14th - 21st June 2013

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahrain accused of systemic repression
Human rights activists imprisoned in Bahrain should be released immediately and unconditionally because their detention is arbitrary, a rights federation said. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, organizations party to French advocacy consortium International Federation for Human Rights, said Friday they were frustrated with the harassment and illtreatment of rights defenders in Bahrain. Read More Hama When European Union ministers meet their counterparts from the Gulf Cooperation Council states for a summit in Bahrain on June 30, the dismal state of that island kingdom's human rights record needs to have a prominent place on the agenda. Despite King Hamad's claims of

Human rights record in Bahrain still abysmal - Europe must act

The country's systemic repression should be on agenda of the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Manama at the end of this month says campaigner

reform, Bahrain is clearly heading down the road of greater repression and the EU ministers should make a point of clearly and publicly saying so. For starters, Europe should call for the release of political prisoners among them three with EU citizenship who languish in jail, some serving life terms, for crimes such as 'possessing political leaets', 'participating in illegal demonstrations' and calling for a constitutional monarchy. Bahrain's claim that it has released all those jailed solely for speech offenses is a blatant lie. Read More it is heading altogether in the wrong direction," HRW Deputy Middle East Director Joe Stork said in a statement Thursday from Brussels. He called on European foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to press Bahrain on political reforms when she meets with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council next week in Manama. Read More Salah Yafai, 33, was released on Saturday and returned to Bahrain the same day. During his detention, his family had no word as to his whereabouts, a human rights organisation says. Read More

U.S., EU Urged to Press Harder for Reform in Bahrain

Human rights groups here are calling for the United States and the European Union (EU) to exert more pressure on Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, to seriously engage its opposition and end its repression of its majority Shi'a population. "Bahrain claims to be on a path of political reform, but it is heading altogether in the wrong direction,"

according to Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), which issued an 87-page report Thursday on how the kingdom is cracking down harder on independent civil society organisations (CSOs). "The new draft law on association just like the continued imprisonment of opposition activists shows all too clearly how the ruling family is rolling back genuine reform on so many fronts," he added. Read More

Rights group: Bahrain has no room for dissent

Human Rights Watch published an 87-page report Thursday accusing Bahrain of enacting legislation restricting the activities of its opponents. "Bahrain claims to be on a path to political reform, but

Bahraini citizen 'disappears' in UAE prison system

The family of a 33-year-old Bahraini man who was arrested nearly two months ago in the United Arab Emirates have had no word as to his whereabouts, according to a human rights organisation.

The Emirates Centre for Human Rights has said that Salah Yafai was arrested at Dubai airport on 26 April 2013. According to the centre he was being held for his membership in a conservative religious society and for tweets in support of jailed political dissidents in the UAE. Read More

Bahraini activist freed in UAE after two months

A Bahraini political activist has been freed in the United Arab Emirates nearly two months after being arrested amid ofcial silence.

Confession video stirs Bahrain, rights group decries police abuse

Footage of what appears to be a forced confession torn by security forces from a protester to implicate his fellows has sparked controversy in Bahrain. This comes as US lawmakers urge the government to allow a visit by the UN torture envoy. A video uploaded on YouTube shows a shirtless young man, who identies

himself as Hussain Jameel Jafer Ali Marhoon from Hamad Town, giving what appears to have been a forced confession to an unseen security ofcer. In the video, Marhoon is forced to answer approximately 60 rapid-re questions in just under three minutes. At one point in the video, when the youth is asked why he was out on the street facing the forces, he becomes noticeably nervous. For several seconds he shifts his gaze to the right of the room, where a sound is heard, without speaking. Read More

Bahrain jails 6 people to 10 years over attack

A Bahraini court sentenced six people to 10 years in prison on Wednesday after they were convicted of carrying out a bombing that wounded two people, the ofcial BNA news agency reported.

The group were accused of "setting tyres ablaze using a gas cylinder to create as much damage as possible to public and private property," public prosecution chief Muhanna al-Shayji was quoted as saying. They are also charged with "intentionally causing a re for terrorist aims that wounded" a woman and her son. Read More citizens from freely expressing themselves and associating with others on the streets of Bahrain to press for change," said Human Rights Watch Britain director David Mepham. The 87-page report published Thursday condemns what Human Rights Watch says are major restraints on the Freedom of Association in Bahrain. Read More

Bahrain parliament endorses GCC security pact

Bahrains parliament has endorsed the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) security pact, saying that it was fully compatible with the countrys constitution and laws. The lower chamber of the bicameral parliament went ahead with the agreement promoted as crucial in

boosting collective security among the six-member states, following a recommendation in its favour by a parliamentary committee. The security pact was approved by the GCC leaders at their advisory summit in Riyadh in May last year, but it needed to be signed by the interior ministers and endorsed by their parliaments. The ministers inked their approval in November. Read More Sunni politicians have organized a campaign against what they termed U.S. intervention in Bahrains domestic affairs. Organizers said the campaign targeted U.S. ambassador to Manama Thomas Krajeski, accused of coordinating with Bahrains Shiite opposition linked to Iran. Read More

HRW: 'No Space for Political Dissent' in Bahrain

New laws and lengthy jail terms for activists have put freedom of association in Bahrain under severe threat, according to a report from Human Rights Watch. The Bahraini authorities are going to great lengths to prevent ordinary Bahraini

Bahrain: protests, rating review, oil price worries? Time to borrow

Strife-torn Bahrain is looking to tap debt markets a week after Moodys placed the Gulf kingdom on review for a possible downgrade.

Sunni leaders in Bahrain petition to expel U.S. envoy

For the rst time, a Gulf Cooperation Council state has overseen a petition to expel the ambassador from the United States.

If Bahrain can get the bond away during tougher market conditions, this will be the second time the Gulf state has issued a sovereign bond since widespread unrest struck the islands in the wake of the Arab spring. Backed militarily and nancially by its larger and nancially more secure neighbour Saudi Arabia, yield-seeking bankers were keen on last Julys $1.5bn 10-year bond. Read More

Syrian regime. On May 28, Abdurrahman returned home in a cofn.

Bahraini Salafists in Spotlight

At the beginning of 2013, 19-year-old Abdurrahman al-Hamd left Bahrain for Syria, driven by a desire to ght in the jihad and to heed the many calls issued by Islamic centers for people to ght against the

string of crimes committed over the last few months, the Project for Middle East Democracyreports:

Immediately afterward, his relatives rushed to publish photos of him in battle, one of which showed him Kalashnikov rie in hand atop a military vehicle ying the Jabhat al-Nusra ag. Read More

Confession video stirs Bahrain regime raids opposition group

Although Bahrains ongoing troubles are domestically focused, the latest developments are a reminder of the regions wider Sunni-Shiite divide and the problematic role played by Iran, writes a prominent analyst. The Bahrain Interior Ministry announced that it had identied members of the February 14 movement who have alleged links to a

mouths and social media across the region. Militant Sunnis in the Arabian Peninsula have attacked the crucial role played by the militant Shia group Hizbollah in supporting Bashar alAssads regime, as Syrias religious divisions spill over into a region critical to world energy security. Read More in a report released today. Bahraini authorities have left hardly any space for peaceful political dissent. Through a mix of restrictive laws and abusive policies, the government is sending a clear message that it will not tolerate calls for reform that challenge the ruling familys monopoly on power. Read More

Syria war fuels sectarianism in Gulf

A tide of condemnation and demonisation of Shia Muslims has ripped through the mostly Sunni Gulf this week, as the Syrian conict sends sectarianism tumbling from preachers

It named 11 arrested suspects as well as 13 individuals who were leading the coalition from abroad, some of whom are based in London. The government has stressed that the groups members frequently travel between Iran, Iraq and Lebanon to obtain nancial and moral support as well as weapons training, as well as communicate with leaders in Iranto receive direct nancial support and eld instructions Read More Bahrain Center for Human Rights and 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), express their deep concern over the sentencing of three human rights defenders to prison on 22 May 2013 as well as about the judicial harassment against Mr. Mohammed Al-Maskati. Read More are women and their shots are instrumental in documenting Bahrains revolution.

Bahrain: Concern over Human Rights Defenders Prosecuted and Sentenced to Prison
Geneva-Manama-Paris, 21 June 2013. In Bahrain, human rights defenders are being harassed, arbitrarily detained for months and illtreated or tortured for their human rights work. The

Bahrain: New Associations Law Spells Repression

(Brussels)--New laws and lengthy jail terms for activists have put freedom of association in Bahrain under severe threat, Human Rights Watch said

Image Rights in Bahrain

Anonymous amateur photographers document the Bahraini revolution in all its forms. Photos have become a potentand efcienttool for frontline activists, who are able to quickly publish their shots online thanks to new technology. Despite public appearances, many of these young photographers

The Al Wefaq political opposition organizes daytime rallies that draw huge crowds, sometimes in the tens of thousands. This is the primary venue for participants in Bahrains resilient protest movement, which remains largely peaceful. Read More