Bahrain lifted martial law yesterday in what the government hopes will be a sign to tourists and business of a return to normal, but the opposition fears repression is set to continue.
Authorities are especially keen to get back the Formula One race. The prestigious March event in the motor-racing calendar was canceled because of unrest that erupted in February when pro-democracy protesters, inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, took to the streets.
A meeting of the sport’s governing body tomorrow could reinstate it for later this year, but US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said a heavy crackdown on opposition activists during 11 weeks of martial law should count in the decision.
Photo: Reuters
The dusty streets of the capital were calm yesterday, and a military camp set up next to a large roundabout that was the focal point of protests had dwindled to a few armored vehicles.
King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, whose Sunni Muslim family rules over a majority Shiite population, offered a dialogue on reform in a speech on Tuesday. While the king spoke, military prosecutors summoned four members of the main opposition party Wefaq, including its leader, and rights activist Nabeel Rajab, for questioning. They were released after several hours, acquaintances said.
With Bahrain’s state of emergency over, military prosecutors can no longer call in civilians but military courts will still hear several cases started since martial law began on March 15.
Twenty-one opposition figures — seven of whom are abroad — are on military trial on charges of seeking to overthrow the system. Most of them are from parties that called for a republic. Rights activists say they have been tortured.
They also say it is not clear how many remain in detention. Dozens of doctors and nurses have been arrested and health services have been purged of Shiite managers.
State media says medics stored weapons at Pearl Roundabout and a nearby hospital. Doctors who have been released deny this, saying they were forced to sign and record confessions.
SYRIA
Meanwhile, opposition groups in Syria dismissed as not enough an amnesty for political prisoners decreed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after two months of protests and bloodshed, as they gathered in Turkey yesterday to plan their next step.
Syria’s official SANA news agency said the amnesty for political prisoners would extend to the Muslim Brotherhood, membership of which has been punishable by death in Syria since it led a bloody uprising against the government in the 1980s.
“President Assad has by decree issued an amnesty on all [political] crimes committed before May 31, 2011,” SANA reported. “The amnesty applies to all political prisoners as well as to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
HRW said killings and torture by Syrian security forces in the southern city of Daraa over the past two months may qualify as crimes against humanity.
The New York-based watchdog said more than 50 interviews with victims and witnesses indicate “systematic killings, beatings, torture using electroshock devices, and detention of people seeking medical care.”
It said that the nature and scale of the abuses “strongly suggest that these qualify as crimes against humanity.”
Washington has also demanded that Assad call a halt to the violence against his own people.
Syrian state television also announced yesterday that an investigation had been launched into the death of a 13-year-old boy who was allegedly tortured and killed by security forces in Daraa.
LIBYA
Powerful explosions rocked Tripoli as NATO pressed its air war yesterday amid Libyan charges it has killed 718 civilians and reports that British ex-special forces soldiers are advising the rebels.
NATO allies also agreed to extend the campaign in Libya for another 90 days, prolonging the mission until late September, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
In Tripoli, government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told a news conference that 10 weeks of NATO-led air strikes authorized by the UN Security Council to protect civilians had also wounded 4,067. He warned the departure of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi would be a “worst case scenario” for Libya.
Soon after he spoke late on Tuesday, six powerful explosions shook the center of Tripoli. It was not possible to determine the targets, the reporter said, adding that planes continued to fly over the Libyan capital.
YEMEN
Republican Guard shelling and pre-dawn street battles between government forces and rival tribal fighters killed at least 41 people in Sana’a yesterday. There were also growing signs of disarray in Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s military.
Fighting raged until 5am, and witnesses said Presidential Guard units shelled the headquarters of an army brigade responsible for guarding sensitive government institutions. Army officers who have defected to the opposition say the government suspected the brigade commander was about to join forces with the movement to oust Saleh.
The 41 dead included combatants from both sides of the conflict, medical officials said.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was