The Saudi monarchy’s harsh crackdown on dissent
David Mizner – 29 July, 2013 – msnbc

Late last month in Saudi Arabia, tens of thousands of people marched in a funeral for two activists killed by the police. “Death to Al Saud,” they chanted in what was perhaps the largest demonstration in a protest movement that began in January 2011, when a 65-year-old man self-immolated. While most protests have taken place in the Shiite areas of Eastern Province, Sunnis have also sporadically taken to the streets, and there’s been a surge of dissent online.

The protests—and the resulting government crackdown—have gone largely unnoticed in the United States. While it’s understandable that the turmoil elsewhere in the region has taken precedence, events in Saudi Arabia should be getting more attention given the country’s global significance and the decades of U.S. support for its autocratic ally.

Saudi Arabia is a human rights horror show, especially for women, religious minorities, and migrant workers, who make up a majority of the workforce. Under a guardianship system, men treat women as minors. Girls as young as nine are forced to marry. In 2009, a female victim of gang rape was accused of “adultery,” beaten, and imprisoned. An absolute monarchy and theocracy that has no written penal code, the government prohibits the public exercise of any faith other than Islam, has beheaded people for “sorcery,” and routinely imprisons people without charge or trial and tortures them.

Yet in 2012, according to Human Rights Watch, not once did a U.S. official publicly condemn Saudi Arabia for human rights abuses. American priorities are clear. On June 25th, two days after Saudi police killed Shiite activist Morsi Ali Ibrahim al-Rabah, Secretary of State John Kerry appeared in Jeddah with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and said that “protecting the stability” of the monarchy and other governments in the region is “the most important” issue.

The stability of the Saudi government enables the United States to pursue its core objectives in the region: accessing oil, checking the influence of Iran, and waging its war against al-Qaida and “associated forces.” American oil companies and arms manufacturers have a huge stake in the U.S-Saudi alliance. The United States is sending Saudi Arabia $60 billion worth of weapons to upgrade its air force—the single largest arms deal in U.S. history.

The countries were trying to seal that deal in 2011 when King Abdullah expressed displeasure over what he regarded as U.S. support for the region’s democratic uprisings. To mollify him, President Obama dispatched both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and, a few days later, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon to Riyadh. U.S. support for the Saudi monarchy is so unceasing it can make U.S. support for other allies, even Israel, seem conditional.

So it’s with the tacit support of the U.S. that the regime is intensifying its crackdown on dissent. The two recent slayings disrupted months of relative calm and brought to at least 20 the number of people shot by the police since the protests began.

Shiite activists aren’t the only victims of government persecution. In March, the government arrested a group of Wahabi women protesting the imprisonment of their husbands, prompting an unusual, unified outcry from Shiite and Sunni fundamentalists, as well as liberals. The regime is also going after the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, one of the country’s few human rights groups. In March, a court sentenced co-founders Abdullah al-Hamid and Mohammed al-Qahtani to 11 and 10 years in prison, respectively. Another member, Mohammed al-Bajadi, is in prison. In a Youtube video posted in June, his mother said she hadn’t heard from him in nine months.

Under questioning from reporters, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland expressed “concern” about the al-Hamid and al-Qahtani sentences. The U.S. Commission on International Freedom also put out a statement. But there has been little else beyond that even as the Saudi government pushes its crackdown on people for speaking out online.

This week, a court sentenced the founder of the Free Saudi Liberal website to seven years in prison and 600 lashes. Twitter, which has more users per capita in Saudi Arabia than in any other country, is a popular platform for dissent. As part of a coordinated rhetorical attack on social media, the head of the religious police said that anyone who uses these sites has “lost this world and his afterlife.”

The anti-government activism, though striking for Saudi Arabia, at this point poses no threat to the regime, which has proven itself adept at neutralizing opposition. U.S. government and corporations are betting that the House of Saud will endure. …more

The billionaire prince who says Saudi Arabia is in far bigger trouble than the other royals admit
By Steve LeVine – 29 July, 2013 – Quartz

Saudi Arabia, home to the world’s largest reserves of cheap-to-drill oil, describes itself as a painstaking economic planner. It plots to keep current oil prices stable even while diversifying for harder economic days ahead. These practices have, among other things, resulted in the accumulation of $700 billion in official foreign reserves.

This self-depiction has always aroused suspicion since outsiders typically see little more than what the Saudis wish them to. But now a 14-page screed by one of the nation’s most prominent billionaire princes suggests internal dissent on whether the kingdom is planning painstakingly enough. Alwaleed bin Talal, a jet-setting nephew of King Abdullah who owns stakes in Apple, Citigroup and Twitter, says that Saudi Arabia faces a dire threat.

The main trouble, Alwaleed tweeted on July 27, is a flood of new petroleum reserves on to the global market, particularly shale oil from the US. These fresh supplies are eroding demand for Saudi petroleum and, since the country relies on oil exports for 92% of the state budget, will trigger a crisis unless the government acts post-haste.

“It is necessary to diversify sources of revenue, establish a clear vision for that and start implementing it immediately,” Alwaleed wrote in one of three letters that he posted with the tweet.

The letters, addressed to a variety of Saudi dignitaries including the king, are all dated in April and May. One can only speculate as to why Alwaleed made the highly unusual public release, but it may be that he felt his message was not heard. If so, it may be because his assertions diverge so much from the official Saudi message. On May 10, for example, Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi (one of the recipients of the letters), told a Washington audience that shale oil is “great news” for the US, and no threat to his own country.

There could not be a more stark contrast in news: the Saudis officially claim that they are building a gigantic array of solar panels that by 2020 will produce 24 gigawatts of power, and all but eliminate the need to burn oil for electricity. (Saudi currently burns 550,000 barrels a day of oil for its own needs, worth billions of dollars a year in potential export earnings.)

But Prince Alwaleed says that is not nearly enough. “Everybody knows that the policy of the western countries, led by the United States, is to decrease dependence on oil,” he wrote in green ink at the bottom of one letter. Because of that policy, he said,

The global dependence on OPEC’s petroleum and specifically the production of Saudi Arabia is in continuous and clear decline.

If the past is a teacher, Saudi leaders will either ignore or publicly dismiss Alwaleed’s assertions. But Twitter is popular with businesspeople in the Gulf as a forum that bypasses the straitjacketed mainstream press. Turning to it looks like an attempt by Alwaleed to bring direct pressure from public opinion to bear on the Saudi elite. …more

West war crimes in Syria exposed
By Finian Cunningham – 30 July, 2013 – PressTV

But what is truly remarkable is how the Western governments and their propaganda machine, known euphemistically as the mainstream news media, are ignoring these latest massacres (in Syria). That is because their vile game is up. They can no longer dissimulate on the reality of who is carrying out these massacres and how it is all part of a criminal genocidal campaign directed from Washington, London and Paris. That is why they are feigning to ignore such atrocities. To look into them honestly would uncover the ugly face of Western imperialism…”

There was a time during the 30-month covert dirty war on Syria when the Western governments and mainstream media would make a clamor over reported massacres.

Now, despicably, these governments and media just ignore such atrocities.

Why? Because it is increasingly clear that the groups committing these crimes against thousands of Syrian civilians are the foreign-backed mercenaries, whom the Western media and their governments have tried to lionize as “rebels” fighting for “democratic freedom”.

That charade is rapidly disintegrating, exposing not just criminal Western governments sponsoring the violence against civilians, but an entire media industry that is also guilty of war crimes through its willful complicity.

This is not mere hyperbole. To disseminate false information and lies about conflict – under the guise of independent news – is to be complicit in covering up war crimes. You can hardly get more serious misconduct than to tell lies about crimes against humanity.

These toxic lies and propaganda are now being exposed as the Western-backed plot to subvert the sovereign state of Syria unravels; this unraveling is accentuated by the West’s death squads becoming even more unhinged as they stare at looming defeat at the hands of the Syrian army.

The latest massacre occurred in the town of Khan al-Assal in the northern province of Aleppo. Some 150 people, mostly civilians, were reportedly slaughtered in cold blood. Many of the victims were shot in the head execution-style. The groups claiming responsibility are the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front and Ansar al Khalifa.

Reliable sources say that the killers tried to cover up their barbaric crimes by mutilating the corpses and burning the remains. Only days before this orgy of murder, the same groups are believed to have massacred at least seven civilians in the town of Maqbara in the province of Hasakah.

Elsewhere, as the Syrian national army makes searing advances against the militants, it is apparent from the identities of the dead that the majority of these fighters are foreigners, from Saudi Arabia, Libya, Jordan, Turkey, as well as from the US and Europe, including Britain, France and Germany.

Just last week, it was reported that Saudi Arabia bought $50 million-worth of heavy arms from Israel to supply this foreign network in its endeavor to terrorize the people of Syria into submission.

Already, the US, Britain and France have stumped up over $200 million which they claim is provided to “the Syrian opposition” in the form of “non-lethal aid”.

This is just cynical semantics to cover up the fact that the Western governments and their regional Turk, Arab and Israeli proxies are sponsoring genocide in Syria.

Over the weekend as the mass murders in Khan al-Assal and Maqbara emerged there was a telling silence in the Western media. A cursory glance at outlets such as New York Times, Washington Post, Voice of America, the Guardian, BBC, France 24, Deutsche Welle, Reuters, among others, showed no or negligible reports on the atrocities. …more

War against Iran, Iraq AND Syria?
By Pepe Escobar – THE ROVING EYE – 23 July, 2013

Amidst the incessant rumble in the (Washington) jungle about a possible Obama administration military adventure in Syria, new information has come to light. And what a piece of Pipelineistan information that is.

Picture Iraqi Oil Minister Abdelkarim al-Luaybi, Syrian Oil Minister Sufian Allaw, and the current Iranian caretaker Oil Minister Mohammad Aliabadi getting together in the port of Assalouyeh, southern Iran, to sign a memorandum of understanding for the construction of the Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline, no less.

At Asia Times Online and also elsewhere I have been arguing that this prospective Pipelinestan node is one of the fundamental reasons for the proxy war in Syria. Against the interests of Washington, for whom integrating Iran is anathema, the pipeline bypasses two crucial foreign actors in Syria – prime “rebel” weaponizer Qatar (as a gas producer) and logistical “rebel” supporter Turkey (as the self-described privileged energy crossroads between East and West).

The US$10 billion, 6,000 kilometer pipeline is set to start in Iran’s South Pars gas field (the largest in the world, shared with Qatar), and run via Iraq, Syria and ultimately to Lebanon. Then it could go under the Mediterranean to Greece and beyond; be linked to the Arab gas pipeline; or both.

Before the end of August, three working groups will be discussing the complex technical, financial and legal aspects involved. Once finance is secured – and that’s far from certain, considering the proxy war in Syria – the pipeline could be online by 2018. Tehran hopes that the final agreement will be signed before the end of the year.

Tehran’s working assumption is that it will be able to export 250 million cubic meters of gas a day by 2016. When finished, the pipeline will be able to pump 100 million cubic meters a day. For the moment, Iraq needs up to 15 million cubic meters a day. By 2020, Syria will need up to 20 million cubic meters, and Lebanon up to 7 million cubic meters. That still leaves a lot of gas to be exported to European customers.

Europeans – who endlessly carp about being hostages of Gazprom – should be rejoicing. Instead, once again they shot themselves in their Bally-clad feet.

Want war? Here’s the bill
Before we get to the latest European fiasco, let’s mix this Pipelineistan development with the new Pentagon “discovery” – via the deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), David Shedd, according to whom the proxy war in Syria may last for “multiple years”. If that happens, bye-bye pipeline.

One wonders what those Pentagon intel wizards have really been doing since early 2011, considering they had been predicting Bashar al-Assad’s fall every other week. Now they have also “discovered” that jihadis in the Syrian theater of the Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) mould are actually running the (ghastly) show. Shedd admitted there are “at least 1,200” disparate “rebel” factions/gangs in Syria, most of them irrelevant.

Attesting to the appalling average IQ involved in foreign policy debate in the Beltway, still this information had to be spun to justify yet another military adventure on the horizon – especially after President Barack “Assad must go” Obama declared he would authorize the “light” weaponizing of “good” rebels only. As if the harsh rules of war obeyed some Weapon Fairy Godmother high up in the sky.

Into the ring steps General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On the same day that Tehran, Baghdad and Damascus were talking seriously about the business of energy, Dempsey wrote to US senators of the John McCain warmongering variety that the US getting into yet another war would lead to “unintended consequences”. …more

Arabs, Beware the “Small States” Option
By Sharmine Narwani – Al Akhbar – 30 July, 2013 – Intifada

At the heart of all politics lies cold, hard opportunism. New circumstances, changed alliances and unexpected events will always conspire to alter one’s calculations to benefit a core agenda.

In the Middle East today, those calculations are being adjusted with a frequency unseen for decades.

In Egypt and Syria, for instance, popular sentiment is genuinely divided on where alliances and interests lie. Half of Egyptians seem convinced that deposed President Mohammed Mursi is the resident US-Israeli stooge, while the other half believe it is Egypt’s military that is carrying out those foreign agendas.

In Syria the same can be said for Syrians conflicted on whether President Bashar al-Assad or the external-based Syrian National Council (SNC) most benefits Israeli and American hegemonic interests in the region.

But Egyptians and Syrians, who point alternating fingers at Islamists or the state as being tools of imperialism, have this wrong: Empire is opportunistic. It has ways to benefit from both.

There is another vastly more destructive scenario being missed while Arabs busy themselves with conspiracies and speculative minutiae: A third option far more damaging to all.

Balkanization of Key Mideast States

At a June 19 event at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger touched upon an alarming new refrain in western discourse on Mideast outcomes; a third strategy, if all else fails, of redrawn borders along sectarian, ethnic, tribal or national lines that will shrink the political/military reach of key Arab states and enable the west to reassert its rapidly-diminishing control over the region. Says Kissinger about two such nations:

“There are three possible outcomes (in Syria). An Assad victory. A Sunni victory. Or an outcome in which the various nationalities agree to co-exist together but in more or less autonomous regions, so that they can’t oppress each other. That’s the outcome I would prefer to see. But that’s not the popular view…First of all, Syria is not a historic state. It was created in its present shape in 1920, and it was given that shape in order to facilitate the control of the country by France, which happened to be after UN mandate…The neighboring country Iraq was also given an odd shape, that was to facilitate control by England. And the shape of both of the countries was designed to make it hard for either of them to dominate the region.”

While Kissinger frankly acknowledges his preferred option of “autonomous regions,” most western government statements actually pretend their interest lies in preventing territorial splits. Don’t be fooled. This is narrative-building and scene-setting all the same. Repeat something enough – i.e., the idea that these countries could be carved up – and audiences will not remember whether you like it or not. They will retain the message that these states can be divided.

It is the same with sectarian discourse. Western governments are always warning against the escalation of a Sunni-Shia divide. Yet they are knee-deep in deliberately fueling Shia-Sunni conflicts throughout the region, particularly in states where Iran enjoys significant influence (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq) or may begin to gain some (Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen).

“Seeding” Sectarianism to Break Up States

If ever a conspiracy had legs, this one is it. Stirring Iranian-Arab and Sunni-Shiite strife to its advantage has been a major US policy objective since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Wikileaks helped shed light on some of Washington’s machinations just as Arab uprisings started to hit our TV screens.

A 2006 State Department cable that bemoans Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s strengthened position in Syria outlines actionable plans to sow discord within the state, with the goal of disrupting Syrian ties with Iran. The theme? “Exploiting” all “vulnerabilities”:

“PLAY ON SUNNI FEARS OF IRANIAN INFLUENCE: There are fears in Syria that the Iranians are active in both Shia proselytizing and conversion of, mostly poor, Sunnis. Though often exaggerated, such fears reflect an element of the Sunni community in Syria that is increasingly upset by and focused on the spread of Iranian influence in their country through activities ranging from mosque construction to business. Both the local Egyptian and Saudi missions here, (as well as prominent Syrian Sunni religious leaders), are giving increasing attention to the matter and we should coordinate more closely with their governments on ways to better publicize and focus regional attention on the issue.”

Makes one question whether similar accusations about the “spread of Shiism” in Egypt held any truth whatsoever, other than to sow anti-Shia and anti-Iran sentiment in a country until this month led by the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood.

A 2009 cable from the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia continues this theme. Mohammad
 Naji al-Shaif, a tribal leader with close personal ties to then-Yemeni President Ali Abdallah 
Saleh and his inner circle says that key figures “are privately very skeptical of Saleh’s
 claims regarding Iranian assistance for the Houthi rebels”:

Shaif told
 EconOff on December 14 that (Saudi Government’s Special Office for
 Yemen Affairs) committee members privately shared his view that Saleh was providing false or exaggerated
 information on Iranian assistance to the Houthis in order to
 enlist direct Saudi involvement and regionalize the conflict. Shaif said that one committee member told him that “we know
 Saleh is lying about Iran, but there’s nothing we can do 
about it now.”

That didn’t stop Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lying through her teeth to a Senate Committee a few short years later: “We know that they – the Iranians are very much involved in the opposition movements in Yemen.”

US embassy cables from Manama, Bahrain in 2008 continue in the same vein:

“Bahraini government officials sometimes privately tell U.S. official visitors that some Shi’a oppositionists are backed by Iran. Each time this claim is raised, we ask the GOB to share its evidence. To date, we have seen no convincing evidence of Iranian weapons or government money here since at least the mid-1990s… In post’s assessment, if the GOB had convincing evidence of more recent Iranian subversion, it would quickly share it with us.”

Yet as Bahraini rulers continue to violently repress peaceful protest in the Shia-majority state two years into that country’s popular uprising, their convenient public bogeyman mirrors that of Washington: Iranian interference. …more

HRH the Prime Minister Chairs Extraordinary Cabinet Meeting
30 July, 2013 – BNA

Manama: July 30 — (BNA)– His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa chaired the Extraordinary Cabinet Meeting at the Gudaibiya Palace today conducted to discuss the National Assembly’s recommendations regarding security and increasing terrorism in the Kingdom of Bahrain. After the meeting Dr. Yaser bin Essa Al Naser, Secretary General of the Cabinet, released the following statement:

In the beginning of the meeting, HRH the Prime Minister informed the Cabinet of the content of the letter issued by HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, which commissioned the government to take the necessary decisions and procedures to implement the recommendations submitted by the National Assembly. HM the King stressed that the government immediately take all measures to expeditiously implement these recommendations. At the same time, the Prime Minister informed the Cabinet about his letter in reply in which he stressed that the Government will take the necessary measures to implement the recommendations on the ground as quickly as possible.

The Cabinet defined in its meeting the work mechanism, follow-up and deadlines for the implementation of the National Assembly’s recommendations and determined those entities that will be commissioned with their implementation as per HRH the Prime Minister’s previous direction to convert these recommendations into action within the proper legal framework, Legislatively and Executively according to their respective fields.

HRH the Prime Minister emphasized the need for Ministries and governmental entities to devote themselves to implement these recommendations with the highest integrated cooperation between them. The government is decisive and firm in dealing with violence and terrorism — increasing the punishment of instigators — and it will not retreat from or allow any substitution for the implementation of the citizens’ will. Moreover, the government is moving forward in light of the national consensus on the consolidation of security and stability in the fight against terrorism, sectarianism, spreading hatred and instigation, within the framework of the law and the Kingdom’s commitment to freedom of expression and Human Rights. The government will deal with anyone who breaks the law, compromises civil security, or damages public and private property, in order to impose security and civil peace; and will work to eliminate any gaps that allow for the incitement, support or funding of terrorism. …source

Bahrain raises alarm over rising violence
28 July, 2013 – By Reem Khalifa – The Associated Press

MANAMA, BAHRAIN — Bahrain’s king urged lawmakers Sunday to move ahead with proposed harsher measures against escalating attacks by Shiite-led opposition factions, including banning protest gatherings in the capital, after top government officials joined an emergency parliament session to discuss the Gulf nation’s nearly 30 months of unrest.

It was unclear what new steps could emerge more than two years after Bahrain lifted temporary martial law-style rule. But the endorsement for speedy action by the king virtually clears the way for tougher codes that also could include freezing bank accounts and stripping citizenship over links to violence.

The gathering also underscored the growing alarm in Bahrain that the Arab Spring-inspired uprising by the kingdom’s majority Shiites could be drifting into an even more violent stage. A spate of recent bomb attacks, including a blast Saturday, has wounded several policemen and suggests that militant groups are operating with greater autonomy.

Bahrain’s main Shiite political blocs have denounced the attacks, but also complain about widespread injuries among protesters from security forces using bird-shot fire and tear gas.

More than 60 people have died in Bahrain’s upheaval as Shiites press for a greater political voice in the strategic Sunni-ruled kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Activists and Shiite leaders place the death toll above 100.

The parliament session also appeared prompted by opposition calls for major protests Aug. 14 inspired by the crowds that helped topple Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi. Authorities have already warned of a tough response to attempts at organizing large-scale marches that day.

Abdul Jalil Khalil, a top official with the main Shiite political group Al Wefaq, criticized Sunday’s emergency session and royal endorsement of tougher measures, saying “what came today is a green light to tighten laws that are incompatible with freedom of expression and human rights.”

On the other side of the political divide, Justice Minister Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa told lawmakers that authorities must first quell “terrorism” before it can discuss reconciliation, but he stopped short of outlining any specific measures.

Samira Rajab, the information minister and government spokesman, said Bahrain should adopt a “zero-tolerance policy” against “violent acts that have affected the social fabric of its society.”

Parliament members, however, pressed government officials to impose tougher punishments and steps to control violence, including banning all protest gatherings in the capital, Manama, whose Pearl Square was the center of the uprising in its early days. Shortly after clearing the square of demonstrators in early 2011, wrecking crews brought down the six-pronged monument that towered above the area and was one of the city’s main landmarks. It is now ringed by razor wire and guarded round the clock.

“The dangerous escalation, which tries to pull the country into a whirlpool of insecurity and political tensions, should be faced,” said the parliament’s chairman, Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Dhahrani.

Nearly all the 80 members in both chambers of parliament back the Sunni monarchy. Shiite lawmakers walked out amid the crackdowns against protesters in early 2011.

One lawmaker, Latifa al-Qaood, urged authorities to wield “an iron fist against all traitors,” according to the official Bahrain News Agency.

Another, Sawsan Taqawi, called for banning any gatherings or rallies “that endanger national security” and take more decisions to strip citizenship from people convicted of “terrorism.” In November, Bahrain revoked citizenship for 31 Shiites for roles in the uprising — a move that brought widespread denunciations from international human rights groups.

Bahrain courts also have jailed prominent opposition figures and others, including some with alleged links to Iranian-backed groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Bahrain and other Gulf states claim Shiite power Iran has a hand in the protests, but there has been no clear evidence presented. Iran denies any direct role in Bahrain’s unrest.

Other lawmakers proposed freezing assets for suspects linked to attacks and ordering blanket curfews in areas of frequent clashes. …source

A hundred years of toxic humanitarianism
Anna Feigenbaum – 24 July, 2013 – Open Democracy

The history of tear gas traces a metamorphosis from chemical weapon of warfare to ‘legitimate’ crowd control technology. Whilst casualties are persistently blamed on ‘misuse’ by police and security forces, history reveals tear gas to be an inherently dangerous weapon.

In August 2012, eighteen months into protests in Bahrain, Physicians for Human Rights released a report documenting 34 tear gas-related deaths. These included deaths arising from tear gas fired into enclosed locations such as cars, homes and mosques, as well as from canister strikes to the head. Lost eyes, miscarriages, and respiratory failures also filled the list of causalities.

Human rights campaign groups put pressure on governments to stop shipments by describing injuries as a result of the misuse of tear gas. Amnesty International stated that tear gas in Bahrain was “being used inappropriately,” while Physicians for Human Rights titled their report ‘Weaponizing Tear Gas’.

Last week this language of ‘incorrect use’ appeared again. Human Rights Watch sent out a press release calling on Turkey to “End Incorrect, Unlawful Use of Teargas.” But what does it mean to ‘misuse’ a weapon like tear gas? How did tear gas become an acceptable weapon for public order policing in the first place? And why, as so many commentators point out, is tear gas banned in war but permitted for ‘keeping the peace’?
Tear gas: a chemical weapon of warfare

News stories on tear gas tend to cite the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibited the use of most chemical weapons, as the foundation of these anomalies. It was here that nations signed on to an exception, permitting the use of tear gases for “law enforcement including domestic riot control purposes.” Yet the origins of this exception date back much farther than 1997. To understand how tear gas came to be considered a humanitarian weapon for public order policing we must return to the trenches.

Although primitive forms of tear gas existed prior to World War I, it was during the war that research and resources were heavily invested to develop lachrymatory agents—what we commonly refer to as ‘tear gases’ (though they aren’t actually a gas). These chemical substances were used in efforts to lure the enemy out from trenches so as to ‘weaken his defences’. Designed for this purpose, tear gas was seen as a form of both physical and psychological attack.

It was precisely this aggressive use of tear gas that led to its initial ban under the Geneva Protocol of 1925—a ban the US had not signed on to. Having witnessed the ways tear gas was used as part of trench warfare, delegates in Geneva argued that it was inhumane. However, by the time the protocol was ratified, military and state officials were already busy promoting the benefits of such weapons for controlling the masses. …more

Saudi police raid houses in Awamiya
30 July, 2013 – ABNA

Saudi security forces have raided a number of cars and houses in the city of Awamiya in Eastern Province during an operation to arrest an anti-government human rights activist.

Saudi police raid houses in Awamiya

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – According to a video posted online, the incident took place as Saudi security forces stormed the house of human rights activist Abbas Ali Mohammed Al-Mazra on Monday.

One person is reported to be injured by the security forces.

Abbas al-Mazra is one of the 23 Saudi activists wanted by the kingdom’s Interior Ministry for organizing anti-government demonstrations in the eastern cities of Awamiya and Qatif. Some of the activists on the list have already been arrested.

It was not clear whether Mazra was arrested in the operation.

Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province has been witnessing anti-government demonstrations since February 2011. Protesters demand political reforms, greater liberties, freedom of expression and the release of political prisoners, who have been held without trial for more than 16 years.

They have also condemned economic and religious discrimination in the oil-rich region and their government’s involvement in a brutal crackdown on protesters in neighboring Bahrain.

In Saudi Arabia, protests and political gatherings of any kind are prohibited. Activists say there are over 40,000 political prisoners in the country.

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

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

The Story of Bahrain
By As’ad AbuKhalil – 22 July, 2013 – Angry Corner – Al Akhbar

It is a story NOT of a democracy: but of a dictatorship that is headed by a ruling dynasty installed by the British colonial powers and then supported and sponsored by the US, the inheritor in the Middle East of British and French colonialism. The King has NOT been pressured or criticized, and there were NO calls for his dismissal or resignation. Obama and his secretary of state did NOT call on the King to step down. They NEVER said that the King “has to go.” Western government did NOT call on the Bahraini tyrant to heed the calls of his people. Unlike Syria, Bahrain is – we are told – “complicated.” Complicated is a word that is often invoked by Western governments and Western human rights organizations when they wish to cover up occupation, repression, and massacres by allies and clients of the West.

But the people of Bahrain were NEVER passive. They have a history of courageous opposition to the House of Khalifah. People of Bahrain were at the forefront of political activism and they produced diverse political movements over the decades: Arab nationalist and leftist causes were popular, and labor unionism had an exemplary history.

But Bahrain hosts the Fifth Fleet, which immediately gives Bahrain’s ranking in the politically bogus classification of Freedom House an elevated status. If Bahrain were to host another US fleet, or if it were to open a big base for US forces, like Qatar did, then Bahrain would have been declared a Free country. If Jeffrey Feltman famously declared back in 2011 that Egypt was not Tunisia, in order to reassure Zionists that Hosni Mubarak was safe and sound, then Bahrain is NOT Syria for sure.

The people of Bahrain have NO friends in the West or in any other country. There is no organization that calls itself “Friends of Bahrain.” That is not a sexy cause. The people of Bahrain have no friends at all, not even in the Arab world. The majority of the people in Bahrain are NOT Sunnis, which automatically places them in the enemy camp according to standards of the West and dominant Saudi-Qatari leadership of the Arab counter-revolution. The hundreds of thousands of people of Bahrain do NOT amount to “a revolution” in the language of Western media. They are NOT a people. This is a movement that just can NOT be called an uprising. They have to be referred to as Shia to implicate them with ties to the Iranian mullahs. This makes it easier for Western readers to understand.

There were NO panels, workshops, and conferences devoted to Bahrain. Western academics did NOT offer long articles about how to best arm and supply the Bahraini protesters. There were NO arms lists provided to Western governments, and Western foreign ministers did NOT feign concern and compassion about the people of Bahrain. There were NO debates held in Western media and on college campuses on how to best serve the people of Bahrain.

Western media did NOT strive to smuggle correspondents into Bahrain, and the few articles on Bahrain did NOT carry disclaimers about how the Bahraini tyrant did NOT allow journalists to freely roam the country to report on its affairs. Western correspondents based in Beirut did NOT obtain names of dissidents and activists in Bahrain to Skype with and to form the basis of long reports about the bravery and righteousness of a mass political movement. NEITHER Qatar NOR Saudi Arabia funded the Bahraini Observatory for Human Rights to provide the Western media with daily reports about the repression and brutality of the regime.

Western media do NOT report about the blatant sectarian propaganda, schemes and policies of the King of Bahrain. Instead, the mere sectarian affiliation of the majority of the Bahraini population is used as evidence of sectarian culpability and machinations. The Saudi military intervention in Bahrain is NOT categorized as the foreign intervention that bothers Western governments and media in Syria, but only when on the side of the regime. The bogus Western media narrative of Arab uprising would NOT refrain from including the Saudi sectarian-military intervention in Bahrain in the democracy tale in which Lawrences of Arabia get – yet again – the full credit, while supplying tyrants with advanced weaponry. …more

The regime in Bahrain has made direct accusations and threats against the Shiite sect in the country, at a time of continued domination and control by the regime and the ruling family, of the legislative, judicial and executive powers in Bahrain.

The Bahraini Regime insults it’s Shiite community with direct threats and accusations
30 July, 2013 – ABNA

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – The regime in Bahrain has made direct accusations and threats against the Shiite sect in the country, at a time of continued domination and control by the regime and the ruling family, of the legislative, judicial and executive powers in Bahrain. It is adapting the state for the benefit of its own projects, going against the direction of the will of the people and confiscating their rights.

The latest accusations came from a Government spokesperson that spoke openly about treason and threatened a large component of Bahraini society. This behavior reflects the systematic sectarian targeting and inflaming of tensions to create religious conflict between citizens.

Al Wefaq National Islamic Society said that the Bahraini society is bigger than to respond to the destruction and fragmentation projects that the regime is trying to implement, disregarding the higher national interest.

This had led to the people to demand a state based on citizenship rather than tribal, sect or ethnicity. Al Wefaq added that this discrimination is formally and systematically organized at all levels and is being promoted by regime officials. It includes threats to crush, kill and torture against the majority of citizens. Shockingly this has come from a main Adviser to the King of Bahrain, in the context of continued demands and protests for an end to dictatorship and democratic transition.

Along side the regime officials who are threatening and calling for revenge, there is also a large group of paid writers and supporters to back them up. “There is an urgent need for an international stance on what is being perpetrated, incited and systematically pushed for. The United Nations must take a clear stance to stop the continuous use of excessive force against peaceful protesters in Bahrain. We have suffered the dark days of emergency law (so-called national security status) with the worst ever human rights violations, as documented in the BICI report. Including systematic torture, extrajudicial killings, demolishing mosques and shrines, targeting professionals and political dismissals from their jobs and many other violations, which practically prove the serious absence of state.

These violations revealed the awful face of the inhumane approach adopted by the authorities in Bahrain; where there are no laws or legislation but only vindictiveness and hostility against pro-democracy and anti-authoritarianism popular struggle.

Al Wefaq will consider the international silence and unclear stances on the repression in Bahrain as a green light for more human rights violations and a stand on the wrong side of history. The international community must call for an immediate stop to all kinds of repressive measures against peaceful protesters; and call the government of Bahrain to adhere to its international obligations and start to swiftly start a real and inclusive democratic transition that will positively respond to the people’s legitimate aspirations of justice, equality and fair political representation. …source

Letter from the BYSHR to the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism
30 July, 2013 – Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights

Mr. Ben Emmerson
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism
Email: srct@ohchr.org

Manama, 30 July 2013

Dear Special Rapporteur,

The National Assembly (80 members from the Council of Representatives and Shura Council) held on Sunday – 28 July – an extraordinary session in order to discuss giving extensive powers to the Executive Authority in the area of counter-terrorism, the session was attended by 12 ministers, among them was the Minister of Interior and Minister of Justice. The Assembly endorsed 22 recommendations which are submitted to the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa; the King later issued a statement in which he agreed to all the recommendations.

The recommendations included extensive powers to the Executive Authority and especially the Security Forces, and they were presented in the context of ‘counter-terrorism’ in Bahrain. The Legislative Authority gave extensive powers to conduct wide-ranging amendments to Law (58) of the year 2006 regarding terrorism.

In July 2006, the former Special Rapporteur Mr Martin Scheinin addressed a letter to the Bahraini Authorities in which he criticized the law, and he expressed his concern regarding the broad definition of terrorism, and that some actions are not considered terrorist, and that some articles hold the person accountable according to intention, and that some actions do not cause the death or harm to anyone, in addition to that the law restricts freedom of establishing associations and assemby, and that the law lends itself to criminalizing peaceful demonstrations which are considered one of the rights of civil society.

Since February 2011, the human rights situation in Bahrain has dramatically worsened, with widespread and serious human rights violations carried out against those who have partaken in or are perceived to have supported pro-democracy protests in the country. The BICI found evidence of torture, deaths in custody, and arbitrary detention, and concluded that the abuses “could not have happened without the knowledge of higher echelons of the command structure” of the security forces. The government has so far failed to ensure a process of independent review and accountability for individuals, particularly at the command and supervision level, who may be responsible for these violations. Instead the government has continued a widespread campaign of harassment against opposition activists, demonstrators, and human rights defenders.

The government of Bahrain has attempted to deflect international criticism by accepting more than 143 of 176 recommendations during its recent Universal Periodic Review, but for the most part has denied that human rights violations have occurred and avoided putting its statements into practice, including seriously addressing continuing violations and accountability for past abuses. We remain highly concerned over the lack of independent, effective and transparent investigations with regards to allegations of torture, lack of due process and killings of protestors. Contrary to the government’s assertions, in our assessment the key recommendations made by the BICI are not being implemented.

The Bahraini Ministry of Interior announced a number of security incidents during the past months – bombings, finding stores that contain homemade bombs and weapons – and within few hours the Ministry arrests the suspects, as it indicates in its press statements, however the Ministry of Interior does not allow independent and unbiased investigation in these security incidents, and it did not present any real evidence other than the press statements.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights-BYSHR had documented dozens of cases where the Public Prosecution uses the Terrorism Law, where the presence of a lawyer is not permitted during the preliminary investigation, in addition to the torture allegations in the Criminal Investigation Department.

The Bahraini Authorities also used the law against human rights defenders, as had happened to Mr Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and Mr Naji Fateel – administrative member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights – as they were arrested and trialed according to the Terrorism Law, and they were subjected to torture and abuse (for more information on Naji Fateel: http://byshr.org/?cat=53 )

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights-BYSHR calls you to request a visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain and to inform the Authorities to stop using the anti-terrorism law that restricts fundamental liberties and contributes in repression.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Mr. Mohammed Al-Maskati
President
Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights
…source

Bahrain: Horrific torture tales at Alkhalifa kangaroo court
By davidswanson – 29 July, 2013 – warisacrime.org

The past few days have witnessed one of harshest campaigns, collective punishment and en-mass trials in the country. Scores were kidnapped from their homes, offices or the street, taken to torture chambers and subjected to most horrific treatment. The towns of Samaheej, Duraz, Sitra, Karzakkan and others were raided by armed security men and hooded militias to induce fear in the hearts of Bahrainis. Those detained suffered great deals of torture to the extent that the regime’s torture personnel have denied that they had arrested some of them, leading to fears that some prisoners may have perished in the torture chambers. This campaign of state-terrorism started at the beginning of the holy month of Ramadhan to disorientate the people and divert them from the path of worship and struggle.

At the same time the Alkhalifa kangaroo courts resumed their sessions to send more Bahrainis to prison on trumpeted charges. On Thursday 25th July scores of Bahrainis were brought into these courts only to be humiliated by the Alkhalifa judges. Among them was Raihana Al Mousawi, one of two women arrested during the Formula 1 race in April. At her last appearance two weeks ago she told the court that she had been subjected to torture, abused and stripped off her clothes. The judge refused to document her torture complaints and failed to take any action to investigate these heinous crimes.

The group which is being tried is accused of being members of the 14th February Coalition. Among those present were Jihad Mohammad Ali and Ali Habib who were limping as they entered the court room due to the severe torture they had endured. A third person was Abd Ali Al Singace whose hand and neck had wrappings indicating the extent of torture. The fourth was Naji Fateel who had removed his shirt in the last session to expose the horrific wounds due to severe beating and hanging from the hands and legs. Another person was Hamid Al Safi who became furious when he saw Raihana Al Mousawi at the court again after her first ordeal two weeks ago. The judge ordered his removal from the court. Three others were also brought; Jaffar Al Jamri, Mohammad Ali Ashoor and Abd Ali Mohammad Khair. The Bahraini patriots started detailing their torture ordeals , but the judge kept interrupting them and asking them to stop talking. The ruling family had prevented a representative of Front Line D efenders and a Bahraini human rights activist, Mohammad Al Masqati from attending in order to keep the lid on those tales of horror. The session was abruptly brought to an end when the defence team refused the presence of one of the Alkhalifa members and the son of a prominent regime’s crony as judges. The families of the Bahraini victims were not allowed into the court room.

A Bahraini young man, Salman Ahmad Al Nakal, was arrested on Wednesday 24th July on the causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He was taken to an unknown location and nothing has been heard of him since.

The hopes of those who had been relentlessly promoting the Alkhalifa crown prince that he may lead a reconciliation process were dashed in the past two days after he uttered statements that exposed his real nature and that he is no more reformist than the rest of his family members. While visiting the house of one prominent people he called on the Bahrainis to apologise to the his family for calling for their natural and legitimate rights. He insisted that the victims of his family’s state terrorism stop their political campaigns and ask for forgiveness from those who have been abusing and torturing them. The people reacted in fury to those comments that were ill-placed and ill-advised. If anything, those words have exposed the reality of his personality and that he is not different from the rest of the Alkhalifa thugs. Those remarks came only a few days after he had met with the military and security personnel and thanked them for the crimes they are committing on dail y basis against Bahrainis. If this is the kind of man the Western allies have in mind to lead what they perceive as “reconciliation” process, then the whole exercise has exposed its futility and failure.

Bahrain Freedom Movement
26th July 2013
…source