Bahrain

NOVANEWS Angry Arab's chief correspondent on Bahrain sent me this:  "Its not just Syria. There is racism in Bahrain also, especially against Indians. This racism exists in all facets of Bahraini society regardless of political opinion (pro-regime and anti-regime). It is exuberated by the regimes use of expats for its political aims (e.g. Diffusing the labor movement in Bahrain). The regime's line that it is protecting expats is of course laughable. Look at this letter from the chairman of the "Western Expatriate Council" about a meeting with the Prime Minister. Notice that Indians are not worthy of being invited. By the way the late Emir (father of the King) had a private beach which westerners calls Shaikhs beach. Bahrainis were not allowed in the beach and neither were non-western expat...

NOVANEWS Stop Targeting Medics, Patients, Health Facilities Masked soldiers in a hallway at the Salmaniya Medical Complex after military and security forces occupied the hospital on March 16, 2011. © 2011 James Lawler Duggan The attacks on medics and wounded protesters have been part of an official policy of retribution against Bahrainis who supported pro-democracy protests. Medical personnel who criticized the severe repression were singled out and jailed, among the more than 1,600 Bahrainis facing solitary confinement and ill-treatment in detention and unfair trials before a special military court. Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch (Beirut) - The Bahraini government should immediately end its campaign of arrests of medical p...

NOVANEWS by: Dan Williams Published in: The Huffington Post Senior Emergencies researcher Dan Williams. Since mid-April, the government of Bahrain has urged its citizens to sign pledges of allegiance to the country's "wise leadership," saying the signatures would be inscribed on a golden sword whose existence would then be entered in the Guinness Book of World Records, in the category of... well, "sword bearing the largest number of signatures,"according to the official Bahrain News Agency. Allegiance "events" have been held all over the island kingdom -- in stadiums, schools and, in June, at businesses where citizens lined up dutifully to sign the pledge. No reports yet on whether the campaign includes prisons, where hundreds of political protestors and diss...

NOVANEWS "A female member of the al-Khalifa royal family in Bahrain has been accused of repeatedly beating the 20-year-old student poet Ayat al-Gormezi when she was in prison accused of reciting a poem at a pro-democracy protest rally criticising the monarchy." Poet jailed in protests claims she was beaten by Bahraini royal Ayat al-Gormezi says she was tortured while in jail for reciting a poem at a pro-democracy protest. Patrick Cockburn reports 18 July 2011 MAZEN MAHDI/EPA Ayat al-Gormezi arriving at her home last week after her sudden release from prison. She was sentenced to a year in prison last month by a military court after reciting a poem critical of Bahrain's rulers A female member of the al-Khalifa royal family in Bahrain has been accused of repeatedly beating the 20-year-ol...

NOVANEWS My reliable source on Bahrain sent me this (I cite with her permission):  "I just wanted to share with you my thoughts on the Crown Prince today. Will tell you about his so called reforms the past 10 years. As you know he is being touted as a reformer by the media here. He is definitely the best out of the royal family - the one with the cleanest hands. If he were King I doubt he would have authorized this crackdown. Also students with the crown prince scholarships still have their scholarships, unlike the students with the government scholarships. He is also one of the few royals to recognize that Bahrain has a poverty problem. However, he is no democrat definitely part of the problem. He clearly doesn't like his uncle. But instead of weakening his uncle by supporting democratic ...

NOVANEWS "Pity the poor people of Bahrain. They have been shot, beaten, tear-gassed – and patronised. On 7 March, at the height of the pro-democracy protests in the tiny Gulf island kingdom, a crowd gathered outside the US embassy in Manama, the capital, carrying signs that read "Stop supporting dictators" and "Give me liberty or give me death". A US embassy official emerged from the building with a box of doughnuts for the protesters, prompting a cleric in the crowd to remark: "These sweets are a good gesture, but we hope it is translated into practical actions." Let them eat doughnuts: the US response to Bahrain's oppression While the west averts its eyes, Bahrain's people are subjected to brutal suppression. Mehdi Hasan guardian.co.uk, 11 July 2011   David Cameron ...

NOVANEWS Dear All, Just days ago, two things were different – questioning the global “war on drugs” was a huge taboo in government circles, and Formula 1 was set to hold their Grand Prix in Bahrain despite a brutal government crackdown on peaceful democracy protesters. Then our community got involved. Within 72 hours, more than 1 million of us joined these two campaigns, and we won! Formula 1 has, under intense pressure, reversed its decision to race in Bahrain and the UN Secretary-General has agreed to establish a new task force on drugs, with world leaders beginning an historic new debate on regulation and decrimalisation. People power works, and we are seeing it more and more all over the world. Here are two stories of how …Victory in Brutal Bahrain! Bahrain's brutal reg...

NOVANEWS by Stephen Lendman     On June 14, London Independent writer Robert Fisk headlined, “I saw these brave doctors trying to save lives – these charges are a pack of lies,” saying: The Khalifa monarchy “started an utterly fraudulent trial of 48 surgeons, doctors, paramedics and nurses, accusing them of trying to topple the tin-pot monarchy of this Sunni minority emirate.” One of many Bahrain articles addressed this topic, accessed through the following link:Torturing Bahraini Doctors Fisk said he witnessed medical heroism firsthand, “drenched in their patients’ blood, desperately trying to staunch the bullet wounds of pro-democracy demonstrators, shot in cold blood” by state security force thugs, a Khalifa monarchy specialty. “The idea that (these doctors) are guilty of (st...

NOVANEWS   My reliable source on Bahrain sent me this:  "This is a long email.  There's a lot going on in Bahrain now. As you know, the National Dialogue will be occurring in March.  The dialogue will be headed by the head of the Parliament who is sectarian and has the intellect of a first grader.  He is a hardliner and a strong supporter of the regime and the Prime Minister.  Of course he doesn't have any authority since he isn't from the royal family, so the government is basically sending a message to everyone that it isn't serious.  In addition over 60 societies (political and non-political) have been invited to the dialogue. Since the government cares so much about expats all of a sudden, they will be invited too.  Here's a highly informative blogpost discussing the issue: Also...

NOVANEWS by Stephen Lendman   In April, 19 human rights organizations condemned Bahrain as one of the world’s leading terror states, the Al Khalifa monarchy having lost all legitimacy. In a joint press release, they said: The undersigned “severely condemn the authorities’ crackdown on prominent human rights defenders Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and Nabeel Rajab in Bahrain. We are gravely concerned for the safety and well-being of both human rights defenders who are being targeted for their human rights work.” Both were lawlessly arrested, beaten, detained, and brutally tortured as were hundreds of others for supporting democracy, human rights and equal justice. On June 6, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) denounced Bah...