BAHRAIN : Use of the new Chemical weapons against protesters
10 October, 2013 – SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)

The CS Gas used in Bahrain is “Weaponized” in the truest sense of the word. The use of Military Grade CS GAS an Order of Magnitude more potent than “riot control agents” used in the streets of the United States and the United Kingdom is well documented in Bahrain. The weapon being discussed here is a Combat grade CS Gas.

Use of CS Gas in war is prohibited under the terms of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, signed by most nations in 1993, with all but five other nations signing between the years of 1994 through 1997. Only five nations have not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention and are therefore unhindered by restrictions on the use of CS gas: Angola, Egypt, North Korea, Somalia, and Syria.

The “weaponization” that the PHR Report discusses concerns the use of CS Gas, typically considered “less-than-lethal”, as a “lethal weapon”. Gas Canisters are being fired as a projectile directly are protesters causing death and CS Gas is being fired directly into homes, transforming them into “gas chambers” where infants and elderly die from asphyxiation. – Phlipn

Bahrain Is Criticized for Its ‘Torrent’ of Tear Gas Use

Despite a pledge to stop abuses by its security forces, the ruling Sunni minority in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain is engaged in systematic and disproportionate use of tear gas on its restive Shiite majority, permitting police officers to routinely fire volleys at point-blank range at crowds and into homes and vehicles in Shiite neighborhoods, a leading rights group said in a report released on Wednesday.

A Bahraini protester hit by a tear gas canister on Sunday was treated by underground doctors and nurses in a house after clashes with the police.

The group, the Physicians for Human Rights, which has been highly critical of the Bahraini monarchy’s behavior since the Shiite protests inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings began there 18 months ago, called the policy on tear gas use unprecedented in the world, even among dictatorships where tear gas is a staple tool for crowd control.

Its report, based on dozens of interviews of victims in Bahrain and forensic evidence gathered there by the group’s investigators in April, said the Shiite populace’s abnormally prolonged exposure to the tear gas’s toxic components had already led to an alarming increase in miscarriages, respiratory ailments and other maladies.

It documented examples of grievous wounds suffered by civilians whose skulls and limbs had been struck by metal tear gas canisters blasted from a few feet away. The report also described instances in which people not engaged in protests were attacked with tear gas fired into their cars and through the windows or doors of their homes, including at least two cases in which residents died from complications from exposure to the gas because they were trapped in enclosed spaces.

“Since February 2011, the Bahraini government has unleashed a torrent of these toxic chemical agents against men, women and children, including the elderly and infirm,” asserted the report, titled “Weaponizing Tear Gas.” …source

OPPOSITION LEADER DENIED MEDICAL TREATMENT
10 October, 2013 – Amnesty International

Dr ‘Abdel-Jalil al-Singace, one of the 13 jailed prominent Bahraini opposition activists, has been denied medical treatment. He is a prisoner of conscience.

An academic and spokesperson of the al-Haq Movement, Dr ‘Abdel-Jalil al-Singace, aged 51, is serving a life sentence in Jaw Prison, which is around 30km south of the capital, Manama. Since March 2013 at least nine appointments with the cardiology, ophthalmology and dermatology departments at the Bahrain Defence Military Hospital and 11 appointments at the prison clinic have been postponed because he refuses to wear the prison uniform.

According to his family, Dr ‘Abdel-Jalil al-Singace suffers, amongst other ailments, from sinus inflammation and a perforated eardrum for which he needs surgery.

Between March and mid-July all 13 activists had been denied family visits for refusing to wear the prison uniform, saying it is only worn by criminals and to wear the uniform would be to admit criminality: Every time family members went to the prison they were told they could not visit because the prisoners were “refusing prison instructions”. In mid-July 11 of the 13 started to wear prison uniform, as a result of family pressure, and therefore have been able to receive visitors. Only Dr ‘Abdel-Jalil al-Singace and Hassan Mshaima’ still refuse to wear it.

The High Criminal Court of Appeal in Manama issued its verdict on 4 September 2012, upholding the 13 defendants’ sentences of between five years and life in prison on charges including “setting up terror groups to topple the royal regime and change the constitution”. The Court of Cassation upheld the sentences on 7 January 2013. See Additional Information for a list of all 13 prisoners’ names. …more

Bahrain prison care questioned after inmate death
12 October, 2013

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — The lawyer of a Bahraini prisoner who died after being transferred to a hospital is claiming authorities waited too long to provide medical treatment and ignored his deteriorating health, claims officials have denied.

The dispute is likely to bring calls for greater scrutiny on prison conditions in the Gulf nation.

Lawyer Zainab Abdulaziz said officials did not properly care for Yousef Ali al-Nashmi, arrested in August as part of crackdowns following a wave of protests. She said al-Nashmi was in a coma when he was finally hospitalized Sept. 23. He died Friday.

Bahrain’s public prosecutor’s office said early Saturday that al-Nashmi died of HIV-linked problems and had been scheduled to be released.

Sunni-ruled Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, has been gripped by nonstop unrest since early 2011.
…source

Bahraini police brutally quashes protest at funeral
13 October, 2013 – Islamic Invitation Turkey

Bahraini forces have resorted to the use of plastic bullets, tear gas and sound grenades in a brutal effort to disband hundreds of anti-regime protesters following the funeral for Yousif Ali al-Nashmi, who was killed while in custody of the Saudi-backed regime.

The demonstrators, who chanted slogans against the Al Khalifa regime, clashed with the forces as they were trying to march to the capital’s iconic Pearl Square following the funeral of the jailed activist on Saturday.

“The people want the downfall of the regime,” the protester shouted in unison.

According to witnesses, several protesters were injured in the clashes.

The funeral for al-Nashmi, who died Friday while under the custody of the despotic regime, was held in the western Manama suburb of Jidd Haf.

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

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

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

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

Official violence causes severe injuries among mourners in Bahrain
13 October, 2013 – ABNA

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Bahrain security forces used excessive violence yesterday (Saturday 12th Oct) in a brutal crackdown on the mourners of Yousif Al Nashmi who died in custody on 11th Oct. The crackdown resulted in bloody injuries among the mourners.

The injuries indicate the security forces’ use of excessive force and fire arms (shotgun pellets) from close range and the direct targeting of persons in the upper body parts in attempted killings.

A youth sustained severe injuries to the face and jaw with internationally banned weapon shotgun pellets. This, however, leaves no doubt whatsoever that the Government is heading in the direction of further escalation and repression to ban citizens from fundamental rights, such as to freedom of expression and mourning victims of the regime.

The crackdown comes amid a wide campaign in which tens of citizens have been arrested.

The security apparatus is continuing to ban rights and killings and repression in contrary to the official claims of reforming the security apparatus. Citizens inside and outsides prisons are being denied basic rights. This is what led to the death of 31 year old prisoner Al Nashmi. …more

Bahrain: Chaotic scenes as protests continued inside and outside prisons
By davidswanson – 11 October, 2013 – Warisacrime.org

Yousuf Al Nashmi, 31, a young Bahraini citizen, is dying as a result of severe torture inflicted on him in jail. This week the regime ordered his release when it became clear that he was approaching “clinical death”[1]. His family protested his ill-treatment and detention. His lawyer, Zainab Abdul Aziz repeatedly called for his release but the Alkhalifa insisted on keeping him at the torture dungeons despite his severe brain tumour. He was tried while his body was on machines. Only when he approached death did the Alkhalifa ordered his release so that he dies outside jail.

Bahraini detainees at the Dry Dock and the central prison (Jau) have been on hunger strike since 2nd October. They are protesting against ill-treatment, intolerable prison conditions and the new restrictions imposed during family visits. Several detainees collapsed as a result. Those prisons have become notorious for the lack of essential facilities needed for human habitation and intensification of repression, attacks on, and torture of detainees.

A young Bahraini sentenced to life imprisonment went on strike demanding that his solitary confinement be ended[3]. Kumail Al Manami has been kept in his small cell for two years during which he reached the verge of death. He fell into coma several times and his body began fading away as a result of torture, ill-treatment and psychological effects of his incommunicado detention.

On Tuesday 8th October, five youth from Duraz Town were seized by members of Death Squads and taken to unknown destinations[4]. Among them is Sayed Abbas Sayed Mahdi, whose brother, Sayed Mahmood is already in jail on trumpeted charges and false accusations. He is married with two children. At mid-day Wednesday, three youth were snatched from their homes at Bilad Al Qadeem Town. Among them was the brother of Martyr Hani Abdul Aziz. …more

Bahrain police fire tear gas at protesters
15 October, 2013 – ABNA

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – The demonstrators, who chanted slogans against the Al Khalifa regime, clashed with the forces as they were trying to march to the capital’s Pearl Square following the funeral of a prisoner on Saturday.

“The people want the downfall of the regime,” shouted the protesters.

According to witnesses, several protesters were injured in the clashes.

The funeral for Yousif Ali al-Nashmi, who died as he was in regime custody on Friday, was held in the western Manama suburb of Jidd Haf.

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

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

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

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