Bahrain: Urgent Appeal – Provide Medical Attention to Detained Political Prisoner Kumail Al-Manami
28 February, 2013 – Bahrain Center Human Rights,

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)- The Bahrain Center for Human Rights is gravely concerned over the well-being of the political detainee Kumail Al-Manami whose life is at risk and health is deteriorating. Kumail Al-Manami was sentenced to life in prison in 2010 based on confessions taken under torture. At present, he has been on a hunger strike for more than a week in protest of being denied medical care. Kumail has become infected with a virus which has recently affected many others in Jaw prison; the illness has struck him particularly hard, which puts his life at even a greater risk.

In March 2009, Kumail Al-Manami and six other men from Ma’ameer village were violently arrested following the death of a Pakistani national, whose car was burned during a confrontation with security forces. In March 2010, they were sentenced to life in prison, despite the fact that confessions were extracted under torture, lawyers presented medical reports and photo evidence of the torture and requested an independent team to examine the defendant. This request was denied by the judge. The group was tried and sentenced under the terrorism law, a law that is internationally condemned. …more

Al-Wefaq: Acquittal of killers is an execution of policy of impunity
26 February, 2013 – Al-Wefaq

The High Criminal Court in Bahrain has acquitted two policemen on Tuesday, accused of killing the martyr Fadhil Matrook, aged 32. Matrook was killed on 15th February 2011, during the funeral of the revolution’s first martyr, Ali Mushaima, when the regime forces opened fire directly on the peaceful citizens injuring a number of them and killing one. The killer had a clear intention to kill considering the close range of the firing at the victim, al-Wefaq said.

Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society stated that the court’s series of acquittals of murderers of innocent citizens reveals the reality of the regime which has long tried to hide its crimes behind cosmetic and sham committees. The Bahraini court’s acquittal of troops who have committed murder gives OK to commit more crimes against citizens and entrenches the regime’s policy of impunity, al-Wefaq added.

This acquittal comes days after the acquittal of troops involved in the murder of two other martyrs; this reflects the judicial authority’s indulgence with criminals and killers. Al-Wefaq further stated; since these crimes were confirmed by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) and international human rights NGOs, these acquittals reveal the regime’s problematic situation, however, cannot be a runaway from its responsibility of these crimes committed by its forces.

The acquittals reflect that the crimes and murders committed by the regime come in a systematic framework, considering the increase in the number of martyrs and victims as a result of the regime’s ongoing escalation in violence, and considering the Public Prosecution’s and courts’ decisions to acquit killers and protect them with impunity.

Al-Wefaq stressed that the acquittals only condemn the regime since its troops are accused of the killing and it is responsible for their acts especially that the killing came within its systematic policy, and they raise questions on the judiciary’s seriousness in holding criminals to account.

Bahrain jails 7 protesters as rights group claim ‘torture’ of activists
28 February, 2013 – BBC

Seven Shia Muslim men, three of whom are minors, have received 10-year jail sentences in Bahrain after being found guilty of attempting to murder police during protests last year. A day earlier, two policemen were acquitted of murdering a protester.

The trial took place on Wednesday. Attorney General Mhanna al-Shayji said in an official statement that the group were accused of “intentionally attempting to kill policemen in the (Shiite) town of Sitra… using petrol bombs.” Seven of the men received jail terms, and 13 others were acquitted.

The men were arrested in the wake of mass protests that took place in February 2012. Human rights groups voiced criticism of the arrests at that time, claiming the detainment was illegitimate, no arrest warrants had been presented, and the confessions of the accused were extracted under torture.

Following the Wednesday ruling, the main Shia opposition bloc Al-Wefaq alleged that all 20 men, including the five minors, were “tortured” during their interrogation and spoke “under duress.”

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights also noted that the judge presiding in the case, Mohammed Bin Ali Al-Khalifa, is a member of the ruling family.

In February 2012, violent clashes broke out in Bahrain at the funeral of a teenager killed during protests marking the one-year anniversary of a revolt by the Shia majority against the ruling Sunni monarchy. Police blocked and dispersed the procession with stun grenades and tear gas.

Protester Fadhel Al-Matrook died of wounds from the police fire. However, the police officers were acquitted on Tuesday – a judge ruled they had no intent to kill, and were performing their duty during protests. Jalila al Sayed, a Bahraini human rights lawyer, described the verdict as “a very sad day for justice in Bahrain,” BBC reported. …more

Bahrain authorities ‘weaponising’ tear gas
27 Febraury, 2013 – BBC

A US-based human rights group has accused the authorities in Bahrain of indiscriminately using tear gas as a weapon against protesters.

Physicians for Human Rights said it was resulting in the maiming, blinding and even killing of civilians.

The Bahraini government rejected the criticism, saying its security forces conformed to international standards.

Activists say at least 30 people have died as a result of tear gas use in Bahrain since protests began last year.

Tear gas is a generic term for a group of at least 15 toxic chemical agents that disable people by exposing their lungs, skin and eyes to irritants. CS gas is the most commonly used by for crowd control.
‘Unprecedented’

The report published by PHR on Wednesday, entitled Weaponising Tear Gas, was based on interviews with more than 100 Bahrainis and evidence gathered by PHR’s investigators in April.

Its authors said the extensive and persistent use of tear gas against civilians by Bahrain’s security forces during the past 18 months was unprecedented in the 100-year history of its use throughout the world.

“Law enforcement officials have deployed this toxic agent to punish protesters, inflict suffering, and suppress dissent. Usually perceived by the public and security forces as a benign tool for crowd control, tear gas, especially when used in large quantities and in enclosed spaces, poses serious health risks and even causes death,” they wrote.
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Suggestions that the use of tear gas in Bahrain is severely injurious or even lethal is simply not backed up by any research or proof”

Bahrain Information Affairs Authority

“Since February 2011, the Bahraini government has unleashed a torrent of these toxic chemical agents against men, women, and children, including the elderly and infirm.”

The report said Bahrain’s majority Shia community, which has led the protests demanding reforms by the Sunni royal family, had suffered abnormally prolonged exposure.

This had led to significant increases in miscarriages and respiratory problems in areas where tear gas was used frequently, it added.

The report described instances in which non-protesters had tear gas fired into their cars or homes. In at least two cases, people died from complications related to exposure to tear gas because they were trapped in enclosed spaces, it said.

Civilians had also suffered serious wounds when their heads and limbs were hit by metal canisters fired at close range, the authors found. …more

The Many Afterlives of Lulu
The Story of Bahrain’s Pearl Roundabout
Amal Khalaf – 28 February, 2013 – IBRAAZ

The pearl teeters; it rolls lazily to one side as the monument’s six concrete legs start to fall apart. [JUMP CUT – IMAGE MISSING] Between broken bones, the pieces of the pearl’s cracked skull lie in sand and rubble.

Squaring the circle is a problem handed down from the Ancient Greeks. It involves taking the curved line of a circle and attempting to draw a perfect square from it; a task that for centuries mathematicians were convinced they could figure out. In the nineteenth century, when the problem was proved unsolvable, the phrase to ‘square the circle’ came to signify an attempt at the impossible. But in 2011, within days of the most sustained and widely broadcasted protests in Bahrain’s recent history, a circle was named a square. The once unassuming Pearl Roundabout or Dowar al Lulu, famous in the international media as the site of the Gulf’s answer to the ‘Arab Spring’, became Bahrain’s ‘Pearl Square’ or Midan al Lulu.

A month of mass protests later and the roundabout was razed to the ground. In its death, the Pearl Roundabout took on a life of its own, becoming the symbol of a protest movement; the star of tribute videos and video games, the logo for Internet TV channels and the subject of contested claims, rebuttals and comments wars. These manifestations of the roundabout – multifaceted, changing and often contradictory – produce a haunting rhetorical effect, instigating debates fuelled by images of past and on-going violence in Bahrain’s history. In its afterlife, Lulu continues to act stubbornly in resistance to the state, despite the government’s attempts to shape the monument’s memory to serve its own interests, going so far as to tear the monument down and rename the ground on where it once stood. Today, Lulu is a powerful symbol for thousands of people recasting their ideals in the monument’s image: a ‘public space’, or midan – Arabic for civic square; one that no longer exists as a physical ‘thing’, but rather, lives on as an image-memory.

The Birth of Lulu

The Pearl Roundabout was a central roundabout in Bahrain’s capital Manama. At its centre stood a 300-foot tall monument, milky white and built in 1982 to commemorate the 3rd Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit, a meeting of Gulf States. The monument’s six white, curved ‘sails’ represented each GCC member state: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. A large cement pearl sat atop these sails in homage to the region’s former pearl diving economy, which attracted the likes of Jacques Cartier to Bahrain’s soil. But with the pearling industry in decline and tanker traffic drilling and dredging the region’s sea beds, destroying them in the process; the GCC looked forward to a new era of economic development. The 1982 summit also launched the Gulf Investment Corporation, a $2.1 billion fund, and a military partnership between the GCC states: the creation of the Peninsula Shield Force or Dr’a Al Jazeera. This treaty codified what is now the pillar of the GCC’s military doctrine: that the security of all the members of the council relied on the notion of the GCC operating as an ‘indivisible whole’.

To celebrate the end of the momentous summit, a cavalcade of cars took officials to the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the construction of the 25 km causeway linking Bahrain to the mainland Arabian Peninsula. King Fahd bin ‘Abd Al ‘Aziz of Saudi Arabia and Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain, stepped forward to release the black drapes. Bahrain, at least in theory, was no longer an island. After its construction, Lulu became the chosen pearl in Bahrain’s crown: the star of souvenir shops. It was, for a while at least, a symbol of Bahrain, sanctioned by the government, photographed by tourists and its image presented on neon shop signs.

Drive around Bahrain in January 2013 and there are symbols everywhere. As the 21st Gulf Cup (a biannual football tournament) was held at Bahrain’s newly revamped Shaikh Isa Sports City, the highways and streets are lined with flags and symbols of the Gulf Cooperation Council, marking a summit meeting held in Bahrain in December 2012. Yet, all over the island, behind trees covered in red and white fairy-lights, royal crests, billboards of smiling leaders and flags of GCC countries, we see walls. And on these walls are many images and symbols that counter the state sponsored GCC branding campaigns, especially in villages and smaller side streets in Manama. You will see graffiti scrawled in Arabic and in English, some of which you can read if you happen to pass by before they have been painted over. Through layers of paint, these walls bear the traces of a conversation, an argument. Images and names of political prisoners, cries for help, or calls to fight. The most popular word you see written on the walls is ‘Sumood’ – perseverance – stencilled or scrawled alongside hastily drawn pictures of the former Pearl Roundabout. …more

Bahrain: ANHRI Denounces the Upheld of the Imprisonment Sentence against the Rights’ Activist Zainab Al-Khawaja for Month on the background of Entering Pearl Roundabout
28 February, 2013 – Arabic Network for Human Rights Information

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) denounces the decision issued by the Bahraini court to reject the appeal of the rights’ activist Zainab Al-Khawaja on the judgment issued against her to imprison her for a month on the background of entering a restricted area which is the Pearl roundabout. ANHRI also denounced the statement of the Ministry of Interior on the non-delivery of the body of the martyr Jaziri.

The Bahraini court has issued a decision to reject the appeal of Zainab Al-Khawaja on the Bahraini court on Monday, December 10, 2012, which sentenced her for a month and to ensure 100 dinars to stop the execution of the sentence on the background of charges to participate in unauthorized demonstration on February 12, 2012, and the entry of Pearl Roundabout, which authorities consider it as a restricted area. Despite she and who were walking in the street naturally; they did not do any act, any word or commit any crime punishable by the law. In addition to the lack of an official decision indicates that the area of Pearl roundabout is a restricted area. She languished 8 days of the sentence period and there are 22 days to complete it.

In a related context the court rejected the appeal of Zainb regarding the imprisonment sentence for two months on charges of destroying movables related to the ministry of interior.

ANHRI denounces the statement issued by the ministry of interior of Bahrain regarding the non-delivery of the body of the martyr Jaziri to his family. The spokes man of the interior ministry said that the family of the martyr signed the document of receiving the body but the family refused to have the funeral in the area of “Nabeeh Saleh” as the family wants to have the funeral in “El-Deah” area then to bury him in “Nabeeh Saleh”, which is according to the ministry of interior is violating the Bahraini norms and traditions. …more

Bahrain – Appeal Denied, Impending Arrest of Human Rights Defender Zainab Al-Khawaja
27 February 2013, Bahrain Center for Human Rights

An appeals court dismissed an appeal from Zainab Al-Khawaja today, placing her at risk for immediate arrest.

Al-Khawaja was sentenced to one month of detention. She has already served eight days of this sentence, and could be arrested at any moment to serve the remaining 22 days.

The BCHR maintains that this arrest is a gross violation of her right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. Ms. Al-Khawaja has been targeted for her activism in support of human rights and outspoken criticism of the ruling family. There have been more than one dozen cases brought against her in a direct assault on her in an attempt to prevent her from exercising her right to freedom of expression.

(Beirut) – 14 February, 2012

A Bahraini blogger and activist, Zainab Al-Khawaja (@angryarabiya) -28 years old- was arrested on February 12, 2012, while marching peacefully towards the Pearl Roundabout in Manama. It is the second time in which she was arrested by the security forces in Bahrain during the last two months. Reports confirmed that Zainab Al-Khawaja has been questioned by the Public Prosecution Office and charged with “illegal gathering of more than five people”. She will be kept in police custody for7 days pending investigation.

The march to the now demolished Roundabout–symbol of freedom and center of the last year popular protests – was organized by Nabeel Rajab, head of Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), who walked along with his wife and two children, together with another two activists. As they approached the Pearl Roundabout they were shot at by the Riot Police with stunt grenade and tear gas. Al-Khawaja continued her way to the barbed wires surrounding the pearl roundabout where she was arrested.

The arrest and 7 days detention of Al-Khawaja coincides with the intended demonstrations that will mark the first anniversary of the peaceful protests on Feb 14. Al-Khawaja is a prominent blogger on Twitter under the name (@angryarabiya) with over 33,500 followers. She has been actively reporting on the current events in Bahrain, latest news on the protests and arrests, and in the mean time encouraging people to demand their human and civil rights.

Al-Khawaja is already facing a trial on February 27 2012, facing charges of illegal gathering, assaulting a police officer and inciting hatred against the regime, after she was arrested during a protest on December 15, 2011, and detained for 5 days, where she was beaten and ill-treated.

The GCHR and BCHR believe that the arrest of Activist Zainab Al-Khawaja is directly linked to both her work in the defence of human rights and democracy in Bahrain and online activities in reporting the news and events at a time in which the government pursues a policy of media blackout. We see this as part of an ongoing trend of harassment of human rights defenders in Bahrain. GCHR and BCHR are very concerned for the physical and psychological welfare of human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja.

The GCHR and BCHR urge the Bahrain authorities to:

1. Immediately Release Zainab Al-Khawaja and drop all charges against her, as it is believed that these measures have been taken against her solely due to her legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights;

2. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Bahrain are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals, and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights is an independent centre and has been registered in Ireland. The Centre works to strengthen support for human rights defenders and independent journalists in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. …source

Bahraini forces arrest rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja amid protests
27 February, 2013 – PressTV

Bahraini regime forces have arrested prominent human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja as a wave of fresh anti-regime protests erupt across the Persian Gulf kingdom.

The activist was reportedly arrested by the Saudi-backed forces at a demonstration held in capital Manama on Wednesday.

Similar protests were also held in the villages of Diraz and Dar Kulaib, and the town of Sanad.

The protests were staged over the Bahraini regime’s refusal to hand over the body of Mahmoud Issa al-Jaziri, an anti-regime activist killed at a demonstration in mid-February.

Jaziri was hit in the head by a tear gas canister on February 14 after security forces attacked anti-regime demonstrators in Nabi Saleh, south of Manama, as they were marking the second anniversary of the uprising.

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have staged numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.

On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on the peaceful protesters.

According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested.

Physicians for Human Rights says doctors and nurses have been detained, tortured, or disappeared because they have “evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces, and riot police” in the crackdown on anti-government protesters. …source