Posts from — December 2013

Observatory in the crosshairs for its coverage
December 31, 2013 – By Marlin Dick – The Daily Star

BEIRUT: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, one of the leading sources of information about the war in Syria, has received death threats over its work from members of the opposition, the group said Monday.

The Observatory, which is based in the United Kingdom and relies on a range of sources from inside the country, said it was being targeted by a “methodical campaign” by activists that reminded it of the methods of the Syrian regime.

The organization provides nearly hourly updates of armed clashes between the warring parties, as well as the shelling and airstrikes conducted by government forces, and the acts of violence undertaken by some rebel groups, particularly when they target civilians.

It has also publicized the grisly videos of summary executions conducted by the most hard-line rebel groups, such as the Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the Observatory said it had recently received a large number of messages of intimidation and death threats, sent to both its official Facebook page and the accounts of a number of activists working with the group.

Observatory director Rami Abdel-Rahman told AFP that the threats originated from Islamist extremists, declining to specify which ones.

“These groups are trying to locate our sources in the regions under their control,” he said, particularly in the north and east of the country, as well as in parts of Damascus province.

“These sources are being threatened,” he said.

However, the Observatory has come in for harsh criticism by mainstream opposition supporters, particularly in the wake of two recent incidents in the province of rural Damascus.

These took place in Adra, an industrial suburb in Damascus, and near the town of Nabk, in the Qalamoun mountains north of the capital.

In Adra, which was stormed by rebel units earlier this month, the Observatory said that more than a dozen civilians – mainly from minority religious sects such as Alawites and Druze – had been slaughtered during the offensive.

But pro-opposition sources quickly countered the version of events. They said that the rebels, which included the hard-line Nusra Front Al-Qaeda affiliate, did kill people in Adra, a sprawling industrial area that also contains a notorious prison. …more

Bahrain says probing torture claims by men jailed in bombs case
30 December, 2013 – Reuters

Bahrain said on Tuesday it was investigating torture claims by three men jailed for 15 years for two homemade-bomb attacks – including one during last year’s Formula 1 car race.

On Sunday, five men – including two who were tried in absentia – were convicted by a court for their role in the blasts, which destroyed several vehicles but caused no injuries, according to the Gulf Arab state’s official BNA news agency.

BNA said the men had admitted being behind the bombings but the men’s lawyer, Jassim Sarhan, told Reuters they pleaded not guilty to involvement in the attacks and told the court their confessions during questioning were obtained under torture.

“The Kingdom of Bahrain does not and will not tolerate any form of torture or mistreatment. The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) did receive complaints from the defendants,” the government’s Information Affairs Authority (IAA) said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

“The SIU takes these allegations very seriously and have looked into these claims. Their investigation is currently ongoing. We can’t give further information until the investigation is completed.”

Bahrain, home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has been in political turmoil since a 2011 uprising led by majority Shi’ites who demand more say in running the kingdom, which is ruled by the Sunni Muslim al-Khalifa dynasty.

Widespread and excessive force, including confessions under torture, was detailed in a report by an international human rights commission led by Cherif Bassiouni, a prominent Egyptian-American jurist.

The Bahrain government says it has taken steps to address security forces actions, but activists say abuses continue.

The SIU was set up as part of the Bassiouni commission’s recommendations.

The Manama government quelled the 2011 revolt in the island kingdom, but almost daily protests and small-scale clashes continue, and bomb attacks have been increasing since mid-2012. …source

Russian press calls for crackdown on terror
30 December, 2013 – BCC

Commentators in Russian newspapers call for a tough response to terrorism, saying there could be further attacks with the Winter Olympics due to begin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in six weeks.

Two deadly blasts in the southern Russian town of Volgograd – one which ripped a trolleybus apart during Monday’s rush hour and another at the railway station on Sunday – are being given widespread coverage by the media, with suspicion falling on Islamist hardliners.

While one paper quotes security experts as suggesting the station attack was the result of a failure of the special services, a commentator in another believes Russia needs to deal with Arab countries allegedly supporting Islamic terrorism within the country.

A writer in a tabloid says the state should be tough not only with terrorists, but with their families who fail to report preparations of attacks.
‘Unfriendly measures’

The pro-government daily Izvestiya quotes security experts as attributing the railway station blast to a failure of the special services. They suggest various remedies, including the stepping up of intelligence gathering, ending uncontrolled migration, as well as surveillance of women who have recently converted to Islam.

The terrorist underground has changed its tactics, and Russia needs to react as soon as possible, the experts are quoted as saying.

Kirill Benediktov, writing in Izvestiya, expects further attempted terrorist attacks in Russia until the Olympics in Sochi are over, and believes the attacks are intended to discredit Russia.

”There is no doubt that the Salafist regimes of the Persian Gulf, primarily Saudi Arabia, have been supporting Islamic terrorism in Russia… Russia is now strong enough to afford unfriendly measures towards the regimes that have been using the Wahhabi fifth column in order to destabilise the situation in our country,” says Benediktov.

Galina Khizreyeva, a specialist in radical Islamism at the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, is quoted by the popular daily Moskovskiy Komsomolets as saying that Volgograd is vulnerable to attack and that people there are not yet fully aware of the danger. …more

Saudi Funded Terrorists Carry-out Heinous Attacks on Russian Civilians
30 Decemebr, 2013 – by Kumar Moses – LankaWeb

Saudi Arabia had its plans to subjugate Syria and expand its hegemonic presence in the Middle East. However, they collapsed when Russia brokered a peace deal backed by warships and nuclear submarines in the Mediterranean. Arabian leaders offered several bribes to the Russians but failed to implement their evil plan. Powerful Prince Bandar, head of Saudi intelligence, then threatened the Russian President to disrupt Sochi Winter Olympics.

In his own words to President Putin Prince Bandar said, “I can give you a guarantee to protect the Winter Olympics next year. The Chechen groups that threaten the security of the games are controlled by us.”

“These groups (Chechnyan terrorists) do not scare us. We use them in the face of the Syrian regime but they will have no role in Syria’s political future.”

True to his word, Saudi operated Islamic terrorist groups have carried out two disgusting terrorist attacks in the same manner they attacked London transport system in July 2005 (7/7). In two separate Islamic terror suicide bomb attacks, dozens of Russian civilians have died. This comes just weeks to Sochi Olympics. It is a clear act of vengeance by Saudi Arabia in punishing Russia for brokering a peace deal in Syria (ruled by a Shia Muslim) and Iran (largest Shia Muslim nation).

Saudi Arabia has emerged as the Mecca of Terrorism. Its terrorist operations range from Indonesia to USA and Russia to Africa crisscrossing the world. With rapid increases in defence expenditure, Saudi Arabia is now the world’s top defence spender after USA, China and Russia. Saudis have made it clear to pursue nuclear ambitions either on its own accord or through Pakistani nuclear weapons technology. It must be stopped before it unleashes terror as a political tool against the civilized world. …source

Bandar-controlled terrorists threaten Russia
28 October, 2013 – PressTV

During his recent visit to Moscow, some weeks ago, Saudi intelligence chief Bandar bin Sultan told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Saudi-controlled militants in the Caucasus will not disrupt the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi only if Russia backed away from its support for Syria. Putin reportedly rejected the proposal.

“We know that you have supported the Chechen terrorist groups for a decade. And that support, which you have frankly talked about just now, is completely incompatible with the common objectives of fighting global terrorism that you mentioned”, Putin is said to have answered.

There are good reasons for Bandar and the Saudi ruling family to be angry at Russia (and lately at the US, too). Saudi Arabia´s plans against Shiites and the Axis of Resistance in the Middle East have been undermined by Russian policies in Syria, Iran and elsewhere. Bandar planned to overthrow Bashar al Assad in Syria through a US attack and the action of terrorist groups there, to isolate and destroy Hezbollah and to push Washington into a confrontation with Tehran.

However, Bandar clearly misunderstood Russia, Iran and Hezbollah and their determination to support their Syrian ally and to defeat his plans. Russia deployed a powerful fleet in Eastern Mediterranean and made it clear that it was willing to support and protect Syria.

Therefore, Bandar could try to take revenge on Russia through his terrorist tools. This is of course insane, but his threats to Russia (and now to the US) are themselves evidence of his insanity and stupidity and led the world public opinion to understand that the Saudi regime itself is a real problem for the region and the world. …more

Bahrain says weapons seized, car bomb defused
30 December, 2013 – By REEM KHALIFA – Associated Press

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) – Bahraini officials seized stocks of weapons, including some being smuggled in by sea, and defused a car bomb during two days of security raids in the restless Gulf nation, the country’s public security chief said Monday.

Authorities also announced the capture of a speedboat allegedly smuggling out 13 people, including one Saudi, wanted in connection with security cases in Bahrain. They were carrying passports, different types of currency, phones and personal belongings, according to a government statement.

Bahrain is a small island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia that hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. More than 65 people have been killed in violence since protests led by the country’s Shiite majority began in February 2011 calling for a greater political voice in the Sunni-ruled nation.

Bahrain accuses Shiite powerhouse Iran of aiding the uprising. Tehran denies the accusations.

“Bahrain is still facing systematic terrorism from many parties,” government spokeswoman Sameera Rajab said.

Public Security Chief Tareq al-Hassan said operations carried out Saturday and Sunday led to the seizure of plastic explosives, detonators, bombs, automatic rifles and ammunition. The weapons were found in a warehouse and onboard a boat intercepted as it was heading to the country, he said.

Included in the cache discovered onboard the boat, which was first detected in international waters off Bahrain’s northeastern coast, were “50 Iranian made hand bombs” and nearly 300 commercial detonators marked “Made in Syria,” according to a government statement.

Iran is the main regional backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government.

The car bomb authorities dismantled was discovered in the busy central district of Hoora in the capital, Manama, the government said.

…more

Interview With Pussy Riot Member: ‘I Want Justice’
By Matthias Schepp – Spiegel Online – 30 December, 2013

Pussy Riot activist Nadezhda Tolokonnikova talks about her plans following her release from prison, what she has in common with former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and her five-year-old daughter’s drawings.

Despite the short nights since her release, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova seemed rested and combative when she sat down for a first lengthy interview with SPIEGEL last Friday. The conversation took place in a car, on the trip from Vnukovo International Airport into downtown Moscow. Her husband, Pyotr Verzilov, was sitting next to her. Tolokonnikova, 24, her fingernails painted a bright red, was in good spirits. Before long, she began talking about the “poor conditions in our prisons and our country as a whole.”

She said that she bears no hatred against Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that she is determined to change the system he has created. Then the Pussy Riot activist began singing a few lines from a song she had written while in prison, in which she pokes fun at Putin’s tendency to appear in photos that highlight the macho side of his personality.

“You’re catching a fish, but I want rebellion,” she sang. Before attending a press conference at the studio of opposition TV broadcaster Dozhd, she went to see her five-year-old daughter Gera, who had been living with Tolokonnikova’s in-laws since her arrest.

SPIEGEL: Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, how do you feel after your return from prison in Siberia?

Tolokonnikova: It isn’t easy to return to reality after being disconnected from it for two years. And to be honest, I feel a burden of responsibility to those who are still in prison, as well as those who have supported Pussy Riot and me in this difficult situation. Since I was released from prison on Monday of last week, I’ve only been able to sleep two or three hours a night. Now is the time to given something back to those who believed in me. Perhaps I’ll make mistakes in the process. I think I’ll need help along this path from people who think in political terms and aren’t indifferent to everything.

SPIEGEL: What was everyday life like when you were in prison?

Tolokonnikova: I spent most of the time at a penal colony in Mordovia. This is what my day was like there: Wake up at 5:45 a.m., 12 minutes of early-morning exercise, followed by breakfast and forced labor as a seamstress. Being allowed to go to the bathroom or smoke a cigarette depended on the guards’ mood. Lunch was greasy and of poor quality. The workday ended at 7 p.m., when there was roll call in the prison yard. After that, we were sometimes required to shovel snow or do other cleanup work. Then we waited in line to wash up a little, and finally we went to bed. …more

ISIS – major threat to media freedom in both Iraq and Syria
30 December, 2013 – Reporters without Borders

Reporters Without Borders condemns the attacks that the Jihadi group known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has carried out against news media and journalists in the past few days in both Iraq and the so-called “liberated” areas of Syria.

“We are worried and appalled by the growing number of ISIS attacks on journalists in Iraq and Syria,” Reporters Without Borders said.

“This Jihadi group uses all means possible to further its goal of controlling news and information, systematically targeting journalists and media that do not share its ideology. Intimidation, abduction, torture and murder – ISIS rules nothing out in order to impose a reign of terror.

“The local media play a crucial role in Syria, where news gathering and dissemination is becoming increasingly dangerous. Nowadays they are virtually the only media reporting what is happing in Syria, so attacks on them are real crimes against freedom of information. We firmly condemn this armed group’s actions.”

In a communiqué posted on Jihadi sites on 23 December, ISIS claimed responsibility for the suicide attack earlier that day on the headquarters of Salaheddin TV in Tikrit (180 km north of Baghdad), in which five of the TV station’s employees were killed.

The communiqué said the TV station was targeted because it put out lies and gave a distorted image of Iraq’s Sunni community. The statement also described how the attack was carried out.

ISIS carries out equally violent actions against journalists in the regions it controls in neighbouring Syria and has become one of the main threats to freedom of information in that country, as Reporters Without Borders noted in a report published on 6 November, entitled “Journalism in Syria, impossible job?”

It also bans the circulation of publications it regards as “ungodly.” On 24 December, for example, it prohibited the distribution of the magazines Tlena Al-Huriya and Al-Ghirbal in the northern province of Raqqah and burned copies of them. …more

Saudi Arabia gives Lebanon $3bn to bolster military
The Guardian – 29 December, 2013

Lebanon said on Sunday night that it had received its biggest ever infusion of military aid, as Saudi Arabia offered to contribute $3bn to bolster the country’s beleaguered army in the face of spiralling violence and fallout from the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

The president, Michel Suleiman, said on national television that he would discuss the purchase of French weapons with his visiting French counterpart, François Hollande, as a result of the donation.

“The king of the brotherly kingdom of Saudi Arabia is offering this generous and appreciated aid of $3bn to the Lebanese army to strengthen its capabilities,” Suleiman said in a televised address. “The Saudi grant will allow the Lebanese army to purchase weapons from France.”

Lebanon is struggling to cope with the fallout from the civil war in Syria. That conflict has deeply divided Lebanon along sectarian lines, and paralysed the country’s ramshackle political system to the point that it has been stuck with a weak and ineffectual caretaker government since April.

A wave of deadly bombings and shootings have fuelled fears that Lebanon, which suffered a brutal 15-year civil war of its own that ended only in 1990, could be slowly slipping back towards full-blown sectarian conflict. The latest violence took place on Friday, when a car bomb killed a senior Sunni politician who had been critical of Syria and its Lebanese ally, the Shia militant group Hezbollah.

Addressing those concerns, Suleiman said in his address that “Lebanon is threatened by sectarian conflict and extremism” and that strengthening the army was a popular demand. …more

Bahrain: Urgent Appeal: Fear of Torture During First Days Of Arrest; No Access To Fair Trial
30 December, 2013 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights issues an urgent appeal regarding the individuals who have been arrested in four cases recently announced by the Ministry of Interior. As has been seen in the past several years, and especially in cases where charges are brought under the internationally criticized terrorism law, those arrested by the authorities in Bahrain are often severely tortured during the first few days of their detention in order to obtain confessions. These confessions are then used in unfair trials, and lengthy prison sentences are handed down.

Details of the cases:

The Ministry of Interior announced that they had “foiled four plots” and added that “indications show these operations are linked to each others”, the cases that have been announced in the press conference are:

(1) First case: the dismantle of an “armed car” in Al-Hoora area.

(2) Second case: the arrest of thirteen individuals (one of them holds a Saudi passport) who were wanted by the authorities, and had attempted to escape Bahrain by sea; there were three sailors transporting them.

(3) Third case: the interception of a speed boat with two persons on board delivering weapons into Bahrain by sea.

(4) Fourth case: the uncovering of a “explosives/weapons warehouse in “AlQaryah” in connection with third case.

The details of these cases were announced by the “Chief of Public Security” Tariq AlHassan, who was previously included in the BCHR “Wanted for Justice” campaign.

…more

Bahrain: religious persecution continues, calls to investigate torture
By davidswanson – 27 December, 2013 – warisacrime.org

In a flagrant attack on religious freedom, the Alkhalifa regime has summoned the heads[1]of three Hussaini Oration Centres to attend the prosecution centre where many others had been tortured before. The heads of Bin Khamis and Sanabis mourning halls have been asked to attend the prosecutor’s office, which has become one of the main abusers of human rights in Bahrain. This follows the strong public participation in the mourning processions in the past few days to mark the Arba’een (Fourtieth Day after Imam Hussain’s martyrdom). Some anti-regime sentiments were expressed in those processions as people remembered their own dead, wounded and imprisoned by the Alkhalifa enemy.

Meanwhile the attacks on native Bahrainis have continued. In the early hours of this morning at least five[2] people were arrested; Sayed Mohammad Sayed Aqeel Al Mousawi, Salman Al Mawt, Baqir Ibrahim Khamis, Ali Hassan Al Tabbal and Hussain Ra’id from Sanabis.

The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has issued a special report on the abuse of children[3] by the ruling Alkhalifa clan. It mentioned two boys aged thirteen years; Sayed Hashim Alawi and Sayed Tamim Majid. On 7th December they were arrested for taking part in anti-regime protests, but their detention has been repeatedly renewed and are still behind bars. They were accused of planning to overthrow the Alkhalifa regime by force. On 20th December Amnesty International issued an Urgent Action[4] about the two boys. It said: “Cousins Sayed Tameem Majed Ahmad Majed and Sayed Hashim Alwai Ahmad Majed were arrested on 7 December in the north-western village of Bani Jamra, and taken to the police station in al-Budaya, Manama, in two separate incidents. Sayed Tameem, who turned 13 on 19 December, was arrested at about 3.10pm in front of his grandparents’ house about 15 minutes after he had arrived with his family, for a visit, and while he was playing with a young er cousin. He had run away after seeing a police patrol car approaching, but his family did not see him being arrested. They were later told by eyewitnesses that he had been taken away by a police patrol. Sayed Hashim, aged 13, was arrested at about 3.45pm near his grandparents’ house while on his way to a nearby shop”. It also called for protecting the two children from torture and forming an independent commission to examine torture claims. …more

David Isaksson denied entry to Bahrain
28 December, 2013 – Global Reporting

David Isaksson, CEO of the Swedish consultancy firm Global Reporting, was today denied entry to Bahrain despite the fact that EU citizens can get visa on arrival. The reason given was that Global Reporting is a company working with communication and development issues and that David Isaksson was thus suspected of planning to meet with opposition and human rights activists in the country.

“I am currently travelling to 50 countries around the world where I have not yet been before, asking people about happiness. This was also the main reason for my visit to Bahrain”, David Isaksson says, adding:

“Obviously, happiness is a dangerous word in Bahrain today”.

David Isaksso spent about eight hours at the aiirport of Bahrain before having to board a plane back to Dubai.

Find out more about the Happiness project at www.globalhappiness.se follow David Isaksson on twitter at @davidglobal

Amnesty International, Reporters without borders and several other international organisations are criticising Bahrain for it’s human rights abuses. Recently, Amnesty has called for a halt on dentation, abuse and torture of children in Bahrain. …more

Bahrain Says Foils ‘Terror’ Attempts, Seizes Explosives, Weapons
By REUTERS – 30 December, 2013

MANAMA — Bahraini authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle explosives and arms, some made in Iran and Syria, into the country by boat, the Gulf Arab state’s public security chief said on Monday.

Bahrain, home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has been rattled by bouts of unrest since February 2011, when protests led by members of its Shi’ite majority demanded that the Sunni ruling family give up ultimate power to an elected parliament.

“According to the investigations, which revealed plans to carry out terrorist acts, security deployment has been intensified,” Major-General Tariq al-Hassan said in comments published by the official news agency BNA.

He said security forces had also dismantled a car bomb in the al-Houra area east of Manama, seized a weapons and explosive cache and arrested 13 people, including a Saudi Arabian national, trying to flee the country by boat.

The smuggled munitions included what Hassan called anti-personnel and armor-piercing explosives, as well as “50 Iranian-made hand bombs” and “295 commercial detonators on which was written ‘made in Syria'”, he said.

The Manama government, dominated for generations by the Sunni Muslim Al Khalifa family, accuses the opposition of having a Shi’ite sectarian agenda and links to Iran and to Lebanese Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah.

The opposition denies this, saying such allegations are a pretext for avoiding democratic reforms. Tehran also denies any link, but champions the cause of the opposition while Hezbollah has criticized Manama’s crackdown on Shi’ite protesters.

The Bahraini government largely put down the uprising with help from Gulf Arab neighbors but small-scale clashes continue and bomb attacks mainly on policemen and security officers have been increasing since mid-2012.

Bahrain’s Shi’ite opposition groups suspended their participation in reconciliation talks with the government after the arrest of a senior member of al-Wefaq, the main opposition group, in September. …source

A Saudi activist was sentenced to four years and 300 lashes. He is the fourth to be imprisoned from one organization this year

Why won’t the west call out Saudi Arabia for persecution of democratic activists?

Andy Fitzgerald – 29 December, 2013 – The Guardian

At the memorial for Nelson Mandela, President Barack Obama eulogized the fallen leader: Like Gandhi, he would lead a resistance movement – a movement that at its start held little prospect of success. Like [Martin Luther] King, he would give potent voice to the claims of the oppressed.

Listening in the crowd sat Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s second deputy prime minister. Apparently the words were lost on the government His Royal Highness was representing (though it’s questionable he even relayed the message), because within the next week, a Saudi judge sentenced democratic activist Omar al-Saeed to 4 years in prison and 300 lashes. His crime: calling for a constitutional monarchy (a government that would likely outlaw such cruel and unusual punishment).
Omar al-Saeed Omar al-Saeed Photo: Twitter

Saeed is a member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (Acpra), an organization documenting human rights abuses and calling for democratic reform. He is its fourth member to be sentenced to prison this year. In March, co-founders Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani (who I have met in the past, and previously wrote about) and Abdullah al-Hamid were sentenced to prison terms of 10 and 5 years on charges such as “breaking allegiance with the ruler” and running an unlicensed political organization – despite repeated attempts to obtain a license.

Not surprisingly, there has been no strong public statement from the Obama administration regarding Saeed’s sentencing. Following the conviction and sentencing of Qahtani and Hamid, the strongest language came from the obscure United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. It took a direct question at a press briefing to prompt a canned statement from the State department, claiming “concern” at the arrests and sentences, and asserting that the US makes “strong representations for human rights activists” wherever our diplomats are.

It is also of little surprise that American media hasn’t pressed Obama administration officials on this latest persecution, and the clear signal the sentence sends that those “strong representations” fell on deliberately deaf ears. After all, there is much to be distracted by in the region: the Iranian nuclear deal, the continuing bloody war in Syria, and the escalating conflict in Egypt. All of these strategically concern Saudi Arabia and its level of influence – briefings at State in the days following Saeed’s sentencing touched on issues such as Saudi-US cooperation in the Middle East peace process, and the Geneva II conference over Syria, with no mention of the quashing of nascent civil society.

But what is particularly galling about the lack of public pressure on the Saudi government for their continued crackdown on Acpra and other democratic activists is that it is indicative of a broader flight from the lofty pro-democracy rhetoric of the Obama White House at the beginning of the Arab Spring.

…more

Saudi blogger jailed for ‘insulting Islam’ faces a new trial for apostasy, which is punishable by deathath
By Barry Duke – 27 December, 2013

SAUDI blogger and activist, Raif Badawi, currently serving a 7-year prison term for ‘insulting Islam’, may soon appear in a higher court on graver charges of apostasy. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to death. free The activist’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, revealed in this report that a judge had recommended that Badawi, who was also sentences to 600 lashes, should face graver charges .

Raif Badawi is the founder of the Free Saudi Liberals website, created in 2008 to freely discuss the role of religion in Saudi Arabia. His persecution for what was described as “insulting Islam” started the same year the site was set up.

The blogger then fled the country to escape arrest. He returned when the charges against him were dropped, but was eventually jailed in June 2012. In July this year, a criminal court in Jeddah him guilty of insulting Islam through his online forum and of violating Saudi Arabia’s anti-cybercrime law.

The court’s ruling was condemned by international human rights watchdogs. Said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch:

This incredibly harsh sentence for a peaceful blogger makes a mockery of Saudi Arabia’s claims that it supports reform and religious dialogue. A man who wanted to discuss religion has already been locked up for a year and now faces 600 lashes and seven years in prison.

Badawi’s possible retrial is the latest episode in the country’s crackdown on dissent. Four members of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) were jailed in 2013.

In the most recent case in December, 24-year-old Omar al-Saeed was sentenced to four years in prison and 300 lashes after calling for political reform. Amnesty International called for the activist’s immediate release. After serving his sentence he will be prohibited from travelling for four years. …more

Saudi activists endure darkest year
28 Decemebr, 2013 – New Zealand Herald

With global attention focused on upheaval elsewhere in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia quietly intensified its clampdown on dissent in 2013, silencing democracy advocates and human rights defenders with arrests, trials and intimidation in what reformists say was one of the darkest years for their efforts in the powerful United States-allied Gulf state.

The clampdown reflects the highly delicate times that the world’s top oil producer is passing through.

The monarchy is trying to modernise the country’s economy to reduce its reliance on oil revenues and create a more diverse private sector to provide jobs for a grumbling population. To manage the shifts, activists say it has manipulated the divisions in Saudi society, playing on tribal sentiments and shifting between Saudis who seek a more liberal lifestyle and the ultraconservative Wahhabi clerics who traditionally give the royal family legitimacy.

As it navigates those currents, the monarchy is blunting calls for political reform, fearing an Arab Spring-style upheaval that would rattle the ruling family’s grip on power.

This year, at least nine prominent reformers were given lengthy jail sentences for offences including “breaking allegiance with the king”. A leading rights lawyer was forced to flee the kingdom for fear of arrest. One of the kingdom’s most prominent rights organisations – the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights, known in Arabic by its acronym Hasem – was shut down. A tough anti-terror law was approved by the Government, defining acts as vague as “defaming the state’s reputation” as terrorism.

More than 200 protesters, including women and children, were detained for demanding the release of imprisoned relatives. A Saudi man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in leading protests by the country’s Shia minority and five women were detained for several hours for flouting a driving ban.

Abdulaziz Alhussan, the rights lawyer who fled to the United States, warned that if the monarchy doesn’t address calls for change, the demands could escalate and destabilise the country.

“If we wait another seven to 10 years, we will be in a more dangerous situation than Egypt and Syria,” he said. “What we need to do is fix it before it’s too late.”

He said that although 2013 was bad for activists – “one of the worst years we are facing in Saudi Arabia” – it was ultimately “much worse for the Government” because Saudis are more informed and aware of the needs for better governance.

“The Government has no option but to reconcile with its own people,” he said. “They do not want to overthrow the royal family. They are saying we need reform where human rights are respected and where there is accountability and transparency within government.”

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s last absolute monarchies. All decisions are centred in the hands of 89-year-old King Abdullah, who has sole power to ratify new laws. There is no parliament. There is little written law, and judges – implementing the country’s strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam – have broad leeway to impose verdicts and sentences. A Specialised Criminal Court created in 2008 for terrorism cases has tried reformers and activists. Offences such as “disobeying the ruler” can result in years in prison. …more

Saudi Prosecutor Demands Death by Crucifixion for Shia Cleric Nemer
By Gianluca Mezzofiore – 27 March, 2013 – IBTimes

A Saudi Arabia prosecutor has demanded the death sentence by crucifixion of a prominent Shia cleric who was arrested last year, prompting deadly protests in the Gulf kingdom.

Sheikh Nemer al-Nemer, a firebrand preacher seen as a radical leader in the Shia minority, was accused of inciting sectarian strife, “aiding terrorists” and instigating them to commit crimes and interfering in the matters of neighbouring countries.

The prosecutor said he was guilty of “waging war on God”, a crime that automatically carries the death penalty according to the sharia. Earlier this month, 16 Shiites were detained on charges of spying for Riyad’s rival Iran. Teheran has denied any allegations of spying in the kingdom.

In the past two years, clashes between police and protesters in the Saudi’s Eastern province of Qatif, a Shiite-dominated area, have led to 16 demonstrators and a security officer being killed. Nemer was based in al-Awamiyah, a neighbourhood in Qatif that was at the centre of the unrest. He was detained in July 2012 after a car chase. Police said he had rammed a police car and possessed weapons. But local Shiite denied both accusations. After his arrests, three demonstrators were killed during protests.

Nemer was indicted for meeting some of the people that featured in a list of 23 wanted over the unrest in Qatif. They were accused of being foreign agents from Iran. The cleric was also accused of interfering in the internal affairs of Bahrain. …more

Bahrain arrests photographer Ahmed Al-Fardan
27 December, 2013 – Committee to Protect Journalists

New York, December 27, 2013–Ahmed Al-Fardan, photographer for the NurPhoto agency, was arrested Thursday at his home in Bahrain, according to his agency, news reports, and human rights groups. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest.

Al-Fardan’s father, Jaber, told local independent daily Al-Wasat that Bahraini security officers stormed their house in the early hours of Thursday morning while they were asleep, handcuffed his son, and took him to an unknown location. Jaber later received a short call from Ahmed, who said he was fine but did not give any details of his whereabouts, according to the report.

Bahraini authorities didn’t disclose any charges against Al-Fardan, according Mohammed Al-Maskati, president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights.

Al-Fardan’s photos of unrest in Bahrain have appeared in international news outlets and been recognized by human rights groups. Recently, one of his photos won second place in IFEX’s international contest to expose impunity as part of the International Day to End Impunity on November 23, 2013.

Al-Fardan is also known for advocating for his fellow photographers. In his last tweet, on Monday, he called for the release of Ahmed Humaidan, another Bahraini photojournalist who has been imprisoned for a year because of his work in documenting protests against Bahraini authorities. Al-Fardan also participated in a demonstration this month calling for Humaidan’s release.

“We call on Bahraini authorities to immediately release Ahmed Al-Fardan,” said CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, Sherif Mansour. “Despite paying lip service to the importance of the press, the government continues to try to suppress any information that does not conform to its official narrative.” …more

Bahrain: Detainee Muneer Habib Thrown Out of Court after Testifying against the Public Prosecutor who Tortured him and Forced him to Confess
25 December, 2013 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses its concern for the Public Prosecution and Court in Bahrain continued fabrication of malicious cases and mock trials that lack the foundations of a fair trial against activists and citizens, where the Judge of the Fourth High Criminal Court Ali Khalifa Al-Dhahrani on 21 November 2013 threw one of the detainees, and he is Mr. Muneer Habib, out of the courtroom after declaring that the present Public Prosecutor (Hamad Al-Bouainain) is the one that tortured him and forced him to make a false confession. This took place during the first hearing in the case of forming a terrorist cell where the accused are: Mr. Sadiq Ali Al-Shakhoori (43 years), Mr. Muneer Habib Saeed (31 years), Mr. Sajjad Al-Alawi (28 years), Ali Hussein Haji (30 years) and Mohammed Jaffar Nasser.

The Court charged Mr. Sadiq Ali Al-Shakhoori with managing and financing a terrorist cell that was founded in 2011 which aims at suspending the provisions of the law and harming national unity, and using violence as a means to achieve that, while it charged the remaining four with joining this cell, which they all denied at Court. At the end of the hearing, the case was adjourned until 8 December 2013, in order to enable the lawyers to look into the case file and to refer Sajjad Al-Alawi and another detainee to the forensic doctor while continuing the imprisonment. The lawyer of the detainee Sajjad Sayed Mohsen Al-Alawi indicated on his Twitter account[i] that he requested that his client gets referred to a forensic doctor, although he had already made such a request two months ago. This could cause the torture marks to fade due to neglecting to refer him at that time. The father of detainee Sajjad Al-Alawi also said that his son told him in a phone call which followed the hearing that the Public Prosecutor who was present at Court was in fact the one who participated in his torture and threatened him with further torture in case he did not sign the confessions that have prepared beforehand.[ii]

Worth mentioning, Mr. Muneer Habib was arrested at dawn on 28 May 2013 after civil forces accompanied by police patrols raided his house. Information indicated that he was tortured at that time in the Criminal Investigation Department, notorious for its systematic torture, to force him to confess to his involvement in carrying out terrorist acts. His family informed the BCHR at an earlier time that Mr. Habib had spoken to the Public Prosecutor – Ali Al-Jazzaf – and had told him that he was exhausted from the severe torture and that he suffers from extreme pain in his hands in addition to pain in various areas of his body, among them head and back. However, the Public Prosecutor did not pay any attention to what he was saying and continued the interrogation to charge him with a series of accusations. Muneer expressed to the Public Prosecutor his fear that the torture may continue to make him confess to other charges; yet the Public Prosecutor ensured that that would be impossible and ordered his release. Nonetheless, orders from supreme bodies were made and his imprisonment was renewed for 60 days pending investigation according to the requisites of the Terrorism Law. The family also stated that it noticed clear torture marks on his body; on their first visit on 3 June 2013, it was clear that he had saggy eyes and his right eye was swollen, in addition to not being able to walk normally. Muneer informed his family that he was subjected to torture on a daily basis and that he was taken to the Criminal Investigation Department for interrogation and his confessions were filmed where he claims leading groups of 14 February youth in various villages, among them Ghurayfah, Juffair, Mahooz and Manama. He was also subjected to severe torture to force him to confess falsely that his sister, a former detainee, Muneera Habib, was involved in the accusation of being affiliated with the 14 February Youth Coalition[iii]. …more

Bahrain diplomat accused of abusing woman sent home
29 December, 2013 – Hindi News

Exactly three weeks after he was accused of abusing and manhandling a woman, Bahrain’s Consul General in Mumbai Mohammed Abdul Aziz Al Khaja was sent back to his home countryon Friday night.

While some reports said the Union Home ministry had issued a formal order asking Khaja to immediately leave India, the Bahrain Embassy in India tweeted that Al Khaja had been “transferred to Bahrain” because he had completed histerm.

Confirming the news to SUNDAY Mid Day, a top bureaucrat in the Maharashtra government said the state had received an intimation to this effect from the Union Home Ministry. Khaja was booked for molestation earlier this month. Khaja returned to Bahrain on Friday evening by a Jet Airways flight, 9W 592 that left Mumbai at 7.05pm.

The diplomat was accused of abusing and attacking a 49-year-old woman, a manager at the Silver Arch residential society in Malabar Hill where Khaja also resided.

He was reportedly upset over one of the elevators in the building being shut for repairs and ransacked the woman’s office premises after an angry exchange of words. Speaking to SMD earlier, the victim had said the diplomat had kept banging the elevator door and abused and pushed her when she asked him to calm down.

The consul general had himself called police officials to the building after the fight, after which the victim decided to register a case with the local Malabar Hill police station. Later after the police officials came to the building premises, they noted down the statements of both the parties and registered a case against the diplomat. …more

Bahraini princess acquitted of torture charges
27 December, 2013 – PressTV

A Bahraini lawyer has confirmed that princess Sheikha Noura bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa has been acquitted on charges of torturing doctors.

Hameed Mulla, a lawyer for the doctors, made the remarks in a telephone interview from the capital Manama on Friday, Reuters reported.

The princess was one of the two police officers acquitted by the country’s Supreme Criminal Appeals Court on December 23.

The lawyer said that he intended to submit a request to appeal against the verdict for a second time.

On Monday, Bahrain’s Ministry of Information confirmed that the 29-year-old princess was acquitted, but did not elaborate on what charges she had faced or any other details.

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have held 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 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

Bahrain: After Torture And Defamation, Ali Al-Haji Faces An Unjust Trial On Charges Of Carrying Out Terrorist Acts In The American Service Center
26 December, 2013 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses its deep concern for the authorities in Bahrain continued fabrication of malicious cases against activists and citizens; to punish them for peacefully expressing their opinions. This punishment includes torturing, defaming and bringing them forth to trials that lack the most basic elements of justice. The detainee Ali Hussein Ahmed Al-Haji – 30 years – who declared being subjected to torture at the Criminal Investigation Department, and whose photo was broadcasted on national TV, and who is currently facing charges of carrying out terrorist acts in the American Service Center in Juffair is an utmost example of this.

The Security Apparatuses arrested Al-Haji at dawn on 20 May 2013 from his apartment in Tubli. Al-Haji informed the observers of the BCHR that those who arrested him did not have an order to search the apartment or an arrest warrant. The apartment was raided by a group of policemen dressed in civilian clothes, and who are believed to be affiliated with the National Security Apparatus, they beat him and cursed his sect and hit him in front of his wife before blindfolding and handcuffing him; he was then taken out. They also confiscated electronic devices, some of them belonging to his wife. …more

Former US ambassador agonises over ‘stability’
Opposing democracy in Bahrain
by Brian Whitaker – 22 December, 2013

The latest issue of the Middle East Policy Council’s journal contains a lengthy essay on US policy towards Bahrain, basically arguing that reforms in the tiny Gulf kingdom should stop short of full democracy.

Its author, Ronald Neumann, is a former US ambassador to Bahrain and currently president of the American Academy of Diplomacy in Washington, and his essay is a troubling example of the extraordinarily charitable attitude that many in the western diplomatic establishment still display in relation to Gulf autocrats.

Neumann rightly points out that US policy towards Bahrain, in its present form, lacks clarity and is leading nowhere. He also points out that almost everything about the situation in Bahrain “is as contested as it is complicated”.

If the need is for clarity, though, it might be better to dwell less on the complexities (which Neumann does at length) and focus instead on some guiding principles.

One clear and simple principle which would serve as a good starting point is that people everywhere have a right to choose their own government and hold it accountable – and that when they seek to exercise their right it should not be the role of the US, or anyone else, to stand in their way.

In Bahrain’s case, that basic principle has become clouded by other concerns such as America’s perception of its regional interests and a desire for stability. The US is no exception in this – all countries seek to protect their own interests – but when those interests appear to conflict with democracy we need to ask whether they are being interpreted correctly.

Stability and US ‘interests’

The “stability” argument is an old and familiar one that has led the US down the wrong path many times before. Stability sounds comforting and desirable but in the Middle East particularly it is also a codeword for preventing significant change. Autocratic regimes promise their people stability in return for acquiescence – and that is dangerous because in the long run it leads to more instability, not less.

Political systems actually need a degree of instability because that is how change comes about. Reforming early and often, before the system crashes, is the way to keep it healthy and resilient. The alternative – the “artificially constrained systems” beloved of Arab autocrats – may look calm on the surface but as pressure builds up below they are liable to explode.

Regimes that fail to recognise this and refuse to take reform seriously are planting the seeds of future instability, as are the countries that support them.

There’s a similar problem with defining “American interests”. Are we talking short-term or long-term? Policies that seem a good idea in the short term may turn out to be a very bad idea in the long term, especially in the Middle East. The region is in the throes of a political upheaval that will take decades to play out. Somewhere along the way the monarchies of the Gulf will either fall or become marginalised beyond recognition and other countries, including the US, need to start preparing for that. Leave it too late and they risk ending up on the wrong side of history.

A case against democracy

Opposing real democracy in Bahrain may not strike many people as a particularly smart way to prepare for the future, but let’s consider Neumann’s argument.

His starting point is that Shia Muslims form a majority of Bahrain’s population (nobody is quite sure how big a majority they are because the government would rather not find out). Thus, in a one-person-one-vote system, if Bahrainis voted along sectarian lines, the result would be a permanent Shia majority with no alternation of power. Neumann writes:

“When people vote as a community, an elected majority becomes a function of community size. This is very different from a flexible system in which losers in one election believe they have a chance to become winners at another time. If the tyranny of a minority is (rightly) seen as wrong by the majority, absolute control by the majority is equally seen as wrong by the minority.”

That certainly presents some problems (which I’ll come to shortly) but Neumann seems reluctant to acknowledge that this hypothetical tyranny of a Shia majority could scarcely be less accountable than what we have today: the tyranny of a Sunni minority headed by the Khalifa family.

Apart from the king himself, the apparently unsackable prime minister is the king’s uncle. He has been in office for almost 44 years and is the world’s longest-serving prime minister. Four of the five deputy prime ministers are also members of the Khalifa family, as are the ministers of interior, finance, foreign affairs, justice and culture.
…more