Posts from — February 2014

U.S., allies agree on standards for which opposition groups in Syria will receive aid
By Karen DeYoung – 20 February, 2014 – Washington Post

The United States and its principal European and Arab allies have agreed on a unified way of providing Syrian rebel groups with aid, classifying them into those who should receive arms supplies and other assistance, those who are ineligible because of clear extremist ties, and those whose eligibility requires further discussion, according to U.S. and allied officials.

Along with new initiatives by the United States and others to increase weapons shipments, rebel training, intelligence and other support, the plan — set during a U.S.-led meeting of intelligence chiefs here last week — is designed to overcome divisions among governments that have been deeply split over which opposition groups to aid and what to supply.

“The idea is that no country will act unilaterally and all will abide by the same understanding,” said one Arab official. The official called the listing a “living document” that will be constantly updated as rebel alliances shift.

It is far from the first effort to organize outside assistance over the past two years of Syria’s grueling civil war. Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, France and the United States, among those who participated in last week’s meeting, have often disagreed over how to bolster the opposition and undermine Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

But officials from several European and Arab governments represented at the intelligence gathering and at other high-level U.S. meetings in recent weeks — many of whom have complained in the past about a lack of administration leadership — said there has been a substantive shift toward a more aggressive U.S. posture and a willingness by others to follow that lead. …more

URGENT – Bahrain Photographers in Peril
20 February, 2014

Mohammed Al Oraibi, 30 years old, freelance photographer, got arrested from the airport coming from Lebanon, on the 2nd Feb 2014. Disappeared.

He was arrested previously in Sep 2012, for 3 months. His cameras and electronic organs were confiscated the next day, when 5 policemen in a plain clothes, raided the house, Mohammed was with them to lead them where his devices are and since then, no one knows anything about him.

He usually publishes his pictures through his account on Facebook.

– Sayed Ahmed Salman Al Mousawi, 26 years old, free lance photographer, who owns his own studio and is a winner of more than 120 international prizes in photography. He was arrested this morning

(10 Feb 14) with his brother from his place in Duraz. His brother Sayed Mohammed was beaten during detention but not him. His cameras and electronic organs were confiscated during the arrest.

No arrest warrant was presented from the plain clothes masked policemen.

– Sadiq Al Shabaani, theatre and TV actor, was arrested on the 27th Jan 2014, in Oman at the request of the Bahraini government. His family knows nothing about where he is and his situation, and whether he is in Bahrain or in Oman. He was arrested for a month in June 2012 accused of illegal gathering and incitement to hatred of the regime.

He is accused being part of 14Feb media network, calling and participating at unauthorized demonstrations, inciting the regime hatred and having connection with some Bahraini opposition living in exile.

– Hussain Hubail is a freelance photographer, 21 years old, accused of being part of 14Feb media network, calling and participating at unauthorized demonstrations, inciting the regime hatred and having connection with some Bahraini opposition living in exile.

Hubail was arrested on 31 July 2013, he was forced to stand for three days and he was punched and kicked. He was exposed to insults and humiliation while he was interrogated. At the last court session Lieutenant Fawaz AlSameem who was summoned to be a witness of proof and Hussain faced him and accused him for being responsible for his torture and threatening him with rape.

His next court session on the 16th Feb 2014.

– Qassim Zain Aldeen, 25 years old, freelance cameraman, was arrested earlier in 2012 for more than 6 months, then arrested again on Friday 2nd August. He films opposition protests in Bahrain, has had his work published by local websites and blogs. He was accused of participating in illegal gathering, now accused of vandalism in prison. He got sentenced 3 months for illegal gathering and then on 5th Jan 14, he got sentenced 6 months for illegal gathering and vandalism., He awaits another sentence on the 16th Feb for vandalism inside the court.

– Ahmed Humaidan, freelance photographer, arrested on the 29th December 2013 is still in jail, accused of attacking police station in Sitra with Molotov cocktails. 7 cancelled court session.

His next court session is on 26th March 14 for verdict. In trial hearings there is no evidence against Humaidan, as he had been tortured during his detention through psychological threats to get confession.

– Abdulla Al Jerdabi, photographer, arrested on 13 Sep 13, was sentenced on 22nd Jan 14, 6 months in prison on charges of illegal assembly & misuse of social networking.

– Jassim Alnuiami, online activist, Scriptwriter and works with production teams to produce videos, was arrested on the 31 July 2013, after raid on his house in Sehla, and all his electronic devices were confiscated. He was taken to the CID building for 3 days, where he was beaten, tortured, threatened and insulted, he stated to his family that he was beaten while blindfolded on his head, kidneys, and on his private parts. He was threatened by Lieutenant Fawaz AlSameem who was summoned to be a witness of proof in the last court session that his mom and sisters will be raped if Jassim didn’t confess.

He is accused of participating in an illegal gathering, and publishing false news, using social media to Inciting hatred against the regime and other accusations related to his online activities.

His next court session on the 16th Feb 2014.

– Hassan Matooq, photographer, charged with publishing false and malicious news and statements, and inciting public contempt and hatred of the regime, in addition to take photos of the protesters at pearl roundabout and delivering the images to the media tent., And participating in an illegal gathering. sentenced for 3 years since March 2011. Concern: Will he be released?

– Mahmood AbdulSaheb, photographer, charged with publishing false and malicious news and statements, and inciting public contempt and hatred of the regime. Taking photos of the protesters at pearl roundabout and delivering the images to the media tent, and participating in an illegal gathering. He was sentenced for 3 years since March 2011. Will he be released?

– Jaffar Marhoon, 25 years old, cameraman, was arrested from a barber shop on 26th Dec 13, he is accused of an explosion in Dimistan, where he lives. He worked in the fields of filming and theater in the past few years. According to his family, he was exposed to torture for 3 days in CID, and then he was transferred to Dry Dock prison.

Wahabi Terrorist Stone to Death a Young Girl for Operating a Facebook Account in Syria
22 February, 2014 – Jafria News

Fatoum Al-Jassem was taken to One of a Self Made Sharia court after she was caught using the social networking website, in Rakka, Syria. The Sharia court declared that using a Facebook account amounts to adultery and the girl should be punished by stoning, according to a news report published in Iran’s FARS news agency which quoted a report published in Arabic-language Al-Rai Al-Youm.

The members of the Al-Qaeda group in Iraq, also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) were behind the incident.

The ISIS, or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, is an Pure Wahabi / Salafi group based in Iraq. They have been fighting an active war against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the government forces in Iraq.

The group’s ideology is based on extremely strict Ale Saud’s interpretation of Islam.

Ironically, the Al-Nusra Front operates a Facebook account of its own.

A Girl Strangled to Death as per the Punishment Declared by the Wahabi Terrorist , who rule some parts of War Torn Syria .

But War in Syria has so far claimed over 1,40,000 lives and forced millions of people to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. Historians have described the war as one of the most tragic in recent times. …more

Four die in eastern Saudi Arabia police raid
20 February, 2014 – BBC

Two police officers and two men they were trying to arrest have been killed in a gunfight in Saudi Arabia’s restive Eastern Province, officials say.

The interior ministry said the officers came under fire while trying to detain “armed troublemakers” in al-Awamiya, and had “responded to the source”.

It named the civilians who were killed as Ali al-Faraj and Hussein al-Faraj.

However, opposition activists said there had been no exchange of fire and that the two men had been unarmed.

The police officers had burst into the house of a man in search of his wanted brother who was not there, they added.

Ali, the house owner’s 22-year-old son, was shot 11 times while running away, one activist told the Reuters news agency. Hussein, a 34-year-old local photographer, died “as he documented the raid”, the activist said.

The local news website mirataljazeera.net said Hussein had documented anti-government demonstrations and the funerals of the more than 20 people who have been killed in Eastern Province since early 2011.

The oil-rich Eastern Province is home to a Shia majority that has long complained of marginalisation at the hands of the Sunni ruling family.

Protests erupted there when the pro-democracy uprising in neighbouring Bahrain, which has a Shia majority and a Sunni royal family, was crushed with the assistance of Saudi and other Gulf troops. …more

UN Human Rights Report on North Korea could be about the U.S. or South Korea
By Stephen Gowans -Global Research – 20 February, 2014

Surely one could be forgiven for thinking that when the Washington Post’s Chico Harlan (February 17) described the conclusions reached by the UN Human Rights Commission’s investigation into North Korea that he was really describing his own country, the United States. Harlan wrote,

“The report makes for devastating reading, laying out the way North Korea conducts surveillance on its citizens (see Edward Snowden’s revelations about the NSA’s spying on US citizens…and everyone else), bans them from travel (anyone up for a visit to Cuba?), discriminates against them based on supposed ideological impurities (has the United States ever been kind to Marxist-Leninists?), tortures them (water boarding and Abu Ghraib) and sometimes banishes them to isolated prison camps, where they are held incommunicado” (recently Guantanamo and other CIA torture camps around the world to which opponents of the US regime have been rendered, more distantly, the incarceration of German-, Italian- and Japanese-Americans during WWII.)

The report recommends that North Korea be referred to the International Criminal Court at The Hague, but if the charges against North Korea are true, then surely the case for referring the United States to the same court is at least as compelling. Add the United States’ record of extrajudicial assassination, its world-leading rate of incarceration, its illegal wars, and its support for the most vile human rights violators on the planet, among them Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bahrain, and the case for referring US leaders to The Hague is overwhelming.

The UN report says that North Korea is committing human rights violations “without any parallel in the contemporary world,” a conclusion that could only be reached by wilful blindness to the human rights violations of the United States, its democracy-abominating allies in the Gulf, and its south Korean neo-colony. South Korea, whose affronts against human rights are passed over largely in silence by the Western media (and it seems by the UN Human Rights Commission too), conducts surveillance on its citizens, bans them from travel to North Korea, discriminates against them if they hold views sympathetic to North Korea, its official Juche ideology or Marxism-Leninism, and uses its highly repressive National Security Law to lock up and intimidate anyone who has a good word to say about North Korea. …more

Five Bahraini chanters arrested following mass march
22 February, 2014

SHAFAQNA (International Shia News Association) – Five Bahrainis have been arrested for leading the gigantic mass prodemocracy march that took place last Saturday afternoon, February 15th. Around 300, 000 Bahrainis participated in the march demanding democratic transition and an end to the current tyrannical rule in Bahrain.

Al Wefaq said the arrests contradicts basic humanitarian principles and reflects the type of doctrine that is controlling the political situation. “Punishing citizens for expressing their opinions is a war on freedom of expression and peaceful political activism”, Al Wefaq added. It also pointed out that these measures reflect the regime’s preference of a security solution over a political one, thereby, further complicating the situation. …more

Saudi Forces Attack Protesters in Qatif Region
22 February, 2014 – FARS

TEHRAN (FNA)- Saudi security forces attacked anti-regime protesters in the Qatif region of Eastern Province.

Security forces used live fire to break up anti-government protests in the town of Awamiyah on Friday, press tv reported.

In reaction to the attack, protesters set fire to an armored police vehicle during the clashes.

The move is considered as part of a fresh crackdown on anti-regime protests in Saudi Arabia.

On February 20, two anti-government activists were killed when regime forces supported by armed vehicles stormed a neighborhood in Awamiyah.

One day earlier, a Saudi court sentenced seven people to jail terms of up to 20 years for taking part in protests in Qatif.

Human rights groups have censured the verdicts and called on Saudi authorities to release the detainees.

Activists say there are over 30,000 political prisoners in Saudi Arabia.

The men were also convicted of chanting slogans against the government as well as possession and making of petrol bombs and throwing them at the security forces.

Eastern Province has been the scene of violent clashes between anti-regime protesters and Saudi forces for some three years.

Riyadh has strictly banned any gatherings across the kingdom. Several people have died in the regime crackdown on protests. …more

Bahrain sentences protester to death, jails 8
19 February, 2014 – Al Akhbar

A Bahrain court Wednesday sentenced a protester to death and jailed six others for life after they were convicted of killing a policeman a year ago, a judicial source said.

Two others were sentenced to five and six years in prison respectively on similar charges.

The officer, Mohamed Atef, died on February 14, 2013, after he was hit by a petrol bomb during clashes with protesters in a village near the capital.

In addition to killing the policeman, the nine defendants were also convicted of taking part in an “unlicensed protest”.

Death sentences are usually commuted to life imprisonment – 25 years – in the Gulf kingdom.

Scores have been tried over unrest in Bahrain that erupted during Arab Spring-inspired protests against the ruling al-Khalifa family in mid-February 2011.

Last year the authorities increased the penalties for those convicted of violence, introducing the death penalty or life terms in cases which resulted in deaths or injuries.

A policeman was killed in similar circumstances on February 14 this year during protests marking the third anniversary of the uprising.

And on Sunday, a Bahrain court handed down 15-year jail terms to two people convicted of trying to kill police officers.

The International Federation for Human Rights says at least 89 people have been killed since the uprising began three years ago.

…source

Obama, Putin speak after Ukraine deal
22 February, 2014 – By Stephen Collinson – Agence France Presse

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama held “constructive” talks Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he pressed for swift implementation of a deal to end Ukraine’s deadly crackdown on protesters.

The phone call came at a prickly time in US-Russia relations with both sides at odds over Ukraine, Syria and other issues, but also after Obama took pains to reject the idea that a new Cold War-style confrontation was brewing.

A senior US official described the call as “constructive,” but also warned that the agreement reached in Kiev between the government and top opposition leaders was “very, very fragile.”

Putin and Obama agreed that the Ukraine agreement needed to be swiftly implemented and that all sides needed to refrain from violence, as they also pressed for the need to stabilize the economy.

The call touched on other issues as well, including Syria, where Russia backs President Bashar al-Assad, and the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Washington had offered staunch support for protesters in Kiev, demanding political concessions from the Moscow-backed government of President Viktor Yanukovych and had warned of “consequences” if violence, which has killed 100 people, did not stop.

The White House gave an initial welcome to the deal and praised European Union diplomats who helped to broker it. …more

– Hassan Jamali, AP photojournalist was stopped by police yesterday (12 Feb 14) post funeral clashes, and they revoke his accreditation, the one that Ministry of Interior give it to journalists working with foreign media to allow them to be present in the demonstrations and clashes. and they didn’t gave it back to him, which might prevent him from covering the events in the coming few days.

– Hussain Hubail, photographer, collapsed last night in prison, he was transferred to Salmaniya Hospital for treatment as he was suffering low sugar, high blood pressure & heart rate disorder, they took him back at nine in the morning. Dry Dock Prison demonstration denied Hubail his medication since then.

– Mohammed Al Oraibi, photographer, his family had the chance to see him today (13 Feb 14) in Dry Dock Prison after he got arrested on the 2nd Feb 14, he told them that he was tortured for 6 days in CID about his trip to Lebanon and Syria then he was transferred to Dry Dock prison on the 8th Feb.

URGENT ACTION

Ahmed Mohammad Saleh al-Arab continues to be denied family visits after 27 days of detention. There are fears the authorities are hiding that he has been tortured while held incommunicado. He has been denied medical care.

Ahmed Mohammad Saleh al-Arab, aged 22, was arrested on 9 January 2014 during a police raid on the family home of one of his friends in Hamad Town, central Bahrain, where he was hiding. He was forced into hiding after his arrest and torture in February 2012 during protests marking the first anniversary of the uprising in Bahrain. During his arrest on 9 January, Ahmed and his friend were beaten and other people from the house were searched and threatened.
a href=”http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE11/008/2014/en/05e2c393-5bdc-4e16-bffe-22a6b20634c9/mde110082014en.html” target=”_blank”>…more

Julian Assange on Being Placed on NSA “Manhunting” List & Secret Targeting of WikiLeaks Supporters
19 February, 2014 – By Amy Goodman – Democracy Now!

Top-secret documents leaked by Edward Snowden have revealed new details about how the United States and Britain targeted the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks after it published leaked documents about the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. According to a new article by The Intercept, Britain’s top spy agency, the Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, secretly monitored visitors to a WikiLeaks website by collecting their IP addresses in real time, as well as the search terms used to reach the site. One document from 2010 shows that the National Security Agency added WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange to a “manhunting” target list, together with suspected members of al-Qaeda. We speak to Assange live from the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has sought political asylum since 2012. Also joining us is his lawyer Michael Ratner, president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Top-secret documents leaked by Edward Snowden have revealed new details about how the United States and Britain targeted the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks after it published leaked documents about the Afghan War. According to a new article co-written by Glenn Greenwald published this morning by The Intercept, Britain’s top spy agency, the Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, secretly monitored visitors to a WikiLeaks site by collecting their IP addresses in real time as well as the search terms used to reach the site. One document from 2010 shows that the National Security Agency added WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange to a, quote, “manhunting” target list, together with suspected members of al-Qaeda.

AMY GOODMAN: Another document reveals the NSA considered designating WikiLeaks as a “malicious foreign actor.” According to The Intercept, “Such a designation would have allowed the group to be targeted with extensive electronic surveillance—without the need to exclude U.S. persons from the surveillance searches.” In addition, the leaked documents reveal the United States urged its foreign allies to file criminal charges against Assange over the group’s publication of the Afghanistan War Logs.

Joining us now from London is Wikileaks founder and editor Julian Assange, talking to us by the phone from the Ecuadorean embassy where he has political asylum since August 2012. Here in New York, we’re joined by Michael Ratner, the attorney for Julian Assange, president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

When you read this, Julian — welcome back to Democracy Now! — what were your thoughts on being put on this “manhunting”—their words—”manhunting” list together with al-Qaeda? …more

Bahrain: A Poet And A Journalist: Latest 2 Victims Of Criminalizing Freedom Of Expression Under The Pretext Of Insulting The King
16 February, 2014 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses its deep concern for the continued criminalization of freedom of opinion and expression in Bahrain under implausible pretexts such as the charge of ‘insulting the King’. In this context, the poet Ayat Al-Qurmuzi was interrogated regarding one of her poems, and the journalist Abbas Al-Murshid was summoned to court.

On 3 February 2014, the Bahraini poet Ayat Al-Qurmuzi (23 years old) was summoned for interrogation at the Central Governorate Police Station regarding a poem[i] she recited on 24 January 2014 at an opposition rally in the area of Sitra. The poet said that the interrogators, who were a male and a female police officers had asked her about the ‘meanings of the verses and people or bodies intended by them’, while no name, person or body was mentioned in the poem which generally addressed injustice.[ii] The lawyer was not permitted access to the interrogation room although she was present at the police station. The poet was charged with two accusations ‘insulting the King and incitement to hatred against the ruling regime’ before she was released and after signing a pledge to appear before the police station upon request and with referring the case to the Public Prosecution. Worth mentioning, the complaint against the poet Ayat Al-Qurmuzi came as an order from the Office of the Deputy of Public Security.

The Bahraini poet Ayat Al-Qurmuzi had faced arrest in March 2011 on the background of the poems she recited amid the public gathering in Pearl Roundabout in February 2011, she was sentenced to a year in prison in June 2011 by a military trial, however she was released in July in 2011 under massive pressure from human rights organizations. Al-Qurmuzi stated after her release that she was subjected to torture[iii] and maltreatment during her arrest by officers, one of them is a member of the ruling family named Noura Al-Khalifa. Although a show trial had taken place for the officer Noura Al-Khalifa on the charge of ‘assaulting the integrity of the body of (torturing) Ayat Al-Qurmuzi’ since 2012, yet a verdict has not been made in the case so far. …more

A young Bahraini woman who was arrested after reciting an anti-government poem to demonstrators in the Gulf kingdom said she was beaten, electrocuted and threatened with sexual assault while in custody. Miss al-Qurmezi, a member of the Shia majority who was at teacher training college when the protests began in February, was filmed reciting poems to a huge crowd at Pearl Roundabout, the epicentre of the demonstrations

Bahraini woman poet tells of torture while in custody
By Richard Spencer – 14 July, 2011

Ayat al-Qurmezi, 20, became one of the symbols of the protests that hit the centre of the Bahraini capital, Manama in February and March. After she was arrested, reports circulated that she had been whipped and even at one point raped and killed, leading to an improvement in her conditions and her release on Wednesday evening.

Greeted by a crowd of hundreds of people at her home, she told her family she had not been sexually assault but threatened as well as being electrocuted with clips attached to her face.

She also denied that she had committed treason by attacking the king, saying she wanted reform not revolution. “The demand isn’t to overthrow the regime, but we want a real constitutional monarchy,” she said to reporters.

Miss al-Qurmezi, a member of the Shia majority who was at teacher training college when the protests began in February, was filmed reciting poems to a huge crowd at Pearl Roundabout, the epicentre of the demonstrations.

One featured a conversation between Satan and King Hamad in which they outlined the complaints of the opposition, mostly Shia calling for the Sunni royal family and elite to share power. …more

Prince Charles Must be Brave and Tackle Human Rights Abuses During Qatar and Saudi Arabia Tour
By Eleanor Blatchley – 17 February, 2014

Prince Charles is keen on charity. He has personally founded 17 charities working for better education and better opportunities for British youth, responsible business, and a sustainable environment. He is also a passionate advocate of inter-faith dialogue. At a well-publicised Christmas reception, he stated that “an emphasis on love of neighbour and doing to others as we would have them do to us are the ultimate foundations of truth, justice, compassion and human rights”.

These are commendable principles. Will the Prince actively promote them when he travels to Saudi Arabia and Qatar on an official visit next Monday? Or when it comes to his reported friendship with King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, ruler of Saudi Arabia and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, will these values be eclipsed by efforts to advance arms deals and commercial contracts?

“The Prince of Wales’s return to the region, only one year after his last visit, demonstrates the importance the British Government places on its association with key partners in the area,” said Sir John Jenkins, the UK’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Sir John went on to say that Prince Charles will advocate interfaith understanding and that he and King Abdullah share a deep concern about the “enormous turmoil and human agony in the Middle East”.

But does that concern extend to the prominent Saudi human rights activists sentenced to long prison terms on account of their peaceful activism, or to Saudi women and girls subject to systematic discrimination, or to the millions of foreign workers, some of them living in conditions of forced servitude? Let’s hope Their Royal Highnesses also discuss the agony of the 64 people reportedly executed in Saudi Arabia between January and November 2013, mostly by public beheading.

According to Ambassador Nick Hopton, the Qatar visit is “an opportunity to showcase the strong ties between the UK and Qatar, which we value greatly”. Will the Prince also use it as an opportunity to raise the plight of migrant workers? The timing would be opportune – only this week the Government’s Qatar Supreme Committee released its Workers’ Welfare Standards in a credible attempt to rectify the shockingly poor conditions for migrant workers building the 2022 World Cup stadiums. Consistent with his commitment to responsible business, the Prince should suggest to the Emir that, while a good start, the new measures fall well short of the reforms that Qatar’s low-paid and routinely exploited migrant workers need so badly. …more

Morocco police beat Sahrawi protesters as British MPs visit: NGO
17 February, 2014 – Al Akhbar

Plainclothes Moroccan police violently broke up a peaceful pro-independence protest in the Western Sahara city of Laayoune after a visit by a British MP, a prominent Moroccan rights group said Monday.

About 100 activists, including women, gathered on Saturday evening in the neighborhood of Maatallah, despite police efforts to block the protest, according to Hamoud Iguilid from the Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH).

“All the citizens who tried to protest were attacked by the police, and especially plainclothes police,” he told AFP, speaking by phone from Laayoune, adding that he had not been informed of any serious injuries.

The protesters were demanding the release of political prisoners and an extension of the UN peacekeeping force’s mandate to include human rights monitoring.

They were attacked after a car carrying British MP Jeremy Corbyn and a member of the AMDH had left the area, Iguilid said.

Corbyn chairs a British parliamentary group dedicated to raising concerns about Western Sahara, and he was visiting the region with a delegation of British politicians and a rights campaigner.

Moroccan authorities could not immediately be reached for comment.

The deputy regional director of Human Rights Watch, Eric Goldstein, who was in Laayoune at the time, confirmed that more than 100 uniformed and plainclothes police had tried to prevent the protest.

“Twice as I tried to approach, plainclothes officers turned me back ‘for my own protection,'” Goldstein said, adding that the governor of Laayoune later accused the visiting British delegation of trying to incite the protesters to riot.

Morocco controls most of Western Sahara, which it began annexing in 1975 in a move never recognized by the international community, and which it considers an integral part of its territory. …more

The Western Press has deliberately underestimated the size of Bahrain Anniversary Protest. They have consistently reported the crowd size at 10s of thousands, when photo evidence suggests crowds in the 100s of thousands. This is an indication that Al Khalifa Public Relations Dollars have effectively bought “Western Media” outlets to “contrive a false reality” about the Situation Bahrain. Phlipn Out.

And the Bullshit just keeps coming and the UN Continues the Charade

Switzerland read the following joint statement on the opening day of the 24th Session of the Human Rights Council on behalf of 47 co-sponsoring countries including the United States.

24th Session of the Human Rights Council
Item 2 – General Debate

Joint Statement on the OHCHR and the human rights situation in Bahrain
Geneva, 9 September 2013

Mr. President, I have the honour to make this statement on the OHCHR and the human rights situation in Bahrain on behalf of Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay.

We take note of positive steps taken by the Government of Bahrain to implement the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry in order to improve the human rights situation in Bahrain. In particular, we note with appreciation the creation of the Office of the Police Ombudsman for the Ministry of Interior in August 2012 and its official launch in July 2013. We also note the creation of the Special Investigation Unit in the Public Prosecution Office in February 2012. We urge these institutions to proactively fulfil their mandate and encourage the Government of Bahrain to uphold its commitment to these institutions and their independence. We commend the continuation of the National Consensus Dialogue in August 2013 and encourage all sides to participate in a constructive and genuine way. We encourage the Government of Bahrain to continue to work with all participants in the Dialogue towards an open, democratic and inclusive society with equal opportunities for all.

However, the human rights situation in Bahrain remains an issue of serious concern to us. In particular, we share the concerns expressed by the OHCHR regarding the 22 recommendations made by the National Assembly of Bahrain on 28 July 2013. Any new legislation to implement these recommendations must meet international standards and ensure human rights are protected. We are also particularly concerned by the ongoing violation of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and the repression of demonstrations. We expect officials and protestors to refrain from any violence. Furthermore, we continue to be concerned about the continued harassment and imprisonment of persons exercising their rights to freedom of opinion and expression, including of human rights defenders. We are also concerned about the cases of revocation of nationality without due process, some of which might lead to statelessness. Lastly, we are concerned that those alleged to have committed human rights violations are often not held accountable.

We call upon the Government of Bahrain to address these concerns and expedite the implementation of the recommendations received from the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and the recommendations Bahrain agreed to accept through the Universal Periodic Review. We urge the Government of Bahrain to enhance its cooperation with the OHCHR and allow for a fully comprehensive collaboration, including accepting an OHCHR follow-up mission. We also urge the Government of Bahrain to cooperate with the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, in particular the Special Rapporteur on torture, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, together with any other Special Procedures that request to visit Bahrain and reschedule previously planned visits. Lastly, we encourage the Government of Bahrain to fulfil its obligation to submit its outstanding reports to the treaty bodies of the human rights conventions it has ratified.

We will continue to follow closely the human rights situation in Bahrain and invite the OHCHR, Special Procedures and the Human Rights Council to do so. We also invite the Government of Bahrain to further engage with the Human Rights Council. Thank you Mr. President. …source

Activist Zainab al-Khawaja, jailed daughter of Bahraini human rights activist, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, freed

By REEM KHALIFA – Associated Press – 16 February, 2014

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Bahraini activist Zainab al-Khawaja was released from prison on Sunday after nearly a year behind bars for multiple convictions including participation in an illegal gathering.

Friends and supporters greeted her in a coffee shop in a main mall hours after her release. The cafe has served as a gathering point for activists since the small island-nation’s Arab Spring-inspired uprising.

“One year of prison is nothing,” she told journalists defiantly after her release. “We have a cause… This will not stop us.”

Bahrain’s majority Shiites have led a three-year uprising seeking a greater political voice in the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom, which is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Al-Khawaja, who is popular online and on Twitter, said international attention should focus on an estimated 3,000 prisoners believed to be behind bars in Bahrain on politically related charges.

Her father is prominent human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who is among several opposition figures who are serving life sentences. He drew attention to his imprisonment with a lengthy hunger strike in 2012.

Her lawyer Mohammed al-Wasti said she still faces two trials, one this month and one next month, on charges that include damaging police property, defacing a picture of Bahrain’s king and insulting a police officer. …source

NIHR welcomes OHCHR’s visit to Bahrain
15 February,, 2014 –

Manama, Feb. 14. (BNA) – The National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) has welcomed the visit of the delegation of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to Bahrain next Wednesday, and called upon all concerned ministries and NGOs to cooperate with it in order to assume its duties.

This came as an NIHR delegation, led by NIHR Deputy Chairman and Chairman of its Complaints, Monitoring and Follow-up Committee Abdulla Ahmed Al-Derazi, currently on a visit to Geneva to take part in discussing Bahrain’s third report before the 75th meeting of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), held a meeting with a number of OHCHR officials.

Al-Derazi said that the meeting was in line with NIHR’s keenness to cooperate and communicate with international human rights bodies, especially those of the UN, in order to enhance efforts to protect human rights.

He affirmed that the NIHR is looking forward to consolidating its cooperation with those bodies in order to benefit from their expertise to enhance its achievements in the human rights field.

He briefed the OHCHR delegation about the role and work mechanisms of the NIHR.

Members of the OHCHR delegation expressed keenness on enhancing cooperation with the NIHR, praising its role in promoting and protecting human rights in Bahrain. …source