Bahrain Regime Waging War On Its Own People by Finian Cunningham

by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from PressTV
October 26, 2013

Image by Al Jazeera English via Flickr

The US-backed Bahraini regime is mounting an undeclared, merciless war on the majority Shia population of the tiny Persian Gulf island.

Yet, this systematic crime against humanity is proceeding with impunity and barely a murmur of international protest. The regime may be the ones holding the gun, but it is the tacit support of Washington and London that allows these despots to pull the trigger on civilians.

Bahrain: Mohammed Al-Maskati, President of the BYSHR Summoned for Interrogation + Night Raids, Torture, Sham Trials a Daily Reality

Dandelion Salad

Image by Al Jazeera English via Flickr

Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights
Oct. 22, 2013

On 22 October 2013, prominent human rights defender Mr Mohammed Al-Maskati was summoned to Khamis Police Station for interrogation.

A New Kind of War Is Being Legalized by David Swanson

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
warisacrime.org
October 22, 2013

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

There’s a dark side to the flurry of reports and testimony on drones, helpful as they are in many ways. When we read that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch oppose drone strikes that violate international law, some of us may be inclined to interpret that as a declaration that, in fact, drone strikes violate international law. On the contrary, what these human rights groups mean is that some drone strikes violate the law and some do not, and they want to oppose the ones that do.

Finian Cunningham: An Angel Song for Peace and an End to Violence

Warning

This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

Image by frecklebaum via Flickr

by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
October 21, 2013

MyCatbirdSeat on Oct 21, 2013

Commercialisation and Conflict in New India by Graham Peebles

by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London
October 17, 2013

Image by Association Devidine via Flickr

Developing divisions

Participation is a cornerstone of the democratic ideal. It sits alongside those other marginalized tenets: social justice, freedom and equality. Forgotten principles in a world of corporate politics driven by the quest for endless economic growth and maximum market share. Hailed as the world’s largest democracy and touted as ‘an emerging economic powerhouse’, India’s economy is beginning to cough and splutter with the rupee trading at an all time low, and the ‘current account’ showing an $88 billion deficit.

Colin Cavell: Bahrain opposition party reports 1900 cases of mistreatment of activists in September

Image by malyousif via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

PressTV on Oct 9, 2013

Bahrain’s main opposition party, al-Wefaq, says the regime’s harsh crackdown on pro-democracy activists has intensified over the past month, with the highest levels of violence since the uprising began in 2011. In a report, al-Wefaq has documented nineteen hundred cases of human rights violations only in the month of September 2013, including incidents in which regime forces used excessive force or torture.

According to the report, last month 214 anti-regime protesters were arrested, including two women and 40 children — the highest number since the uprising began. The al-Wefaq report also said that 111 activists — who were convicted by a Bahraini court and given sentences of up to 15 years — were tried based on fabricated charges.

Malalai Joya: The Hypocrisy of the U.S. Government + Chomsky Scorns So-Called “Humanitarian Intervention” + The Afghan Peace Volunteers and Luke Nephew: Rap Against Impunity as the Afghan War Turns 12

Dandelion Salad

Image by FJJ via World Can’t Wait via Flickr

strugglevideomedia on Oct 8, 2013

Famed human rights activist Malalai Joya speaks in Boston at the meeting along with Noam Chomsky. Joya is on a 10 city tour of the U.S. Joya is speaking about her updated version of her book “A Woman Among Warlords”. She is introduced by Marilyn Levin of the United National Anti-War Coaltion. www.unacpeace.org 10/6/2013 

Abuse of Migrant Workers in MENA Countries by Graham Peebles

by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London
October 5, 2013

Image by nathangibbs via Flickr

Given the choice few people would leave their families and friends and migrate from their homeland. The tens of thousands that pay unscrupulous ‘agents’ and criminal gangs to transport them hundreds or thousands of miles (often across borders), are compelled to do so to find work and to earn money to support themselves and their loved ones at home. The Middle East and North African (MENA) countries are some of the destinations of choice for both men and women seeking work, women look for domestic work and child-care, whist employment in the construction industry, is the goal of the tens thousands of men from South East Asia living in stifling poverty.

West’s Damning Silence Over Bahrain by Finian Cunningham

Image by malyousif via Flickr

by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from PressTV
October 1, 2013

Bahrain’s despotic Al Khalifa rulers have gone into a huff over US President Barack Obama’s comparison of the Persian Gulf island state with Syria.

In his address to the UN General Assembly last week, Obama made vague mention of sectarianism in Syria and Bahrain in the same sentence.

Bahraini Human Rights Defender Naji Fateel Sentenced to 15 Years, 49 Others Sentenced

Dandelion Salad

Bahrain Center for Human Rights
September 29, 2013

The court sentenced today political detainees, including activists and an human rights defender, to total of more than 400 years’ imprisonment and upheld the sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment against two children. All of the sentences were delivered under the internationally criticized and vague terrorism law. The court also reduced the sentences of two police officers who tortured a detainee to death from 10 years’, to 2 years’ imprisonment. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights is gravely concerned over the politically motivated charges and sentences delivered against dissents, and urgently calls for an end to Bahrain’s biased judicial system.

Proof of Obama’s Cheap Words: Bahrain by Finian Cunningham

by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from PressTV
September 25, 2013

Image by Al Jazeera English via Flickr

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, President Barack Obama delivered his usual barrage of myth and mendacity concerning the role of the US in the world.

Some commentators have since swooned at the possibility of dialogue between Iran and US and a new era of diplomacy – all because of a few positive-sounding words uttered by the American president.

It Is State Terrorism That Stalks This Land by Graham Peebles

by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London
September 19, 2013

Image by aheavens via Flickr

They speak of democracy, but act violently to suppress dissenting voices and control the people through the inculcation of fear: they ignore human rights and trample on the people, they are a tyrannical wolf in democratic sheep’s clothing, causing suffering and misery to thousands of people throughout Ethiopia. The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government repeatedly scoffs at international law and consistently acts in violation of their own Federal constitution – a liberal document written by the regime to please and deceive their foreign supporters.

September 11: Forty Years Later by Carlos Torres

Dandelion Salad

Crossposted with permission from www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/

by Carlos Torres
Socialist Project
September 11, 2013

On September 11, millions of Chileans commemorate 40 years since the coup d’état in which the Palace of La Moneda in Santiago was attacked by warplanes and President Salvador Allende died fighting the conspirators. This event marked years of state terrorism and bloodshed in our country and the fortieth anniversary of the assault has been a political and emotional recollection for our friends and comrades from around the world.

Children and Women for Sale In India by Graham Peebles

by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London
September 4, 2013

Image by Rita Willaert via Flickr

To be born poor in our world, is to be born vulnerable and in danger of exploitation of one kind or another; to be incarnated female and poor is to greatly intensify the risks. If you are born a girl to parents of tea-pickers in Assam in North Eastern India (earning as little as US $1.50 a day) there is a good chance you will be sold to a local recruitment ‘agent’ by your loved ones for around $50, he will sell you on to a city ‘employer’ for up to $800 and into a life of abuse and suffering.

Land Grab: Violent Evictions Killing and Rape by Graham Peebles

by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London
August 12, 2013

Image by Dietmar Temps via Flickr

In many parts of the world development has become an invisible cloak under which all manner of “state sponsored” atrocities and human rights violations are being committed. Married to growth, development has been (largely) reduced to economic advancement – meaning maximizing Gross National Product (GNP) figures month on month, year on year, and turning over glowing returns to the insatiable global monetary bodies – The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and – profit to private investors. No matter the human impact and environmental consequences.