Four groups will monitor detainees’ trial on Feb. 3
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

An international human rights group is arriving in the Kingdom to monitor the court hearing of those detained following disturbances last month.
“There will be two activists who will monitor the trials of the accused slated on February 3,” Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights president Mohammed Al Maskati told the Tribune yesterday.
The charges against the detainees, include torching a police Jeep and stealing weapon.

'
By Suad Hamada (Our correspondent)

31 January 2008

MANAMA - Municipal Councillor Abdulmajeed Al Saba claimed yesterday the Bahrain government plans to change the names of two historic localities in Manama without seeking consent of the residents.

He said that there were plans to change the names of Al Mahooz and Segaya localities gradually, but such move wouldn’t be tolerated by councillors and the residents. He explained, "Al Mahooz was named after its Shia religious schools, while Segaya was named after famous well in the area."

Published: 1st February 2008

BAHRAIN has been criticised in a global report for allegedly not doing enough to further human rights.

The annual report by the global Human Rights Watch organisation raps several countries it says are continuing to violate basic rights, but get away with it because the West sees them as fledgling democracies.

The report comes two days after activists claimed they had missed a chance to submit a report to the UN on the human rights situation in Bahrain, because government officials failed to inform them.

Under-fire Bahrain to present rights report to UN Tue Jan 29, 1:31 PM ET

Bahrain, under fire from opposition activists over alleged abuses, said Tuesday it will present a report on the human rights situation in the country to the United Nations next month.

"The government report will be presented before February 25 ... The working team is currently sounding out the views of (concerned) associations and individuals too," Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nizar al-Baharna told AFP.

By MANDEEP SINGH
Published: 30th January 2008

HUMAN rights activists have condemned Labour Minister Dr Majeed Al Alawi's "Asian tsunami" alert over rising numbers of expatriate workers in the Gulf.

They have dismissed as inhumane and irresponsible the widely reported remarks, made in an interview with the Ashraq Al-Awsat newspaper.

Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to broadcast live the three-hour session when Bahrain National Report on Human Rights will be reviewed at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in April.
“We have launched a hotline and e-mail to receive feedback from the stakeholders and the public. There is a six-member team at the ministry which is presently collecting feedback of the human rights situation on the ground,” Dr Nizar bin Sadiq Al Baharna, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs told the Bahrain Tribune yesterday.

It encourages discrimination, says Rajab
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

A local human rights group has blamed the Minister of Labour for using migrant workers as scapegoats for economic failure of the authorities.
“The statements made by Dr Majeed Al Alawi encourage discrimination. How can the migrant workers who leave their families to work here be a threat to us,” said Nabeel Rajab, Vice President of the now defunct Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.
The human rights group is asking the minister to retract his statements.

BAHRAIN: Detained Activists Still Tortured

Protests Continue and Brutally Faced

Aftermath recent interviews by families with some activists (Mohamed Al-Singace, Naji Fateel, Isa Al-Sarh, Ahmed Jaffar and Hasan Abdulnabi), they affirmed that they are neither aware of the charges against them, nor the fact that they are due to appear in court on February 3rd. They had not seen their lawyers since the Public Prosecution referral of their case to the higher criminal court.

The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights strongly condemns recent comments made by the Labour Minister(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/gulfimmigrationlabour), in which he warns that Gulf countries face danger of an "Asian tsunami" because of the high numbers of migrant workers upon which Gulf countries are reliant.

Minister Majid al-Alawi allegedly said the migrant workers presented "a danger worse than the atomic bomb or an Israeli attack".

BCHR: Labour Minister using migrant workers as scapegoat for government's economic failures.

The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights strongly condemns recent comments made by the Labour Minister(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/gulfimmigrationlabour), in which he warns that Gulf countries face danger of an "Asian tsunami" because of the high numbers of migrant workers upon which Gulf countries are reliant.

Minister Majid al-Alawi allegedly said the migrant workers presented "a danger worse than the atomic bomb or an Israeli attack".

Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

The Public Prosecutor yesterday refused permission to a Bahrain Human Rights Society team, including doctors and psychiatrists, to visit detainees.
"The Public Prosecution said we could not include medical practitioners in our team. It was to be our first meeting today with those arrested in connection with disturbances last month," society deputy secretary general Abdulla Al Derrazi told the Tribune last night. "We cancelled it."

Unjust Conditions of the Public Prosecution
On the Visit to the Detainees

Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) addressed its first request to the Public Prosecutor dated 24/12/2007 and repeated on 3/3/2007 to visit the detainees of December events, 2007; after repeated news of alleged serious abuses of their rights during arrest, detention and interrogation; including psychological and physical torture.

Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Fortysix legal cases were filed against journalists and publishing houses last year, according to a report by the defunct Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.
“Fortysix cases were filed against journalists who appeared before the Public Prosecution last year compared with 13 in 2006. It shows Press freedom has a direct impact on the freedom of expression,” BCHR vice president, Nabeel Rajab, told the Tribube yesterday.
Of the 46 cases, 19 are under investigation.

By Suad Hamada (Our correspondent)

27 January 2008

MANAMA - At least 46 cases were filed against journalists and publishing houses in different courts last year, as compared to 13 in 2006.

According to statistics released last week by the Public Persecution, of 46 cases investigations were carried out in 19 cases, 16 cases were rejected by public persecutors concerned, one was postponed and three were reported against anonymous suspects.

Bahrain charges dozens with attempted murder, rioting after Shiite protests

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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.

23 January 2008

(BCHR/IFEX) - BCHR has recently learned that the Ministry of Islamic
Affairs (MIA) has once again refused to approve distribution of the novel
"Omar . . . A Martyr" by Bahraini novelist Abdulla Khalifa. Omar Ibn
Al-Khattab was the second Islamic Caliph after the prophet Mohammed and is
regarded by Muslims as one of the "four righteously guided Caliphs".

The Ministry of Information (MI) asked the MIA to evaluate the novel from a

Closing proceedings of the Conference on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, held in Ireland

Testimony of Ghada Jamsheer given to the Conference

Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
25th January, 2008

• Detention and Harassment of the Family of a Detained Activist for Enquiring about Sexual Assault and Torture

• Four detainees on their Third Day of Hunger strike due to being held in Isolation and Prevented from Basic Hygienic Needs

• Legal Defense File Claims of Torture in Court Session of “Attempted Murder Case”

Bahrain Courts Investors as Link to Mideast-Wall Street Journal

Political Discontent And Rival Entreaties Make Pitch Difficult

By ANDREW CRITCHLOW
January 24, 2008
DAVOS, Switzerland -- Bahrain's Sunni-Muslim ruling family is putting on a charm offensive at this week's World Economic Forum. But the effort risks falling flat as Western business cozies up to Bahrain's richer neighbors in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Rights group can visit riot prisoners
By SARA SAMI
Published: 24th January 2008

A HUMAN rights group has been given the green light to visit a group of prisoners who claim to have been abused in police custody. The independent Bahrain Human Rights Society will conduct its own inquiry into allegations that Bahraini inmates have been tortured.

It follows claims by the men's relatives that they have been deprived of sleep and food, received beatings, been handcuffed for weeks, denied showers, made to sleep on the floor and verbally abused, among other things.

05:24:37 GMT
Source: Human Rights Watch
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.

Detainees, Families Report Sexual Assault, Electrocution, Beatings
(New York, January 21, 2008) – Bahrain should investigate allegations that judicial interrogators tortured and in one case sexually assaulted opposition political activists detained after violent protests last month, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch also called on the Bahraini government to allow an independent physician to examine detainees who allege abuse and to discipline or prosecute security officials responsible for abusing detainees.

by Joel Bowman on Sunday, 20 January 2008

Bahrain's proposed a duel price plan under which expatriates will be charged more than nationals for basic commodities has come under fire from rights activists and retailers, local newspapers reported on Sunday.

Earlier this month MPs backed a recommendation by parliament’s financial and economic affairs committee to subsidise food and other basic goods for nationals and exclude foreign workers from receiving any financial help to cope with rising inflation in the Gulf Arab state.

Maytham Bader Alshaik is Bahraini Activists that was tortured and sexually assaulted by the Bahraini police in January /2008

(OMCT-FIDH)

Bahraini Activists Maytham Alshaik who was tortured and sexually assaulted by the Bahraini police in January 2008

Geneva-Paris, January 18, 2008. The Observatory for the protection of human rights defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), expresses its deepest concern following allegations of torture faced by human rights defenders in Bahrain.

2008/01/18

Author: BI-ME staff

Source: BI-ME

Published: 16 January 2008

BAHRAIN. Bahrain's lower house on Tuesday rejected a motion by Al Wefaq to discuss discrimination in the allocation of jobs in the public sector.

The society, which forms the largest bloc with 17 of the 40 members making up the Council of Representatives told the other MPs at the Council of Representatives that it wanted to discuss what it said was blatant discrimination, based mainly on sectarian affiliation in employment opportunities in government ministries.

Torture claims denied
Published: 18th January 2008

CLAIMS that people arrested last month during clashes with police have been tortured in custody were described as "groundless" yesterday.

Interior Ministry Assistant Under-Secretary for Legal Affairs Colonel Mohammad Rashid Buhamood said inmates are questioned by the Public Prosecution and anyone claiming to have been tortured is examined by a forensic doctor.

He added that medical tests showed no detainee had been tortured.

"Claims that detainees have been tortured are groundless," he told AFP.

Issued by: the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, January 15, 2008

Human rights defenders in Bahrain have been subject to a fresh wave of arrests, abuse and possibly torture following protests last month in which an activist was killed, report the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo) and other rights groups.

URGENT APPEAL
After Family visitations and the Release of a number of Activists:
Claims of Torture, Assault, Sexual and Physical Abuse

Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, January 17 2007

• Human Rights Activists Subjected to Atrocious Treatment to Extract Confessions
• After 2 Weeks of Interrogations and Psychological Torture: Continued Claims of Human Rights Violations in Bahrain
• Families Allege the Hearing of Screams Upon Visit to Interrogations Centre

URGENT APPEAL FOR INTERVENTION

BAHRAIN: Activists Sexual Assaulted while subjected to "Falaqah"

Visits of the families to the detainees in the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) in Al-Adleyya revealed that the well known activists: Maytham Bader Jassim Al-Sheikh , Mohamed Alsingace, Naji Fateel, Ahmed Jaffar, Hasan Abdulnabi, Isa A-Sarh, and Ebrahim Al-Arab have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment in the detention.

Date: 13 January 2008
Person(s): Mr Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja
Target(s): Activists and rights defenders
Type(s) of violation(s): censorship, forbidden

Monday, January 14 2008 @ 08:35 AM PST
Contributed by: WorkerFreedom
Views: 30
Over 40 workers at the Delmon Poultry Company in Bahrain staged a wildcat strike yesterday.
Gulf News reported that the Labour Ministry had to intervene after the firm's sales and marketing department refused to work.

Bahrain: Wildcat strikers demand better conditions

Over 40 workers at the Delmon Poultry Company in Bahrain staged a wildcat strike yesterday.
Gulf News reported that the Labour Ministry had to intervene after the firm's sales and marketing department refused to work.

By ANNE GEARAN – 1 day ago

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Bush is praising small democratic advances in Gulf nations ruled by authoritarian family dynasties, while reassuring the oil-rich U.S. allies that he does not seek confrontation with Iran in their backyard.

By Andrew England in Cairo

Published: January 14 2008 02:00 | Last updated: January 14 2008 02:00

When George W. Bush became at the weekend the first US president to visit Bahrain, he was quick to compliment the small archipelago's ruler.

King Hamad bin Issa was at the "forefront of providing hope for people through democracy" the president said, and was "showing the way forward for other nations".

Ghada Jamsheer turns down the membership of the Human Rights Commission for its unclear objectives and standards

An open alert to regional and international organizations:
Special Security Forces and National Security suppress Peaceful Demonstrations
Women's Petition Committee Condemns the attack on women at the General Prosecutor's

1 January 2008

Bush hopes to persuade gulf allies of Iranian threat
U.S. President likely to conclude $20-billion arms deal with Saudis during tour of five Arab states
MARK MACKINNON

January 12, 2008

JERUSALEM -- Fresh from three days of trying to make peace in one part of the Middle East, U.S. President George W. Bush landed in the Persian Gulf yesterday, promising weapons and hoping to convince his allies of the threat he believes is posed by Iran.

MANAMA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has issued a law to combat human trafficking, the kingdom's state news agency said on Wednesday, days before a visit by U.S. President George W. Bush.

The United States, which has a free trade agreement with Bahrain, has criticised other Gulf Arab allies for failing to take steps to effectively curb human trafficking.

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

OPEN LETTER TO MR. W. BUSH,

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Geneva - Paris, January 9, 2008

Re: Arbitrary arrest of human rights activists in Bahrain

Dear Mr. Bush,

MANAMA, Bahrain (AFP)--The king of Bahrain has cemented royal family control of the country's armed forces by appointing his son and crown prince as deputy commander of the army.

King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa appointed Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces, which comprise the army and the National Guard, by a royal decree issued Sunday.

Twelve-year-old Badoor holds a picture of her brother, Naji, during a protest held to demand the release of 42 demonstrators detained by police two weeks ago, in Manama, January 4,2008
--------------------------------------------------------

By SOMAN BABY
Published: 4th January 2008

BAHRAIN is putting its human rights record on show to the world, with the good and bad for all to see, it declared yesterday. "We have nothing to hide," said Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Nazar Al Baharna.

Bahrain will become the first country to put its human rights record up for review by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva next month, under a new global monitoring system.

Sandeep Singh Grewal

Al Amal Islamic Society has written to two ministries demanding an explanation for the search conducted at its premises for weapons.
"We are a political society and aware of our responsibilities. The search of our building has affected our image. We need clarifications and have sent letters to the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs and Ministry of Interior," the society's head of research and activities, Fahmi Abdulsaheb Ahmed, told the Tribune.
On December 30 security forces searched the society headquarters in Al Qurraya.