SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - An independent United Nations expert today urged the Government of Bahrain to honour its international commitments and allow him in to assess whether torture and ill-treatment are taking place in the country, after repeated postponements of planned visits. “This is the second time that my visit has been postponed, at very short notice. It is effectively a cancellation as no alternative dates were proposed nor is there a future road map to discuss,” UN…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - The Liberties and Human Rights Department (LHRD) in al-Wefaq National Islamic Society issued a report highlighting the wide violations Bahrain military and security authorities committed in concurrence with the Formula 1 race from 13th to 22nd April, 2013.The report clarified that the violations took place one week before the Formula 1 race started in concurrence with the race's preparations and continued for 10 days. The report mentioned that 132 arrests (105 males, 2 females…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - Akhbar Al-Khaleej the issue 12,806 Monday 15th Arpil, 2013 (a spokesman of an Islamic entity has clarified that the crime of exploding a car in this area 2 in which the incident occurred last night, in particular, was a quick response to the sermon of Shaikh Isa Qassim in which he threatened the state, citizens and all residents of a new phase of security uprising.) Akhbar Al-Khaleej, issue No: 12,807,Tuesday 16th April, 2013: (Al-Asala…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - The Bahraini government has postponed indefinitely a visit by Juan Mendez the UN special rapporteur on torture. According to the country's official news agency the trip has been called off "until further notice". This comes just days after the release of a US State Department report on human rights in Bahrain which spoke of "significant" violations including torture in detention. The Gulf kingdom has been wracked by civil unrest for two years. The violence…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - Bahrain security forces thwarted attacks and found caches of weapons including 1,000 petrol bombs in the run-up to last weekend's Formula One race, state media said as protests and sectarian tensions continued to simmer in the island kingdom. Bahrain did not see a repeat of the mass demonstrations that overshadowed last year's race - though young men armed with rocks did clash with police in outlying villages, as they have done regularly since unrest…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - The man from Sweden was growing more anxious by the second. The long traffic queue snaked for miles into the Sakhir circuit as the temperature rose in the hours before the Bahrain Grand Prix. The temperature was also rising in hundreds of cars and buses being funnelled gradually into single file to be examined by a drive-through electronic bomb detector. The wait was agony for many, like the fan from Sweden; for some, it…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - Bahrain's rulers can breathe a sigh of relief after a prized Formula One race went off largely unhindered by unrest, but in villages beyond the well-protected Grand Prix bubble simmering communal tensions still pose a stubborn challenge to stability. Last year's race was seen as a public relations own-goal for the tiny but strategically vital country's ruling Al Khalifa family, as security forces battled protesters and black smoke rose on the skyline across the U.S.-allied…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - The wife of jailed Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab says he is being denied medical treatment for a back injury. Sumaya Rajab told the BBC that prison officials had repeatedly refused requests to send him to hospital. Mr Rajab has served 11 months of a two-year sentence for encouraging "illegal gatherings". The 48-year-old has been a leader of the pro-democracy protests which have rocked the kingdom since February 2011. Mr Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)  The Al Khalifa regime has ordered journalists from the British television network ITV to leave Bahrain as they reported on the violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests in the build-up to the Formula One Grand Prix auto race. The team of five, including ITV News special correspondent Rageh Omaar, were filming in the tiny Persian Gulf island ahead of this weekend's Formula One race.  However, despite having the necessary visas, the British TV crew was held…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –According to Al-Manar news network, Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Ghassem said the mistreatment of prisoners has undermined their dignity and endangered their health. Delivering his Friday prayer sermon at Manama’s Imam Sadeq (AS) Mosque on April 19, the senior cleric noted that prisoners like Sheikh Muhammad Habib Al-Miqdad, Abdul-Wahab Hussein, Hassan Mashima and Abdul-Jalil Al-Sankis have been mistreated and their health has been put on jeopardy. He also said that the popular movement of Bahrain has…