13/14th November 2012

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahrain revokes citizenships of 31 people
There have been calls for the international community to do more to help a group of Bahraini opposition supporters who've had their citizenship revoked. A statement on Bahrain's Interior Ministry website says the country's citizenship law allows it to reconsider nationality if a Bahraini damages national security. Emma Hayward reports. Read More and security forces have become near-nightly occurrences.

Stateless in Seconds: Bahrain's 'Big Brother' Erases Jawal and Jalal Fairooz [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]
Imagine you are in a foreign country, and suddenly receive a midnight call from your wife, weeping, who tells you the TV has announced you have been stripped of your nationality. That is what happened to two Bahraini brothers, Jawad and Jalal Fairooz, who were

previously members of their country's main opposition party al-Wefaq . They were in London when Bahrain's interior ministry announced that 31 opposition gures are poised to have their nationality removed and become stateless people, citing a 1963 law that permitted the "re-evaluation of nationality" and claiming that the decision was "in conformity with the kingdom's commitments under international law". Read More amounted to a declaration of national emergency, banning all protest gatherings. The Ministry also threatened to take legal action against groups or individuals who dared to advocate further protests. The move was in response to a resurgence of antigovernment demonstrations that rst began in February 2011 and resulted in the deaths of nearly sixty people in a country with a population of barely 1.2 million. Read More Meanwhile, other critics fear that the new supply of weapons could be utilized to launch a war of retaliation against Israel, as well as blocking a pre-emptive strike the Israeli military is planning against Iran. According to Al-Jazeera, Qatar and UAE look to bolster defense systems. Countries request sale of up to $7.6bn in Lockheed Martin Corp. missiledefense systems to counter perceived threats. Read More

Bahrain Unable to Silence Unrest

Continuing anti-government activity in Bahrain has shown that the nations unrest is far from over, and some analysts say its most violent days are yet to come. Bahrain has been grappling with an anti-government backlash for 21 months, and clashes between protesters

In a move heavily criticized by rights groups, the government banned public gatherings after a policeman was killed during a midOctober protest. Less than a week later, ve homemade bombs exploded in the capital Manama, killing two foreign workers and seriously wounding another. Read More in detention over a year ago. The beating was so severe that he now has 18 plates and 36 screws in his face and is in chronic pain. His family has petitioned the prison and the courts to allow Khawaja access to better medical attention, but their petitions have been ignored. Khawaja was jailed in April 2011 and is now serving a life sentence for defying the ruling regime. He has been repeatedly abused in prison and went on a 110-day hunger strike to protest his treatment. Read More

The New Crisis in Bahrain

Bahrain is fast emerging as the new tinderbox in the Middle East. Although that country has not received much attention from the Western news media, which has been obsessed with Iran, Syria, and the U.S. presidential election, recent developments are profoundly disturbing. On October 30, Bahrains Interior Ministry imposed what

Beat up by security forces, Bahraini activist barred from seeing doctors

A leading human rights activist is being barred from themedical treatment he urgently needs, despite repeated attempts by human rights organisations to get him help. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, one of the leaders of Bahrain's peaceful uprising, was brutally beaten on the head

Obama Approves Arms Deal for Bahrain

Global human rights groups are expressing outrage that President Barack Obama endorsed a $7.6 billion missiledefense system deal with Bahrain, which faces accusations that its government has enforced a brutal Syrian-style crack down on Arab Spring demonstrators.

Bahrain 1st-Hand: Former MP Matar Matar "It is Difficult to See an Internal Solution"
Two weeks ago at Boston College, I met Matar Ebrahim Matar who describes himself as "the youngest Ex-MP representing the largest constituency in Bahrain. Detained for 3 months for defending the legitimate demands of ppl of Bahrain. Now free!" Matar was traveling with Bahraini journalist Nada Alwadi in an attempt to raise

awareness of the plight of the Bahraini opposition. The presentation was timely --both spoke of a rapidly decaying situation over the last several months. Since we posted a timeline of recent events, there have been more clashes, more arrests, and more deaths. For the rst time, police blocked civilians from attending a Friday prayer ceremony led by Sheikh Isa Qasim, attacking with teargas and birdshot anyone who tried to reach the Duraz mosque. As 16-year-old Ali Abbas Radhi ran from the police, he was struck by a car and was killed. Read More

Bahraini Court Sentences Nearly Two Dozen Opponents

A court in the capital reported today that it had sentenced 19 government opponents to ve years in prison, accused of wanting to kill police who suppressed protests in recent months against Bahrain monarchy. The court based its accusation on the fact that the protesters threw

homemade molotov cocktails at police who repressed public protests in favor of democracy and against the monarchy last December. The sentences are the most recent of a series of similar rulings against members of opposition parties and doctors and nurses of the Shiite Muslim community, accused of attending to participants injured by policemen during strikes in this capital and other cities. Read More who are government supporters, of attacking and insulting her. She will have to pay a ne of 100 BD (210 euros) and a total of 500 BD in compensation to the doctors (BD 200 to each of the two she allegedly attacked and BD 100 to the one she allegedly insulted) The appeal courts decision is just the latest in a series of rulings that demonstrate the Bahraini judicial systems complete lack of independence. The court did not examine the evidence provided by Khalifas lawyer. Read More

Bahrain forces attack protesters in NW, NE

Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have attacked anti-regime protesters in the northwest and northeast of the Persian Gulf island, using teargas canisters and rubber bullets. Bahraini protesters marched in the villages of Diraz in the

northwest, Sitra in the northeast as well as the Muqabah village to show their support for the families of those killed in the regime crackdown of anti-regime demonstrations since last year. The protests were held despite the Al Khalifa regimes ban on all demonstrations and public gatherings across the state. Read More

DENIAL OF JUSTICE AND JAIL SENTENCES FOR BAHRAINI NEWS PROVIDERS

A Manama appeal court yesterday upheld journalist Reem Khalifas conviction on a trumped-up charge of physically attacking two women doctors and insulting a third after a Manama news conference in July 2011. The charges were brought against Khalifa after she accused the three doctors,