18th June 2012

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

some of the Bahrainis she interviewed. On August 31, 2011, 14-yearold Ali Jawad al-Sheikh was killed when a stray piece of a Bahrain: 5 Questions tear gas canister pierced his for the Kingdom neck. We visited al-Sheikhs family in the town of Sitra. Meaningful human rights reform in Bahrain appears as The small village is known as distant as ever, despite the one of the poorest and most regimes repeated promises. rebellious in Bahrain and was The disconnect between the the scene of weekly, if not its actions and its words is daily, clashes between young, baffling. Perhaps the regime unarmed demonstrators and could clear up the confusion riot police. The town lost by explaining its approach on more than five of its human rights. It could begin inhabitants in the uprising, with these five simple one of them, al-Sheikh. questions. Eyewitnesses to his death say he was fired at by Why did nine medics, officially Bahraini riot police. Bahrains declared innocent by the Interior Ministry denies the allegations. Read More that they have been passed by a dysfunctional and corrupt legal system on doctors who are innocent of what they stand accused. The King of Bahrain appointed an independent commission of inquiry to ascertain what went wrong in his country when the Arab Spring swept through the island in March 2011. Read More

Bahrain Revolt: To Die For An Opinion In The Street

In February 2011, tens of thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets to protest against the tiny country's ruling al-Khalifa family. Protesters camped out on the capital's Pearl Roundabout for a month, until security forces violently put and end to the protests. Demonstrators were arrested, activists persecuted, doctors who helped the wounded terrorized. Belgian journalist Tine Danckaers traveled to the Gulf state in November 2011 . HuffPost World published the testimonies of

Bahrain Court of Appeal on June 14, sign written statements confessing to crimes they did not commit? How did you obtain such statements? These medics, and the 11 others convicted with them by the military court last year, always insisted on their innocence. They tell consistent and credible stories of having been tortured into signing false confessions. Now that their innocence has been recognized by the Bahraini courts, the investigation into their wrongful convictions should begin immediately, and those who tortured them held accountable. Read More took off her head cover, abused her verbally, and forced her to confess of false charges. Riot police brutally assaulted Zahra (21 years old) before arresting her after she had been caught filming an attack on the protesters on Friday . She was detained in Budaiya Police Station until taken to the Public Prosecution after a charge of assaulting policemen had been fabricated against her. Read More Human Rights Watch has condemned the detention of activists in Bahrain and Kuwait, as social media offer a new outlet for criticism in conservative societies where rulers have traditionally enjoyed near-absolute power in exchange for delivering high living standards. Read More

Sentencing of medics in Bahrain

Sir, - A number of statements in the article Irishtrained surgeon given fiveyear sentence in Bahrain (Rowan Gallagher, Home News, June 15th) merit closer scrutiny. The first and most relevant aspect of the sentences is

Bahraini police forced a young woman to take off her clothes and filmed her naked by her mobile
The sister of the detained Ms Zahra Al-Sheikh has caused uproar after she had revealed that a policewoman forced Zahra to take off her clothes and filmed her naked by her mobile. She said the officer Isa Al-Majali beat her,

where he was also charged with inciting others to take part in the rally.

Bahrain activist's trial adjourned

A trial of an opposition activist accused of taking part in an illegal gathering in Manama has been adjourned until Thursday. Nabeel Rajab appeared in the Lower Criminal Court,

Rajab is already on trial in four other cases, including one in which he is charged with taking part in an illegal gathering in Manama and calling for an unauthorised rally and inciting attacks on security forces. Read More

Gulf states crack down on Twitter users

Gulf states are cracking down on alleged politically and religiously offensive messages on Twitter, in a move that is alarming rights campaigners and highlights the surging regional popularity of the site.