Posts tagged Revolution.

A protester runs from tear gas during clashes in the Manama neighbourhood of al-Bilad al-Qadeem April 26, 2012. Bahraini protesters attacked a police station with petrol bombs on Thursday and riot police responded with teargas and stun grenades after thousands of mourners visited the grave of Salah Abbas Habib, 36, who was found dead on Saturday after disappearing during fighting between protesters and police.REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Al-Wefaq, Bahrain’s main opposition bloc, has said that a man has been found dead after clashes with riot police in the village of Shakhoura, a day before the Gulf state stages its Formula One Grand Prix.

Al-Wefaq named the dead demonstrator on Saturday as Salah Abbas Habib, 37, and said his body was found on the roof of a building.

It said Habib was part of a group who were beaten by police during clashes late on Friday night.

Mohammed Eissa, Habib’s brother in law, told the Reuters news agency that police had not allowed the family to see the body when they went to the compound where it was found.

“We wanted to see it before it was taken so we can identify the body, but we were told to go the morgue and identify it there,” Eissa said.

In a statement on the microblogging website Twitter, the interior ministry confirmed the death and said authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.

The death came as the royal family pledged once again that the F1 event wold go ahead despite the ongoing protests by the country’s mainly Shia population demanding greater rights.

“I genuinely believe this race is a force for good, it unites many people from many different religious backgrounds, sects and ethnicities,” Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who owns the rights to the event, said on Friday.

Dozens of armoured vehicles and security forces in riot gear have been deployed along the road to the Bahrain International Circuit and around the capital, Manama.

Activists said barbed wire has been installed near some parts of the main highway.

“Class struggle is the motor of history. Forever until victory, liberty or death!”

Amnesty International says government did little to bring justice to protesters after inquiry proved rights violations.

Rights violations continue in Bahrain and the government’s response to the findings of an international commission of inquiry have proved inadequate, Amnesty International has said.

In a report released on Tuesday, the rights group found that Bahrain had failed to achieve justice for protesters with the piecemeal reforms implemented following the November 2011 report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI).

The BICI, set up by King Hamad bin ‘Issa Al Khalifa submitted a hardhitting report of its investigation into human rights violations committed in connection with the anti-government protests last year. It found that security forces had used excessive force to suppress protests and tortured detainees to extract confessions.

Amnesty’s investigation found that despite some institutional and other reforms, Bahrain’s overall response to those findings has been inadequate.

“The authorities are trying to portray the country as being on the road to reform, but we continue to receive reports of torture and use of unnecessary and excessive force against protests. Their reforms have only scratched the surface,”  said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa deputy director. ”With the world’s eyes on Bahrain as it prepares to host the Grand Prix, no-one should be under any illusions that the country’s human rights crisis is over,” Sahraoui said.

Formula One drivers are making their way to Bahrain for the race set to take place there this weekend, despite hundreds of protesters who continue to clash with police in what has become a regular occurrence in the capital Manama.

Riot police fired tear gas to disperse protesting crowds on Monday, as they gathered to show their anger against the government and the planned race.

Protesters in Bahrain held signs demanding trials for the “leaders of the killers”. [Gregg Carlstrom/Al Jazeera]

الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام‎

Ash-shaʻb yurīd isqāṭ an-niẓām

“Kill me, and leave what remains of the children of Homs alone.”

Homs, Syria

Spanish protests spread across Europe.

(Las protestas españolas se extendieron en toda Europa.)

La lucha no es solo de unos, sino de todos.

Informed Comment (USA):

World stands idly by as Syrian revolt enters second year

The world community has failed Syria, just as it failed Rwanda and the Congo, though the human toll in Syria is a fraction of those killed in the African events. Russia and China have used their veto to block any effective United Nations Security Council resolution that might lead to regime change. India has also, unlike the Arab League, opposed any call for President Bashar al-Assad, the Butcher of Homs, to step down.

Much of the protest is also for basic human values like dignity. It is no fun to live in a police state, where you are monitored and can be arrested and tortured at will. Some of the impetus for the Syrian rebellion comes from this demand for basic dignity. The regime has promised reforms, including allowing other parties to run for office and a lighter hand by the secret police. But few analysts believe that the Baath Party will voluntarily share power or change its brutal ways.

US intelligence analysts believe that the uprising is unlikely to dislodge al-Assad any time soon. Syria has an army of some 330,000, with its upper echelons heavily Allawite and loyal to the regime. It has about 5,000 tanks.

(read more)

Immortal Technique - Poverty of Philosophy