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Call to end discrimination
By MANDEEP SINGH
Published: 1st December 2008

BAHRAIN women's rights activists yesterday backed recommendations by a UN committee, which called for further measures to eradicate discrimination.

A report by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, released on Friday, was compiled by independent experts.

The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights notes the recent appointment of law firm Patton Boggs as a lobbying group for the Bahraini government in the USA. According to the Washington Intelligence Online Report, the Bahraini authorities have hired the Democrat lobbyists, "essentially to say the Shi'ites are getting a fair shake in Bahrain".

Bahrain: Fear of breach of Clients as well as BCHR Privacy resulting from copying information from his laptop and cell phone:

Ref: 08110700
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, is highly concerned about the new practice of targeting and harassing human Rights defenders, as the Bahrain Authorities apprehended Mr Mohammed Majeed Aljeshi at Bahrain International Airport during which his cell phone and laptop were confiscated in a clear intention of copying information.

Former Prisoner at Guantanamo Bay

The Saudi Security Arrest a Bahraini Citizen on King Fahad Causeway

Manama – 23 November/2008
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights is deeply concerned at information received about the arrest of Bahraini citizen Abdullah Majid Al-Nuaimi on October 29, 2008 by the Saudi authorities as he was entering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia via the King Fahad causeway which connects Bahrain with Saudi Arabia. Mr Al Nuaimi was then taken to an unknown destination. Since his arrest he has not been allowed to meet with any family members, nor allowed to hire or meet an attorney. The Saudi authorities have as yet failed to release charges against him.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) has learned that the Bahraini Minister of Information, Jihad Bu-Kamal, has been replaced by Shaikha Mai Al-Khalifa, a member of the royal family, after a talk-show program criticising the ruling elite of corruption was aired on TV.

At a human rights event in Washington, D.C. last month, the head of IFEX member Bahrain Center for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab and two other human rights defenders discussed how Shia citizens of Bahrain are continually shut out - of government jobs, the best education opportunities, the media, places to worship.

Interior Minister Warned of Criminal Punishment for ‘Foreign’ Contacts
(New York, November 12, 2008) – Bahrain’s government should withdraw a threat by the interior minister to prosecute human rights activists for having met with foreign government officials while abroad, Human Rights Watch said today.

Bahrain: End Threats to Rights Activists
Interior Minister Warned of Criminal Punishment for ‘Foreign’ Contacts

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Lawyers in murder trial quit
By NOOR TOORANI
Published: 11th November 2008

DEFENCE lawyers of 19 men allegedly involved in the murder of a Pakistani policeman yesterday stunned the court when they withdrew from the case. They claimed the High Criminal Court has not met their repeated requests and they cannot continue with the defence.

(BCHR/IFEX) - The following is a joint action led by BCHR:

Signed,
Adil Soz, International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech, Kazakhstan
Arab Archives Institute (AAI), Jordan
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Egypt
ARTICLE 19, U.K
Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Bahrain
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Egypt
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), Canada
Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI), U.S.A.
Conseil national pour les libertés en Tunisie (CNLT), Tunisia
Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), Egypt
Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Kathmandu
Free Media Movement (FMM), Sri Lanka
Freedom House, U.S.A.
Independent Journalism Center (IJC), Moldova
Index on Censorship, U.K.
Institute of Mass Information (IMI), Ukraine
Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information (ISAI), Indonesia
Maharat Foundation, Lebanon
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), Australia
Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Ghana
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Namibia
Media Watch, Bangladesh
Observatoire pour la liberté de presse, d'édition et de creation (OLPEC), Tunisia
Sindicato de Periodistas del Paraguay (SPP), Paraguay

7 November 2008

SOURCE: ARTICLE 19, London

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release:

Calls to Enforce Article 134 of Penal Code Prompts Fears of Crackdown on Freedom of Expression

Published on Front Line (http://www.frontlinedefenders.org)
Bahrain: Human rights defender Mohamed Abdul Nabi Al-Maskati facing trial on 6 November 2008
By jimloughran
Created 2008/11/03 - 19:01
Front Line is concerned by reports received that Bahraini human rights defender Mohamed Abdul Nabi Al-Maskati will face trial on the 6 November 2008 charged with “running an unlicenced association.” Mohamed Abdul Nabi Al-Maskati is the founder of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), which organises training workshops, monitors and documents human rights violations and participates in forming a regional network for young human rights activists in eight Arab countries. Front Line previously wrote to you on 12 December 2007 in relation with this case.