7th October 2012

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahrain frees medic after time served in jail
A Bahraini medic was freed on Sunday for time served in jail, just ve days after he was sentenced with ve colleagues in connection with last year's anti-regime protests in the Gulf state, his lawyers said. They said Mahmud Asghar, who was sentenced to six months, was released for time served before his conviction. The six medics were jailed on Tuesday, a day after their convictions were upheld by the kingdom's highest court. The medics were among 20 doctors and nurses who worked at the Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama during the predominantly Shiite uprising against the kingdom's ruling Sunni dynasty in February 2011. The public prosecutor's ofce has charged seven policemen with torture and maltreatment of the medics, all of whom are Shiite. Read More migrant workers in Bahrain and details the governments efforts to provide redress and strengthen worker protections. Bahraini authorities need to implement labor safeguards and redress mechanisms already in place and prosecute abusive employers, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. The government should extend the 2012 private sector labor law to domestic workers, who are excluded from key protections. Read More Gulf country in deance of a heavy-handed security crackdown. The demonstrators demanded the release of Rajab, who is the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. The Bahraini activist is serving a three-year term for taking part in protests against the Al Khalifa regime. Read More

Bahrains pilgrims told to follow Saudi rules

Bahrain has warned citizens intending to perform Haj this season to avoid politicising the rituals and follow the regulations of Saudi authorities. Head of Haj and Omra Affairs at the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs Shaikh Abdulnasser Abdullah told the Press that the Supreme Haj Committee has taken measures to protect the spiritual values of Haj. We will not allow any violation and

the Bahrain Haj mission would assist Saudi authorities to distance non-religious issues from this season. He highlighted that 9,996 citizens would perform Haj this year, adding that 47 Haj caravans would transport them to the holy cities. Only three caravans were allowed to register 300 pilgrims each, while the rest were allowed to register 150-200 pilgrims each. Bahrain is trying to increase its quota of pilgrims and is waiting for approval from Saudi Arabia for the coming seasons. Read More

Human Rights violations of migrant workers in Bahrain

Hundreds of thousands of mostly South Asian migrant workers inBahrainface exploitation and abuse despite government reforms intended to protect them,Human Rights Watchsaid in a new report. The 123-page report,For A Better Life: Migrant Worker Abuse in Bahrain and the Government Reform Agenda,documents the many forms of abuse and exploitation suffered by

Five Bahraini police hurt in clashes with protesters

Five Bahraini policemen were injured in clashes with protesters late Friday at a memorial service in a Manama suburb held for a young demonstrator who died in custody, a government statement said.

Bahraini Shiite rights activist Nabeel Rajab, meanwhile, went on hunger strike from Friday, a rights group said, just two days after he was briey released from jail to attend his mother's funeral. The Bahraini government said ve policemen were injured and "several rioters" were arrested during protests that turned violent late Friday. Read More afraid of being arrested by the Al-Khalifa regime again, recounted the way he had been subjected to torture and beatings after the arrest, and said that prison guards tortured him for 15 consecutive days. "During the period I was subjected to torture and beating. They slapped me hard and beat me. They didn't allow me to eat food or sleep or sit and insulted me," the prisoner said in his memo. Read More

Bahraini demonstrators support jailed activist Nabeel Rajab

Bahraini protesters have held anti-regime demonstrations across the country to express solidarity with prominent jailed human rights activist Nabeel Rajab. On Saturday, the protesters took to the streets in several villages across the Persian

Bahraini Activist: Manama Using All Means of Torture against Prisoners

A Bahraini protester recounted new details about the different methods of torturing used in the dungeons of the Al Khalifa regime against prisoners to take forced confessions from them. In a memo sent to FNA on Sunday, a Bahraini activist, who asked to remain anonymous because he is

Al-Wefaq: Bahrain Celebrates World Teachers Day while Education is at its Worst Era
Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society stressed that the Educational process in Bahrain is facing the biggest setback ever in its history due to the regime's oppressive and tyrannical mentality that is ready to perpetrate different sorts of violations against teachers as well as students. Read More

Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) expresses its grave concern over the detention and prosecution of children. Read More

Top Bahraini Shia Cleric: State Terrorism Spreads on All Levels

Addressing a group of followers in Bahrain Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassem noted that state terrorism was affecting all people on all levels, stressing that rights groups had to continue their ght for justice and equality. Read More

Bahrain: 15 Years old children detained for over 2 months without a trial