infopalSaudis murder five citizens; MP wants Bahrain listed “country of concern”
Once again the Saudi authorities have committed serious crimes against the people of the Eastern Province. On Saturday 20st December its forces attacked Al Awwamiya Town and wreaked havoc on its inhabitants. At least five people were killed and more than 40 injured as a result of the use of live ammunition. The Saudi crime was unprovoked and the victims include 14 years old child. Several cars and properties were destroyed in the attack. Images on Youtube and Twitter show the intensity of firing on houses. The martyrs are: Thamer Al Rabi’e (14 years), Ali Abu Abdulla, Hassan Al Meslab, Redha Al Bandari and Abulla Al Madad. Angry citizens in the town and other surrounding places took to the streets to protest the killing and vow to resist Saudi state terrorism.
The Government of Thailand has been severely criticised by human rights bodies for handing to Alkhalifa torturers a young Bahraini who had sought refuge there. Ali Haroon, 20, was forced into an airplane at the Bangkok Airport against his will. He was subjected to severe beating before his departure and tortured extensively after arriving in Bahrain. On 22nd December he was transferred to hospital in extremely bad shape. He was allowed to speak to his family only for few seconds; his voice was weak and only said few words before the line was cut off. The Thai authorities have forfeited their obligations by handing a political activist to a regime which had tortured him before and sentenced him to life behind bars. Several human rights bodies have criticised Bangkok and held its regime responsible for the suffering of this young Bahraini victim.
The regime’s attacks on people have continued unabated. In the week from 15 to 22nd December at least 24 people were arrested. They include seven children and three women. In the early hours of Tuesday 23rd December Ali Rajab, 20, was kidnapped by up to 30 masked members of Alkhalifa Death Squads in a raid on his house in Bani Jamra. Ali Jaffar Isa, 11, from Nabih Saleh town was arrested and tortured on the spot. On 22nd December Sadiq Abdul Karim Al Nakal was arrested from his town of Sitra. He had been sentenced to 15 years jail. The family of Ali, the son of Martyr Isa Abdul Hassan is extremely worried for his safety. Nothing has been heard of him since his kidnap by masked members of Death Squads from his workplace at the Dairy Company. On 22nd December, Mohammad Hussain Adam was kidnapped in a raid on his home in Bani Jamra. On 18th December 14 years old Mahmood Zuhair Isa from Dair Town was arrested and tortured before he was subsequently released. A prisoner from Bani Jamra has been denied the right to attend his mother’s funeral. Abd Ali Khair who had been jailed for ten years requested to be present when his mother’s body was buried but Alkhalifa occupiers turned down the request.
A senior member of UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Bahrain, David Amess, MP, has expressed unease about the situation in Bahrain. He said: I am very concerned about the situation in Bahrain. I continue to receive reports from individuals of ongoing torture, arbitrary detention and extra-judicial killings. The recent sentencing of the activist, Zainab al-Khawaja, is of particular concern. The Foreign Affairs Committee this year claimed that it had found no evidence of progress in Bahrain and I have asked the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to list it as a country of concern. Mr Amess is a backbench Conservative MP representing Southend South.
Human rights organisations have called on Pope Francis to cancel plans for the construction of a church complex in Bahrain, over fears it would utilise public land allegedly bought up by the Royal family through the use of a secretive investment vehicle. An investigation in the Financial Times this month revealed that the ruling Al-Khalifa family in Bahrain has managed to buy up billions of dollars of previously state-owned land in Bahrain through the use of an investment vehicle called the Premier Group which it has used to develop lucrative commercial ventures – such as a high rise housing complexes – depriving fishermen and other Bahrainis of access. The new cathedral will be constructed in Awali in central Bahrain, on land which opposition groups in the country – including Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) – claim is land seized from the public trust. “We urge Pope Francis to reconsider establishing a church on land that may have been stolen from the public trust to benefit the ruling elite,” said Husain Abdulla, Executive Director of ADHRB, in statement on Monday 22nd December.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
24th December 2014