By RASHA AL QAHTANI
Published: 29th November 2007

A SHELTER that can accommodate 80 Bahraini beggars will officially be opened in Riffa today. The three-storey building will be opened by Social Development Minister Dr Fatima Al Balooshi at 9am.

The move is part of the ministry's policy to curb begging which follows a scheme backed by the Shura Council earlier this year.

The scheme is to give temporary shelter to the homeless and beggars until the government finds them jobs, said a ministry official.

(BCHR/IFEX) - A statement by the Higher Criminal Court on 27 November 2007
affirmed the permanence of the decision to stop publishing news or press
comments on the "Al-Bandar report", although the prosecution of Salah
Al-Bandar, the issuer of the report, was passed.

The decision to extend the "publication ban order" was explained by the
judge in the following statement: "The ruling on the accused was made in
his absence, and thus was susceptible to reversal and appeal by default,

Bahrain rights body readies petition for GCC leaders
By Suad Hamada (Our correspondent)

25 November 2007

MANAMA — The Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) is representing the country in collecting signatures from GCC citizens for a Gulf Petition to be handed over to GCC leaders during their gathering next month for the Gulf Summit in Doha.

The petition calls for active decisions by the GCC Cooperation Council that could positively touch the daily lives of Gulf citizens and is expected to be submitted at the end of this month.

Bahrain set to give prisoners more freedom
By Suad Hamada (Our correspondent)

28 November 2007

MANAMA — Bahrain government has referred to the parliament a new draft law regulating the stay of inmates in detention centres.

The bill will give inmates more freedom and better facilities, like the right to worship according to their faiths and provide them with better reformation activities.

The bill expected to be deliberated soon by the legislative authority comes to replace the prison law ratified in 1964.

Indian mission in Bahrain on Monday enforced new regulations to protect Indian workers, including a minimum wage of BD100 ($ 265) a month for housemaids.

The regulations will initially be applicable to all Indian housemaids in Bahrain, but will be expanded to other sections of workers in due course, an Indian embassy official was quoted as saying.

"We have received an official communication from the Indian government which says no housemaid will be allowed to work for wages less than BD100 ($ 265)," the official said.

By REBECCA TORR
Published: 23 November 2007

RELIGIOUS scholars are being called upon to educate the community on the difference between the teachings of the Quran and Arab traditions that suppress women.

There is a widely held misunderstanding between Islamic teachings of women and the traditions and customs in the Arab world, said a human development expert.

"We need religious and political reforms," Syrian-based Unlimited Horizons human development trainer Dr Yasser Al Eiti told the GDN yesterday.

Enhancing social protection of Bangladeshi migrants
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Nabeel Rajab

Bahrain Centre for Human Rights

Section 1: The Situation

There are approximately 74,000 Bangladeshi workers in Bahrain, including up to 4,000 women. These workers represent 10 per cent of the total population of residents in Bahrain.

Bahrain: Three unemployed citizens continue their sit-in

The streets have become a shelter for the unemployed

Manama 13th November 2007

No. BH000311

Arrest / mistreatment / financial rights

By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 16th November 2007

EMBASSIES of some Asian countries are more concerned about the flow of remittances to their economies rather than the human rights of their citizens, according to rights activists in Bahrain.

The dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) made the claim in a report analysing the treatment of Bangladeshi migrants employed here.

"The issues faced by migrant workers are largely ignored by civil society both in sending and receiving countries," it said.

Arbitrary detention and unfair trials in Bahrain during 2006

This Report is released by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights
November 2007

Preface:

The year 2006 has witnessed an extreme decline in public freedoms in Bahrain, especially in regards to freedom of expression and opinion and the freedom of assembly.

‘Philippines govt should look into plight of Filipinos abroad’; Lawmaker mulls renaming ‘domestics’ as caregivers

Bahrain ranks poorly in report measuring gender equality
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/11/10/10166351.html

11/11/2007 12:20 AM | By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief

Manama: Bahrain, the only Arab and Muslim country to have had a woman as president of a United Nations General Assembly, has ranked 115 in this year's report measuring equality between women and men.

Bahrain's ranking, out of 128 countries representing 93 per cent of the world's population, is bound to reinvigorate campaigns pressing for more rights and better employment opportunities for women.

Ministry workshop to discuss global standards
Alexander M. Arrackal
Staff Reporter

Bahrain plans to take non-governmental activity to the international level.
The Ministry for Social Development will meet the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the Kingdom and the International Centre for Not-for-profit Law.
Assistant Undersecretary for Community Development, Waheed A Al Qassim, told the Tribune that the meeting would focus on the rules governing NGOs in Bahrain.
“We want to ensure that the rules conform to international standards,” he said.

By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 9 November 2007

MANAMA: Masked youngsters threw Molotov cocktails at riot police during clashes near the Jidhafs traffic lights last night.

Three people, including a community policeman, were arrested as clashes also erupted in Sanabis, Al Daih and Sitra. Tyres and garbage bins were set ablaze by protesters.

Meanwhile, several motorists claimed the King Fahad Causeway was temporarily closed to traffic from Saudi Arabia last night.

One man said it took him three hours to reach Bahrain as he was stuck in traffic near the border for two hours.

For immediate release - 7 November 2007

Bahrain: ARTICLE 19 supports collective appeal for stronger protection of freedom of expression in Bahrain.

ARTICLE 19 joins its name and voice to the appeal initiated by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights calling on the Bahraini authorities to stop violating freedom of expression, eliminate abusive laws, and respect their commitment to international charters and covenants, in the first place article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights .

Background:

JOINT ACTION - BAHRAIN

8 November 2007

Fifty tow national, regional and international organizations call on government of Bahrain to stop clamping down on freedom of expression
SOURCE: Bahrain Center for Human Rights

We, the undersigned human rights organizations, express our deep concern about the recent serious deterioration of freedom of expression in Bahrain.

This includes violations of:

- the right to post information about public issues on Internet sites,

Sunni side up
Bahrain's ruling dynasty fears a US attack on Iran could inflame tensions with the country's restive Shia majority, reports Ian Black from Manama

Ian Black
Friday November 2, 2007

Guardian Unlimited

Bahrain's success at risk as Iran tension rises
By David Blair in Manama
Last Updated: 3:06am GMT 03/11/2007

The glass skyscrapers dominating Bahrain's horizon are a glittering emblem of the Gulf kingdom's booming economy.

Yet this increasingly prosperous island will almost certainly be in the crosshairs of Iran's military planners as they consider their response to any American attack.

Bahrain boom overshadowed by fear of looming war with Iran
By Donald Macintyre in Bahrain
Published: 02 November 2007
Stuck in one of the seemingly permanent traffic jams on the wide highways of its capital, Manama, where the colourful mosaic of the Friday Mosque's minaret competes for attention with the extraplanetarily futuristic twin towers of the World Trade Centre, you cannot easily imagine the shadow of war falling over Bahrain.

Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Rights advocates have stepped in to train policemen on non-violence strategies and human rights principles.
The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) has offered proposals to train policemen as part of its campaign for non-violence.
“We have conducted two workshops in the past where we discussed human rights principle with the officers. This time we want to discuss our non-violence strategies with them,” said society President Mohammed Al Maskati.

Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Rights advocates have stepped in to train policemen on non-violence strategies and human rights principles.
The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) has offered proposals to train policemen as part of its campaign for non-violence.
“We have conducted two workshops in the past where we discussed human rights principle with the officers. This time we want to discuss our non-violence strategies with them,” said society President Mohammed Al Maskati.

Huge traffic snarl after varsity bomb hoax
Panic prevailed at the AMA University in Ghufool yesterday evening as a bomb scare sent teachers and students scurrying for safety in a major evacuation operation launched on a war footing by the police.
The university authorities received an e-mail claiming that an explosive device was planted on its premises. It later turned out to be a hoax.

By RASHA AL QAHTANI
Published: 2 November 2007

BAHRAIN will soon ratify a United Nations treaty banning landmines, it was revealed yesterday.

The international treaty, which was launched eight years ago, bans the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of the anti-personnel weapons.

Currently, 155 nations have joined the treaty, with Qatar and Kuwait being the only GCC countries to do so when they signed the convention in 1997 and this year respectively.