Archive for category: News

On 28 October 2014, a Bahraini court sentenced award winning photographer Ammar Abdulrasool to two years in prison. Americans for Democracy Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) condemn the court’s decision and the ongoing prosecution and detention of photographers in Bahrain.

Ammar Abdulrasool, a member of the International Federation for Photographic Art (FIAP) and the Photographic Society of America, has received more than 80 international awards for his photography. Abdulrasool was arrested by security forces on 24 July 2014 without being shown a search or arrest warrant. The security forces seized two digital cameras and a mobile phone belonging to Abdulrasool.

Abdulrasool was arrested and taken, handcuffed and blindfolded, to the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID). While in detention, Abdulrasool was forced to stand for three days and denied the ability to pray. Security forces beat Abdulrasool, stripped him of his clothes, sexually harassed him, threatened him with electric shocks, and threatened to arrest his wife and infant daughter. Abdulrasool was subjected to enforced disappearance for seven days and was denied access to a lawyer.

Government forces interrogated Abdulrasool regarding his work, placing emphasis on a photograph showing a peaceful protestor giving a police officer a flower (above). The photo was taken during the February 2011 demonstrations that took place in Bahrain and has been widely circulated and acclaimed since its publication, winning a number of international prizes.

On 30 July, the public prosecution ordered Abdulrasool’s continued detention for 45 days pending investigation on charges of participating in an illegal gathering. On 27 August, authorities brought Abdulrasool in front of a judge without informing his lawyers and began legal proceedings on charges of participating in an illegal gathering, rioting and throwing Molotov cocktails.

Abdulrasool is one of many who have faced reprisals from the Government of Bahrain as a result of their work. The same day Abdulrasool was sentenced, the CID summoned photographer Mohamed al-Oraibi for interrogation. On 27 October, the trial of award winning photographer Ahmed al-Fardan was postponed until 20 January 2015. Award winning photographers Ahmed Humaidan and Hussain Hubail are serving prison sentences for their work, while the government has detained award winning photographer Ahmed Almosawi without a trial since 10 February 2014.

The aforementioned organizations believe that the Bahraini government’s reprisals against photographers is a violation of covenants and international treaties that guarantee the right to freedom of expression, in particular Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states that “everyone has the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”

The aforementioned organizations calls on the government of Bahrain to ensure the following and call on the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and all other allies of the Bahrain government, and international institutions to put pressure on Bahrain to:

•     Immediate release Ammar Abdulrasool and all detained photographers;
•     Allow for the safe exercise of the right to freedom of expression without reprisals; and
•     Put an end to the systematic targeting of photographers, journalists and bloggers.

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Rasoul Al-Musawi was closing up an Islamic prayer centre on Rosedale Avenue is Greenacre when the attack occurred, with friends claiming he was targeted targeted by people claiming to be supporters of Islamic State.

Mr Al-Musawi was shot in the face and shoulder while he was with his wife and four of his children at the Husainiyah Nabi Akram centre.

Mr Al-Musawi’s friend – who did not wish to be named – is a Shiite Muslim and said the shooting in Greenacre was motivated by the sectarian struggle in the Middle East.

‘They called us “Shia dogs” and they threatened to come back down tonight and kill you, shoot you, whatever,’ he told ABC Radio on Monday.

The man said they had taken no notice of the threats made on the night of the shooting – which also included ‘IS lives forever’ – but then he received a phone call saying his friend had been shot.

‘He was walking his family home so he can come back and do the cleaning [at the Islamic Centre] and they shot him in front of his family,’ he said.

‘His wife, she just fainted.’
Mr Al-Musawi’s daughter said he was shot from behind and she and her father were leaving the Islamic prayer centre.
‘We heard two loud bangs. My dad just held his neck and ran inside,’ she told Network Ten.

‘All I see was blood running down his head and neck.’
He is now in a stable condition after undergoing surgery, and police described his wounds as ‘not life threatening’.  

ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) refers to terror group Islamic State who are based in Syria and Iraq.
The extremist militants see Shiite Muslims as a threat to their end goal of establishing a caliphate in the Middle East.

A police spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia they were not disclosing which hospital he had been taken to due to his personal safety.

‘As a precautionary measure, we’re not giving that out,’ she said.

Well-known member of the Shiite community Jamal Daoud said this was not the first time worshippers had been targeted while they were trying to pay their respects during Ashura – a 10-day tradition which marks Imam Hussain’s death. Imam Hussain was the grandson of Prophet Muhammed.

Mr Daoud told The Sydney Morning Herald the centre had experienced a few attacks in recent days.
On Friday about 8pm, a security officer employed by the centre was attacked by three men who hit him in the face, Mr Daoud said.

He said the ‘extremists’ were deliberately trying to threaten the Shiite community and the people he had talked to were ‘very concerned’ and ‘very scared’.

‘This is very dangerous. It’s a warning something bigger could happen.’
In a statement, NSW Police said they would like to hear from anyone who may have seen a vehicle driving in the vicinity of the location at the time of the shooting.

Investigators are still yet to see if the two incidents are connected.
Members of the centre took care of the man’s injuries until paramedics arrived after taking him off the street and back inside the building he had just exited, 9News reported.

The centre was opened 10 years ago in an industrial area of Greenacre – which has been closed off by investigators – where there are many smash repairs and wrecking yards.

Firearm detection dogs were seen searching the centre and the areas around it.
Officers investigating the shooting are asking those who had not already spoken to police to contact them.
They are still trying to figure out why the attack had been carried out.

‘At this point in time it does not appear that there is any type of motivation for the shooting,’ Inspector Dave Firth said.
‘We are following several lines of inquiry.’

Those who work in the area said the neighbourhood was normally ‘quiet’.
Police are looking into forensic evidence as well as CCTV footage. 

In a lecture at Qom’s Holy Shrine of Lady Fatimah al-Ma’sumah on the sorrowful day of Ashura, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi explained to the thousands of mourners gathered the most important messages of Imam Husayn’s uprising against the evil and oppressive caliph, Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah and his corrupt government.

He stated that the establishment of prayer, enjoining the good, freedom and standing up against oppression are the most important messages that we can learn from Imam Husayn. “All of our efforts must be to implement these lessons in society. In addition to mourning rituals, we must take the various dimensions of the uprising and movement of the Master of the Martyrs [a title of Imam Husayn] into consideration,” Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi stated.

The renowned source of emulation explained that that calling oneself a follower of Imam Husayn has obligations. “The movement of the Master of Martyrs was to protect and preserve the religion [of Islam] and if we want to follow on the path of the Imam, our efforts must be to protect the values which he stood up for,” His Eminence explained.

Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi explained that the revival of the obligatory duty of enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong is one of the most important principals we can learn from the event of Ashura. His Eminence criticized the various excuses that people use to weaken these important principles of the Islamic faith, saying: “Unfortunately, some would like to weaken these two divine principles which form the basis [of Islam] in order to give a green light to engage in sin. Due to these conditions, we must be vigilant.”

“When enjoining the good and forbidding the wrong there must not be any violence. It is our enemies who pretend to enjoin the good and forbid the wrong with violence,” His Eminence added.

Implementing and abiding by the culture of Ashura is the best way to overcome the problems of society, Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi said. “If we follow the culture of Ashura and Karbala, which is the same as opposition to oppression and to the oppressors, than we will be successful and will face no unsolvable problems.”

Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi stated that the successful Islamic Revolution which was led by Imam Khomeini was inspired by the uprising of Imam Husayn.

During his speech, he also commemorated the anniversary of the seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran which occurred on November 13, 1979. Iranians called the American Embassy the “den of spies” because it had turned into a centre of spying aimed at overthrowing the nascent Islamic Republic in Iran following the Islamic Revolution which occupied earlier in 1979.

He also emphasized that Iran can be successful with its nuclear dispute if it has the same Husayn-inspired spirit that led it to success over its enemies in 1979.

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Bahraini regime forces have attacked Shia mourners commemorating the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), the third Shia Imam.

Security forces targeted the mourners in several villages across the country on Saturday.

They destroyed and removed all banners, flags and black cloths commemorating the Ashura anniversary.

In the village of Ma’ameer, security forces clashed with protesters, and fired teargas to disperse the mourners.

A Bahraini rights group has condemned the Manama regime for violating the religious freedom of the Shia population of Bahrain.

Ashura marks the day when Imam Hussein, along with 72 of his companions, was martyred in Karbala.

Imam Hussein’s martyrdom is considered by Shia Muslims as a symbol of the struggle against injustice and the need to preserve the purity of Islam.

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