Chan'ad Bahraini

Here you can find links to my posts related to the movement to have Royal Decree 56 repealed, and regarding the accusations of torture and murder against the Bahraini state security forces.

• 11-May-05: Redressing torture

  Tomorrow, representatives of the Bahraini government will go before the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) in Geneva to present its report about the implementation of policies in Bahrain to satisfy the Convention against Torture. Two separate shadow reports will be presented to the CAT by the Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) and the (outlawed) Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) (in co-operation with the National Committee for Martyrs and Victims of Torture, NCMVT).



• 01-Apr-05: Black Saturday

  From the Voice of Bahrain website: On Saturday 1 April 1995 at 3.00 am, the village of Bani Jamra (where Sheikh Al-Jamri [a leading opposition figure during the 1990s uprising in Bahrain] resides) was encircled by thousands of paramilitary forces. The neighbours of Sheikh Al-Jamri (around six to eight of them) were ordered to evacuate their houses within minutes or be sprayed with gunfire.



• 03-Feb-05: Repeal 56: Part 4 (and 3)

The fourth installment in the series of protests by the National Committee for Martyrs and Victims of Torture was held today outside the Ministry of Interior. If you're wondering what happened to the third protest, it actually took place last Friday, but I wasn't on the island to cover it.



• 16-Jan-05: Repeal 56: Part 2

On Thursday, the National Committee for Martyrs and Victims of Torture held the second in their series of protests against government employed torturers. (Read about the first protest here). Their specific demands were:



• 1-Jan-05: 56: The magic number

Also yesterday, a protest was held outside the former office of Adel Flaifel, the notorious former security officer accused of torturing political activists. They were there to demand the rescinding of Law 56 so that Flaifel and his cohorts can be tried for torture and murder. (See more photos here). Similar protests are planned for the coming weeks (the next one will be on Jan 13, I think).



• 22-Dec-04: Martyr's Day

Last Thursday (Dec 16), Bahrain officially celebrated its "National Day". On Friday (Dec 17) Bahrain officially celebrated Accession Day, however in many quarters the day was unofficially marked as Martyr's Day (3eed al-shuhuda) and spent in mourning or remembrance. Bahrania posted about this last week, but I thought I'd comment on it also because it is an important issue that gets no coverage in the press.



• 26-Jun-04: International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

  The protest rally, marking the "International Day in Support of Victims of Torture" that I mentioned on Tuesday went ahead today as planned. I was pleased to see that the event was well organized and peaceful. The people gathered represented all sections of Bahraini society (except those who are still trying to defend the accused torturers).

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 01, 2004 at 4/01/2004 03:35:00 am. Permalink