I wouldn't blame you if you didn't readers.
"Activists call for Bahrain election boycott" September 24, 2011|Associated Press
MANAMA, Bahrain - Bahrain’s Sunni rulers are practicing “fake democracy,’’ the Persian Gulf kingdom’s leading Shi’ite cleric said yesterday as opposition groups called for a boycott of weekend parliamentary elections and for stepped-up protests for greater rights.
The voting today centers on 18 Parliament seats abandoned by Shi’ite lawmakers six months ago to protest crackdowns on antigovernment demonstrations. Shi’ite-led groups have called for demonstrations to press demands for more freedoms from the Sunni monarchy that has ruled the tiny but strategically important Gulf island for more than 200 years.
The calls yesterday for dissent included marching to Manama’s Pearl Square, the former epicenter of Bahrain’s uprising, which erupted in February as crowds drew inspiration from Arab revolts elsewhere.
Bahraini authorities have stepped up pressure on antigovernment activists before the elections, threatening jail for those who use social media and websites to urge acts of dissent.
“There is a class of society under repression and there are obstacles at every turn, blocking their voice,’’ Sheik Isa Qassim said yesterday at a mosque in Diraz, an opposition stronghold northwest of Manama, the capital.
“This is fake democracy,’’ Qassim said.
Must be a U.S. ally.
The government has criticized calls for an election boycott and said those refusing to vote aim to stall political reform in Bahrain.
Shi’ites make up a majority of Bahrain’s residents, but they have long complained of discrimination by the country’s ruling Sunni dynasty and of a lack of economic opportunities.
More than 30 people have died since the protests started in Bahrain, which is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
That's why the U.S. isn't making a stink of the oppression.
Hundreds of activists have been detained and brought to trial on antistate charges in a special security court since March, when Bahrain’s rulers imposed martial law and invited a Saudi-led Gulf military force to help deal with the dissent....
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"Bahrain court upholds activists’ sentences" September 29, 2011|Associated Press
MANAMA, Bahrain - The decision suggests Bahrain’s authorities are unwilling to roll back punishments for those considered central to the antigovernment uprising, although officials have taken other steps seeking to ease tensions. They include releasing some detainees and reinstating state workers purged for suspected support of the seven-month-old protest movement.
Bahrain’s security forces - backed by a Gulf military force led by Saudi Arabia - have crushed large-scale demonstrations by the country’s majority Shi’ites. But near-daily clashes have broken out across the island, which is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet....
Then why am I rarely reading about them except for a phrase buried in a sentence?
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"UN criticizes Bahrain court sentences" by ASSOCIATED PRESS October 1, 2011
GENEVA - The UN human rights office yesterday questioned the fairness of a Bahrain court that sentenced an antigovernment protester to death and gave lengthy prison sentences to medical staff who treated the injured during the country’s uprising.
Which is fine; however, unlike Syria and other agendas they serve, it's just dropped.
See: Hungering For News About Bahrain
This a good meal?
Bahrain’s military-run National Safety Court reportedly gave defendants and their lawyers little time to prepare, failed to investigate allegations of torture, and conducted some trials in just 10 minutes, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said....
Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva that some of the defendants appeared to have been found guilty of nothing more than exercising their right to free speech. Hundreds of activists have been imprisoned since March when Bahrain’s rulers imposed martial law to deal with protests by the country’s Shi’ite majority demanding greater rights and freedoms.
The trial of the medical staff has been closely watched by rights groups, which have criticized Bahrain’s use of the special court whose military and civilian judges are appointed by the commander of Bahrain’s defense force.
The World Health Organization also questioned the prosecution of the medical staff, but refrained from outright criticism of the government.
Bahrain is not Syria or Libya.
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"Medical staff in Bahrain to be retried" October 06, 2011|Associated Press
DUBAI- Bahrain, appearing to buckle under international pressure, ordered a retrial yesterday for 20 medical personnel sentenced to prison after they were accused of backing antigovernment protests and attempting to overthrow the ruling system in the kingdom.
The decision also moves the trial of the medical personnel to a civilian court and allows the doctors and nurses to remain free pending the trial.
Rights groups strongly criticized last week’s verdicts by a special security court, which sentenced the doctors and nurses to jail terms ranging from 5 to 15 years. The verdicts also provoked high-level questions about judicial fairness that included statements from the UN secretary general and the US State Department.
Bahrain’s ruling Muslim Sunni monarchy has waged sweeping crackdowns against mostly Shi’ite protesters calling for greater rights on the strategic Arab nation.
Bahraini authorities have come under increasing criticism for a series of rapid-fire verdicts against suspects accused of aiding protesters and causing violence. More than 80 convictions have been issued since Monday by a security court.
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"Bahrain inquiry describes crackdown" November 24, 2011|By Barbara Surk and Brian Murphy, Associated Press
MANAMA, Bahrain - With Bahrain’s king watching, the chief investigator asked to probe his government’s crackdowns gave a blow-by-blow reckoning yesterday of torture, excessive force, and fast-track justice in attempts to crush the largest Arab Spring uprising in the Gulf.
The investigator, Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, also said there was no evidence of Iranian links to Bahrain’s Shi’ite-led protests. That was a clear rebuke of Gulf leaders, who accuse Tehran of playing a role in the 10-month-old showdown in the Western-allied kingdom.
I knew that.
The 500-page study - authorized by Bahrain’s Sunni rulers in an effort to ease tensions - marks the most comprehensive document on security force actions during any of the revolts that have flared across the Arab world this year. It also displayed a stunning image of a powerful Arab monarch facing a harsh public reckoning, as King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa listened somberly to a bullet-point summary of the report’s conclusions.
Yeah, he's a real hero.
Bassiouni’s summary read like a checklist of complaints by rights groups since February: Middle-of-the-night raids to “create fear,’’ purges from workplaces and universities, jailhouse abuses including electric shocks and beatings, and destruction of Shi’ite mosques that “gave the impression of collective punishment.’’
At least 35 people have been killed in violence related to the uprising, including several members of the security forces.
It appeared unlikely that even the strong criticism would satisfy opposition forces, who accused the Sunni monarchy of using all methods at its disposal to avoid sharing power with the nation’s Shi’ite majority. Just hours before the long-awaited report was released, security forces used tear gas and stun grenades in the latest of nearly daily clashes on the strategic island, home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
“What is really needed is to hold the perpetrators responsible and bring them to justice,’’ said Khalil al-Marzooq, a senior official with the biggest Shi’ite opposition party, Al Wefaq, which pulled out of Parliament this spring to protest the harsh tactics against protesters.
There were no immediate signs of escalating street protests after the report was issued. In one area, protesters blocked roads and chanted slogans against the ruling family.
The inquest was seen as a bold step in a region of monarchs and sheiks who rarely acknowledge shortcomings or face uncomfortable criticism in public.
Bahrain’s government promised “no immunity’’ for anyone suspected of abuses.
That's the last I saw of it in my Glob, and that was over a month ago.
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