By William Fisher
I know this sounds like something out of Torquemada in the 15th Century or Mengele in the 20th. But it’s neither. It’s post-Mubarak Egypt in the second decade of the 21st Century.
Amnesty International has today called on the Egyptian authorities to investigate serious allegations of torture, including forced ‘virginity tests’, inflicted by the army on women protesters arrested in Tahrir Square earlier this month.
After army officers violently cleared the square of protesters on March 9, at least 18women were held in military detention. Amnesty International has been told by women protesters that they were beaten, given electric shocks, subjected to strip searches while being photographed by male soldiers, then forced to submit to ‘virginity checks’ and threatened with prostitution charges.
‘Virginity tests’ are a form of torture when they are forced or coerced.
"Forcing women to have ‘virginity tests’ is utterly unacceptable. Its purpose is to degrade women because they are women," said Amnesty International. "All members of the medical profession must refuse to take part in such so-called 'tests'."
Twenty-year-old Salwa Hosseini told Amnesty International that after she was arrested and taken to a military prison in Heikstep, she was made, with the other women, to take off all her clothes to be searched by a female prison guard, in a room with two open doors and a window. During the strip search, Hosseini said male soldiers were looking into the room and taking pictures of the naked women.
The women were then subjected to ‘virginity tests’ in a different room by a man in a white coat. They were threatened that “those not found to be virgins” would be charged with prostitution.
According to information received by Amnesty International, one woman who said she was a virgin but whose test supposedly proved otherwise was beaten and given electric shocks.
“Women and girls must be able to express their views on the future of Egypt and protest against the government without being detained, tortured, or subjected to profoundly degrading and discriminatory treatment,” said Amnesty International. “The army officers tried to further humiliate the women by allowing men to watch and photograph what was happening, with the implicit threat that the women could be at further risk of harm if the photographs were made public.”
Journalist Rasha Azeb was also detained in Tahrir Square and told Amnesty International that she was handcuffed, beaten and insulted.
Following their arrest, the 18 women were initially taken to a Cairo Museum annex where they were reportedly handcuffed, beaten with sticks and hoses, given electric shocks in the chest and legs, and called “prostitutes.”
Azeb could see and hear the other detained women being tortured by being given electric shocks throughout their detention at the museum. She was released several hours later with four other men who were also journalists, but 17 other women were transferred to the military prison in Heikstep.
Testimonies of other women detained at the same time collected by the El Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence are consistent with Azeb and Hosseini’s accounts of beatings, electrocution and ‘virginity tests’.
“The Egyptian authorities must halt the shocking and degrading treatment of women protesters. Women fully participated in bringing change in Egypt and should not be punished for their activism,” said Amnesty International. “All security and army forces must be clearly instructed that torture and other ill-treatment, including forced ‘virginity tests’, will no longer be tolerated, and will be fully investigated. Those found responsible for such acts must be brought to justice and the courageous women who denounced such abuses be protected from reprisals.”
All 17 women detained in the military prison were brought before a military court on March 11 and released on March 13. Several received one-year suspended prison sentences.
Hosseini was convicted of disorderly conduct, destroying private and public property, obstructing traffic and carrying weapons.
Amnesty International opposes the trial of civilians before military courts in Egypt, which have a track record of unfair trials and where the right to appeal is severely restricted.
This latest report of barbaric behavior by members of Egypt’s armed forces raises serious questions about the people who are running the country and its services during the present interim period until elections can be held this summer.
The women’s complaints follow testimonies from dozens of male Tahrir Square demonstrators that they were arrested, detained, and abused by the Army as they attempted to make their way across Tahrir Square at night.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information reported that “hundreds of thousands” of Egyptians demonstrated in Tahrir Square on Friday in protest the continuation of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik in office. The group said the protestors demanded the dissolution of the state security apparatus and the release prisoners of conscience.
Despite their continued cheers in support of the army, army units assaulted the protesters, beating and chasing them on the streets of Cairo using electric batons that led to many casualties, the organization charged.
One of the abused demonstrators, whose name is being withheld for his safety, blogged the following first hand account of what occurred:
“We were a little less than 150 people [in Tahrir Square] that night [February 25]. At around 11:30 in the evening of the 25th of February, army soldiers formed a cordon around us without violations; one of my friends thinks this might have been their way of kettling us and making sure our numbers don’t grow around the ministerial cabinet.
They dismantled their human cordon at 15 minutes past midnight of the 26th of February. At around that time we started hearing news of the sit-in in Tahrir being violently dispersed. And at around 1:30 am that very night, the army started using electric batons to disperse the sit-in and of-course we ran. They continued to push, beat and kick at us, until they managed to disperse us.
“And then I was arrested…As I ran, I came across a fallen protestor, and stopped to check on him. An officer grabbed me and started to push and beat at me and I said to him “Don’t hit! Just arrest me!” They pulled me into a garage in the ministerial cabinet; and this is where the physical and moral torture began.
“In the ministerial cabinet’s garage…I was shocked at the numbers of army personnel beating up protestors in the garage. At first I thought these must have been thugs, but before I had a chance to finish the thought, I was pulled very roughly and ordered to squat on the ground. With that they started to kick at every part of my body; I tried to cover my face to protect it, but one of the officers pulled my arm away and stepped on my face pushing it to the ground, while they tied my hands behind my back. They – Lieutenants, First Lieutenants and a row of officers and soldiers -- then proceeded to kick at my face as if my head were a soccer-ball.
“Others around me were much worse off. One was stripped bare in the cold and sprayed with water and beaten, while another was beaten until his shoulder was dislocated, while others were electrocuted with the electric batons. One protestor called out to declare he had a heart condition; and they shouted back at him to ask what he was doing in a protest if he had such a condition, as they proceeded to pull his hand away from his heart, and kick him where it was.
“Twice we heard what sounded like a high-ranking officer giving an order to end the beating “No one hit any of them anymore!”. But as soon as he would leave, the beating would start again; it was difficult to tell if they really weren’t following orders, or if the whole thing was just theatrical. For the beating never ceased.
“What was said in the Garage…What was worse than the beating and the insults, were the accusations that the officers and military personnel were throwing at us while we were in there. When I first got in they played the old reel of accusations related to treachery and our being spies; I could even hear an officer shout as he beat a protestor “And you’re getting 50 Euros to insult president Mubarak?
“And while we were all hearing variations of this, each of us was specifically asked to say “Long live Hosni Mubarak”, and those who refused got a fresh course of beating. It was clear to us that they didn’t think they were dealing with thugs, but believed they were dealing with paid security threats.
“And one of the personal violations that I could note is their occasional calling out that “We’re in Abu Ghareeb [Abu Ghraib] here,” as they piled protestors on top of each other and beat them.”
It remained unclear why the government soldiers assaulted the demonstrators. The Military has apologized for the beatings, according to Muhammed Tolba, Executive Secretary of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies. The apology was confirmed by one of those who were abused, he said.
This brings back the unanswered question: Can the Egyptian people trust their Army?
Dr. Mostafa Hussein of the Nadeem Center for Victims of Torture in Cairo thinks not.
Dr. Hussein is a psychiatrist and a doctor at the Task Force Against Torture, which brings together non-profits, bloggers and activists highlighting the continuation of torture in post-Mubarak Egypt on a new web page (http://against-torture.net).
Dr. Hussein said today: "The army is engaging in massive and brutal torture. Civilians, many of them pro-democracy activists, are being detained and beaten. Then, many of them have been brought before military courts. These courts are conducted in secret, limit access to lawyers and do not allow appeals.”
Dr. Hussein adds, “People are getting sentences of three to five or even seven years for 'thuggery.' These civilians are sometimes shown on the nightly news on state TV in an apparent attempt to intimidate the public and ensure 'order.' We have testimony of people being beaten, electrocuted, whipped and seeing others beaten to death.”
"Perhaps most distressing, the media in Egypt, even the independent newspapers, are largely ignoring army torture and abuse. The army is a red line. If we're going to have a meaningful democracy in Egypt, this has to change. It's critical that outside media now cover this.”
Dr. Hussain claims she has “translated video and testimony from individuals" who were abused.
The Army is now running just about everything in Egypt, including the government. Every member of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces was appointed by deposed President Hosni Mubarak. Many have lucrative business interests facilitated by Mubarak. During the debate about the amendments to the Constitution, the Supreme Council sided with the Muslim Brotherhood and the remnants of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP) that the referendum should be held sooner rather than later, and elections for parliament and the presidency, correspondingly earlier than the more liberal Tahrir Square movement advocated.
The Armys role in the democratic revolt has been anything but transparent. They were lauded by activists for not taking sides between anti- and pro-Mubarak demonstraters. They were further praised when they came to the rescue of pro-democracy demonstraters, who were being attacked by gangs of arms thugs hired by Mubarak’s political cronies. But then they attacked peaceful protesters walking across Tahrir Square, arrested them, tortured many, and detained more.
For that kind of double-dealing, an apology is hardly sufficient. Thus far there is no serious sign that the military is inmvestigating or that it plans to file charges against the miscreant soldiers.
So the sooner a president and a legislature can be elected the sooner the Army can go back to what armies are supposed to do.
The question at that point is: Will the Military willingly report to civilian control?
Watch this space.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Obama: Get Out of Jail Free For Saudi Arabia and UAE in Bahrain
By William Fisher
President Barack Obama said on Friday that he was “deeply concerned by reports of violence in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen.” He said the United States condemns the use of violence by governments against peaceful protesters in those countries and wherever else it may occur.”
Then he went on to say, “ We express our condolences to the family and friends of those who have been killed during the demonstrations. Wherever they are, people have certain universal rights including the right to peaceful assembly.”
He concluded: “The United States urges the governments of Bahrain, Libya and Yemen to show restraint in responding to peaceful protests, and to respect the rights of their people.”
But many observers said there was something missing from this picture: There was not a word about Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), whose troops earlier this week rumbled over the 26 km causeway separating Saudi Arabia from Bahrain, to help Bahrain’s ruling family to maintain its grip on power in the face of growing protests and demands for economic democracy.
In what has lamentably become characteristic Obama behavior, the President ignored the two 900-pound gorillas in the room. One of those gorillas, Saudi Arabia, is said to be close ally of the U.S., a major supplier of its oil, a recipient of much U.S. military aid, and a steadfast partner in the so-called “war on terror.”
The other gorilla is Bahrain itself, thought (until very recently) to be a reliable U.S. ally, like Saudi Arabia, an intrepid warrior on terror, and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet. The United States provided around $20 million in military aid to Bahrain in 2010. The slap on the wrist Bahrain received from the American President today is not likely to require medical attention.
Prior to the “Arab Spring,” the U.S. viewed Bahrain as a reasonably enlightened Arab state. During a visit to Washington in December, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raved, "Bahrain has demonstrated that multi-ethnic, multi-confessional societies can address their challenges through peaceful reform and representative institutions."
Cables by US diplomats claimed that King Hamad "understands that Bahrain cannot prosper if he rules by repression." Several of the 2009 cables from the U.S. Embassy in Manama characterize King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa as an enlightened and deeply pro-American ruler who, since assuming the throne in 1999, has fostered reconciliation with the Shi'ite Muslim majority and has undertaken serious political and economic reforms,” Reuters reports.
As for The House of Saud, it evidently gets a pass on Obama’s assertion that “people have certain universal rights including the right to peaceful assembly.” In Saudi Arabia they have no such right. And the country’s aging king is currently in the process of trying to buy off his people with announcements of massive appropriations for job creation and job training, plus substantial individual money gifts for every Saudi citizen.
So far, that strategy appears to be working -- despite some announcements and preparations for a “Day of Anger” in the Kingdom, and some minor skirmishes between police and would-be democracy demonstrators.
Should that strategy show signs of weakening, there is little doubt about what the Saudis would do to quell any rising sentiment for a more equitable, representative government.
Meantime, Reuters is reporting that Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy asked the State Department to probe whether Bahrain had broken a U.S. law that prohibits aid to foreign security forces who violate human rights. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, is the author of that legislation.
Bahrain is now under a state of martial law, after fresh violence left as many as eight people dead.
Amnesty International revealed evidence of the Bahraini security forces’ systematic use of excessive force in cracking down against protesters. In a new report, “Bloodied but Unbowed: Unwarranted State Violence against Bahraini Protesters,” the organization documents how security forces used live ammunition and extreme force against protesters in February without warning and impeded and assaulted medical staff trying to help the wounded.
The report, which is based on first hand testimonies given to an Amnesty International team in Bahrain, comes as the country is gripped by further violence, after Saudi Arabian and UAE forces entered the small Gulf state three days ago and Bahrain's King declared a national state of emergency.
"It is alarming to see the Bahraini authorities now again resorting to the same tactics that they used against protesters in February but on an even more intensive scale,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“It appears that the government has decided that the way to deal with protests is through violent repression, a totally unsustainable position and one which sets an ominous example in a region where other governments are also facing popular calls for change," he said.
Dr. Hani Mowafi, a US medical doctor who was part of the Amnesty International team, found a pattern of fatal and serious injuries during February’s violence showing that the security forces used live ammunition at close range, and apparently targeted protesters’ heads, chests and abdomens.
They also fired medium-to-large caliber bullets from high-powered rifles on 18 February.
The worst violence before today took place early on the morning of 17 February, when five people were killed. Witnesses told Amnesty that, in scenes that would be repeated on 16 March, tanks blocked access to the Pearl Roundabout as police used shotguns as well as tear gas, batons and rubber bullets to disperse protesters, many of who were camping there.
One witness told Amnesty International that on 17 February riot police were shooting from different angles, including from a bridge over the roundabout, while protesters desperately ran for cover.
Among the injured were people clearly identifiable as medical workers, who were targeted by police while trying to help wounded protesters at or near the roundabout.
"All the actions of the security forces against protesters since February must be fully and independently investigated. Those responsible for ordering and unleash lethal force against peaceful protesters must be identified and held to account.”
"There must be no impunity for unlawful killings, assaults and other abuses against both protesters and medical staff."
Amnesty says it has identified some of the ammunition found in the aftermath of the raid on Pearl Roundabout on 17 February. It includes US-made tear gas canisters, US-made 37mm rubber multi-baton rounds, French-made tear gas grenades, and French-made rubber “dispersion” grenades, which fragment into 18 pieces and produce a loud sound effect.
The organization called on governments who supply weapons to Bahrain to immediately suspend the transfer of weapons, munitions and related equipment that could be used to commit further human rights violations, and to urgently review all arms supplies and training support to Bahrain’s military, security and police forces.
Following the Bahraini security forces’ use of unwarranted force against protesters, the UK government revoked some licenses for arms exports to Bahrain, and the French authorities have suspended the export of security equipment to Bahrain.
Amnesty’s report charges that “mass peaceful protests demanding political reform have shaken the Gulf state of Bahrain since mid-February. In response, the security forces initially sought to suppress the protests with brutality, killing seven protesters, injuring hundreds of others and assaulting paramedics.”
It adds, “Proper, transparent investigations that ensure accountability and justice for the victims, and a strong government commitment to respect human rights are needed now.”
Bahraini protesters today told Amnesty of bloody scenes on the streets as government security forces stepped up their violent crackdown on demonstrations and blocked access to hospitals. Government forces also surrounded hospitals and attacked doctors trying to help the wounded.
At least six people were reportedly killed in the capital Manama amid continuing protests as the army used tanks to flatten the peaceful protest camps set up in recent weeks to demand reform in the Gulf state.
"The distressing reports and images coming out of Bahrain today provide further evidence that the authorities are using lethal and other excessive force to crush protests, with reckless disregard for human life," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director.
"Wounded protesters have also been prevented from accessing medical attention by government forces. The Bahraini authorities must immediately put a stop to this bloodshed," he said.
Security forces attacked the mainly Shia protest camp at Manama’s Pearl Roundabout camp early on Wednesday.
Family members of those wounded at the roundabout and people trying to approach the area told Amnesty International that the army opened fire on them without warning.
"I was walking towards the Pearl Roundabout… We were 5km from the roundabout when we were shot with live ammunition - one shot came one meter away from me. There were two tanks in the street and a helicopter above us," said Nabeel al Rajab, director of the banned Bahrain Center for Human Rights.
Amnesty is also receiving testimonies from medical staff who were prevented from treating the victims of violence. For example:
"We are waiting to do something and the army is not allowing us. We know there are hundreds injured and they are not allowing them to come here," said one doctor at the central Salmaniya hospital who did not wish to be named due to safety fears.
"A doctor went to the gate this morning trying to come in and the army beat him. They also threw tear gas and another type of gas at the emergency entrance of the hospital."
In a funeral procession today to mourn a dead Bahraini pro-democracy demonstrator, anti-government participants shouted, "down with King Hamad." The crackdown that killed this activist was targeted to mainly Shi'ite protesters, which angered Iran.
Bahrain’s ruling family are Sunni Muslims, while a large majority of its people are Shia. The Shia majority contends it is discriminated against in terms of funds for public works projects and government jobs.
Virtually all reputable human rights organizations are condemning Bahrain’s violent military crackdown against pro-democracy protesters.
Neil Hicks of the New York-based Human Rights First group, said “The militarization of the conflict in Bahrain will lead to further violence and violations of basic rights and freedoms. It will not address the underlying causes of the unrest – institutionalized sectarian discrimination, the absence of representative government and the lack of legal protections for basic freedoms of assembly, and association. ”
“Suppression of dissent in Bahrain with the backing of the Gulf Cooperation Council runs the risk of extending unrest to other countries in the Gulf region with sectarian tensions, including Yemen and the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia,” Hicks said.
The organization called on U.S. government officials to condemn the use of violence against unarmed protesters and urge the Bahraini government to initiate wide-ranging negotiations to implement necessary political reforms.
“In light of disturbing reports that security forces are blocking medical treatment for the injured, that interference in the provision of necessary medical treatment should stop immediately. In addition, the U.S. needs to intensify its outreach to the government of Saudi Arabia to make clear its objection to the violent suppression of dissent in Bahrain or anywhere in the Gulf region,” the organization said.
Hicks concluded, “Inflaming sectarian tensions in Bahrain will not ensure stability in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
For the past decade Bahrain has promoted itself as a liberal state in an
authoritarian neighborhood, on the basis of reforms by King Hamad al-Khalifa, who took power in 1999. These reforms included holding elections - though for a parliament that lacked authority - and largely abolishing torture.
The Bahraini government insinuates whenever possible that its Shia citizens, upwards of 65 percent of the population, would turn Bahrain into an Iranian client state if so allowed.
But independent observers have for several years been raising concerns about the country's return to the dark practices of the past.
In February 2010, Human Rights Watch released a report documenting the revival of torture. A trove of reports by government doctors backed up victim accounts that security forces were again suspending detainees by their arms and legs and using electro-shock devices.
In August, the government instituted a crackdown that began with arrests of opposition activists on charges of being part of a "terror network" and soon extended to the arrests of hundreds more, including children, many on vague or non-existent charges.
The government dissolved the board of a human rights group that had suggested detainees should not be abused.
Authorities blocked websites of opposition parties, including Al Wefaq, which won a majority of votes in the October elections.
As for the "terror network," the testimony of government agents regarding
information allegedly provided by unnamed sources made clear that the defendants were being tried for political opinions rather than for any criminal acts.
Authorities denied these defendants access to counsel or their families, and
most defendants alleged that security officials abused them to elicit confessions.
The government denied these allegations, but hasn't explained the defendants' wounds displayed in open court.
President Barack Obama said on Friday that he was “deeply concerned by reports of violence in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen.” He said the United States condemns the use of violence by governments against peaceful protesters in those countries and wherever else it may occur.”
Then he went on to say, “ We express our condolences to the family and friends of those who have been killed during the demonstrations. Wherever they are, people have certain universal rights including the right to peaceful assembly.”
He concluded: “The United States urges the governments of Bahrain, Libya and Yemen to show restraint in responding to peaceful protests, and to respect the rights of their people.”
But many observers said there was something missing from this picture: There was not a word about Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), whose troops earlier this week rumbled over the 26 km causeway separating Saudi Arabia from Bahrain, to help Bahrain’s ruling family to maintain its grip on power in the face of growing protests and demands for economic democracy.
In what has lamentably become characteristic Obama behavior, the President ignored the two 900-pound gorillas in the room. One of those gorillas, Saudi Arabia, is said to be close ally of the U.S., a major supplier of its oil, a recipient of much U.S. military aid, and a steadfast partner in the so-called “war on terror.”
The other gorilla is Bahrain itself, thought (until very recently) to be a reliable U.S. ally, like Saudi Arabia, an intrepid warrior on terror, and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet. The United States provided around $20 million in military aid to Bahrain in 2010. The slap on the wrist Bahrain received from the American President today is not likely to require medical attention.
Prior to the “Arab Spring,” the U.S. viewed Bahrain as a reasonably enlightened Arab state. During a visit to Washington in December, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raved, "Bahrain has demonstrated that multi-ethnic, multi-confessional societies can address their challenges through peaceful reform and representative institutions."
Cables by US diplomats claimed that King Hamad "understands that Bahrain cannot prosper if he rules by repression." Several of the 2009 cables from the U.S. Embassy in Manama characterize King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa as an enlightened and deeply pro-American ruler who, since assuming the throne in 1999, has fostered reconciliation with the Shi'ite Muslim majority and has undertaken serious political and economic reforms,” Reuters reports.
As for The House of Saud, it evidently gets a pass on Obama’s assertion that “people have certain universal rights including the right to peaceful assembly.” In Saudi Arabia they have no such right. And the country’s aging king is currently in the process of trying to buy off his people with announcements of massive appropriations for job creation and job training, plus substantial individual money gifts for every Saudi citizen.
So far, that strategy appears to be working -- despite some announcements and preparations for a “Day of Anger” in the Kingdom, and some minor skirmishes between police and would-be democracy demonstrators.
Should that strategy show signs of weakening, there is little doubt about what the Saudis would do to quell any rising sentiment for a more equitable, representative government.
Meantime, Reuters is reporting that Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy asked the State Department to probe whether Bahrain had broken a U.S. law that prohibits aid to foreign security forces who violate human rights. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, is the author of that legislation.
Bahrain is now under a state of martial law, after fresh violence left as many as eight people dead.
Amnesty International revealed evidence of the Bahraini security forces’ systematic use of excessive force in cracking down against protesters. In a new report, “Bloodied but Unbowed: Unwarranted State Violence against Bahraini Protesters,” the organization documents how security forces used live ammunition and extreme force against protesters in February without warning and impeded and assaulted medical staff trying to help the wounded.
The report, which is based on first hand testimonies given to an Amnesty International team in Bahrain, comes as the country is gripped by further violence, after Saudi Arabian and UAE forces entered the small Gulf state three days ago and Bahrain's King declared a national state of emergency.
"It is alarming to see the Bahraini authorities now again resorting to the same tactics that they used against protesters in February but on an even more intensive scale,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“It appears that the government has decided that the way to deal with protests is through violent repression, a totally unsustainable position and one which sets an ominous example in a region where other governments are also facing popular calls for change," he said.
Dr. Hani Mowafi, a US medical doctor who was part of the Amnesty International team, found a pattern of fatal and serious injuries during February’s violence showing that the security forces used live ammunition at close range, and apparently targeted protesters’ heads, chests and abdomens.
They also fired medium-to-large caliber bullets from high-powered rifles on 18 February.
The worst violence before today took place early on the morning of 17 February, when five people were killed. Witnesses told Amnesty that, in scenes that would be repeated on 16 March, tanks blocked access to the Pearl Roundabout as police used shotguns as well as tear gas, batons and rubber bullets to disperse protesters, many of who were camping there.
One witness told Amnesty International that on 17 February riot police were shooting from different angles, including from a bridge over the roundabout, while protesters desperately ran for cover.
Among the injured were people clearly identifiable as medical workers, who were targeted by police while trying to help wounded protesters at or near the roundabout.
"All the actions of the security forces against protesters since February must be fully and independently investigated. Those responsible for ordering and unleash lethal force against peaceful protesters must be identified and held to account.”
"There must be no impunity for unlawful killings, assaults and other abuses against both protesters and medical staff."
Amnesty says it has identified some of the ammunition found in the aftermath of the raid on Pearl Roundabout on 17 February. It includes US-made tear gas canisters, US-made 37mm rubber multi-baton rounds, French-made tear gas grenades, and French-made rubber “dispersion” grenades, which fragment into 18 pieces and produce a loud sound effect.
The organization called on governments who supply weapons to Bahrain to immediately suspend the transfer of weapons, munitions and related equipment that could be used to commit further human rights violations, and to urgently review all arms supplies and training support to Bahrain’s military, security and police forces.
Following the Bahraini security forces’ use of unwarranted force against protesters, the UK government revoked some licenses for arms exports to Bahrain, and the French authorities have suspended the export of security equipment to Bahrain.
Amnesty’s report charges that “mass peaceful protests demanding political reform have shaken the Gulf state of Bahrain since mid-February. In response, the security forces initially sought to suppress the protests with brutality, killing seven protesters, injuring hundreds of others and assaulting paramedics.”
It adds, “Proper, transparent investigations that ensure accountability and justice for the victims, and a strong government commitment to respect human rights are needed now.”
Bahraini protesters today told Amnesty of bloody scenes on the streets as government security forces stepped up their violent crackdown on demonstrations and blocked access to hospitals. Government forces also surrounded hospitals and attacked doctors trying to help the wounded.
At least six people were reportedly killed in the capital Manama amid continuing protests as the army used tanks to flatten the peaceful protest camps set up in recent weeks to demand reform in the Gulf state.
"The distressing reports and images coming out of Bahrain today provide further evidence that the authorities are using lethal and other excessive force to crush protests, with reckless disregard for human life," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director.
"Wounded protesters have also been prevented from accessing medical attention by government forces. The Bahraini authorities must immediately put a stop to this bloodshed," he said.
Security forces attacked the mainly Shia protest camp at Manama’s Pearl Roundabout camp early on Wednesday.
Family members of those wounded at the roundabout and people trying to approach the area told Amnesty International that the army opened fire on them without warning.
"I was walking towards the Pearl Roundabout… We were 5km from the roundabout when we were shot with live ammunition - one shot came one meter away from me. There were two tanks in the street and a helicopter above us," said Nabeel al Rajab, director of the banned Bahrain Center for Human Rights.
Amnesty is also receiving testimonies from medical staff who were prevented from treating the victims of violence. For example:
"We are waiting to do something and the army is not allowing us. We know there are hundreds injured and they are not allowing them to come here," said one doctor at the central Salmaniya hospital who did not wish to be named due to safety fears.
"A doctor went to the gate this morning trying to come in and the army beat him. They also threw tear gas and another type of gas at the emergency entrance of the hospital."
In a funeral procession today to mourn a dead Bahraini pro-democracy demonstrator, anti-government participants shouted, "down with King Hamad." The crackdown that killed this activist was targeted to mainly Shi'ite protesters, which angered Iran.
Bahrain’s ruling family are Sunni Muslims, while a large majority of its people are Shia. The Shia majority contends it is discriminated against in terms of funds for public works projects and government jobs.
Virtually all reputable human rights organizations are condemning Bahrain’s violent military crackdown against pro-democracy protesters.
Neil Hicks of the New York-based Human Rights First group, said “The militarization of the conflict in Bahrain will lead to further violence and violations of basic rights and freedoms. It will not address the underlying causes of the unrest – institutionalized sectarian discrimination, the absence of representative government and the lack of legal protections for basic freedoms of assembly, and association. ”
“Suppression of dissent in Bahrain with the backing of the Gulf Cooperation Council runs the risk of extending unrest to other countries in the Gulf region with sectarian tensions, including Yemen and the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia,” Hicks said.
The organization called on U.S. government officials to condemn the use of violence against unarmed protesters and urge the Bahraini government to initiate wide-ranging negotiations to implement necessary political reforms.
“In light of disturbing reports that security forces are blocking medical treatment for the injured, that interference in the provision of necessary medical treatment should stop immediately. In addition, the U.S. needs to intensify its outreach to the government of Saudi Arabia to make clear its objection to the violent suppression of dissent in Bahrain or anywhere in the Gulf region,” the organization said.
Hicks concluded, “Inflaming sectarian tensions in Bahrain will not ensure stability in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
For the past decade Bahrain has promoted itself as a liberal state in an
authoritarian neighborhood, on the basis of reforms by King Hamad al-Khalifa, who took power in 1999. These reforms included holding elections - though for a parliament that lacked authority - and largely abolishing torture.
The Bahraini government insinuates whenever possible that its Shia citizens, upwards of 65 percent of the population, would turn Bahrain into an Iranian client state if so allowed.
But independent observers have for several years been raising concerns about the country's return to the dark practices of the past.
In February 2010, Human Rights Watch released a report documenting the revival of torture. A trove of reports by government doctors backed up victim accounts that security forces were again suspending detainees by their arms and legs and using electro-shock devices.
In August, the government instituted a crackdown that began with arrests of opposition activists on charges of being part of a "terror network" and soon extended to the arrests of hundreds more, including children, many on vague or non-existent charges.
The government dissolved the board of a human rights group that had suggested detainees should not be abused.
Authorities blocked websites of opposition parties, including Al Wefaq, which won a majority of votes in the October elections.
As for the "terror network," the testimony of government agents regarding
information allegedly provided by unnamed sources made clear that the defendants were being tried for political opinions rather than for any criminal acts.
Authorities denied these defendants access to counsel or their families, and
most defendants alleged that security officials abused them to elicit confessions.
The government denied these allegations, but hasn't explained the defendants' wounds displayed in open court.
SAUDI TROOPS IN BAHRAIN: SUNNI RULERS, SHIA SUBJECTS
By William Fisher
Last week, as he accused outside agitators of planning a pro-democracy “Day of Rage” demonstration in Saudi Arabia, Prince Saud al-Faisal told a press conference in Jeddah, “The kingdom does not interfere in the affairs of others and will not allow for anyone to interfere in its own affairs.”
Sunday, an estimated 2,000 Saudi troops rumbled across the 26 km causeway separating the Kingdom of Saud from its neighboring kingdom – Bahrain, ruled by King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah.
The Saudi troops were soon followed by some 500 others from the UAE, the United Arab Emirates.
As the Saudi and UEA troops were transported to an undisclosed location, (Euronews: 0155 PST, March 14, 2011) reported: “In one of the most violent confrontations since troops killed seven protesters last month, police used tear gas and water cannon to break up demonstrations against the kingdom's royal family. Witnesses said rubber bullets were also fired by police.”
In the Euronews video of the Sunday confrontation, a police officer is seen firing a tear gas canister point blank into the chest of a protester.
Why are the Saudi and UAE troops in Bahrain? Were they invited or did they invade? They were almost certainly invited. Bahrain is gripped in its worst unrest since the 1990s. For the past several weeks the Shi'ite majority has held demonstrations to rail against what it terms discrimination by the ruling Sunni minority.
So the official mission of the foreign troops is ostensibly to protect Bahraini government buildings, key military and oil installations, and the financial district of the capital, Manama. The financial district is reportedly occupied by several hundred Bahraini pro-democracy protesters, who have blocked off the streets in and out of the area.
But Bahrain has its own 30,000-strong military and would be capable of taking on these chores without foreign help. So arguably more important mission of the Saudi and UAE troops is symbolic: to help the country’s rulers, who are Sunni Muslims, maintain their grip on power by frightening protesters, largely members of the Shia majority, into participating in negotiations as proposed by the regime.
Bahrain’s rulers have recently laid out six main issues to be discussed in talks. These include establishment of an elected parliament empowered to affect government policy; fairly demarcated electoral constituencies; steps to combat financial and administrative corruption; and moves to limit sectarian polarization.
But the Bahraini Crown Prince revealingly did not mention one of the opposition's primary demands -- the prime minister's resignation. The reform opposition has not wavered in its demand that the Prime Minister, Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, step down.
All reports to date indicate that the Saudis were invited by that very same Prime Minister, one of the hard-liners in the ruling Khalifa family. He is reportedly opposed to any substantive negotiations with the demonstrators.
Moreover, they were invited only hours after the departure from Bahrain of U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, who met with Bahraini leaders and urged genuine political reforms instead of what he called "baby steps," that, he said, would not be successful in diffusing the tense situation.
Dr. Jean-Francios Seznec, a professor at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, writing in “Foreign Policy” yesterday, says the Bahraini invitation is a direct slap in the face to the U.S.
The pro-democracy forces in Bahrain consist of members of the Shia majority plus some of the poorer Sunnis. The majority Shia country is ruled by a Sunni royal family, which controls virtually every aspect of Bahraini life.
The Sunni v. Shia dimension of the struggle over reform has inevitably drawn in Shia Iran, which has characterized the Saudi and UAE forces as having invaded a sovereign nation. They said it was “unacceptable.”
Saudi Arabia's decision to send troops to Bahrain will almost surely have an impact on its relations with the United States. How serious an impact is unclear. Historically close, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have recently been slogging through some diplomatic mud, with Saudi Arabia disapproving of America’s treatment of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. The Kingdom’s advice to President Obama was to support Mubarak even if his forces started to kill demonstrators. Obama chose another road.
At home, Saudi Arabia has so far managed to quell public demonstrations through a strategy of direct grants to Saudi citizens, billions of dollars in new government employment programs, and a massive police presence. The Saudi foreign minister said last week his nation would “cut any finger that crosses into the kingdom.” A major part of the current pro-democracy narrative as conveyed on State TV, radio and in print, is that the demonstrations sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa are being instigated by “outside forces.”
Various Internet sites have called for a Saudi “Day of Rage” on March 11 (which did not happen) and March 20, with nationwide demonstrations. But public protests are banned by the Saudi authorities, and publicly identifying with demands for political reform also remains risky and can lead to harassment or detention.
On February 25 there were peaceful marches in the Shia towns of Safwa and Qatif in the Eastern Province. Residents of al-‘Awwamiyya, an adjacent small Shia town, held a silent vigil the same day calling for the release of the so-called “Forgotten Prisoners,” nine Shia Saudis detained without charge or trial for over 12 years over unproven allegations of their involvement in the 1996 attacks on U.S. military targets in Khobar that killed 19 Americans.
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said from Cairo, “Saudi Arabia should rescind its categorical ban on peaceful demonstrations and release the more than 20 protesters detained on March 3, 2011, in the eastern town of Qatif.”
Saudi Arabia is one of only two countries in the Middle East and North Africa that ban protests as a matter of principle; Oman is the other. Saudi Arabia is not party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protect the right to peaceful assembly, but in 2009 the country acceded to the Arab Charter for Human Rights, which also guarantees this right.
“By banning all protests Saudi rulers are telling their countrymen and women that for all political purposes they are not citizens and have no right to participate in public affairs,” said Whitson. “Saudis have had enough of unaccountable rulers telling them to do as they are told and shut up.”
According to Amnesty International, “In the five years since he ascended the Saudi throne, King Abdullah has loosened the reins stifling Saudi society. But his reforms have been largely symbolic, with few lasting institutional changes.”
The group says that, under King Abdullah, Saudis have become freer to criticize the government or societal norms, but those who cross lines such as questioning the role of religion or singling out princes for criticism face harassment or jail.
It adds that women have become more visible in public and in the workplace. But even an adult woman still requires her male guardian’s written consent to make decisions about marriage, work, education, health care, and travel. Abdullah allowed women to stay in hotels without male guardians, but has left the guardian system as a whole intact.
As for the Saudi military presence in Bahrain, Prof. Seznec of Georgetown puts it this way:
“Any troubles caused by Bahraini Shiites will only provoke further Saudi intervention. Ultimately, the island risks falling under de facto, if not de jure, Saudi control.
“The Saudi intervention, however small, is therefore a major step backward for the region. It represents a major slap in the face to the United States, a defeat for the liberal Shiite and Sunni elements in Bahrain, and ultimately a catastrophe for the entire Khalifa family, both the liberal and conservative wings, who may have just surrendered their power to the giant next door.”
Last week, as he accused outside agitators of planning a pro-democracy “Day of Rage” demonstration in Saudi Arabia, Prince Saud al-Faisal told a press conference in Jeddah, “The kingdom does not interfere in the affairs of others and will not allow for anyone to interfere in its own affairs.”
Sunday, an estimated 2,000 Saudi troops rumbled across the 26 km causeway separating the Kingdom of Saud from its neighboring kingdom – Bahrain, ruled by King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah.
The Saudi troops were soon followed by some 500 others from the UAE, the United Arab Emirates.
As the Saudi and UEA troops were transported to an undisclosed location, (Euronews: 0155 PST, March 14, 2011) reported: “In one of the most violent confrontations since troops killed seven protesters last month, police used tear gas and water cannon to break up demonstrations against the kingdom's royal family. Witnesses said rubber bullets were also fired by police.”
In the Euronews video of the Sunday confrontation, a police officer is seen firing a tear gas canister point blank into the chest of a protester.
Why are the Saudi and UAE troops in Bahrain? Were they invited or did they invade? They were almost certainly invited. Bahrain is gripped in its worst unrest since the 1990s. For the past several weeks the Shi'ite majority has held demonstrations to rail against what it terms discrimination by the ruling Sunni minority.
So the official mission of the foreign troops is ostensibly to protect Bahraini government buildings, key military and oil installations, and the financial district of the capital, Manama. The financial district is reportedly occupied by several hundred Bahraini pro-democracy protesters, who have blocked off the streets in and out of the area.
But Bahrain has its own 30,000-strong military and would be capable of taking on these chores without foreign help. So arguably more important mission of the Saudi and UAE troops is symbolic: to help the country’s rulers, who are Sunni Muslims, maintain their grip on power by frightening protesters, largely members of the Shia majority, into participating in negotiations as proposed by the regime.
Bahrain’s rulers have recently laid out six main issues to be discussed in talks. These include establishment of an elected parliament empowered to affect government policy; fairly demarcated electoral constituencies; steps to combat financial and administrative corruption; and moves to limit sectarian polarization.
But the Bahraini Crown Prince revealingly did not mention one of the opposition's primary demands -- the prime minister's resignation. The reform opposition has not wavered in its demand that the Prime Minister, Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, step down.
All reports to date indicate that the Saudis were invited by that very same Prime Minister, one of the hard-liners in the ruling Khalifa family. He is reportedly opposed to any substantive negotiations with the demonstrators.
Moreover, they were invited only hours after the departure from Bahrain of U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, who met with Bahraini leaders and urged genuine political reforms instead of what he called "baby steps," that, he said, would not be successful in diffusing the tense situation.
Dr. Jean-Francios Seznec, a professor at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, writing in “Foreign Policy” yesterday, says the Bahraini invitation is a direct slap in the face to the U.S.
The pro-democracy forces in Bahrain consist of members of the Shia majority plus some of the poorer Sunnis. The majority Shia country is ruled by a Sunni royal family, which controls virtually every aspect of Bahraini life.
The Sunni v. Shia dimension of the struggle over reform has inevitably drawn in Shia Iran, which has characterized the Saudi and UAE forces as having invaded a sovereign nation. They said it was “unacceptable.”
Saudi Arabia's decision to send troops to Bahrain will almost surely have an impact on its relations with the United States. How serious an impact is unclear. Historically close, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have recently been slogging through some diplomatic mud, with Saudi Arabia disapproving of America’s treatment of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. The Kingdom’s advice to President Obama was to support Mubarak even if his forces started to kill demonstrators. Obama chose another road.
At home, Saudi Arabia has so far managed to quell public demonstrations through a strategy of direct grants to Saudi citizens, billions of dollars in new government employment programs, and a massive police presence. The Saudi foreign minister said last week his nation would “cut any finger that crosses into the kingdom.” A major part of the current pro-democracy narrative as conveyed on State TV, radio and in print, is that the demonstrations sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa are being instigated by “outside forces.”
Various Internet sites have called for a Saudi “Day of Rage” on March 11 (which did not happen) and March 20, with nationwide demonstrations. But public protests are banned by the Saudi authorities, and publicly identifying with demands for political reform also remains risky and can lead to harassment or detention.
On February 25 there were peaceful marches in the Shia towns of Safwa and Qatif in the Eastern Province. Residents of al-‘Awwamiyya, an adjacent small Shia town, held a silent vigil the same day calling for the release of the so-called “Forgotten Prisoners,” nine Shia Saudis detained without charge or trial for over 12 years over unproven allegations of their involvement in the 1996 attacks on U.S. military targets in Khobar that killed 19 Americans.
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said from Cairo, “Saudi Arabia should rescind its categorical ban on peaceful demonstrations and release the more than 20 protesters detained on March 3, 2011, in the eastern town of Qatif.”
Saudi Arabia is one of only two countries in the Middle East and North Africa that ban protests as a matter of principle; Oman is the other. Saudi Arabia is not party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protect the right to peaceful assembly, but in 2009 the country acceded to the Arab Charter for Human Rights, which also guarantees this right.
“By banning all protests Saudi rulers are telling their countrymen and women that for all political purposes they are not citizens and have no right to participate in public affairs,” said Whitson. “Saudis have had enough of unaccountable rulers telling them to do as they are told and shut up.”
According to Amnesty International, “In the five years since he ascended the Saudi throne, King Abdullah has loosened the reins stifling Saudi society. But his reforms have been largely symbolic, with few lasting institutional changes.”
The group says that, under King Abdullah, Saudis have become freer to criticize the government or societal norms, but those who cross lines such as questioning the role of religion or singling out princes for criticism face harassment or jail.
It adds that women have become more visible in public and in the workplace. But even an adult woman still requires her male guardian’s written consent to make decisions about marriage, work, education, health care, and travel. Abdullah allowed women to stay in hotels without male guardians, but has left the guardian system as a whole intact.
As for the Saudi military presence in Bahrain, Prof. Seznec of Georgetown puts it this way:
“Any troubles caused by Bahraini Shiites will only provoke further Saudi intervention. Ultimately, the island risks falling under de facto, if not de jure, Saudi control.
“The Saudi intervention, however small, is therefore a major step backward for the region. It represents a major slap in the face to the United States, a defeat for the liberal Shiite and Sunni elements in Bahrain, and ultimately a catastrophe for the entire Khalifa family, both the liberal and conservative wings, who may have just surrendered their power to the giant next door.”
Egypt: Hated Security Service Dismantled
By William Fisher
Egypt’s State Security Agency – responsible for the unspeakable torture of thousands and the deaths and disappearances of thousands more – has been
dissolved.
Arguably the most hated and feared symbol of the corrupt three-decade rule of strongman Hosni Mubarak, the agency, in the words of one of the leaders of the pro-democracy uprising that ended Mubarak’s rule, "invaded the life of every Egyptian."
The announcement of the agency’s end was made by the country’s new Interior Minister, Maj. Gen. Mansour el-Essawy, and was greeted with cautious glee by pro-democracy forces. Their delight was tempered by questions about what would succeed the security service and whether any of the service’s officials or operatives would be prosecuted.
The Associated Press reported that El-Essawy said the government plans a new agency that will be in charge of maintaining national security and combating terrorism. He said the new agency would operate according to the constitution and laws of the country and would respect human rights.
The end of State Security was one of the leading demands of the pro-democracy movement. After Mubarak stepped down on February 11, Egyptians forced their way into the agency’s Cairo headquarters and other provincial offices and took documents that they say were being shredded or burned to conceal evidence of human rights violations.
Some of those documents have been shown on State TV and posted on Facebook and Twitter. Several members of the pro-democracy movement said they found documents containing information regarding “disappeared” loved ones.
Reformers have complained that several of their group were detained and roughed up by the Army on their way to the Security Services headquarters. While the government has apologized for this behavior, protesters are demanding that these soldiers be held accountable.
Due to the so-called Emergency Law, the state security agency was subject to virtually no legal restraints. It had the power – which it frequently used – to arrest and detain without cause, and to deny detainees access to family or lawyers.
Egypt’s once-powerful and feared interior minister, al-Adly is currently on trial for brutally crushing the peaceful protests that led to Mubarak’s downfall.
Four senior Interior Ministry officials and three security officers have been arrested in connection with the deaths of demonstrators during the January 25th revolution. The former head of Cairo security, and the former head of public security affairs, and two others, are accused of attempted murder and misuse of public funds. Officer Wael Komy is accused of killing 37 protesters, while two other officers are accused of killing tens. The exact numbers have not yet been confirmed.
International and local human rights watchdog groups have traditionally condemned al-Adly, who served as minister for 14 years, for using torture against political opponents in a systematic manner
According to the Associated Press, Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who worked on a Facebook page that rallied hundreds of thousands of Egyptians behind the protests, tweeted, "As much as we are happy that State Security is now dissolved, National Security, the new entity, must be under real judicial supervision."
Meanwhile, Egyptians were preparing to participate in a referendum on Saturday to decide whether to accept or reject the constitutional amendments proposed by the interim military government. The amendments would make it easier to form political parties and enter political campaigns, but many observers think the amendments don’t go nearly far enough, while others believe the country needs a new constitution, not an amended one.
A number of leading players in the pro-democracy movement are urging their followers to stage protests in Tahrir Square after Friday prayers to oppose the referendum and call for a new constitution.
The National Association for Change, the organization founded by Presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei, is urging rejection of the amendments.
In general, groups supporting the referendum and the amendments tend to be those that are best organized, including the Muslim Brotherhood and what is left of Mubarak’s party, the National Democratic Party (NDP). Opposition is coming from the pro-democracy movement.
In what has been described as “a sign of hope” for improved relations between the police and human rights watchdogs, the newly appointed Minister of Interior met with a leading Egyptian human rights activist on Monday.
Bahey al-Din Hassan, director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), said he met with al-Essawy for an hour and described the meeting as “very positive.”
"The minister was clear and sincere in his criticisms for the approach of former minister [Habib al-Adly],” Hassan told the newspaper, Al-Masry Al-Youm.
During the meeting, Hassan suggested that the ministry conduct an internal investigation into abuses alongside criminal investigations that are already taking place.
“I also proposed the establishment of permanent institutional channels for dialogue between human rights organizations and the minister’s office, as well as horizontal communication channels with district security offices in the provinces and police stations that do not involve the minister’s office,” added the CIHRS director.
A human rights activist meeting with the minister of interior is a rare sight in Egypt.
Hassan added that he would soon present a memo to the minister containing CIHRS proposals for security reform and ideas on the institution’s relationship with human rights groups.
With Secretary of State Hillary Clinton now in Egypt and planning to travel to Tunisia later this week, a prominent human rights advocacy group is urging her to “make clear that the United States is committed to ensuring a peaceful transition to democracy in both countries and that the success of these transitions is a high priority for U.S. policy despite other problems in the region and around the world.”
The New York-based Human Rights First (HRF) said, “A peaceful and democratic transition of power in Egypt and Tunisia is far from a foregone conclusion.”
“Secretary Clinton must demonstrate that America plans to remain engaged in these developments despite other events throughout the Middle East and that it is invested in working with the people of Egypt and Tunisia toward a successful transition,” said Human Rights First’s Neil Hicks.
“During this visit, she should pledge America’s willingness to provide economic and diplomatic support toward that end. She should also reach out to independent civil society activists to indicate the United States’ support for their vital role in producing governments that will govern to serve the best interests of the people.”
HRF’s specific recommendations for Secretary Clinton include:
•Reiterate the strong support of the United States government for peaceful, democratic change in both countries and praise the progress that has been made towards that end.
•Commit to providing short-term economic assistance to compensate for the losses suffered during the uprisings.
•Meet with interim authorities, as well as a broad range of opposition political forces. During these meetings, deliver a consistent message to all that the United States will respect the outcome of a peaceful, transparent democratic process and work with any elected government committed to upholding the rule of law, respecting the human rights of all and responding to the needs of the people.
•Meet with independent civil society organizations, especially human rights and democracy promotion organizations, and encourage their role in monitoring the performance of state institutions. Pledge enhanced U.S. support for their work.
•Commit to developing a substantial package of favorable trade agreements, debt forgiveness and other long-term economic support to be negotiated with responsible government officials and private sector representatives.
•Pledge assistance in tracing and repatriating funds unlawfully expropriated by former leaders.
•Urge that transformation takes place in an atmosphere of peace, transparency and respect for the rule of law.
•Support efforts to hold to account those responsible for serious violations of human rights under previous regimes or during the transitional period; recent reports of the involvement of military personnel in detaining peaceful protesters and beating and abusing detainees should be investigated, and those responsible held to account.
Egypt’s State Security Agency – responsible for the unspeakable torture of thousands and the deaths and disappearances of thousands more – has been
dissolved.
Arguably the most hated and feared symbol of the corrupt three-decade rule of strongman Hosni Mubarak, the agency, in the words of one of the leaders of the pro-democracy uprising that ended Mubarak’s rule, "invaded the life of every Egyptian."
The announcement of the agency’s end was made by the country’s new Interior Minister, Maj. Gen. Mansour el-Essawy, and was greeted with cautious glee by pro-democracy forces. Their delight was tempered by questions about what would succeed the security service and whether any of the service’s officials or operatives would be prosecuted.
The Associated Press reported that El-Essawy said the government plans a new agency that will be in charge of maintaining national security and combating terrorism. He said the new agency would operate according to the constitution and laws of the country and would respect human rights.
The end of State Security was one of the leading demands of the pro-democracy movement. After Mubarak stepped down on February 11, Egyptians forced their way into the agency’s Cairo headquarters and other provincial offices and took documents that they say were being shredded or burned to conceal evidence of human rights violations.
Some of those documents have been shown on State TV and posted on Facebook and Twitter. Several members of the pro-democracy movement said they found documents containing information regarding “disappeared” loved ones.
Reformers have complained that several of their group were detained and roughed up by the Army on their way to the Security Services headquarters. While the government has apologized for this behavior, protesters are demanding that these soldiers be held accountable.
Due to the so-called Emergency Law, the state security agency was subject to virtually no legal restraints. It had the power – which it frequently used – to arrest and detain without cause, and to deny detainees access to family or lawyers.
Egypt’s once-powerful and feared interior minister, al-Adly is currently on trial for brutally crushing the peaceful protests that led to Mubarak’s downfall.
Four senior Interior Ministry officials and three security officers have been arrested in connection with the deaths of demonstrators during the January 25th revolution. The former head of Cairo security, and the former head of public security affairs, and two others, are accused of attempted murder and misuse of public funds. Officer Wael Komy is accused of killing 37 protesters, while two other officers are accused of killing tens. The exact numbers have not yet been confirmed.
International and local human rights watchdog groups have traditionally condemned al-Adly, who served as minister for 14 years, for using torture against political opponents in a systematic manner
According to the Associated Press, Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who worked on a Facebook page that rallied hundreds of thousands of Egyptians behind the protests, tweeted, "As much as we are happy that State Security is now dissolved, National Security, the new entity, must be under real judicial supervision."
Meanwhile, Egyptians were preparing to participate in a referendum on Saturday to decide whether to accept or reject the constitutional amendments proposed by the interim military government. The amendments would make it easier to form political parties and enter political campaigns, but many observers think the amendments don’t go nearly far enough, while others believe the country needs a new constitution, not an amended one.
A number of leading players in the pro-democracy movement are urging their followers to stage protests in Tahrir Square after Friday prayers to oppose the referendum and call for a new constitution.
The National Association for Change, the organization founded by Presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei, is urging rejection of the amendments.
In general, groups supporting the referendum and the amendments tend to be those that are best organized, including the Muslim Brotherhood and what is left of Mubarak’s party, the National Democratic Party (NDP). Opposition is coming from the pro-democracy movement.
In what has been described as “a sign of hope” for improved relations between the police and human rights watchdogs, the newly appointed Minister of Interior met with a leading Egyptian human rights activist on Monday.
Bahey al-Din Hassan, director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), said he met with al-Essawy for an hour and described the meeting as “very positive.”
"The minister was clear and sincere in his criticisms for the approach of former minister [Habib al-Adly],” Hassan told the newspaper, Al-Masry Al-Youm.
During the meeting, Hassan suggested that the ministry conduct an internal investigation into abuses alongside criminal investigations that are already taking place.
“I also proposed the establishment of permanent institutional channels for dialogue between human rights organizations and the minister’s office, as well as horizontal communication channels with district security offices in the provinces and police stations that do not involve the minister’s office,” added the CIHRS director.
A human rights activist meeting with the minister of interior is a rare sight in Egypt.
Hassan added that he would soon present a memo to the minister containing CIHRS proposals for security reform and ideas on the institution’s relationship with human rights groups.
With Secretary of State Hillary Clinton now in Egypt and planning to travel to Tunisia later this week, a prominent human rights advocacy group is urging her to “make clear that the United States is committed to ensuring a peaceful transition to democracy in both countries and that the success of these transitions is a high priority for U.S. policy despite other problems in the region and around the world.”
The New York-based Human Rights First (HRF) said, “A peaceful and democratic transition of power in Egypt and Tunisia is far from a foregone conclusion.”
“Secretary Clinton must demonstrate that America plans to remain engaged in these developments despite other events throughout the Middle East and that it is invested in working with the people of Egypt and Tunisia toward a successful transition,” said Human Rights First’s Neil Hicks.
“During this visit, she should pledge America’s willingness to provide economic and diplomatic support toward that end. She should also reach out to independent civil society activists to indicate the United States’ support for their vital role in producing governments that will govern to serve the best interests of the people.”
HRF’s specific recommendations for Secretary Clinton include:
•Reiterate the strong support of the United States government for peaceful, democratic change in both countries and praise the progress that has been made towards that end.
•Commit to providing short-term economic assistance to compensate for the losses suffered during the uprisings.
•Meet with interim authorities, as well as a broad range of opposition political forces. During these meetings, deliver a consistent message to all that the United States will respect the outcome of a peaceful, transparent democratic process and work with any elected government committed to upholding the rule of law, respecting the human rights of all and responding to the needs of the people.
•Meet with independent civil society organizations, especially human rights and democracy promotion organizations, and encourage their role in monitoring the performance of state institutions. Pledge enhanced U.S. support for their work.
•Commit to developing a substantial package of favorable trade agreements, debt forgiveness and other long-term economic support to be negotiated with responsible government officials and private sector representatives.
•Pledge assistance in tracing and repatriating funds unlawfully expropriated by former leaders.
•Urge that transformation takes place in an atmosphere of peace, transparency and respect for the rule of law.
•Support efforts to hold to account those responsible for serious violations of human rights under previous regimes or during the transitional period; recent reports of the involvement of military personnel in detaining peaceful protesters and beating and abusing detainees should be investigated, and those responsible held to account.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Rights Group Reveals Yemen’s “Deadly” End-Run Around Media
By William Fisher
While pro-democracy demonstrations in Yemen’s capital, Santa’s, appear to be peaceful and with little police presence, the Yemeni government is deploying their security services and recruiting gangs of thugs to kill and injure demonstrators in other cities where there is little media attention.
This is the conclusion of Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), one of the world’s preeminent advocacy organizations. As an example, Stork charges that security forces killed at least nine and injured 150 at peaceful protests in Aden.
HRW says Yemeni security forces “repeatedly used excessive, deadly force on largely peaceful protesters.” Security forces “fired weapons that included assault rifles and machine guns at the protesters, killing at least nine and possibly twice that number, and injuring more than 150, some of them children,” Stork charged.
In a 20-page report, “Days of Bloodshed in Aden,” HRW documents attacks on protesters in Aden from February 16 to 25. The group found that police and military forces also chased and shot at protesters trying to flee the assaults. The forces stopped doctors and ambulances trying to reach protest sites, “fired at people who tried to rescue victims, and removed evidence, such as bullet casings, from the shooting scenes,” HRW says.
“Shooting into crowds is no way to respond to peaceful protests,” said Stork, “Governments in the region and beyond should make clear to Yemen that international assistance comes with the condition of respecting human rights.”
HRW says its report is based on more than 50 interviews with injured protesters and witnesses to the killings, relatives of protesters who were killed, doctors, paramedics, and human rights activists. Human Rights Watch also analyzed video and photo materials that witnesses to the protests provided, as well as hospital records and ballistic evidence that protesters collected after the shootings.
Since 2007 the strategic port of Aden has been the center of protests in Yemen’s southern provinces, where inhabitants are seeking increased economic opportunities and political autonomy or secession. The South was a separate republic until it unified with the North in 1990. On February 3 protesters in Aden and other parts of the South joined calls across Yemen for an end to the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
In Aden, security forces have systematically attempted to prevent large protests, although they have allowed them in the capital, Sana'a, since February 22. Nevertheless, groups of several hundred people have protested against President Saleh in various neighborhoods of Aden almost daily since February 15.
Government officials blamed the Southern Movement for the bloodshed. The movement is a loose coalition that has been leading both the protests in the South since 2007 and the more recent demonstrations in Aden against Saleh.
Human Rights Watch found in Aden that security and intelligence forces, including members of Central Security, the general police, the army, and the National Security Bureau, routinely used lethal force that was clearly excessive in relation to the danger presented by the protesters.
In all cases Human Rights Watch documented, security forces used teargas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition, including from assault rifles and machine guns.
HRW says, “Numerous witnesses described the protesters as unarmed and stated in most cases that the protesters presented no threat to others or to surrounding property. Some of the protests were entirely peaceful. During others, protesters threw stones as security forces tried to disperse them.”
The majority of victims were young men and boys. HRW documented the killings of three boys -- two 17-year-olds and one 16-year-old. Many of the injured were children as well. Human Rights Watch also documented several cases in which security forces killed or wounded bystanders. One man was hit and killed by a bullet as he observed the protests through the window of his home, HRW claims.
HRW charges that security forces “quickly removed bullet casings from the streets, and authorities forced families to bury the bodies of those killed immediately, in an apparent attempt to suppress evidence and to prevent massive public funeral processions. In at least one case, the authorities forged a forensic report of a person killed in a protest.”
The exact number of those killed and injured during the attacks in Aden remains unknown. Authorities did not release information on casualties and prevented independent observers from reaching government hospitals. Many of those who were injured did not go to the government hospitals after learning that security forces were entering them and arresting injured protesters, and the capacity of private hospitals was overstretched.
Yemeni security forces detained dozens of peaceful protesters and Southern Movement activists in Aden during the same period, Human Rights Watch found. Some detainees were released, but Human Rights Watch documented at least eight cases in which Southern Movement and activists “disappeared” after being detained.
Human Rights Watch documented the same patterns of use of excessive force by Yemeni security forces against southern protesters in its 2009 report “In the Name of Unity.”
“The recent killings and injuries are the latest chapter in President Saleh’s brutal attempts to stifle legitimate dissent in Aden and surrounding areas,” Stork said. “Instead of forging unity, these unlawful attacks risk driving a further wedge between the government and the people of the South.”
HRW also claimed to have “credible allegations that thousands of peaceful protesters faced live fire by Yemen's military outside Harf Sufyan and that two unarmed civilians paid with their lives.”
“Simply dismissing these reports as Huthi rebel propaganda is not good enough, and authorities should immediately investigate what happened there on March 4,” said HRW’s Stork.
The Yemeni authorities should immediately investigate the apparent killing of two protesters by soldiers during a peaceful protest on March 4, 2011, near the town of Harf Sufyan, HRW said.
Three protesters told HRW that soldiers at a military post shot and killed the men as thousands of anti-government protesters marched toward the
town.
Yemen's Defense Ministry claimed that no march took place and that rebels from northern Yemen known as Huthis attacked the military post and wounded four soldiers.
Over the past seven years, the Huthis - a Zaidi Shia revivalist
movement - have battled the military. The Huthis have strong support among the population in the town of Harf Sufyan and the surrounding district of the same name.
“The world is watching largely peaceful protests in Sana'a, but Yemeni officials are at best standing by or at worst helping gangs assault demonstrators in places far from the public eye,” said HRW’s Stork.
“Governments in the region and beyond claiming to support democratic reform and accountability should urge President Saleh to halt these thuggish attacks now,” Stock said.
On February 23 Saleh promised that security forces would allow peaceful demonstrations and thwart any attacks on protestors. Since then, protests in the capital have been largely peaceful and generally open to journalists.
“Two days after Saleh’s promise, there is more bloodshed,” said Stork. “Other countries, including The United States, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia, need to press Yemen to stop these senseless and illegal attacks,” he added.
In Washington, Obama administration officials, faced with an abundance of worries about the stability and future of U.S. relations with the nations of the Middle East, are most worried about the fate of President Saleh, because his support has been critical in U.S. efforts to combat al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. That fight has taken on new urgency as Yemen has been revealed as an al Qaeda base for attacks on the U.S.
Yemen reportedly trained and equipped the so-called “underwear bomber” – a Nigerian who hid explosives in his underwear and attempted to ignite them while a passenger on a U.S. airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. In another attempt, it is believed that Yemen was the source of explosives in courier packages bound for Jewish centers in the U.S.
In addition, the American-born firebrand imam, Anwar al-Awlaki, is believed to be hiding somewhere in Yemen while he recruits volunteers for al Qaeda.
The Obama administration’s response to the pro-democracy movement in Yemen has been to urge Saleh to make democratic changes. Saleh has said recently that he would not run for reelection in 2013. A former military officer, he has served as president since 1990. He has promised not to run for reelection in the past.
But many international observers doubt Saleh’s sincerity regarding reforms. Just last week he pledged to devolve power and urged the opposition to support the plan. His offer of an “open and transparent process that addresses the legitimate concerns of the Yemeni people” was seen as a major concession.
But the opposition viewed Saleh’s pledge to devolve power to parliament as too late, and rejected it.
Yemen is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the Arab World, with a formal 65% employment rate, dwindling natural resources, a young population and increasing population growth. Yemen has very small oil reserves. Its economy depends heavily on the oil it produces, and its government receives the vast majority of its revenue from oil taxes. But Yemen's oil reserves are expected to be depleted by 2017, possibly bringing on economic collapse.
Rampant corruption is a prime obstacle to development in the country, limiting local reinvestments and driving away regional and international capital. The government has recently taken some measures to stamp out corruption, but efforts have been only partly successful. Foreign investments remain largely concentrated around the nation's hydrocarbon industry.
Beginning in the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union and China provided large-scale assistance. For example, China is involved with the expansion of the Sana'a International Airport. In the south, pre-independence economic activity was overwhelmingly concentrated in the port city of Aden. The seaborne transit trade, which the port relied upon, collapsed with the closure of the Suez Canal and Britain's withdrawal from Aden in 1967.
Steve Clemons, editor of The Washington Note, says, “Despite the Obama administration's strange non-denial denial regarding military activities inside Yemen in which passions are running strongly inside Yemen against the US, the US is working with the Yemeni government in trying to identify and attack al Qaeda operations. Some are arguing that a quid pro quo is developing in which the administration is now engaged in a covert war against Houthi rebels, which the US has refused to identify as a terrorist group, in partial exchange for more kinetic action from the Yemen government against al Qaeda operations.”
Clemons adds, “The Obama administration has to step back at some point and ask itself what the dangers and downsides are of an ever-widening military span of operations. Some neocons in addition to Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) are now pointing to Yemen as ‘threat next’ and agitating for a much more aggressive American presence there.
Lieberman and others of like mind have not yet explained what a more aggressive U.S. presence in Yemen would look like and how it would square with the current wave of enthusiasm for representative governments and more self-determination throughout the MENA region.
While pro-democracy demonstrations in Yemen’s capital, Santa’s, appear to be peaceful and with little police presence, the Yemeni government is deploying their security services and recruiting gangs of thugs to kill and injure demonstrators in other cities where there is little media attention.
This is the conclusion of Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), one of the world’s preeminent advocacy organizations. As an example, Stork charges that security forces killed at least nine and injured 150 at peaceful protests in Aden.
HRW says Yemeni security forces “repeatedly used excessive, deadly force on largely peaceful protesters.” Security forces “fired weapons that included assault rifles and machine guns at the protesters, killing at least nine and possibly twice that number, and injuring more than 150, some of them children,” Stork charged.
In a 20-page report, “Days of Bloodshed in Aden,” HRW documents attacks on protesters in Aden from February 16 to 25. The group found that police and military forces also chased and shot at protesters trying to flee the assaults. The forces stopped doctors and ambulances trying to reach protest sites, “fired at people who tried to rescue victims, and removed evidence, such as bullet casings, from the shooting scenes,” HRW says.
“Shooting into crowds is no way to respond to peaceful protests,” said Stork, “Governments in the region and beyond should make clear to Yemen that international assistance comes with the condition of respecting human rights.”
HRW says its report is based on more than 50 interviews with injured protesters and witnesses to the killings, relatives of protesters who were killed, doctors, paramedics, and human rights activists. Human Rights Watch also analyzed video and photo materials that witnesses to the protests provided, as well as hospital records and ballistic evidence that protesters collected after the shootings.
Since 2007 the strategic port of Aden has been the center of protests in Yemen’s southern provinces, where inhabitants are seeking increased economic opportunities and political autonomy or secession. The South was a separate republic until it unified with the North in 1990. On February 3 protesters in Aden and other parts of the South joined calls across Yemen for an end to the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
In Aden, security forces have systematically attempted to prevent large protests, although they have allowed them in the capital, Sana'a, since February 22. Nevertheless, groups of several hundred people have protested against President Saleh in various neighborhoods of Aden almost daily since February 15.
Government officials blamed the Southern Movement for the bloodshed. The movement is a loose coalition that has been leading both the protests in the South since 2007 and the more recent demonstrations in Aden against Saleh.
Human Rights Watch found in Aden that security and intelligence forces, including members of Central Security, the general police, the army, and the National Security Bureau, routinely used lethal force that was clearly excessive in relation to the danger presented by the protesters.
In all cases Human Rights Watch documented, security forces used teargas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition, including from assault rifles and machine guns.
HRW says, “Numerous witnesses described the protesters as unarmed and stated in most cases that the protesters presented no threat to others or to surrounding property. Some of the protests were entirely peaceful. During others, protesters threw stones as security forces tried to disperse them.”
The majority of victims were young men and boys. HRW documented the killings of three boys -- two 17-year-olds and one 16-year-old. Many of the injured were children as well. Human Rights Watch also documented several cases in which security forces killed or wounded bystanders. One man was hit and killed by a bullet as he observed the protests through the window of his home, HRW claims.
HRW charges that security forces “quickly removed bullet casings from the streets, and authorities forced families to bury the bodies of those killed immediately, in an apparent attempt to suppress evidence and to prevent massive public funeral processions. In at least one case, the authorities forged a forensic report of a person killed in a protest.”
The exact number of those killed and injured during the attacks in Aden remains unknown. Authorities did not release information on casualties and prevented independent observers from reaching government hospitals. Many of those who were injured did not go to the government hospitals after learning that security forces were entering them and arresting injured protesters, and the capacity of private hospitals was overstretched.
Yemeni security forces detained dozens of peaceful protesters and Southern Movement activists in Aden during the same period, Human Rights Watch found. Some detainees were released, but Human Rights Watch documented at least eight cases in which Southern Movement and activists “disappeared” after being detained.
Human Rights Watch documented the same patterns of use of excessive force by Yemeni security forces against southern protesters in its 2009 report “In the Name of Unity.”
“The recent killings and injuries are the latest chapter in President Saleh’s brutal attempts to stifle legitimate dissent in Aden and surrounding areas,” Stork said. “Instead of forging unity, these unlawful attacks risk driving a further wedge between the government and the people of the South.”
HRW also claimed to have “credible allegations that thousands of peaceful protesters faced live fire by Yemen's military outside Harf Sufyan and that two unarmed civilians paid with their lives.”
“Simply dismissing these reports as Huthi rebel propaganda is not good enough, and authorities should immediately investigate what happened there on March 4,” said HRW’s Stork.
The Yemeni authorities should immediately investigate the apparent killing of two protesters by soldiers during a peaceful protest on March 4, 2011, near the town of Harf Sufyan, HRW said.
Three protesters told HRW that soldiers at a military post shot and killed the men as thousands of anti-government protesters marched toward the
town.
Yemen's Defense Ministry claimed that no march took place and that rebels from northern Yemen known as Huthis attacked the military post and wounded four soldiers.
Over the past seven years, the Huthis - a Zaidi Shia revivalist
movement - have battled the military. The Huthis have strong support among the population in the town of Harf Sufyan and the surrounding district of the same name.
“The world is watching largely peaceful protests in Sana'a, but Yemeni officials are at best standing by or at worst helping gangs assault demonstrators in places far from the public eye,” said HRW’s Stork.
“Governments in the region and beyond claiming to support democratic reform and accountability should urge President Saleh to halt these thuggish attacks now,” Stock said.
On February 23 Saleh promised that security forces would allow peaceful demonstrations and thwart any attacks on protestors. Since then, protests in the capital have been largely peaceful and generally open to journalists.
“Two days after Saleh’s promise, there is more bloodshed,” said Stork. “Other countries, including The United States, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia, need to press Yemen to stop these senseless and illegal attacks,” he added.
In Washington, Obama administration officials, faced with an abundance of worries about the stability and future of U.S. relations with the nations of the Middle East, are most worried about the fate of President Saleh, because his support has been critical in U.S. efforts to combat al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. That fight has taken on new urgency as Yemen has been revealed as an al Qaeda base for attacks on the U.S.
Yemen reportedly trained and equipped the so-called “underwear bomber” – a Nigerian who hid explosives in his underwear and attempted to ignite them while a passenger on a U.S. airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. In another attempt, it is believed that Yemen was the source of explosives in courier packages bound for Jewish centers in the U.S.
In addition, the American-born firebrand imam, Anwar al-Awlaki, is believed to be hiding somewhere in Yemen while he recruits volunteers for al Qaeda.
The Obama administration’s response to the pro-democracy movement in Yemen has been to urge Saleh to make democratic changes. Saleh has said recently that he would not run for reelection in 2013. A former military officer, he has served as president since 1990. He has promised not to run for reelection in the past.
But many international observers doubt Saleh’s sincerity regarding reforms. Just last week he pledged to devolve power and urged the opposition to support the plan. His offer of an “open and transparent process that addresses the legitimate concerns of the Yemeni people” was seen as a major concession.
But the opposition viewed Saleh’s pledge to devolve power to parliament as too late, and rejected it.
Yemen is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the Arab World, with a formal 65% employment rate, dwindling natural resources, a young population and increasing population growth. Yemen has very small oil reserves. Its economy depends heavily on the oil it produces, and its government receives the vast majority of its revenue from oil taxes. But Yemen's oil reserves are expected to be depleted by 2017, possibly bringing on economic collapse.
Rampant corruption is a prime obstacle to development in the country, limiting local reinvestments and driving away regional and international capital. The government has recently taken some measures to stamp out corruption, but efforts have been only partly successful. Foreign investments remain largely concentrated around the nation's hydrocarbon industry.
Beginning in the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union and China provided large-scale assistance. For example, China is involved with the expansion of the Sana'a International Airport. In the south, pre-independence economic activity was overwhelmingly concentrated in the port city of Aden. The seaborne transit trade, which the port relied upon, collapsed with the closure of the Suez Canal and Britain's withdrawal from Aden in 1967.
Steve Clemons, editor of The Washington Note, says, “Despite the Obama administration's strange non-denial denial regarding military activities inside Yemen in which passions are running strongly inside Yemen against the US, the US is working with the Yemeni government in trying to identify and attack al Qaeda operations. Some are arguing that a quid pro quo is developing in which the administration is now engaged in a covert war against Houthi rebels, which the US has refused to identify as a terrorist group, in partial exchange for more kinetic action from the Yemen government against al Qaeda operations.”
Clemons adds, “The Obama administration has to step back at some point and ask itself what the dangers and downsides are of an ever-widening military span of operations. Some neocons in addition to Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) are now pointing to Yemen as ‘threat next’ and agitating for a much more aggressive American presence there.
Lieberman and others of like mind have not yet explained what a more aggressive U.S. presence in Yemen would look like and how it would square with the current wave of enthusiasm for representative governments and more self-determination throughout the MENA region.
ElBaradei Breaks His "Silence" ; Will Seek Egyptian Presidency
By William Fisher
The former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, will be a candidate for president of Egypt, provided that a viable democratic system in is place.
The Egyptian-born international diplomat made his declaration during a televised interview. He characterized as “superficial” the new constitutional amendments prepared by the committee appointed by the army and later presented to leaders of the uprising. Others in the so-called Tahrir Square group have also expressed serious misgivings about the robustness of the amendments.
ElBaradei has met some grassroots criticism for not being present in Egypt during the entire period of the uprising. He was in Cairo long before the pro-democracy movement began to flower and has returned several times during the upheavals. It is reported that some leaders of the pro-democracy forces are not convinced that he understands their vision of a new Egypt.
But he is arguably the most attractive of the would-be candidates, some observers say, because is known to and respected by the international community. Other candidates mentioned include Ayman Noor, who opposed Mubarak in the 2005 election and was then imprisoned; and Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League. But Moussa is seen by some as having for too long done the bidding of the very governments the pro-democracy movement would dump.
ElBaradei urged Egypt's military rulers to discard the amendments or delay a scheduled March 19 popular referendum on them to allow time for a completely new constitution to be drawn up.
ElBaradei objection to the amendments is that they do not adequately limit the powers of the president or give enough time for political parties to form.
Without he formation of political parties, a try multiparty election is not possible. Moreover, the advantage in such an election would go to the best organized of the current parties, The Muslim Brotherhood and what is left of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP).
He added, "The current constitution fell. It would be an insult to the revolution if we decided to retrieve this constitution. I call for a new constitution, a presidential vote and then parliamentary vote."
ElBaradei’s comments on the constitution are emblematic of what the Arab Reform Bulletin of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is calling “a sharp divide” that has emerged among legal experts and opposition groups as to whether the proposed amendments to the constitution will be enough to allow elections to take place.
The Bulletin says, “One side argues that the amendments must be implemented so that elections can be held on schedule, while the other insists that a new constitution must be drafted and elections postponed. Opponents to the amendments argue that there is an absence of basic security and order in Egypt (as is demonstrated by the continued presence of thugs attacking protesters and sectarian strife causing injuries and deaths), and therefore elections cannot be held. Others have called for postponing the referendum in order to foster national dialogue on the matter.”
It adds, “Some are worried that if the amendments fail to be ratified, it will send a signal that the population prefers the current constitution. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has created a committee to monitor opposition to the amendments.
The Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs suggested developing a new constitution within 30 days by creating an assembly of 50 to 100 constitutional law scholars and leaders of political parties. Egypt's first female judge, Tahani al-Gebali, has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of the amendments.
Other commentators are taking a similar line. Hossam Issa, a law professor, said, "If the amendments are passed, the situation will become very sad because we will be reproducing Mubarak's regime. We want a new Constitution. These partial amendments are being introduced to a Constitution that has already become nil. The Constitution fell the same day power was handed over to the armed forces."
Said Yasser Al Qadi, Chairman of the Information and Technology Industry Development Agency, says, "The main objective is to increase the base of participation in a fair and transparent, effective democracy, and the final outcome of the dialogue will be access to more tools and applications, safer and more accurate technology, the option of electronic voting, and a study on how to provide Egyptians with the ability to vote"
And Cairene Mohamad Z. Gomaa, a respected international consultant, feels that, “People are looking to a whole new constitution that expresses their aspirations, while the Army only asked for changes of some articles. This is a main and significant difference, of course. People are afraid that restriction to few changes may make old constitution continue, at the end of the day.”
Gomaa told The Public Record, “I was tending to agree with the constitutional changes. However, after a more deep analysis them of these proposed changes and their consequences, in the light of the new strong requests and army preliminary agreement trends of changing the order of the process, to start with the election of the president then the parliament, I decided to say no on March 19th, refusing the constitutional changes.”
He explained: “This change was mainly due to the exceptional excessive presidential power through the articles still left in the constitution. With such powers, the new elected president may rule at least one year and a half until a new constitution is agreed upon and that depends on whether the elected president considers that necessary. Imagine how such extra power can spoil even any moral angle transferring him to a pharaoh. The fears are real with one of the constitutional changes saying that the president has the right to ask for changing one or more of the constitution’s articles (the new one, in this case!). It is definitely unsafe way to go ahead and defies the true meaning of democracy. There are large arguments and requests against the changes and the 19th referendum that may change the situation, I hope.“
ElBaradei also said he would work to improve relations between Egypt and Iran.
According to the Arab Reform Bulletin, he stressed that his first focus as president would be to reform the education system, involving as many experts as possible. On the issue of Israel, ElBaradei said that the current peace process is a farce, but that a Palestinian state cannot be created through war.
In other developments, Coptic sit-ins have continued following outbreaks of sectarian violence. For the sixth day, Coptic Christians have protested against the burning of a Helwan church and the ensuing sectarian violence that occurred. The protesters insist on continuing their protests until all their demands are met. These include the arrest of those behind the torching of the church, the immediate construction of a new church in the same site, and dismissing the governor of Helwan who the protesters see as responsible for the incident.
Many Muslims have joined the sit-in in Cairo to show solidarity with the Coptic demands, and a large demonstration is being organized tomorrow for the same purpose. The Coptic Church is also expected to send a group of representatives to the sit-in to convince the protesters to give the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces a chance to contain the situation. Thousands of Copts attended the funeral in Cairo for the victims of the sectarian violence.
Sectarian violence has been condemned by Dr. Mohammed Badie, the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood. He has called on all Egyptians to safeguard state institutions, adhere to the law and present demands in a peaceful manner. The statement accused the National Democratic Party (NDP) and the state security apparatus of igniting the clashes in order to foster chaos and instability in a delicate environment.
The new Prime Minister, Essam Sharaf, has begun to expedite deployment of uniformed police to return to Cairo streets for the first time since police withdrew from the streets on January 28th.
Uniformed police officers have returned to Tahrir Square in an attempt to restore order to a largely unstable Egypt. The military has maintained a presence in the square, and has broken up the long-term sit-in in the square, however military statements have called for the return of civilian law enforcement to replace the military security forces.
Sharaf accelerated the return of police officers to all posts, and hopes that they will be able to fully carry out their duties without incident. A demonstration was planned for Friday in Tahrir Square to call for national unity in the wake of sectarian violence and to demand state security be abolished.
The former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, will be a candidate for president of Egypt, provided that a viable democratic system in is place.
The Egyptian-born international diplomat made his declaration during a televised interview. He characterized as “superficial” the new constitutional amendments prepared by the committee appointed by the army and later presented to leaders of the uprising. Others in the so-called Tahrir Square group have also expressed serious misgivings about the robustness of the amendments.
ElBaradei has met some grassroots criticism for not being present in Egypt during the entire period of the uprising. He was in Cairo long before the pro-democracy movement began to flower and has returned several times during the upheavals. It is reported that some leaders of the pro-democracy forces are not convinced that he understands their vision of a new Egypt.
But he is arguably the most attractive of the would-be candidates, some observers say, because is known to and respected by the international community. Other candidates mentioned include Ayman Noor, who opposed Mubarak in the 2005 election and was then imprisoned; and Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League. But Moussa is seen by some as having for too long done the bidding of the very governments the pro-democracy movement would dump.
ElBaradei urged Egypt's military rulers to discard the amendments or delay a scheduled March 19 popular referendum on them to allow time for a completely new constitution to be drawn up.
ElBaradei objection to the amendments is that they do not adequately limit the powers of the president or give enough time for political parties to form.
Without he formation of political parties, a try multiparty election is not possible. Moreover, the advantage in such an election would go to the best organized of the current parties, The Muslim Brotherhood and what is left of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP).
He added, "The current constitution fell. It would be an insult to the revolution if we decided to retrieve this constitution. I call for a new constitution, a presidential vote and then parliamentary vote."
ElBaradei’s comments on the constitution are emblematic of what the Arab Reform Bulletin of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is calling “a sharp divide” that has emerged among legal experts and opposition groups as to whether the proposed amendments to the constitution will be enough to allow elections to take place.
The Bulletin says, “One side argues that the amendments must be implemented so that elections can be held on schedule, while the other insists that a new constitution must be drafted and elections postponed. Opponents to the amendments argue that there is an absence of basic security and order in Egypt (as is demonstrated by the continued presence of thugs attacking protesters and sectarian strife causing injuries and deaths), and therefore elections cannot be held. Others have called for postponing the referendum in order to foster national dialogue on the matter.”
It adds, “Some are worried that if the amendments fail to be ratified, it will send a signal that the population prefers the current constitution. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has created a committee to monitor opposition to the amendments.
The Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs suggested developing a new constitution within 30 days by creating an assembly of 50 to 100 constitutional law scholars and leaders of political parties. Egypt's first female judge, Tahani al-Gebali, has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of the amendments.
Other commentators are taking a similar line. Hossam Issa, a law professor, said, "If the amendments are passed, the situation will become very sad because we will be reproducing Mubarak's regime. We want a new Constitution. These partial amendments are being introduced to a Constitution that has already become nil. The Constitution fell the same day power was handed over to the armed forces."
Said Yasser Al Qadi, Chairman of the Information and Technology Industry Development Agency, says, "The main objective is to increase the base of participation in a fair and transparent, effective democracy, and the final outcome of the dialogue will be access to more tools and applications, safer and more accurate technology, the option of electronic voting, and a study on how to provide Egyptians with the ability to vote"
And Cairene Mohamad Z. Gomaa, a respected international consultant, feels that, “People are looking to a whole new constitution that expresses their aspirations, while the Army only asked for changes of some articles. This is a main and significant difference, of course. People are afraid that restriction to few changes may make old constitution continue, at the end of the day.”
Gomaa told The Public Record, “I was tending to agree with the constitutional changes. However, after a more deep analysis them of these proposed changes and their consequences, in the light of the new strong requests and army preliminary agreement trends of changing the order of the process, to start with the election of the president then the parliament, I decided to say no on March 19th, refusing the constitutional changes.”
He explained: “This change was mainly due to the exceptional excessive presidential power through the articles still left in the constitution. With such powers, the new elected president may rule at least one year and a half until a new constitution is agreed upon and that depends on whether the elected president considers that necessary. Imagine how such extra power can spoil even any moral angle transferring him to a pharaoh. The fears are real with one of the constitutional changes saying that the president has the right to ask for changing one or more of the constitution’s articles (the new one, in this case!). It is definitely unsafe way to go ahead and defies the true meaning of democracy. There are large arguments and requests against the changes and the 19th referendum that may change the situation, I hope.“
ElBaradei also said he would work to improve relations between Egypt and Iran.
According to the Arab Reform Bulletin, he stressed that his first focus as president would be to reform the education system, involving as many experts as possible. On the issue of Israel, ElBaradei said that the current peace process is a farce, but that a Palestinian state cannot be created through war.
In other developments, Coptic sit-ins have continued following outbreaks of sectarian violence. For the sixth day, Coptic Christians have protested against the burning of a Helwan church and the ensuing sectarian violence that occurred. The protesters insist on continuing their protests until all their demands are met. These include the arrest of those behind the torching of the church, the immediate construction of a new church in the same site, and dismissing the governor of Helwan who the protesters see as responsible for the incident.
Many Muslims have joined the sit-in in Cairo to show solidarity with the Coptic demands, and a large demonstration is being organized tomorrow for the same purpose. The Coptic Church is also expected to send a group of representatives to the sit-in to convince the protesters to give the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces a chance to contain the situation. Thousands of Copts attended the funeral in Cairo for the victims of the sectarian violence.
Sectarian violence has been condemned by Dr. Mohammed Badie, the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood. He has called on all Egyptians to safeguard state institutions, adhere to the law and present demands in a peaceful manner. The statement accused the National Democratic Party (NDP) and the state security apparatus of igniting the clashes in order to foster chaos and instability in a delicate environment.
The new Prime Minister, Essam Sharaf, has begun to expedite deployment of uniformed police to return to Cairo streets for the first time since police withdrew from the streets on January 28th.
Uniformed police officers have returned to Tahrir Square in an attempt to restore order to a largely unstable Egypt. The military has maintained a presence in the square, and has broken up the long-term sit-in in the square, however military statements have called for the return of civilian law enforcement to replace the military security forces.
Sharaf accelerated the return of police officers to all posts, and hopes that they will be able to fully carry out their duties without incident. A demonstration was planned for Friday in Tahrir Square to call for national unity in the wake of sectarian violence and to demand state security be abolished.
Saudi Arabia Puts Down Demos
By William Fisher
Resisting pressure from human rights advocates, the Government of Saudi Arabia readied itself to apply maximum force to quell pro-democracy demonstrations.
Reports are that Saudi authorities conscripted some 10,000 police to be ready to apply whatever force is necessary should the previously announced “Day of Rage” actually materialize following Friday prayers.
But it appears that if there were any major demonstrations in Saudi Arabia today, they remain among the Kingdom’s best-kept secrets.
It is now well past prayer time on Friday afternoon in Saudi Arabia. As we write this, there have been no reports of demonstrations in any of the Kingdom’s major cities. But Saudi activists are reported to have set up online groups calling for protests in Riyadh today, Saturday.
In Qatif, a small city in the Eastern part of the country – near Shia-dominated Bahrain – AlJazeera television showed a group of protesters attempting to gather on a street, only to come under fire from police. It was unclear whether the police were aiming at the demonstrators or firing into the air, and whether they were using live ammunition or rubber bullets. Witnesses said three protesters and one police officer were wounded. The eastern part of Saudi Arabia is home to a large number of Shia.
Hundreds of police were visible on the streets of Riyadh, the Saudi capital, today. They closed roads to motor traffic and established checkpoints. As people gathered for Friday prayers, police searched people and cars. Witnesses said a helicopter flew over the city as groups of policemen manned street corners and intersections.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, and many other international rights groups have called on the Saudi Arabian authorities to reverse the ban on peaceful protest in the Kingdom, amid fears of a violent crackdown on mass demonstrations.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has said that dialogue -- not protests -- is the way to bring reform and warned that the oil-rich nation will take strong action if activists take to the streets.
Inspired by a wave of uprisings in the Arab world, activists from Saudi Arabia's Shiite Muslim minority have called for a "Day of Rage" on Friday to demand the regime's removal. The government accuses Shiites from outside the country of spurring the protests.
"The kingdom does not interfere in the affairs of others and will not allow for anyone to interfere in its own affairs," Prince Saud al-Faisal said today at a press conference in Saudi Arabia's port of Jeddah. Using a figure of speech, he said his regime would "cut off any finger" raised against the regime.
"Reform cannot be achieved through protests ... The best way to achieve demands is through national dialogue," he said. The protest ban, confirmed on Saturday, was backed by religious and security bodies.
"Instead of banning peaceful protests the Saudi Arabian authorities should
address the need for major human rights reform in the country," said Philip
Luther, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program.
“They must heed the growing calls for change within Saudi Arabia”.
Saudi Arabia's "Day of Rage" was organized online using Facebook. One page has over 33,000 followers.
The ban was also backed by the president of the Mutawa'een (religious police), the Council of Senior Ulema (religious clerics) and the Shura Council (a consultative body appointed by the King).
“Reports that the Saudi authorities plan to deploy troops to police upcoming
demonstrations are very worrying,” said Philip Luther. “Rather than seeking to intimidate would-be demonstrators from coming out on the streets, the authorities should rein in the security forces and allow peaceful protests to take place.”
The Ministry of Interior was reported to have said in 2008 that protests in
Saudi Arabia were banned, after a demonstration against Israel's military action in Gaza.
Although Amnesty International is not aware of any legal text banning
demonstrations, in practice the Saudi Arabian authorities have not allowed them to take place.
Amnesty International has also called on the authorities to release or charge a man detained on Friday 4 March during a protest in the capital Riyadh.
Muhammad al-Wad'ani has been detained incommunicado since his arrest and is believed to be at risk of torture.
A video posted on YouTube two days before the demonstration showed Muhammad al-Wad'ani calling for the fall of the monarchy and for people to join the protest.
Around 24 people were detained on 3 and 4 March following protests in the city of al-Qatif, denouncing the prolonged detention without trial of Shi'a prisoners. They were released on 8 March without charge reportedly only after they signed a pledge not to protest again.
Torture and other ill-treatment is frequently used to extract confessions from
detainees, to punish them for refusing to “repent” or to force them not to
criticize the government. Incommunicado detention in Saudi Arabia often lasts until a confession is obtained, which can take months and occasionally years.
Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the country’s foreign minister, said on Wednesday that "reform cannot be achieved through protests", while the protest ban, confirmed on Saturday, was backed by religious and security bodies.
The ban was also backed by the president of the Mutawa'een (religious police), the Council of Senior Ulema (religious clerics) and the Shura Council (a consultative body appointed by the King).
“Reports that the Saudi authorities plan to deploy troops to police upcoming
demonstrations are very worrying,” said Philip Luther. “Rather than seeking to intimidate would-be demonstrators from coming out on the streets, the
authorities should rein in the security forces and allow peaceful protests to
take place.”
Amnesty International also called on Saudi authorities to release or charge a man detained on Friday March 4 during a protest in the capital Riyadh.
Muhammad al-Wad'ani has been detained incommunicado since his arrest and is believed to be at risk of torture. A video posted on YouTube two days before the demonstration showed Muhammad al-Wad'ani calling for the fall of the monarchy and for people to join the protest.
Around 24 people were detained on 3 and 4 March following protests in the city of al-Qatif, denouncing the prolonged detention without trial of Shi'a prisoners. They were released on 8 March without charge reportedly only after they signed a pledge not to protest again.
The Ministry of Interior was reported to have said in 2008 that protests in
Saudi Arabia were banned, after a demonstration against Israel's military action in Gaza.
Although Amnesty International is not aware of any legal text banning
demonstrations, in practice the Saudi Arabian authorities have not allowed them to take place.
Torture and other ill-treatment is frequently used to extract confessions from
detainees, to punish them for refusing to “repent” or to force them not to
criticize the government.
Incommunicado detention in Saudi Arabia often lasts until a confession is
obtained, which can take months and occasionally years.
Human Rights Watch called on Saudi authorities to immediately release another demonstrator, a Shia cleric apparently arrested on February 27, 2011, for calling for a constitutional monarchy and equal rights for Shia.
The domestic intelligence agency, the General Directorate for Investigations, summoned Shaikh Tawfiq al-‘Amir to Hofuf in the al-Ahsa district of the Eastern Province and then arrested him, according to family members. No official reason was given for his arrest.
"The Saudi government should listen to the demands of its citizens, not seek to stifle them," said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Calling for equal rights for an oppressed religious minority should not be a reason for harassment and arrest."
The arrest comes amid mounting pressure for political reform in Saudi Arabia as pro-democracy demonstrations sweep through the Middle East. A total of close to 2,000 Saudis have put their names to three separate petitions calling for a constitutional monarchy. The government so far has not arrested any of those who signed the petitions, which were made public last week.
However, the authorities have reportedly blocked access within the kingdom to the website http://www.dawlaty.com/ ("My Nation"), where one of the petitions appeared.
On February 16 the authorities arrested a group of people who had announced their intention to found the country's first political party, the Islamic Nation Party (Hizb al-Umma al-Islami).
One petition, the so-called "youth" petition, signed by more than 40 people and initiated by young journalists, was made public on the day of King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz's return to Saudi Arabia on February 23, following a three-month absence for medical treatment. The petition called for an elected parliament, a separation of powers, a review of the Basic Law, and a basic administrative law, among other demands.
A second petition, "Toward a State of Rights and Institutions, " calls for an elected parliament with full legislative powers, a separation of the offices of king and prime minister, and the release of political prisoners, among other demands. Over 1,550 people have signed it, including some high-profile Islamist clerics who had vehemently opposed King Abdullah's promotion of women in the public sphere.
The third and latest petition, released on February 26 under the title, "National Declaration for Reform," was signed by more than 330 people, including leading liberal reformers, and includes the most detailed reform program. It calls for elections to decision-making bodies on the local, provincial, and national levels, as well as a review of the Basic Law to include rights protections, true separation of powers, and the release of political prisoners, among other demands.
Various Internet sites have called for a Saudi "Day of Rage" on March 11 and March 20, with nationwide demonstrations. Public protests are banned by the authorities in Saudi Arabia. Publicly identifying with demands for political reform remains risky in Saudi Arabia and can lead to harassment or detention.
On February 25 there were peaceful marches in the Shia towns of Safwa and Qatif in the Eastern Province. Residents of al-‘Awwamiyya, an adjacent small Shia town, held a silent vigil the same day calling for the release of the so-called "Forgotten Prisoners," nine Shia Saudis detained without charge or trial for over 12 years over unproven allegations of their involvement in the 1996 attacks on US military targets in Khobar that killed 19 Americans.
"The Saudi government risks being overtaken by history," Wilcke said. "Throughout the region citizens are demanding their rights. Persisting with outdated authoritarian ways is a recipe for
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch (Cairo) - Saudi Arabia should rescind its categorical ban on peaceful demonstrations and release the more than 20 protesters detained on March 3, 2011, in the eastern town of Qatif, Human Rights Watch said today.
Saudi Arabia is one of only two countries in the Middle East and North Africa that ban protests as a matter of principle; Oman is the other. Saudi Arabia is not party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protect the right to peaceful assembly, but in 2009 the country acceded to the Arab Charter for Human Rights, which also guarantees this right.
"By banning all protests Saudi rulers are telling their countrymen and women that for all political purposes they are not citizens and have no right to participate in public affairs," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Saudis have had enough of unaccountable rulers telling them to do as they are told and shut up."
According to Amnesty International, “In the five years since he ascended the Saudi throne, King Abdullah has loosened the reins stifling Saudi society. But his reforms have been largely symbolic, with few lasting institutional changes.”
The group says that, under King Abdullah, Saudis have become freer to criticize the government or societal norms, but those who cross lines such as questioning the role of religion or singling out princes for criticism face harassment or jail.
It adds that women have become more visible in public and in the workplace. But even an adult woman still requires her male guardian’s written consent to make decisions about marriage, work, education, health care, and travel. Abdullah allowed women to stay in hotels without male guardians, but has left the guardian system as a whole intact.
Although the king initiated an Interfaith Dialogue Initiative in Madrid and New York, the Saudi minority Shia remains as badly treated as ever. While Abdullah shakes hands with rabbis abroad, Shia at home are arrested simply for praying together, Amnesty says.
Resisting pressure from human rights advocates, the Government of Saudi Arabia readied itself to apply maximum force to quell pro-democracy demonstrations.
Reports are that Saudi authorities conscripted some 10,000 police to be ready to apply whatever force is necessary should the previously announced “Day of Rage” actually materialize following Friday prayers.
But it appears that if there were any major demonstrations in Saudi Arabia today, they remain among the Kingdom’s best-kept secrets.
It is now well past prayer time on Friday afternoon in Saudi Arabia. As we write this, there have been no reports of demonstrations in any of the Kingdom’s major cities. But Saudi activists are reported to have set up online groups calling for protests in Riyadh today, Saturday.
In Qatif, a small city in the Eastern part of the country – near Shia-dominated Bahrain – AlJazeera television showed a group of protesters attempting to gather on a street, only to come under fire from police. It was unclear whether the police were aiming at the demonstrators or firing into the air, and whether they were using live ammunition or rubber bullets. Witnesses said three protesters and one police officer were wounded. The eastern part of Saudi Arabia is home to a large number of Shia.
Hundreds of police were visible on the streets of Riyadh, the Saudi capital, today. They closed roads to motor traffic and established checkpoints. As people gathered for Friday prayers, police searched people and cars. Witnesses said a helicopter flew over the city as groups of policemen manned street corners and intersections.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, and many other international rights groups have called on the Saudi Arabian authorities to reverse the ban on peaceful protest in the Kingdom, amid fears of a violent crackdown on mass demonstrations.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has said that dialogue -- not protests -- is the way to bring reform and warned that the oil-rich nation will take strong action if activists take to the streets.
Inspired by a wave of uprisings in the Arab world, activists from Saudi Arabia's Shiite Muslim minority have called for a "Day of Rage" on Friday to demand the regime's removal. The government accuses Shiites from outside the country of spurring the protests.
"The kingdom does not interfere in the affairs of others and will not allow for anyone to interfere in its own affairs," Prince Saud al-Faisal said today at a press conference in Saudi Arabia's port of Jeddah. Using a figure of speech, he said his regime would "cut off any finger" raised against the regime.
"Reform cannot be achieved through protests ... The best way to achieve demands is through national dialogue," he said. The protest ban, confirmed on Saturday, was backed by religious and security bodies.
"Instead of banning peaceful protests the Saudi Arabian authorities should
address the need for major human rights reform in the country," said Philip
Luther, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program.
“They must heed the growing calls for change within Saudi Arabia”.
Saudi Arabia's "Day of Rage" was organized online using Facebook. One page has over 33,000 followers.
The ban was also backed by the president of the Mutawa'een (religious police), the Council of Senior Ulema (religious clerics) and the Shura Council (a consultative body appointed by the King).
“Reports that the Saudi authorities plan to deploy troops to police upcoming
demonstrations are very worrying,” said Philip Luther. “Rather than seeking to intimidate would-be demonstrators from coming out on the streets, the authorities should rein in the security forces and allow peaceful protests to take place.”
The Ministry of Interior was reported to have said in 2008 that protests in
Saudi Arabia were banned, after a demonstration against Israel's military action in Gaza.
Although Amnesty International is not aware of any legal text banning
demonstrations, in practice the Saudi Arabian authorities have not allowed them to take place.
Amnesty International has also called on the authorities to release or charge a man detained on Friday 4 March during a protest in the capital Riyadh.
Muhammad al-Wad'ani has been detained incommunicado since his arrest and is believed to be at risk of torture.
A video posted on YouTube two days before the demonstration showed Muhammad al-Wad'ani calling for the fall of the monarchy and for people to join the protest.
Around 24 people were detained on 3 and 4 March following protests in the city of al-Qatif, denouncing the prolonged detention without trial of Shi'a prisoners. They were released on 8 March without charge reportedly only after they signed a pledge not to protest again.
Torture and other ill-treatment is frequently used to extract confessions from
detainees, to punish them for refusing to “repent” or to force them not to
criticize the government. Incommunicado detention in Saudi Arabia often lasts until a confession is obtained, which can take months and occasionally years.
Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the country’s foreign minister, said on Wednesday that "reform cannot be achieved through protests", while the protest ban, confirmed on Saturday, was backed by religious and security bodies.
The ban was also backed by the president of the Mutawa'een (religious police), the Council of Senior Ulema (religious clerics) and the Shura Council (a consultative body appointed by the King).
“Reports that the Saudi authorities plan to deploy troops to police upcoming
demonstrations are very worrying,” said Philip Luther. “Rather than seeking to intimidate would-be demonstrators from coming out on the streets, the
authorities should rein in the security forces and allow peaceful protests to
take place.”
Amnesty International also called on Saudi authorities to release or charge a man detained on Friday March 4 during a protest in the capital Riyadh.
Muhammad al-Wad'ani has been detained incommunicado since his arrest and is believed to be at risk of torture. A video posted on YouTube two days before the demonstration showed Muhammad al-Wad'ani calling for the fall of the monarchy and for people to join the protest.
Around 24 people were detained on 3 and 4 March following protests in the city of al-Qatif, denouncing the prolonged detention without trial of Shi'a prisoners. They were released on 8 March without charge reportedly only after they signed a pledge not to protest again.
The Ministry of Interior was reported to have said in 2008 that protests in
Saudi Arabia were banned, after a demonstration against Israel's military action in Gaza.
Although Amnesty International is not aware of any legal text banning
demonstrations, in practice the Saudi Arabian authorities have not allowed them to take place.
Torture and other ill-treatment is frequently used to extract confessions from
detainees, to punish them for refusing to “repent” or to force them not to
criticize the government.
Incommunicado detention in Saudi Arabia often lasts until a confession is
obtained, which can take months and occasionally years.
Human Rights Watch called on Saudi authorities to immediately release another demonstrator, a Shia cleric apparently arrested on February 27, 2011, for calling for a constitutional monarchy and equal rights for Shia.
The domestic intelligence agency, the General Directorate for Investigations, summoned Shaikh Tawfiq al-‘Amir to Hofuf in the al-Ahsa district of the Eastern Province and then arrested him, according to family members. No official reason was given for his arrest.
"The Saudi government should listen to the demands of its citizens, not seek to stifle them," said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Calling for equal rights for an oppressed religious minority should not be a reason for harassment and arrest."
The arrest comes amid mounting pressure for political reform in Saudi Arabia as pro-democracy demonstrations sweep through the Middle East. A total of close to 2,000 Saudis have put their names to three separate petitions calling for a constitutional monarchy. The government so far has not arrested any of those who signed the petitions, which were made public last week.
However, the authorities have reportedly blocked access within the kingdom to the website http://www.dawlaty.com/ ("My Nation"), where one of the petitions appeared.
On February 16 the authorities arrested a group of people who had announced their intention to found the country's first political party, the Islamic Nation Party (Hizb al-Umma al-Islami).
One petition, the so-called "youth" petition, signed by more than 40 people and initiated by young journalists, was made public on the day of King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz's return to Saudi Arabia on February 23, following a three-month absence for medical treatment. The petition called for an elected parliament, a separation of powers, a review of the Basic Law, and a basic administrative law, among other demands.
A second petition, "Toward a State of Rights and Institutions, " calls for an elected parliament with full legislative powers, a separation of the offices of king and prime minister, and the release of political prisoners, among other demands. Over 1,550 people have signed it, including some high-profile Islamist clerics who had vehemently opposed King Abdullah's promotion of women in the public sphere.
The third and latest petition, released on February 26 under the title, "National Declaration for Reform," was signed by more than 330 people, including leading liberal reformers, and includes the most detailed reform program. It calls for elections to decision-making bodies on the local, provincial, and national levels, as well as a review of the Basic Law to include rights protections, true separation of powers, and the release of political prisoners, among other demands.
Various Internet sites have called for a Saudi "Day of Rage" on March 11 and March 20, with nationwide demonstrations. Public protests are banned by the authorities in Saudi Arabia. Publicly identifying with demands for political reform remains risky in Saudi Arabia and can lead to harassment or detention.
On February 25 there were peaceful marches in the Shia towns of Safwa and Qatif in the Eastern Province. Residents of al-‘Awwamiyya, an adjacent small Shia town, held a silent vigil the same day calling for the release of the so-called "Forgotten Prisoners," nine Shia Saudis detained without charge or trial for over 12 years over unproven allegations of their involvement in the 1996 attacks on US military targets in Khobar that killed 19 Americans.
"The Saudi government risks being overtaken by history," Wilcke said. "Throughout the region citizens are demanding their rights. Persisting with outdated authoritarian ways is a recipe for
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch (Cairo) - Saudi Arabia should rescind its categorical ban on peaceful demonstrations and release the more than 20 protesters detained on March 3, 2011, in the eastern town of Qatif, Human Rights Watch said today.
Saudi Arabia is one of only two countries in the Middle East and North Africa that ban protests as a matter of principle; Oman is the other. Saudi Arabia is not party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protect the right to peaceful assembly, but in 2009 the country acceded to the Arab Charter for Human Rights, which also guarantees this right.
"By banning all protests Saudi rulers are telling their countrymen and women that for all political purposes they are not citizens and have no right to participate in public affairs," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Saudis have had enough of unaccountable rulers telling them to do as they are told and shut up."
According to Amnesty International, “In the five years since he ascended the Saudi throne, King Abdullah has loosened the reins stifling Saudi society. But his reforms have been largely symbolic, with few lasting institutional changes.”
The group says that, under King Abdullah, Saudis have become freer to criticize the government or societal norms, but those who cross lines such as questioning the role of religion or singling out princes for criticism face harassment or jail.
It adds that women have become more visible in public and in the workplace. But even an adult woman still requires her male guardian’s written consent to make decisions about marriage, work, education, health care, and travel. Abdullah allowed women to stay in hotels without male guardians, but has left the guardian system as a whole intact.
Although the king initiated an Interfaith Dialogue Initiative in Madrid and New York, the Saudi minority Shia remains as badly treated as ever. While Abdullah shakes hands with rabbis abroad, Shia at home are arrested simply for praying together, Amnesty says.
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