News Release Archive | Bahrain | Accuracy.Org

U.S. Hosts Bahraini Prince as Monarchy Vows Harsher Crackdown

May 10, 2012

The Obama administration is hosting Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa in Washington just as the Bahraini regime is vowing a harsher crackdown on anti-government protesters. Democracy Now reported this morning, “Appearing with al-Khalifa at the State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton failed to directly mention the repression of protests, referring only to Bahrain’s ‘internal issues.’”

Secretary Clinton stated: “Bahrain is a valued ally of the United States. We partner on many important issues of mutual concern to each of our nations and to the regional and global concerns as well. I’m looking forward to a chance to talk over with His Royal Highness a number of the issues both internally and externally that Bahrain is dealing with and have some better understanding of the ongoing efforts that the government of Bahrain is undertaking. So again, His Royal Highness, welcome to the United States.” See video

Clinton’s comments came one day after the Bahraini government vowed to escalate its crackdown on anti-government demonstrators. Speaking to Reuters, a Bahraini government spokesman said: “We are looking into the perpetrators and people who use print, broadcast and social media to encourage illegal protest and violence around the country. If applying the law means tougher action, then so be it.” The warning came days after the arrest of the prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, who has been featured on IPA news releases. In a statement, Amnesty International declared Rajab a “prisoner of conscience” and called for his immediate release. Another prominent activist, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, has been on a hunger strike for three months protesting his life imprisonment.

NADA ALWADI, alwadi.nada at gmail.com, @bentalwadi
Alwadi is a Bahrani journalist based in D.C.

Note: Alwadi is being joined next week in Washington, D.C. by representatives of the Arab NGO Network for Development, including nonprofits and civil society groups from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Tunisia, Yemen and other Arab countries. For more information including arranging interviews, contact Ryme Katkhouda, rymepmc at gmail.com.

Tagged With: Arab Spring, Bahrain, Bahrain Uprising, Bahrain-US Relations, Middle East, Nada Alwadi,

* Iran Talks * Bahrain Repression * Summit of Americas

April 13, 2012

GARETH PORTER, porter.gareth50 at gmail.com
American and Iranian negotiators are scheduled to meet this weekend in Istanbul regarding Iran’s nuclear program. Porter is an investigative journalist and historian specializing in U.S. national security policy. He just wrote the piece “U.S.-Israel Deal to Demand Qom Closure Threatens Nuclear Talks.”

REEM KHALIFA, reem.khalifa at alwasatnews.com, @Reem_Khalifa
Today, AP is reporting “Formula One’s governing body says the Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead as planned,” see: “Human Rights Abuses Aside, Formula 1 Racers Head to Bahrain.”

InterPress Service reported earlier this week “White House Expresses Growing Concern Over Bahrain.”

Khalifa is a noted independent journalist in Bahrain who has written for the AP and other outlets. Today, she reports on large protests including 10,000 people attending a funeral of a citizen journalist. She also reports that the Bahraini government is resorting to weapons they have not used since last year and protesters are denouncing the U.S. and Saudi governments as well as the Bahraini monarchy. Khalifa is scheduled to be interviewed by The Real News today.

MOHAMMAD ALI NAQUVI, alinaquvi at yahoo.com
Ali Naquvi is an attorney and activist with the American Council for Freedom in Bahrain. He said today: “The protests today show that the demands of the Bahrani people have not been met. With the courage of Mr. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s hunger strike, now over 60 days, the morale of the people continues to stay high. Even though the Formula One association says that they are going ahead with the race, many individual teams have expressed concern.”

ALEX MAIN, via Dan Beeton, beeton at cepr.net
Main is senior associate for international policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He just wrote the piece “Obama in Cartagena: No Change, Dwindling Hope,” which states: “Whether on Cuba policy, ‘free trade,’ the ‘war on drugs’ or relations with left-wing governments in South America, the administration’s current policies are nearly indistinguishable from those of Bush. As a result, Obama’s reception in Cartagena is likely to be lukewarm at best; and the Summit of the Americas itself may well be seen as increasingly irrelevant by most of Latin America and the Caribbean.”

SANHO TREE, stree at igc.org
Director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, Tree said today: “As the violence caused by drug prohibition threatens governments throughout the region, the demand for ending prohibition will intensify. Previously, it had been only retired politicians and officials who spoke openly of their views. Now, sitting heads of state are joining the discussion.” See a recent interview here.

Tagged With: Alex Main, Arab Spring, Bahrain, Gareth Porter, Iran, Latin America, Middle East, Mohammad Ali Naquvi, Reem Khalifa, Summit of the Americas,

Bahrani Pro-Democracy Hunger Striker at Risk of Death

April 6, 2012

AP is reporting: “Thousands of protesters in Bahrain chanted slogans Friday in support of a jailed human rights activist whose nearly two-month hunger strike has become a powerful rallying point.” BBC is reporting that the hunger striker, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, “has been moved to a hospital clinic and is being fed intravenously after 58 days on hunger strike.”

CNN is reporting: “Authorities in Bahrain said Friday that they’ve arrested the daughter of a human rights activist who has drawn international attention and widespread protests with a hunger strike that he’s sustained for nearly two months. Zainab al-Khawaja was detained outside the Interior Ministry complex, said her lawyer, who is also representing her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. Her father is striking to protest the life sentence he received for his alleged role in the unrest that continues to embroil his country.” The CNN report includes a video interview with Maryam, his other daughter.

Amnesty International in a recent statement, “Bahrain: Release leading rights activist at risk of death from hunger strike” noted that they consider “Al-Khawaja to be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression.”

NABEEL RAJAB, nabeel.rajab at gmail.com, @nabeelrajab
Rajab is co-founder with Abdulhadi al-Khawaja of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. He said today: “We are afraid that he might lose his life or lose part of his body at any time. We seek international intervention on Bahrain, politically, economically, to pressure the Bahraini regime to stop its crimes against the people and against all the prisoners, including my colleague and my teacher, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja.”

RADHIKA SAINATH, radhika.sainath at gmail.com, @radhikasainath
Sainath is an attorney and activist with Occupy Wall Street and Witness Bahrain and has been helping lead protests outside the Bahrani consulate in New York City.

MOHAMMAD ALI NAQUVI, alinaquvi at yahoo.com
Also helping organize protests in New York, Ali Naquvi is an attorney and activist with the American Council for Freedom in Bahrain.

Zainab al-Khawaja, who is now detained and reportedly starting her own hunger strike, had been regularly tweeting: @angryarabiya

Maryam al-Khawaja is at @MARYAMALKHAWAJA

Tagged With: Arab Spring, Bahrain, Bahrain Uprising, Middle East, Mohammad Ali Naquvi, Nabeel Rajab, Radhika Sainath,

What is Bahrain Trying to Hide?

February 13, 2012

HUWAIDA ARRAF, huwaida.arraf at gmail.com
RADHIKA SAINATH, radhika.sainath at gmail.com
Arraf and Sainath are lawyers and human rights activists who, as part of the Witness Bahrain initiative, spent a week in Bahrain before being deported over the weekend. The two of them are now in New York City and were on “Democracy Now!” this morning “U.S.-Backed Bahraini Forces Arrest and Deport Two American Peace Activists Acting as Human Rights Observers.”

The group Witness Bahrain just posted a petition on its website: “The Obama administration is currently moving forward with a new set of arms sales to Bahrain despite the well-documented, egregious human rights violations perpetrated by the government against pro-democracy protesters over the past year. Since the start of Bahrain’s ongoing revolution on February 14, 2011, U.S.-manufactured and supplied weapons, including teargas, Humvees and Apache helicopters have been used by the Bahraini government to violently attack civilians. It is time to stop supplying Bahrain with the tools to kill and repress its people.

“Despite congressional opposition to a $53 million dollar arms sale to Bahrain, the Obama Administration is pushing through the sale using a legal loophole that would allow him to avoid notifying Congress and the public by breaking up the sales into small packages of under $1 million each. …”

NABEEL RAJAB, nabeel.rajab at gmail.com
Rajab is president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and is regularly tweeting.

ROBERT NAIMAN, naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
Naiman is policy director at Just Foreign Policy and just wrote the piece “What I Learned at the Airport in Bahrain,” which states: “When I came to Bahrain, it certainly wasn’t with the intention of spending my whole time in the country in the airport. I wanted to see what was going on in the country, not to see what was going on in the airport. But the Bahrain authorities would not let me enter the country. At this writing, it’s 5 p.m. local time. My flight got in at 2:15 a.m. I have been informed that the Director of Immigration has decided that I shall not have a visa to enter Bahrain…”

Tagged With: Arab Spring, Bahrain, Huwaida Arraf, Middle East, Nabeel Rajab, Radhika Sainath, Robert Naiman,

“Witness Bahrain” Launched One Year After Start of Uprising

February 10, 2012

AP is reporting: “Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters in Bahrain are streaming toward a site they seek to occupy for the one-year anniversary of their uprising in the Gulf kingdom.”

The Bahrani regime has been denying visas to media and human rights workers ahead of the anniversary of the start of the uprising.

NABEEL RAJAB,[currently in Bahrain, eight hours ahead of ET] nabeel.rajab at gmail.com
HUWAIDA ARRAF, [also in Bahrain] huwaida.arraf at gmail.com
Rajab is president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. Arraf, a U.S. citizen, is with Witness Bahrain, a new initiative that released the following statement: “‘Witness Bahrain‘ is a group of international observers, primarily from the United States, who have responded to the call of Bahraini human rights activists to witness their revolution, stand with them at protests, in hospitals and in villages, and to tell the world what they see. The government of Bahrain has denied entry to a number of prominent journalists and human rights workers in the lead-up to the one-year anniversary of the massive and ongoing pro-democracy movement.

“People here fear that the government of Bahrain’s attempt to keep out foreign observers signals an impending escalation of violence. As such, our presence here is all the more crucial. In the coming days and weeks, Witness Bahrain will stand with people taking to the streets to demand democracy, equality and respect for human rights. Witness Bahrain will also maintain a presence in villages active in pro-democracy protests which are being subjected to night raids, tear-gassing and other attacks by the police. We call on the Bahraini government to refrain from attacking peaceful protesters; however, should the government choose to continue using violence, we will be present to witness.”

HUSAIN ABDULLA, mohajer12 at comcast.net
Abdulla is director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain. He is has been involved in the initiative as well.

Update: U.S. Citizens Arrested in Bahrain during Peaceful Protest: Huwaida Arraf & Radhika Sainath in Police Custody

Tagged With: Arab Spring, Bahrain, Husain Abdulla, Huwaida Arraf, Middle East, Nabeel Rajab,

Breaking: Arab Democracy Protests in D.C.

April 15, 2011

Several hundred people are now protesting at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C. and plan to march to the White House. Organizers expect between one and two thousand people to take part today. The rallies protest the Bahrain regime’s crackdown against the pro-democracy movement there as well as Saudi and U.S. government backing of the regime in Bahrain. Saudi troops moved into Bahrain at the request of the regime on March 14 (just days after the earthquake in Japan). For more information on rallies, see: bahrainrallydc.wordpress.com and #bahrainrally.

Among the groups participating:

HUSAIN ABDULLA
Abdulla is director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain. He said today: “The European parliament has been condemning the violent repression of peaceful protesters in Bahrain to no avail while the U.S. government has been silent. Then, yesterday, the U.S. finally said something about the Bahrain regime eliminating opposition parties and the regime immediately backed off. This shows the U.S. government has real influence. Unfortunately, instead of getting the regime to stop its violence, it has backed it.”

MOHAMMAD ALI NAQUVI
Naquvi is with the American Council for Freedom in Bahrain, which said in a statement: “[We] demand an end to the intimidation, torture and killing of peaceful protesters, human rights activists and health and medical personnel in Bahrain at the hands of the Bahraini military and security forces provided by Saudi Arabia and other states. Political institutions have been trying to stoke the fire of Shia-Sunni sectarianism instead of resolving the real issues — the barbaric actions and unfair political and economic policies of the ruling family in Bahrain [and] a state of forceful repression. …

“The U.S. has an obligation to immediately suspend the transfer of weapons, munitions and related equipment to Bahrain that could be used to commit further human rights violations, and to urgently review all arms supplies and training support to Bahrain’s military, security and police forces. American interests will only be enhanced if we work to increase stability in the region by furthering human rights without discrimination.”

Background: “CNN arrests expose crackdown in Bahrain”

“Bahrain questions three journalists after crackdown”

“U.S. Keeps Quiet over Repression”

Zainab Alkhawaja’s (who is on a hunger strike following the beating and detention of her father, a human rights activist) letter to President Obama: angryarabiya.blogspot.com

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Bahrain Repression: Saudi Troops, U.S. Arms, Al-Jazeera Silence

March 25, 2011

A source in Bahrain who wishes to remain anonymous for their personal safety told the Institute of Public Accuracy this afternoon: “The regime has just arrested Lin Noueihed of Reuters and some other reporters. [Noueihed's last piece]

“Other countries are getting rid of their emergency laws, while Bahrain is imposing a new martial law. Things are incredibly tense. The regime is saying it wants a ‘cleansing operation’ — some Saudi and Kuwaiti media are using this term as well. The state media in Bahrain are continuing to be incredibly sectarian, creating enmity. Other media are being seriously intimidated, some have been beaten. Al-Jazeera is incredibly silent. I fear there could be a civil war and I fear it could spread. In this small country, 20 peaceful protesters have been killed and, according to the opposition, 100 people are missing and hundreds have been detained by the regime.

“We need serious help. The UN should at least meet to discuss what his happening here. The Saudis have moved into Bahrain and are interfering in one way or another in every Arab country. They don’t want positive developments in Tunisia and Egypt to spread to other countries.”

HUSAIN ABDULLA
Abdulla is director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain. He said today: “There are extensive protests throughout Bahrain. It’s difficult to get one large protest in the central square because the regime has broken them up. The Saudi troops are still there of course, but getting them out has become a rallying cry for the protesters. The regime is using U.S. tear gas, weapons and Apache helicopters. Sen. Patrick Leahy is pressuring the Pentagon to make a determination about whether this violates U.S. law, using U.S. weapons to repress people. Al-Jazeera, and especially Al-Jazeera Arabic is incredibly quiet about the protests, they seem to only be for protests far away from Qatar [where Al-Jazeera is based].” See interview with The Real News

For Twitter pics and updates: #feb14, @MazenMahdi

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Bahrain: Martial Law, Hundreds Wounded

March 15, 2011

Reuters reports: “Two men were killed and more than 200 people wounded in clashes in Bahrain on Tuesday, a hospital source said.” Extremely graphic video of Bahraini protester in hospital: youtube.com

HUSAIN ABDULLA
Abdulla is director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain. He said today: “It’s obvious that the Saudi and Bahraini regimes are cynically exploiting the world’s grief over the tragedy in Japan. They hope few are noticing that Saudi forces moved into the small nation of Bahrain yesterday to back the autocratic regime and attack the pro-democracy movement. Today, the King of Bahrain declared martial law and attacked protesters, hundreds have been wounded. At least two have been killed, one by Saudi forces, another by Bahrani regime forces. They have even attacked a hospital. Sec. of Defense Robert Gates was just in Bahrain. The U.S. has 6,000 soldiers in Bahrain. The U.S. is in a position to put a stop to these atrocities now — they are escalating and unless stopped will likely lead to a total massacre.”

TOBY C. JONES, @tobycraigjones
Jones is an assistant professor of history at Rutgers University and author of the book “Desert Kingdom: How Oil and Water Forged Modern Saudi Arabia.” He is regularly in touch with people in Bahrain.

REEM KHALIFA
Khalifa is senior editor for diplomatic affairs at Al Wasat in Bahrain, one of the few independent media outlets in Bahrain.

CHRISTOPHER DAVIDSON, @dr_davidson
A scholar in Middle East politics at Durham University, Davidson‘s books include Power and Politics in the Persian Gulf Monarchies. He recently wrote the piece “Lords of the Realm: The wealthy, unaccountable monarchs of the Persian Gulf have long thought themselves exempt from Middle East turmoil. No longer.”

Video of protesters marching on Saudi embassy: youtube.com
Fleeing attack: youtube.com

On Twitter: @OnlineBahrain

For more online resources: accuracy.org/uprisings

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Filed Under: Resources: Trade, World Bank, IMF, War: Info, Analysis, Policy Options Tagged With: Bahrain, Saudi,

Saudi Occupies Bahrain

March 14, 2011

CHRISTOPHER DAVIDSON
A scholar in Middle East politics at Durham University, Davidson said today: “What is happening is an invasion and occupation of Bahrain by Saudi Arabia under the guise of the Gulf Cooperation Council. This is done at the request of the regime in Bahrain to put down the pro-democracy movement there. …

“The Bahraini regime has also been advertising in the Pakistani press for mercenaries to fight in Bahrain.

“The Saudis owe a huge debt to Gaddafi. He has kept the spotlight away from them and has in effect raised the bar for the amount of violence regimes can inflict on their people.”

Davidson’s books include Power and Politics in the Persian Gulf Monarchies and he recently wrote the piece “Lords of the Realm: The wealthy, unaccountable monarchs of the Persian Gulf have long thought themselves exempt from Middle East turmoil. No longer.” On Twitter: @dr_davidson

REEM KHALIFA
Khalifa is senior editor for diplomatic affairs at Al Wasat in Bahrain, one of the few independent media outlets in Bahrain. She said today: “The protests were an internal issue. It is not legitimate for any other GCC country to come into Bahrain. The government says it wants dialogue, but through the state TV attacks reformers, protesters and independent media — and pushes this sectarian thinking that is dividing people.”

HUSAIN ABDULLA
Abdulla is director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain. He said today: “Saudi Arabia invading Bahrain is as if France or Italy or some other outside power invaded Libya — ON BEHALF OF GADDAFI.”

TOBY C. JONES
Jones is an assistant professor of history at Rutgers University and author of the book Desert Kingdom: How Oil and Water Forged Modern Saudi Arabia. He is regularly in touch with people in Bahrain. He said today: “This is an effort on the part of the Saudis to bring Bahrain from the tipping point. But the outcome will likely be the opposite — this is a provocation.”

See video of Bahraini government forces shooting at a protester face to face: youtube.com

On Twitter: @OnlineBahrain

For more online resources: accuracy.org/uprisings

Ad for mercenaries by Bahrani government on Pakistani webpage: faujioes.org.pk

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Filed Under: Resources: Trade, World Bank, IMF, War: Info, Analysis, Policy Options Tagged With: Bahrain, Saudi,

Behind U.S.-Backed Bahrain Regime’s “Dialogue”

March 7, 2011

Protests in Bahrain today took to the U.S. embassy with signs including “Stop Supporting Dictators.”

For updates on the Bahrain uprising, see the #Feb14 hashtag on Twitter; for breakdown: accuracy.org/uprisings

REEM KHALIFA
Available for a limited number of interviews, Khalifa is senior editor for diplomatic affairs at Al Wasat in Bahrain. She said today: “The regime says that it wants a dialogue, but there’s no change on the state TV and radio. It’s still filled with the same sectarian, one-sided view of events that seems designed to divide people and maintain the regime. The first step toward changing things would be an open dialogue on state TV and radio. No other TV or radio station is allowed in Bahrain. We are the only independent newspaper. When we tried to put multimedia on our webpage, the government stopped us. The government spreads malicious rumors around about anyone doing independent journalism.

“Al-Jazeera Arabic, and of course Al-Arabia, unfortunately seem to have decided that they will not actually cover what is happening in Bahrain.”

[Note: The network Al-Jazeera is based in Qatar; Al-Arabia is tied to Saudi Arabia. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all belong to the Gulf Cooperation Council.]

HUSAIN ABDULLA
Abdulla is director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain. He recently wrote the piece “A Decisive Phase: Bahrain’s Revolution,” which states: “The people’s revolution is on its track; calling for the removal of the regime and performing various activities on the road to victory. In the past week several remarkable activities were undertaken with resounding success. First came the picketing of the Financial Harbor owned by the regime’s prime minister, Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. It was conducted at night when hundreds of protesters moved from their base at the Pearl Square and took position near the main financial center. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Resources: Trade, World Bank, IMF, War: Info, Analysis, Policy Options Tagged With: Bahrain,

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