» Italy government to reconsider relations with Bahrain  » Wife visits jailed Bahraini hunger striker  » Bahraini's determination strikes fear into the House of Saud  » US Arms Sale Sends Wrong Signal to Bahrain, Groups Say  » Bahraini Doctors On Brutality  » UNHRC to examine Bahrain rights record  » Bahraini forces attack pro-democracy protesters  » Iran says Saudi-Bahrain union plan deepens crisis  » Saudi fears block closer Gulf union  » US Resumes Weapons Sales To Bahrain  
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Italy government to reconsider relations with Bahrain

16/05/2012 - 1:41 p
The echoes of Bahrain unrest has recently reached the Italian Parliament.

Wife visits jailed Bahraini hunger striker

16/05/2012 - 1:32 p
Khadija al-Musawi says she visited her husband, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, for about two hours Sunday.
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A Bahraini nurse removes shotgun pellets from an anti-government demonstrator hit during clashes with riot police Saturday, May 12, 2012, in a house in Bilad al-Qadeem, Bahrain, on the outskirts of the capital of Manama. Most injuries are treated in homes

Bahraini's determination strikes fear into the House of Saud

16/05/2012 - 1:27 p
Washington has announced it will increase its weapons sales to the Bahraini regime while Saudi Arabia plans to take complete control of Bahrain's security.

US Arms Sale Sends Wrong Signal to Bahrain, Groups Say

16/05/2012 - 1:23 p
The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is sending the wrong signal to the government of Bahrain in proceeding with a partial sale of new arms to Manama, according to human rights activists and some lawmakers.

Bahraini Doctors On Brutality

16/05/2012 - 1:17 p
A Bahraini doctor arrested and allegedly brutalized for treating an injured protester said he and other medical workers were targeted because of what they saw. “We became automatic witnesses. That’s a problem. When we saw protesters, straightaway we became automatic witnesses. And to take our credibility away, accuse us of a crime,” Nabeel Hameed told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
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UNHRC to examine Bahrain rights record

16/05/2012 - 1:12 p
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is to discuss Bahrain’s rights record in the upcoming session of its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group in Geneva.
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Statements

Bahrain: Revolution continues, regime squeezed into last repressive stand
Bahrain Freedom Movement - 11/05/2012
With four most prominent human rights activists languishing behind bars in torture dungeons, the Alkhalifa rulers have shot themselves in the foot. Many voices have been raised against the invitation of the self-styled king, Hamad Alkhalifa to the Diamond Jubilee in London later this month.

Bahrain: Alkhalifa maintain iron curtain to continue its religious cleansing
Bahrain Freedom Movement - 04/05/2012
On Thursday the people reacted angrily with disgust at the dictator’s constitutional changes that failed to address the real issues in the country. The 14th February Youth Alliance viewed these “changes” as “confirmation that the Alkhalifa regime is incapable of reforming itself or being reformed, therefore, it has to go”.

Carpet Gassing of Bahrainis by Timoney and Yate’s Forces
Bahrain Freedom Movement - 27/04/2012
Repression has been greatly intensified in the past week, especially after the end of the most controversial F1 race last weekend. The use of what is now termed “Carpet Gassing” of residential areas is causing alarm on international level after more than 30 people were killed as a result of excessive inhalation of chemical gases fired by security forces. In addition to this people are routinely stopped, checked and intimidated at cheque points along the main roads and at entrances of towns and villages.

Open letter to Formula 1 management (FIA) and teams
Timoney and Yates threaten to kill Bahrainis to facilitate F1
Bahrain: Martyr buried, F1 misguided decision and state anarchism
Bahrain: Martyrs fall as Khawaja’s plight challenges world morality and ethics

Article

UAE Should Think of Border Disputes with S. Arabia instead of Rapping Iran
16/04/2012
TEHRAN (FNA)- A prominent Bahraini political activist censured the UAE for its irrational reaction to the Iranian president's recent visit to the Persian Gulf island of Abu Musa, while leaving its crucial border disputes with Saudi Arabia, and called on Abu Dhabi to find a solution to its territorial disputes with Riyadh instead of raising unfounded claims against Iran.

Commodore fired for partying, nudity in Bahrain
By Sam Fellman - Staff Writer - 09/04/2012
By nightfall June 3, what began as an officer’s move-in bash at her new apartment in Bahrain’s Floating City was getting out of hand. Partiers had been drinking all day Friday. And the party had spilled from her patio onto rafts in the canal alongside.

Saudi Arabia pushing Bahrain to solve crisis, fears Syria effect
By Andrew Hammond - 22/03/2012
MANAMA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia wants Bahrain's government and opposition to resolve a political crisis that it fears could worsen because of the sectarian fallout of fighting in Syria and destabilise its Eastern Province, a diplomat and opposition politician said.

Don’t look away from Bahrain’s revolution
Bahrain, We Hardly Knew Ye
Bahrain opposition presses for change
Anonymous marks Bahrain anniversary by hacking U.S. tear gas company

Editorials
News

Bahraini forces attack pro-democracy protesters
16/05/2012
Bahraini regime forces have once again attacked anti-government demonstrators, using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters in the capital, Manama. The demonstrators were chanting slogans against the ruling Al Khalifa family in the capital on Monday. They also called for the release of political prisoners in Bahrain.

Information Database

Bahrain: The revolution continues, one year on
16/02/2012
On 14th February 2011 Bahraini youth declared their revolution demanding a fundamental change in the system of government, that hereditary dictatorship must end and that the people are given the right to determine their own destiny. The Saudis intervened militarily while the Americans failed to support the pro-democracy activists. The revolutionary youth are determined to make the change and end the black era of the Al Khalifa, their dictatorship and torture.

Bahrain: Dead End for a regime guilty of systematic torture
31/12/2011
The incompatibility of the Bahraini regime with modern standards of democracy and human rights has been clearly manifested in Bissiouni’s report. Yet Al Khalifa allies continue to prop up a regime that has been proven to use systematic torture and extra-judicial killing. There is ample evidence that crimes against humanity have been committed. Shouldn’t ICC be involved? 15th December 2011

Bahrain: Time to support regime change and end occupation
07/11/2011
Proceedings of seminar hosted by Lord Avebury, Vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group on 1st November, 2011. Despite the lack of support from the West, the people of Bahrain have not been deterred from pursuing regime change which started on 14th February. The Al Khalifa regime, propped up by the Saudi army has failed to impress their allies with their continued repression and lack of any reforms. What is the reality on the ground, the prospects of a solution and the likely outcome?

Forty years after the British withdrawal
BAHRAIN COMMERATION AND THANKS TO SUPPORTERS
Bahrain; failed political experiment
Congressman H A. W

Arabic Site


U.S. urges Bahrain to follow through on human rights

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed "the full range of human rights issues" with Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa of Bahrain, a Gulf island kingdom that hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, the State Department said.

 

Unrest still roils Bahrain months after the Sunni ruling family brought in troops from Sunni allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to help crush a protest movement they said was fomented by Iran and had Shi'ite sectarian motives.

 

During the meeting, Clinton stressed the importance of an independent panel due to report on the unrest, assess whether it involved rights violations and make recommendations to Bahrain's ruling family.

 

The panel's report has been delayed until November 23.

 

"The foreign minister assured her that the government would take the report very seriously and would in fact establish an implementing committee," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters after the meeting.

 

She said Clinton had stressed "this is a very important commission. The fact that it is independent, the fact that its work will be transparent is not only important for Bahrain but ... for the cause of reform throughout that region."

 

Washington is trying to fend off charges that it has backed Arab pro-democracy uprisings elsewhere, while condoning the Saudi-backed crackdown in Bahrain, a long-standing Gulf ally.

 

Earlier this month the State Department told U.S. lawmakers it is delaying a planned $53 million arms sale to Bahrain, pending the outcome of the investigation into alleged human-rights abuses since the uprising began in February.

 

While the State Department described the meeting in neutral terms, a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity suggested it may have been more contentious.

 

"They had a full and frank exchange (on) all of the issues that we have in front of us, including the human rights issues," the official said, using a phrase that diplomats often reserve for heated discussions.