Bahrain Document: Court Testimony of Abdulhadi Alkhawaja "I Have Been Subjected to Torture"

I, the Bahraini citizen Abdulhadi Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, have been subjected since April 9th 2011 to arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, psychological and physical torture, sexual assault and unfair trial, without having committed any offense for which I deserve legal punishment, in addition to torture and other violations criminalized by international and national laws. Please note that I do not belong to any association or political group, though this is not an offense in itself but rather a natural right of any human being.

These current and previous violations were in fact motivated by the thorny, difficult path which I have chosen, that is to defend human rights, not only as a matter of specialization and career --- given that I am a researcher and trainer in this area --- but also that I have decided that my duty is to stand with the oppressed and the victims of various abuses to which they are exposed.

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Bahrain Analysis: Are the Sunni Movements Still Awake? (Gengler)

National Day Rally, 16 December 2011More than sixteen months have passed since the start of Bahrain's Sunni Awakening, the mass political mobilization of Sunni citizens launched exactly one week into last year’s Shi‘a-led uprising. While the unprecedented scale of the counter-movement was and still remains clear (supporters famously, if implausibly, claimed attendance of more than 300,000), what exactly it represented is as much a puzzle now as it was then.

More than a year later, these platforms remain ambiguous. Does the post-February explosion of popular political enthusiasm in this only-too-recently apolitical community represent a genuine shift in Bahrain’s political landscape? Or is the mobilization tied somehow to existing Sunni political powers—or even to the state itself?

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Away from the Headlines, "Only" 126 Dead on Sunday

2059 GMT: Syria. Since dawn there have been reports of renewed shelling of central Homs. Here are just two videos from Juret al Shiyah that give an idea of the intensity of the shelling (map):

1928 GMT: Syria. This was reportedly taken earlier today and shows tanks raiding Kafer Naboudeh, north of Hama (Map):

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Bahrain Propaganda 101: How the Gulf Daily News "Stitched Up" the US Ambassador

How did the US Ambassador allow himself to be manipulated by the Gulf Daily News?

The answer probably lies in last week's regime upset that Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner had expressed Washington's "deep disappointment" at the renewed, if reduced, sentences on 11 medics last week. Some regime figures, including the Minister of Defense, have accused the US of trying to undermine the monarchy, and Posner's statemet led to headlines like "US Double Standards in Human Rights Criteria Are Rejected by the Bahraini Community".

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Turkish Plane is Shot Down --- What Next?

See also Bahrain Snap Analysis: When Police Attack Marchers Who Carry Flowers...
Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Nothing Certain but Death & Protests

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2135 GMT: Egypt. Supporters of Presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq and the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces have gathered today at the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier in Nasr City, raising Egyptian flags and banners such as "Egypt Above All" while chanting "Long live Egypt," "The people and the military are one hand", and "The people want Ahmed Shafiq."

Egypt Independent reports hundreds of demonstrators but images indicate a far larger crowd.

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Bahrain Snap Analysis: When Police Attack Marchers Who Carry Flowers...

The moment on Friday when Bahraini security forces fired on a demonstration and injured protesters, including the head of the opposition Al Wefaq society

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Given its current verses, at some point the regime song about supposed enemies at its gates will become the noise of absurdity. In the past week, a 4-year old boy has been shot and blinded by security forces, whilst an 11-year old was put on trial for protesting. And, on Friday, the "seditious threat" became the police attack on marchers, including opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman, who were armed with flowers.

Western observers often tempers their criticism of police brutality with evidence of opposition provocation in the form of Molotov cocktails; this time, video plainly shows the peaceful intent of the protest. Moreover, as the largest legal opposition party, Salman's Al Wefaq has the ear of the US State Department, who will likely view this development with concern, fear that it could lead to the society's disengagement from the reform process.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Nothing Certain but Death & Protests

2210 GMT: Syria. By the end of the day, more than 75 people have been killed today in Syria. Large protests, and reports of violence, continue well into the night.

One look at out interactive map (created with help from EA intern Josh Moss), and we can see that the reports of both large protests and violence were not isolated to a few locations, but were very widespread. This provides more evidence that the violence, as well as the opposition to Assad, are intensifying and spreading in every corner of the country:

View Syria - 2012 June 22 - EA Worldview in a larger map

2200 GMT: Bahrain. Was the head of AlWefaq specically targeted by police? Activists claim that this is the case, and they provide this photo as evidence:

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Mubarak Not Quite "Clinically Dead"; 50+ Very Dead in Syria

1610 GMT: Syria. There are a series of reports of heavy shelling, air strikes, and gunfire in a series of towns in Daraa province, including: Daael, Nawa, Tel Shehab, and Mezayrib. Putting them all our map of the day's events, and a clear pattern is formed, that the cluster of towns just north of Daraa city are seeing a large-scale military campaign today. In Daael alone more than 50 injuries, and at least 3 deaths, are reported. This video reportedly shows an assault helicopter attacking ground targets in the city:

The LCCS provides a possible clue - there is a report of heavy fighting between the Free Syrian Army and regime forces in Nawa. The question is - did the FSA attack the regime, sparking the military campaign, or are they simply responding to an Assad attack?

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Bahrain Opinion: Why Younis Ashoori's Imprisonment Points to Repression Rather than Reform

Last Thursday, the US State Department's reaction to a Bahraini court's verdicts on 20 doctors and nurses --- "we are deeply disappointed" --- made headlines.

Beyond those headlines, however, that reaction appears to have had little impact on the regime. On Sunday, Younis Ashoori, a 61-year old hospital administrator, did not receive the final verdict in his trial. Instead, the hearing was postponed for a fortnight.

Ashoori, an administrator at Muharaq Maternity Hospital, has been held in prison for more than a year, serving a three-year sentence. The initial charge was "inciting hatred against the regime", but this has been dropped. His alleged crimes now are that he took oxygen cylinders to a medical tent and replaced pictures of Bahrain's leaders with Shia religious symbols.

Yesterday's postponment extends not only Ashoori's imprisonment, but also his physical suffering: he has been seriously ill with kidney stones and an enlarged prostate since he was seized by security forces last March. In his last court hearing, Ashoori stated that, following torture, he began urinating blood and was taken to a military hospital. When he told the doctor that it was his kidney causing him pain, the doctor allegedly responded by punching him in the spot. Today, he is in need of specialist treatment, but is only receiving basic painkillers and visits from a general doctor.

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Bahrain Audio Feature: Scott Lucas with Monocle 24 "A Guide to the Current Situation"

Jane Kinninmont of Chatham House and I spoke at length with Monocle 24 last night about developments in Bahrain and the general political and legal situation, from the specific case of medics sentenced to prison terms to the spectres of Iran and "sectarianism" to the wider prospects over "reform", protest, and the US position on the Kingdom.

The discussion begins at the 8-minute mark.