailed for three years in August. Both the UK Foreign Office and US state department expressed concern about the case but he remains in prison. Human rights organisations are stepping up pressure to try to get him freed.

“Nabeel Rajab must be the world’s first Twissident, locked up for criticising his repressive government on Twitter,” said Clive Stafford Smith, director of the legal charity Reprieve.

He added: “I know him to be an honest and decent man, who travelled far and wide to help the families whose relatives had been locked up in Guantánamo. He’s not a lawyer, and he’s the furthest thing imaginable from an extremist.”

Defence lawyers told Human Rights Watch that Rajab, who is appealing against his sentence, was convicted before he was able to see his lawyers. “Because the authorities have presented no evidence that he advocated or participated in violence, his conviction is a violation of his right to freedom of peaceful assembly,” the New-York-based human rights group said.

“The criminal court verdict cites no evidence – not even an allegation – that Nabeel Rajab participated in or advocated violent protests,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and north Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “He has the basic right to peaceful assembly and shouldn’t be sent to prison for that.”

Bahraini prosecutors charged Rajab under article 178 of the penal code, which prohibits unauthorised gatherings of five or more people in a public place with the “purpose of committing crimes” or “undermining public security, even if intended to achieve legitimate purpose”.

The British Foreign Office expressed concern about the length of Rajab’s sentence for charges “relating to comments made on social networking sites and for incitement of illegal rallies”. It added: “We urge the Bahraini government to act proportionately in all cases. The right of individuals to peaceful protest and freedom of expression is a fundamental part of any modern democracy and must be respected.” …more

The Observatory: Bahrain: Rights of the defence undermined in Nabeel Rajab’s trial
8 November, 2012 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

Paris-Geneva, October 18, 2012. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), deplores the violation of the rights of the defence during the third hearing of the appeal against the three years ’ imprisonment sentence pronounced against Nabeel Rajab, who has been arbitrarily detained since July 9, 2012.

On October 16, 2012, the Bahrain Appeals Court resumed the hearing on the appeal against the three years’ imprisonment sentence pronounced against Mr. Nabeel Rajab , President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and FIDH Deputy Secretary General[1], on August 16, 2012 by the Lower Criminal Court for three cases related to his participation in peaceful gatherings in favour of fundamental freedoms and democracy. The hearing was attended by Mr. Antoine Aussedat, French lawyer, who had been mandated by the Observatory to conduct an international trial observation mission. He was the only trial observer mandated by an international NGO. Several diplomats representing France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the USA also attended the hearing.

The Observatory deplores that at least one international defence witness was denied entry to Bahrain. Indeed, FIDH’s Representative, Stéphanie David, Head of MENA Desk, who had been called upon to testify as a witness by the defence team, was denied entry into Bahrain on October 16, 2012. The Observatory considers that preventing international experts from testifying before a court amounts to a blatant violation of the rights of the defence. Nabeel Rajab’s lawyers had formally requested the Court to issue a letter to the Customs to facilitate the entry of several international witnesses, including Ms. David, but the court refused to issue such a letter. Despite the Court’s lack of support, FIDH, together with the defence lawyers, decided to confirm Ms. David’s travel to Bahrain for the purpose of the trial. During the hearing, the defence lawyers’ request to call international witnesses was rejected by the Court on the ground that their testimonies were not “relevant”.

In addition, the Observatory regrets that part of the evidence have not been examined in public and that the defence lawyers have not had access to all the evidence filed in the criminal case in due time. Indeed, the defence lawyers asked the Court that a video that had been used as evidence to convict Mr. Rajab be shown during the appeal hearing, as the said video had not been shown during the first instance[1]. The Appeals Court informed the defence team that the video could not be shown as it had disappeared from the criminal file. In addition, the Court attempted to show a second video submitted by the Prosecutor, but which had not been added as part of the criminal case file. After a brief attempt, the Court suspended the hearing for more than two hours to solve technical issues. When the hearing resumed, the court announced that the trial was again adjourned to November 8, 2012. The Observatory calls on the judicial authorities to ensure that Nabeel Rajab’s lawyers have access to all the evidence filed in the criminal case in due time. …more

Protests attacked in 19 areas, 18 arrests and 24 house raids
Protests go on despite suppressive security escalation on freedom
7 November, 2012 – Al Wefaq

Around 18 citizens have been arrested Tuesday while illegal and inhumane number of house raids that took place at dawn to terrorize residents, totaled up to 24. These acts are in line with the regime’s systematic suppressive security policy toward the popular demands of freedom and democratic transition.

More than 19 areas were subjected to the forces collective punishment and brutal suppression. The forces used Birdshot and toxic tear gas causing injuries between pro-democracy protesters.

Protests continue to take to streets across Bahrain despite the official decision to ban all rallies and protests, and despite the ongoing house raids and security escalation and deployment. And the crackdown on protests and freedoms went on attacking protesters through excessive use of force.

Areas that witnessed protests on Tuesday: Manamma, Sitra, Eker, Maameer, JidHafs, Daih, Bilad Qadeem, Zinj, Demistan, Malkiya, Dar Kulaib, Shahrakan, Karzakan, Hamala, Quraya, Samaheej, Tubli, JidAli.

Houses in Manama were raided at dawn. The forces did not provide legal warrants and attacked and verbally abused the households and vandalized their property. This is the usual and common behavior of the regime forces in house raids.

Military checkpoints were widely set and were used to arrest a number of citizens, including a woman arrested in a checkpoint in Sitra, and a man from a cafeteria near Al-Eker.

JidHafs city was rained with toxic teargas and birdshot was excessively used. In Manama, a peaceful march took to street demanding release of all prisoners and refusing any potential attacks against Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassim and considered an attack against the people.

In DarKulaib and Karzakan , people marched in a large protests demanding freedom and democracy refusing arbitrary measures that violate universal rights to freedom of expression. …source

Syrian rebels kill prisoner as war fuels hatreds
8 November, 2012 – By Erika Solomon – Reuters – The Daily Star

HAREM: Unarmed and cornered by Syrian rebel fighters, the man seemed to accept his death with more silent sorrow than surprise; his killers did not hesitate as they shot their prisoner.

The incident, filmed by a Reuters video crew, happened last week in Harem, near Aleppo, where rebels have surrounded hundreds of troops and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Taking one neighbourhood after days of bitter street fighting, opposition fighters went from house to house.

From one building they hauled a man in middle age, dressed in casual clothes, black bearded and without a weapon. He seemed anxious and shied away as he stumbled into the street. Three rebels fighters casually raised their Kalashnikov rifles. A shot rang out, then another. A third. The man began to fall. Still silent. More shots. He lay still. A final round hit his head.

For rebel commanders who present their siege of the former Crusader fortress town of Harem as a showcase for efforts to forge a disciplined fighting force out of motley volunteers, the killing was an embarrassment, offering evidence that Assad’s “shabbiha” gunmen have no monopoly on atrocities.

Brigade commander Basel Eissa did shout at his men but was unable to stop them. Leaders of the unit said the fighters were angry at taking casualties. They also justified their action by saying they later found documents showing the dead man was a loyalist army officer – though that would be no defence in a war crimes court.

“I try to remind them that there are moral reasons we do not just kill soldiers,” Eissa said. “And beyond that, I tell them that strategically it is bad – we get help or information when we spare these men’s lives. We are not their judge, God is.”

Commanders are also aware that bad publicity could hamper rebel efforts to secure arms and funding from abroad that might allow them to better match the tanks, aircraft and artillery which Assad’s forces are using against them to deadly effect – Eissa himself was killed in an air strike earlier this week.

U.N. investigators accuse pro-government forces of war crimes, including the murder and torture of civilians, in what they said in August may be a state-directed policy. They said rebel fighters were also guilty of war crimes, including executing prisoners, but on a smaller scale

…more

An interview with a leading human rights activist from Bahrain, Maryam Al-Khawaja

The Inconvenient Revolution
BY AZZURRA MERINGOLO – 7 November, 2012 – Foreign Policy

The Arab Spring is still going on in the tiny Persian Gulf country of Bahrain. The protests began in February 2011 and have continued ever since despite harsh government reprisals. The news that five home-made bombs exploded in the capital of Manama earlier this week, killing two and severely wounding another, has observers fearing that the mostly peaceful uprising could take a turn toward violence.

Maryam Al-Khawaja is one of the country’s leading activists, acting president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and head of the international office of the Gulf Center for Human Rights’ (GCHR). Based in Copenhagen, she comes from one of the most prominent dissident Bahraini families. “The last time I cried was when I read the report on how they tortured my father,” said Al-Khawaja. “But my family is just one of a long list.” The interview was conducted for Foreign Policy by Azzurra Meringolo.

Foreign Policy: According to the Bahrain News Agency (BNA), the Bahraini Information Minister, Samira Ibrahim bin Rajab, said the bombings were staged by terrorist groups trained outside Bahrain and based in countries including Lebanon. What do you think? And how can you explain everything that’s happening?

Maryam Al-Khawaja: As always we condemn violence, but given the Bahraini authorities’ background in spreading disinformation we are calling for an independent investigation into the deaths of the two migrant workers. We are also reminding the authorities that this is not grounds to start a campaign of collective punishment, arbitrary arrests, and torture as we’ve seen happen before.

FP: The U.S. and European governments often call for the release of human rights activists in Bahrain, but this ultimately doesn’t change the situation. What is the role of the international community? Are Western countries being too silent?

MK: These powers also have interests to defend in the Arab region. The United States, for example, has naval bases in Bahrain. I personally think that, if the European Union and the United States stop supporting the regime, it will fall very quickly. The reason they are still in power is because they have the support of foreign countries. The fact that European countries are selling weapons to the Bahrain government to commit human rights violations is disgusting. These are the same countries that speak everyday of human rights and democracy. They criticize Russia for doing the same in Syria. But then they close their eyes to what happens in Bahrain. Now the regime knows that they are not going to act. It is not afraid of their words because it knows that they are just words. The Western powers are not going to impose economic sanctions or stop selling arms to the regime.

FP: The revolt in Bahrain caught the attention of the media on the occasion of the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Then the media forgot about it again. Do you think that the Bahraini Spring is an invisible revolution?

MK: Our revolution is inconvenient. It is inconvenient for the Middle East, for the West, for Saudi Arabia, and for a lot of people. There is some coverage, but it is very superficial. I am sure that there are some media figures that have decided on purpose not to cover the revolt. The Bahraini and Saudi Arabian regimes are using all their influence to avoid honest coverage. This is not happening by mistake.

FP: A few weeks ago, 13 doctors and nurses who treated anti-government protesters during demonstrations earlier this year were given jail sentences of 15 years for crimes against the state. Seven other medical professionals were given sentences between five and 10 years by a special tribunal set up during the emergency rule that followed the demonstrations. What’s your response?

MK: The doctors’ trial has been closely watched and criticized by rights groups for Bahrain’s use of the security courts, which have military prosecutors and both civilian and military judges, in prosecuting civilians. Most of the medics worked at the Salmaniya Medical Centre in Manama, which was stormed by security forces after they drove protesters out of nearby Pearl Square — the focal point of Bahrain’s protest movement, on March 16. Since 2011, the protests have never stopped. They take place almost every single day.

But something has changed. What has changed is the confidence that the Bahraini regime has about itself. Now they feel as though they have international immunity. They feel that, no matter what they do, they are not going to face consequences for their actions. This allows them to do whatever they want. They are moving against the most prominent human rights defenders. They would never have done this last year. Now they feel free to do what they want because they know that, even if there are international statements, there are no consequences. …more

UK newspaper: Cameron seeking to arm Syrian rebels
8 November, 2012 – Al Akhbar

UK Prime Minister David Cameron wants to revise the EU arms embargo on Syria, possibly leading to the UK openly arming rebels fighting to depose Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, British daily The Guardian reported Thursday.

Officials in the prime minister’s office said that Cameron’s visit to a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan on Wednesday pushed him to put every means to remove Assad “back on the table.”

Britain’s national security council will address the Syrian crisis in a special session next week, which will include a review of the EU ban on supplying weapons to all groups in Syria, the sources added.

Syria and its allies, including Iran and Russia, have frequently accused Western countries and Arab Gulf states of covertly supplying Syria’s opposition with arms and instigating civil war in the country.

The UN estimates that more than 23,000 people have died in Syria since an uprising against Assad that started in March 2011 evolved into civil war.

Sources believe arming rebels could be considered legal since the EU embargo, signed into law two months into the uprising, specifies that sanctions be put on weapons “used for internal repression,” something that ostensibly does not apply to rebels.

On Wednesday, Cameron announced he would press newly re-elected US President Barack Obama to “do more to try and solve this crisis,” as well as to join the UK in opening direct talks with rebel fighters.

He added that the UK intends to change its policy and deal directly with opposition military leaders.

Statements from the UK, as well as Turkey’s request for NATO missile defenses on its Syrian border, seem to anticipate a heightened willingness from Obama for more active engagement in Syria. …source

Bahrain aims to cut govt spending 6 pct in 2013
7 November, 2012 – Reuters – By Martin Dokoupil

* Expenditure seen at 3.45 bln dinars in 2013, 3.54 bln in 2014
* Revenue projected at 2.79 bln dinars in both years
* Deficit at 6.1 pct/GDP in 2013, 6.6 pct in 2014
* Budget will remain vulnerable to any oil price drop

DUBAI, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Bahrain’s government plans to cut its budget spending by almost 6 percent in 2013 as it seeks to curb its deficit, a draft budget released by the finance ministry shows.

Budget expenditure in the small non-OPEC oil producer is expected to total 6.99 billion dinars ($18.5 billion) over the next two years, state news agency BNA quoted ministry undersecretary Aref Saleh Khamis as saying late on Tuesday.

A breakdown provided by BNA shows the ministry pencilled in spending worth 3.45 billion dinars for 2013 and 3.54 billion dinars for 2014, according to Reuters calculations based on the report. It planned to spend a record 3.65 billion this year.

Bahrain boosted its original 2012 expenditure plan by nearly 19 percent in September 2011 in order to soothe social tensions, a prospectus for a sovereign bond showed in June. Political unrest among the country’s Shi’ite citizens began early last year and has continued since then.

Khamis said the new two-year budget would help meet the basic needs of citizens and raise living standards, while keeping the financial sector stable and improving the investment environment.

Revenue is projected to rise to 2.79 billion dinars in both 2013 and 2014 from this year’s plan of 2.52 billion, based on an average budgeted oil price of $90 per barrel, compared to $80 in the previous two-year period of 2011-12.

The island kingdom expects a budget deficit of 662 million dinars or 6.1 percent of gross domestic product in 2013, rising to 753 million or 6.6 percent of GDP in 2014, BNA quoted Khamis as saying.

The 2012 deficit is officially projected at 1.1 billion dinars in the revised budget, or over 10 percent of 2011 GDP. This year’s actual deficit is likely to be much smaller because of high crude oil prices, which have averaged about $112 this year; analysts polled by Reuters in September predicted a 2012 shortfall of just 1.9 percent of GDP.

Soaring government spending on wages and other social measures has raised pressure on Bahrain’s public finances, which depend on hydrocarbons for about 88 percent of income. Expenditure is set to jump by 41 percent on average in 2012-2014 compared to the level seen over the previous three years.

The oil price that Bahrain will need to balance its budget is estimated at $122 per barrel for 2013 and $126 for 2014, Khamis said, according to BNA. The Reuters poll estimated the Gulf Arab country’s break-even oil price at $113 for 2012.

Bahrain relies on output from Saudi Arabia’s Abu Safa oil field for some 70 percent of its budget revenue. The field’s current production level is just below 300,000 barrels per day, of which Bahrain currently receives 50 percent.

Its 2013-2014 budget counts on its output from that field staying at 150,000 bpd in both years, while output from its own wells would reach 47,500 bpd in 2013 and 51,000 bpd in 2014.

Analysts have said Saudi Arabia, which supports Bahrain’s Sunni rulers politically, could give the small state more oil from the Abu Safa field if Manama’s budget runs into trouble. In the June bond prospectus, however, Bahrain said no assurance could be given that the current level of output that it receives from Abu Safa would be maintained.

Last year Bahrain received an aid pledge of $10 billion spread over 10 years from its wealthier Gulf neighbours, but in June this year it said it had not received any of that money so far, and it is unclear when the funds will start to flow.

The government’s direct and indirect subsidies are projected at 1.5 billion dinars in 2013 and 1.6 billion in 2014, out of which 878 million and 961 million dinars respectively would represent indirect support for domestic sales of oil and gas.

Project spending is seen at 555 million dinars in 2013 and 530 million in the following year, BNA said, down from 977 million planned for 2012. …source