BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

28th/ 29th May 2014

HRW slams injustice
in Bahrain courts
Human Rights Watch
criticised "failures" in
Bahrain's justice system,
saying it severely punishes
pro-reform protesters while
offering impunity to abusive
security personnel.
"A police ofcer in Bahrain
who kills a protester in cold
blood or beats a detainee to
death might face a
sentence of six months or
maybe two years," said
HRW deputy Middle East
director Joe Stork in a 64-
page report, released
Thursday.
Meanwhile, "peacefully
calling for the country to
become a republic will get
you life in prison."
Scores of Shiites were
rounded up following a
crackdown on protesters
against the ruling Sunni
dynasty in March 2011, and
many have been tried and
jailed.
Read More
Bahrain's human
rights abuses worse
than ever HRW
report
A damning report on
Bahrains justice system
was released by Human
Rights Watch, detailing its
selective application,
broken promises and a
further descent into savage
violence by the security
state in the three years
since the countrys own
Arab Spring.
Despite continuing efforts at
peaceful reform since 2011,
the ruling familys hold on
the judicial process has
increasingly taken a turn for
the worse, with no end in
sight for the prosecution of
high-prole government
critics, a curtailing of the
right to any meaningful form
of protest or assembly and
an escalating human rights
abuse record, which
includes rampant, unabated
torture, according to HRW.
Read More
Bahrain activist
Nabeel Rajab urges
serious dialogue
Human rights activist
Nabeel Rajab says he
would talk to the
government to end the
political deadlock in
Bahrain, following his
release from prison.
But in an interview, he
warned that the state was
not serious about reform
and meaningful dialogue
with its opponents.
Months of talks between
the government and
opposition to resolve
ongoing unrest were
suspended in January.
Mr Rajab was freed on
Saturday after completing a
two-year sentence for
organising "unauthorised"
protests.
Read More
Bahrain: A System of
Injustice
Bahrains criminal justice
system fails to deliver basic
accountability and impartial
justice, Human Rights
Watch said in a report
released today.
The 64-page report,
Criminalizing Dissent,
Entrenching Impunity:
Persistent Failures of the
Bahraini Justice System
Since the BICI Report,
found that more than two
years after King Hamad bin
Isa Al Khalifa accepted
recommendations of the
Bahrain Independent
Commission of Inquiry
(BICI) to free peaceful
dissenters and hold abusive
ofcials accountable,
Bahrains courts play a key
role in maintaining the
countrys highly repressive
political order, routinely
sentencing peaceful
protesters to long prison
terms.
Read More
Q&A: Investigating
Bahrains Mockery of
Justice
In February 2011, the small
Persian Gulf country
ofBahrain erupted into
protests with hundreds of
thousands lling the streets,
peacefully calling for
change. But a month later,
Bahrains government
called in reinforcements
from Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates.
Bahraini riot police red
teargas, rubber bullets, and
live ammunition at
demonstrators. Troops
raided hospitals and
forbade doctors from
treating injured protesters.
Police killed at least 18 and
injured hundreds.
Read More
Bahrain: High Time
for a Balance of
Power?
Prominent Bahraini human
rights activist Nabeel Rajab
has been freed after
serving two years in prison
for his involvement in illegal
protests. He was convicted
in August 2012 of taking
part in illegal gatherings
and disturbing public order.
Amnesty International said
Mr Rajab had been
detained in "inhumane and
humiliating conditions". Mr
Rajab is the president of
the Bahrain Centre for
Human Rights (BCHR) and
deputy secretary general of
the International Federation
for Human Rights (FIDH).
Read More
Nabeel Rajab:
'Bahrain Has Turned
into Dictatorship
Kingdom'
The set of repressive laws
passed in Bahrain has
turned the Gulf Kingdom
into a "dictatorship
kingdom", newly-released
human rights activist
Nabeel Rajab has
told IBTimes UK.
Rajab, who is president of
the Bahrain centre for
human rights (BCHR), was
recently freed after
spending two years in
prison for taking part in
illegal gatherings and
disturbing public order.
The activist, one of the
several leading pro-
democracy campaigners
arrested in the regime's
crackdown on the uprising
in 2011, was considered a
prisoner of conscience by
Amnesty International.
Read More
Washington's
dysfunctional
relationship with
Bahrain's ruling
family
Bahrain, says The Hill blog
piece posted by Rob
Sobhani on Friday, May 23,
is a "reliable friend of
America," and a "loyal ally."
But the reality is that
Bahrain can be considered
a reliable friend only in the
same way that Lance
Armstrong could be
considered good for
professional cycling -
impressive for a while but
ultimately utterly
embarrassing.
Bahrain, an ofcial "major
non-NATO ally" of the
United States, startled
Washington in early 2011
when it rounded up
thousands of people
following widespread calls
for democratic reform.
Dozens of medics who had
treated injured protestors
were tortured into signing
false confessions about
crimes they hadn't
committed. Several
people were tortured to
death.
Read More