Saudi Interrogation | Locked Up Abroad

A man arrested under suspicion of being a homosexual is subject to harsh questioning.

Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Syrian rebels posed casually, standing over their prisoners with firearms pointed down at the shirtless and terrified men.

The prisoners, seven in all, were captured Syrian soldiers. Five were trussed, their backs marked with red welts. They kept their faces pressed to the dirt as the rebels’ commander recited a bitter revolutionary verse.

“For fifty years, they are companions to corruption,” he said. “We swear to the Lord of the Throne, that this is our oath: We will take revenge.”

The moment the poem ended, the commander, known as “the Uncle,” fired a bullet into the back of the first prisoner’s head. His gunmen followed suit, promptly killing all the men at their feet.

This scene, documented in a video smuggled out of Syria a few days ago by a former rebel who grew disgusted by the killings, offers a dark insight into how many rebels have adopted some of the same brutal and ruthless tactics as the regime they are trying to overthrow.

As the United States debates whether to support the Obama administration’s proposal that Syrian forces should be attacked for using chemical weapons against civilians, this video, shot in the spring of 2012, joins a growing body of evidence of an increasingly criminal environment populated by gangs of highwaymen, kidnappers and killers. » | C. J. Chivers | Thursday, September 05, 2013

Watch graphic and brutal video here

Brigitte Bardot Accuses French Police of Brutality

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Brigitte Bardot today accused French police of "savagery" after a man was left in a coma when they cleared anti-bullfighting protestors from an arena.

Dozens of animal rights demonstrators were hurt during the clearance in Rion-des-Landes, close to the Spanish border in south west France, on Sunday.

Around 80 of them had attended the bullfight, including members of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which is run by the retired movie star.

One of the eight most seriously hurt was airlifted to hospital in Bordeaux, and has since been placed in an artificial coma because of his head injuries.

“If the barbarity behind the torture of bulls and their bloody deaths are tolerated in certain regions in the name of an obsolete, ridiculous, indecent and sadistic tradition, then the right to protest peacefully should also equally and legally be respected in a democracy,” said Ms Bardot, 78.

The family of the injured man – identified only as Alain – are now set to press criminal charges against the police, saying they caused his injuries on purpose. » | Peter Allen in Paris | Monday, August 26, 2013

Dispatch: Inside Timbuktu, the City Freed from Its Al-Qaeda Tormentors
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The image of a severed hand lying beside a bloodied sword was passed from one mobile phone to the next.

The 25-year-old man had been held down while the hand was cut off before a crowd of appalled onlookers, recalled Mousa Ag-Mohammed, 29, who witnessed this punishment. "Some people said that he stole something, but it was not true," he said. "They wanted to do this just to frighten people, for the people to be scared of them."

Whatever the reason, the footage showed how the Islamist overlords of the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu had united high technology with medieval cruelty during their occupation.

Indeed terror was Mr Ag-Mohammed's dominant memory of the 10-month occupation of Timbuktu that ended with a lightning French assault on Monday. » | David Blair, Timbuktu | Friday, February 01, 2013

Syrian Teenager Reportedly Tortured to Death
Al Jazeera has obtained footage of the disfigured body of a 15-year old Syrian boy.

Thamer al Sahri was arrested in April for participating in an anti-government protest. His body was released on Wednesday.

The video comes from a reliable source, but we are unable to independently verify it due to restrictions on journalists in the country.

Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker reports, with a warning that viewers may find some of the images in the report disturbing.

Syria: Shooting Interrupts Latest Anti-government Protest in Homs
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Thousands gather in city after reports that security forces shot dead 17 citizens on Sunday

Syrian forces fired shots at hundreds of protesters who had gathered overnight in Homs city in defiance of warning by the authorities to halt what they called an insurrection.

A member of the security police addressed the protesters at Clock Square through a loud speaker asking them to leave, and then the forces opened fire, said a human rights campaigner, who is in contact with protesters in the square.

Tear gas was also used. At least one protester was injured, the activist added. Two residents of Homs also said they heard the sound of gunfire coming from around the square.

Several hours earlier, Syrian state television broadcast an interior ministry statement that described the wave of unrest in Syria as an insurrection, pointing specifically to Homs as one of two cities where "armed groups belonging to Salafist organisations" were trying to terrorise the population.

Salafism is a strict form of Sunni Islam which many Arab governments equate with militant groups like al-Qaida. » | Reuters | Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Barack Obama Must Speak Out on Bahrain Bloodshed
THE GUARDIAN: Bahrainis are suffering the same violent repression as Libyans – so why does Barack Obama have nothing to say?

Three days after Hosni Mubarak resigned as the long-standing dictator in Egypt, people in the small Gulf state of Bahrain took to the streets, marching to their version of Tahrir: Pearl Square, in the capital city of Manama. Bahrain has been ruled by the same family, the House of Khalifa, since the 1780s – more than 220 years. Bahrainis were not demanding an end to the monarchy, but for more representation in their government.

One month into the uprising, Saudi Arabia sent military and police forces over the 16-mile causeway that connects the Saudi mainland to Bahrain, an island. Since then, the protesters, the press and human-rights organisations have suffered increasingly violent repression.

One courageous young Bahraini pro-democracy activist, Zainab al-Khawaja, has seen the brutality up close. To her horror, she watched her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a prominent human-rights activist, be beaten and arrested. She described it to me from Manama: » | Amy Goodman | Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Shiites in Iraq Support Bahrain’s Protesters
THE NEW YORK TIMES: BAGHDAD — The violent suppression of the uprising in Bahrain has become a Shiite rallying cry in Iraq, where the American war overturned a Sunni-dominated power structure much like the one in place in Bahrain.

Ahmad Chalabi, an erstwhile American partner in the period before the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and a Shiite member of Parliament, on Friday denounced what he called a double standard in the Western powers’ response to the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East — particularly in Bahrain, where a Sunni minority dominates a vast and restive underclass made up of his Shiite brethren.

“They called for international action in Libya,” Mr. Chalabi said in a meeting hall on the grounds of his farm outside Baghdad. “But they kept their mouths shut with what is happening in Bahrain.”

The Iraqi Parliament briefly suspended its work to protest Bahrain’s crackdown on largely peaceful protesters, and the prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, also a Shiite, recently said in an interview with the BBC that the events in Bahrain could unleash a regional sectarian war like the one that menaced Iraq just a few years ago. » | Tim Arango | Friday, April 01, 2011

Bahrain's Calculated Campaign of Intimidation
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Bahraini activists and locals describe midnight arrests, disappearances, beatings at check-points, and denial of medical care – all aimed at deflating the country's pro-democracy protest movement.

Manama, Bahrain
With a wave of midnight arrests, checkpoints, and targeting of wounded protesters, Bahrain's Sunni rulers have launched what appears to be a calculated campaign to intimidate supporters of the pro-democracy protest movement that began here in February.

Security forces have directed much of the abuse – which includes midnight arrests, checkpoints, and targeting of wounded protesters – toward Bahrain’s majority Shiite population, instilling fear and raising sectarian tensions in the tiny kingdom.

“I don’t want to go anywhere now. I’ll stay in my home because there is no safety,” says Ibrahim, a university student who says he was recently beaten and held for 36 hours at a checkpoint, and has a deformed left ear and bruises elsewhere to prove it. He asked that his last name be withheld for his own safety.

“While they were beating us, they said, ‘Where is your Mahdi now? Why isn’t he coming to save you?’ ” says Ibrahim, referring to a messianic figure in Shiite Islam. “They made us scream 'Mahdi.' They put my face in the ground, and told me to speak. Then they kicked dust in my mouth.”

What was their crime?

“We are Shiite,” says Ibrahim. “They want to remove all Shia from Bahrain.”

In a speech to parliament Tuesday, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed al-Khalifa said the authorities were not targeting Shiites, but were imposing law and order. Bahrain is operating under emergency law, put in place last month.

"The measures are not imposed against any religious sect as some have said, but rather they are used against those who have broken the law," he said, according to the state news agency. " We are not trying to spread evil, but good, and outlaws will meet justice." » | Kristen Chick, Correspondent | Friday, April 01, 2011

Bahrain Security Accused of Excessive Force

Anger in Syria
There is anger in Syria on Saturday as protesters regroup following a huge crackdown by security forces. The so-called "Day of Dignity" demonstrations were held across the country on Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out on both sides. Including in the capital Damascus, where pro- and anti-government supporters clashed in the Old Town. And there are reports of at least dozen more people being shot dead by security forces in as many as six towns and villages.
One person is reported killed by police in a Damascus suburb.

In Latakia, doctors say four people were killed when forces opened fire on a crowd of a thousand.
The highest toll was reported in the village of Sanamin. There locals say troops killed 20 civilians while trying to prevent a march to nearby Daraa

Al Jazeera's correspondent Zeina Khodr, defied a media ban to enter Daraa and bring us this story

Syrie: des dizaines de morts à Deraa
L’EXPRESS.fr: Plus de 20.000 personnes ont participé jeudi à des funérailles à Deraa dans le sud de la Syrie, où les forces de l'ordre ont tiré contre des manifestants la veille.

Plus de 20.000 personnes ont participé jeudi à des funérailles à Deraa dans le sud de la Syrie, théâtre de protestations sans précédent contre le pouvoir où des dizaines de manifestants auraient été tués la veille par des tirs de la police, selon des militants des droits de l'Homme.

"Il y a sûrement plus de cent morts et la ville a besoin d'une semaine pour enterrer ses martyrs", a affirmé Ayman al Assouad, militant des droits de l'Homme, joint au téléphone par l'AFP à Deraa depuis Nicosie. Ce dernier a accusé les forces de l'ordre d'"avoir utilisé des balles réelles" contre des manifestants qui participaient mercredi à des funérailles dans cette ville. le précédent bilan faisait était d'au moins 15 morts.

Un autre militant des droits de l'Homme a affirmé que le nombre des tués à Deraa et dans les localités voisines "dépassait les 150 morts". Selon lui, "plusieurs personnes tuées étaient venues des villages voisins de Deraa pour participer aux funérailles". » | Par LEXPRESS.fr avec AFP | Jeudi 24 Mars 2011

Syrian Regime Launches Crackdown by Shooting 15 Activists Dead
THE GUARDIAN: Some were killed when security forces opened fire on protesters surrounding the Omari mosque; others were shot at a funeral

Violence escalated in the southern Syrian city of Deraa as protests entered a sixth day. At least 15 protesters are known to have been shot dead on Wednesday and scores more injured.

In a sign that the Syrian regime is using a brutal crackdown rather than concessions to quell protests, security forces opened fire on people in three separate incidents, according to human rights activists.

At 1am on Wednesday morning, at least six people were killed when security forces opened fire on protesters surrounding the Omari mosque, after cutting electricity and communications to the site that has become the focus of demonstrations. During the day, several were reported shot as they attended funerals of victims of the mosque shooting. Syrian security forces later opened fire on scores of young people from surrounding towns as they marched towards Deraa, offering support to the protests, activists said.

"The government promised it would consider its citizens' demands, and then it decided to attack them," said Mohammed al-Abdullah, a prominent activist in exile in the US who is in close contact with the Deraa protesters. "These were fully prepared and full-scale attacks." » | Katherine Marsh | Thursday, March 24, 2011

La France demande à la Syrie de "renoncer à l'usage excessif de la force"
LE POINT: Le Quai d'Orsay condamne "les violences qui ont fait des morts et des blessés".

La France a appelé mercredi la Syrie à "renoncer à tout usage excessif de la force" contre les manifestants et condamné "les violences qui ont fait des morts et des blessés" dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi à Deraa, dans une déclaration du ministère des Affaires étrangères. "La France condamne les violences qui ont fait des morts et des blessés parmi les manifestants la nuit dernière à Deraa", a déclaré lors d'un point de presse le porte-parole du ministère Bernard Valero. » | Source AFP | Mercredi 23 Mars 2011

Rights Groups Condemn Bahrain Violence
Human rights activists have condemned military aggression towards anti-government protesters demanding political change in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain. Al Jazeera has spoken to the family of a father who was killed after driving past an unofficial checkpoint in the country.
 Al Jazeera's correspondent, who we are not naming for his safety, has this report

Bahraini Medics Recount Hospital Horror
The Bahraini authorities have been accused of heavy-handed approach in handling with Shia Muslim protesters. According to medics at Salmania hospital in Manama, the security forces surrounded the hospital and did not allow ambulances to enter. The hospital staff have told Al Jazeera doctors and nurses were beaten up and many doctors are still under arrest. Our special correspondent has this report.

Related articles here and here

Saudi Arabian Intervention in Bahrain Driven by Visceral Sunni Fear of Shias
THE OBSERVER: Despite an official stance that the Saudis were there to restore order, the real aim was to crush the rebels

Saudi Arabia and the UAE between them sit on tens of billions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art military equipment. They have both backed calls for UN-sponsored "no-fly zones" over Libya.

Even if they are now willing to risk their expensive toys against the relatively meagre threat from Colonel Gaddafi's air defences, they will play a junior role to western forces.

It will be the second military intervention by the Gulf states in a few days, but the first was on a far more primitive level: teargas grenades fired at point-blank range into the faces of unarmed demonstrators; punishment beatings for injured protesters in their hospital beds; violence and intimidation against the wives and children of opposition activists in their village homes.

Hypocrisy is one word for the motives behind the deployment of the "Peninsula Shield" forces in Bahrain last week. Cowardice is another.

When I watched Saudi soldiers rolling over the causeway linking the two kingdoms on Monday, they were giving victory signs to local TV cameras. Bahrain TV showed archive footage of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and King Hamad of Bahrain performing a traditional Bedouin war dance together.

Despite the official stance that the Saudis and UAE troops had arrived to guard essential infrastructure and restore order on the streets, there was little doubt as to the real purpose: to put down, by whatever means necessary, a growing rebellion by the kingdom's majority, but deprived, Shia citizens.

The day before, unarmed demonstrators had effectively beaten the security forces in Manama. A move to clear a protesters' camp on the fringes of the main gathering at Pearl roundabout had led to an influx of protesters to the city, determined to defend their turf. The police withdrew when they ran out of teargas canisters.

The sight of the police – many of whom are hired guns from Pakistan, Syria and other parts of the Sunni world – running from Shia demonstrators reawoke the fears of Gulf governments that the "party of Ali" was on the rise again. » | William Butler | Sunday, March 20, 2011

'Brutal Attacks' Alleged in Bahrain
The king of Bahrain has declared a state of emergency across the country for three months. Local police are now being backed up by 1,000 Saudi troops, who entered the country on Monday following weeks of political unrest.
Among those wounded in violent protests are undercover police found in the Shia areas of Bahrain, where hospital staffers are overwhelmed by the influx of the injured.
Al Jazeera's correspondent sent this report from a hospital in the capital, Manama

Islam: The Religion of Peace
Watch BRUTAL video * HERE
HT: FaithFreedom.org >>>
* Viewer discretion is STRONGLY advised. This video is NOT SUITABLE for CHILDREN or for those who have a WEAK STOMACH or CONSTITUTION. It TRULY is BRUTAL!

Protect the Human Rights of Migrant Workers in the Middle East

Immigrant Worker Abuse in Middle East Condemned by Human Rights Group
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: International human rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has implored Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to make more effort to protect its immigrant workers, after shocking stories emerged about the abuse of three domestic workers.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, HRW said that it had received allegations from a maid in Kuwait whose employer drove nails into her body, a maid in Saudi Arabia who had nails forced into her body, and a maid in Jordan who had been both beaten and forced to swallow nails.

The watchdog said the stories implied a “broader pattern of abuse”, and that the goverments of the three countries needed to create a stronger legal framework to protect their foreign workers.

"The wanton brutality alleged in these cases is shocking, but reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and labour exploitation such as non-payment of wages are nothing new,'' said Nisha Varia, a senior women's rights researcher at HRW.

Many domestic workers in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait come from Asia, Africa and other countries in the Middle East in the hope of receiving higher salaries. Because employers in Middle East countries often act as workers' "sponsors" however, they exert extreme power over their staff. Employers can prevent workers changing jobs or leaving the country, and often withold salaries for years. >>> Leah Hyslop | Thursday, November 18, 2010

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Doctors remove 19 nails from Sri Lankan maid: A Sri Lankan housemaid whose Saudi employer allegedly embedded 24 nails in her body was recovering in hospital on Friday after doctors removed 18 of them during a three-hour surgery. >>> | Friday, August 27, 2010

MIGRANT RIGHTS: Mission statement: Through the power of the web we wish to raise awareness about the plight of migrant workers in the Middle East and encourage social action to end the violations of their human rights and dignity. Unfortunately, very little is done to prevent the modern-day slavery many workers endure in the region. Our job is to change that. >>>

Indonesian Maid Tortured in Saudi Arabia, Another Beaten to Death
MIGRANT RIGHTS: This week, two cases of severe abuse of Indonesian maids by their Saudi sponsors have surfaced, one of them ending in death and the other in serious injuries.

The first case, of 23-year-old Sumiati BT Salan Mustapa was first reported by the Saudi Gazette. This initial report mentioned that Mustapa arrived in Saudi-Arabia in July to work for a family in Madina. On November 6th Mustapa was admitted to a private hospital in Madina injured from head to toe in an unconscious state. The private hospital was unable to treat her serious injuries and she was transferred to the King Fahd hospital. A worker there told the Gazette that Mustapa’s body “was burned on many places, both legs were almost motionless, some parts of her skin on her head were removed and strong marks of old wounds were on her body including skin loss on lips and head, a fractured middle finger and a cut near an eye.” Mustapa also showed signs of malnutrition or excessive blood loss. >>> | Friday, November 19, 2010