7/30/2007 7:40:13 PM

96 Indians have died in Bahrain so far this year and one report claims 20 per cent of them were suicides
The Middle East principality has undergone a construction boom on the backs of labourers recruited from the Indian subcontinent. But these labourers live in squalid conditions, have financial difficulties and often suffer from home sickness.

Mohamed Shafiq, a Bangladeshi labourer, lives with numerous other immigrants in squalid conditions in Bahrain. "I have been in Bahrain for four and a half years. My employer has taken my passport so I can't go home. I have had no work for five months. I am unwell, I have diabetes and I have no money to get myself medical treatment. I am struggling hard to survive," he says.

http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Bahrain/10143007.html

07/30/2007 11:49 PM | By Suad Hamada, Special to Gulf News

Manama: Domestic help will be included in the six-month amnesty for expatriates starting Wednesday, the Labour Minister said yesterday.

Although all violators of residency regulations would be allowed to correct their situations, expatriates in detention centres and criminal offenders would not be included, the minister clarified.

Dr Majid Bin Mohsen Al Alawi told a press conference at the Labour Market Reforms Authority (LMRA) that the amnesty would be a good chance to clean the labour market and regularise the stay of many expatriate workers.

By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 28th July 2007

YOUNG people from villages across Bahrain have been snapping up the chance to receive training in how to prevent violent clashes between police and demonstrators, say human rights activists.

Around 70 men and women have taken part in the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) scheme, which is said to be the first of its kind in the Middle East.

Activists have already held workshops in Bani Jamra, Sanabis and in Manama, showing young people how to diffuse potential conflicts and avoid clashes that injure policemen and demonstrators.

Bahrainis shocked as infamous ex-spy chief visits country
http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Bahrain/10141574.html

07/24/2007 11:05 PM | Gulf News Report

Manama: Al Wefaq Shiite bloc MP Jalal Fairoz has threatened to take up the issue in parliament if Ian Henderson, former head of Bahrain Security and Intelligence Bureau British Officer, fails to leave Bahrain immediately.

Fairoz told Gulf News yesterday that his sources confirmed to him that the infamous former British officer, who was involved in human rights violations in Bahrain, entered the country on a private visit on Sunday.

With help, former detainee to start a new life
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Juma Al Dossary, one of the former Bahraini Guantanamo Bay detainies, is unlikely to return to the Kingdom according to his family. He will stay in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi government plans to give the former detainee a car, a job and expenses to get married and start a new life. This was revealed by human rights activist Nabeel Rajab.
He told the Tribune: “Juma was informed three weeks before his departure by the US authorities in Guantanamo Bay whether he would like to move with a group of Saudi detainees who were released or stay back until they plan to release the Bahrain detainees. He has a dual citizenship and choose to be freed along with 15 Saudi detainees. This makes his chances for his return to Bahrain slim as he chose to be with the Saudi group.”

By RASHA AL QAHTANI
Published: 24th July 2007

A NEW law sparked by the case of missing toddler Bader Jawad Hussain Mubarak is being drafted by four Shura Council members. Council member and Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS) regional and international director Faisal Fulad is spearheading the proposal, expected to be submitted by the end of September.

The three-year-old vanished while playing outside his home in Samaheej on July 10 and the search is continuing.

"This is the second case of a child going missing - how many children have to go missing until we have a child protection law that may prevent such incidents," he said.

Unrest in paradise
Crossing Continents
Thursday 26 July 2007
At 1102 BST on BBC Radio 4

Bahrain is increasingly featured in holiday brochures as a relaxing winter-sun destination for the weary north European.

The image Bahrain projects is one of a wealthy, progressive and open society - an evolving Arab democracy.

But there is a different story behind the prosperity and glitz.

This strategically positioned nation in the Gulf is wrestling with social and religious divisions that at times explode into riots.

Unlike the other Gulf states, Bahrain has a Shia majority. But its rulers, the Al Khalifa royal family, are Sunni.

By Bill Law
BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents

Periodic unrest in the Gulf state of Bahrain has been blamed by some on Iranian influence but local people speak of more immediate grievances.

The smell of tear gas hung in the air that night. Ahead of us a group of young men drifted across a road. Piles of garbage and tyres were burning in the night. And up ahead was a line of riot police.

I approached the line and was stopped by an officer in a balaclava. As tear-gas canisters fired off in a volley he told me: "You have no permission to be here. Please leave now."

It was 2 July in Malkiya, a small Shia fishing village on the outskirts of Manama, the capital city of Bahrain.

Riots reinforce Bahrain rulers' fears
By Bill Law in Manama, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:11am BST 22/07/2007

The acrid smell of tear gas hung in the air as a group of young men drifted across a street where piles of garbage and tyres were burning.

Storm of protest: Shia youths carry an injured man after a clash with the security forces in Bahrain

Not far ahead stood a line of riot police. An officer wearing a balaclava gestured at the youths to stop and as his colleagues fired off a volley of tear gas canisters, he shouted: "You have no permission to be here. Leave now."

Maids' abuse to be probed
By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 20th July 2007

LABOUR Ministry officials have pledged to investigate claims that one of Bahrain's leading manpower agencies regularly beats housemaids.

The Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) last month lodged a complaint with the ministry and demanded an urgent investigation into the allegations.

Officials also called for the organisation to be closed if the claims were found to be true.

It came after the GDN reported that volunteers had rescued Sri Lankan housemaid Nirupa Ranasinghe, 40, from the street.

She was picked up near the Sacred Heart Church, Manama, after running away from her sponsor and is now staying at the organisation's shelter for domestic workers.

Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Joy for one household and despair and longing for another.
“When I return from school, I see my mother eagerly waiting for me at the door. I have to go and buy khubooz for lunch. I have to look after my two brothers, Omar and Ibrahim. Sometimes she is happy and I get excited that dad has come back. But he is in jail. The responsibilities are on my shoulders.”
These are the words of Ali Al Murbati, 17, the son of the only Bahraini detainee in Guantanamo Bay, Isa Al Murbati.
The family is happy for the release of Juma Al Dossary but are sad that their kin was not onboard the flight. Speaking to the Tribune from her house in Isa Town, Umm Ali, the wife of the detainee told the Bahrain Tribune: “We are glad that Juma was released but there is no news about my husband. I have five children who are being looked after by my brothers-in-law. We have not received any assistance from the government since his arrest in 2001.” she said.

http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Bahrain/10139821.html

07/17/2007 12:18 AM | By Suad Hamada, Special to Gulf News

Manama: Bahraini Guantanamo Bay detainee Juma Al Dossary, who attempted suicide 13 times, was released yesterday, a human rights activist said. Al Dossary was among the 16 Saudis who returned from the US-run camp.

Nabeel Rajab told Gulf News that Al Dossary's family said he arrived in Riyadh and was interrogated by the Saudi authorities before allowing him to see his daughter and relatives. "Al Dossary has dual citizenship and his family lives in Saudi Arabia."

By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 17th July 2007

JUMA Al Dossary has finally left Guantanamo Bay, just over a month after he again tried to commit suicide, according to his lawyers.

The 33-year-old father cut his lower abdomen with a piece of metal and almost severed one of his arteries at the end of last month - just weeks before he was eventually released.

Guards saved him after noticing he had fainted, said lawyers who have represented Bahraini inmates at the prison.

However, just weeks later he has finally been reunited with his family after spending more than five years behind bars at Guantanamo Bay.

Gitmo detainee arrives in Saudi after six gruelling years
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Six years is a long time. For Juma Mohammed Abdul Latif Al Dossary, a detainee in Guantanamo Bay, it is all over. He is a free man at last, one of 16 Saudi nationals released yesterday by US authorities.
The brother of the detainee, Khalid Al Dossary could not control his emotions as he spoke with this reporter over the phone.
He said: “It’s a good feeling to see your loved ones after six years. We never knew that a phone call from the Saudi Interior Ministry would bring us joy. The officer said that Juma is on board the plane with other detainees released by the US authorities.

Bahrain Centre for Human Rights: welcomes the release of Juma Al Dossari from Guantanamo Bay,
calls for similar efforts to bring back Isa Al Murbati

The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights welcomes the return of Guantanamo detainee Juma Al Dossari, 5 years after his incarceration without
trial or charges at the US military facility. The BCHR calls on all the international organisation and the Bahraini authorities to urgently continue with diplomatic efforts to bring back the last Bahraini detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Isa Al Murbati.

Published on Front Line (http://www.frontlinedefenders.org)
Bahrain: Ongoing harassment of human rights defender
By clare
Created 2007/07/13 - 14:44
Since 1 July 2007, human rights defender and Vice-President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), Nabeel Ahmed Rajab has faced ongoing harassment and has been followed by civilian vehicles on a daily basis to and from his home In 2005, Nabeel Ahmed Rajab was the target of a smear campaign from an anonymous source in which family members, friends, business associates and Government officials received letters and telephone text messages accusing him of being a “spy” and of committing “acts of treason”.

Published: 14th July 2007

VILLAGERS in Bahrain will receive training in how to prevent violent clashes between police and demonstrators in a scheme that gets underway today.The initiative is understood to be the first of its kind in the Middle East.

It has been organised by the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), based on an initiative from the Serbia-based Centre for Applied Non-Violent Action and Strategies (Canvas).

The European organisation advocates and promotes battles for democracy, but trains people worldwide in how to use peaceful strategies and tactics.

Human rights activists will go into several villages to train young people in diffusing potential conflicts and avoiding clashes that occur around Bahrain, injuring both policemen and demonstrators.

Lord Avebury,

the Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group,

Cordially invites you to a seminar on

"Bahrain: The continuing political impasse"

Speakers include politicians, human rights activists and journalists

11.00 Thursday 23rd August 2007

Committee Room 134, 2 Mill Bank, London SW1P 3LX

(Annexe to the House of Parliament)

For further information please contact:

Lord Avebury at Tel: 020 7274 4617,

Email: ericavebury@gmail.com

By soman baby
Published: 11th July 2007

WORK on properly fencing Bahrain's "suicide bridge" is to start shortly, it was revealed yesterday.

Tenders for the project will be out next month, for work on new designs submitted by Ismail Khonji Associates, said Works and Housing Ministry Assistant Under-Secretary for Roads Essam Khalaf.

Work on the project is expected to start within 10 weeks, he told the GDN.

Two people in three months committed suicide by jumping from the footbridge into traffic below on the King Faisal Highway, near the Intercontinental Regency Bahrain, on the Manama seafront.

Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

High cost of living, no minimum wage as well as discrimination against women in employment and wages were some of the issues highlighted in a report released by the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).
The report said that 48 per cent of the workforce in the government sector receives only BD200 after the recent increments. On the other hand, about 18,000 Bahrainis working in private sector receive less than BD200.
“More than 162,000 of Bahrainis and non-Bahrainis earn less than BD99. Most of the Bahrainis work in the private sector, where wages are less than BD40. There has been 11-fold increase in the salaries of the government employees in senior and middle level positions,” said Nabeel Rajab, the Vice President of the now defunct centre.

Ministry welcomes UN report
Published: 8th July 2007

BAHRAIN has welcomed the US report on human trafficking, saying it will only help in tackling the illegal trade.

The Foreign Ministry says action is already being taken to combat the problem here, but reiterated that it was not obliged to do anything as a result of the report.

It also disputed the claim that Bahrain had been blacklisted, saying that Bahrain had simply been placed on a "Tier Three" list of countries considered the worst offenders of human trafficking.

"This tier cannot be identified as a blacklist," it said in a statement.

Jul 7, 2007, 0:47 GMT

Manama, Bahrain - Loaves of bread and household items were held up in the air as Bahrainis on Friday protested against inflation and poverty.

Protesters called on the government to raise the standard of living and not withdraw subsidization of basic goods.

'The aim is to bring attention to the sky rocketing of prices at a time when wages remain low,' Mohammed al-Singace, head of the newly established Public Committee to Improve Standards of Living, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

With oil prices reaching one-year highs on Friday, al-Singace said revenues from oil sales should be directed toward increasing wages and raising the living standards of citizens.

http://archive.gunislfnews.com/region/Bahrain/10138095.html

07/10/2007 12:15 AM | By Suad Hamada, Special to Gulf News

Manama: Bahrainis in private and government sectors are struggling to make ends meet because of low salaries and inflation, a human rights activist said yesterday.

Speaking on a study released yesterday on living standards in Bahrain by the Bahrain Human Rights Society, activist Nabeel Rajab said that semi-official studies indicate that the poverty line for a Bahraini family in the year 1995 was stable at 309 Bahraini dinars (Dh3,010.81) but the cost of living had rapidly doubled. This makes it difficult for any Bahraini family to provide itself with minimum needs for less than 400 to 500 dinars per month.

Bahrain : Activists once more, Security Authorities persist to harass Rajab

The human activist Nabil Ahmed Rajab (1964) - Vice Bahrain Center for Human Rights- has been exposed, once again, to severe and continued harassment, exemplified recently in the daily pursuits by civilian cars to and from home since last Sunday. Mr Rajab stated to «Al-Wasat» newspaper that: «the work of human defenders and activists in Bahrain, since 2001 and even today, is public and not confidential, as it was during the era of state security. The Government does not need to adopt methods of surveillance, tapping phones and trailing activists in front of their homes and workplaces». He continued «the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is well informed of what we are doing, as it is on my email list. What is sent to the press and people is also sent to the MOI. This method of surveillance is not the first, but already been practiced by more than one car in 2005, and this shows that the State does not believe in transparency».

Rights activists rap licences ban
Published: 8th July 2007

HUMAN rights activists have criticised a ban on issuing driving licences to some expatriates in Bahrain.

The General Directorate of Traffic (GDT) confirmed to the GDN on Wednesday that the policy had come into force with the aim of helping limit congestion.

It sparked anger among the foreign community in Bahrain, with some describing it as discrimination.

A GDT spokesman said those affected included foreign students and expatriate workers employed in 'menial' jobs such as labourers, gardeners and cooks.

He said Bahrain was already congested and those in such professions did not need driving licences.

Human rights centre: Bahrain driving ban for expats discrimination
By DPA
Jul 7, 2007, 13:59 GMT

Manama, Bahrain - The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) on Saturday described a recently enforced driving licenses ban on expatriates holding menial jobs and students as discriminatory.

The BCHR is disappointed and concerned by a newly implemented policy which bans foreign students and expatriates working in 'menial' jobs from being eligible for driving licenses, the centre's vice president Nabeel Rajab said.

Officials from the General Directorate of Traffic (GDT) say the ban is a measure to ease congestion on the roads.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-bahrain7jul07,1,7501416,full.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

From the Los Angeles Times
Strategic rift in Bahrain's royal court
Some members of the ruling family reportedly back hard-line Sunni groups; others advise helping disenfranchised Shiites.
By Borzou Daragahi
Times Staff Writer

July 7, 2007

MANAMA, BAHRAIN — Leading members of Bahrain's royal family have thrown their weight behind hard-line Sunni Muslim groups, some of whom share the outlook of Al Qaeda, in an attempt to counter a perceived Shiite threat, government officials and critics say.

Bahrain: The Prime Minister is granted an international award for housing while a woman sleeps on roadside because she has no house

Manama, 5 June 2007

Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) is highly concerned by the sufferings of Safia Ahmed Ali, 36 from Al-Deer "Al-Muharraq" village. Safia is homeless and the Ministry of Housing refuses to give her an adequate house. It is noteworthy that Safia launched a sit-in near the Ministry of Housing since the Bahraini Prime Minister was grant Housing and Human Development Award.

"I launched a sit-in near the Ministry of Housing since five days ago on Saturday 30 June 2007. My daughter Mariam, 10 years-old, joined me for two days but she could not continue because of the very hot weather. Therefore, I took her to one of my relatives and then I came back to continue my strike. I decided not to move from here and I had to sleep on roadside," Safia told BYSHR.

by Dylan Bowman on Tuesday, 03 July 2007

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) gives to Bahraini Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa (right) the 2006 Special Citation and Habitat Scroll of Honour.
Human rights groups have slammed the UN’s decision to honour Bahrain’s Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa for his urban development policies.

Sheikh Khalifa was given the UN’s 2006 Special Citation of the Habitat Scroll of Honour Award on Monday for his “impressive efforts in lifting the living standards of all Bahrainis through an active focus on poverty alleviation and modernisation while preserving the cultural heritage [of his country]".

UN stirs controversy with housing award to Bahrain PM Mon Jul 2, 3:50 PM ET

Human rights campaigners protested a decision by UN chief Ban Ki-moon to present Bahrain's Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa with an award for his urban development policies.

In a ceremony during a meeting of the UN's Economic and Social Council, Ban commended Bahrain and the Sheikh for "remarkable strides in reducing poverty."

"Over the past quarter of a century, Bahrain has transformed itself from a collection of rural villages into a thriving diversified economy while preserving the cultural heritage of the Kingdom," Ban said.

Bahrain rejects criticism of UN award for PM
Publish Date: Tuesday,3 July, 2007, at 01:44 AM Doha Time

Ban Ki-moon gives Sheikh Khalifah bin Salman al-Khalifah the 2006 Special Citation and Habitat Scroll of Honour in Geneva yesterday
MANAMA: A Bahraini minister yesterday dismissed objections raised by rights groups to a UN decision to award Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifah bin Salman al-Khalifah an honour for improving living standards in the kingdom.
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Bahraini rights groups criticised the decision to award Sheikh Khalifah the Habitat Scroll of Honour.

Bahraini PM to receive UN special citation today
http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Bahrain/10136159.html

07/02/2007 12:30 AM | Gulf News Report

Manama: Bahraini Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa will be awarded the 2006 Special Citation of the UN Habitat Scroll of Honour Award by the UN Assistant Undersecretary and Executive Director of Settlements Programme today in Geneva.

In a statement published in the Bahrain News Agency (BNA), the Prime Minister expressed pride and delight to receive the award as recognition of Bahrain's achievements to improve the living standards of the people from the United Nations, and pledged continuous efforts to improve living standards of citizens.

For Immediate Release

United Nations: Bahrain Prime Minister Poor Choice for Habitat Award

(New York, July 1, 2007) – The United Nations Habitat Program made a poor choice in presenting its annual award for 2006 to the prime minister of Bahrain, Human Rights Watch said today. Habitat is giving its Special Citation of the Habitat Scroll of Honor Award to Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa in Geneva on July 2.

Shaikh Khalifa, who has served as Bahrain’s only prime minister since the country’s independence in 1971, presided over several decades of severe political repression in the country, including the systematic torture, arbitrary arrest, and forced exile of political opponents. Shaikh Khalifa and his late brother, Shaikh Isa, the country’s emir, suspended the country’s first constitution and partially elected parliament in 1975 and set up a system of State Security Courts that, until the new ruler abolished them in 2001, sentenced thousands of suspected dissidents to long years in prison, many on the basis of confessions obtained under torture.