The Newspaper had always taken advantage of the dispute with Iran to incite Internal Sectarian hatred without governmental objection

21 Jun 2009
By Andrew Hammond
DUBAI, June 21 (Reuters) - Majority Shi'ite Muslims in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain, home to a U.S. navy base, are increasingly agitated over what they say are government efforts to give Sunni foreigners nationality to dilute Shi'ite numbers.

Targeting the President of the BCHR in the same case

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights 8 June 2009

JUNE 20, 2009.
By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV
MADINAT HAMAD, Bahrain -- On a recent evening, Issa al Jibb climbed the roof of his home and started hurling Molotov cocktails into the adjoining property of the Rawi clan. By the time Bahraini police shot him down with a rubber bullet, Mr. Jibb had managed to burn three cars and part of the building, and inflicted serious burns on two Rawi teenagers.

THE OBSERVATORY for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders :BAHRAIN

Political context

BAHRAIN (Tier 2 Watch List)
Bahrain is a destination country for men and women
trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial
sexual exploitation. Men and women from India,
Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia,
Thailand, the Philippines, Ethiopia, and Eritrea migrate
voluntarily to Bahrain to work as formal sector laborers
or domestic workers. Some, however, face conditions
of involuntary servitude after arriving in Bahrain, such
as unlawful withholding of passports, restrictions on

The authorities failed adequately to investigate allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees. Government critics were briefly detained and several websites were closed down. One person was executed. The government indicated it would decriminalize certain publishing offences, reduce legal discrimination against women and introduce other reforms.

Background

Bahrain Backtracks on Workers’ Rights Reform
Written by Rachelle Kliger
Published Monday, June 15, 2009
Bahrain has decided not to revoke a system that has been criticized for violating the rights of foreign workers.

The Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) said it would not be canceling the sponsorship system, which stipulates that foreign workers in the Gulf country must be sponsored by an employee in order to obtain a work visa and cannot switch jobs freely.

The Bahraini Authorities Recruit of Mercenaries from Makran Town, Pakistan: The Bahrain Government's use of foreign mercenaries to oppress Bahraini people with legitimate demands and grievances leads to a growing hostility towards foreigners
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights

6/6/2009

(BCHR/IFEX) - Free expression advocates from around the world gathered this week in Oslo, Norway, at the IFEX General Meeting. Forty IFEX members signed on to the following statement, calling on the Bahraini authorities to address recent attacks on free expression in that country: