Exposing The Truth

Arab Spring Part Of ‘US Divide-And-Conquer Plan’

November 24, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

The fall of Libya, the riots in Syria, the media attack on Iran are all parts of a global decades-old American plan to take control of all Middle East, believes regional consultant Peter Eyre.

He believes that the operation went into action after 9/11. The terrorist attack on America meant that “no one is going to stop the US; it can bomb wherever it wants.”

The expert says a classified Pentagon document outlined the attack on the region. “It said ‘We are going to take out seven countries in a period of five to 10 years’. And on that list was Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Somalia. And of course the final target was Iran. This is a very well-planned exercise,” Eyre told RT.

“It’s all about geopolitics. It has nothing to do with Iranian nuclear capabilities or whatever,” he added.

Eyre says the whole notion of Arab Spring is in fact an orchestrated funneling of public dissent into a rebellion by special services.

“Look at the Arab Spring. You get people take to the streets en masse. Why are they out on the street? It’s because they’re frustrated with their government. It’s at this vulnerable moment when the special forces and secret service operatives intermingle with the crowd and in some cases become the ‘snipers on the rooftops’ that take out selected innocent victims. The people in the crowd then believe that the government is carrying out this action – and it becomes a rebellion,” he explained.

And Lindsey German from the Stop the War Coalition told RT before America plans another intervention, they should consider the far greater consequences that would beset the entire region.

“We should learn the lesson of Libya, that thousands and thousands of civilians died after the NATO bombing began, and NATO bombing or any other military intervention in Syria will have even more serious consequences because of the regional setup, because the whole question of Iran, the whole question of Israel, will all come to the fore, and I believe will lead to a much more substantial war in the region, which is the last thing that anybody really needs.”

Source: https://rt.com/news/arab-spring-divide-conquer-559/

Filed Under: Middle East, New World Order, Revolution

Occupy Bahrain. Please Help Us.

November 23, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Middle East, Occupy, Politics, Torture

What Price Women’s Rights In Tunisia’s New Democracy?

November 22, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

Tunisia’s first free elections have been won by an Islamist party whose leader is set to head the country’s parliament. Now concerns are rife that women’s rights will be eroded as the country is gripped in the vice of narrow Islamic traditions.

Human rights – primarily for women – and the prospect of the North African country turning into an Islamic state, are among the most pressing issues facing Tunisian society. Last week, a storm of controversy was sparked by a statement from prime-minister-in-waiting Hamadi Jebali, the secretary-general of the Ennahda party. In a speech to his supporters, he referred to the approaching era of the Sixth Caliphate and of a Muslim theocracy – a state under the leadership of Allah who proclaims his will through specially-designated individuals. The last caliphate – the Ottoman Empire – came to an end in 1924.

The Islamist Ennahda party won the Tunisian Constituent Assembly election having scored about 41 per cent of the vote, or 89 out of 217 seats. The final results were announced on Monday immediately after Jebali made his statement.

‘We all are the women of Tunisia’

The indignation of secular Tunisians and Ennahda’s potential partners in the governing coalition forced Jebali to explain his party’s position. The secretary-general said that his words about “the Sixth Caliphate” had been taken out of their original context and that he had meant exclusively the cultural heritage and moral values of which Tunisia was proud. At the same time, Ennahda is committed to modernization and democratic principles. However, his words were unlikely to reassure secular Tunisians. This row is merely a precursor of future storms which Tunisia seems certain to face in the forthcoming period of transition.

“We are all the women of Tunisia,” stated Professor Khalid Kshir of Tunis University in conversation with the author of this article. Professor Kshir is a member of the Democratic Modernist Pole, a coalition of leftist parties. He fears that the Ennahda party will push the country back instead of moving it forward.

Just a year ago, literally weeks before the start of the uprising in the country, Tunisians had joked that theirs was a country of free women and happy men. No other Arab nation had ever granted so many rights to women, fixed de jure and de facto, than Tunisia. That was something of which Tunisians were proud, and even boasted about. Today, many people in Tunisia fear that the country’s achievements on the road to becoming a modern society will be brought to nought.

”We need to focus all our efforts in the sphere of politics and culture on women’s rights, because women form half of our society and any infringement on their rights will be harmful to all of us,” Professor Kshir went on to say.

Strange as it may seem, the issue of women’s rights was also on the agenda of a conference on promoting tourism which took place in Tunisia early in November, shortly before the final election results were announced. The conference was organized by the Ennahda party, which decided not to wait for the National Constituent Assembly to convene and the government to be formed before holding a series of meetings with representatives of Tunisia’s major industries in order to lay out the priorities for getting the national economy out of its post-revolution stupor. The discussion on the prospects for yourism was among the first meetings to be held, along with a conference on the financial market, co-sponsored by Tunisia’s Brokers’ Association.

Ennahda’s choice of priorities in scheduling its conference was by no means accidental. Tourists and investors alike have been dismayed by the outcome of Tunisia’s election. In fact, Ennahda itself has been similarly confused. It is one thing to be a long-standing opposition party and earn a reputation as martyrs, but quite another when you have to assume responsibility for the fate of your nation and prove your merits by tackling economic and social issues.

Ennahda secretary-general and newly-appointed Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali confessed during his meeting with tourism industry heads that his party had come to power despite never having aspired to such a role.

“We are not aiming to split Tunisian society, and we are do not intend to drag the nation back into its past. On the contrary, we guarantee that the main principles of democracy, such as free speech and human rights, will be observed,” was Jebali’s core message.

The party leader’s comforting assurance came in response to concerns expressed by travel agencies, tour operators, hoteliers and bankers at the meeting, who voiced questions such as, “What will be Tunisia’s international image following your electoral victory? What will happen to women’s rights? How will European tourists feel in Tunisia, and do they have a reason to fear Islamists?”

What started as a discussion on the prospects of tourism eventually escalated into a broader deliberation on Tunisia’s prospective path of development. There are strong reasons for such an interconnection: tourism accounts for six per cent of Tunisia’s GDP and makes up 60 per cent of the national trade deficit. The industry employs 12 per cent of the country’s working population, while one in eight Tunisian families live off tourism, one way or another. During the revolutionary turmoil which rocked the country between January and September 2011, tourism revenues in Tunisia plunged by 38.5 per cent compared to a similar period in 2010, while the overall number of tourists coming to Tunisia sank by 34.4 per cent.

That is why at present Ennahda is ready for dialogue and compromise. “We guarantee freedom in food, drink and clothes,” Hamadi Jebali said.

He emphasized that his party would respect democratic principles and that Tunisian society would retain its progressive nature. According to Jebali, the revolution took place in the name of improving the lives of Tunisian citizens and moving the country forward rather than hindering its development.

Many of those present at the conference believed the words of the Ennahda leader – or said that they did. “I believe Jebali. I am an optimist but only on condition that the rights of women won’t be violated and if we don’t follow the path of Saudi Arabia where a woman can do business but is forbidden to drive a car,” Sihem Zaiem, a member of the Federation of Tourist Agencies, said after the conference.

Delegates applauded her when she demanded that the Ennahda secretary-general explain Tunisia’s true face to the world as soon as possible, and demonstrate Islamists’ attitude to women’s rights. Jebali promised that nothing would change in the arena of women’s rights. His speech was very convincing.

Political promises notwithstanding, the mood in the country is increasingly anxious. Tunisia has been shaken by a series of attacks on offices of television stations broadcasting films of women film directors, assaults on women teachers who dress in European style and a boycott of their lectures by female Muslim students.

Although Ennahda’s leaders have officially criticized such phenomena, nevertheless, Tunisians will have to face a new reality where the right to wear a headscarf could contradict the right to wear European clothes. The burning question which remains to be answered is whether these two realities will be able to co-exist in the new Tunisia.

Source: https://rt.com/news/ennahda-party-country-jebali-905/

Filed Under: Middle East, Revolution, Women

Saudi Moral Committee Threatens To Cover “Tempting” Women’s Eyes

November 22, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

Women with sexy eyes in Saudi Arabia may be forced to cover them up, according to the spokesperson of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) in the conservative Gulf kingdom.

Spokesman of the Ha’eal district, Sheikh Motlab al-Nabet said the committee has the right to stop a women whose eyes seem “tempting” and order her to cover them immediately.

Saudi women are already forced to wear a loose black dress and to cover their hair and in some areas, their face, while in public or face fines or sometimes worse, including public lashings.

The announcement came days after the Saudi newspaper al-Watan reported that a Saudi man was admitted to a hospital after a fight with a member of the committee when he ordered his wife to cover her eyes. The husband was then stabbed twice in the hand.

The CPVPV is Saudi’s Sharia, Islamic law, executive arm and was founded in 1940 to ensure Islamic laws are not broken in public, yet over the years, the committee has been largely criticized over its human rights violations.

In 2002, the committee refused to let female students out of their burning schools in Mecca for “not wearing the proper head cover,” which contributed to a large number of dead.

15 young girls died in the fire and dozens more were injured. The CPVPV men banned the firemen and policemen from accessing the girls as “it is not okay for girls to be seen without their full Islamic dress in front of strangers.”

The committee, which only accepts and trains volunteers, has questionable powers on the Saudi street, as they operate under the supervision of the King himself.

A Wikileaks document released last year mentioned that “wild Western-style parties” are regularly held at royal palaces in Jeddah, away from the reach of the committee, who stands helpless against any royal violations.

It was reported that the parties had alcohol, drugs, dancing and sex, according to American consulate wires published by the whistle-blower organization.

Source: https://bikyamasr.com/48621/saudi-moral-committee-threatens-to-cover-tempting-women-eyes/

Filed Under: Human Rights, Middle East, Women

Hezbollah Unravels CIA Spy Network In Lebanon

November 22, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

Hezbollah has partially unraveled the CIA’s spy network in Lebanon, severely damaging the intelligence agency’s ability to gather vital information on the terrorist organization at a tense time in the region, former and current U.S. officials said.

Officials said several foreign spies working for the CIA had been captured by Hezbollah in recent months. The blow to the CIA’s operations in Lebanon came after top agency managers were alerted last year to be especially careful handling informants in the Middle East country.

Hezbollah’s longtime leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, boasted in June on television he had unmasked at least two CIA spies who had infiltrated the ranks of the organization, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group closely allied with Iran.

Though the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon officially denied the accusation, American officials concede that Nasrallah wasn’t lying and the damage spread like a virus as Hezbollah methodically picked off the CIA’s informants.

To be sure, some deaths are to be expected in these shadowy spy wars. It’s an extremely risky business and people get killed. But the damage to the agency’s network in Lebanon has been greater than usual, several former and current U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about security matters.

The Lebanon crisis is the latest mishap involving CIA counterintelligence, defined as the undermining or manipulating of the enemy’s ability to gather information. Former CIA officials have said the once-essential skill has been eroded as the agency shifted from outmaneuvering rival spy agencies to fighting terrorists. In the rush for immediate results, former officers say, tradecraft has suffered.

The most recent high-profile example was the suicide bomber who posed as an informant and killed seven CIA employees and wounded six others in Khost, Afghanistan, in December 2009.

Last year, then-CIA director Leon Panetta said the agency had to maintain “a greater awareness of counterintelligence.” But eight months later, Nasrallah let the world know he had bested the CIA, demonstrating that the agency still struggles with this critical aspect of spying and sending a message to those who would betray Hezbollah.

It remains unclear whether anyone has been or will be held responsible in the wake of this counterintelligence disaster or whether the incident will affect the CIA’s ability to recruit assets in Lebanon.

CIA officials were warned their spies in Lebanon were vulnerable. Those told include the chief of the unit that supervises Hezbollah operations from CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., and the head of counterintelligence.

Former and current intelligence officials are waiting to see how CIA Director David Petreaus, who took the helm in September, will handle this fiasco. While in the military, the retired four-star developed a reputation for exacting standards and holding people accountable.

“Gen. Petraeus will definitely take care of the failings of his organization. He will deal with it head on and not try to bury it under the carpet,” said retired Army Col. Peter Mansoor, the general’s former executive officer in Iraq.

In response to AP’s questions about what happened in Lebanon, a U.S. official said Hezbollah is a complicated enemy, responsible for killing more Americans than any other terrorist group before September 2001. The agency did not underestimate the organization, the official said.

The CIA’s toughest adversaries, like Hezbollah and Iran, have for years been improving their ability to hunt spies, relying on patience and guile to exploit counterintelligence holes.

In 2007, for instance, when Ali-Reza Asgari, a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran, disappeared in Turkey, it was assumed that he was either killed or defected. In response, the Iranian government began a painstaking review of foreign travel by its citizens, particularly to places like Turkey where Iranians don’t need a visa and could meet with foreign intelligence services.

It didn’t take long, a Western intelligence official told the AP, before the U.S., Britain and Israel began losing contact with some of their Iranian spies. In this instance, the Iranians used travel and expense records to figure out who was selling the foreign intelligence services information about its nuclear program.

The State Department last year described Hezbollah as “the most technically capable terrorist group in the world,” and the Defense Department estimates it receives between $100 million and $200 million per year in funding from Iran.

Backed by Iran, Hezbollah has built a professional counterintelligence apparatus that Nasrallah — whom the U.S. government designated an international terrorist a decade ago — proudly describes as the “spy combat unit.” U.S. intelligence officials believe the unit, which is considered formidable and ruthless, went operational around 2004.

Using the latest commercial software, Nasrallah’s spy-hunters unit began methodically searching for traitors in Hezbollah’s midst. To find them, U.S. officials said, Hezbollah examined cellphone data looking for anomalies. The analysis identified cellphones that, for instance, were used rarely or always from specific locations and only for a short period of time. Then it came down to old-fashioned, shoe-leather detective work: Who in that area had information that might be worth selling to the enemy?

The effort took years but eventually Hezbollah, and later the Lebanese government, began making arrests. By one estimate, 100 Israeli assets were apprehended as the news made headlines across the region in 2009. Some of those suspected Israeli spies worked for telecommunications companies and served in the military.

Back at CIA headquarters, the arrests alarmed senior officials. The agency prepared a study on its own vulnerabilities, U.S. officials said, and the results proved to be prescient.

The analysis concluded that the CIA was susceptible to the same analysis that had compromised the Israelis, the officials said.

CIA managers were instructed to be extra careful about handling sources in Lebanon. A U.S. official said recommendations were issued to counter the potential problem.

But it’s unclear what preventive measures were taken by the Hezbollah unit chief or the officer in charge of the Beirut station. Former officials say the Hezbollah unit chief is no stranger to the necessity of counterintelligence and knew the risks. The unit chief has worked overseas in hostile environments like Afghanistan and played an important role in the capture of a top terrorist while stationed in the Persian Gulf region after the attacks of 9/11.

“We’ve lost a lot of people in Beirut over the years, so everyone should know the drill,” said a former Middle East case officer familiar with the situation.

But whatever actions the CIA took, they were not enough. Like the Israelis, bad tradecraft doomed these CIA assets and the agency ultimately failed to protect them, an official said. In some instances, CIA officers fell into predictable patterns when meeting their sources, the official said.

This allowed Hezbollah to identify assets and case officers and unravel at least part of the CIA’s spy network in Lebanon. There was also a reluctance to share cases and some files were put in “restricted handling.” The designation severely limits the number of people who know the identity of the source but also reduces the number of experts who could spot problems that might lead to their discovery, officials said.

Nasrallah’s televised announcement in June — he called the U.S. Embassy in Beirut a “den of spies” — was followed by finger-pointing among departments inside the CIA as the spy agency tried figure out what went wrong and contain the damage.

The fate of these CIA assets is unknown. Hezbollah treats spies differently, said Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism and intelligence expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Studies who is writing a book about the terrorist organization

“It all depends on who these guys were and what they have to say,” Levitt said. “Hezbollah has disappeared people before. Others they have kept around.”

Who’s responsible for the mess in Lebanon? It’s not clear. The chief of Hezbollah operations at CIA headquarters continues to run the unit that also focuses on Iranians and Palestinians. The CIA’s top counterintelligence officer, who was one of the most senior women in the clandestine service, recently retired after approximately five years on the job.

She is credited with some important cases, including the recent arrests of Russian spies who had been living in the U.S. for years.

Officials said the woman was succeeded by a more experienced operations officer. That officer has held important posts in Moscow, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Balkans — key frontlines in the agency’s spy wars with foreign intelligence services and terrorist organizations.

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/ap-exclusive-spies-outed-cia-suffers-lebanon-14995830?page=3#.Tss5L2N2LbI

Filed Under: America, Middle East, Surveillance

Saudi Women To Cover “Tempting” Eyes

November 21, 2011 By T Kelly 1 Comment

Religious police issues order following fight between one of its officers and the husband of a woman after the former told her to cover her eyes. If confirmed, the step would mark a step backward compared to King Abdallah’s cautious overtures.

Riyadh (AsiaNews) – Saudi women with attractive eyes may be forced to cover them up, said Sheikh Motlab al Nabet, a spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), better known as the religious police or Mutaween.

The report appeared on the news website Bikya Masr. In it, al Nabet is quoted as saying the committee had the right to stop women revealing “tempting” eyes in public.

The decision was taken after a man was reportedly hospitalised after a fight with a committee member who told his wife to cover her eyes.

Women in Saudi Arabia already have to cover their hair, and, in some regions, their faces while in public. If they do not, they face punishments including fines and public floggings.

Legally, women are treated as minors without power to act on their own and must have a ‘guardian’ whose consent is necessary for all legal procedures, from marriage to contract, as well as driving, travelling or simply going to a hotel.

However, a few years from now, Saudi women might be able to cast their vote in local elections for the first time. In fact, because of pressure from women’s groups and cautious overtures by King Abdallah, the situation might improve.

Yet the appointment of Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz as crown prince might reverse the course of events for he is viewed as close to conservative circles.

Source: https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Saudi-women-to-cover-%E2%80%9Ctempting%E2%80%9D-eyes-23212.html

Filed Under: Middle East, Rights, Women

Child Abuse In Bahrain Continues Without Accountability: Murder, Arbitrary Arrests, Torture & Harsh Military Sentences

November 20, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) expresses its deep concern for the continued assaults against children under the age of 18 on the hands of the security forces of Bahrain, as part of the brutal campaign against pro-democracy protesters and continuous crackdown on villages.

Since the review of Bahrain record by the committee of the child rights in June 2011, the death toll of children has risen to 5 children and hundreds of children were subjected to excessive force by policemen, arbitrary arrests, torture at detention, prosecution and sentencing by military court. Children trials are still ongoing on the criminal court for charges related to freedom of expression and assembly.

The Bahraini government is a signatory of the International Convention for the Rights of Children. However, while its Ministry of Human Rights prides itself of abiding by the rules and regulations of the convention, basic rights of children in Bahrain are being brutally violated by security forces without any actions from the authorities to end these violations.

Five children killed by illegal weaponry, suffocation of tear gas, being shot at face and run over

“Every child has the inherent right to life” - Article I of the International Convention for the Rights of the Child.

Sayed Ahmed Shams is a 15 year old, born in September 1996. He is from Saar village and is a student in Al Duraz Secondary school. Sayed Ahmed was shot in the face by security forces which resulted to his death on 30 March 2011 while on his way to the American Mission hospital in Saar. He was attacked while playing outside his house.

The youngest to die is a 6 year old boy name Mohammed Farhan. On Friday April 29, police fired tear gas into his house in Sitra. The young boy suffocated and was taken to Salmaniya Hospital to be submitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). He passed away the following day.

Four months later on August 31, which was the first day of Eid, a Muslim holiday, a 14 year old, Ali Al Shaikh, was killed by riot police after being hit by a tear gas canister from a close range. Many international and local human rights organizations condoned Ali’s murder. Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said “The police have a duty to uphold the law, but it is completely unacceptable to throw heavy gas canisters at children. The authorities must investigate ‘Ali Jawad Ahmad al-Shaikh’s death immediately in a thorough, independent and impartial manner, and those responsible must be held to account”. The ministry of interior claimed that Ali was dead before reaching the hospital and denied any police action in the area. However, no further explanation was given.

About a month afterwards on October 6, a 16 year old boy, Ahmed Al Qattan, was killed by a shotgun which is an illegal weapon. Security forces aimed at him at a very close range, causing the pellets to penetrate into his lung resulting to his death. Ahmed was immediately taken to the nearby hospital, Bahrain International Hospital. MOI, in their statement, “attributed the death to injury by birdshot and the report of Bahrain International Hospital reasoned the death to sever drop in the blood circulation that led to the heart to stop”. As previous killing, it was said that “legal procedures would be taken according to the results of the investigation”.

A day before the Universal children’s day, 19 November 2011, Ali Yousif Baddah, 16 years, was purposely run over by Bahrain security force while suppressing a peaceful protest in Juffair. MOI confirmed the cause of death. Photos of Ali after being hit are very graphics because of the severity of injuries. Ali’s funeral procession and mourners were attacked by rubber bullets and teargas, more injuries were caused.

To date, no one was held accountable for the death of any of these children, although an investigation has been conducted but no action taken against the responsible parties in the government.

Trials at criminal and military courts

Regardless calls to end trial of children at courts that are not adequate to their needs, children under the age of 18 continued to be tried at criminal court and some were sentenced by the military court.

Mustafa Abduljalil AlMoqdad (16 years old) was arrested at dawn on 19 May 2011 after a house raid. He has been accused with others of kidnapping a policeman; he has been tried at National Safety court (military court) and was sentenced on Oct 2011 to 15 years’ imprisonment. He was not allowed access to his family and legal representation until the his first trial on 21 June 2011.

According to a testimony submitted to BCHR, Mustafa was tortured for two weeks after his arrest in the police stations of Qudhaybiya, Noaim and Dry Dock. He was beaten with a plastic cable on the bottom of his feet, on the back and all over his body. He was deprived from sleep for three days and was forced to stand for days. His lawyer requested medical examination at court but it was rejected.

He is a student in the first year of secondary school, with GPA over 86%. His family has asked for their son to be allowed to take his exams which was denied.

September 23 was declared “self-determination” day, protesters planned to go back to the pearl roundabout, the spot of pro-democracy protesters that was demolished and is under the control of the military now. One of the gathering points was Bahrain City Center, more than 40 were arrested that day amongst them 7 children, they were humiliated, insulted and tortured before taken to detention.

Bayan, 11 years, got arrested that day with her mother and was detained for three days. They have been treated badly. As shown in the photo below, they were handcuffed and thrown on the ground. Lawyer Reem Khalaf said that these detainees have been deprived from food, drink, use of bathroom and praying until the next day of their arrest. They were not allowed to call their families or a lawyer. Some of the children had clear beating marks when they first were seen. Several of the girls under the age of 18 were tried at the criminal court instead of the juvenile court. On 19 Oct 2011, they were sentenced to 6 months imprisonment for “illegal gathering”. Ashwaq Maqabi,17 years old, is one of those girls sentenced. She has sickle cell disease and due to poor treatment in detention her illness has worsened. She was hospitalized more than once. Although she requested the prison management to take her to Salmaniya Hospital where she would receive proper treatment, she was treated in Bahrain Defense Hospital which is a military hospital and was deprived of proper medical treatment . Four other girls (less than 15 year old) are currently going under trial in the same case at the juvenile court.

Aziz Jaffer, 14 years old, was arrested on September 1. He was taken to a horse stable where he was beaten and sexually harassed by security forces who touched his private parts. He was released a few hours later and summoned by the Public Prosecutor on September 16. He was held in detention for a week of interrogation, on charges that included inciting against the regime and the court extended his detention for another week to be released end of September.

Many cases have been reported of children getting arrested during home raids, peaceful protests or while playing in their neighborhoods. Children in Bahrain cannot live normal lives like other children around the world because they are at risk of being arrested at any time.

Torture from the time of arrest

“Hit by electric wires and hoses while hanging from the ceiling with his hands tied, removing his toe nails and threatening to use “white weapons” and shot gun against him” torture testimony of a 17 years old boy

“Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age” - Article 37 of the International Convention for the Rights of the Child

More than 90% of the reported cases of arrested children included them being subjected to physical torture. All of the reported cases included children being psychologically abused, cursed at, insulted and humiliated. At least 2 cases of sexual assault have been reported to BCHR, although numbers are believed to be higher.

On September 22, Hussain Salman, a 15 year old from Bani Jamra, got arrested and was tortured by being beaten violently with a gun on his head and neck. He was released after three and a half hours of torture and beatings. A family member of Hussain Ali, 15 years old, said that Hussain was arrested during a home raid in Sanabis village. While trying to run away out of fear, he hit into a wall and fell unconscious. Riot police dragged him into their bus which caused injuries to his face. He adds that he was then tortured in to the bus and the police station afterwards. When his family visited him, they could see bruises on both his eyes. His knees were so swollen he could not bend them and he had a bulge on his arm. The police management asked his family for new clothes as his old ones which he was still wearing were covered in blood.

On 8 September 2011, self-determination 8, Kumail , 16 years old, was out buying dinner when riot police started attacking his village. He quickly hid in a house when he heard shooting. However riot police raided that house and managed to find him hiding on the roof. One of the police officers threw Kumail and his friend from the roof, which gave him a broken nose. They stabbed him with barbeque skewers and kicked him continuously while taking him to the hospital. He was beaten constantly along with other prisoners even after being taken to jail, as he reported to family.

16 year old Mohammed from Karzakan was subjected to brutal torture by security forces. He fainted after they hit him with blocks of brick and was taken to the police station where he got kicked and slapped. Mohammed was taken out of the building to be torture and beaten for protestors to witness. When they transferred him to the prison hospital, his eyes were swollen and bruised and torture marks were visible all over his body. He was deprived of food and drinks including water, leading him to dehydration.

Mohammed Aqeel is a 17 year old who has been detained since April 21. According to his family, he has been subjected to severe torture which includes being hit by electric wires and hoses while hanging from the ceiling with his hands tied, removing his toe nails and threatening to use “white weapons” and shot gun against him. All this was to force Mohammed to confess to a crime he didn’t commit. He told his family that the officer Isa Al Majali tortured him and insulted his religious beliefs, and when he realized Mohammed was not going to confess, he took him to what the prison management call “The Black Room”. In that room they beat him with electric cables and hoses while hanging him handcuffed. They cursed and humiliated him and the Ahlulbait (Holy Household of the Prophet Mohammad), which hold a holy significance in the Shiaa faith. Mohammed was beaten and tortured continuously for two days at Adliya police station.

Victims of collective punishment

Children in Bahrain are victims of the continuous crackdown on villages and the brutal violence of security forces. BCHR receives weekly reports of children injured and harmed by tear gas, rubber bullets, shotgun pellets and other weapons.

14 year old Maryam Isa was going to her grandfather’s house on September 12 when security forces fired a tear gas canister at her which lit her clothes on fire and burnt her leg and foot. After her family reported it to the police, she was transferred to the hospital for treatment. The police however refused to give copies of medical and police reports to her family in attempt to hide the truth.

Khadija Sayed Mohamed, lost her conscious and started to throw blood due to tear gas inhalation which is thrown with excessive amounts in the village of Saar on 23 Sep 2011

The abuse cases against children in Bahrain is continuous, every day there are victims of the brutal and violent crackdown of Bahrain’s security forces and their use of illegal weaponry against peaceful protesters for exercising their rights. All articles of Bahrain International convention of the rights of children were violated and many other international laws that Bahrain’s authority is the signatory.

Some articles violated of International Convention of the rights of children:

- Article 2/30: 2 - “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child’s parents, legal guardians, or family members. 30 - In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.

Violation: Children in Bahrain being targeted and discriminated against for being members in pro-democracy families and from Shiite sect.
- Article 6: (1) States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life. (2) States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.

Violation: Children’s lives are at risk and danger at all time, whether they are playing in their neighbor hoods, at their homes or even schools
- Article 9: (1) “States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will” (4)“Where such separation results from any action initiated by a State Party”, “that State Party shall, upon request, provide the parents, the child or, if appropriate, another member of the family with the essential information concerning the whereabouts of the absent member(s) of the family”

Violation: Parents are kept for long periods knowing nothing about their children, despite their efforts of asking. Police stations denies having them, just to turn out that they have been there.
- Article 13/ 14: (13-1) The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice. (14-1) States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

Violations: like pro-democracy adults, children have no freedom of expression; they are being targeted, especially at school and expelled for expressing their opinions
- Article 15: (1) States Parties recognize the rights of the child to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly.

Violation: children are being targeted (arrested, injured or killed) during peaceful protests whether for participating in those protests or for being around them
- Article 19: (1) States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.

Violations: dozens of children were subjected to physical, mental, injury and abuse from the security forces in Bahrain
- Article 28: (1) “States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity”

Violation: children are being targeted at schools, injured, arrested and expelled. Read: BCHR: Students paid the price of belonging to the majority sect
- Article 31: (1) States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.

Violation: Children in Bahrain do not have rest and leisure time, they suffer of daily crackdown on their villages and their houses get raided. Like Mohammed Khamis, the football player
- Article 34: States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.

Violation: two cases reported of sexual abuse and more are believed to have been committed
- Article 37: States Parties shall ensure that: (a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age; (b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time; (c) Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child’s best interest not to do so and shall have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances; (d) Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and to a prompt decision on any such action.

Violation: torture and abuse is the way Bahrain government treats its opposition even children, more than a 100 case have been document and more are believed to have been committed

Bahrain Center for Human Rights condemns the violations of human rights against children and calls the international community and demands of Bahraini government to:

1. Immediate release of all children detainees who were arrested within arbitrary arrest campaign or for merely practicing their freedom of expression and assembly.
2. Stop the campaign of arbitrary detention of children.
3. Waive all sentences issued by military court on children less than 18 as it violates article 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which state that “States Parties shall seek to promote the establishment of laws, procedures, authorities and institutions specifically applicable to children.”
4. In case of presence of evidence of a child committing crimes requiring punishment according to law, then they should be prosecuted in a trial consistent with international standards of fair trial and taking consideration of their age.
5. Urgent and neutral investigation in all cases of murder, torture and assault specially those against children and juveniles, and bring the perpetrators and implementers of such crimes to justice.
6. Providing full care for the victims of all these violation specially children and juveniles and providing them with suitable compensation and required treatment.
7. In case of detaining those less than 18 years old, this should be in special detention centers for children and juveniles that are under Ministry of Social Affairs supervision and not Ministry of Interior or any other security force.
8. Stop the repeated attacks on the Bahraini villages, especially those that affect children and juveniles.
9. Following the Convention on the Rights of the Child and implementation of all the recommendations of the Committee of Child Rights issued in 2002 and 2011.
10. Taking all measures to ensure that children and juveniles in detention or trial do not lose their right of basic education to guarantee for them a bright future far from deprivation and loss.
11. End the use of excessive forces and lethal weapons in dealing with peaceful protests, which caused death of more than 40 persons since Feb 2011.

Source: https://bahrainrights.hopto.org/en/node/4845

Filed Under: Children, Middle East, Torture

Yemeni Women Attacked While Celebrating Nobel Peace Prize Win

November 20, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

Dozens of women were reportedly injured in Yemen’s second-largest city yesterday after government supporters attacked an anti-government rally celebrating Yemeni activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman.

According to reports, pro-government “thugs” threw stones at women who were taking part in a peaceful women’s march in the south-western city of Ta’izz.

“Yemeni authorities must protect the right to freedom of expression, which includes not tolerating violent attacks on peaceful marches,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

“A full, independent and impartial investigation must be carried out to identify and bring to justice all those responsible for wounding dozens of women at the Ta’izz march.”

Yesterday’s march in Ta’izz was called after last Friday’s announcement that Tawakkol Karman, a young Yemeni rights activist, would be among three women to receive the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

As a journalist and President of the NGO Women without Chains, Tawakkol Karman has long campaigned against human rights violations in Yemen. She has called on the authorities to protect freedom of expression and women’s rights as well as to release political prisoners.

The activist was involved in this year’s pro-reform protests in Yemen from a very early stage and was briefly detained for her activism in the capital Sana’a in January.

She shares this year’s Nobel Peace Prize with two Liberian women, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and rights activist Leymah Gbowee. She is the first Arab woman to win the prize.

“These attacks on a peaceful gathering in Ta’izz come just days after the Nobel Peace Prize highlighted the struggle for rights in Yemen,” said Malcolm Smart.

“The whole world continues to watch as Yemeni authorities fail to act on demands for reform while peaceful protest is being violently suppressed.”

A larger march, involving both men and women, condemning yesterday’s attack and celebrating Tawakkol Karman’s Nobel peace prize on top of its usual anti-government calls also took place in Ta’izz today. A pro-government group reportedly attacked a group of women who were near the Republican Hospital during the march.

Since February 2011, scores of people have been killed and more than a thousand have been injured in protests across Yemen as security forces have repeatedly used excessive force, including by firing live ammunition at peaceful protesters.

Source: https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/yemeni-women-attacked-while-celebrating-nobel-peace-prize-win-2011-10-10

Filed Under: Human Rights, Middle East, Women

Guantanamo is most expensive jail

November 18, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

This establishment, managed by the U.S., spends $800,000 for each of the 171 detainees, many of them held in custody without charges.

Data published in the Spanish daily, El País, and assigned to the Department of Defense of the United States, establishes Guantanamo prison as the world’s most expensive prison. The establishment, with 171 detainees in Cuba, are costing American taxpayers 137 million Euros (about 242 million dollars) per year, or 800,000 Euros each (1.4 million dollars). Meanwhile, the average spending per person in the prison system on American soil is 25,000 Euros (about 45,000 dollars) a year.

The Guantanamo prison, opened in 2002, months after the attacks of September 11, operates under the “logic of prevention.” Inmates sent to the site do not necessarily need formal charges. They can be kept in custody indefinitely, as long as the U.S. would consider them a risk.

The result of this controversial premise was exposed by Wikileaks in May 2011, with the leak of 759 secret records of 779 prisoners who have been through the establishment. According to the documents, at least 150 detainees were innocent people, including elderly people with dementia, psychiatric patients and teachers.

In an interview, Michael Strauss especially lays bare French violations and mistakes made by the U.S. government at Guantanamo Bay. Michael Strauss, a professor of International Relations at the Centre d’Etudes et Stratégique Diplomatique of Paris, explained to CartaCapital at the time of the leaks, that the prison was designed to shift the crime of terrorism from civilian to military and detain prisoners outside the USA.

“This scheme has created several new legal, political and moral issues. For the Americans, it became even more difficult to deal with terrorism with international partners.”

The documents showed that the most important aspects for the arrest of an individual were the amount of information known by the same and their degree of dangerousness in the future.

In prison, trying to escape the image of torture, the prisoners are checked every three minutes. The most dangerous, such as the alleged mastermind of the ideological attacks on Washington and New York in 2001, Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, are monitored every 30 seconds. In addition, 1,300 local people work among soldiers, interpreters, cooks and psychiatrists.

Rights

The Guantanamo detainees captured in 2008 alone have the right to habeas corpus under the U.S. Constitution. “This decision came only after several inmates spent six years detained without being charged with crimes, and after torture,” said Strauss. “The Court ruled that prisoners enjoy these rights, because the United States has a sort of de facto sovereignty in Guantanamo. Even if, officially, in fact, Cuba has sovereignty.”

The teacher pointed out the ambiguity of sovereignty as the main reason for the choice of prison, because it allows the special peculiar treatment of prisoners. “Where the Americans are, their sovereign legal system applies completely. And where they have jurisdiction, but are not sovereign, its legal system applies only partially. Thus, constitutional protections such as habeas corpus did not apply there,” he explains.

According to El País, about 20% of the detainees were arrested arbitrarily even according to military law. Moreover, the U.S. did not believe in the guilt of 60% of the prisoners.

President Barack Obama said he was making closing Guantanamo one of his main goals during the elections. In January 2009, the White House stipulated that in a period of one year the prison would be closed, but failed to stick to it.

“The recession would have a direct impact on a much larger number of people in the United States than anything that Washington did with respect to Guantanamo,” said Strauss. He says the economic crisis was one of the reasons Obama disregarded the promise.

Source: https://english.pravda.ru/business/finance/17-11-2011/119660-Guantanamo_is_most_expensive_jail-0/

Filed Under: America, Censorship, Civil Liberties, Corruption, Dictatorship, Education, Fascism, Globalists, Globally Powerful Families, Guantanamo, Imperialism, Islam, Justice and Fairness, Law, Martial Law, Media, Middle East, Military Industrial Complex, Money, New World Order, Politicians, Politics, Prison, Privacy, Propaganda, Protests, Religion, Revolution, Rights, Suicide, Surveillance, Terrorism, The Hidden Empire, Torture, War, Wealthy Elite, Weaponry

Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia

November 18, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

Recently, the dictator Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (who for the traditional media remains as a democratic and righteous king) granted in an absolutely benevolent form the right to vote being passed for the women of his country.

The treatment of Abdullah goes together with the sympathy shown by the media to the dictator - or “president” - of Yemen, Ali Saleh, who has not fallen out of favor with the U.S., the parameter for media likes or dislikes. Treatment differs from that given to Bashar al Assad and Qaddafi, who quickly turned to bloody dictators for the media.

Palms and celebrations of the press, praise from allies and, of course, effusive congratulations from the U.S., who insist on bringing democracy to their enemies, but never to friends.

Is there indeed a difference in the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia? Did it change or will anything change in … 2015, when will the elections come? As a matter of fact, which elections?

The country is a dictatorship where the “King,” is in charge, simple as that. Municipal elections take place soon, but of course this is not real benevolence that will now cost while the people must “be used” by the news. Read: it is necessary to cool enthusiasm and mask the inefficiency or inability to implement the decision broadly.

In addition to performing in local elections (half of whose members are elected and half appointed, but in the end have almost no power), women may also be part of the Shura, something like the national parliament. But this does not even come close to the popular vote, which is fully nominated by the “king.” That is, women can enter only if the king wants! They have to be a friend of the king, or the king’s woman …

It will be interesting in a country run by laws dictated by the mullahs that do not even allow women to drive. Women are dictated to by ruling mullahs, in a form hardly apparent, without effective powers.

It seems counter-intuitive. One sees how cosmetic the permission is from benevolent King Abdullah. Women can compete, but compete for what?

The issue goes even further. The king is not stupid, he doesn’t remain in power for decades without a modicum of intelligence (oil, wealth and being good friends with Yankees helps, of course). The idea is to give women a false power. Give them something that ultimately makes no difference outside of on paper.

Why, women can now vote. But they still need permission from their husbands to leave the house to go out and vote. They need permission from their husbands to apply!

If women cannot even leave the house unaccompanied, how and why the heck will they compete for any political office or even vote? Only with permission of their husbands (or parents, fathers, brothers, a “responsible” man). Something for the majority that is the same as nothing. Will they remain cloistered and void?

In Saudi Arabia - the most undemocratic and dictatorial country in the world, but a good friend of America - women have the same relevance as a cocoa bush, they exist only to give pleasure, to be consumed while they have some gas and cannot leave their place alone

Yes, the comparison is bad, but I think I understand. But well, as one expects how can women apply for and be elected if they cannot leave the house? If you cannot drive a car, or are not entitled to anything as human beings?

Imagine if, by some miracle, the king selects a woman for the Shura. She will legislate over her husband, over other men, but to even to go to parliament she needs the permission of these same men. To simply go out of the house! If the woman does not live in Riyadh, the capital, she needs permission to travel!

Abdullah gave women a right they can hardly enjoy, but still managed to deceive half the world (at least the half that takes pleasure in being deceived).

Celebrating this “victory” is the same as celebrating the “victory” of the mighty Libyan “rebels,” and that hypocrisy. A “victory” in which the side will not be able to enjoy the prize, given that they need permission to do so and they lack even a political system capable of allowing the effort to be valid, any change that makes a difference.

Source: https://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/27-10-2011/119448-Womens_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia-0/

Filed Under: America, Banks, Campaigning, Censorship, Civil Liberties, Corruption, Dictatorship, Globalists, Globally Powerful Families, Human Rights, Imperialism, Income Inequality, Islam, Justice and Fairness, Law, Martial Law, Middle East, Military Industrial Complex, Money, New World Order, Oil, Politicians, Politics, Privacy, Propaganda, Protests, Religion, Revolution, Rights, Royal Family, Sexism, Surveillance, Wealthy Elite, Weaponry, Women

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Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia

Recently, the dictator Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (who for the traditional media remains as a democratic and righteous king) granted in an absolutely benevolent form the right to vote being passed for the women of his country.

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