By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain – Bahrain’s ‘Arab Spring’ appears to be ready to become an Arab Summer as protests have resumed in the small Middle Eastern gulf country.  The renewed fervor comes just a week after Bahrain lifted martial law, which it began imposing in March after initial protests in February.

The passage of martial law came just days after Saudi and United Arab Emirates forces moved into Bahrain to quash the pro-democracy movement, resulting in at least 30 deaths.  In the months following the law’s passage hundreds of members of the opposition, as well as many doctors and nurses, who treated injured protesters, have been arrested.

In recent weeks, the government has been targeting women for arrest.  For Gulf Arab culture, there are few things more humiliating to a family than having a female family member detained.  Analysts in the region say this is the first time a government has targeted the opposition by arresting women.

Nabeel Rajab, the vice president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, sees the lifting of martial law as an insincere gesture.  “The lifting [of the] state of emergency…was more to attract the Formula One…which was going to act as an indicator if Bahrain has come to normal or not,” he said.

The 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix, one of the Formula One Championship races, was scheduled to be held on 13 March, but was canceled due to the protests.  The race has been rescheduled for 30 October.

Bahrain’s hopes for normalcy appear to be premature, as hours after martial law was lifted, protesters again took to the streets. Bahraini troops have responded aggressively. There are reports of the usage of tear gas, rubber bullets, and sound guns against the protesters.

Bahrain has a majority Shi’ite population, but is ruled by a Sunni family headed by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.  The protests come from the disenfranchised Shi’ite population who want democratic reforms leading to more rights.

The protest organizers are calling for the protests to continue until their demands are met.  One Facebook post urges people to gather in main streets and squares to show the imminence and importance of the movement.

Tensions between the Sunni and Shi’ite have been especially heated lately, and repercussions of the Bahrain protests have reverberated in Iran and Saudi Arabia.  With Iran supporting the Shi’ite majority and the Saudi’s supporting the Sunni leadership, the situation in Bahrain is on its way to becoming a proxy war between the two Middle Eastern powers.

For more information, please see:

Jerusalem Post — Gulf becomes fault line for Sunni-Shi’ite Tensions — 7 June 2011

NPR — Women The Latest Target of Bahrain’s Crackdown — 7 June 2011

Al Jazeera — Bahrain police target ‘Shia processions’ — 6 June 2011

BBC News — Bahrain protests: Trial opens for 47 doctors and nurses — 6 June 2011

Al Jazeera — Security forces attack Bahraini protesters — 2 June 2011

Washington Post — Bahrain lifts emergency law — 1 June 2011

by Zach Waksman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights, Israel — This morning’s protest rally along the fence that marks the border between Syria and Israel became a battlefield when Israeli forces assembled along the fence shot at the assembled protesters.

The protest was scheduled to mark the 44th anniversary of the Arab world’s defeat in the Six-Day War of 1967 against Israel, known as “Naksa Day” or the “Day of Defeat.”  In preparation for the protest, the Israeli military dug trenches and erected barbed wire at the border in an effort to stymie efforts to breach the borders.  Despite these efforts, troops opened fire when protesters attempted to breach the fences, despite several warnings to stop. Syrian state television reported that as many as twelve people were killed, with dozens more injured.

One of the injured, 16-year-old Mohammed Hasan, said, “We want on this occasion to remind America and the whole world that we have a right to return to our country.”  In commemorating the war, the rally was meant to bring the world’s eyes to the situation of an estimated half-million Palestinian refugees who lost their homes during Israel’s war of independence.  Also among the injured was Palestinian politician Mustafa Bargouthi, who told Al-Jazeera that the he was one of several people who were beaten by Israeli soldiers as the protesters peacefully approached the Golan Heights checkpoint.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disagreed with Bargouthi’s assessment.  After last month’s protests resulted in hundreds of people breaking through a border fence and fighting with Israeli troop, he deployed thousands of troops to the borders as a deterrent. Netanyahu also instructed his troops to use restraint and decisiveness in facing down the protesters today. “Unfortunately, extremist forces around us are trying today to breach our borders and threaten our communities and our citizens.  We will not let them do that,” he said.

Since the shootings, the Israeli military has said that the Syrian government was behind today’s incident in an effort to distract the world from its own unrest.  Avital Leibovich, spokesman for the Israeli army, called the incident “an attempt to divert international attention from the bloodbath going on in Syria.”

Casualty counts are still unfinished.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Israeli forces fire at ‘Naksa’ Protesters — 5 June 2011

Arutz Sheva — IDF Digs Trenches to Stop Border Assaults — 5 June 2011

Atlanta Journal-Constitution — 12 dead as Israeli troops fire along Syrian border – 5 June 2011

Jerusalem Post — PM: We will protect borders with determination, restraint — 2 June 2011

By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANAA, Yemen– Explosions and the sounds of gunfire have become an everyday occurrence in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. Violent uprisings have the government struggling to battle opponents all over the country as fears of civil war begin to rise.

The current violence stems from a recent broken promise made by president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.  Saleh promised last week to sign an agreement, mediated by the Gulf States, to step down as the president of Yemen.  On the day the agreement was to be signed Saleh instead refused, reigniting the unrest of his opposition.  In the days following well over 54 people were killed in the capital.

Following the initial unrest at Saleh’s broken promise, the violence has spread beyond the capital.  In the city of Zinjibar, located on Yemen’s southern coast, some 300 opposition fighters took control of the city last Sunday. In retaliation, the Yemeni military launched a jet attack, in an attempt to retake the city.

The identity of these particular opposition fighters is in question, with some alleging they are linked to al-Qaeda. The opposition Collective Forum disregards this rumor stating that Saleh uses “the spectre of al-Qaeda to frighten regional and international parties.”

The military jet attack resulted in the deaths of at least 30 individuals.  The attack, called “catastrophic” by Tareq al-Fadhli, a leading tribal member, left corpses in the streets, no water or electricity, and hospitals unable to provide aid.  Many of the city’s 20,000 inhabitants have already fled.

Elsewhere, in Taiz, soldiers opened fire on a protest camp killing at least 50 people.  There have also been reports of soldiers setting fire to protester’s tents, and shooting tear gas and water cannons into the crowd.

The situation appears to have boiled over when Yemeni security forces attempted to take Taiz’s “Freedom Square,” where anti-government demonstrations had been taking place for days. Members of the opposition called the event a “massacre,” condemning Saleh’s actions as “crimes against humanity.”

The Yemeni opposition appears to be lead by the Ahmar family, Saleh’s tribal rivals.  However, some of the youth protesters are hesitant of an Ahmar presidency.  They fear that such would not bring about the kind of change they want.  These youth protesters are practicing non-violence during the uprisings, condemning the violence that has already occurred.

Some military units and government officials abandoned Saleh when he began deadly crackdowns on anti-government protests in March.  As of yet there have been no major conflicts between Saleh’s security forces and a breakaway military unit.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera — Fighting Raises Yemen civil war fears — 31 May 2010

BBC News — Yemen unrest: UN says 50 killed in Taiz since Sunday — 31 May 2010

Al-Jazeera — Yemen jets ‘bomb al-Qaeda-held city’ — 30 May 2010

New York Times — Yemeni Military Battles Opponents on Two Fronts — 30 May 2010

New York Times — Evasions by Leader Add Chaos in Yemen — 25 May 2010