31 December 2007

SOURCE: Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Manama

(BCHR/IFEX) - According to the Bahraini Journalists Association (BJA) and
eye witnesses, on 25 December 2007, the Bahraini Security Forces (BSF)
harassed and verbally and physically assaulted journalists Ali Al-Shehabi
(of "Al-Al-Ayam" newspaper), Husain Al-Orrayed (of "Al-Waqt" newspaper) and
Mohammed Al-Mukharraq (of "Al-Wasat" newspaper).

Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Political parties and human rights organisations have appointed 14 lawyers to fight the case of those detained by the authorities in connection with the recent protests.
“We are holding talks with the families,” Hassan Ismail, one of the lawyers, told the Tribune yesterday.
“It’s too early to comment on the issue as we are finalising with lawyers from various political blocs and human rights organisations,” he said.

Manama- Aafaq.org

Aafaq has received video clips of the recent clashes between Bahraini protestors and Bahraini security forces that show a group of masked gunmen believed to be elements of the militia "Fedayeen of Saddam."
(Washington -- Aafaq -- Exclusive) - Aafaq has received video clips of the recent clashes between Bahraini protestors and Bahraini security forces that show a group of masked gunmen believed to be elements of the militia "Fedayeen of Saddam." [Full Story in Arabic]

Lord Avebury speech, the Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group

Bahrain seminar, Moses Room, December 19, 2007,

A year ago our theme was ‘elections without democracy or human rights’. We noted that in Bahrain, there is a pretence of democracy whilst all the sinews of government are bent to maintaining the absolute rule of the al-Khalifa family, with the assistance of others who benefit financially from the regime.

The Arrests of Two more Activists
Accusing 28 detainees, including 10 activists, with the alleged use of violence
No Visitation Rights for 18 detainees including all the Activists

Launching a popular petition calling for the disqualification of the Prime Minister

A group of Bahraini Activists terminate a protesting hunger strike

Bahraini police scuffle with relatives of detained protesters (0)
(World News) Tuesday, 25 December 2007, 09:15 PST
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MANAMA, Bahrain - Bahraini police scuffled Tuesday with dozens of Shiites demanding to visit relatives detained following a string of recent protests in the Sunni-dominated island kingdom, witnesses and local human rights groups reported.

The Persian Gulf nation's rulers are Sunni Muslim. An activist's death set off street battles between Shiites and security forces.
By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 27, 2007
BEIRUT -- An uneasy calm returned to the oil-rich Persian Gulf island nation of Bahrain on Wednesday after a week of clashes between Shiite Muslim opposition groups and forces of the Sunni-dominated government.

Bahrain charges dozens with attempted murder, rioting after Shiite protests

1:08 p.m. December 27, 2007

MANAMA, Bahrain – More than a dozen people detained during recent Shiite protests were charged Thursday with attempted murder, illegal assembly and rioting, a defense lawyer and a local rights group said.
Defense lawyer Mohammed al-Jashi said three people were charged with attempted murder in clashes with riot police, and 11 with illegal assembly and rioting.

Bahrain:

Setting a Police Car Ablaze and Weapon Theft:

Accusations Made by Authorities against Prominent Human Rights Activists

Manama- 25th December, 2007

BH000313

Arrest of Human Rights Activists/ Inhuman and Cruel Treatment/ False Accusations

Special Security Forces (SSF) use Women Police Officers in the Beating of Women and Forcibly Removing them from the Public Prosecutors Office (PPO)
Press Threatened, Searched and Kicked out of PPO

A Report by: The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)
26 December 2007

Arrests On The Streets
Breaking Into Homes: Terrorizing Women and Children - Confiscation of Computers
Incommunicado Detention: Preventing Family Visits
Preventing Lawyers from Attending Interrogations
Reports Of Beating and Torture During Arrest and Investigation

A Report by: The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)
24 December 2007 (Updated)

23 Dec 2007, 0532 hrs IST,AP

MANAMA (BAHRAIN): Bahraini security forces conducted a second day of sweeps through Shiite villages on Saturday, arresting those involved in protests over the past several days, said witnesses and opposition groups.

Large numbers of riot police could be seen around the northern villages where protests erupted on Thursday, sparked by the death of a protester earlier in the week. Police also set up numerous security checkpoints throughout the small island kingdom.

The Associated Press
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
MANAMA, Bahrain: Bahraini police scuffled on Tuesday with dozens of Shiites demanding to visit relatives detained following a string of recent protests in the Sunni-dominated island kingdom, witnesses and local human rights groups reported.

The family members arrived at the public prosecution office in the capital of Manama on Tuesday morning with clothes the government had requested for the detainees but refused to hand them over or leave without seeing their relatives, said the Haq Movement for Liberty and Democracy in a statement.

http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/1312

Front Line is concerned following reports of the recent judicial proceedings against Mohamed Abdul Nabi Al-Maskati, Director of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), an organisation that organises training workshops and monitors human rights violations.
Further Information

Bahrain has been hit by rioting in majority Shia areas for a fifth consecutive day, according to local press reports.
Security forces used teargas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators in Shia villages, leaving one protester dead on Monday.

Local media reports say 39 people have been arrested and around a dozen injured in the clashes.

The island has a Sunni ruling family but a Shia majority population.

The 22-year-old man died in hospital after inhaling teargas, according to opposition activists.

Bahrain has been hit by rioting in majority Shiite areas for a fifth consecutive day in demonstrations that have seen the death of one protester, local press reports said on Sunday.

Security forces have fired teargas and rubber bullets in Shiite villages during trouble that erupted following the death on Monday of a young protester who died after a demonstration organised by the opposition, they said.

Sunday, December 23, 2007
MANAMA, Bahrain: Bahrain authorities are holding a total of 39 people picked up in police raids over the last three days following a week of anti-government demonstrations, a local human rights group reported Sunday.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights produced a list of 39 people arrested by police since Thursday, including three picked up in raids in the early hours of the morning Sunday.

The reformist daily Al-Wasat printed the list Sunday.

Saturday, December 22, 2007
MANAMA, Bahrain: Bahraini security forces conducted a second day of sweeps through Shiite villages Saturday, arresting those involved in protests over the past several days, said witnesses and opposition groups.

Large numbers of riot police could be seen around the northern villages where protests erupted Thursday, sparked by the death of a protester earlier in the week. Police also set up numerous security checkpoints throughout the small island kingdom.

22 December 2007

MANAMA - Authorities in Bahrain have arrested at least eight Shia activists and a number of protesters after a week of unrest in the Gulf island state, an opposition group said on Saturday.

Bahraini media reports said that in Thursday’s unrest some 500 demonstrators, angry over the death of a protester who had inhaled teargas earlier in the week, threw petrol bombs and stones at security forces in the north of the island, a U.S.-allied Sunni-led kingdom.

Reports of Wide Arrests and Excessive Use of Force by Special Security Forces
Friday 21st December, 2007

Saturday December 22, 2007 12:46 AM

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) - Riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse another day of demonstrations in Bahrain on Friday, rounding up scores of protesters and injuring at least one, witnesses said.

The protests, the fourth this week, came after dawn raids by security forces on the homes of the country's most outspoken opposition group, arresting at least seven of its members, the group said.

Manama, Bahrain

Riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse another day of demonstrations in Bahrain on Friday, rounding up scores of protesters and injuring at least one, witnesses said.

The protests, the fourth this week, came after dawn raids by security forces on the homes of the country's most outspoken Shiite opposition group, the Haq Movement for Liberty and Democracy. At least seven of its members were arrested, the group said.

A witness said police used rubber bullets and tear gas on mourners at a wake [Reuters]

Shia youths in Bahrain have clashed with security forces in response to the death of a man at an earlier demonstration.

At least four people were injured in Thursday's violence, according to the Bahrain International hospital in Manama.

Violence broke out in Jedhafs village when mourners at the wake of Ali Jassem, who died on Monday after inhaling tear gas, attacked a police officer.

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Bahraini security forces stormed the houses of the country's most outspoken Shiite opposition group at dawn Friday, arresting at least seven of its members, the group said.

The arrests came after a week of clashes between Shiites and security forces for the Sunni-ruled Persian Gulf kingdom.

"This is unprecedented, they snatched young men from their houses," HAQ spokesman Ali Mushaima told The Associated Press in a phone call from London.

THE OBSERVATORY FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS (OMCT-FIDH)

Clashes between police and Shiites erupt anew in Bahrain

The Associated Press
Thursday, December 20, 2007
MANAMA, Bahrain: Clashes erupted Thursday for the third time this week between angry young Shiite Bahrainis and security forces following the wake for a man who died earlier after a confrontation with police.

At least four people were injured in Thursday's violence, according to the Bahrain International Hospital in the capital Manama.

By Geoffrey bew
Published: 20th December 2007

AN international organisation has backed calls for legal proceedings against a Bahrain human rights activist to be dropped. Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights president Mohammed Al Maskati was summoned to the Lower Criminal Court earlier this month to answer charges of "activating an unregistered association before issuing the declaration of registration".

Hundreds of Bahraini Shias have scuffled with riot police at the funeral of a protester who died after a similar event a day earlier.

Police used tear gas and chased the protesters Tuesday in the outskirts of Manama, Bahrain's capital. Protesters hurled stones at police and burned tires as the turmoil stretched into the evening.

The clashes erupted due to the death of a protester who died Monday after a rally in which Shias commemorated a deadly political upheaval that began in Bahrain in 1994 and lasted for several years.

Bahraini Shiites clash with riot police
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 12/18/2007 02:37:30 PM MST

SANABIS, Bahrain—Hundreds of Bahraini Shiites clashed with riot police Tuesday after the funeral of a protester who died after a similar confrontation a day earlier.
Police used tear gas and chased the protesters through the streets of Sanabis, a village on the outskirts of Manama, capital of the small island kingdom. Protesters hurled stones at police and burned tires as the turmoil stretched into the evening.

Bahrain: Security pursuits in various locations against a demonstration in support of the victims of torture

Announcing Emergency State in Villages and Cities to suppress demonstrations

Manama – 17 December 2007

Hundreds of Bahraini Shiites clash with riot police on coronation day

2007-12-17 22:27:40 -

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) - Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Bahrain's Shiites holding a rally Monday outside the capital Manama marking the death of one of their countrymen more than ten years earlier, witnesses and rights activists reported.
The demonstration, which may have resulted in a fatality, coincided with the tiny island kingdom's second day of celebrations marking the ruler's coronation.

Hundreds of Bahraini Shiites clash with riot police on coronation day

2007-12-17 22:27:40 -

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) - Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Bahrain's Shiites holding a rally Monday outside the capital Manama marking the death of one of their countrymen more than ten years earlier, witnesses and rights activists reported.
The demonstration, which may have resulted in a fatality, coincided with the tiny island kingdom's second day of celebrations marking the ruler's coronation.

Bahrain: Security pursuits in various locations against a demonstration in support of the victims of torture

Announcing Emergency State in Villages and Cities to suppress demonstrations

Manama – 17 December 2007

By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 17th December 2007

HUMAN rights activists in Bahrain have been armed with high-tech digital video cameras so they can document cases of abuse.

They are also expected to capture instances of poverty, the stories of alleged abuse victims, crimes committed against migrant workers and violence within families.

More than 30 cameras were distributed following a two-day course, which trained people on how to properly document violations and gave them tips on safety and security during filming.

Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

A post office worker has been on hunger strike since yesterday in protest against a five-day suspension served on him by his superiors.
Jamal Ateeq Juma, who heads the Postal Workers Union (PWU), told the Tribune: "I was not given any warning by the management and was handed a five day suspension notice.
This is in violation of the Trade Unions Act. I will continue my hunger strike till my suspension period ends on Wednesday."

Sandeep Singh Grewal

Human rights activists in the region have called on the Bahraini authorities to drop charges against activist Mohammed Al Maskati.
He is been charged with heading the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights which is not registered. "My mother received the court notice asking me to be present during hearing on November 27. I was charged for running a non-registered association," Al Maskati told the Tribune.
He claimed that the society had submitted all the required documents for approval from the Ministry of Social Development.

URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY

BHR 001 / 1207 / OBS 162

Judicial proceedings / Obstacle to the freedom of association

Bahrain

December 11, 2007

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Bahrain.

Brief description of the situation :

10 December 2007

SOURCE: Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Manama

(BCHR/IFEX) - The Postal Directorate of the Ministry of Transport and the
Civil Service Bureau (CSB) suspended union activist Jamal Ateeq from his job for five days without pay for expressing his views in the local media.

Ateeq is the elected president of the "unauthorized" Postal Union (PU), one of the largest unions in Bahrain. He has been speaking to the media since

By Geoffrey bew
Published: 9th December 2007

A HUMAN rights activist has hit out at the US Embassy in Bahrain for failing to approve his visa application in time to attend a conference in the US.

The Washington-based American University's Centre for Democracy and Election Management had invited Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) member Abdulnabi Al Ekri to a five-day event about general elections.

He was supposed to have left last night to make it in time for the conference, which starts on Monday, but said no decision on his application had been made.

Overview on Main Human Rights Concerns in Bahrain
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
10 December 2007

Content:
• Political Background and Main Concerns
• Sectarian Discrimination: Main Source of Conflict, Violations and Unrest
• "Al Bander-Gate": Maintaining Sectarian Division and Penetrating NGO’s
• Failure of the National Assembly to Promote Human Rights - Restrictive Laws
• Women Rights and Female Migrant Domestic Workers
• Arbitrary Detention and Unfair Trials

Groups face clamp
By Geoffrey Bew
Published: 8th December 2007

UP to 10 active, but unregistered, human rights groups and committees in Bahrain could be forced to close, according to activists. Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) president Mohammed Al Maskati was last week summoned to the Lower Criminal Court to answer charges of "activating an unregistered association before issuing the declaration of registration".

Cairo on: December 4, 2007

Urgent Action

Bahrain

Commencing The Trial Of The Human Rights Activist Mohammad Al-Maskati

Dubai (PTI): In a move that could impact the huge expatriate community in Bahrain as well as the businesses, the government has decided to charge a levy of 200 Bahraini diners every two years for work permits.

The cabinet, at a session chaired by Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa on Sunday, approved the BD200 (Rs 21,000 approx) levy. The fees package also includes a monthly BD10 payment for each expatriate worker -- to come into effect from July 1 next year.

By IE
Sunday December 2, 08:18 PM
In a move that is expected to benefit Indian job seekers, Bahrain will allow companies to employ more foreign workers with the relaxation of the hiring policy from the middle of the next year.

The percentage of Bahrainis that must be employed by private sector firms is being lowered from July 1 next year, allowing companies to hire more foreigners, it was announced.

By Suad Hamada

3 December 2007

MANAMA — At least 10 unregistered NGOs in Bahrain are likely to face legal action after the president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights Mohammed Al Maskati was referred to court by Public Persecution for conducting activities without any licence.

The case was filed by the Ministry of Social Development and Al Maskati, 20, will face six months in jail and BD500 fine if convicted.

Director of BYSHR is put to trial with the charge of heading unlicensed NGO

Bahraini authorities launch a legal pursuit campaign against unlicensed human rights groups

On Tuesday, 27 November 2007, the young human rights activist and undergraduate student, Mohamed Abdul Nabi Al-Maskati, 20, was tried by the Fourth Degree Minor Criminal Court. The notification of the hearing mentioned that Maskati is summoned to attend the hearing of the case no. 21741/2006 with charge of "activating unregistered association before issuing the declaration of registration."

Published: Friday, 30 November, 2007, 01:35 AM Doha Time

MANAMA: Bahrain gave seven churches serving the country’s Indian community two weeks to acquire licences allowing them to operate legally or they might face eviction, a newspaper said yesterday.
The row over the churches erupted when local residents living in the neighbourhood of Sebaea in the capital Manama complained about parking problems caused by 10 churches existing on an 8m wide road, according to daily Al Sharq Al Awsat.

Indian workers sacked in Bahrain
30 Nov 2007, 1030 hrs IST,PTI

SMS NEWS to 58888 for latest updates
DUBAI: Fifty workers, including several Indians, who took part in the longest running strike in a Bahrain firm, have been sacked, even as arbitration talks were on in the court.

Fifty employees of Almarai dairy, including Bahrainians, Indians and Sri Lankans, have been on strike for the past one month, demanding better pay and conditions. The dairy is a Saudi Arabian Company's plant in Bahrain.

Vittorio Hernandez - AHN News Writer
Manama, Bahrain (AHN) - Indians working illegally in Bahrain who could not afford a ticket back home will be given free rides by Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty. However, not all requests for free tickets will be accommodated. The envoy will select the most deserving cases.

Monu Mathew, director of the Indian Institute for Performing Arts, which donated some of the tickets, said, "This does not mean that we want them to leave, but we are only trying to help them not get arrested or used."