…from beneath the crooked bough, witness 230 years of brutal tyranny by the al Khalifas come to an end

April 21, 2011

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Bahrain.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the ongoing incommunicado and arbitrary detention of Mr. Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, former Regional Protection Coordinator at Front Line and former President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).

On April 20, 2011, Mr. Abdulhadi Al Khawaja was allowed to make a one-minute phone call to his wife. He informed her that he was supposed to appear on April 21, at 8.00 am before the military court. Before this call, Mr. Alkhawaja’s daughter received a call from the military asking her to bring clothes for him.

When his lawyers presented themselves before the military court, they were advised that the hearing will not take place on that date. They could not get any further information nor have access to their client.

The Observatory recalls that Mr. Abdulhadi Al Khawaja is being detained incommunicado since his brutal arrest on April 9, 2011 and that the charges pending against him remain unknown.

The Observatory firmly denounces the violation of his right to due process and fair trial by the Bahraini authorities, his arbitrary detention and the judicial harassment against him which seem to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities. The Observatory is also deeply concerned for his physical and psychological integrity.

The Observatory urges the Bahraini authorities to take the necessary measures to guarantee the safety of Mr. Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and all human rights defenders in Bahrain and, more generally, to comply with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Bahrain, including the International International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Background information:

On April 9, 2011, Mr. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who has been organising peaceful awareness-raising and human rights education activities for protesters in the recent weeks, was arrested at his daughter’s house, along with two of his sons-in-law, Messrs. Wafi Almajid and Hussein Ahmed, by masked policemen who forced entry to the building. The three men, and Mr. Al-Khawaja in particular, were severely beaten up before being taken to an unknown destination. Moreover, Mr. Mohammad Al-Maskati, another Mr. Al-Khawaja’s son-in-law as well as President of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYHRS), who has been monitoring human rights violations committed since the protest movement began, and who was also present in the house, was severely beaten during the raid but not arrested. …more

Bahrain: 102 Human rights defenders express support for Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja
Posted on 2011/04/21

Today 102 human rights from across the Middle East and North Africa region issued a statement of support for imprisoned human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja in Bahrain.

Full Text of Statement:

We condemn in the strongest terms the use of excessive violence during his arrest, without a judicial warrant, along with his two sons in law, Mr. Wafi Almajid and Mr. Hussein Ahmed, followed by their detention in an unidentified location and to trial Mr. Al-Khawaja before a military court. We strongly emphasize that the arbitrary measures taken against him are a direct result of his human rights work. We believe that these massive violations constitute strong evidence that the government of Bahrain works contrary to all human rights laws.

Al-Khawaja is not only a distinguishable and well-respected human rights figure in our region, but rather on the international level as well. Consequently, the way in which the authorities in Bahrain have treated Al-Khawaja reflects their disregard for human rights values and their adoption of hostile measures against the work that HRDs contribute to human rights in general, and the work which Al-Khawaja contributes, being one of the most prominent HRDs, in particular.

We hold the authorities in Bahrain responsible for all these blatant violations of human rights and demand that the perpetrators be referred to the competent courts immediately. We further hold the authorities responsible for ensuring the safety of Al-Khawaja and we call for his immediate release along with the detained members of his family. …more

21 April 2011 – A senior United Nations official today called for an investigation into the deaths of two media professionals in Bahrain who died earlier this month while held in detention.

Karim Fakhrawi, the co-founder of the country’s only independent newspaper Al-Wasat, died in custody on 12 April, one week after he was arrested.

The non-governmental group Reporters without Borders (RSF) quotes the authorities as saying that Mr. Fakhrawi died of kidney failure, but this has been contested by his family, who claims he had been in good health at the time of his arrest.

Online writer Zakariya Rashid Hassan died in detention on 9 April, according to RSF. He had been arrested a week earlier allegedly on charges of inciting hatred, disseminating false news, promoting sectarianism and calling for the regime’s overthrow.

His family has reportedly rejected the official claim that he died as a result of complications from sickle cell anaemia.

“The circumstances surrounding their deaths are indeed troubling and I urge the authorities of Bahrain to carry out a thorough investigation into these incidents,” said Irina Bokova, the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). …more

Bahrain: International pressure needed now to halt spiralling human rights crisis
21 April 2011

More than 500 people, the vast majority Shi’a Muslims, have been arrested in the last month.

Bahrain’s allies must take stronger action to address the rapidly worsening human rights crisis in the small but strategic Gulf state, Amnesty International said today as it released a new briefing paper on the continuing suppression of peaceful protest.

In Bahrain: A Human Rights Crisis, Amnesty International calls on governments with close ties to Bahrain to press for an end to the crackdown on those calling for change.

“North American and European governments, so vocal recently in espousing the cause of human rights in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, need also to speak out loudly about what is going on in Bahrain” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“To avoid the charge of double standards, they must be much more robust in pressing the Bahraini authorities to uphold their international human rights obligations.” …more

Bahraini Rulers Play Sectarian Card in Bid to Trump Pro-democracy Movement
by Finian Cunningham — Global Research, April 19, 2011

Increasing attacks on Shia mosques in the Bahraini state’s withering crackdown against the pro-democracy movement is a deliberate attempt to isolate the political opposition and amounts to a campaign of “sectarian cleansing”, say human rights groups.

Over the past four weeks since the Saudi-led Gulf Peninsula Shield military intervention in Bahrain, there appears to be a concerted drive by pro-state Sunni forces to target repression at the Shia population and in particular Shia mosques and other religious sites, such as cemeteries and meeting places known as Mattams.

Some mosques have been vandalized, with their doors, windows and the PA systems used in the call to prayer having been smashed. More recently, other mosques, such as the 800-year-old Al Shaboor, near the capital, Manama, have in the past week been razed to the ground with bulldozers. A similar fate was met by five mosques in Hamad Town, about 15km south of Manama.

The pro-democracy uprising that began on February 14 rocked the US-backed Sunni rulers for almost a month before the other Gulf states sent in heavily armed contingencies to quell the protests. But the nature of the military intervention has evidently gone beyond its initial avowed remit of restoring “security and stability”. Over 34 unarmed civilians have been killed, two-thirds of whom since the Saudi-led forces arrived. The latest victim is a 24-year-old woman, Azeeza Ahmed, who was shot dead when army and police raided her home in the village of Belad Al Qadeem on April 16. Up to 600 people, including medics, lawyers and academics, have been unlawfully detained, their whereabouts unknown. At least four people have died while in custody, their released bodies showing signs of torture. Some 1,000 workers have been sacked from jobs in major state-owned industries, accused of participating in anti-regime protests. And the vast majority of these victims of repression are Shia.

Nabeel Rajab, of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, describes the ongoing repression by the Sunni rulers as a “campaign of sectarian cleansing” against the Shia population. The upsurge in seemingly wanton attacks on Shia mosques and religious sites is clearly demonstrative of this, he says. Such attacks, as with the previously mentioned violations, Rajab points out, constitute crimes against humanity – crimes that the governments of the six Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, are in effect party to. …more

Posted on 2011/04/21

Front Line Deputy Director Andrew Anderson who is currently on mission in Bahrain was this morning (21st April) refused access to the hearing of imprisoned human rights defender, and former Front Line Regional Protection Coordinator, Abdulhadi Al-khawaja at the Military Court in Rifaa.

On 9 April 2011, human rights defender Mr Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja was arrested and beaten unconscious by police in Al-Manama, Bahrain. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is a former Protection Co-ordinator for Front Line and former President of the Bahrain

Centre for Human Rights (BCHR). The arrest of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is an indication of the increasingly hardline being taken by the Bahraini authorities which has resulted in a recent spate of arrests.

At approximately 03.00 am on 9 April 2011, masked police forced entry to the home of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja’s daughter, where he was present at the time. Upon entry, the police officers – one of whom reportedly spoke English, and no Arabic – proceeded to assault Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, along with human rights defender Mr Mohammed Al-Maskati, President of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), who was present at the time.

Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja was dragged down the stairs of the house by the neck, and beaten by five officers, who refused to stop despite his claims that he could not breathe. His daughter, Zainab Al-Khawaja, was assaulted when she attempted to intervene. The women present in the house were then locked in a room and prevented from leaving.

Speaking from the capital Manama Andrew Anderson said “The Bahraini Defence Force officer to whom I spoke this morning said that he was not even in a position to confirm whether the hearing was taking place and that this was a matter for the office of the Military Prosecutor. The authorities stated that Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja had been arrested by the judicial police for his involvement in ‘crimes against the security of the Kingdom of Bahrain’ and that he will be able to meet with his lawyer as soon as the case is referred to the Military Prosecutor.”

Front Line thanked the authorities for allowing Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja to speak by phone with his family on 20th April and for allowing the family to deliver clothes and medicines for Abdulhadi on the morning of the 21st. “The family told me that they were very concerned by the fact that when they spoke with Abdulhadi he sounded very weak, had trouble speaking clearly and was unable to confirm that he had been treated properly, saying only that his ‘spirit was strong’”, said Mr Anderson.

Front Line is calling on the authorities to authorise the family to meet Abdulhadi and that Abdulhadi should be given free access to his lawyer. Furthermore Front Line is reiterating its request to the authorities to observe the hearing against Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and for permission to meet him. …source

BAHRAINI OPPOSITION LEADER FEARED TORTURED

Ebrahim Sharif, one of several prominent opposition leaders detained in Bahrain in March, was transferred on or around 10 April to a military hospital in al-Riffa’, central Bahrain. His family has not had access to him since he was detained. Amnesty International fears he might be at risk of torture or ill-treatment.

Ebrahim Sharif, Secretary General of the National Democratic Action Society (Waad), a secular political opposition association in Bahrain, was arrested at his house in Manama on 17 March. Since that day his family has not been allowed to visit him and he is believed to be held in military custody. Amnesty International has received reports that he may have been subjected to torture or other ill-treatment after his arrest.

Ebrahim Sharif was admitted to the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) military hospital in al-Riffa’, central Bahrain, reportedly for the second time on or around 10 April and his family does not know if he is still there. According to information received by Amnesty International, a patient at the hospital saw Ebrahim on 10 April and recognized him despite his swollen face, raising concerns that he may have been assaulted and otherwise tortured in detention. His family has officially requested visits to Ebrahim Sharif twice; the first time days after his arrest and the second time in the week of 18 April, but their requests have not received any answer from the authorities. Amnesty International fears that Ebrahim Sharif remains at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. …more

PRESS RELEASE: Bahrain – Head of University Department Imprisoned – Tuesday, 19 April 2011 15:38

The crackdown on academics and free thought continues as Dr Masaud Jahromi is inexplicably imprisoned.

Dr Masaud Jahromi, Chairman of the engineering department at Ahlia University in Bahrain, was arrested at 2:30AM on 14th April 2011; having been beaten and dragged from his bed in front of his family. His family, students, friends and colleagues are unaware of his whereabouts and health.

Dr Jahromi is a widely respected academic and engineer. He was awarded his PhD from the University of Kent, UK; having already earned his MSc and BSc from the University of Manchester, UK, and the University of Bahrain respectively.

Professor Hamed al-Raweshidy, who supervised Masaud at the University of Kent, is shocked that a former student is being mistreated like this. “Masaud was one of the hardest working, cooperative, and mild mannered individuals I have ever come across. He was not only my top student, but also a wonderful professional. There is no doubt in my mind that the Bahraini authorities have got this completely wrong”.

Massoud Shadjareh, the chair of IHRC, said:
“The indiscriminate arrests in Bahrain continue, as the case of Dr Masaud Jahromi reminds us. His imprisonment highlights the sorry state of affairs where the Bahraini regime has ceased to feel obliged to even offer an excuse before imprisoning its citizens.” …source

Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Payne, McGovern and Baldwin denounce human rights abuses in Bahrain.

Congressman Donald M. Payne, Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights, came together with Congressman James McGovern and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin to issue the following statement:

“We would like to express our deep concern over the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain and our support for the aspiration and peaceful struggle of the people of Bahrain. We are troubled by the deteriorating health of prominent human rights activist and nursing mother, Zainab al-Khawaja, who began a hunger strike on April 9th 2011 to raise attention to the violent arrest of her father, husband and brother-in-law.

Activists who speak out against the Bahraini government’s repressive campaign have endured arrests and threats to themselves or their families. Over the last two weeks, at least four protesters have died in police custody. We are deeply concerned with Bahrain’s attempt to stifle peaceful political opposition, including the attack on Bahrain’s largest opposition group, the Shiite bloc al-Wafaq.

The violent crackdown by Bahraini security forces on protesters and arbitrary arrests of political dissidents must not fall on deaf ears. The United States must not allow political alliances to prevent us from denouncing human rights abuses, particularly when they are perpetrated against peaceful demonstrators.

Bahrain must ensure the security of detainees and we urge the Administration to insist on the release of those detained for peacefully opposing the Bahraini regime. We also call for an independent international investigation into the deaths of government-held protesters.

The United States must continue to support the democratic aspirations of all people. ”
…source

Bahraini protester ends hunger strike

Zainab al-Khawaja says plight of her detained family is better highlighted if she uses her voice to support protest movement.

Zainab al-Khawaja had been on hunger strike for 10 days in protest at Bahrain soldiers’ treatment of her father, husband and brother-in-law. Photograph: Hasan Jamali/AP

Zainab al-Khawaja, the Bahraini human rights activist who witnessed her father, husband and brother-in-law being beaten and imprisoned by masked soldiers earlier this month has ended her hunger strike.

The 27-year-old mother of one told the Guardian that she has decided to stop her 10-day fast after becoming convinced that “being silent in a tomb and not able to speak is not in the interests of my family.”

Her decision follows pressure from human rights groups who tried to persuade her to use her voice in support of the protest movement, arguing that the Bahraini government would rather she were dead than alive.

Meanwhile, Khawaja’s hopes of seeing her family again were given a boost, after relatives received phonecalls from the authorities on Wednesday indicating that the three men were alive.

Khawaja’s husband, Wafi Almajed, called his mother from custody and asked for his father to bring clothes, a toothbrush and shampoo for him to the fort in Manama, the capital.

Bahraini officials also phoned making the same request for Khawaja’s brother-in-law, Hussein Ahmed, and asked the family to bring essentials to a military court for her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. The 50-year-old is a prominent critic of the regime who was targeted after he called for the king of Bahrain to face trial. It is thought that Almajed and Ahmed were seized because they were with him at the time.

“We feel so happy,” she said. “A few hours ago we were worried if they were dead. At least we know they are OK now. We had very little hope yesterday, so today is a great day.” …more

by PressTV – April 18, 2011

Bahraini security forces have reportedly arrested several teachers and students in the town of Hamad in a new wave of crackdown on anti-regime protesters.

Reports say at least eight teachers and several pupils from an all-girl secondary school were arrested in the Bahraini city.

The new arrests came as Bahraini anti-government protesters are preparing to start the world’s largest joint hunger strike to show their anger with the regime’s crackdown on peaceful demonstrators.

The organizers have called on all Bahrainis around the world to begin a hunger strike from Monday in protest against the regime’s brutalities against the opposition.

The move was inspired by rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja who was hospitalized on Sunday after seven days of hunger strike.

She is protesting the detention of several of her relatives, including her father and husband. The human rights activists were detained earlier this month by Bahraini security forces, backed by troops from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. …more

Interview with Nabeel Rajab, president for the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Manama – PressTV April 20, 2011 [excerpt]

The Bahraini Government seeks to cause conflict between the Sunnis and Shias by systematically targeting the Shia population and their institutions.

In an interview with Press TV, Nabeel Rajab, president for the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, elaborates on the crisis in Bahrain.

Press TV: You’ve been quoted by the Center for Research and Globalization in an article as saying that what’s going on now in Bahrain is “a campaign of sectarian cleansing.”

I find that interesting considering that we’ve always been speaking about how this is not a sectarian issue and that the government in Bahrain, and even the Saudi government, have been using this sectarian issue a lot. Do you see that issue at all, scaring some people off from the streets?

Rajab: Well, first of all, since this issue is very sensitive I have to clarify that when I say sectarian, I mean the government is targeting the Shias, and I don’t mean the Sunnis are targeting the Shias.

The government, who happens to be Sunnis targeting Shias, is not based on religion but on a political dispute, a political crisis, and they try to use religion to mobilize more people with them. This is a long story by our nation and around the countries, and the international community as well.

When you put hundreds of people in jail from one sectarian background, when you terminate thousands of people from their jobs based on a sectarian background, when you stop studies and pull all sorts of students studying abroad based on a sectarian background, when you kill more than 30 people in those few weeks with four of them in custody being tortured until death based on a sectarian background, when you demolish their mosques and their worshipping places, shrines which have been there for hundreds of years before the existence of the ruling family in this country, all this together, you can call it “sectarian cleansing.” …more

Urgent UN rights meeting on Mideast unrest planned
The Associated Press Wednesday, April 20, 2011 | 5:25 a.m.

Western diplomats say several nations are negotiating for an emergency session of the U.N.’s top human rights body to examine the government crackdowns on popular unrest that have swept the Middle East and North Africa.

Diplomats told The Associated Press on Wednesday that a special session of the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council could take place in Geneva as soon as next week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The meeting on protecting human rights amid peaceful protests avoids publicly singling out any countries. But diplomats confirmed that Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria would be among the nations whose violent suppression of protests would be on the agenda.

(Manama) – Unknown assailants lobbed teargas grenades at the home of a leading Bahraini human rights defender in the early hours of April 18, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack, which took place at 3:30 a.m. in the village of Bani Jamra, targeted the home of Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and a member of the Human Rights Watch Middle East Advisory Committee.
Rajab said two of the grenades spread gas into the adjacent home of his 78-year-old mother, who suffers from respiratory disease, causing her great distress. The third grenade did not detonate. To Human Rights Watch’s knowledge, only Bahrain’s security forces have access to the types of grenades that were thrown into the Rajab family’s compound. ..more

The US, Western powers and human rights groups are silent on the crimes underway in Bahrain because of their own interests in the region rather than of true democracy.

In an interview with Press TV, Dr. Syed Ali Wasif, professor from Trinity University, says that President Obama would be liable for participating in war crimes under UN International Peace and Security rules because of his support of dictatorial and brutal regimes directly involved in the Bahraini bloodshed.

Press TV: Regarding the brutality being used by the Bahraini regime and Saudi forces towards these protesters who just want democracy and equal rights in the country, we do know that the US is going into Libya to protect its people, but of course things change when the country in question is a financial hub as well as housing the US Navy’s fifth fleet. How long can the US maintain its silence as far as Bahrain goes?

Wasif: Unfortunately, all these actions which we have just heard taken by the Bahraini government are all against international legal norms, all against international human rights law, all against the Geneva Convention.

We have a typical example of what we call in international legal circles as an internal and international armed conflict, and that is basically the case of Bahrain. It’s an international as well as an internal armed conflict.

Though it’s not exactly an arms conflict, the offices of those conventions employ such a dispute. We have brutal force being used against the innocent and unarmed protesters there. It’s a total matter of war crimes, human rights violations and crimes against humanity. ..more

THE ROVING EYE
Fear and loathing in the House of Saud
By Pepe Escobar

Early last week, US President Barack Obama sent a letter to Saudi King Abdullah, delivered in person in Riyadh by US National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon. This happened less than a week after Pentagon head Robert Gates spent a full 90 minutes face to face with the king.

These two moves represented the final seal of approval of a deal struck between Washington and Riyadh even before the voting of UN Security Council resolution 1973 (see Exposed: the Saudi-US Libya deal, Apr 1, Asia Times Online). Essentially, the Obama administration will not say a word about how the House of Saud conducts its ruthless repression of pro-democracy protests in Bahrain and across the Persian Gulf. No ”humanitarian” operations. No R2P (”responsibility to protect”). No no-fly or no-drive zones.

Progressives of the world take note: the US-Saudi counter-revolution against the Great 2011 Arab Revolt is now official.

Those ‘pretty influential guys’
The wealthy, truculent clan posing as a perpetual absolute monarchy that goes by the name House of Saud wins on all fronts. Last month’s ”Day of Rage” inside the kingdom was ruthlessly preempted – with the (literal) threat that protesters would have their fingers cut off. …more

U.S. wants dialogue in Bahrain

WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) — The Bahraini government and members of the opposition need to find a political solution to turmoil in the country, the U.S. State Department said.

Human Rights Watch said assailants targeted the home of Bahraini human rights advocate Nabeel Rajab early Monday with tear gas grenades.

Human Rights Watch said authorities accused Rajab of fabricating photos showing apparent signs of torture on the body of a man who died in custody April 9. Human Rights Watch said the photos were authentic.

The minority Sunni-led government in Bahrain is facing criticism for its response to a Shiite uprising in the country.

Mark Toner, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Washington was pressuring authorities to show respect for human rights as well as advance political dialogue that leads to a resolution.

Bahrain’s brutal crackdown
19 Apr 2011

As Bahraini soldiers — aided by foreign troops — crush protests, youth activist Mohammed Al-Maskati, whose family have been detained, asks the international community to speak out

On 14 February 2011, the people of Bahrain took to the streets in peaceful and civilised protests in order to demand reforms that would guarantee their basic human rights and freedom. The government chose to suppress the people by force, using riot police and deploying the army.

Two months later, and the situation has escalated to a very dangerous and disturbing level. Currently, soldiers from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) are being utilised to restrain protesters demands by any means necessary disregarding any civil laws, or even basic human rights.

At the present there are more than 600 detainees including human right activists, political figures, doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers and even students. Thirty people have died, from direct bullet wounds, or sustained injuries. Four activists have died in police detention as a result of torture.

The majority of the detainees were arrested in the middle of the night. Armed and masked military units break down doors and enter houses with no warrants, no warnings. In most of these cases the contents of raided houses were damaged severely. …more

Saturday, April 16,2011 09:57 – IkhwanWeb

Change has definitely come to the Arab world and it has come at the hands of the youth. They are not just changing the political scene, but also how Westerners see the Middle East .

The Arab youth are rising up against authoritarian governments and so far they have fought and won two revolutions, and more is on the way.

From subservient, disenfranchised young people, the Arab youth have turned into victorious rebels whose subtle influence has stretched from Tunisia , Egypt , Libya , Bahrain and Yemen .

The youth are not interested in political intrigue or Islamic radicalism; they just want freedom, education, jobs and marriage. …more

(Reuters) – Bahrain’s foreign minister said on Monday Saudi and UAE forces called in to help quell street unrest would leave only when “any external threat” he associated with Iran was seen to be gone.

Pro-democracy demonstrators in Bahrain have denied any link with the Islamic Republic.

Bahrain’s prime minister described the several weeks of anti-government protests by the Sunni Muslim-ruled country’s disaffected Shi’ite majority as a coup attempt and said those who took part would be held to account.

The mostly Shi’ite protesters in the outpouring of unrest in February and March demanded more freedom, an end to discrimination and a constitutional monarchy in Bahrain, a U.S. ally that hosts Washington’s Fifth Fleet. ..more

As the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters continues in the Gulf state of Bahrain, we speak with Zainab Alkhawaja, whose father, husband and brother-in-law were detained last Saturday following a late night raid at their home. Zainab is on the eighth day of a hunger strike that she vows to continue until her family members are released. We also speak with Human Rights Watch researcher, Faraz Sanei, who just spent six weeks in Bahrain. “What we’re seeing in Bahrain today is a full-scale crackdown on any sort of dissent in the country,” Sanei says. “We are now seeing an absolute slide into a police state and dictatorship in Bahrain. …more

“Bahrain is sliding rapidly towards absolute dictatorship, and the authorities seem intent on creating and deepening sectarian divisions. The Bahraini trade unions have been at the forefront of the movement for dialogue, peace and reconciliation, yet the government has clearly decided to try and destroy them. The international trade union movement will not simply stand by and allow this to happen. If the government does not change course, the global diplomatic and economic consequences will be severe,” said Wienen.

Some 2,000 workers in 30 mainly government enterprises have been sacked for joining trade union actions in support of dialogue and an end to violence, including 6 members of the Executive of the ITUC-affiliated General Federation of Bahraini Trade Unions (GFBTU) and 22 local trade union leaders. The ITUC understands that employees of the key employer body, the Chamber of Commerce, have also been dismissed.

The campaign of intimidation by government-sponsored groups has intensified in recent days, with the appearance of billboards including names and photographs of opposition leaders, calling for “no mercy and execution”. …more

Mass Hunger Strike Begins Monday in Bahrain
By: Siun Sunday April 17, 2011 6:00 pm

As the news from Bahrain continues to get worse, the opposition once more takes nonviolent action to move the world to intervene. Inspired by Zeinab Alkhawaja (@angryarabiya) hundreds of Bahrainis and their supporters worldwide will begin a four day hunger strike beginning Monday:

This peaceful civilized movement has been suppressed brutally. And that was not enough for the criminal Bahraini regime and the Saudi nasty invader… what they planned for and what they are doing now is a decadent sectarian, ethnic cleansing. More than 25 martyrs were killed; four of them were killed under the brutal torture in custody. There are more than 500 detainees that no one knows what the situation they are living in detention is, 30 of them are women, and 116 of them are kids, all of them were arrested because they had a mouth that wanted to speak for freedom…

Me, you, anyone of your family might be with them in any moment… just being one of the people who passed by a protest one day is an enough reason to be arrested, save the detainees lives and save yourself from being arrested…

One more time Bahrainis will prove to the whole world that they are peaceful civilized people; they are going to raise their demand through a hunger strike this time, join it pro-freedom protest against the unjustness in Bahrain…

Zeinab’s own hunger strike continues and her health is quickly deteriorating. When family members took her to a hospital for care, they were informed that treatment would require notification of the authorities – who are known to then arrive and kidnap the patients – so she is home without treatment and getting weaker. …more

By Fredrik Richter and Martina Fuchs

MANAMA/DUBAI | Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:54am EDT

MANAMA/DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrain’s prime minister, who has faced calls for his ouster by street protesters, described the unrest as a coup attempt and said those who took part would be held to account.

The country’s foreign minister said Saudi and UAE troops called in to help quell weeks of pro-democracy protests by the Sunni Muslim-ruled country’s disgruntled Shi’ite majority would stay until an Iranian threat is judged to be over.

“Bahrain has witnessed a coup attempt,” Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa said in remarks carried by pro-government media on Monday. “No violators would get away with it. All co-conspirators and abettors must be held accountable.”

Weeks of anti-government protests in February and March by mostly Shi’ite protesters demanded more freedom, an end to discrimination and a constitutional monarchy in the Sunni-ruled country, a U.S. ally that hosts Washington’s Fifth Fleet.

Bahraini rulers crushed the protests last month, deploying security forces in the capital and calling in troops from Gulf neighbors Saudi Arabia and the UAE under the aegis of a Gulf defense pact, a move demonstrators saw as an act of war. …more

Bahrain: New attacks on democracy movement
Sunday, April 17, 2011
By Ash Pemberton

The Bahraini government has ordered the dissolution of two opposition political parties. The move is part of its crackdown against the pro-democracy movement that broke out in February.

The al-Wefaq and al-Amal parties were ordered to dissolve for “threatening peace”. The order is in response to their involvement in the protests that called for the removal of the Khalifah royal family, which has ruled the country for more than 200 years, the April 14 Washington Post said.

Four people were killed in police custody after authorities launched a campaign of mass arrests, CNN.com said on April 13. At least two of those killed showed signs of torture.

Human Rights Watch said at least 430 people have been arrested in the crackdown.

The Bahraini government has also attacked media organisations critical of the crackdown. Three editors of the Al-Wasat newspaper have been charged with publishing “fabricated news” and “false pictures”.

The crackdown began on March 15 after troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded Bahrain to assist the government’s failing efforts to stop the protests.

More than 30 people were killed and hundreds injured since the protests began on February 15.

The US has remained silent about the repression. Bahrain has long been a key ally for the US, due to its strategic position in the Persian Gulf. It also hosts the US navy’s fifth fleet and a US airbase. …source