In Bahrain An Uprising Unabated – OpEd
20 May, 2013 – By FPIF – By Husain Abdulla

More than two years after peaceful demonstrators took to the streets to demand reforms, Bahrain’s uprising has not abated. Activists and opposition groups continue to demand the basic human rights and political reforms promised to them by their government. Rather than meet the opposition’s calls for reform, the government of Bahrain has responded by subjecting citizens to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, interrogation, torture, and abuse.

Human rights activists such as Naji Fateel, board member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, and Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, are frequently subjected to arbitrary arrest and ill treatment. Similarly, medical professionals who have been interrogated, detained, tortured, and convicted for providing medical care to injured protesters remain in prison or have not been allowed to return to work. Educators who have endured similar ill-treatment continue to be fired from their positions or languish in prison, while soccer players who were banned from their clubs for participating in protests remain blacklisted or live in self-imposed exile to continue playing the sport they love.

The demands of the opposition movement are hardly unreasonable, which makes the government’s recalcitrance all the more suspect. The people of Bahrain want a representative government and an elected prime minister. They want a representative of the king to participate in the national dialogue. They want an end to human rights abuses and accountability for those who committed them. They want the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), a body commissioned by the Bahraini government following the 2011 protests, to be fully implemented. They want prisoners of conscience, jailed for exercising their rights to free speech and expression, to be released. They want to be able to associate freely in political groups, civil society organizations, unions, and associations. In the grand scheme of things, the financial, moral, and political cost to the Bahraini government for granting these requests would be negligible.

Unfortunately, reform — the key to Bahrain’s stability and security — is what the Bahraini government seems determined to prevent. As the U.S. State Department noted in its 2012 Human Rights Country Report on Bahrain, although the government of Bahrain has made “some” progress in implementing reforms since 2011, that progress has not been significant. The report found that the Bahraini government frequently did not respect its own laws regarding human rights, let alone the standards set by international human rights treaties. Additionally, the report highlighted cases of arbitrary arrest and detention; restrictions placed on freedom of speech, press, and assembly; and the use of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, among other rights abuses.

Bahrain’s response to the 2012 country report has been predictably shrill, a sure sign the U.S. State Department struck a nerve with a regime that has become increasingly sensitive about its image. Unfortunately, the Bahraini government seems unable or unwilling to recognize that the best way to improve its image is to undertake the reforms that the king promised in 2011. …more

MP: Manama Unable to Stop Revolution in Bahrain through Intimidation
19 May,2013 – FARS

TEHRAN (FNA)- The intimidation and suppression of protesters by the Bahraini regime cannot stop the revolution in the country, a senior Iranian lawmaker said on Sunday, and condemned the Manama forces for their recent raid on the home of leading Shiite cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassim.

“The Al Khalifa regime has resorted to intimidation by attacking leaders of the revolution due to its failure to contain popular protests after several months of peaceful protests by the people of Bahrain,” Seyed Mohammad Mehdi Pourfatemi said.

Speaking to ICANA, Pourfatemi stressed the ineffectiveness of suppressive measures on the Bahraini people’s quest for freedom, and noted that the people have prepared themselves to pay any price for their revolution.

As regards the recent attack on Sheikh Qassim’s home, the Iranian lawmaker underlined the Shiite cleric’s popularity among the people, and added that the raid was aimed at intimidating people and revolution leaders.

The Bahraini forces raided Sheikh Issa Qassim’s home in the village of Diraz on Friday and searched the house.

Witnesses said the regime forces broke the doors of Sheikh Qassim’s house and damaged his property.

Women and children of the sheikh’s family were in the house at the time of the raid, but the sheikh was not at home.

Later, thousands of Bahraini protesters marched outside Manama to oppose the al-Khalifa security forces’ attack.

The protesters held pictures of their top religious leader during a protest against the ruling al-Khalifa regime. …source

Iranian MP: New Political, Social Crises Awaiting Saudi Arabia
12 March, 2013 – FARS

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian legislator said that the political and social crises in Saudi Arabia will soon deepen due to the absence of democracy in the Arab country.

“New rifts will soon surface in Saudi Arabia’s social and political structures due to the absence of democratic freedoms in the kingdom,” member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Abbasali Mansouri Arani said.

“Given the structure of the ruling system, we will witness rifts in Saudi Arabia’s ruling system and social strata in the near future,” he added.

The senior Iranian lawmaker called on Al Saud government to implement fundamental changes in its ruling system in a bid to survive a popular revolution that will lead to its downfall as was the case with the former regimes in Egypt and Libya.

There have been numerous demonstrations in the oil-rich Eastern Province since February 2011, with protestors primarily calling for political reform and an end to widespread discrimination.

Anti-government protests intensified, however, since November 2011, when security forces opened fire on protestors in Qatif, killing five people and leaving scores more injured.

In October 2012, Amnesty International called on Saudi authorities to stop using excessive force against the protestors.

Saudi forces have also arrested dozens of people including prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nemr al-Nemr.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Saudi regime “routinely represses expression critical of the government”.

Also in October, the Saudi Interior Ministry warned the public against staging demonstrations in support of the prisoners in the kingdom and pledged to deal “firmly” with those participating in such protest rallies. …source

“We don’t have aristocracy in Bahrain; we are all commoners.”: In an interview with Souad Mekhennet, a 2013 Harvard Nieman fellow, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa reaffirmed his commitment to reform, stating, “I myself want change, maybe more than anyone.” He acknowledged that “it is fine to disagree with the government,” but the only way to do so is through “dialogue.” When asked if the protests throughout the country were terrorist acts, however, he stated “Yes, of course.” King Hamad later professed his desire for “a free and ethical media,” and announced that Bahrain is “going to establish a council… with members from all stakeholders of society,” and that “this council will set the policy for the media.” Mekhennet then brought up allegations of journalists being denied visas, which the King denied. Throughout the interview, King Hamad reassured Mekhennet that Bahrain was on the path to reform: “no one in Bahrain is prosecuted for their opinions,” he said, and stated “Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy… Democratic constitutional institutions are already in practice.” He pointed out, “This is not an absolute monarchy here like in some ancient times in France or Britain,” and in response to whether the royal family dominates key government positions, the King claimed, “We don’t have aristocracy in Bahrain; we are all commoners.” He later compared the parliamentary system in Bahrain to the legislative branch in the U.S. and concluded the interview by pointing out that the U.S. has human rights problems too, and so, “Bahrain is like the U.S. and other countries; this is in an ongoing process.” …more

INSIGHT: Bahrain – Losing the PR War on Human Rights
2 May, 2013 – By Brian Dooley

Bahrain’s government seems determined to sabotage its own image. It complains that it’s misunderstood and unfairly criticized, but then continues to make decisions that baffle or enrage its international allies. Foreign criticism of Bahrain’s poor human rights record is increasing.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Commission of International Religious Freedom cited “increased rhetoric from official media outlets inflaming sectarian tensions and demonizing the Shi’a Muslim population,” and a failure to hold any senior official to account for torture.

insight hrf INSIGHT: Bahrain Losing the PR War on Human RightsThe criticism is much more detailed and sharper than in last year’s report and matched the tone of the U.S. State Department country report on Bahrain two weeks ago which also revealed a growing frustration with the regime in Manama, a regime which continues to shoot itself in the foot with a series of terrible PR blunders. Last week, for example, the Bahraini government announced that United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez will not be permitted to visit Bahrain this month. Mendez’s trip, scheduled for May 8-15, had been on the books since he was last refused access in early 2012. At that time, the regime made repeated promises that things would be different for Mendez’s May trip.

After he received notice of the cancellation, Mendez issued a statement noting, “Due to the sensitivity of my mandate there will never be a perfect time for my visit, something that is true for any country that I may visit. … The Government is facing many challenges in light of the on-going tensions in Bahrain. I would have conducted my visit in the spirit of cooperation and expected the Government to share that approach; regrettably, this does not appear to be the case.”

“Since 2011, not one senior regime official has been held accountable for the widespread torture of detainees in custody.” – Brian Dooley, Human Rights First

Mendez’s trip cancellation is certainly a shocker, even to those of us who have become accustomed to these access games. It also comes just weeks after the appointment of Bahrain’s Crown Prince to the post of deputy prime minister, a development that initially read as a signal to Washington that some real reform might be about to start.
reu bahrain2 300 02may13 INSIGHT: Bahrain Losing the PR War on Human Rights

Riot police arrest a protester during an anti-government rally in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, December 17, 2012.

The bottom line is that despite their repeated promises from Bahrain’s leaders, not much has changed in the Kingdom. Just after the Crown Prince’s appointment, he and the rest of Bahrain’s cabinet endorsed proposals to introduce a five-year jail sentence for anyone convicted of insulting the king. Such moves try the patience of international allies and sympathy for the regime seems to fading fast.

Earlier this month, the United Kingdom, Bahrain’s close ally, released its 2012 annual report on human rights and democracy. It featured Bahrain’s torture record, noting that impunity was a “deep-rooted problem.” It also stressed that the “current number of officials being investigated is low, and actual convictions even lower.”
…more

Bahrain approves proposal to stop ‘interference’ by US ambassador
5 May, 2013 – RT

Bahrain’s cabinet has approved a parliamentary proposal to stop “interference” by the US envoy in the kingdom’s affairs, according to a government spokeswoman. She did not clarify what measures would be taken.

“The cabinet has approved a proposal by the parliament to put an end to the interference of US Ambassador Thomas Krajeski in Bahrain’s internal affairs,” BNA news agency reported Samira Rajab as saying.

It also aims at putting an end to “his repeated meetings with instigators of sedition” – a government term for Shia protesters who frequently clash with police.

Samira Rajab stated that the diplomatic measures do not include dismissing the envoy, adding that Manama “will commit to international agreements in dealing with the US ambassador.”

Bahrain’s parliamentary proposal comes the same day Bahrain’s court sentenced 31 protesters to 15 years in prison for attacking a police patrol in a Shiite village a year ago. The accused deny the allegations and claim they were tortured into confessing, echoing the April 19 US State Department report on Bahrain, which cited “detention of protesters on vague charges, in some cases leading to their torture in detention” among the country’s human rights problems. …more

And as the events of 2011 reveal, the age of revolutions is by no means over. The human imagination stubbornly refuses to die. And the moment any significant number of people simultaneously shake off the shackles that have been placed on that collective imagination, even our most deeply inculcated assumptions about what is and is not politically possible have been known to crumble overnight.

A Practical Utopian’s Guide to the Coming Collapse
David Graeber – The Baffler

What is a revolution? We used to think we knew. Revolutions were seizures of power by popular forces aiming to transform the very nature of the political, social, and economic system in the country in which the revolution took place, usually according to some visionary dream of a just society. Nowadays, we live in an age when, if rebel armies do come sweeping into a city, or mass uprisings overthrow a dictator, it’s unlikely to have any such implications; when profound social transformation does occur—as with, say, the rise of feminism—it’s likely to take an entirely different form. It’s not that revolutionary dreams aren’t out there. But contemporary revolutionaries rarely think they can bring them into being by some modern-day equivalent of storming the Bastille.

At moments like this, it generally pays to go back to the history one already knows and ask: Were revolutions ever really what we thought them to be? For me, the person who has asked this most effectively is the great world historian Immanuel Wallerstein. He argues that for the last quarter millennium or so, revolutions have consisted above all of planetwide transformations of political common sense.

Already by the time of the French Revolution, Wallerstein notes, there was a single world market, and increasingly a single world political system as well, dominated by the huge colonial empires. As a result, the storming of the Bastille in Paris could well end up having effects on Denmark, or even Egypt, just as profound as on France itself—in some cases, even more so. Hence he speaks of the “world revolution of 1789,” followed by the “world revolution of 1848,” which saw revolutions break out almost simultaneously in fifty countries, from Wallachia to Brazil. In no case did the revolutionaries succeed in taking power, but afterward, institutions inspired by the French Revolution—notably, universal systems of primary education—were put in place pretty much everywhere. Similarly, the Russian Revolution of 1917 was a world revolution ultimately responsible for the New Deal and European welfare states as much as for Soviet communism. The last in the series was the world revolution of 1968—which, much like 1848, broke out almost everywhere, from China to Mexico, seized power nowhere, but nonetheless changed everything. This was a revolution against state bureaucracies, and for the inseparability of personal and political liberation, whose most lasting legacy will likely be the birth of modern feminism.

A quarter of the American population is now engaged in “guard labor”—defending property, supervising work, or otherwise keeping their fellow Americans in line.

Revolutions are thus planetary phenomena. But there is more. What they really do is transform basic assumptions about what politics is ultimately about. In the wake of a revolution, ideas that had been considered veritably lunatic fringe quickly become the accepted currency of debate. Before the French Revolution, the ideas that change is good, that government policy is the proper way to manage it, and that governments derive their authority from an entity called “the people” were considered the sorts of things one might hear from crackpots and demagogues, or at best a handful of freethinking intellectuals who spend their time debating in cafés. A generation later, even the stuffiest magistrates, priests, and headmasters had to at least pay lip service to these ideas. Before long, we had reached the situation we are in today: that it’s necessary to lay out the terms for anyone to even notice they are there. They’ve become common sense, the very grounds of political discussion.

Until 1968, most world revolutions really just introduced practical refinements: an expanded franchise, universal primary education, the welfare state. The world revolution of 1968, in contrast—whether it took the form it did in China, of a revolt by students and young cadres supporting Mao’s call for a Cultural Revolution; or in Berkeley and New York, where it marked an alliance of students, dropouts, and cultural rebels; or even in Paris, where it was an alliance of students and workers—was a rebellion against bureaucracy, conformity, or anything that fettered the human imagination, a project for the revolutionizing of not just political or economic life, but every aspect of human existence. As a result, in most cases, the rebels didn’t even try to take over the apparatus of state; they saw that apparatus as itself the problem.

It’s fashionable nowadays to view the social movements of the late sixties as an embarrassing failure. A case can be made for that view. It’s certainly true that in the political sphere, the immediate beneficiary of any widespread change in political common sense—a prioritizing of ideals of individual liberty, imagination, and desire; a hatred of bureaucracy; and suspicions about the role of government—was the political Right. Above all, the movements of the sixties allowed for the mass revival of free market doctrines that had largely been abandoned since the nineteenth century. It’s no coincidence that the same generation who, as teenagers, made the Cultural Revolution in China was the one who, as forty-year-olds, presided over the introduction of capitalism. Since the eighties, “freedom” has come to mean “the market,” and “the market” has come to be seen as identical with capitalism—even, ironically, in places like China, which had known sophisticated markets for thousands of years, but rarely anything that could be described as capitalism. …more

Saudi Occupying Forces Intensifying Suppressive Measures against Bahraini Protesters
18 March, 2013 – FARS

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Bahraini opposition figure said the Saudi occupying forces in Bahrain are now using more violent measures against peaceful protesters in Bahrain, and deplored the international community’s silence over the Saudis’ crimes in the tiny Persian Gulf island.

“The longer this revolution gets, the more intensified brutality is shown by the Saudi occupiers to harness the Bahraini revolution,” Sheikh Sadeq al-Jamari, one of the February 14 Youth Movement leaders, told FNA on Monday.

He added that numerous war crimes and waves of massacre and killings have been conducted by foreign troops since the deployment of the Saudi forces under the guise of the so-called Peninsula Shield Force in Bahrain as well as Jordanian forces on Bahrain’s soil.

Jamari also lashed out at that international human rights organizations and international community for their silence over the continued brutality of the Saudi forces in Bahrain.

During the last few days, the Bahrain people have widened anti-regime and anti-Saudi-occupation protest rallies across the country to renew their calls for freedom and democracy, and condemn Riyadh’s interfering policies in their country.

The rallies came on the second anniversary of the occupation of Bahrain by the Saudi forces.

Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling for an end to the al-Khalifa dynasty’s over-40-year rule, end of discrimination, establishment of justice and a democratically-elected government as well as freedom of detained protesters.

Violence against the defenseless people escalated after a Saudi-led conglomerate of police, security and military forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar – were dispatched to the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom on March 13, 2011, to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors.

So far, tens of people have been killed, hundreds have gone missing and thousands of others have been injured. …source

Clashes and teargas in Bahrain as thousands remember Gulf forces intervention
15 March, 2013 – RT

Thousands of protesters have clashed with tear gas firing police near Bahrain’s capital Manama. The anti-government riots mark the second anniversary of the Saudi-led intervention that quelled the 2011 Shia uprising in Bahrain.

The protests have brought traffic in the capital to a standstill. Thousands have taken to the streets in several villages surrounding the city. Sounds of stun grenades can be heard across the city, and most roads leading into Manama are closed, AP said.

Protesters have set up road barricades, burned tires and thrown Molotov cocktails and stones at the riot police. The police tried to disperse the rioters by firing tear gas and throwing percussion grenades into the crowds.

“No, no Saudi Occupier,” “Down with [King] Hamad,” the protesters chanted according to Press TV.

The slogans denounced the crackdown of the 2011 Bahraini uprising, which was quelled two years ago after Saudi forces and other Gulf troops were deployed in the country.

The ‘Arab Spring’-inspired uprising was led by the country’s Shia majority, with protesters demanding reforms, political freedom and equality from the country’s Western-backed Sunni rulers.

After a month of clashes that started with violent police raids on peaceful protesters, Bahrain’s Al-Khalifa royal family requested help from neighboring countries. On March 14, 2011, some 1500 troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed in Bahrain to “secure” the situation.

More than 80 people have been killed in Bahrain in connection with the uprising since February 14, 2011, according to human rights groups. Thousands have been arrested with reports of violence and torture used by the Bahraini police.

No progress has been made in talks between the Bahraini opposition and the government, and protests are still frequent in the country that is home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Amnesty International has criticized the US and the UK for refusing to condemn human rights violations committed by their ally, and choosing instead to “satisfy themselves with the narrative of reform while ignoring the reality of repression.”

The Memorial of Revolution in Bahrain .. is a Succinctness of Execution in the Roads
Bahrain Network for Human Rights

The organizations and members societies in Bahrain net for human rights watched closely the situation of human rights and the fallout of the protests on 14 th of February which is the memorial of the peaceful protests that out broke to demand democracy in 2011.

The net has called in its constitutive conference the government and its security forces to change its policy and methodology in dealing with these protests.It should also respect the pact and international agreements that they indorsed. But today they are sorry that the security forces didn’t respond to their claims.

In the morning of 14th February which is the memorial of peaceful protest that out broke ,a sixteen years old boy was shot with three police lead fission shotgun that is internationally forbidden and its from not more than three meters distance .Before few hours he was killed ,the young lady Amina Mahdi 35 years old was died effected by the inhalation complication of the tear gas which was the police and the security devices targeting the houses of people.Its also a pursuit the security forces do before Bahrain Independence Commission Inquiry during the emergency state.More than thirty citizens n different ages were victims of it.

Its also worthy to mention that its between 14 till 16 of February only ,three days,the net received 237 injuries varies between suffocation or attacking by the police .Also there were 29 people detained from the protesters or from the arbitrary detention for people who are passing.Or even through the attack on houses after the ministry of interior had declared several of claimed security incidents .As a result of this the police had attacked more than nine houses in less than 48 hours.

INJURED IN SECURTY INCIDENTS ARE AFRAID TO GO TO HOSPITALS.

On Friday 22nd of February another one had been killed .Mahmoud AL Jazeeri 20 years old boy was killed from targeting him through a tear gas on his head.They shot him directly and from a near distance .The video clarified the incident and there were also some eye witness.Mahmoud AL Jazeeri was shot on 14th of February .He wasn’t treated the proper treatment until next day because there were fears to take him to hospital which is controlled by the police security devices and spies since March 2011.They controlled it when they attacked the protests which was against Geneva agreement.
Also four citizens lost their eyes either partially or completely due to police targeting them by lead fission shotgun and due to delay treatment in order not to be detained from the hospital.

Between 13th till 22nd of February of the same month ,the police oppressed violently many protests .Among these protests ,the funeral of the young who was killed ,Hassan Al Jazeeri ,and Amina Mahdi.They used excessive force that doesn’t suit the number of protesters or the ways they protests .Hundreds of protesters or even who were inside their homes were exposed to excessive tear gas .Groups of interior ministry employees damaged numbers of cars which were either passing or parked. …more

Bahrain: ANHRI Denounces the Upheld of the Imprisonment Sentence against the Rights’ Activist Zainab Al-Khawaja for Month on the background of Entering Pearl Roundabout
28 February, 2013 – Arabic Network for Human Rights Information

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) denounces the decision issued by the Bahraini court to reject the appeal of the rights’ activist Zainab Al-Khawaja on the judgment issued against her to imprison her for a month on the background of entering a restricted area which is the Pearl roundabout. ANHRI also denounced the statement of the Ministry of Interior on the non-delivery of the body of the martyr Jaziri.

The Bahraini court has issued a decision to reject the appeal of Zainab Al-Khawaja on the Bahraini court on Monday, December 10, 2012, which sentenced her for a month and to ensure 100 dinars to stop the execution of the sentence on the background of charges to participate in unauthorized demonstration on February 12, 2012, and the entry of Pearl Roundabout, which authorities consider it as a restricted area. Despite she and who were walking in the street naturally; they did not do any act, any word or commit any crime punishable by the law. In addition to the lack of an official decision indicates that the area of Pearl roundabout is a restricted area. She languished 8 days of the sentence period and there are 22 days to complete it.

In a related context the court rejected the appeal of Zainb regarding the imprisonment sentence for two months on charges of destroying movables related to the ministry of interior.

ANHRI denounces the statement issued by the ministry of interior of Bahrain regarding the non-delivery of the body of the martyr Jaziri to his family. The spokes man of the interior ministry said that the family of the martyr signed the document of receiving the body but the family refused to have the funeral in the area of “Nabeeh Saleh” as the family wants to have the funeral in “El-Deah” area then to bury him in “Nabeeh Saleh”, which is according to the ministry of interior is violating the Bahraini norms and traditions. …more

“…dictatorships cannot remain forever if fully dependent on outside support. The people will eventually bring it down.”

Bahrainis will soon topple foreign-backed Al Khalifa monarchy: Saeed Shahabi
19 February, 2013 – ABNA

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – In the background of this the second anniversary of the uprising and continuing revolution that has shaken Bahrain to the core passed this week on 14th February celebrated with mass demonstrations both inside Bahrain and in other countries in solidarity with the People’s demands for democracy and freedom against the ruling dictatorship of the al-Khalifas. Some opposition have entered dialogue with the regime excluding its leadership, while the youth in particular are intent on regime change rather than reform.

An interview with Dr. Saeed Shahabi, a Bahraini exile in London and leader of the Bahrain Freedom Movement about the past and future of Bahrain. Dr. Shahabi has been convicted in absentia, of terrorism, by the al-Khalifa judiciary and sentenced to life in prison.

Q: I’d like you to firstly clear something up because the Bahraini regime accuses you of being quote, “a London-based terror master mind who glorifies acts of terror and sabotage, subverts national security, fuels sectarianism and drives wedges between the nation”. Your response to that?

Shehabi: Is there a tyrant in the world who would not accuse his opponents of such lies. But nobody listens to that. The regime knows that I am not that sort of person and that’s why it has called me many times; sent many people to ask me to go back; he (the king) asked me to meet, the dictator – I met him twice.

So if these attributes really are true why should he sit with a terrorist a mastermind and so on?

Q: Getting back to the week’s events, the protests that have been taking place to commemorate the anniversary and we’re hearing also that a 16 year old boy was killed, heavy security presence… What have you made of this week’s events?

Shehabi: On the 14th of February as we know it was the anniversary of the revolution – two years after the 14th February and the people went ahead with a lot of activism; they went into demonstrations in various parts of the country; they blocked the roads; they called for a national strike… But the response of the regime has been very harsh.

We saw that thousands upon thousands of troops were stationed on that day on various roads in almost every locality. The people found it almost impossible to congregate yet they went out and a 14 year old boy, Hussein al-Jazeery, was martyred.

Q: The opposition or parts of the opposition are actually conducting talks, reconciliation talk with the regime at the moment.

What do you make of that because I know that you’re somebody that believes in regime change rather than reform?

Shehabi: If the regime was reform-able I would have called for reform of the regime. But when we have opposed it for the past 40-45 years – I have, I realized this regime couldn’t be changed and it would be folly for me to just go and ask for a repetition of something that had already been tried and failed.

Q: So you think al-Wefaq are making a mistake by talking to the regime?

Shehabi: I thought al-Wefaq would have been better advised to have stayed away and if they had joined forces on the 14th with the people. Although, they are maintaining that they will keep up the struggle and that is only a way of trying not to be blamed by the Western governments for not joining.

Q: What other route is there to national reconciliation and saving the country other than talks?

Shehabi: Well, it is also a deception to talk about Bahrain in terms of social tensions, there is no social tension except when the regime wanted it to be there.

The problem in Bahrain is between the people and the ruling family, no one else. Of course he introduced and shifted the blame on these social tensions, but in reality he knows before anyone else that there is no such a thing.
…more

US Still Acquiescing in Bahraini Crackdown
by Amitabh Pal – Common Dreams

Two years ago this week, the Bahraini monarchy started cracking down on its people. It’s still at it, with the complicity of the Obama Administration.

On February 14, 2011, Bahrainis embarked on their version of the Arab Spring, running up against official repression immediately. The protests so unnerved the regime that it called upon the Saudis to invade the country. The Saudis did so a month later with the acquiescence, at least, of the Obama Administration, and a long night descended upon the island nation.

Dozens of protesters have been killed at the hands of the security forces over the past two years. Hundreds are in jail. Just last month, the Bahraini appeals court confirmed life sentences for seven prominent activists, including Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who had staged a long hunger strike in protest against his mistreatment.

Over the past year, “the government shifted from talking about reforms to silencing critical voices, banning demonstrations, and restricting access to independent journalists and rights organizations,” Human Rights Watch Deputy Middle East Director Joe Stork recently stated. “These actions thoroughly discredit claims by Bahraini authorities of respecting human rights.”

The demonstrators persevere.

“Protests have taken place every day for the past few weeks,” reports Reese Erlich (a contributor to The Progressive) for NPR. “A group of six traditional opposition parties, headed by the Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, continue to mobilize the largest numbers. But the February 14 Youth Coalition has challenged those parties with more radical demands and militant tactics.”

And the toll continues to rise.

“In Bahrain, a teenage boy has been killed by security forces during protests marking the second anniversary of the country’s pro-democracy uprising,” Democracy Now reports. “Opposition activists said Hussain al-Jaziri died from shotgun wounds. At least eighty-seven people have died at the hands of security forces in the Gulf nation since 2011.”

The United States has played a hypocritical and pernicious role here. A mix of security considerations, Iranophobia, and oil has put the Obama team on the wrong side of democracy. The U.S. Fifth Fleet is stationed in Bahrain. The uprising has acquired a sectarian hue for some due to the Shiite majority confronting the Sunni monarchy. Shiite Iran has been accused (with scant evidence) of fishing in troubled waters. And the United States believes it can’t afford to alienate such a crucial supplier of oil as Saudi Arabia. Hence, its response to the Bahraini crackdown has been coldhearted.

“Even the most basic steps that were taken against other governments during these mass uprisings that the Middle East and North Africa region has witnessed, we haven’t seen those steps taken towards Bahrain,” activist Maryam al-Khawaja (daughter of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja) tells Democracy Now. “We’ve been seeing the selling of arms to Bahrain by the United States and the United Kingdom and others, ongoing business as usual when it comes to economic deals and so on—all in the name of security.”

The cozying up to the Bahraini monarchy seems to be a bipartisan venture. “Met w/ #Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa this weekend,” Senator John McCain tweeted in December.

In all the tumult, Bahraini women have been in the forefront of the uprising.

“I watched one woman singlehandedly organize activities for traumatized children of martyrs and prisoners,” Jen Marlowe wrote in the November issue of The Progressive. “I accompanied two female doctors from Physicians for Human Rights as they went from house to house, documenting the long-term affects of continuous exposure to tear gas. I stood next to a fearless young woman who photographed riot police attacking protestors with tear gas. I interviewed a defiant female university student just hours after her release from prison, where she had been sexually abused.”

Last month, thirty human rights organizations from around the world sent a letter to President Obama urging him to apply pressure to get pro-democracy campaigners released.

“Dear Mr. President,” the letter reads, “The Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), as well as the undersigned human rights organizations, call on you to take substantive action towards securing the immediate release of thirteen activists and human rights defenders who are arbitrarily detained in Bahrain.”

Obama needs to heed their plea, instead of coddling a repressive monarchy. …source

Two years into our uprising, the government must concede to change – or Bahrain faces catastrophe

Bahrain: it’s time to act
14 February, 2013 – UK Guardian

Women march in Bahrain to mark the second anniversary of the uprising.

It is two years on Thursday since thousands of Bahrainis, young and old, male and female, Sunni and Shia, took to the now demolished Pearl Square in the capital, Manama, to demand democracy. They were inspired by the Arab spring, but had decades of their own struggle behind them. This might be the moment to end the stereotype that the Gulf knows only dictatorship.

It’s true that our goal has not yet been achieved. But our uprising is neither a failure, nor was it crushed under the weight of tanks brought over the border from Saudi Arabia. Last week, as part of a series of protests to mark the second anniversary, thousands took to the streets under the banner of “no U-turn”.

That message is clearly understood by the authorities. They agreed, finally, to engage with the opposition in a national dialogue that began this week. It’s in stark contrast to the usual response we have been given thus far: killings, repression, sackings, violence and more. But those human rights violations have remained, and there is no guarantee that this dialogue will bring about reform.

Opposition groups – known as societies, since political parties are not strictly legal – entered into this dialogue in the hope that it would end the stalemate. It is our duty to make the effort to find a peaceful solution, but a political negotiation that has a website, a logo, social media accounts and all sorts of PR-friendly features will undoubtedly be of concern to those who want it to be serious. We have raised questions that have yet to be clearly answered about the process of the dialogue, but the government’s position remains baffling.

It has said its role is to be a moderator between the political societies, and that it will implement any agreed consensus. This is no different to the parliament we engaged with between 2006 and 2011, which turned out to be ineffective in creating any change, or even holding the government to account.

This attitude – that Bahrain’s problems exist primarily between its own people – is an attempt to deflect responsibility away from the government and to play up the false idea that this conflict is sectarian. The fact that half the opposition delegates who attended the first dialogue session were Sunnis shoots this argument to pieces.

The elitist attitude of a government that can absolve itself of responsibility for a crisis of its making goes to the very heart of the people’s demands. Bahrain needs an elected government that reflects the popular will. A government of the people, rather than one that sees itself as being above the people and chooses to implement or ignore whatever it deems appropriate.

The difficulty lies in a ruling family that is split between two very different visions for the future. One section understands that Bahrain cannot move forward without the consent of the people. The other believes that crushing the people is the right strategy. Hence this strange half dialogue, in which no one is really sure, even in government, what is actually going on.

For dialogue to be a success, the government needs to realise the system it presides over is fundamentally flawed and work with the opposition to create a series of reforms that will see a united and democratic Bahrain.

We need a political system that agrees that 42 years is an absurd period of time for one prime minister to stay in power; and that a biased judiciary which can give life sentences to peaceful opposition leaders while failing to prosecute a single high-ranking figure for torture, needs reform. Economically, we must move away from reliance on oil and create a sustainable and diversified economy; and, socially, we need to end the sectarian discrimination that keeps Shias out of mainstream society.

In November 2011 we pinned our hopes on the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), when it outlined the violations committed by our regime. The king accepted its recommendations in full, and it had the potential to usher in a new era – but in the end the authorities used it as an excuse to delay finding a solution. …more

Opposition Leader: Talks with Al-Khalifa “Meaningless” under Saudi Occupation
12 February, 2013 – FNA

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Bahraini opposition figure described the al-Khalifa regime’s proposal for talks with dissidents as a failed plan, and said talks under the Saudi occupation are meaningless.

“I don’t believe that there is no serious plan for (the national) talks, and that no comprehensive agreement is considered (by the Bahraini regime),” Saeed al-Shahabi, Secretary-General of Bahrain Freedom Movement, told FNA on Tuesday.

He said that the al-Khalifa has actually proposed the plan for talks to conceal the realities and the reality is that the Bahraini people have a big problem with the monarchy ruling their country.

Shahabi also called for the withdrawal of the Saudi forces who are collaborating with the al-Khalifa forces in suppressing the peaceful protests in Bahrain, and said any form of talks under the occupation of the Saudi forces would be impossible.

Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling for an end to the al-Khalifa dynasty’s over-40-year rule, end of discrimination, establishment of justice and a democratically-elected government as well as freedom of detained protesters.

Violence against the defenseless people escalated after a Saudi-led conglomerate of police, security and military forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar – were dispatched to the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom on March 13, 2011, to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors.

So far, tens of people have been killed, hundreds have gone missing and thousands of others have been injured.
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