Posts from — March 2013

Bahrain: Harsh Sentences against 17 Protestors despite Allegations of Torture
18 March, 2013 – Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its deep concern for the sentence issued from the Criminal Court (the Court of First Instance) against 17 protestors with 15 years of imprisonment. The Public Prosecution had charged them with “attempted murder of a security officer with explosives”; all those convicted are from AlEker village.

17 March 2013, the Court stated that on 9 April 2012, the accused attempted to kill security officers with explosives, they were offered first aid and their lives were rescued.

The Court issued its rulings against:

Currently in prison:

1.Ali Ridha Hassan (23 years old): he was arrested on 21 October 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison, and he faces another case in which he has not been convicted.
2.Yousif Abdul-Kareem Al-Hindi (24 years old): he was arrested on 20 October 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison, and he was convicted with 6 years in prison in other cases, total sentences against him 21 years.
3.Fadhel Abbas Al-Mughni (30 years old) he was arrested on 24 May 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison.
4.Abdullah Ahmed Al-Mukhtar (32 years old): he was arrested on 10 April 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison.
5.Habib Ayoob Al-Mughni (23 years old): he was arrested on 10 April 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison.
6.Hassan Ali Jawad (21 years old): he was arrested on 10 April 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison, and he faces another case in which he has not been convicted.
7.Mohammed Saeed Radhi (21 years old): he was arrested on 12 April 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison, and he has been convicted with 1 year in prison in another case, total sentences against him 16 years in prison.
8.Mahdi Ahmed Hassan Khamees: he was arrested on 20 April 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison, and he has been convicted with 5 years in prison in other cases, and he faces a case in which he has not been convicted, total sentences against him 20 years in prison.

The Ministry of Interior claims the escape of those prisoners:

9.Hussein Abdullah Ahmed (23 years old): he was arrested on 20 October 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison, and he has been convicted with 5 years in prison in other cases, total sentences against him 20 years in prison.
10.Ridha Hassan Jassim (26 years old): he was arrested on 20 April 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison, and he has been convicted with 6 years in prison in other cases, and he faces another case in which he has not been convicted, total sentences against him 21 years in prison.
11.Abdullah Abdul-Ameer Al-Mughni (23 years old): he was arrested on 20 April 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison, and he has been convicted with 7 years and 6 months in prison in other cases, and he faces another case in which he has not been convicted, total sentences against him 22 years and 6 months in prison.
12.Ahmed Yousif Jassim (23 years old): he was arrested on 21 April 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison, and he has been convicted with 6 years in prison in other cases, and he faces another case in which he has not been convicted, total sentences against him 21 years in prison.
13.Abdullah Abdul-Jaleel Abdullah: he was arrested on 10 April 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison, and he faces another case in which he has not been convicted.
14.Jassim Mohammed Hassan (33 years old): he was arrested on 20 April 2012, he was sentenced in the case of “attempting to murder a security officer with explosives” with 15 years in prison.

They were sentenced in absentia:

15.Abdul-Sadiq Ali Habib (40 years old).
16.Salman Isa Ali (24 years old)
17.Hussein Abdali Ali (25 years old)

The lawyers and families of those convicted confirm that the accused stated to the court judge that they were subjected to brutal torture in order to confess, and the Public Prosecution did not investigate the torture allegations.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) demands:

1.the immediate, urgent, and independent investigation in the allegations of torture;
2.stop targeting protestors and to allow freedom of opinion and assembly;
3.the judicial authorities must take the necessary measures to protect the demonstrators from the Authority’s arbitrariness.
…source

U.S. drops opposition to others arming Syria rebels
19 March, 2013 – The Daily Star

ISTANBUL: The prospect of ending Syria’s conflict through negotiations grew even more unlikely Monday, as the U.S. said it would not stop others from arming the rebels and a main opposition group prepared to set up a rival government to President Bashar Assad’s regime.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the Obama administration still wanted to leave the door open for a political solution.

But concerning Syria’s rebels, “the United States does not stand in the way of other countries that made a decision to provide arms, whether it’s France or Britain or others,” Kerry said, speaking in Washington.

His comments came after French President Francois Hollande said last week that his country and Britain were pushing the European Union to lift its arms embargo on Syria as soon as possible so that they could send weapons to rebel fighters.

The two countries are seeking military help for the rebels by the end of May or earlier if possible.

Germany and other EU nations have been skeptical, pointing to the risk of further escalation.

Britain and France argue that Assad will not hold genuine negotiations if he believes he can survive militarily and that strengthening the rebels is the only way of squeezing the regime.

Kerry’s remarks indicate that the Obama administration will not interfere with any country seeking to rebalance the fight against Assad’s regime.

The United States has long argued that more weapons in Syria would only make peace harder. As the violence has worsened over the last year, Washington has tempered that message somewhat.

It is now promising nonlethal aid to the anti-Assad militias in the form of meals and medical kits, and refusing to rule out further escalation.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, said he was advising the Obama administration to “proceed cautiously” on Syria, in part because the United States is increasingly unclear about the makeup of rebel forces.

“About six months ago we had a very, let’s call it opaque understanding of the opposition, and now I’d say it’s even more opaque,” he said in remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In Istanbul, the opposition Syrian National Coalition met to elect a prime minister who would run an interim government in Syria’s rebel-held areas. The election is set for Tuesday.

Setting up such a government, in a direct challenge to the regime, could harden battle lines even more and close the door to negotiations between Assad and the opposition.

The U.S. has been cool to the idea of a rival government, saying the focus should be on a political transition. Under a plan endorsed by the international community last year, Assad’s supporters and opponents were to propose representatives for a transition government, with each side able to veto candidates.

However, the plan did not address Assad’s role. Most in the Syrian opposition rule out any negotiations with the Syrian ruler.

The Syrian National Coalition, largely based in exile, has wrestled for weeks with a decision on setting up an interim government. The exiles could have trouble asserting their authority in war-ravaged regions, and the risk of failure is high.

“Expectations will be high and means will be low,” said coalition member Louay Safi.

However, Safi believes support for an interim government will grow if it shows it can deliver services to people in the rebel-run territories. “Anyone who tries to oppose it will be in a difficult position,” he said. …source

Arabian Shia Protest against the Atrocities of Saudi Monarchs in Qasimia and Awamia
19 March, 2013 – Jafria News

JNN 19 Mar 2013 Riyadh : Shia Demonstrators in Saudi Arabia have staged another protest rally against the Al Saud regime in central province of al-Qassim, Press reports.

The outraged protestors took to the streets in the city of Buraidah on Saturday, calling for the immediate release of political prisoners including a group of women who were recently arrested.

Earlier on March 1, Saudi security forces arrested over 300 people, including 15 women, in al-Qassim province.

The arrests took place after hundreds of Saudis staged a protest sit-in to demand the release of political prisoners.

Saudi activists say there are more than 30,000 political prisoners, mostly prisoners of conscience, in jails across the Kingdom.

According to the activists, most of the detained political thinkers are being held by the government without trial or legitimate charges and that they were arrested for merely looking suspicious.

Some of the detainees are reported to be held without trial for more than 16 years.

Attempting to incite the public against the government and the allegiance to foreign entities are usually the ready-made charges against the dissidents.

In Saudi Arabia, protests and political gatherings of any kind are prohibited.

Since February 2011, protesters have held demonstrations on an almost regular basis in Saudi Arabia 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 after November 2011, when Saudi security forces killed five protesters and injured many others in the country’s Eastern Province.

In another Protest , On Friday, Saudi protesters once again took to the streets of Awamiyah located in the Qatif region, in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province.

They shouted anti-regime slogans during the demonstration to condemn Riyadh’s ongoing crackdown on protests and activists in the country.

The demonstrators also voiced their solidarity with Hussein al-Rabie, an activist who has been arrested by Saudi regime forces, calling for his immediate release.

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

Saudi regime forces have also arrested dozens of people including prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Saudi authorities warned in October 2012 that they would deal ‘firmly’ with anti-regime demonstrations. Amnesty International slammed the warning and urged the authorities to “withdraw their threat.”

A Saudi preacher has called for reforms in the Kingdom, warning that denying the rights of people is increasing tensions across the country.

“The people have aspirations, demands and rights and they will not stay silent on total or partial confiscation of their rights. When you lose hope, you can do anything,” Salman al-Auda said in an open letter on Saturday.

The preacher, who is from the Sahwa movement, called for reforms and the coming of “a new horizon” for Saudi Arabia.

Auda warned that growing tension in the kingdom was due to “corruption, unemployment, poor housing, weak health and educational services and a lack of political reforms.”

He criticized regime crackdown on protesters, saying, “A security solution would only aggravate the situation and block the path to reforms.”

Auda called for the immediate release of human rights activists and political prisoners, saying that their detention will only “increase the bitterness, the desire for revenge and mushrooming of jihadist thinking in prisons.”

He also condemned the “continuing practice of censorship” by the country’s information officials.

An independent Saudi rights organization said that about 30,000 political activists have been held in prisons. Riyadh, however, denied the claim, saying there was no political prisoner in the country. …source

Militants fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria have been using chemical weapons, official SANA news agency says, adding that at least 15 people were killed in a chemical attack in the northwestern city of Aleppo.

‘Chemical weapons used by militants’
19 March, 2013 – Shia Post

“Terrorists fired a rocket containing chemical substances in the Khan al-Assal area of rural Aleppo and initial reports indicate that around 15 people were killed, most of them civilians,” SANA said on Wednesday.

The Syrian news agency also said that a number of others have been injured in the attack.

The chemical attack came after a video footage posted on the internet late in January showed that the armed militants in Syria possessed canisters containing chemical substances.

The foreign-sponsored militants had earlier released footage in which rabbits were killed by inhaling poisonous gas.

In December 2012, Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar Ja’afari said in letters to the UN Security Council and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that the militants could use chemical weapons against Syrians and try to shift the blame to the government.

Damascus is “genuinely worried” that Syria’s enemies could provide chemical weapons to armed groups “and then claim they had been used by the Syrian government,” Ja’afari stated.

Also on Wednesday, heavy fighting took place between government forces and militants in some parts of the country. The Syrian army carried out operations on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, and killed a number of militants.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government has said that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and that a very large number of the militants operating in the country are foreign nationals.

Several international human rights organizations have accused foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes. …source

Saudi regime forces raid home, arrest citizens
18 March, 2013 – PressTV

Saudi regime forces have arrested dozens of prominent figures in the kingdom in a two-day period as Riyadh intensifies its campaign of terror on dissidents.

According to reports, security forces raided homes and offices across the capital city of Riyadh, detaining a number of religious scholars, doctors, professors, students and civil workers.

Regime forces also launched similar crackdowns in the kingdom’s Eastern Province and the cities of Mecca and Jeddah.

Reports further indicated that Sheikh Mohammad al-Atiyah and Sheikh Badr al-Taleb, two prominent Shia clerics were also among those detained.

Earlier in the day, Saudis took to the streets in the central city of Buraidah to once again demand the release of political prisoners, despite a protest ban by Al Saud regime on demonstrations.

On March 1, Saudi security forces arrested over 300 protesters, including 15 women, after hundreds of people gathered outside the investigation and prosecution bureau in Buraidah to demand the release of political prisoners.

Since February 2011, demonstrators have held anti-regime protest rallies on an almost regular basis in Saudi Arabia, mainly in the Qatif region and the town of Awamiyah in 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 turned into protests against the repressive Al Saud regime, especially after November 2011, when Saudi security forces killed five protesters and injured many others in the province.

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

U.N. Think Tank Opening Office in Bahrain, with Bahraini Government Funding
by Justin Elliott – ProPublica – 18 March, 2013

As Bahrain enters the third year of a crisis sparked by Arab Spring protests in 2011, the government continues to bar many human rights advocates and journalists from entering the country.

But one non-profit group is not only being welcomed into the tiny Gulf kingdom, it’s opening an office there. And it’s doing so with funding from Bahrain’s ruling monarchy.

The International Peace Institute, a New York-based think tank closely associated with the United Nations, announced last month an agreement to open the office to “promote development, peace and international security.”

The announcement comes at a time when Bahrain’s image-conscious government is still under international scrutiny amid continued pro-democracy protests. Human rights groups have criticized the government’s at times violent crackdown on the protests and failure to follow through on promised reforms.

Institute President Terje Rød-Larsen, a veteran diplomat in the Mideast who is also a United Nations under-secretary-general, told ProPublica that the new office would be a positive force in Bahrain and the region.

He compared the think tank to United Nations programs that operate in or receive funding from countries that are in crisis or face criticism.

“Problems related to peace and security are in difficult countries,” Rød-Larsen said.

Bahrain appeals to the institute as a location for an office because “along many dimensions it’s an open society,” he said, citing the status of women and “freedom of religion.”

International Peace Institute President Terje Rød-Larsen signs an agreement with Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa. (mofa.gov.bh)

International Peace Institute President Terje Rød-Larsen signs an agreement with Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa. (mofa.gov.bh)

Rød-Larsen said that taking money from Bahrain’s government would not compromise the institute’s work. He declined to say how much money Bahrain is providing.

Rød-Larsen has been a frequent visitor to Bahrain in recent years, regularly meeting with government officials both in his capacity as the institute’s president and as a U.N. official.

With New York offices across from the United Nations, the institute counts many former U.N. officials among its staff and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is honorary chair of its board. Rød-Larsen has also traveled with a U.N. staffer on some of his trips to Bahrain, the U.N. news site Inner City Press has noted.

During his visits Rød-Larsen has repeatedly been cited in Bahrain’s state media praising the government, though he disputes the accounts.

“Larsen lauded [the] return of calm to Bahrain which indicates the kingdom’s success in overcoming the crisis,” the official Bahrain News Agency reported in April 2011, just two months after the protests began.

“The U.N. official lauded the climate of freedom, democracy and institutional development in Bahrain,” said another November 2011 report on a meeting between Rød-Larsen and the foreign minister.

Rød-Larsen said that media outlets often attribute inaccurate statements to him on his diplomatic travels.

“If I should dispute all stories like this, it would be full time work,” he said.

Rød-Larsen said that, in reality, he believes Bahrain’s government has made mistakes.

As for what the International Peace Institute’s new office in Bahrain will do when it opens, Rød-Larsen on a recent trip discussed “plans for a renewed national dialogue in Bahrain,” according to the institute.

Khalil Almarzooq, a spokesman for the main opposition group al-Wefaq, told ProPublica that the group had not heard from Rød-Larsen anytime recently. Almarzooq said whether the institute will be a positive force in Bahrain all depends on how it uses the money the government is providing.

Organized as a nonprofit charity in New York, the institute had a budget of nearly $11 million in 2011 and Rød-Larsen received about $495,000 in compensation.

According to the group’s 2011 annual report, its major donors that year included the United States, several governments in Europe, as well as Bahraini regional allies Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The institute’s international advisory council includes Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the former head of Saudi intelligence. Saudi Arabia sent troops to help put down the protests in Bahrain in 2011.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to requests for comment. …source

Bahrain or Shine
14 March, 2013 – Annika Lichtenbaum

In discussing the Middle East, media outlets and political pundits alike can’t seem to avoid lame catchphrases, which reduce the complex political developments in the region to a narrative palatable enough for the average Joe. In 2011, it was “Arab Spring” as the world hoped Arabs were actually capable of democracy, in 2012 the “Arab Winter” or “Islamist Winter” as it was proven that no, they weren’t, and the world was going to hell in an Islamist handbasket to boot. While it is early yet in 2013, it appears as though most countries that overthrew their old regimes are finding liberal democracies surprisingly hard to establish and maintain. Egypt, as I discussed last week, is most certainly at a crossroads; attempts at political reform in Tunisia are constantly being blocked; and it goes without saying that Syria, which will “celebrate” the two-year anniversary of the beginning of its revolution/civil war tomorrow, is in trouble. In fact, the doom and gloom that pervade the political news out of the region are less deserving of a seasonal than an atmospheric catchphrase: the Middle East is, at least as far as Western commentators are concerned, under a black raincloud at the moment.

But we have forgotten, as ever, about Bahrain!

After two years of unrest, it would seem that things are starting to look up for the Bahraini protestors, Shiites long oppressed by the country’s Sunni monarchy. Earlier this week, the King appointed his son, Crown Prince Salman al-Khalifa, to the post of first deputy prime minister. The Crown Prince is seen as a moderate figure in the Bahraini government apparatus (especially relative to his great-uncle, the Prime Minister) and has received praise in the past month for pushing a new round of dialogue between the regime and the opposition. And the good news doesn’t stop there: prominent political activist Sayed Yousif al-Muhafda was recently acquitted of charges of false propaganda, a surprising development considering that the regime has always jumped at the chance to throw annoying protestors into prison.

And to what (or whom) can we attribute these recent developments? One can assume, right off the bat, that they are due to some foreign influence. After all, Bahrain is not only stuck between a rock and a hard place Saudi Arabia and Iran, but it is home to the US Fifth Fleet naval base. With so many interests at stake in this tiny country’s stability, it goes without question that the outcome of its uprising will largely be determined by forces outside the archipelago itself. But other than Saudi Arabia’s military intervention on behalf of the Bahraini regime, there have been no state efforts to halt the conflict – and certainly nothing that would swing it in favor of the protestors. But if not national governments – then whom?

The answer to this question, it would seem, is Western-based NGOs. Unshackled by the national interests of their host governments, organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have been persistent in their pursuit of human dignity for the Bahraini people. Earlier this year, Amnesty visited a major Manama prison and met with political prisoners to report on their living conditions and the circumstances of their detainment. The representatives later met with regime officials to push for the release of the protestors, whom they said were “prisoners of conscience” who had committed no punishable offense. And although those particular political figures remain in custody, several signs indicate that NGO work in Bahrain has been somewhat effective. It is promising that Amnesty was allowed to meet with government representatives and especially that it was able to conduct its prison study in the first place. Furthermore, the aforementioned acquittal of activist Sayed Yousif al-Muhafda is less surprising when considered in conjunction with this pro-activist NGO narrative. And even the Crown Prince may owe his cabinet appointment in part to human rights organizations’ advocacy for peaceful, respectful negotiation over repression.

Essentially, despite the stubborn refusal of Western governments to intervene on behalf of the Bahraini people, their NGOs have done it for them. All this suggests that NGOs are willing and able to do what their national governments are not. But are they really “able” to the same extent?

Though the presence of NGOs is having some positive effects in Bahrain, there are still deep structural problems in the country that can only be effectively addressed by the manpower, firepower and bargaining power of an actual foreign power. The national dialogue pushed for by the Crown Prince has stagnated, with government officials repeatedly denying the opposition the presence of both a royal delegate and a foreign mediator at the talks. And if that were not enough to demonstrate the regime’s staunch opposition to a mutually agreeable political solution, Amnesty’s latest Bahrain report claims, “…the lack of real political will on the part of the authorities to tackle human rights violations is enshrining a culture of impunity, and engulfing the country in entrenched unrest and fueling instability.” So what, then, is the solution – US intervention on behalf of the Bahraini people in the name of liberal values and democracy?

But despite what this may look like, I do not point out the inadequacy of non-governmental aid in order to make another call for a direct US intervention in Bahrain. To do so would be wholly unrealistic; as Obama’s upcoming first visit to Israel demonstrates, his administration persists in tiptoeing around its regional allies. Rather, I am commending the efforts of these NGOs, which (feebly successful results notwithstanding) I find preferable to full-scale US military involvement. Rain or shine, governmental or non-governmental, the West will always play a role in the Middle East (and particularly in countries as strategically important as Bahrain). But perhaps it is better in the long run for the Bahraini people to struggle with marginal gains with the help of NGOs than it is for them to achieve definitive initial success with the help of national governments. Though I may change my tune in the future if this conflict grows more violent, at this point I believe Bahrain would benefit even less from foreign intervention than it is from its current political stagnation, and that maybe NGO assistance is the only kind of foreign interference they should be getting. …source

A growing divide in Saudi Arabia between rulers, ruled
By Karen Elliott House – 14 March, 2012 – WSJ

Karen Elliott House, a former publisher of the Wall Street Journal, is most recently the author of “On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines — and Future.”

The 10-year prison sentences a Saudi court handed down last weekend are more significant than the sad fate of two moderate political activists who persisted in calling for a constitutional monarchy and respect for human rights. The saga is a microcosm of the political dilemma facing the House of Saud and, by extension, a challenge to U.S. policy, which from one administration to the next supports the regime while remaining silent about Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.

The two dissidents, Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani and Abdullah al-Hamid, were accused of, among other things, sedition, providing inaccurate information to the foreign media and founding an unlicensed human rights organization, the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (known as ACPRA). Saudi Arabia permits no civil society or political organizations. But Qahtani, a chubby, cherub-faced man in his mid-40s, determined long ago that he would seek to change the kingdom. In 2009 he told me that he would “challenge and change the system legally,” so that his young children would live in a freer society.

Qahtani is no bomb-thrower. During our interview, he recalled arriving at Philadelphia’s Temple University (where he earned his master’s in economics in 1993) so eager to avoid pork, which is forbidden to Muslims, that he asked a waitress whether each item on an unfamiliar American menu, including Coca-Cola, contained the offensive meat. While in the United States, he managed to avoid pork but picked up a penchant for freedom.

Qahtani and Saudi authorities have been playing cat and mouse almost since his return to Riyadh in 2003 to teach economics at the Saudi Foreign Ministry. The regime long has preferred to bribe or buy wayward citizens than to beat them. When its preferred methods fail, however, the Sauds, like most Arab autocrats, can be ruthless. In 2008, Qahtani hosted a current-affairs show on government television. But after he helped found ACPRA in 2009, his show was canceled. Such harassment is intended to alter behavior or at least ensure that opposition is limited to words, never actions.

Yet Qahtani and his colleagues persisted. In 2010 they wrote an open letter to King Abdullah asking for judicial reform and calling on the nation to “engage in a peaceful struggle to resist tyranny.”

Because most Saudis depend on government jobs, or outright largess, open defiance is rare. The regime may toy with and torment citizens, like a cat with a timid mouse, but it tries to avoid arousing ire. After the Arab Spring took hold, however, even in docile Saudi Arabia some citizens have become more assertive.

Qahtani and ACPRA finally crossed a red line in January 2012 by asking the king to remove his heir, Crown Prince Nayef, who during four decades overseeing internal security was responsible for imprisoning any number of Saudi citizens without charges or trials. This request defied an explicit ban (established after the Arab Spring began) on criticizing the royal family, or its compliant religious establishment. Nayef died soon after but his son quickly replaced him, and small-scale Saudi protests multiplied. …more

Clashes and teargas in Bahrain as thousands remember Gulf forces intervention
15 March, 2013 – RT

Thousands of protesters have clashed with tear gas firing police near Bahrain’s capital Manama. The anti-government riots mark the second anniversary of the Saudi-led intervention that quelled the 2011 Shia uprising in Bahrain.

The protests have brought traffic in the capital to a standstill. Thousands have taken to the streets in several villages surrounding the city. Sounds of stun grenades can be heard across the city, and most roads leading into Manama are closed, AP said.

Protesters have set up road barricades, burned tires and thrown Molotov cocktails and stones at the riot police. The police tried to disperse the rioters by firing tear gas and throwing percussion grenades into the crowds.

“No, no Saudi Occupier,” “Down with [King] Hamad,” the protesters chanted according to Press TV.

The slogans denounced the crackdown of the 2011 Bahraini uprising, which was quelled two years ago after Saudi forces and other Gulf troops were deployed in the country.

The ‘Arab Spring’-inspired uprising was led by the country’s Shia majority, with protesters demanding reforms, political freedom and equality from the country’s Western-backed Sunni rulers.

After a month of clashes that started with violent police raids on peaceful protesters, Bahrain’s Al-Khalifa royal family requested help from neighboring countries. On March 14, 2011, some 1500 troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed in Bahrain to “secure” the situation.

More than 80 people have been killed in Bahrain in connection with the uprising since February 14, 2011, according to human rights groups. Thousands have been arrested with reports of violence and torture used by the Bahraini police.

No progress has been made in talks between the Bahraini opposition and the government, and protests are still frequent in the country that is home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Amnesty International has criticized the US and the UK for refusing to condemn human rights violations committed by their ally, and choosing instead to “satisfy themselves with the narrative of reform while ignoring the reality of repression.”

In sideline panel events at the 57th Commission on the Status of Women, talk was of working for further transformation in everything from the Egyptian constitution to the safety of women throughout the uprisings

Arab Women Say Time for Saying ‘Spring’ Is Over
By Hajer Naili – WeNews – 14 March, 2013

UNITED NATIONS (WOMENSENEWS)–Egyptian female activists are looking for a better constitution and members of the Syrian opposition are concerned about the violence committed by all sides of that conflict against women.

Worsening violence against women in Tunisia is also troubling.

The long and difficult process of democratization is causing many Arab women to seek new ways to describe what their region–and the women in them–are going through.

They reject the term “Arab Spring” and instead use the words “revolution” and “uprisings.”

“What we have witnessed, you cannot call it an Arab Spring,” said Zahra’ Langhi, a gender specialist and political activist from Libya. “The term was coined in the West and imposed on our reality. Whereas if you say it’s a revolution, an uprising, it means it’s a transformation.”

Last week the 57th Commission on the Status of Women began at U.N. headquarters. Violence against women is the overall theme of this year’s two-week-long event.

Karama, an Egypt-based organization working to end violence against women across the Middle East and North Africa, helped host media panels for Arab women at the conference, in conjunction with Equality Now, the New York-based group advocating for the human rights of women and girls around the world.

Along with Langhi, Mervat Tallawy, president of the Cairo-based National Council for Women, was among those invited to New York to speak.

…more

Researchers Find 25 Countries Using Surveillance Software
By NICOLE PERLROTH – Huffington Post – 14 March, 2013

Last May, two security researchers volunteered to look at a few suspicious e-mails sent to some Bahraini activists. Almost one year later, the two have uncovered evidence that some 25 governments, many with questionable records on human rights, may be using off-the-shelf surveillance software to spy on their own citizens.

Morgan Marquis-Boire, a security researcher at Citizen Lab, at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, and Bill Marczak, a computer science doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley, found that the e-mails contained surveillance software that could grab images off computer screens, record Skype chats, turn on cameras and microphones and log keystrokes. The word “FinSpy” appeared in the spyware code. FinSpy is spyware sold by the Gamma Group, a British company that says it sells monitoring software to governments solely for criminal investigations.

Now, one year later, Mr. Marquis-Boire and Mr. Marczak have found evidence that FinSpy is being run off servers in 25 countries, including Ethiopia and Serbia, without oversight.

Until Mr. Marquis-Boire and Mr. Marczak stumbled upon FinSpy last May, security researchers had tried, unsuccessfully, for a year to track it down. FinSpy gained notoriety in March 2011 after protesters raided Egypt’s state security headquarters and discovered a document that appeared to be a proposal by the Gamma Group to sell FinSpy to the government of President Hosni Mubarak .

Martin J. Muench, a Gamma Group managing director, has said his company does not disclose its customers but that Gamma Group sold its technology to governments only to monitor criminals. He said that it was most frequently used “against pedophiles, terrorists, organized crime, kidnapping and human trafficking.”

But evidence suggests the software is being sold to governments where the potential for abuse is high. “If you look at the list of countries that Gamma is selling to, many do not have a robust rule of law,” Mr. Marquis-Boire said. “Rather than catching kidnappers and drug dealers, it looks more likely that it is being used for politically motivated surveillance.”

As of last year, Mr. Marquis-Boire and Mr. Marczak, with other researchers at Rapid7, CrowdStrike and others, had found command-and-control servers running the spyware in just over a dozen countries. They have since scanned the entire Internet for FinSpy. …more

Bahrain crown prince given political role
11 March, 2013 – by Simeon Kerr – Zawya

Bahrain’s crown prince, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, has been appointed first deputy prime minister in a move that could bolster reform in the strife-torn island state.

King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa appointed his eldest son first deputy prime minister for the development of the performance of the executive authority’s bodies. He will join four other deputy prime ministers.

The reformist crown prince’s move into a frontline political role comes amid a violent crackdown on dissent led by the majority Shia community, which has been driven by hardliners within the ruling family.

Observers said the crown prince’s new position reflected a realisation that reform of government institutions will have to accompany a focus on security that has prevailed over the past couple of years.

The crown prince remains junior to his great-uncle, the 74-year-old prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa.

Premier for more than 40 years, Sheikh Khalifa personifies the status quo that pro-democracy protesters have been trying to change. But most of the large Sunni minority lauds him as a figurehead representing their interests.

The crown prince’s appointment came as dialogue limps on between the opposition, government and pro-government loyalists.

Progress in the talks, which began last month, has been slow and the parties are still negotiating the agenda.

But optimism for dialogue has been growing since Saudi Arabia, Bahrain’s strongest ally, started increasing pressure for a political solution in the island state to prevent any further spillover of unrest among the Shia of its oil-rich Eastern Province.

The killing of some protesters has caused street protests to flare, complicating the negotiations. Radical Shia youth elements reject any dialogue with the government, which they blame for repression.

Diplomats are pleased that none of the parties has quit the talks. Al-Wefaq, the main Shia opposition group, walked out of the last round of dialogue in July 2011, as it was outnumbered by loyalist groups.

The crown prince led private talks with the opposition during the height of the unrest in 2011. But the opposition failed to accept his proposals before Saudi Arabia led Gulf troops across the causeway that joins the two countries, leading to months of violent repression of pro-democracy protesters.

The crown prince has since lost the support of much of the Sunni minority, which blames him for negotiating with activists who have since been jailed on charges of trying to overthrow the government.

However, Sheikh Salman has played a behind-the-scenes role promoting reform initiatives, such as the appointment of an independent inquiry that slammed the security forces for excessive use of violence and systematic torture during the crackdown.

Sheikh Salman is expected to focus on reforming the government from within. “The crown prince now has an institutionalised role in politics,” said Doha-based political analyst Justin Gengler. …source

“Strike of Dignity-2” Paralyzes Bahrain, Security Forces Respond Violently
Local Editor – 14 March, 2013

Strike of DignityBahrain revived on Thursday the second anniversary of the Saudi forces’ entrance to the country to assist the monarchy in oppressing the anti-regime protests that took off on the 14th of February.

Bahraini people held a general strike on this occasion, in response to the Bahraini opposition’s call for “Strike of Dignity-2”, and took to the streets in peaceful protests in over 50 cities and villages.

Protests took place in the capital, Manama, A’ali, Bani Jamrah, Al-Hajar, Al-Musalla, Setra, Bouri, Al-Akar, Maqsha, Jid Hafs, Abu Saiba, Karana, and other places.

Protestors demanded the withdrawal of the Saudi foinjured Bahrainirces which they referred to as “occupation”, and the prosecution of members who committed violation against Bahraini citizens.

In contrast, the Bahraini security forces faced demonstrations by firing toxic bombs and internationally banned shotguns at protestors, causing casualties among them.

Al-Manar correspondent in Bahrain reported that one young man in Abu Saiba was severely injured from the shotgun, while Ali Rida (18 years old) was arrested by mercenaries, while he was standing on a house roof in Al-Deir village.

Saudi statementHowever, the Bahraini Foreign Ministry said on Twitter that one “saboteur” was injured after he fell off the roof of a house in Al-Deir, and was taken to the hospital.

Other protestors were also wounded in Abu Saiba, Jidd Hafs, and Ma’ameer when they were targeted by fissile weapons, while videos broadcast on the internet showed armored vehicles running over protestors in Al-Akar.

In this context, the Saudi Foreign Ministry called on its citizens to stay away from regions of strike and public gatherings, stating on its Twitter account that “due to the strikes in the brotherly Kingdom of Bahrain, the Foreign Ministry calls on its citizens to be cautious and to stay away from regions of strike and gatherings.” …more