Bahrain is putting 47 doctors and nurses on trial for treating wounded and dying protestors. Again there is total silence from the UK and US governments at this sickening human rights abuse by our “ally” in the Gulf. There is no discussion of sanctions against Bahrain or Saudi Arabia. There no longer seems to be even the slightest attempt to disguise the double standards. Human rights are merely an excuse to attack those who oppose UK and US interests, meaning corporate wealth; those who promote those interests can rape, kill and pillage whosoever they please.
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Outrageous. Not a peep from Cameron, Hague or Obomber of course because Bahrain is their friend and headquaters the US 5th Fleet.
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What is this gang doing about it? http://www.wma.net/en/60about/40leaders/index.html
They used to have an Israeli president Blachar who was complicit in the torture of Israel’s prisoners, ie doctors supervised the torture.
700 doctors called for his removal. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/21/doctors-israeli-torture-yoram-blachar-resign
but he stayed in office.
Indeed Mary – Agent Cameron awaits a decision from the Privy Council before he can open his mouth on the situation in Bahrain. Craig is right and his powerful words on Bahrain won’t go unnoticed.
I think a UK or US government spokes person would say the difference between this incident in Bahrain and that of say Syria or Libya is, that at least these people are being tried in a court, whereas in Syria or Libya they would have been shot.
Therefore this shows how benevolent and humane the Bahraini authorities are.
‘There no longer seems to be even the slightest attempt to disguise the double standards.’
Spot on. They realise most people don’t care. They moved from no-fly zone in Libya to regime change without even attempting to justify it.
Schmulk – You are so wrong – These innocent doctors and nurses will be held under under a redux of the awful State Security Law – they will be tortured, abused and held for years. These human rights violations existed in Bahrain for more than 30 years and the mechanics still exists in shadow form, despite Sheikh Hamad abolishment under pressure from Human Rights/Amnesty.
You can download the HRW report from here:
http://www.hrw.org/node/88201
I have sent a copy to the foreign office and Downing street.
Sorry for this off topic note;
Did you see the current issue of Time magazine? they are promoting water boarding as the proven successful technic behind extracting information led locating Bin Laden.
http://www.time.com/time/
The British FCO’s allies in Uzbekistan get a mention in The Daily Telegraph:
“Freedom House said that in these countries, “independent media are either nonexistent or barely able to operate, the press acts as a mouthpiece for the regime, citizens’ access to unbiased information is severely limited, and dissent is crushed through imprisonment, torture and other forms of repression.” ”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8492345/Uzbekistan-fails-to-report-the-story-of-the-decade.html
Easy to see why Blair and Straw liked their approach to governance, but why no mention of Craig’s seminal work on the subject.
Caught this on the ever excellent Medialens:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13277445
The BBC just gets creepier and creepier, way way beyond bizarre. And we’re supposed to pay for this disgusting crap.
Obama’s chin channels Il Duce! An altogether more appropriate headline. See if you agree:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifFPsaPeocI&feature=related
Corporatism. Militarism. It used to be called Fascism.
Hi Ghaleb.
“Did you see the current issue of Time magazine? they are promoting water boarding as the proven successful technic behind extracting information led locating Bin Laden”.
In their next issue, I look forward to seeing a comprehensive rehabilitation of lying, cheating, and stealing – methods that have proven success in incrasing your personal wealth.
The underlying principle, of course, is that the end justifies the means. The Americans have discovered philosophy and fascism at exactly the same time, and mistaken the one for the other.
Physicians for Human Rights.
“Unfortunately, these incidents aren’t isolated. They seem to be part of a systematic attack on doctors in Bahrain. Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals have an ethical duty to prevent and limit suffering of patients in their care and a duty to practice medicine in a neutral way without fear or favor.”
Richard Sollom, Deputy Director at PHR.
None of this could ever happened without blessing from their colonial masters. It is joint-venture of FUKSA countries, and despotic regimes in Asia Minor. It is an effort to suppress genuine changes in region, counterrevolution in order to maintain status quo, and in case of Africa – recolonization. If the one is old enough he/she might remember of Central and South America in 70s, or Indonesia in 50s, there are numerous instances. This is not ad hoc policy, contrary it is the systemic one of repressive political forces, whose main causes are in the West: Washington, London, and Paris with its puppets regimes in: Ottawa, Rome, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Budapest and of course in the Western colonial outpost – settler state of Israel. The silence is strongly resounding in case of Bahrain, no pretexts, no human right, and protection of civilians as a dominant narrative..
And, how could it be:
UKinBahrain.fco.gov.uk like nothing is happening in Bahrain, business as usual!
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Libya’s page, Foreign Secretary talks of “tightening pressure” on Qadafi regime..
So called conference page with list of atendees: London – Conference on Libya
Yes, there are buffoons from the Gulf countries, from Balkan as well.
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Group portrait of PsychopathsThese kind of photos I used to see at the history classes. How they call themselves? The Western Government media outlets call them: International Community, Allies, Coalition.
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I do not see anybody from Libya!? Not even from so-called Transitional one. That fact itself tell us what kind of treatment Libyans might expect.
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And they have taken the “right” to make decision of the country? As if that country, or any country, is their property. Therefore, resistance is legitimate and mandatory.
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I grew up in country, which in vocabulary of OECD and UN and the like organization, is considered “medium-developed”. When “democracy” arrived two decades ago, and when the country/ies has made move from “planned” to “market” economy that period is named “transitional”. After two decades officially we are still there; however, in real terms the state of affairs is nothing but regressing to barbarism. They, EU and NATO with its levers: IMF, EBRD, OSCE and the envoys (it might be assets but still euphemism, I call them spy or invader) such as Sir Paddy Ashdown has sent us to the Stone Age. The very same picture we will find in Iraq and Paul Bremer.
Wonder who is going to be pro-consul which will impoverish Libya?
KingofWelshNoir,
“‘There no longer seems to be even the slightest attempt to disguise the double standards.’
Spot on. They realise most people don’t care”.
That’s the understatement of the millennium so far. Far from caring, as far as I can see most British people think it’s wonderful. As long as our glorious leaders (acting on the infallible “intelligence” provided by our magnificent spies and analysts) say that X needs a good kicking, well there you are. And what a wonderful excuse for winning some more battles in North Africa, just as good old Monty did nearly 70 years ago.
Mind you, good old Monty didn’t dare to move against Rommel until he had odds of at least 10 to 1 in every department.
“Human rights are merely an excuse to attack those who oppose UK and US interests”
And judging by your piece about the Bangla-Deshis arrested for filming the Sellafield nuclear fuels processing plant, human rights is your excuse for attacking those who protect the UK interest. LOL
How utterly shameful of the puppet regimes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia – but entirely in keeping with their nature (as if one ever had doubts). I hope that all respectable medical and nursing professional bodies internationally will loudly and publicly condemning this action; these bloodstained puppet regimes are trying to set a precedent.
Spectral – Well put – ‘Foreign Secretary talks of “tightening pressure” on Qadafi regime..’ seemingly just hyperventilating while partition creeps forward bending the creativity of young Arabs stuck in poverty. Britain is playing a waiting game hoping pressure from a pacifist left will keep American hands clean, bloodied by the quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan. Attempts to undermine Syria cannot be impeded by Western atrocities in Libya especially now that Israel position has been weakened by the demise of tyrant Mubarak and his grip on the Rafah border.
Support for the Libyan rebels cannot be expected from Saudi or Jordon or Bahrain – agent Cameron is a pussy alas and our SAS have been undermined because of his attempts to do deals with gangster Gadaffi – GET SOME BALLS Cameron and get the signal sent to our boys crouched picking their noses instead of knocking out the katyusha rocket launchers and zapping the C&C compound on the ground.
UK silence just amplifies the hypocrisy. Disgraceful hypocrisy.
Ex-Bahraini MP dies under detention
Thu May 5, 2011 5:6AM
A former Bahraini lawmaker and member of the country’s main opposition group has died in a hospital after being held in custody of the Manama regime.
Jawad Firouz who was a member of al-Wefaq political society, was recently arrested and detained by Bahraini police, local sources said on Thursday.
The development comes after rights group Amnesty International appealed to rulers in Manama on Wednesday to end the arrest of opposition members.
Manama regime has intensified its crackdown on the popular revolution against the decades-long ruling of al-Khalifa dynasty in the small Persian Gulf country, which has been continuing since Mid-February.
On Tuesday, the Bahraini parliament voted to extend the state of emergency for three more months, due to expire on June 15.
Human rights organizations have strongly criticized Saudi-backed Bahrain forces for their heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful protesters.
On March 13, Saudi-led forces were dispatched to the Persian Gulf island at Manama’s request to quell countrywide protests.
According to local sources, dozens of people have been killed and hundreds arrested so far during the government clampdown on peaceful demonstrations.
Bahrain is home to major military base of the US Navy Fifth Fleet.
ASH/MB
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/178308.html
Post mortem? Inquest? Inquiry? Prosecution of anyone responsible for the death? Probably not.
Sad Refrain from Bahrain
by Dan Lieberman / May 4th, 2011
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The media and world bodies have generally ignored the Bahrain protests, making it difficult to know what is happening. Emails from an activist in Bahrain illuminate some of the occurrences and highlight how the struggle has grown from seeking equality in life to receiving a punishing death. It’s a sad and captivating story.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/05/sad-refrain-from-bahrain/
Medialens analysis:
“Fallujah, Iraq 2004 – Misrata, Libya 2011”
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Still shocking to read the two together like that. And it includes “Cluster Bombs – Some Awkward Facts”.
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http://medialens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=621:fallujah-iraq-2004-misrata-libya-2011&catid=24:alerts-2011&Itemid=68
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“There no longer seems to be even the slightest attempt to disguise the double standards.”
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Many on Twitter recognise that. But of course, these are the people and organisations I choose to ‘follow’. Unfortunately, the bulk of both our populations has been more exercised over whether Cheryl Cole would be appearing as a judge on the USA version of The X Factor …
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5 May 2011
Bahrain unrest: Protester jailed for five years Bahrain has clamped down harshly on Shia-led pro-democracy protests
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A Bahraini military court has sentenced a man to at least five years in jail for the attempted murder of policemen during recent anti-government protests.
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Abdulla Mohammed Habib was also given two years in detention for damaging public property, state media say.
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The same court last week sentenced four men to death for their involvement in the killing of two policemen.
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Earlier this week, Bahrain said 47 medics would be charged with acting against the state during the unrest.
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At least 30 people have been killed in the Gulf kingdom since mid-February. Among them were four policemen, and four opposition supporters who died in custody. More than 400 other people are facing trial.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13299514
‘In Shiite villages across this island kingdom of 1.2 million, the Sunni Muslim government has bulldozed dozens of mosques as part of a crackdown on Shiite dissidents, an assault on human rights that is breathtaking in its expansiveness.
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Authorities have held secret trials where protesters have been sentenced to death, arrested prominent mainstream opposition politicians, jailed nurses and doctors who treated injured protesters, seized the health care system that had been run primarily by Shiites, fired 1,000 Shiite professionals and canceled their pensions, detained students and teachers who took part in the protests, beat and arrested journalists, and forced the closure of the only opposition newspaper.
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Nothing, however, has struck harder at the fabric of this nation, where Shiites outnumber Sunnis nearly 4 to 1, than the destruction of Shiite worship centers. The Obama administration has said nothing in public about the destruction. Bahrain – and its patron, Saudi Arabia – are longtime U.S. allies, and Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.’
http://www.thestate.com/2011/05/08/1811023/while-bahrain-demolishes-mosques.html#ixzz1Lq7ayWhP
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Franklin Lamb: International lawyers to file suit against Bahrain.
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Ralph Schoenman: Saudi, Bahrain torture medical staff
Posted on May 9, 2011
Warning
These videos may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.
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http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/franklin-lamb-intl-lawyers-to-file-suit-against-bahrain-ralph-schoenman-saudi-bahrain-torture-medical-staff/
Report on the trial.
…..The 23 doctors and 24 nurses have been charged with participating in attempts to topple the Bahraini government, and were arraigned on Monday during a closed door hearing in a special security court.
The 47 accused have been in detention since March, when the country declared martial law in order to clamp down on a wave of demonstrations…….
english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/20116674812696776.html
Is Ms Pillay totally gullible?
UN admits receiving untrue reports about Bahrain 6 June 2011
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MANAMA — A top UN official admitted on Saturday that the information it received about the human rights situation in Bahrain during the recent unrest was not true.
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“Certain information which we received about the developments in Bahrain is untrue,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem (Navi) Pillay said, according to Bahrain News Agency. Navi Pillay made the comment during her meeting with Bahrain’s Social Development Minister and acting health minister Dr Fatima bint Mohammed Al Balooshi in Geneva. She also acknowledged that the situation is Bahrain is quite different, and is thus incomparable to ongoing unrest in other countries in the region. She extended thanks to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for inviting a UNHCR mission to Bahrain, saying such a visit is in the framework of cooperation between Bahrain and the UNHCR.
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contd as I received a message saying the post was too long?
/….Dr Al Balooshi updated Navi Pillay on the current situation in Bahrain, stressing that things had returned to normal. “The Government of Bahrain is looking forward to a new prolific period, building on the landmark achievements under His Majesty’s reform project,” she said. — [email protected]