Category Archives: Human Right

Economics, Human Right, Middle East Women, Saudi Arabia, WTF

Ill-Timed Honorary Degree, 23 Women Awaiting Execution……..

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“University of Indonesia (UI) has come under a storm of protests for awarding an honorary doctorate to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, a leader whose commitment to human rights has been seriously questioned by labor activists. The award came just two months after the beheading of Ruyati binti Satubi, an Indonesian maid who was convicted for murdering her employer — a crime she allegedly committed in response to repeated torture. For years, international human rights organizations have criticized Saudi Arabia for its treatment of migrant workers. A 2011 Human Rights Watch report notes that domestic workers from Indonesia “frequently endure forced confinement, food deprivation and severe psychological, physical and sexual abuse”. There are an estimated 1.5 million Indonesian maids currently working in the kingdom, with 23 on death row……………”

Bad timing. An honorary degree just after one Indonesian housemaid was beheaded, and as 23 others are on death row waiting to be beheaded. Sounds quite inappropriate. Some of these institutions bestow honorary, and real, degrees easily on the potentates.

Saudi relations with exporting countries of Asia (countries that ‘export’ housemaids) have been rocky in recent years. No other country in the whole wide world puts so much effort (including diplomatic) in securing cheap foreign housemaids for its citizens homes. Government officials delegations often travel to Indonesia and the Philippines to renegotiate terms of employment of housemaids. Saudi officials often protest laws passed by ‘exporting’ countries that seek to raise wages or generally improve living conditions for their citizens who are housemaids in the kingdom. I believe the official government economic and social policy can be summarized as a Hooverian: “two Asian housemaids in every house, a car in every garage (to be driven only by men)“.
When leaders of these two countries visit Saudi Arabia, the main topic of discussion is……housemaids! (They probably also discuss ‘certain’ security issues with Indonesian officials, given that Salafi religious Madrassas have created a large and influential Salafi fundamentalist community in Indonesia).
Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Corruption, GCC, Human Right

On My Gulf: The King Giveth and the King Taketh Away……….

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“The national dialogue did express support for a “fairer” electoral system but there are no plans to change constituency boundaries or other mechanisms that preserve Sunni control: one Shia constituency has 15 times as many voters as a small Sunni one – classic gerrymandering. No wonder critics were quick to dismiss the dialogue as a sham. “An exercise in make-believe,” is the blunt conclusion of a new report by the International Crisis Group. And the king, it seems likely, will continue to appoint the prime minister and rely on an unelected upper chamber of parliament to keep MPs in check and his own power untrammelled. And there is no sign that the government will halt its controversial policy of “political naturalisation” of non-Bahraini Sunnis – imported from Syria, Jordan, Yemen and even Pakistan – to fill the ranks of the security forces (from which Shias are largely excluded) – to tip the demographic balance………..”

Of course they will do what it takes. The rulers and their elite retainers and minions have a good thing going: they have their goose that lays the golden egg, at the expense of most of the people. The neighbors, the Al-Saud and Al-Nahayn of Abu Dhabi will not stand for anything resembling democracy in Bahrain. Not now that they have their armed forces in the place.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Human Right, Iraq, Syria

Syria Divided: Arab Spring, Arab Toothpaste………….

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“On one of the city’s main streets, families have still gathered every night on the sidewalks and in the medians for nighttime picnics. Vendors crowd around selling hookahs, popcorn, sandwiches and coffee. Traffic moves slowly as people park cars by the sidewalk and open doors and windows to let music stream out to entertain the crowds……. But Aleppo’s reluctance to join the revolution goes beyond any alleged cowardice. As a financially stable city, Aleppo was already less likely to revolt, and since the nationwide unrest erupted in mid-March, residents have by turns been made complacent by government enticements and scared by the overwhelming presence of security agents and spies. Whereas Damascus is the capital and administrative hub of Syria, Aleppo is the economic center where much of the money flows, said Ammar Abdulhamid, a Syrian opposition activist and dissident in the United States. Many of the country’s factories, textile plants and pharmaceutical companies are in the city………….”

The regime in Syria, just like those in Libya and Yemen, just like all Arab regimes whether dictatorships or monarchies, clings to power. As a Ba’ath Party regime, it is more willing to kill its own people than say, even the Mubarak regime in Egypt. The Ba’ath Party has had a specially dark and bloody history, in both Iraq and Syria. It started as an imitator of Europe’s Fascist “Nationalist” parties, but later acquired socialists pretensions after the expansion of Soviet power. Yet it soon descended, especially in Iraq, to a basically tribal power center (tribal in the literal sense and in the broader sense of a clan or a sect). In that, the Ba’ath rule became no different from any dictatorship or absolute monarchy; only it was bloodier than both other cases because of the mutual mistrust with the people. Neither Nasser nor Sadat or Mubarak in Egypt were ever nearly as repressive as the Ba’ath, nor were most Arab monarchies with one exception (some would say two exceptions).
No doubt the Syrian toothpaste is out of the tube. Yet the shape of the future is unknown. Arab despots are very creative in bargaining with their people and clinging to their power under different, new, guises. And the outside world (especially the West) does not like any change not of its own making. That is why the overall verdict on the so-called Arab Spring is undecided, yet.
Cheers
mhg


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Arabian Peninsula, Human Right, religious police, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism

Saudi Anti-Terror Law subject to Revision? About U.S. Bible Belt Worries………..

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“Saudi Arabia has revised an anti-terrorism law and made it less severe than a leaked version that was heavily criticized by human rights groups, a Shura Council spokesman said on Saturday. “The draft that was published is not the final one,” said Mohammed Almohanna, spokesman for the advisory parliament. “It was discussed in a Shura Council session. It was a draft and some changes were made to it to ensure that the law is compatible with Sharia (Islamic law) and does not violate citizens’ rights or the country’s existing laws,” he said. He said the Shura would amend the draft further when its summer recess ends in mid-September before sending it to the king for approval. Amnesty International, which published a draft of the Penal Law for Terrorism Crimes and Financing Terrorism on its website, said on July 22 that the authorities could use the law to stifle dissent…………”

This spokesman for the Shura Council talks as if it has any power. The Shura is an appointed advisory council, just like the cabinet, and takes its orders from the ruling family. They basically rubber-stamp whatever is sent over by the princes, which usually is not much. It doesn’t matter what they have on the law books, provided there are any: they do what it takes not just to stifle dissent, but to crush it.
On the bright side, they don’t chop the heads of dissidents anymore. They arrest them and throw them in prison for long periods of time, some without charges or trial.
(Also these guys should not mention the Shari’a Law to the Western press. The folks in places like Oklahoma and Tennessee and Texas get panicky and start voting to ban “Sharia Law”, wtf that be in their own Bible Belt context).
Cheers
mhg


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Apartheid, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Corruption, ethnic cleansing, Human Right

Photoshop of Facts in Bahrain: Where the Buck Does not Stop…………

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““The situation has evolved because the king and certainly the crown prince are much more committed to the rule of law and human rights than other persons in the government and the Al-Khalifa clan,” he said in a phone interview late Thursday. “The mere fact that the king has appointed this commission and the Interior Ministry is cooperating shows me things have changed.” The investigation itself, he warned, cannot right relations between Bahrain’s rulers and its Shi’ite population, which says it is systematically denied access to land, housing and state employment on sectarian grounds. “This doesn’t address the endemic problems, doesn’t address the need for political change, for a new constitution, the economic disparities or the political division of Sunnis and Shi’a. All the underlying problems remain,” Bassiouni said. “That’s not going to solve the problems of power disparities between the Shi’ite population and the Sunni rulers, nor the feeling of injustice the Shi’a community has.”……… “What I have found so far is the extraordinary willingness of the minister to listen to anything we bring to his attention and act on it, whether it’s suspension of police officers, arrest of police officers, or release of detainees,” he said. “It leads me to believe that on his part there was never a policy of excessive use of force or torture…that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I think it was a case of people at the lower level acting ……………”

Perhaps Mr. Bassiouni is trying to goad the ruling family of Bahrain back toward serious negotiations, which would mean serious concession to the rights of the people. To do that he may be willing to “photoshop” some facts. It is a novel approach: in most other cases of abuse those at the top were, rightly, blamed. He is blaming some at the bottom, hard case to make an absolute oligarchy. Yet his “investigation” is just starting.
The fact that people were tortured, assaulted, killed is blamed on “lower level” people”. Perhaps Bassiouni can also blame it on the fact that many regime mercenaries speak no Arabic (mostly Urdu) or a different dialect of Arabic and could not properly communicate with their victims. Then he needs to explain why Bahrain’s official media, the BTV, was a bullhorn of sectarian and ethnic hatred for so long? And why so many mosques and religious structures were deliberately demolished? And did the Pakistani mercenaries accuse the protesting Arab people of Bahrain of being traitors and part of an Iranian plot? And did the foreign mercenaries invite the Saudi National Guard to invade and wreak havoc? And did the thugs (baltagiya) decide on their own to conduct organized systematic raids of people’s homes after mid-night? Does this mean we will be seeing trials of those responsible and court decisions? The toughest case will be to explain the regime’s appointment of an (alleged) former torturer to attend the failed “dialog”.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Bahrain, Corruption, GCC, Human Right, Saudi Arabia

GCC: Two Sweet Princes Exchange Notes……………

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“Manama, Aug 3 (BNA) His Royal Highness the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa today received a telephone call from the Saudi Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. During the conversation both sides exchange best wishes on the occasion of the advent of the holy month of Ramadan. Moreover, both sides also reviewed historic brotherly ties existing between Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Bahrain along with regional and international developments……….”

I wonder wtf these tow sweethearts talked about on the phone. What “international developments” they could be interested in: global warming? deforestation of the Amazon? World disarmament? The NFL team rankings?

Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, GCC, Healthcare, Human Right

Terror-Based Health Care in Bahrain…………..

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“Bahrain, the tiny but strategically important Persian Gulf monarchy that has sought for months to suppress an Arab Spring-inspired uprising, is engaged in a heated dispute with one of the world’s foremost medical relief organizations, which has stopped working there after accusing Bahraini security forces of raiding its premises last week. The accusation by the organization, Doctors Without Borders, has been challenged by Bahrain’s Health Ministry. But the sensitivities surrounding the dispute over the July 28 raid speak to what human rights activists call a particularly odious aspect of the Bahraini protests: the government’s systematic effort to deny medical services to wounded protesters — partly by jailing or intimidating the doctors, nurses and paramedics who have tried to treat them. Many medical workers in Bahrain are often too frightened to help protesters, activists say, and the wounded themselves are often too frightened to seek help………”

Bahrain’s Ministry of Health early on became notorious for lying about the numbers and conditions of the wounded during the protests. It looks like the ministry has not changed in this respect, and in that it is in line with most other government agencies. Hospitals, especially the Salmaniya Hospital were early on targeted by the Bahrain regime, knowing that a vast number of protesters and others were wounded during the uprising. Being wounded was considered evidence of being a regime opponent, and a reason to be tortured and denied medical care. Checkpoints were used to identify anyone wounded and whisk them away for interrogation (some were beaten on the spot by security agents and foreign mercenaries). That caused many injured Bahrainis to remain at home rather than venture out, even if they were not injured at the protests. Early on, the regime focused on medical professionals, but quickly expanded its “attention” to other professions like teachers, journalists and others.
Cheers
mhg


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Apartheid, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Human Right, Saudi Arabia

Congo and Darfur on the Gulf: Spitting, Urinating, Image of a Monarchy………….

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“Signs of revolt simmering just beneath the surface are everywhere in the island kingdom of Bahrain, five months after protesters first demanded reform. Inspired by the Arab awakening, thousands of demonstrators took over Pearl Square in the centre of Manama, the capital. A month later, on 15 March, government security forces, backed by a military contingent from Saudi Arabia, drove out the protesters, bulldozed the square and launched a pogrom of extraordinary ferocity against the majority Shia community, which had supported the protests. Bahrainis, both Shia and Sunni, are still traumatised. “I was expecting the government to thank us for treating so many people during the crisis,” recalls one doctor of previously moderate political views, who instead found himself subjected to beatings and sleep deprivation. A 64-year-old man, active in defence of human rights, named Mohammed Hassan Jawad, who is still in jail, gave details to his family about how interrogators had tortured him with electric shocks to his genitals, legs, ears and hands. They made him bow down before a picture of the Bahraini King, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, and told him to open his mouth so they could spit in it, adding that “unless you swallow the spit we will urinate in your mouth instead“…………..”

One thing stands out about the Bahraini rulers and their security thugs: they have operated on a very primitive level this year. Something very nasty and especially “tribal” about it, reminders of the Congo and Darfur and other afflicted places, albeit on a smaller scale. So have behaved their imported mercenaries and invading forces. Somehow bodily functions, especially bodily waste both liquid and solid, have great significance for the regime and its enforcers and its interrogators, both local and imported. That explains their seeming obsession with involving their victims in these bizarre rituals that have to do with human waste: threatening people with urine and feces, using urine and feces on the detainees, using toilet brushes, using spittle, using threat of (and possibly actual) rectal rape against the male prisoners (as well as the threat of rape against the women). This makes the favorite torture method of the Cheneys, water-boarding, seem clean and wholesome, doesn’t it?
All allegedly, of course.
Cheers
mhg


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Apartheid, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, ethnic cleansing, Human Right

Bahrain Kangaroo Court Passes Saudi Sentences on the Opposition………

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“Bahrain sentenced 10 Shi’ite prominent activists and opposition leaders to life in prison on Wednesday on charges of plotting a coup during protests that rocked the Sunni-ruled Gulf island kingdom earlier this year. The sentencing could inflame already simmering tensions in the tiny Gulf Arab state, where small protests have erupted daily since emergency law was lifted on June 1 and may threaten a national dialogue planned to start next month. Among those who received life sentences were Shi’ite dissident Hassan Mushaimaa, leader of hardline opposition group Haq. His group joined two others in calling for the overthrow of Bahrain’s monarchy during mass protests in February and March. Ibrahim Sharif, the Sunni leader of the secular leftist Waad party, was sentenced to five years in prison. Waad and Bahrain’s largest Shi’ite opposition group Wefaq had called for a reform of the kingdom’s monarchy. The defendants were defiant after the verdict, vowing to continue “peaceful” opposition to the royal family……….”

First they arrested them en masse, looting their homes in the process, then they tortured them, then they sentenced some to death. Now the al-Khalifa military Kangaroo court has passed its life sentences against opposition leaders. It is as if they, and their al-Saud masters, want to completely destroy the opposition.
Cheers
mhg


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Death Penalty, Human Right, Saudi Arabia, Slavery

Another Asian Housemaid Beheaded, about Stoning……….

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“An Indonesian woman was beheaded by the sword on Saturday after being convicted of murdering a Saudi woman, the interior ministry said. The woman named Roiaiti Beth Sabotti Sarona, according to a transliteration from Arabic, was found guilty of killing Saudi Khairiya bint Hamid Mijlid by striking her repeatedly on the head with a meat chopper and stabbing her in the neck, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency. The ministry did not elaborate on the motives of the crime, nor it did disclose the relation between the two women. But Indonesian officials say that around 70 percent of the 1.2 million Indonesians working in Saudi Arabia are domestic staff…….”

It is not as painful as stoning, at least it is a faster death. It is quicker, unless the swordsman misses and does not decapitate the first time. Then there will have to be a second time.
Equality under the law: a few months ago a Saudi housewife was convicted of torturing and killing her Asian housemaid. The housewife paid about $10,000 blood money to some Sri Lankan relative and was free.
Cheers
mhg


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