BBC Arabic reported that a Bahraini military court sentenced one protestor to death for killing a policeman during an anti-regime protest in March. The court also issued harsh prison sentences to 20 medical professionals working at al-Salmaniya Hospital in Manama during the protest movement. Thirteen medics were sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to the Bahrain News Agency, the medics are being charged with "forcefully occupying Salmaniya Medical Centre…possessing unlicensed arms and knives, incitement to overthrow the regime, seizing medical equipment, detaining policemen, and spreading false news." Several written testimonies of the sentenced doctors indicate that they were physically and psychologically abused, tortured, beaten, sexually harassed, and humiliated while in custody.  

On June 14, after Bahrain started the trial of 48 medics, journalist Robert Fisk dispatched an eyewitness account from the hospital to The Independent. He wrote that he saw doctors desperately trying to save the lives of injured protestors shot by Bahraini forces, describing the charges as "a pack of lies."

One of the sentenced doctors, Dr. Fatma Haji, told the BBC that the medics' only crime "was that we helped innocent, helpless people who were just protesting and got injured." In a video to her three-year-old son, she maintained her innocence and expressed hope that when he is old enough to understand, he will be proud of her.

Amnesty International condemned the Bahraini regime for its harsh sentences against the health practitioners. Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme described the charges against the medics as "ludicrous." The Dublin-based human rights organization Front Line also condemned the sentencing after a "deeply flawed and unfair trial." It declared that medical care has been "criminalized" in Bahrain.

In July, Human Rights Watch issued a 54-page report documenting the government's abuses against citizens since February, and called on the Bahraini regime to immediately end its systematic policy of arresting and abusing medical personnel and patients.

(Photo: Doctors form a human chain at Salmaniya Hospital fearing an attack by riot police in Manama, on March 15/ Reuters)

Bahrain: Saudi-backed Bahraini troops attacked anti-government protestors in the island city of Sitra, killing a 14-year-old boy. Witnesses say the victim was hit in the head by a tear gas canister fired from close range. Reports say the city's hospital refused to admit the critically injured teenager and that he died shortly afterwards. It is believed that hospital authorities refused to treat the wounded teenager for fear of being arrested by security forces.

Libya: Clashes broke out between Muammar Gaddafi's battalions and Transitional National Council forces in the Um al-Qanadil region and its surrounding areas, close to Sirte. Chairman of the Council Mustafa Abdul Jalil gave Gaddafi's loyalists in Sirte until this coming Saturday to surrender before using military force. The revolutionaries are approaching Sirte from both the east and west but are refraining from launching attacks in the hopes of a negotiated surrender of the city. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Gaddafi himself still remain unknown.

Syria: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 473 people were killed in Syria during the month of Ramadan, including 360 civilians and 113 soldiers and members of the Internal Security Forces. Twenty-five minors and 14 women are among those killed, but the death toll does not include victims killed during the military operations in the city of Hama. Amnesty International confirmed that 88 Syrians, including ten children, died in detention centers and police stations between April and August.

Bahrain: Amnesty International said two Bahraini women activists who have been imprisoned and allegedly tortured for their involvement in protests began a hunger strike to demand their release. Roula al-Saffar, head of the Bahrain Nursing Society, and Jalila al-Salman, vice president of the Bahrain Teachers' Association, have been held for several months, according to the rights group.

Libya: Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, announced that his family had reached an agreement with what he described as the Islamist opposition to get rid of the secular opposition demanding his father's resignation. Saif al-Islam said he negotiated with Ali al-Sallabi, an Islamist leader in eastern Libya. Al-Sallabi confirmed that talks were held with Gaddafi's son, but did not confirm reaching an agreement.

Syria: French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe described the decree issued by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad authorizing political parties in Syria as an act of "provocation" that only comes amid the violence against civilians. In Hama, all water, electricity, and communication services have been cut off as what is being referred to as a massacre continues in the city. Residents say that yesterday, over 40 people were killed or wounded yesterday.

Saudi Arabia: Amnesty International has strongly condemned a new Saudi Arabian anti-terror law that criminalizes legitimate political oppositions. The organization said in a statement that the draft law considers it a crime to question the integrity of the king or the crown prince and carries a minimum prison sentence of ten years. The draft law also allows for detaining a suspect for one year without a trial and holding suspects for four months in solitary confinement. The rights organization describes the law as posing a dangerous threat to freedom of speech in the name of preventing terrorism.

Yemen: Anti-regime protestors gathered in the capital Sana'a and various other provinces to reaffirm their rejection of Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime. They named today the "Friday of Rejection of Collective Punishment." Meanwhile, supporters of the ruling party rallied in support of Saleh at Sana'a's al-Sabeen Square on what they called the "Friday of Sit-in to Thank God."

Syria: Cities throughout the country witnessed popular protests today, like every Friday since March. Activists on social networking websites called for demonstrations on the "Friday of the Grandsons of Khaled Ibn el-Waleed." The opposition estimated that 1.2 million protestors participated in today's demonstration. Protests were witnessed in the cities of Damascus, Homs, Hama, Daraa in the south, Idlib in the north and Deir az-Zour in the east near the border with Iraq. According to preliminary estimates by human rights activists, five people were killed today.

Libya: Libyan revolutionaries have launched an assault on a key gateway to the capital Tripoli as fighting intensifies between the opposition and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. In their slow approach toward the capital, the revolutionaries attacked the regime’s positions in the Gualish area, 50 kilometers from Tripoli. Last week the opposition also took over a large ammunition depot belonging Gaddafi’s forces in western Libya.

Syria: Amnesty International has accused Syrian government forces of committing crimes against humanity during a crackdown on a pro-democracy protest in the town of Talkalakh near the Lebanese border. Amnesty International’s report makes allegations of murder, torture, and arbitrary detention.  The organization says that it gathered the testimonies of thousands of Syrians who fled the town to Lebanon. The government denies the allegations.

Bahrain: Human Rights Watch has accused the Bahraini government of carrying out a punitive and vindictive campaign of violent repression against its own citizens since March. The organization says that the campaign targets Shiites who account for 80% of the population, and that dozens of protestors have been killed and tortured. The organization demanded that the Bahraini government end the abuses.

As the Syrian military finally retreats from Dara’a after a ten-day siege, Dubai TV reports that tanks and armored vehicles were seen entering a number of other towns in Homs province, including Rastan and Talbisa. The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the military began withdrawing from Dara’a after capturing what it referred to as “terrorist elements.” However, activists on social networking sites said that Dara’a is still under a “suffocating siege,” with military forces in the street and snipers stationed on rooftops. 

Al-Jazeera features a report on media repression throughout the Middle East during the revolutions in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain. These countries’ regimes have carried out similar campaigns to suppress the media by confiscating permits, arresting journalists, and even killing journalists and photographers. Al-Jazeera’s office in Syria was shut down after several employees received threats. Only Syrian state-run media has been allowed to cover the protests in Dara’a since they erupted two months ago. Yet these extreme measures have not prevented the spread of revolutions across the Middle East. 

Amnesty International has called on Bahraini authorities to end the arrests of opposition members and to release detained protestors. Bahraini authorities continue their violent crackdown on protests despite international pleas. Religious scholars, soldiers, medical personnel, and journalists have been arrested throughout the country. Al-Alam reports that Bahraini authorities asked Human Rights Watch lawyer Joshua Colangelo to leave the country before he was able to investigate human rights abuses. 

Sixteen police officers were killed and 65 people injured in a terrorist attack in the Iraqi city of Hilla early this morning. Al-Iraqiya reports that a car filled with explosives targeted police headquarters in the city center. Residents of Hilla affirmed that the attack will not hinder the determination of the Iraqi people to “pave the way to a new Iraq.”

The BBC reports that protests calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime continued in cities throughout Yemeni, as living conditions deteriorate due to heightened food and gas prices. Some believe that the gas crisis is being staged by Saleh and as a punishment to the opposition.

As the world's attention focuses on the West's intervention in Libya and emerging protest movements in Yemen and Syria, US and European inaction in Bahrain, where some of the most brutal repression of protestors has occurred, has come under fire.

Amnesty International tells West to stop arming Bahrain

(Press TV, London: 0527 PST, March 24, 2011) Amnesty International has just released a report condemning the use of force on protestors in Bahrain, and urging the United States and Europe to halt their arms trading policy with the Gulf kingdom. This comes after US and French-made tear gas canisters and rubber bullets were found in the wake of government attacks on protestors.

US Defends Bahrain Dictatorship

(The Real News: March 23, 2011) The Real News speaks with Husain Abdulla of Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, who calls on the administration of US President Barack Obama to take a stronger stance against the government crackdown in Bahrain.

Bahrain: The British Connection

(Press TV Global News: 0546 PST, March 24, 2011) An in-depth look at the connection between the British government and the regime of its former colony, Bahrain.

On Wednesday, an Egyptian court convicted 26 men of spying for Hezbollah and plotting attacks on Egyptian soil on behalf of the Lebanese militant group.

The men, including Lebanese, Egyptians, Palestinians, and one Sudanese, received sentences ranging from six months to life in prison.

Hezbollah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has strongly criticized the Egyptian courts for jailing the men accused of working for his organization. He said the judgment by the Security Court in Cairo was "unjust and politicized."

Amnesty International on Thursday called for a retrial of 26 defendants, criticizing the use of an emergency court.

"These men should be retried by an ordinary court which gives them a chance of getting a fair trial," said the London-based rights watchdog.

Hezbollah’s differences with Egypt hit a pinnacle during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Egypt’s decision to keep the Rafah exits from Gaza sealed infuriated Nasrallah, who, on December 28, 2008, called for the Egyptian people to help the besieged Gazans and called on the Egyptian government to open the Rafah border crossing.

“Oh Egyptian official, unless you open the Rafah border crossing, unless you help your brethren in Gaza, you will be accomplices to the crime, accomplices to the killing, accomplices to the siege, and accomplices in generating the Palestinian catastrophe,” he said in a televised speech.

His statements at the time were interpreted by the Egyptian government and state-controlled media as meddling with Egyptian affairs and a call for a military mutiny and overthrow of the regime in Egypt.

But now Egypt has another issue to account for; on Thursday the Islamic Resistance Movement in Gaza, Hamas, accused Egyptian security forces of killing four Palestinians by pumping poisonous gas into a cross-border smuggling tunnel, a claim Cairo denied.

"Hamas holds the Egyptian side responsible for the killing of four innocent workers after Egyptian security forces pumped poisonous gas into one of the tunnels," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told reporters in Gaza.

Egyptian security officials said, however, that their forces had destroyed four smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border but were not aware of any casualties.

Many analysts in the region believe that the Egyptian government is afraid that having a successful Islamic regime such as Hamas on their doorstep would strengthen their own Muslim Brotherhood, which poses a serious political threat to the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. Some Arab media commentators have upped the ante by accusing Mubarak of declaring a war on Muslim organizations. But the Egyptian government and its media have been pointing the finger towards Iran and describing Hezbollah and Hamas as proxies to Tehran.

Egypt, which for many years took the lead in championing Arab causes in Palestine, Algeria, and Yemen, has been replaced by non-Arab countries like Iran and Turkey. For the past several years, the popularity of the ruling regime has been on a steady decline both in Egypt and in the region. Being popular with the people, however, has long ceased being a priority for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak: the popularity battle was lost a long time ago to the likes of Hassan Nasrallah, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Recep Tayeb Erdogan.

Watch the Video

The Chechen leader of a children's charity and her husband were found shot dead today, the latest victims in a string of murders of human rights activists and journalists in the troubled Russian republic of Chechnya. Zarema Sadulayeva and husband Alik Dzhabrailov were kidnapped from the offices of Save the Generation, an NGO led by Sadulayeva dedicated to helping children suffering the effects of the devastating wars in Chechnya. The bodies of the couple were later found in the trunk of their own car.

Chechen leader and Kremlin comrade Ramzan Kadyrov denounced the killings, blaming them on a faction looking to destabilize and divide Chechen society. This tone of condemnation was a very different sentiment from the one Kadyrov recently leveled against Natalya Estemirova, human rights activist and journalist killed in Chechnya in July. In comments from an interview with Radio Free Liberty, Kadyrov claims Estemirova "never had any honor or sense of shame" and also rather crassly denied any role in her murder -- "Why would Kadyrov kill women that no one needs?"

Human rights organizations have called on the Russian government to stop the murders, and to staunch what Amnesty International called the "complete disregard for rule of law that prevails in Chechnya today." Kadyrov's response to these kinds of accusations, in a fashion popular among Russian politicians, was to change the subject to the open wound of the 2008 Russian-Georgian War in South Ossetia and blame America: "Human rights are violated all over the world. America pressures absolutely everyone. And no one says anything about it. Take South Ossetia. The Americans snuck in there at night, shot up the entire population, and left. And everyone's silent about it."

Mssrs. Kadyrov, Putin, and Medvedev: How many more need to be killed in Chechnya before that silence is broken? And who is left to break the silence? NPR reports that a major Russian radio station, Ekho Moskvy, tried to contact other human rights activists in Chechnya for their comments on the story, with no luck: ""We looked down our list and next to almost every name is the word 'died,' 'died,' 'died."'

From natknits on YouTube:

"When I heard the song for the first time I was actually watching the video. I was so deeply moved by it. I remember I was on the couch feeling horrible from a cold and when this came on I forgot I was even sick. It made cry because of the strong message but it also made me want to get up and dance. As a way to help spread the message, I choreographed this for my Zumba class."

Here's the video!

We're so excited about this!

In case you missed the original Amnesty International/Link TV co-production here it is: