Al Khalifa Unable to Quell Popular Uprising: Bahraini Activist
15 December, 2013 – Tasnim

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Bahraini opposition figure strongly condemned Al Khalifa regime for the atrocities it has committed against the Arab nation, and stressed that the ruling family has failed to silence the protests that are bent on seeing it out of power.

“It is a source of pride for the people of Bahrain that the Al Khalifa regime has been unable to stop and suppress the uprising despite receiving military support from 6 countries and possessing all equipment needed to crack down on dissent,” the deputy secretary general of Bahrain’s Islamic Action Society (Al Amal), Sheikh Abdullah Saleh, told the Tasnim News Agency.

He named Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and the Fifth Fleet of the United States Navy as providing support for the Bahraini government in its crackdown on the opposition.

An uprising broke out in Bahrain in mid-February 2011. The protesters initially called for political reforms and a constitutional monarchy, but the regime’s heavy-handed crackdown on them soon prompted an outright call for the ouster of Al Khalifa regime.

Pointing to the martial law that was in place in Bahrain for some three months (from mid-March 2011 to end of May), Saleh said a large number of people were arrested and tortured during that period.

Although the martial law was apparently lifted by the ruling regime, he said, the acts of oppression are still rampant in Bahrain. “I believe this is the last revolution taking place, and thereafter, the Al Khalifa will fall,” Saleh said.

He further stressed that nationwide demonstrations would continue although a vast majority of political activists and opposition leaders have been arrested by the ruling family.

The Persian Gulf state has seen frequent unrest since authorities cracked down on the popular uprising against the ruling monarchy in early 2011.

Protesters were met with overwhelming military force leading to at least 89 deaths, according to the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). But Saleh put the number of the dead at 200, saying that 3,000 more anti-regime activists are still languishing in prison.

Human Rights Watch has accused the Bahraini government of violence and torture, with frequent reports of child protesters facing conditions which border on torture while in custody.

In a recent mass show trial in six separate cases, 95 Bahraini protesters were sentenced to between three and 15 years in prison for allegedly trying to topple the country’s constitutional monarchy, organizing bombings and inciting anti-government rallies. …more

Bahrain: Halt detention, abuse and torture of children
16 December, 2013 – Amnesty International

Children are being routinely detained, ill-treated and tortured in Bahrain, said Amnesty International in a new briefing published today.

Scores of children arrested on suspicion of participating in anti-government protests – including some as young as 13 – were blindfolded, beaten and tortured in detention over the past two years the organization said. Others were threatened with rape in order to extract forced confessions.

“By rounding up suspected under-age offenders and locking them up, Bahrain’s authorities are displaying an appalling disregard for its international human rights obligations,” said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

“Nearly three years after Bahrain’s security forces used excessive force to crush anti-government protests, they now appear to be targeting children in an intensified crackdown. All children under the age of 18 who have not committed any recognizable offence must be released immediately. Any allegations of torture and ill-treatment must be thoroughly investigated.”

According to reports received by Amnesty International there are at least 110 children aged between 16 and 18 held at the Dry Dock Prison, an adult facility in al Muharraq Island, pending investigation or trial.

Most children have been arrested on suspicion of participating in “illegal gatherings”, rioting, burning tyres or throwing Molotov cocktails at police. Many were seized during raids while they were playing at home and even at a local swimming pool. Several were denied access to their families for extended periods and interrogated without their lawyers.

Children under the age of 15 who have been sentenced are held at a Juvenile Centre in Manama under Ministry of Interior control. During the day they are attended by social workers but at night, when most abuses tend to take place, Bahraini police take over. At the age of 15 those held in the Juvenile Centre are transferred to adult prisons such as Jaw Prison in southeast Bahrain to serve the remaining prison sentences. …more

I have been forced into exile for defending human rights in my home country Bahrain
by Said Yousif Al-Muhafdha – 16 DEcemebr, 2013 – Altahrir

It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. But I made it to continue doing the work that matters most to me: documenting the human rights violations in Bahrain that have been ongoing since protests for change began in February 2011. I will stay abroad and work from exile for the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) after receiving numerous death threats for launching a campaign to hold officials accountable for torture.

The BCHR launched a campaign called “Wanted for Justice” from Nov. 1 to Nov. 23, which has involved publishing the names and photos of people responsible for human rights violations in Bahrain. Many of these offenses have gone unpunished. What we want is simple: We want their crimes to be known internationally, and the perpetrators must be held accountable and given fair trials.

We’ve listed 59 people in our report. The allegations range from torturing protesters to arbitrary arrests. The list covers lower level police officers, to Bahrain’s King Hamad himself.

Despite promises of reform and the government-commissioned Bahrain Independent Commission for Inquiry (BICI) report, the situation on the ground is still grim. Human rights violations will only continue as long as those responsible for carrying out torture go unpunished.

Bahrain’s Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa (who took office in 1971) is shown here with Lt. Colonel Mubarak Huwail after he was acquitted of charges related to torturing doctors who treated injured protesters in 2011.

His words to Huwail? “These laws are not to be applied to you.”

This is what so-called reform has looked in Bahrain. All about show, without any real change.

And for documenting and speaking out against these abuses, many members of BCHR have had to pay a price, and we continue to be targeted by the government’s malicious campaigns.

One of the BCHR’s founders, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, was given a life sentence for his role in the 2011 protests. The organization’s current president, Nabeel Rajab, has been serving a two-year jail sentence since July 9, 2012 for his role in protests earlier that year. Acting President Maryam Al-Khawaja cannot go back to Bahrain. In August, she attempted to visit, but was blocked from boarding her British Airways flight on the request of the government.

In fact, a large number of BCHR members have been forced to settle in the United Kingdom and across the globe because of their human rights work. Each of them has a different, heartbreaking story, but there’s a common refrain: They are paying a price for speaking out against human rights violations. …more

Soon after the popular uprising began in Bahrain in 2011, 13 opposition leaders were arrested.

Bahrain: The high price of telling hard truths
16 December, 2013 – Amnesty International

Soon after the popular uprising began in Bahrain in 2011, 13 opposition leaders were arrested. Their ‘crime’ was expressing their opinions peacefully: calling for democracy, an end to corruption, opposing the monarchy.

After an unfair trial the men were sentenced to between five years and life in prison. Some say they were tortured, and all are prisoners of conscience. Farida Ghulam, wife of imprisoned opposition leader Ebrahim Sharif, told Amnesty International their story.

Please tell us a little about yourself, Ebrahim and his connection with the other prisoners

Ebrahim is a prominent political figure – he’s been the Secretary General of Bahrain’s secular National Democratic Action Society (NDAS) – the Wa’ad party – since 2007. I’ve been married to him for 28 years. I’ve been a women’s rights activist since I was 17 and have been president of Bahrain’s first women’s rights organization. I’m currently the head of the NDAS’ Women’s Bureau and work as an evaluation specialist in Bahrain’s Ministry of Education.

Ebrahim is an outspoken person who became a threat to the government. If you are in the opposition and telling hard truths that people are afraid to speak about – like stolen lands and secret budgets – you become a target.

He and the others come from different schools of thought, but are all part of the opposition. After 14 February 2011 [when Bahrain’s popular uprising began], people gathered at the Pearl Roundabout [in the capital, Manama], where Ebrahim and the others were giving speeches every night. The government wanted to put them all in one basket and accused them of trying to topple the regime.

What happened when they were detained?

Ebrahim was arrested on 17 March 2011 [all 13 men were arrested between that day and 9 April 2011]. Around 30-40 guards came at 2am and kept ringing the bell. One pointed his gun at Ebrahim’s head. Ebrahim was very calm – saying he didn’t have to use the gun, and that he would go with them voluntarily. They took him, and when I asked where I could contact him they laughed at me. It was a very tough moment.

That night, Ebrahim and others were stripped naked and put in solitary confinement. A teamof torturers beat them for around an hour, three times a day. They threw cold water on Ebrahim’s mattress and turned the air conditioning up high so he couldn’t sleep. After two months the torture stopped because of international attention. The men now suffer from pain, illnesses and the aftermath of torture, and most have not been given any medical treatment. …more

Bahraini Regime Forces Make Several Arrests
14 December, 2103 – PressTV

TEHRAN (FNA)- Bahraini regime forces arrested several people in connection with peaceful protests in the Persian Gulf state.

The main opposition party, al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, says that at least three people were arrested on Friday after they gave authorities the required official request for a mass protest organized by opposition parties, press tv reported.

Al-Wefaq condemned the move, saying authorities are using their power to punish the individuals through arrest.

The party says Bahraini forces arrested at least 82 people in November as the Al Khalifa regime steps up its crackdown on dissent.

Also on Friday, tens of thousands of Bahrainis held a mass demonstration to mark 1000 days of protest against the ruling Al Khalifa regime.

The protesters rallied near the capital Manama, calling for an all-inclusive political solution.

“No to humiliation,” chanted the crowds. Al-Wefaq said that the protest ended peacefully.

Bahrain has been rocked by anti-regime demonstrations since February 2011.

The protesters have been calling for the downfall of the regime.

Dozens of people have been killed and a large number of demonstrators arrested in the crackdown since then.

Protesters say they will continue to hold anti-regime demonstrations until their demands for the establishment of a democratically-elected government and an end to rights violations are met. …source

Hagel tried to ‘placate’ Bahrain regime
14 December, 2013 – PressTV

American author Colin Cavell says the recent visit of US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to Bahrain was an attempt to appease the dictatorial regime of Bahrain.

“The recent visit of US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to Bahrain for the annual Manama dialogue is the US’s attempt to placate the dictatorial regime, the Khalifa regime of Bahrain which is attempting to indicate that it has some sort of intellectual vigor by saying it can contemplate international relations in a manner that is acceptable to other countries,” Cavell told Press TV in a phone interview on Thursday.

“But of course, all the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council states are monarchial dictatorships and the [P]GCC defense shield is mainly a defense against the people, is the defense against growing cries for democracy,” he added.

Hagel traveled to Bahrain last week and became the first US Cabinet member to visit the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom since anti-regime demonstrations started there in February 2011.

Addressing the Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain over last weekend, Hagel said: “I am under no illusions, like all of you, about the daily threats facing this region, or the current anxieties that I know exist here in the [Persian] Gulf.”

Cavell went on to say that now “with the United States and its recent deal with Iran,” Saudi Arabia and other Arab states in the Persian Gulf region are “very worried that the US may abandon them.”

“The irony of the situation is that the United States claims to be supporting democracy, and yet the real [supporters of] democracy are in the streets of Bahrain,” he pointed out.

Bahrainis have been staging demonstrations since mid-February 2011, calling for political reforms and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later turned into an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on popular protests. …source

Bahrain: Release Human Rights Defender Jawad Hussein
15 December, 2013 – European-Bahraini Organization for Human Rights

The Bahraini authorities should immediately release Jawad Hussein, human rights defender and Chairman of the European Bahraini Organization for Human Rights, arrested following a smear campaign against him and fellow activists.

On 23 November 2013, Bahraini human rights defender Jawad Hussein went to Central Province Centre to file a complaint against state-sponsored media outlets and NGOs who had launched a defamation campaign against him and several Bahraini human rights activists. While there, he was informed by the record keeper that there an arrest warrant had been issued for him and that a police patrol was coming to arrest him. Two men in civilian clothes then arrived, arrested him and took him to Al-Naeem police station to interrogate him about a speech he made in Manama on 12 November 2013.

In this speech, made on the occasion of the commemoration of Ashura, Mr Hussein described the state of Bahrain as being lawless and tribal, and called for a peaceful struggle against the ongoing repression in Bahrain.

After his arrest, he was transferred to Al-Hoora Police Station before being charged the next day with inciting hatred against the regime, under article 165 of the Bahraini Criminal Code. This article proscribes hatred or contempt against the regime being made in public, sanctioned by imprisonment. The article is vague and overly broad which allows the authorities to criminalize forms of expression that they wish to suppress, such as that of Mr Hussein.

Jawad Hussein, like many of his fellow activists, is currently detained as a result of his work as a human rights defender and for having freely expressed his opinion. Human rights defenders in Bahrain are systematically targeted by the authorities. Last week, a Bahraini court rejected the request for the release of human rights activist Nabeel Rajab who has been sentenced to two years in prison. In another example of reprisals, last summer, acting president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights Maryam Khawaja was banned from entering Bahrain.

Jawad Hussein began a hunger strike on 2 December 2013 to protest against his current detention at Dry Dock Prison, following a 15-day detention order ordered by the Prosecutor. He is expected to be brought before the Public Prosecutor today.

In light of the arbitrary nature of the case, today Alkarama requested the UN Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Opinion and Expression and on the situation of human rights defenders to intervene with the Bahraini authorities on behalf of Jawad Hussein and ask them to repeal articles in their criminal code that are used as a weapon to stifle the freedom of opinion and expression of human rights activists and members of the Bahraini opposition. …source