28 Feb, 2008, 1055 hrs IST, PTI

DUBAI: Rattled by the spate of strikes, by the Asian workers, most of whom are Indians, the Bahrain government has said foreign workers who refuse to work will be immediately deported.

The government has said new visas to replace the deported workers will also be granted to employers so that their work is not disrupted.

Bahrain ,February 28, 2008
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Bahrain.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about new developments concerning the trial of 18 persons in Bahrain, including Messrs. Maytham Bader Jassim Al-Sheikh, Hassan Abdelnabi, Abdullah Mohsen Abdulah Saleh and Ahmad Jaffar Mohammed Ali, members of the Unemployment Committee, Naji Al-Fateel, member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), Mohammed Abdullah Al-Sengais, Head of the Committee to Combat High Prices, and Ebrahim Mohamed Amin Al-Arab, founding member of the Martyrs and Victims Committee.

By Bill Law
Reporter, BBC Crossing Continents

Human rights activists in the Gulf state of Bahrain are calling on the government to release 15 protesters jailed in late December.

They say the prisoners, who are Shia Muslims, have been subjected to torture and sexual abuse while in jail.
Bahrain is unique in all the states of the Arabian Peninsula in that it has a Shia majority, roughly 65% of the population. But the ruling elite is Sunni. Shia Bahrainis say they have been discriminated against for years.

Politicians called back to Bahrain from exile demand compensation
By Suad Hamada (Our correspondent)

28 February 2008

MANAMA — More than 500 politicians and their families who were in exiles before Bahrain’s political reforms demanded compensations from the government yesterday.

Bahrain to deport workers who strike, setback for unskilled Indian expats
28 Feb, 2008, 1055 hrs IST, PTI

DUBAI: Rattled by the spate of strikes, by the Asian workers, most of whom are Indians, the Bahrain government has said foreign workers who refuse to work will be immediately deported.

The government has said new visas to replace the deported workers will also be granted to employers so that their work is not disrupted.

Labour committee discusses strikes

Bonny Mascarenhas
Staff Reporter

A meeting was held yesterday at the Ministry of Labour to find a solution to the ongoing issue of strikes by expatriate workers from the construction sector.
The meeting was chaired by Labour Undersecretary Shaikh Abdulrehman bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.
Attending the meeting were representatives from the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry and members of a committee set up by the ministry under the Edict No. 4 for 2008 to prevent strikes.

Maid's deportation delayed
By ANIQA HAIDER
Published: 28th February 2008

A RUNAWAY housemaid, who is stranded in Bahrain because her sponsor won't pay for her air ticket, had her deportation date postponed from tomorrow to Sunday.

The sponsor of Indian Malakkunnel Kunjappan Radha, 51, is reportedly refusing to give her passport back, a release letter or pay for her ticket despite an outpass given to her by the Indian Embassy.

Social workers have been campaigning to raise funds or for a donation of an air-ticket so she could leave the country.

Homes protest continues
By RASHA AL QAHTANI
Published: 28th February 2008

MORE than 1,000 families from Nuwaidrat and neighbouring villages continued protesting for the seventh day yesterday over the allocation of government homes.

Their representatives will meet Central Municipal Council chairman Abdulrahman Al Hassan today to discuss the issue.

Housing Civil Committee representative Abdulkhalik Ebrahim Qambar said nobody had approached them and that they were still protesting.

Defiant labourers face deportation
By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
Published: 28th February 2008

DEFIANT labourers, who unjustifiably refuse to work, will be immediately deported and new visas to replace them will be granted to their employers, the Labour Ministry said yesterday. Bahrain has no plans to introduce a minimum wage policy for expatriate labourers, which should be the responsibility of employers, said Labour Ministry Under-Secretary Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.

"However, employers are warned that they have to treat the labourers humanely," he said.

Work - or we will deport you warning
By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
Published: 28th February 2008

MANAMA: Foreign labourers who unjustifiably refuse to work will be immediately deported, the Labour Ministry said yesterday. New visas to replace them will also be granted to their employers to ensure that work is not disrupted.

Bahrain has no plans to introduce a minimum wage policy for expatriate labourers, said Labour Ministry Under-Secretary Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.

Runaway maid is caught after duping embassy
By ANIQA HAIDER
Published: 26th February 2008

A RUNAWAY housemaid, who duped embassy officials and charity groups into believing she was a victim of abuse, has been arrested, it was revealed yesterday.

Police had been looking for Indian Bindhu Mohanan after she escaped from her sponsor within 10 hours of her arrival in February last year.

Another case was filed against her after she failed to show up at the Bahrain International Airport last December, when the issue was said to be resolved.

Doctors may see 'rioters'
By MOHAMMED ASLAM
Published: 26th February 2008

A COURT has backtracked and granted doctors access to 15 alleged rioters held in police custody since December.

The High Criminal Court will now ask Health Minister Dr Faisal Al Hamer to form a medical committee to examine the men.

Doctors are then expected to submit their findings before the men's next hearing, which is scheduled for March 17.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Protesters' tents are torn down
Published: 26th February 2008

MORE than 1,000 families from Nuwaidrat and neighbouring villages continued protesting over the allocation of government homes for the fifth day yesterday.

They carried on despite Central Municipality removing their tents from the protest site on Sunday evening.

Jaw has top quarantine facilities
By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
Published: 26th February 2008

OUT of 752 inmates in Bahrain's main prison in Jaw, 120 are quarantined from others as they are suffering from contagious and serious diseases, it was revealed yesterday.

They include 11 Aids cases, eight of them also suffering from hepatitis, six hepatitis B and C, seven hepatitis B and 96 from hepatitis C.

Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Fifty- five local and International non-governmental organisations (NGOs) dealing with human rights have joined hands in demand for the release of 15 Bahraini detainees arrested during the disturbances in December last year.
Six groups from Bahrain have sent an urgent appeal to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa yesterday.

55 Local, regional and international organizations join call for end to jailing and torture of demonstrators and human rights activists in Bahrain

SOURCE: Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Manama

The following is a joint appeal to the King of Bahrain from BCHR and 54 other rights groups:

Sheikh Hamad Bin Issa Al Khalifa ,
King of Bahrain,
Riffa, Bahrain
Fax : +973 176 64 587

Your Royal Highness,

We the undersigned national and international human rights organisations and other groups defending freedom of expression urge the Bahraini authorities to immediately release those human rights activists and demonstrators who were unjustly detained following protests in December, and to immediately desist from torturing the detainees. We believe the charges against the activists, for violent actions which they did not commit, are a pretext to silence them as a reprisal for their outspoken and peaceful human rights work.

Plea to help maid return
By ANIQA HAIDER
Published: 25th February 2008

A RUNAWAY housemaid, who is scheduled to be deported on Friday after being in police custody from a month, is appealing for help to buy an air ticket home.

The sponsor of Indian Malakkunnel Kunjappan Radha, 51, is reportedly refusing to return her passport, a release letter or pay for her ticket despite an outpass given to her by the Indian Embassy.

She had arrived from Kerala on a two-year contract in 1994 to work as a housemaid for a Bahraini family.

Protest over housing plan
By RASHA AL QAHTANI
Published: 25th February 2008

MORE than 1,000 families yesterday pledged to continue protesting outside a vacant housing project in Nuwaidrat until it is "justly" allocated.

They have erected three tents near the completed but vacant project, where their protest continues for the fifth day today.

The families are demanding that the new government housing project be allocated to residents of Nuwaidrat, Ma'ameer, Eker and Sanad.

Security alert in courts for riots trial
By MOHAMMED ASLAM
Published: 25th February 2008

BAHRAIN's courts were under lockdown for the second time in three weeks yesterday as security was beefed up for the trial of 15 men accused of rioting, setting fire to a police car and stealing police weapons during violent protests over the Eid and National Day holidays last December.

Police barricades were set up around the Justice Ministry, in the Diplomatic Area, and riot police were stationed at all entrances to prevent the men's supporters and relatives entering the complex.

Riot suspects face charges
By ABDULRAHMAN FAKHRI
Published: 24th February 2008

FIFTEEN Bahrainis, accused of hurling Molotov cocktails at a police car and stealing weapons, will have charges levelled against them read in court today, in the presence of three international human rights observers.

Their lawyers had boycotted a hearing at the High Criminal Court on February 4, when the charges were supposed to be read.

It was in protest of the hearing being moved from a normal morning session to 3pm, outside the official hours of the court.

Runaway maid dupes officials
By ANIQA HAIDER
Published: 24th February 2008

POLICE are looking for a runaway housemaid who duped embassy officials and charity groups into believing she was a victim of abuse.

It is thought Indian Bindhu Mohanan may have been brought here by free-visa racketeers said to have forced some victims into prostitution.

The 31-year-old came to Bahrain on February 27 last year to work as a housemaid, but was reported missing to police by her Bahraini sponsor within 10 hours of her arrival.

Chamber cell for expat labourers
By SOMAN BABY
Published: 24th February 2008

A GRIEVANCES committee is to be set up for foreign labourers in Bahrain's construction industry, following a spate of strikes.

It is to be set up at the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and will operate under the chamber's contractors committee.

A suggestion to set up the committee was made by leading Bahraini businessmen following a meeting with Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty.

The meeting was held in the wake of the strikes by expatriate workers, the majority of them Indians.

Hundreds take to streets, authorities deny ill treatment to prisoners
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Over 2,000 people took to the streets yesterday in Manama urging the authorities to release the detainees arrested during the recent disturbances.
Human rights activists and family members of the detainees marched from Ras Ruman to Bab Al Bahrain chanting slogans.
“ We want these men to be released by the authorities. Family members and lawyers are facing problems to meet their loved ones.

Feb 22, 2008

MANAMA (AFP) — Around 2,500 Bahrainis took to the streets on Friday to demand the release of activists held over bloody clashes in Shiite-populated areas and who were allegedly tortured in custody.

Riot police deployed in force in the eastern Ras al-Ruman district of the capital Manama and closed off roads as the protesters chanted slogans calling for the detainees' release and the resignation of the government.

The marchers were led by opposition activists who organised the protest.

By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 21st February 2008

BAHRAIN's human rights review, which will be officially unveiled today, has been billed as a four-year action plan to improve civil liberties in the country.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Nazar Al Baharna yesterday described the 20-page report as not just an overview of what has already been achieved, but a preview of what was to come.

However, he refused to reveal details of the document until it was officially published.

Dubai, Feb 20 (PTI) Indians working in Bahrain must obey local laws and not resort to strikes as such actions are illegal in the Gulf country, Indian ambassador to Manama Balakrishna Shetty said.
His appeal comes at a time when an unprecedented number of workers, including Indians, are going on strike at many Bahrain companies. During the strikes, many of the contracting companies had blamed the Indian embassy for the strikes.

The embassy has in no way been associated with supporting any move by Indian workers to violate local labour laws, he said.

By Geoffrey Bew
Published: 20th February 2008

BAHRAIN has fallen short of pledges to fulfil its obligations to protect human rights since joining the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in March 2006, says a report.

The document, complied by human rights activists, says the country has breached 11 separate commitments to improve freedom of expression, the right to justice for victims of crimes, sexual discrimination, the rights of migrant workers and the right to hold peaceful demonstrations.

17/02/2008 18:25 MANAMA, Feb 17 (AFP)

A series of strikes by low-paid Asian workers in Bahrain has been blamed on the erosion of their meagre earnings as the US dollar slides and prompted contractors to threaten to stop hiring Indian labourers.

A week-long strike by around 1,300 mostly Indian workers helping to build the luxury coastal development of Durrat al-Bahrain in the south of the Gulf archipelago, ended on Saturday when they agreed to a wage rise of 15 dinars (40 dollars) a month, a union official said.

http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USL177831820080217
Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:29pm EST
MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahrain should investigate complaints that detained opposition activists have been repeatedly abused in jail, Western human rights groups said.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch called on the Gulf Arab state's government to allow independent doctors to examine detainees who say they have faced torture and sexual assault.

Dubai, Feb 17 (ANI): An Indian housemaid has gone missing from a Bahrain airport, where she was detained after her sponsor was prevented by authorities from deporting her due to alleged unpaid salary.

The Indian Embassy authorities had intervened in the matter when M T Khadeeja was taken to the airport by her sponsor to send her back to India on January 29 due to alleged non-payment of the salary.

Khadeeja was scheduled to fly by a Sri Lankan Airlines flight to Calicut, Kerala.

Rights Group Denied Permission to Visit Detainees with Independent Doctors
(New York, February 16, 2008) – Bahrain should investigate allegations that security personnel have repeatedly abused detained opposition political activists, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch called on the government to allow independent physicians to examine detainees who have alleged abuse including torture and sexual assault.

By Suad Hamada (Our correspondent)

16 February 2008

MANAMA — Homosexuals population is on the rise in Bahrain, according to lawmakers, who have been demanding of the government to take action in this regard.

The lawmakers warned of the nagative effects of the increase in the number of gays on the social stability in Bahrain.

They called through a proposal tabled by five MPs and approved by the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security to find mechanisms to tackle the issue at the earliest.

Friday, February 15, 2008 (Dubai)
Amid labour unrest in Bahrain by foreign workers, majority of them Indians, Manama on Friday virtually rejected New Delhi's attempt to fix the minimum wage for its nationals taking up employment in the Gulf country.

Bahrain is keen to protect the rights of foreign workers, but the recent move by India of fixing a minimum wage of BD100 for unskilled workers couldn't be applied in other countries, Bahrain's Labour Minister Majeed Al Alawi said.

Tension high as 500 labourers defy striking colleagues
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Tension ran high in the G. P. Zachariades labour camp near Durrat Al Bahrain in the morning after 500 workers decided to resume duty following company’s promise that it would consider their demands.

By SOMAN BABY
Published: 15th February 2008

MANAMA: A trouble-shooting panel cha-rged with heading off labour strikes has been set up by the government.

It is to hold talks with industry leaders, Bahraini union chiefs and foreign workers' representatives to ward off strikes and agitation in the work place.

The "pre-emptive" creation of the arbitration committee follows a spate of strikes by thousands of workers in the construction industry.

By Geoffrey bew
Published: 15th February 2008

A STRIKE at one of Bahrain's major development projects has ended, with labourers agreeing to return to work today.

A breakthrough came as hundreds of the G P Zachariades Company workers rebelled against the strike yesterday.

They walked out of their accommodation camp declaring they wanted to go back to work, even if the others did not.

Meanwhile, Labour Ministry officials helped broker a deal which means that all 1,800 strikers will go back to work today.

Dubai, Feb 14 (PTI) A six-day old strike by over 2,000 workers, including 1,400 Indians, at a Bahrain construction firm was withdrawn today after the company management agreed to a nearly 27 per cent hike in the salary.

The announcement was made by the country's Labour Minister Majeed Al Alawi in Manama this afternoon, ending six days of stand-off between the management and the striking workers, Indian Ambassador to Bahrain Balakrishna Shetty told PTI.

February 13, 2008

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Bahrain.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) about the ongoing arbitrary detention of Messrs. Maytham Bader Jassim Al-Sheikh, Hassan Abdelnabi, Abdullah Mohsen Abdulah Saleh and Ahmad Jaffar Mohammed Ali, members of the Unemployment Committee, Naji Al-Fateel, member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), Mohammed Abdullah Al-Sengais, Head of the Committee to Combat High Prices, and Ebrahim Mohamed Amin Al-Arab, founding member of the Martyrs and Victims Committee and acts of torture and ill-treatments.

According to the information received, on February 3, 2008, the trial of Messrs. Maytham Bader Jassim Al-Sheikh, Hassan Abdelnabi, Abdullah Mohsen Abdulah Saleh, Ahmad Jaffar Mohammed Ali, Naji Al Fateel, Mohammed Abdullah Al Sengais and Ebrahim Mohamed Amin Al-Arab was scheduled to start before the High Criminal Court. Nevertheless, on the morning of that day, while the defendants were not present, the presiding judge informed their lawyers that the session would be postponed to the afternoon. At 3 p.m., without the presence of the defendants’ lawyers, the session was adjourned to February 24, 2008. The judge also indicated that the trial could be held any time. They had been charged of “illegal gathering” as well as “theft of a weapon and ammunition and possession of weapon and ammunition without permission”, after a demonstration held on December 17, 2007, at the occasion of the Martyrs’ Day[1].

Female Postal Unionist Suspended for Voicing out Official Harassments

Date: 13 February 2008

Person(s): Najeya Abdulghaffar
Target(s): human rights worker(s)

The latest episode of punishing unionists for expressing themselves was two days ago by the Bahraini Postal Directorate of the Ministry of Transport which suspended postal unionist Mrs Najeya Abdulghaffar for ten days without pay, on the allegations that she disclosed "job secrets".

With the exception of Qatar,
Arab ministers of information submit a document imposing tough restrictions on freedom of satellite transmission

Cairo February, 13th, 2008

Atul Aneja

Two workers allegedly deported to India

DUBAI: As Bahrain’s construction workers, majority of them Indians, went on strike, officials of an affected company adopted a hard line and the country’s apex trade union expressed broad support for the agitation.

Bahrain’s human rights activists have also backed the call for higher wages, citing the recent steep hike in prices. However, two out of the over 2,000 workers on strike were allegedly deported to India on separate flights, the Bahraini newspaper, Gulf Daily News, has reported.

The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) – 12 February 2008

Three detainees held in the Criminal Investigation Bureau told family members who visited them yesterday that they had been subjected to beating on February 10, as a punishment for protesting against ill-treatment and prison conditions. These detainees were

Mohammed Abdullah Al Sengais, Aged 40, the head of the Committee to Combat High Prices
Naji Ali Hassan Fateel, aged 31, member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR)
Hassan Abdulnabi Hassan, aged 26, member of the Unemployment Committee
The BCHR has no recent reports from Ahmad Jaffar Mohammed Ali, aged 28 who is the fourth detainee at the same detention centre.

Suspension sparks postal staff protest
Unionists allege harassment by govt
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

The suspension of Postal Workers Union (PWU) office-bearers took a turn for the worse yesterday with the government probe panel summoning president Jamal Atteq Juma for explanation for hobnobbing with the Press.
As hundreds protested against the suspension of vice-chairman of PWU Najeeha Abdul Ghaffar outside the Muharraq post office yesterday, Juma told the Tribune that the panel had asked him to be present tomorrow and explain why he aired his grievances to the media.

By Suad Hamada (Our correspondent)

10 February 2008

MANAMA — Bahrain is negotiating with some Asian and African governments to open new markets for foreign manpower, after India and the Philippines fixed the minimum wages for their workers. Bangladesh is expected to follow suit.

India has fixed BD100 as minimum wage for domestic workers and moves are afoot to increasing the wages of other labourers.

The Philippines, on its part, has fixed BD150 as the minimum wage for its citizens.

1,300 migrant workers strike in Bahrain over pay Sun Feb 10, 8:03 AM ET

Around 1,300 migrant workers helping to build a luxury coastal development in Bahrain have gone on strike to demand higher wages, a company official said on Sunday.

The workers are employed by the contracting firm GP Zachariades to work on the Durrat al-Bahrain development in the south of the wealthy Gulf archipelago.

NDAS chief says ‘political’ naturalisation could be behind demographic imbalance
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Is the increasing population a result of “political” naturalisation or excess foreign workforce?
The question has been doing the rounds since the Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Central Informatics Organisation chief, Shaikh Ahmed bin Attiyatallah Al Khalifa, told the Chamber of Deputies that the population had hit the one-million mark.
However, reports from various agencies have put the population at 750,000.

The government says there are 2,000 jobs and it is looking for people to fill them. Then why do not they employ us?” asked Syed Hashem Khalid, a bachelor in community service, from the University of Bahrain.
“Give us decent jobs. We are all graduates. This is our way of highlighting our plight before the nation and the government,” Khalid told the Tribune during a protest against unemployment yesterday.
Over 100 educated Bahrainis demonstrated for jobs outside the Civil Services Bureau.

Notice served on postal workers’ vice-president
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Another Postal Workers Union leader is being suspended from this Saturday.
“The postal department has served a 10-day suspension notice on vice-president Najeeha Abdul Ghaffar,” union chief, Jamal Ateeq Juma told the Tribune yesterday.
“The notice says she will suspended from Saturday and will not receive salary during the ten-day suspension,” JUma said.

ersion="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> BNEW 3 India is demanding BD100 minimum pay
Published: 7th February 2008

MANAMA: India is demanding a minimum wage of BD100 a month for all unskilled workers in Bahrain, including the construction sector.It will stop workers leaving India for Bahrain unless they have contracts attested by the Indian Embassy, from March 1.

The minimum wage will apply to workers already here when their current contracts expire.

The Indian government is fixing minimum wages for each Gulf country, according to the local cost of living.

By Begena P PRADEEP
Published: 6th February 2008

HUNDREDS of workers at one of Bahrain's biggest contracting companies, who went on strike on Monday, have rejected an initial deal tabled by management.

More than 700 Almoayyed Contracting labourers continued their strike for a second day yesterday as they held out for a better offer.

The company has said it would raise the basic salaries of all its 2,000 workers by BD10 each and give them an extra BD5 for food.

By Nora Boustany
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, February 1, 2008; A11

A leading human rights group said Thursday that the United States has lost its moral authority by supporting autocratic governments in strategic countries despite their continuing violations of civil liberties.

Bonny Mascarenhas
Staff Reporter

After living for close to two decades as an illegal worker, amnesty applicant Mohammed Kunhi, who was on the threshold of returning home has learnt his family has slammed their doors on him.
“My wife and children have told me not to come home, they are not ready to take me in,” the 48-year-old, Kunhi, told the Tribune. He had come to the Indian Embassy Open House on Friday and was crying inconsolably.

Published: 5th February 2008

BAHRAIN is being urged to pump more money into the UN, which in turn says it can help the country improve its performance.

Bahrain currently gives the UN Development Programme $10 million (BD3.78m) every four years, but more is needed, says UN resident co-ordinator and UNDP resident representative Sayed Aqa.

A bigger budget would enable the UNDP to roll out additional programmes requested by non-governmental organisations and civil societies, he said.

Published: 5th February 2008

NEARLY 750 Asian workers downed tools at Almoayyed Contracting yesterday demanding better pay.

The majority were Indians, but they were also accompanied by colleagues from Pakistan and Bangladesh.

They claimed they were protesting because they were paid between BD60 and BD85 and said they would not return to work until a better deal is on the table.

However, the company denied this and claimed the workers' salaries range from BD75 to BD150.

Published: 4th February 2008

BAHRAIN is to host the first international human rights film festival in the region in May.

It is organised by Bahrain Society for Public Freedom and Democracy Support and financed by the Social Development Ministry.

It will be held from May 1 to 4 in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"Our festival will represent a strong message from the people of this part of the world, proving their support to all issues related to peace, justice and human rights," said festival director Nasser Burdestani.

Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

Observers assigned in Bahrain by International human rights group were not allowed yesterday to attend the hearing of 15 people arrested in connection with the disturbances last month.
Mohammed Al Maskati, who was assigned by Defender International (DI), an International human rights body to monitor the court hearing, alleged that the authorities changed the timing of the hearing from 10 am to 3 pm.

Bahrainis demonstrate in front of the Manama police headquarters, Bahrain, Friday, Feb. 1, 2008, for the release of detained activists they allege have been tortured. A new Human Rights Watch report puts Bahrain among nations getting away with human rights violations due to alleged manipulation of elections. The Bahraini government is to submit a human rights report to the U.N. in Geneva later this month.

Commission should receive and follow up complaints
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter

A lawmaker has proposed the setting up of an autonomous national human rights commission to receive and follow up complaints by residents.
The proposal comes at a time when human rights have taken the centre stage in the Kingdom as its rights records will be reviewed at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on April 7.
Bahrain is among the first batch of 48 UN members to go under scanner. Bahrain will be under watch for four years.

By mohammed aslam
Published: 2nd February 2008

A MAN who sexually abused a 13-year-old Bahraini girl has had his three-year jail sentence cut to one.

His lawyer submitted a letter from the girl's father to the Supreme Criminal Appeal Court, in which he said he was withdrawing the complaint.

The court accepted the 21-year-old Bahraini's appeal and reduced his jail sentence, imposed by the High Criminal Court last October.

Published: 2nd February 2008

GDN journalist Mandeep Singh was forcibly detained for more than an hour by security staff at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), where he was reporting on the dhow rescue yesterday.

He was bustled into the security room and when he tried to leave, several security staff repeatedly blocked the door, though they did not lock it.