Posts from — September 2012

NGOs ask Clinton to suspend all US military aid to Bahrain
12 September, 2012 – Reporters Without Borders

Human rights organizations wrote to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton on 10 September asking her to suspend all US military aid to the government of Bahrain because of its human rights violations.

Read the letter :

Honorable Hillary R. Clinton
Secretary of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520

September 10, 2012

Dear Secretary Clinton,

We are writing to alert you to credible reports that the security forces of the Government of Bahrain continue to engage in human rights violations against non-violent, pro-democracy protesters and to urge you to immediately suspend further U.S. military assistance and arms transfers to the responsible units, as required by law.

The United States Government has appropriated at least $299 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and “Section 1206” assistance to Bahrain since 2002, with $10 million in FMF in the pipeline for FY 2012 and $10 million requested for FY 2013.

As you know, Section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act (the “Leahy Law”) states that: “No assistance shall be furnished under this Act or the Arms Export Control Act to any unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State has credible information that such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.” We believe that the reports cited below constitute “credible information” and that attacks by the police and other security forces on unarmed, non-violent, pro-democracy activists rise to the level of “gross human rights violations,” particularly so when the attacks resulted in death.

We provide the following information to assist you in carrying out the purposes of the law—namely, to avoid U.S. complicity with human rights violations and to create an incentive for the foreign government involved to bring human rights violators to justice.

***

In November 2011, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) identified 35 people (including at least 19 protestors) killed by Bahraini security forces during the February-March 2011 demonstrations for political liberalization. BICI clearly attributed three of the deaths to the Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) [1] and found BDF, Ministry of Interior and the National Security Agency among those responsible for detaining and torturing protestors, including at BDF’s Al Qurain site. [2] While the BICI was able in some cases to document specific units that were involved in multiple incidents, it did not name the units responsible.- [3] We assume, however, that the USG has sought access to this information, [4] and that these units have been notified that they are ineligible to receive further U.S. security assistance until Bahrain takes “effective steps to bring the responsible members of the security forces unit to justice,” as required by Foreign Assistance Act Section 620M(b). We note that full application of this domestic law reinforces the U.S. government’s call for Bahrain to implement fully the BICI Report’s recommendation that investigations and prosecutions for torture and other serious crimes (such as unlawful killings) extend to higher ranks of the security forces. ….more

Bahrain is Britain’s shame
12 September, 2012 – X index – al-Khawaja

Today at the Houses of Parliament, Maryam al-Khawaja asked MPs to put pressure on Bahrain to commit to reforms and free politcal prisoners, including her father and sister. Here, the prominent human rights defender denounces Britain’s indifference
Maryam Al-Khawaja largeWhen confronted with the facts of its own brutal crackdown on popular protests and human rights defenders, Bahraini officials usually stick to a routine. They hide behind tired lines of denial and hype supposed reforms. The actual situation on the ground continues to deteriorate — and inaction from the international community has emboldened the government. Most astounding is the silence from one of Bahrain’s greatest allies: the United Kingdom.

The UK government has made countless pledges to push on Bahrain to implement supposed reforms, but has yet to push forcefully on its partner where it counts. Almost a year after the Bahraini government publicly accepted the grim picture of human rights painted in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report and its recommendations, the country continues to perpetuate flagrant human rights violations.

It is more than important than ever for the United Kingdom’s legislators to question Britain’s relationship with Bahrain — and to place pressure on the government to demand real reform. Bahraini officials like Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who was a VIP guest at the London Olympics despite the numerous allegations he tortured protesters, should be shunned by British mandarins. UK legislators must also push on Bahrain to follow through on promises of transparency and accountability; many of those involved in the crimes committed in the past year and half, have either remained their positions or been promoted.

The United Kingdom’s silence puts places it in danger of being seen as complicit in Bahrain’s human rights abuses, particularly when the UK has a direct method of influencing Bahrain: through its economic relationship. If it doesn’t halt arms sales, the United Kingdom is ostensibly giving permission to the Bahraini government to violently silence its people. A serious commitment to human rights from the United Kingdom means that a serious conversation about economic and diplomatic sanctions is necessary and important to do.

Political prisoners jailed on trumped up charges need the United Kingdom to press on its friend on the international stage. It is shameful that the UK and the US refused to sign onto a joint-statement issued by 27 countries this year, condemning human rights violations. Despite damning evidence that continues to mount both countries have been shamefully silent on this topic — and this must change.

This isn’t about regime change, or a chaotic dialogue about political reform. It is about something very simple: human rights. Silence from such an important trade partner spells out permission, casting a shadow on the UK’s commitment to free expression and human rights. Bahrainis have started saying that the UK and USA are to Bahrain what Russia is to Syria — enablers. …source

UK Parliament

HUMAN RIGHTS IN BAHRAIN

Session: 2012-13
Date tabled: 03.09.2012
Primary sponsor: Clark, Katy
Sponsors: Bottomley, Peter – Corbyn, Jeremy – Dobbin, Jim – Durkan, Mark – Meale, Alan

That this House notes with alarm the report from Physicians for Human Rights on Weaponising Tear Gas highlighting the use of toxic chemical agents by Bahraini security forces against civilians; further notes with concern its findings that Barhraini forces failed to exercise restraint before resorting to force, used disproportionate force when responding to protesters and failed to minimise damage and injury to demonstrators; draws particular attention to seven instances of miscarriages where the pregnant woman had recently been heavily exposed to tear-gas as well as to an earlier list compiled by Physicians for Human Rights of 34 individuals who have died in Bahrain in a 12-month period from tear-gas related deaths; opposes reprisals against Bahraini pro-democracy protesters including the nine medics who had their convictions upheld in June; and calls on the Government to ensure that human rights concerns form the centre-point of all discussions with the Bahraini government until such time that the human rights situation in that country improves.
…source

U.S. has no right to block Israel on Iran – Netanyahu
11 Septemebr, 2012 – By Jeffrey Heller – Reuters

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said the United States had forfeited any moral right to stop Israel taking action against Iran’s nuclear programme because it had refused to be firm with Tehran itself.

In comments which appeared to bring the possibility of an Israeli attack on Iran closer, Netanyahu took the administration of President Barack Obama to task after Washington rebuffed his own call to set a red line for Tehran’s nuclear drive.

“The world tells Israel ‘wait, there’s still time’. And I say, ‘Wait for what? Wait until when?'” said Netanyahu, speaking in English.

“Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel,” he added, addressing a news conference with Bulgaria’s prime minister.

Netanyahu has been pushing Obama to adopt a tougher line against Iran, arguing that setting a clear boundary for Iran’s uranium enrichment activities and imposing stronger economic sanctions could deter Tehran from developing nuclear weapons and mitigate the need for military action.

But on Monday U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States would not set a deadline in further talks with Iran, saying there was still time for diplomacy to work.

Netanyahu’s comments came as diplomats said six world powers – including the United States – were poised to voice “serious concern” about Iran’s uranium enrichment programme and to urge Tehran to open up access to suspected nuclear sites.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday that Washington would have little more than a year to act to stop Tehran if it decided to produce a nuclear weapon.

Netanyahu has had a strained relationship with Obama over Iran and other issues, such as Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

But he has never put differences with Obama – who has pledged he will “always have Israel’s back” and is deep in a re-election campaign – in the context of morality.

The website of Israel’s Haaretz daily newspaper said Netanyahu had carried out “an unprecedented verbal attack on the U.S. government”.

Iran, which denies it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, has threatened to retaliate against Israel and U.S. interests in the Gulf if it attacked, and Obama’s re-election bid could be thrown off course by a new war.

Republican challenger Mitt Romney has accused him of throwing Israel “under the bus”.

Anti-Islam movie directed, produced by Israeli-American: US media
Shia Post – 12 September, 2012

The controversial movie that has sparked outrage in the Muslim world has been produced by an anti-Islam Israeli-American, US media say.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Israeli-American Sam Bacile has directed and produced the blasphemous movie. Bacile, 52, is a real-estate developer living in southern California and a sworn enemy of Islam.

He has assumed responsibility for the film, which he said was made thanks to Jewish donations totaling $5 million.

Earlier, a staff member of the US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi was killed and one security guard injured during clashes, triggered over the anti-Islam film, at the consulate building.

The incident occurred following a massive demonstration held earlier in the day in neighboring Egypt to condemn a movie that insults Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Thousands of Egyptians gathered in front of the US Embassy in Cairo to express their anger over the movie.

The protesters scaled the walls of the embassy, pulled down the US flag, and called for the expulsion of the US ambassador to Cairo.

They also asked the US government to apologize to the Muslim world over the release of the movie. …more

U.S. ambassador to Libya killed in Benghazi attack
12 September, 2012 – By Hadeel Al Shalchi – Reuters

BENGHAZI, Libya: The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three embassy staff were killed as they rushed away from a consulate building in Benghazi, stormed by Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen blaming America for a film that they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.

Gunmen had attacked and set fire to the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, the cradle of last year’s uprising against Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year rule, late on Tuesday evening as another assault was mounted on the U.S. embassy in Cairo.

The California-born ambassador, Christopher Stevens, was trying to leave the consulate building for a safer location as part of an evacuation when gunmen launched an intense attack, apparently forcing security personnel to withdraw.

“The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets in their direction,” a Libyan official in Benghazi told Reuters. Airport sources said the bodies were due to be flown from Benghazi to Tripoli.

The attack was believed to have been carried out by Ansar al-Sharia, an Al-Qaeda-style Sunni Islamist group that has been active in Benghazi, a Libyan security official said. Witnesses said the mob also included tribesmen, militia and other gunmen.

The attack raised questions about the future U.S. diplomatic presence in Libya, relations between Washington and Tripoli, the unstable security situation in post-Gaddafi Libya and whether more protests might take place in the Muslim world.

The film portrayed Mohammad as a fool, a philanderer and a religious fake. In one clip posted on YouTube, Mohammad was shown in an apparent sexual act with a woman. For many Muslims it is blasphemous even to show a depiction of the Prophet.

U.S. President Barack Obama, whose administration supported the Libyan insurgency with funds, weapons and training, branded the killing an “outrageous attack” and ordered increased security at U.S. diplomatic posts worldwide.

A Danish newspaper caused a storm of protest across Islamic nations in 2005 by printing cartoons lampooning Islam and the Prophet Mohammad in 2005, the most famous depicted him wearing a bomb in his turban. The images touched off riots in the Middle East, Africa and Asia in 2006 in which at least 50 people died.

…more

Terrorism can`t be justified in any way – Lavrov
by Polina Chernitsa – 12 September, 2012 – The Voice of Russia

“The Western partners have started assessing terrorist attacks relying on what political effects they could have”, Russia`s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting which took place in Astana as part of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

Mr. Lavrov said that the reluctance to condemn the latest attacks in Syria proves that the West and many UNSC member states have revised their policies. Apart from the Syrian crisis the conference in Astana focused on the Iranian nuclear issue, the situation in Afghanistan, as well as on Asia`s growing influence on the international scene.

The Astana conference is taking place on the 20th anniversary of the forum. The CICA was established to ensure peace, security and stability in Asia. The ambitious agenda reflects the interests of all the countries involved. The CICA comprises 24 permanent members, including Russia, Iraq, Bahrain, and Pakistan. Japan, Qatar, the US, as well as the UN, the Arab League and the OSCE hold the observer status in the CICA.

Speaking during the meeting in Astana Mr. Lavrov said that the organization has turned into an influential platform for discussion in the Asian region. Mr. Lavrov`s speech, however, focused more on the difficulties the region has been facing. Commenting on the situation in Syria, Sergei Lavrov criticized the UNSC member states for not condemning the latest attacks in the country…

“The Security Council earlier stressed that terrorism would never be accepted no matter what justifications are made. After the latest attack in Aleppo which killed 27 people our western partners took a pause and did not offer any reaction to the tragedy which makes us think that they have revised their policy. It looks like our partners are now assessing the attacks from the point of view of whether they are politically beneficial. I will be glad to know that my suspicion is wrong. Meanwhile, my position remains unchanged.”

At the ministerial meeting Mr. Lavrov spoke about the need to settle the Syrian crisis without foreign interference. The minister added that many other countries have been trying to use the Syrian crisis to stir up conflicts in the Middle East. …more

Bahrain: Member of Municipal Council shot at directly by regime forces
Shia Post – 11 September, 2012

Forces of the Bahraini regime targeted a member of the Municipal Council, Sadiq Rabea, shooting at him with birdshot gun causing serious injuries. The incident took place whilst regime forces were brutally suppressing a peaceful pro-democracy protest in Sitra Island

Shotgun pellets riddled Rabea’s back, neck and ear causing heavy bleeding. He is currently without medical treatment as hospitals refused to treat the injured Rabea despite his injuries that were deliberately caused by the regime forces.

Such attacks are a regular occurrence in Bahrain where regime forces systematically repress peaceful citizens in order to prevent them from exercising their right to protest and freely express their opinions.

The condition of Rabea is currently unknown as police forcibly arrested him from Ebin Al-Nafees Hospital, without medical treatment for his critical injuries. …source

Iran wants Iraq, Venezuela to join Syria “contact group”
11 September, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Iran on Tuesday hailed Egypt’s aims in putting together a new “contact group” on the Syrian crisis, but said it wanted to expand the initiative to include its allies Iraq and Venezuela.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdolahian was quoted on his ministry website after attending the first meeting of the group in Cairo on Monday that Egypt’s offer to host another session at ministerial level “is a positive step.”

He welcomed Egypt’s stated goal of trying to stop Syria’s bloodshed through “consensus” in the group, based on policies to bring about a ceasefire, to maintain Syrian sovereignty and to reject any foreign intervention.

That was “a balanced solution,” Amir Abdolahian said.

The contact group, created by Egypt’s new President Mohammed Mursi, comprises Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran.

The first three countries have all publicly called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down as a first step to quelling an 18-month conflict that is raging in his country.

Iran, though, is Assad’s staunchest ally and has said it will do everything it can to keep him in power.

Egypt said on Monday it planned to bring the foreign ministers of group’s members together in the coming days. A Turkish diplomat told AFP that meeting could happen next week.

In an apparent bid to bolster Iran’s pro-Assad position in the group, Amir Abdolahian called for “Iraq, as the current head of the Arab League, and Venezuela, as part of Non-Aligned Movement troika” to be allowed to join.

Iraq’s government and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are allied with Iran, which currently holds the presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). …more

Cracks in the Khalifah Regime – America’s Bahrain Migraine
by THOMAS C. MOUNTAIN – Counter Punch – 11 September, 2012

The year and a half long protest movement of the majority Shi’ite people of Bahrain could be forewarning of a crippling migraine headache for the USA if it succeeds in overthrowing the western installed Al Khalifah dictatorship that has ruled Bahrain since “independence”.

The people of Bahrain know all to well that the Khalifah regime’s real godfather is the USA and it is more than likely that the end of the regime will be followed by a demand to close the American naval base located in Bahrain thus threatening US control of the strategically critical Persian Gulf.

Control of the Persian Gulf energy exports and energy reserves is essential for Pax Americana’s continued worldwide hegemony and the US navy spearheaded by the aircraft carrier task force necessary to enforce it’s domination of the Persian Gulf requires a port to operate from. If the USA is kicked out of Bahrain they have only the tiny nation of Djibouti thousands of miles away in the Horn of Africa and its small port as a fall back position.

Ordinarily the USA would give the green light for the Saudi and Emirati funded mercenary police force (hired gun thugs from Jordan, Pakistan and Yemen) occupying Bahrain to drown the potential revolution in blood as has been all to common in the regions past but the situation in Bahrain is complicated by the close historic tribal and family ties between the Shi’ites in Bahrain and the Shi’ites in eastern Saudi where almost all of the Saudi oil is located.

Every time the crackdown on the Bahraini people is intensified there has been an increase in protests by the Shi’ite of Saudi Arabia. A major bloodbath in Bahrain could well ignite an explosion amongst the Saudi Shi’ite who have long suffered from what might best be described as Arab Apartheid by the Wahabi Sunni extremist Al Saud regime that the British installed in power in Saudi Arabia many decades ago.

If the Shi’ite in Saudi Arabia rise up they could easily sabotage Saudi oil production, the worlds largest, damage if not cripple some of the biggest economies in the world and leave the USA scrambling to find a way out of an increasingly dire situation.

For the USA the Bahraini protests could become a major problem that could result in Pax Americana being seen as weak, feeble really, unable to control the Persian Gulf in the face of the growing influence of Iran in the region and calling into question the USA’s very ability to militarily punish its enemies and control one of the worlds most critical choke points, the Straits of Hormuz where the Persian Gulf meets the Indian Ocean.

Today’s headache could quickly turn into tomorrows migraine for the USA as the Bahraini people are faced with the choice of continuing the one sided violence they are suffering or taking up arms in self defense. …more

Very interesting idea. Maybe a ‘push app’ report gas or other attacks on Protesters and villages in Bahrain? How to keep those reporting from becoming targets? Phlipn – hmmm.

Apple shoots down drone strike tracking iPhone app
by Staff Writers – San Francisco (AFP) – 30 August, 2012

The maker of an application that would alert iPhone users to US military drone strikes said Thursday that Apple has repeatedly shot down his efforts to get it into the App Store.

“I just wanted to make a simple app that would send a push notification every time there is a drone strike,” Begley told AFP.

“I was thinking about how hidden the drone war is and about ways to play with what happens in the pockets of smartphone users,” the New York University graduate student continued.

Begley hunkered down and made his first iPhone app, Drones+, which tracks drone strikes by aggregating information from a Bureau of Investigative Journalism database.

Reports of drone strikes prompt iPhone notifications that arrive with pop-up text messages; Google maps showing locations, and the option of more detail.

Begley said that Drones+ was rejected twice by Apple on technical grounds since he first submitted it to the Cupertino, California-based maker of iPhones, iPads, iPods and Macintosh computers in July.

A third rejection came this week, according to Begley, with Apple informing him that Drones+ would not be allowed in the App Store because many people were likely to find the content objectionable.

The 27-year-old interactive communications student expressed dismay that an application crafted to aggregate news reports could be deemed objectionable.

“I didn’t really expect anyone to download the app if it was in the App Store,” Begley said. “That was the point; I don’t think people want to know when a drone strikes.”

He is considering going to work on a version of Drones+ for smartphones powered by Google-backed Android software.

“I would like for it to exist somewhere,” Begley said.” …source

US, Mexican Officials Brokering Deals with Drug “Cartels,” WikiLeaks Documents Show.
By Bill Conroy – The Narco News Bulletin – 20 August, 2012

A high-ranking Sinaloa narco-trafficking organization member’s claim that US officials have struck a deal with the leadership of the Mexican “cartel” appears to be corroborated in large part by the statements of a Mexican diplomat in email correspondence made public recently by the nonprofit media group WikiLeaks.

The Mexican diplomat’s assessment of the US and Mexican strategy in the war on drugs, as revealed by the email trail, paints a picture of a “simulated war” in which the Mexican and US governments are willing to show favor to a dominant narco-trafficking organization in order to minimize the violence and business disruption in the major drug plazas, or markets.

A similar quid-pro-quo arrangement is precisely what indicted narco-trafficker Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla, who is slated to stand trial in Chicago this fall, alleges was agreed to by the US government and the leaders of the Sinaloa “Cartel” — the dominate narco-trafficking organization in Mexico. The US government, however, denies that any such arrangement exists.

Mexican soldiers arrested Zambada Niebla in late March 2009 after he met with DEA agents in a posh Mexico City hotel, a meeting arranged by a US government informant who also is a close confident of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia (Zambada Niebla’s father) and Chapo Guzman — both top leaders of the Sinaloa drug organization. The US informant, Mexican attorney Humberto Loya Castro, by the US government’s own admission in court pleadings in the Zambada Niebla criminal case, served as an intermediary between the Sinaloa Cartel leadership and US government agencies seeking to obtain information on rival narco-trafficking organizations.

According to Zambada Niebla, he and the rest of the Sinaloa leadership, through the US informant Loya Castro, negotiated an immunity deal with the US government in which they were guaranteed protection from prosecution in exchange for providing US law enforcers and intelligence agencies with information that could be used to compromise rival Mexican cartels and their operations.

“The United States government considered the arrangements with the Sinaloa Cartel an acceptable price to pay, because the principal objective was the destruction and dismantling of rival cartels by using the assistance of the Sinaloa Cartel — without regard for the fact that tons of illicit drugs continued to be smuggled into Chicago and other parts of the United States and consumption continued virtually unabated,” Zambada Niebla’s attorneys argue in pleadings in his case. …source

Turkey Ramps Up War Threats Against Syria
Contributed by blackandred – By Chris Marsden; 11 September 2012 – WSWS

Turkey has dramatically escalated its war-rhetoric against Syria, placing itself at the forefront of any military intervention to depose the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

On September 4, at a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Syria as a “terrorist state.”

He complained that the “massacres in Syria” had gained strength “from the international community’s indifference… The regime in Syria has now become a terrorist state. We do not have the luxury to be indifferent to what is happening there.”

Erdogan’s comments target Russia and China, which oppose measures against Syria they correctly understand to be aimed at weakening their influence in the oil-rich region and consolidating US hegemony by isolating Iran. But he has also made clear his frustration with the Obama administration in the United States, which has expressed reluctance to support Turkey’s demand for a “no-fly” or “buffer” zone on the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

Justified as a means of both protecting and stemming the tide of refugees fleeing Syria, such a move would be tantamount to a declaration of war.

Turkey has said that should the number of refugees, now estimated at 80,000, top 100,000, this could be a tipping point for action against Syria. Turkey has also accused both Syria and Iran of allowing border areas to be used as a base for separatist forces allied to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to attack its troops in the southeast.

Erdogan called the PKK and Syria’s Democratic Union Party (PYD), an affiliated group, a “sub-contractor organization”, “directly supported abroad by enemy countries.”

“In the north, [the Assad regime] has allotted five provinces to the Kurds, to the terrorist organization,” he told a Turkish television station in July.

“It’s known that the PKK works arm in arm with Syria’s intelligence organisation,” said Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of the AKP.

Turkish tanks conducted attack-drill exercises along the border with Syria on Wednesday last week. The next day, September 6, Reuters reported that more than 2,000 Turkish soldiers, together with fighter jets and helicopters, attacked PKK positions in both southeast Turkey and northern Iraq.

After having stated that Assad is not a real Muslim, Erdogan last weekend provocatively compared what is happening in Syria with the battle of Karbala–which has central significance for Shi’ites, who regard those killed by Caliph Yazid I as martyrs. “What happened in Karbala 1,332 years ago is what happens in Syria today,” Erdogan said at a conference in Istanbul.

It was in this context that Erdogan complained to Christiane Amanpour on CNN September 5 that US reluctance to back a no-fly zone was probably “because of the pre-election situation,” given the deep unpopularity in the US of any open move to war against Syria. …more

Further evidence of western technology being used by Arab regimes to spy on activists. FinFisher, the makers of the spyware, were identified by Owni & WikiLeaks last year as part of the global surveillance arms trade.

Western Spy Tech Linked to Bahrain Regime
by Jean Marc Manach On September 10, 2012

In spring of this year a Bahraini exile in London, a British economist in Bahrain and a naturalised American living in Alabama, all received the same short email, apparently sent by an Al-Jazeera journalist.

The email mentioned a report written by Zainab al-Khawaja, a human rights activist in Bahrain, about the torture of imprisoned fellow activist Nabeel Rajab, followed by this statement.

A few days later the trio received more emails. Some made reference to the arrest of opposition figures in Bahrain, and others to the agenda of the king of Bahrain. Every email was accompanied by a compressed file attachment, raising suspicions that they might contain computer viruses.

The emails were forwarded to Vernon Silver, a Bloomberg journalist who has been closely following instances of western surveillance technology being used by Arab dictatorships. Silver had the emails analysed by two researchers associated with the Citizen Lab, a Canadian research laboratory that specialises in studying political surveillance technology.

Morgan Marquis-Boire, a computer security engineer working at Google, is an expert (pdf) in the type of spyware that was used by Libyan and Syrian thugs to hack cyber-dissidents’ computers. Bill Marczak, a doctoral student in computer science at Berkeley, is a member of Bahrain Watch, a group which promotes transparency in Bahrain. Bahrain Watch documents the protesters and civilians killed by Bahraini authorities, the weapons (buckshot, grenades and tear gas) purchased from western companies, and the western public relations firms employed by the regime at handsome rates.

The two researchers discovered a particularly sophisticated piece of spyware, employing “myriad techniques designed to evade detection and frustrate analysis“. By analysing the spyware’s coding, the researchers uncovered mentions of FinSpy, the British company Gamma International, and the names of several of its directors.

According to this contract proposal found in March 2011 in an Egyptian security service building after the fall of the Mubarak regime, the FinSpy spyware retails at about €300,000. It’s one of the flagship products in the range of “offensive cyber-war” tools marketed by FinFisher, a subsidiary of Gamma, which specialises in surveillance and telecommunications interception systems. Owni reported on this product range last year; we even put together this video montage of promotional clips explaining how the software operates.

As part of the SpyFiles operation, WikiLeaks and Privacy International revealed that FinFisher was one of five digital surveillance arms dealers, specialising in ‘trojans’. This type of spyware presents itself as a legitimate file, before infecting a computer in order to remotely activate microphones and cameras, to record every keyboard stroke (including of course passwords) or Skype conversations, instant messages, emails etc.. Then, in an encrypted and undetectable manner, the spyware sends back the intercepted data via servers located in various countries abroad.

Another computer security researcher has subsequently managed to identify the servers used to control FinSpy, and thus spy on computers in Estonia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Latvia, Mongolia, Qatar, the Czech Republic, the USA, Australia and Dubai.

In a second post, published in late August, CitizenLab revealed that they had identified two more servers: one in Bahrain, the other controlled by the Ministry of Telecommunications in Turkmenistan, considered one of the most repressive regimes in the world.

The two researchers also detail how FinSpy Mobile operates. The system allows the user to infect iPhones and Android, Symbian, Blackberry and Windows mobile phones, in order to spy on SMS, emails and telecommunications, extract contacts and other data, geolocate the phone, and even remotely activate the phone without the user being aware of the slightest manipulation. …more

Bahrain’s Thorns Stuck In Obama’s Side
10 September, 2012 – The Trench

Two weeks ago Sumaya Rajab, the wife of imprisoned Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab, posted an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama. Sentenced to three years in prison for “inciting” and participating in “illegal gatherings,” Nabeel would appear before the court as a beacon of freedom and justice, a man who can beaten physically but not mentally. Sumaya would appeal to Obama with these very virtues: “Victimized people of Bahrain are calling upon the universal values and principles that United States is embracing.”

The response: sit back and watch Rajab’s cruel and unusual punishment.

Despite a continual rise in Bahrain’s hostilities from February 2011’s initial democratic outbreak, both sides of Washington still doubt that they have much to gain from embracing the island’s opposition. Confronting Iran and protecting Israel, shipping routes and oil supplies plays better than supporting a relatively small opposition in a foreign land. The Obama administration has downplayed Bahrain throughout the Arab revolutions, with considerable success at home, but the opposition universally agrees that U.S. policy is negatively affecting their struggle for human rights and political representation. Most GOP presidential candidates, sadly, would offer even less words of support and back them with the consent of force.

A month after Rajab was jailed on July 9th and held at the notorious Jaww prison, Washington could only muster a letter of support signed by two Senators and 17 Representatives – apparently leaving the other 98 and 418 on King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa’s side.

The White House has been equally unhelpful throughout Rajab’s numerous arrests and his campaign to raise awareness in Bahrain. By the time he arranged a series of media appearances to kick off the summer, Rajab had come to accept the immovability of U.S. policy after previously hoping that America’s Fifth Fleet would loosen Washington’s security bond with Manama. The head of Bahrain’s Center For Human Rights (BCHR) had just watched Crown Prince Salman mingle with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta as he languished in a jail cell. Rajab and his family have also been subjected to abuses at home, including night raids and tear gas assaults. When he was rearrested in July, the State Department waited two days before expressing “concern” – at the prompting of inquiring reporters – and refused to explicitly call for his immediate release.

The State Department then claimed that it had done so “from the beginning” after Rajab’s sentencing, although no follow up can be found in the Department’s own database. No further statements have been issued.

These isolated defenses are designed to float in a sea of silence, maintaining an obligatory level of interest to ward off criticism of inaction. Accordingly, Sumaya observes that the State Department “already expressed ‘Worries’ and ‘Concerns’ about Nabeel’s imprisonment but the government of Bahrain ignored all such ‘Concerns.'” Her letter is almost too reasonable and inviting, given the situation of her family, but Sumaya wisely attempts to relate her cause to Obama and the founding ideals of America. With nowhere left to turn in Washington, she requests “your kind intervention to explicitly call for Nabeel Rajab’s immediate and unconditional ‘release from prison’ because Nabeel is a prisoner of conscience.” However Obama has yet issue any personal reaction to Rajab’s imprisonment or the abuse that Bahrain’s government is subjecting him to, both before and after his sentencing. …more

Hundreds of Saudi Shia protesters demand release of political detainees
ABNA – 11 September, 2012

Activists and the family members of political prisoners in Saudi Arabia have held a protest rally in the capital, Riyadh, to renew their calls for the release of the political detainees in the Arab kingdom.

Hundreds of Saudi Shia protesters demand release of political detainees
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Activists and the family members of political prisoners in Saudi Arabia have held a protest rally in the capital, Riyadh, to renew their calls for the release of the political detainees in the Arab kingdom.

In a gathering outside the Attorney General’s office in the capital on Monday, they also demanded the release of political activists held in Saudi jails without trial.

“My brother told me he was taken to court last year but it was a secret trial and they didn’t let him choose his own lawyer. It’s been over a year and we still don’t have the result of the trial. In my opinion, this trial is nothing but a show,” said a protester.

Saudi Arabia has been under fire for its human rights record especially for the detention of many anti-government protesters since the onset of a popular uprising last year.

Rights activists say hundreds of political prisoners remain locked up in Saudi jails under harsh conditions and without access to a lawyer.

People are randomly arrested by the Saudi police just for looking suspicious, and are held behind bars for years before they are even charged.

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

The oil-rich Eastern Province has been the focal point of the anti-regime protests in Saudi Arabia. …source

Unadulterated Hypocrisy: ‘UK forces oversee Bahrain repression’
11 September, 2012 – Hardons Blog

British and American military and security advisors are overseeing training to Bahraini forces involved in the crackdown on revolutionaries, a leader of Bahrain’s Amal Movement says.

Hisham al-Sabbagh told Al-Alam news network that the al-Khalifa regime in Bahrain is also receiving military hardware including tanks from a number of western countries and some members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council.

Al-Sabbagh’s comments come only weeks after Bahraini ruler Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to step up cooperation during Hamad’s visit to London in late August.

Hamad did point to security cooperation between the two sides after the meeting but disguised it as an attempt to “improve security and combat the spread of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.”

Cameron and Hamad also ironically called for cooperation to boost human rights and democracy while Bahraini forces continue to crush anti-regime protests.

The British government has been repeatedly blasted by human rights, anti-war and anti-arms trade activists for arming repressive regimes including Bahrain despite clear evidence of bloody suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations there.

Over the past months the British MPs have also joined the critics.

The MPs said in their 2012 Scrutiny of Arms Exports that the government’s arms exports decisions have been clearly flawed as known repressive regimes such as Bahrain were armed regardless.

The MPs also said the government paradoxically considers some of the countries on its own list of human right abusers as “priority markets” for arms sales. …source

Bahrain? Never Heard of It
by Kelley B. Vlahos – 11 September, 2012 -AntiWar

News that a civilian appeals court in Bahrain upheld the harsh prison terms —including several life sentences — of 13 “Arab Spring” activists last week, drew rapid fire from the human rights community. Their “crimes” — organizing largely peaceful protests to demand social and economic reforms from the ruling monarchy in 2011 — had branded them convicted traitors and terrorists, the kind of appalling injustice that American patriots had fought against more than 200 years ago.
Bahraini security forces during the 2011 uprising.

“Today’s court decision is yet another blow to justice and shows once more that the Bahraini authorities are not on the path of reform but seem rather driven by vindictiveness,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program.

Bahrain’s Shia population took to the streets in February 2011 amid the wave of social and political uprisings across the Arab World. Unlike Egypt, Tunisia or even Libya, however, the Sunni Al Khalifa royal family — which has ruled the oil rich country (and the Shia majority) for two centuries — has managed to emerge unscathed. Instead, Bahrain has thwarted and suppressed its popular movement without fully engaging in the reforms it’s promised. Making it worse, the major mainstream coverage of the Bahraini story — including the brutal crackdown against protesters, their arrests, alleged torture in prison, the “disappearing” of activists and even doctors who have helped the wounded, the nighttime raids in Shiite neighborhoods — has been sporadic at best to non-existent.

You’ve got to wonder why. This week, a pair of stories by Glenn Greenwald (here and here) have re-engaged a debate about how western financial interests coupled with so-called “smart power” strategy in the region, has left the reform movement in Bahrain far behind. This only reinforces the longstanding accusation of American hypocrisy — preaching the goals of liberty for all humans, but only when it suits.

Feeble American Response

In his acceptance speech before the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, President Obama had very little to say about foreign policy, and even less to say about global human rights. He did make one sweeping nod to the people-driven freedom movements that have marked the last two years of his presidency:

“The historic change sweeping across the Arab World must be defined not by the iron fist of a dictator or the hate of extremists, but by the hopes and aspirations of ordinary people who are reaching for the same rights that we celebrate today.”

It’s no surprise he didn’t say more about the Arab Spring — his administration has not taken a clear approach to any of it. Rather it has offered a patchwork of official responses, ranging from full-on military assistance for anti-government forces in Libya, to a more tolerant, wait-and-see position with others, particularly in Egypt. There, U.S. officials condemned the violence against the protesters in Tahrir Square, and supported reforms in spirit, but were forced to contemplate a future relationship without their reliable dictator-friend, Hosni Mubarak, and with an Islamist party that says it won’t kowtow to U.S. influence. …more

Bahrain: Update – Human rights defender Nabeel Rajab remains in detention as his appeal is adjourned until 27 September
Nabeel RajabNabeel Rajab
10 September, 2012 – Frontline Defenders

On 10 September 2012, the Higher Appeal Court in Manama adjourned prominent human rights defender Mr Nabeel Rajab’s appeal of his three-year prison sentence until 27 September 2012. The human rights defender had a bail application refused during the same hearing.

This comes after his conviction on 16 August 2012 on charges of illegal assembly and disturbing public order by the Bahraini Lower Criminal Court.

Following his wife’s visit on 4 September 2012, which was cut short from one hour to 25 minutes, Sumaya Rajab confirmed that Nabeel Rajab has been subjected to ill-treatment in the form of humiliating personal inspections.

She reported that he had been repeatedly stripped down to his underwear and then forced to stand and sit 40 times. This repeated treatment exacerbated the severe back pain he suffers from due to a herniated disc. Furthermore, he has been beaten on the back on a regular basis and he has been restricted to six litres of water per week, even though he suffers from kidney problems and gallbladder stones. It was also reported that he has been denied the appropriate medical attention.

He continues to be held in solitary confinement.

Nabeel Rajab is President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights. He has campaigned around the world to bring attention to human rights abuses in Bahrain, including the case of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja.

In light of the reported ill-treatment of Nabeel Rajab, Front Line Defenders expresses serious concern for his physical and psychological integrity. Front Line Defenders reiterates its calls on the Bahraini authorities to quash the conviction of Nabeel Rajab, to drop any outstanding charges against him and to effect his immediate and unconditional release. …more

Ninth prisoner dies at Guantanamo
10 September, 2012 – By Ben Fox – Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: A prisoner has died at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the U.S. military said Monday, two days after the man was apparently found unconscious in his cell at the isolated, high-security prison.

The prisoner, whose name and nationality were not released, was found by guards on Saturday and taken to a base hospital, where he was declared dead “after extensive lifesaving measures had been performed,” the U.S. military’s Southern Command said in a brief statement.

He was the ninth prisoner to die at the facility since it was opened in January 2002 to hold men suspected of terrorism or links to al-Qaida and the Taliban. The military has said two of those deaths were by natural causes and six were declared suicides.

The death occurred in Camp 5, a section of the prison used mostly to hold prisoners who have broken detention center rules, said Navy Capt. Robert Durand, a spokesman for the prison.

This prisoner had recently splashed a guard with what military officials call a “cocktail,” typically a mixture of food and bodily fluids, which is why he was on discplinary status, Durand said.

He had been on a hunger strike in the past but had gone off of it on June 1 and was at 95 percent of his ideal body weight and 14 pounds heavier than when he came to Guantanamo, the spokesman said.

The U.S. still holds nearly 170 prisoners at Guantanamo and they range from men the officials have cleared for release but can’t find a stable country to accept them to a handful who have been charged with war crimes. Durand said the man who died Saturday had not been charged and had not been designated for prosecution.

A medical examiner has been brought to the base to determine the exact cause of death and an investigation will be conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which is standard in the death of detainees at Guantanamo.

Durand said the U.S. government was working to notify the man’s family and his country before releasing further information.

…more