الاعتصام في وسائل الإعلام

Bahrain: Fear rises for the lives of hunger strikers and prisoners‏

Bahrain: Fear rises for the lives of hunger strikers and prisoners‏

The three crimes of the Al Khalifa: dictatorship, torture and genocide
Today a group of innocent Bahrainis have been paraded in front of a kangaroo court in Manama, run by the Al Khalifa hereditary dictatorship. Their crime is that they are calling for a democratic constitution to replace what the Economist Democracy Index considers “authoritarian” rule. To the present rulers of Bahrain who had occupied the islands by force, anyone who protests their

dictatorship is considered “subversive”, “extremist” or “terrorist”. These facts expose what they want the world to believe to be a “functioning democracy”. First, the ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa “inherited” his post after the death of his father, Sheikh Isa, in March 1999. He is not elected by the people. Second, the prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who is the ruler’s uncle, has been in his post since the British withdrew from the Gulf in 1971, that is almost four uninterrupted decades. Third; the present cabinet consists of 25 ministers, and four other posts with ministerial status. Out of these, 17 cabinet posts are occupied by members of the Al Khalifa family. Forth, the cabinet members are not elected, but appointed by the life-long prime minister. Usually these are cronies of the senior members of the ruling family. Fifth, the “elected” council, that is given the name “parliament”, has no legislative powers. It can only rubber-stamp the decisions, regulations and laws imposed by the ruling family.
Those who venture out against this antiquated regime has only himself to blame for speaking out his inner feelings. More than 100 young Bahrainis are languishing in torture chambers. Their torturers are foreigners who act on orders of the ruler and his inner circle. Scores of Bahrainis have died while in police custody. Their mutilated bodies speak about the treatment they had received before they met their horrific death. None of these deaths has ever been investigated, nor has any of the torturers ever been brought to account for their crimes.
Mr Hassan Mushaime and Sheikh Mohammad Habib Al Miqdad, both prominent figures in the opposition, have been maltreated during their incarceration. They are falsely accused of being linked to a group of thirty young Bahrainis, who were paraded last month on TV screens to “confess” their crimes. No sensible politician or diplomat has been convinced of the Al Khalifa’s claims. On 11th February the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bill Rammell wrote the following in reply to a letter by Lord Avebury: “We share your concers over the Bahraini authority’s decision to broadcst the alleged confessions of the accused on television. Broadcasting the confessions of the suspects was a breach of Bahrain’s obligations under the International Convention of Civil and Political Rights to which Bahrain is a signatory. Our Ambassador made this point to the Minister of Interior on 15th January. The Embassy has seen the broadcast of the “confessions” and did not see any physical evidence of torture. But the Ambassador also made the point to the Minister of Interior that the Bahraini government should ensure proper levels of access by doctors and the defence team to the detainees. We will continue to monitor the situation and encourage Bahrain to uphold the obligations set out in the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights”.
It is our view that the Bahraini detainees are hostages kidnapped by the Al Khalifa pirates who have raided our land and are targeting our cultural, ethnic and religious roots in our native land. The detainees who are being paraded at a kangaroo court have been declared “prisoners of conscience” by human rights bodies, like Amnesty International, Front Line, IFEX and the International Federation for Human Rights.
We urge you to support our noble cause, protest against the Al Khalifa hereditary dictatorship and support the freedom fighters who are subjected to horrific treatment in the torture chambers of this evil regime.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
23rd February 2009
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Bahrain: Fear rises for the lives of hunger strikers and prisoners
As more hunger strikers collapse, the political volatility in Bahrain takes more serious turns to the worse, while the people`s resolve the resist the Al Khalifa occupation takes new dimensions. Last week, Sheikh Abdul Hadi Al Mokhowdher, one of the seven popular leaders on hunger strike, collapsed and was taken to hospital for few hours. On Friday. Dr Abdul Jalil Al Singace followed with low sugar level and high blood acidity. He is still receiving hospital treatment while continuing his hunger strike. There have been increasing support to the strikers who are protesting the illegal arrest and ill-treatment of Mr Hassan Mushaime` and Sheikh Abdul Jalil Al Miqdad. Both had been arrested for opposing the Al Khalifa hereditary dictatorship, especially the refusal to draw up a democratic constitution and the crime of genocide resulting from the political naturalization programme being implemented by Sheikh Hamad.
The hunger strike has given impetus to the pro-democracy, anti-occupation movement. It has been extensively covered by international media despite the ruling family`s attempts to bribe journalists and news houses. It has now been decided to end he hunger strike on Tuesday 24th February, and start a new campaign with different forms of peaceful civil resistance means. The stand off between the people of Bahrain and the ruling family appears to have reached a point of no-return, with neither ready to back down. However, the negative image of the Al Khalifa hereditary dictatorship has tarnished the regime and may have forced some of its allies to question the wisdom of their supportive policies to an ailing and antiquated mode of dictatorship.
Meanwhile foreign businesses operating in Bahrain have been addressed by the Bahraini opposition which has informed them of the bleak situation and outlook in a country that has failed to stabilize. With a stagnant economy and widespread corruption by senior members of the ruling family, the economic prospects are gloomy and are unlikely to see marked improvement in the coming period. The opposition has also pointed out that it is intensifying its civil resistance campaign and urged those businesses to look for alternative locations outside of Bahrain. They are welcome to operate in Manama once the political conditions improve. The Al Khalifa dictatorship has denied equal opportunities to local or foreign businesses and their corrupt practices especially the commissions they impose on them have destroyed the economic prospects in a country whose policies of diversification have failed. Some businesses have already packed up and gone. Others are in the process of calling it a day.
On another level, the minister of interior has expressed offensive sectarian comments in an interview with the Saudi newspaper, Al Sharq Al Awsat. He claimed that the native Shia Muslims have always been a minority in the Bahrain. The British historian, Lorimer, was falsely quoted in this respect. The Al Khalifa minister himself is accused of managing a torture regime against the Bahraini political detainees and is implicated in a recent address by tens of international human rights bodies to the UN Human Rights Council. To Bahrainis he represents the ugly face of torture and genocide and will be relentlessly pursued in international courts. This is in addition to another attempt to bring Sheikh Hamad and three of his lieutenants to justice. An earlier letter to Moreno Okampo, the Prosecutor General at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The attacks against Bahrainis have continued. At least six Bahraini youth have been arrested in recent days by the Death Squads run by the royal court. Three of them were detained after the massive protest held on Friday near the Dana Mole. Three others were arrested in the town of Karzakkan for being in the area as fires broke out in disused dustbins on the side of the street.
The summary trials of two groups falsely accused of killing an already dead Pakistani policeman and burning the farm of the notorious torturer, Abdul Aziz Atiyyat Allah Al Khalifa, have been postponed once again, as it became clear that no decent or impartial trial could convict any of the Bahrainis of wrongdoing based on testimonies of members of the Death Squads.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
23rd February 2009

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