22-23 june 2016

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

reforms recommended by an
independent commission,
but "more work remains to
be done."

Bahrain
national
reconciliation efforts
stalled - U.S. State
Department
Bahrain's efforts to build
national reconciliation after
it crushed street protests
in 2011 have stalled, and
the Western ally in the
Gulf has not implemented
recommendations to protect
freedom of expression,
including
nonviolent
dissent, according to a U.S.
State Department report
obtained by Reuters.
In the report, which was
delivered to the U.S.
Congress this week, the
State Department says that
Bahrain has made progress
toward
implementing

The report, which was

delayed for months, appears
to represent muted criticism
of a strategically-located
country that hosts the
U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet as a
bulwark against Iran.
The human rights record
of Bahrain, where a Shi'ite
majority is ruled by a
Sunni monarchy, has been
criticized by the United
States, Britain and rights
groups.

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Bahrain
summons
senior Shi'ite clerics for
questioning: lawyer
Bahraini authorities on
Thursday summoned five
Shi'ite Muslim scholars for
questioning, activists said,
in what appeared another
step in a crackdown on
dissent by the Sunni-ruled
kingdom.
The clerics were called to
a police station west of
the capital Manama as an
administrative court began
hearing a justice ministry
petition to dissolve the main
opposition Shi'ite Muslim
group al-Wefaq following a
court order last week.
The court adjourned the

after the 2011 uprisings.

Bahrain is an important U.S.
ally in the Persian Gulf and
hosts the Navy's 5th Fleet.

US: Bahrain falls short

on political, human
rights reforms
Bahrain has fallen short
in implementing a series
of political and human
rights reforms, according
to the State Department,
undermining efforts to
stabilize the tiny island
kingdom after its Sunniruled government crushed
Arab Spring protests five
years ago.
In a report sent to Congress,
the department documents
Bahrain's implementation of
recommendations made by
an independent commission

The
report,
obtained
Wednesday
by
The
Associated Press, cites
progress in key areas but says
failures in others diminishes
the improvements and
minimizes
"popular
acceptance
of
newly
established
government
institutions."
The Embassy of Bahrain
in Washington did not
immediately respond to a
request for comment.

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hearing until September

4 to give al-Wefaq time
to prepare its defense, the
group's lawyer Abdallah
al-Shamlawi said on his
Twitter account.
An
interior
ministry
spokesman was checking
the report.
The Bahraini government
says it is acting against
people and groups it accuses
of fomenting sectarian
tensions and of being linked
to non-Arab Iran.

Activists said the clerics,

including Sheikh Fadel alZaki, head of the Council
of Shi'ite scholars which was
dissolved by the government
more than two years ago,
were ordered to appear at
the Budaya police station in
Manama.

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people of Bahrain," he said
in a statement.

UN criticizes repression
in
Bahrain,
urges
dialogue
A UN special adviser
sharply criticized Bahrain's
government Wednesday for
repressing opponents and
revoking the citizenship of
the Gulf state's top Shiite
religious leader.
Adama Dieng, the special
adviser for the prevention
of genocide, warned that the
country and the region were
facing "a critical moment."
"It is now even more crucial
for the authorities and for all
relevant parties to recommit
to an inclusive national
dialogue in the interest of all

Thousands
of
people
protested in the sheikh's
hometown of Diraz, west
of Manama, after the
decision on Monday to strip
Sheik Issa Qassem of his
nationality.
Dieng said the action could
raise tensions further in the
kingdom.
"I call on the government
to ensure that the right
to freedom of peaceful
assembly is fully respected
and that any response to
the protests is in accordance
with Bahrain's obligations
under international human
rights law," he said.

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Bahrain gambles with

security by launching
crackdown on Shi'ites
Bahrain aims to end years of
instability with a crackdown
on Shi'ite political parties,
but it could be a gamble that
risks further destabilising
the Western-allied kingdom
and the wider Middle East.
Five years after it crushed
street protests with Saudi
military support, the Sunni
Muslim royal family that
rules over a population
with a Shi'ite majority
appears convinced it will
again weather international
disapproval
for
tough
measures.
In a series of moves over the
past three weeks, authorities

closed down the main Shi'ite

opposition al-Wefaq Islamic
Society, doubled the prison
sentence on the group's
leader, Sheikh Ali Salman,
detained prominent rights
campaigner Nabeel Rajab
and stripped Ayatollah Isa
Qassim, Bahrain's Shi'ite
spiritual leader, of his
citizenship.
Authorities have managed
to muzzle anger each time
by deploying extra police
officers to the streets, but the
move against Qassim this
week brought thousands
in spontaneous protests
outside his home west of the
capital Manama.

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UN voices concern over

Bahrain crackdown on
freedom of expression,
right to nationality
The UN is concerned
about Bahrains ongoing
crackdown on expression
and
condemned
the
authorities for revoking its
citizens nationality. The
statement comes after the
kingdom stripped a leading
Shiite clerics citizenship for
serving foreign interests.
It is unfortunate that
instead of pressing forward
with the recommendations
made by the Bahrain
Independent Commission
of Inquiry, which was
appointed by the King

in 2011, the government

has instead sought to
undermine the enjoyment
of civil and political rights
in the country, Ravina
Shamdasani, spokesperson
for the Office of the UN
High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR),
said.
Shamdasani urged the
government to protect
civil society activists from
intimidation or reprisals for
their work.
We call on the government
to
take
immediate
confidence-building
measures, including the
release of all those who
have been detained for the
exercise of their human
rights, she added.

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