Protesters stage sit-in

From today's Gulf Daily News:

HUNDREDS of protesters called for authorities to lift a ban against media coverage of the Salah Al Bandar case, at a gathering held at the square near the Ras Al Ruman Grand Mosque yesterday, reports REBECCA TORR. For an hour and a half the group held placards and chanted for authorities to open investigations into the Bandargate report. Protesters included various parliamentary candidates, members of the Press, human rights and political activists, as well as Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network representative Moataz Al Fujari and Arab Working Group for Monitoring Media Coverage of the Elections representative Hameed Khalid. The rally was organised by a group of 20 Bahraini religious scholars, women, human rights and political activists in protest over the government's handling of the Salah Al Bandar case. Protesters also called for authorities to release Bahraini human rights activists Dr Mohammed Saeed Mattar and Hussein Al Hebshi, who were believed to have been detained by the Criminal Investigation Directorate in Adliya on Thursday evening.

Petition to HM the King to Open an Investigation in Bandargate Scandal

From Bahrain Human Rights Centre site:

Regarding the Claimed Sectarian Plan, the Secret Organization that is Running it, and the Role of the Royal Court and Sectarian Political Groups in Setting and Accomplishing that Plan

(Sent on 13 October 2006)

His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain,

We are addressing your Majesty to express the enormity of our shock regarding the dangerous sectarian plan and the existence of a secret organization that is running it, as was revealed by a report published by Dr. Salah Al Bandar, the Strategic Planning’s Chancellor at the Council of Ministers Affairs.

The significance of this case lies in the direct involvement of a high government official in this plan and in heading the secret organization that is operating it. This official is the Minister of State for the Affairs of Council of Ministers Sheikh Ahmad bin Atiyat Allah Al Khalifa. The same minister heads one of the most crucial departments in the country which is the Central Department of Information, as well as being the direct supervisor of the Civil Services Council which controls the country’s public sector and the fate of approximately 40 thousand employees. In addition, he occupies a position that is related to the most critical side of the political process which is the executive committee that supervises the elections. That is during a period of wide suspicions and worries of counterfeiting the desires of the participants in the coming elections.

As your majesty knows… a significant amount of documented information came in the 240 pages of payments that were estimated to be more than 2 million B.D were given to government employees, personalities in the local newspapers, members of the Council of Representative, parliament candidates, civil society associations, lawyers, bank employees, a Jordanian investigation team (consisting of 4 officers with a lieutenant colonel rank and an officer with a major rank) and a member of the Shura council.

Five of the main people in this secret organization work in the government and are paid inducements that are estimated to be 5000 B.D a month. These five leaders are in charge of financing election campaigns, supporting one of the new-established daily local newspapers with a sum of 100 thousand B.D, supporting the program of the sectarian transmission, intelligently supervising political activities, leading an Internet campaign to rouse sectarianism as well as distributing monthly inducements to a number of people.

The report also named four civil society associations involved in this plan (the Jurists’ Society, the “Bahrain First” Society, the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society, the Bahrain Political Society). A sum of 3000 B.D was set aside for a member of the current Council of Representatives from one of the Islamic blocs, 2000 B.D for one of the known parliament candidates and 3000 B.D for the society’s building.

Hence, the most crucial amongst the information that was revealed by the report is that which suggests an essential role of high officials in the Royal Court in vital parts of this plan. The secret plan included, in its most important articles, the manipulation of the demographic makeup of the country, by granting citizenship selectively, with the pretext of creating a sectarian balance and with the aim of weakening a certain sect of the society. And this is what has been going on; especially in the last few years and which has been raising increasing opposition and protest. While, we know that the regular naturalization decisions are not issued without the approval of the Royal Court, and the selective naturalization is not carried out without using the extraordinary authority which the law grants to your Majesty.

On the other hand, the information part of the sectarian plan appears in the Al Watan newspaper, which persisted in rising sectarian sedition. Al Watan is supervised and partially funded by the Under Secretary Assistant in the office of the Chief Director of the Royal Court. The report stated that the mentioned Under Secretary Assistant is related to the naturalization committee in the Royal Court. In addition, the information consultant of the Chief Director of the Royal Court is the supervisor of the information group in the secret organization, as well as being in charge of the affairs of the Chief Editor of the Al Watan newspaper.

The report also states the name of a an Egyptian journalist who works in the Royal Court at same time as being the field supervisor of the “Egyptian” information group which was formed by the secret organization, and a center was established for its activities. The “Egyptian” information group are 8 people who work for the Al Watan newspaper, the Ministry of Information, the Central Department of Information and for the “Centre of Public Opinion” which was also established by the same secret organization.

Furthermore, regarding the lands that were granted to participants in that dangerous secret organization, it is a regulation that they could not be granted without the Royal Court’s approval. As an example of these lands is the land in Al Seef district and whose price is estimated to be more than half a million B.D. which is registered under the name of the president of “Bahrain Awallan Society”, which was established as apart of the same plan.

Thus, the important question still lies without an answer: Who is putting all these large sums of money in the Kuwaiti Bayt-Al-Tamweel account, which is transferred to an account at the Al-Shamel Bahraini Bank, through which the plan and the secret organization is funded and the wages and bonuses are paid to executive officials? It is worth mentioning that Sheikh Ahmad bin Atyat-Allah, the minister accused of leading the secret organization, is the brother of Sheikh Mohammed bin Atyat-Allah Al Khalifa, the chief director of the Royal Court.

What makes the report create a lot of uproar is that the 5 main persons in the secret organization, and who are influential in the government and in the Royal Counrt, are amongst the persons who are adherent to the Islamic Brotherhood and Salafi organizations which gives the case a dangerous political and sectarian characteristic. According to the report, the right hand of the leader of the secret organization, who is the manager of the statistics department in the Central Department of Information and a member in the executive committee of the elections, does not hide his sympathy for the Al Eslah society and its political wing the Islamic Menbar.

As to the left hand of the leader of the secret organization, who is the General President of the Information Technology and the Vice-President of the Executive Committee of the elections, is known to be related to the same society. The report gives documented information that this person is directly responsible for the message campaign which spread widely few months ago in order to ruin the reputation of recognized religious men, activists, politicians, oppositions and human rights defenders. Yet, the third person who is in charge of the secret organization, who is the chancellor for information affairs of the chief director of the Royal Cour, is the former chief editor of Al Elslah (brotherhood) magazine.

While the fourth person in charge of the group, who is an employee in the Central Department of Information, is fully engaged in the activities of the Islamic Education Society as a manager of its projects and social affairs and it is supplementary to the Islamic Asalah Society (Salafist). He is incharge in the secret organization of the group that incites the Sunni sect against the Shi’a sect. Finally, the fifth person in charge in the network, the Under-Secretary of the Chief Director of the Royal Court, who supervises the project of the Al Watan newspaper, is strongly related to the Salafi movements in Bahrain and in the Arab Gulf states.

What rises great concerns is that the report, which is the source of the aforementioned information, had reached your Majesty and the prime minister since the beginning of the September 2006, and instead of starting a neutral interrogation in its contents and publicly questioning the persons involved and bringing them to justice, harsh measures were taken against the government chancellor who leaked the dangerous information by confiscating documents and information he had and deporting him instantly from the country on September 13th 2006.

We as citizens of this country, who belong to various classes, political drifts and sects, address this letter to your majesty appealing to you to give a public speech to the common citizens to answer all those dangerous queries and to announce what will be done in regards to that sectarian plan and secret organization that is implementing it. We fear that keeping quiet about that case and the people involved in it will destroy what is left of trust between the regime and the citizens and it will create hateful sectarian discord, and this is something that no loyal citizen of this country would wish for.

Yours Sincerely,

Signatories:

1. Abdul-Hadi Marhoon - First Vice-President of the Representative Council
2. Ali Jassim Rabi’a - A former parliamentarian - Board member of ‘Haq Movement’
3. Zahraa Mohammed Muradi (Ms.) - Political activist
4. Layla Khalil Dishti (Ms.) - Human rights activist
5. Sheikh Isa Al-Jawdar - Board member of ‘Haq Movement’
6. Jalal Fairouz - Board member - Alwefaq National Islamic Society
7. Abdul-Nabi Salman - Member of the House of Representatives
8. Hasan Ali Hasan Mushemea - Secretary-general of ‘Haq Movement’
9. Jassim Hasan Abdul-Aal - Member of the House of Representatives
10. Jawad Firouz Ghlum Firouz - Member of the Northern Municipality Council
11. Abdul-Hadi Abdula Al-Khawaja - President- Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
12. Abdul-Jalil Al-Sangais - Board member of ‘Haq Movement’
13. Abdul-Aziz Hasan Abul - Political activist- Head of Constitution Coalition
14. Ghada Yousif Jamsheer (Ms.) - President of the ‘Women Petition Committee’
15. Mohammed Abdul-Nabi Al-Masqati - President of the ‘Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights’
16. Nabeel Rajab - Vice-President of the ‘Bahrain Centre for Human Rights’
17. Ahmad Sultan - Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
18. Khalid Shehab - Independent Activist
19. Mohammed Hajji Al-Shehabi - The Brotherhood National Society
20. Redhwan Al-Mousawi - Board member - ‘Islamic Action Society’
21. Jawad Al-Asfoor - The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
22. Abbass Ahmad Al-Bahari - The Democratic Progressive Forum Society
23. Abbass Busafwan - Alwefaq National Islamic Society
24. Abdul-Amir Al-Laith - Alwefaq National Islamic Society
25. Abdul-Nabi Al-Ukri - Bahrain Human Rights Society
26. Ebrahim Kamal-Eddeen - National Democratic Action Society (Waad)
27. Abdul-Rahman Mohammed Al-Naimi - National Democratic Action Society (Waad)
28. Sheikh Hamza Ali Jassim - Alwefaq National Islamic Society
29. Ali Nasser Al-Ghanami - Alwefaq National Islamic Society
30. Jassim Abdullah Ashoor - Independent Activist
31. Mohammed Ahmad - Independent Activist
32. Ahmad Al-jad - Independent Activist
33. Ali Saleh Abdulla - Independent Activist
34. Mahmood Ebrahim - Alwefaq National Islamic Society
35. Haytham Al-Shehabi - Independent Activist
36. Sayed-Hadi Jawad Al-Aali - Board member of ‘Haq Movement’
37. Sonya Taher (Ms.) - Head of the ‘Deprived of the Citizenship’ Committee
38. Sayed-Jafar Sayed-Kadhem Al-Alawi - President of the ‘Islamic Resala Society’
39. Abdulla Mohammed Janahi - Vice-President of the central committee in the National Democratic Action Society
40. Sanad Mohammed Sanad - Member of the Consultative Panel of the National Democratic Forum Society
41. Hasan Al-Aali - The National Democratic Forum Society
42. Mahmood Hmaidan - The National Democratic Forum Society
43. Abdul-Jalil Al-Nuaimi - The Democratic Progressive Forum Society
44. Hasan Ali Ismaeel - The Democratic Progressive Forum Society
45. Hafedh Ali Mohammed - National Democratic Action Society (Waad)
46. Nawal Zubari (Ms.) - National Democratic Action Society (Waad)
47. Fawzia Zenal (Ms.) - Transparency Society
48. Najeeba Ahmad (Ms.) - National Democratic Action Society (Waad)
49. Jafar Yousif Mohammed - National Democratic Action Society (Waad)
50. Mohammed Al-Ahmad - Journalist
51. Batool Al-Sayyed (Ms.) - Journalist
52. Nada Al-Wadi (Ms.) - Reporter
53. Malek Abdulla - Journalist
54. Ismael Mohammed Ali - Independent Activist
55. Mohammed Hasan Mohammed Jawad - Alwefaq National Islamic Society
56. Yousif Al-Muharaqi - Independent Activist
57. Amir Al-Shakhouri - The Democratic Progressive Forum Society
58. Hajji Ebrahim Buhajji - Independent Activist
59. Maki Mahdi Ayad - The Democratic Progressive Forum Society
60. Abd Al-Aziz Ebrahim Fakhroo - National Democratic Action Society (Waad)
61. Hasan Ahmad Mahmood - Independent Activist
62. Ja’far Ebrahim Al-Wedaee - The Democratic Progressive Forum Society
63. Mohammed Kadhem Abdul-Hussain Al-Shehabi - Columnist - political activist
64. Hasan bin Hamad Al-Hadad - Human rights activist
65. Hussaain Mohammed Hasan Jawad - Vice-President -‘Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights’
66. Abd Al-Kareem Mohsen - Political activist
67. Ahmad Amr-Allah Fath-Allah - Shura Council-Alwefaq National Islamic Society
68. Ali Salem Al-Orayyedh - Head of Legal Committee- Public Liberties Society
69. Nasser Mulla Hasan Zain - Journalist
70. Jalal Abdul-Wahab Al- Orayyedh - Artist
71. Fawzia Rabia (Ms.) - Head of “Partenership to Compat Violance Against Women”
72. Abdul-Rahman Mohammed Khalifa - Physician
73. Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahlawi - Physician
74. Abdulla Al-Durazi - Vice Secretary-General – Bahrain Society for Human Rights
75. Sayed-Adnan Jalal Ahmad - Bahrain Society for Human Rights
76. Resala Salman Ali (Ms.) - Member in the ‘Public Liberties Society’
77. Rasha Ali Al- Kooheji - Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights
78. Mohammed Jafar Hasan Al-Mutawa - Lawyer- Bahrain Society for Human Rights
79. Abdulla Rashed Mutaiwea - Public relations employee
80. Khalil Ahmad - Independent Activist
81. Mohammed Jassim Isa Al-Durazi - Engineer- Independent Activist
82. Jafar Saad Hasan - Businessman
83. Adnan Ebrahim Maaraj - Retired employee
84. Ramla Jawad - Human Rights activist
85. Sayed-Hussain Hashem Ahmed - Trade-unionist
86. Zaynab Abdunabi Hassan Jassim - Journalist
87. Muhsen Al-Muqdad - The Committee for Victims of Torture
88. Abdul-Ghani Khanger - The Committee for Victims of Torture
89. Fatma Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja - Human rights activist
90. Sabika Ali Abdula Al-Bin-ali - Women Petition Committee
91. Khulood Abdulla Jamsheer - Women Petition Committee
92. Suaad Fath-Allah Mohammed Ahmad - Women Petition Committee
93. Salwa Buchiri - Women Petition Committee
94. Elham Al-Ansari - Activist
95. Maheen Ahmad Nadhar Mohammed - Women Petition Committee
96. Mohammed Abbas Al-Shaikh - Member of the House of Representatives
97. Abbas Abdul Azeez Nasser - Haq Movement
98. Zaynab Al-Durazi - National Democratic Action Society (Waad)
99. Shaikh Mohammed Habib Al-Muqdad - Clergyman
100. Shaikh Mirza Al-Mahroos - Clergyman
101. Shaikh Hani Al-Muqdad – Clergyman

Conspiring Against the Shia of Bahrain

This is a post from the Bahrain from the Bahrain Human Rights Centre website, which exposes what Bandargate is all about.

Conspiring Against the Shia of Bahrain

An overview of the classified study at the heart of the Bandargate scandal; Islamist groups penetrate and influence government and society

Bahrain Center for Human Rights, October 2006
By Zara Al Sitari

A report issued by the Gulf Centre for Democratic Development in September 2006, dubbed the ‘Al Bandar report’ detailed an alleged conspiracy by some government officials and Sunni Islamists to politically and economically marginalize Bahrain’s Shia majority. As evidence for the claims, the report included copies of hundreds of checks, banks statements, receipts and correspondence.

Also included as evidence was a copy of a strategic study drawn up by Iraqi Dr Nizar Mohammed Saeed Al-Ani [1] included which describes various mechanisms to achieve these goals in a set of recommendations entitled "Scenarios to improve the general situation of the Sunni sect in Bahrain ". The study is marked as highly classified and is dated September 1, 2005.

A receipt included in the Al Bandar report purportedly shows Dr Al-Ani receiving a payment of BD 3000 on September 1, 2005.

The recommendations of Dr Al-Ani’s study, spanning 14 pages, pave the way for Islamists Sunni groups to penetrate and influence government and society, which is a dangerous policy considering the experience in neighboring Saudi Arabia. In the implementation of this, more Islamists connected to the Muslim brotherhood and Salafist movements were appointed in the government and the judiciary. The main figures in the secret web itself are connected to these two groups. (Ref. Al-Bandar report)

It is highly disturbing that a number of the recommendations directly appeal for the Royal Court to spearhead the actions proposed.

The recommendations include calls for the monitoring of Bahraini Shia communities, creating counterfeit human rights and civil societies to undermine and override the work of genuine activists, rewriting the history of Bahrain with a Sunni bias, and establishing coordination among Gulf Sunnis who feel "threatened" by the Shia majority.

The recommendations are divided into eight sections: Human Development, Improving Living Conditions, Research Centre, Public and International Relations, Preparing Leaders and Prominent Figures, Social Care, Coalition with the Government, and Institutions for Culture and Awareness.

However, they are not the only disturbing aspects of the study. The entire study has been based upon a number of false (and easily disproved) premises which create the idea that Shias in Bahrain are secretly organizing to gain control over the country, and its Sunni minority.

Dr Al-Ani repeatedly refers to "the Shia's plans to weaken Sunnis" and justifies his recommendations to marginalize Shia Bahrainis based on the idea that the Shia "proliferation" in society poses a threat to Bahraini Sunnis.

The ideas he propagates echo the systematic and sustained policies of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath nationalist party in Iraq, where they were implemented to subjugate the Iraqi Shia majority and Kurdish minority.

Although the programs recommended in Dr Al-Ani's study are in no way equal to Saddam Hussein's heinous genocidal campaigns against the Iraqi Shias and Kurds, they do mimic some strategies used by his government in its political, social and economic oppression of both groups.

Examples from Ba'ath controlled Iraq include operations [2] to alter the demographics of various areas in the country (to separate Sunnis from Shias and to dilute Kurdish majorities), housing Kurds in villages with poor quality infrastructure, sanitation and water supplies, and little opportunity for employment, as well as the targeting of Shia cultural and nonpolitical institutions [3].

The study presents itself as a strategy to empower and protect Sunnis in Bahrain, although it simply outlines ways in which to use Sunnis as part of a political agenda against Shias, and to maintain sectarian mistrust and discord.

A number of activities detailed in the leaked Al Bandargate report seem to have been carried out as a result of recommendations made in the study. A secret web lead by a high government official and member of the royal family has been operating in Bahrain with an aim to manipulate the results of coming elections, maintain sectarian distrust and division, and to ensure that Bahrain's Shias remain oppressed and disenfranchised, according to the report.

As a result of leaking the information, Dr Al Bandar (formerly a strategic planning consultant at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs) was deported to the United Kingdom on September 13th, as he is a British citizen.

Below is a translation of the most important recommendations from Dr Al-Ani's study, with additional commentary.

Part one: Human development

• To work hard and continuously to create and promote religious leaders that are influential, to be able to lead Sunni civil society and to carry considerable weight in the country's decision making process.
• To form a college for Sunni Shari’a and Islamic studies, in order to continue preparing religious-based figures, leaders and religious-studies professionals.
• To look after Sunni young people, provide them with scholarships to continue their university studies. The Royal Court should take active part in this.
• To focus on training young Sunnis, technically and professionally
• To encourage educational distinction among Sunnis in all levels of education and all specializations, and encourage and support youth centers for Sunni youth.

Comments:

• The study suggests that Bahraini Shias have "invaded" and taken leading positions in various government institutions.
• Around 70 per cent of Bahrainis are Shia [4]. In 2003, out of 572 senior positions in the public sector only 101 (18%) were held by Shias, according to a BCHR report [5] on discrimination.
• Out of 47 Ministries, only 10 are headed by Shias [6].
• The House of Representatives includes a Sunni Islamist group of 12, in comparison with a Shia group of 7 [7].
• There are four major government organizations widely known to be 'Sunni only' - these are the Royal Court, the National Guard, the National Security and the Central Informatics Organization (CIO).
  In addition, the recent 'Khalifisation' of top government positions is likely to have lowered the number of Shias in key government positions even more than it was when the BCHR carried out its report on discrimination.
  Even the Ministries which do show a greater degree of Shia representation are service-providing ministries such as the Ministry of Works and Housing or Ministry of Health. In these organizations, Shias provide the labor force for largely menial and low level (non-decision making) jobs.
• The recommendation to promote 'Arab' culture may be a subtle reference to the idea that Bahraini Shias are Persian, or allied with Iran, in spite of the fact that the indigenous Arab population of Bahrain is Shia.
• The reference to Bahrain Training institute (BTI) is also misleading, as it exaggerates the role of BTI in producing highly qualified professionals. For locals, the BTI is attended mostly by those among Bahrain's unemployed (at least 15 % of the workforce [8]), who are hoping to be trained in skills 'on demand in the Labor market'. Recently, it has been at the forefront of the Ministry of Labour's National Employment Programme which seeks to find private sector employment for jobseekers [9].
• The report claims that Sunni religious figures and scholars are needed to counterbalance the work of the “9 Shia religious schools which graduate religious scholars and figures”. Many of the '9 Shia schools' are in fact non accredited, informal community educational initiatives (often carried out in people's homes), rather than the sophisticated academic institutions that the report implies.

Part two: Improving Living Conditions

• To focus on developing the infrastructure in areas where the majorities are Sunni - and solve their housing, roads, services, and youth unemployment problems.
• To reserve employment in the police, army and national guards for Sunnis, and to form an unofficial secret committee to look after this mission with the support of the cooperative Governors.
• To establish a fund to finance Sunnis’ business and commercial projects, to increase wealth and money in their hands and their involvement in light manufacturing and in owning and dealing with real estate – and supporting small businesses (all based on the economic-political concept that "he who owns, rules, and he who rules, owns". This should also be heavily supported by the Royal Court, in lieu of its strategic importance in a dangerously deteriorating situation.

Comments:

• The study claims that Bahraini Shias have been working towards economic empowerment to better their political situation, and moving to predominantly Sunni areas to alter demographics.
  According to a study on sectarianism in Bahrain released by the International Crisis Group [10] (ICG) last year, informal and formal government practices prevent Shias from living in predominantly Sunni areas. The report also cites the increase in unemployment rates and living costs and high poverty levels.
• A 2004 report on poverty [11] released by the BCHR states that 25% of employed Bahrainis live below the poverty line, placed at BD 309 (US $817) per month. The increase in poverty levels is matched with an increase in Bahrain's average annual income, the report states.
• The BCHR report on discrimination shows that the Shia majority has less than 3% representation in the Interior Ministry and army.
• The ICG report suggests that the primary sufferers of the unequal wealth distribution are Bahrain's Shia majority. The membership of the National Unemployment Committee is a testament to this.
• Recent government efforts to improve housing conditions have focused almost entirely on Sunni areas - local newspapers documenting the Prime Minister's and King's visits to Muharraq in September 2006 show this.
  In addition, the Ministry of Works and Housing has begun to allocate reconstruction programs according to area of residence, rather than based on necessity. Applications for reconstruction help from the government are now dealt with based on the area in which the programs are established, and these are Sunni areas.
  This means that even if applications for assistance were filed earlier by some citizens, those filed by citizens living the in the areas where the government has decided to work will be addressed first.
• In addition, government decrees control the buying and selling of land in Sunni strongholds such as Riffa and Muharraq. Riffa makes up 41% of Bahraini land and Muharraq more than 10 % - which means that Bahrain's Shia majority are effectively prevented from owning property in 51% of the country.
• The report claims that ‘the Shia’ have been implementing a ‘he who owns, rules’ policy for the last 30 years, and claims that they have thus managed to alter the country’s demographics by buying property in Sunni areas. The author Dr Al-Anni was only in Bahrain for 7 years so it is unclear as to how he has come to this conclusion, for which he offers no evidence or explanation.
• The areas he refers to are mainly commercial districts which will have shops owned by Sunnis and Shias.

Part three: Research Centre

• To establish a more than one research centre specialized in monitoring Shia activities, to track Shia, and what comes out of their books, social movements, and mobilizations of their followers. We should run the centers clandestinely, by giving the impression that it does something else. To employ good, loyal, specialists – among religious figures and intellectuals, who are very loyal to the Sunni and who fear the danger of the Shia plans in this country and the region.
• To spread awareness among Sunnis on the importance of unity between Bahrain and other GCC countries, because it is the only solution to the sectarian issue - so the Shia can be diluted in a comprehensive sea of Sunnis, among whom they will not number more than 20 or 30%.
• To have a clear idea what percentage of the population the Shia make up, and how much this percentage increases as compared to the Sunni sect every year.

Comments:

• The recommendations repeat claims about a Shia plan for ascendancy in Bahrain and adds new claims alleging discrimination faced against Sunnis.
• The BCHR 2003 report on discrimination [12] cites numerous ways in which ordinary Sunnis are given preferential treatment - in mosque building and senior military and security services positions, as well as in leading Ministries and other public bodies.
• The study itself advocates discrimination - calling for Sunnis to be given preferential treatment as part of its political agenda - while decrying discrimination.
• The leaked Al Bandargate [13] report describes the financing of four Jordanian intelligence officials and a 'Centre for Public Opinion', both working to monitor political developments related to Bahrain's Shia population. This suggests the recommendation may already have been enacted.
• The report cites 7 Shia "research centers" in Tehran and 1 in Qom without qualifying its claim by naming a single one. What are the centers being referred to, and where are the findings of the work they are allegedly providing? This clause serves to build a conspiracy of a Bahraini-Iranian Shia allegiance that is stronger than any national loyalty.
• Another recent measure which may indicate that this recommendation is being implemented is the drive to employ job-seeking Bahrainis by relocating them to neighboring Gulf countries such as the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar.
  Plans for 'shared citizenship' for Gulf nationals will also afford political rights to
  non-residents, and, as the recommendation urges, minimize Shia representation among a 'sea of Sunnis'.
  This follows the naturalization of thousands of Saudi nationals of the Al Dawaser tribe (see BCHR documentary on naturalization) who have voted in the last elections.
  An exceptional decree allowing the immediate activation of political rights for those who are newly naturalized will also serve the same purpose.

Part four: Public and International Relations

• To have a working committees abroad - especially in Britain - to call on parliaments and international institutions, and influence them. It should also be used to explain the Shia's attack on national unity by talking about discrimination. It should also explain their links with Iran. To make this committee successful it should be popular and non governmental, in order to give it more credibility among western politicians.
• To spread awareness on the importance of Gulf unity among Bahrain and other GCC countries, because it is the only solution to the sectarian issue so the Shia can be diluted in a comprehensive sea of Sunni among which they will not number more than 20 or 30%.
• To find coordination and cooperation among Sunnis in Bahrain and in other GCC states who are concerned with the spread of the Shia influence, and their seizure of important and sensitive positions, so that we have a comprehensive confrontation against their dangerous positions in the area (not only in Bahrain).

Comments:

• The recommendation casts doubt on the true demographic make up of Bahrain, implying that Shias may overestimate their representation.
• While figures vary, encyclopedic sources including Encyclopedia.com, MSN Encarta, Bartleby.com and Infoplease.com all estimate Bahraini Shias to number 70% of the population, or more.
• The Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society is named in the Al Bandargate [14] report as receiving government funding and support to undermine the work and credibility of genuine human rights and activist groups. The same society recently opened an office in London [15]. This suggests that point one of this recommendation may already have been implemented.

Part five: Preparing Leaders and Figures

• To look after Sunni Arabs, increase their occupation of high ranking and sensitive positions in the state and improving their financial and social status in order to ensure reproduction and encourage them to stay rather than moving to other neighboring countries.

Comments:

• The recommendation calls for Arab Sunnis from other countries to be settled in Bahrain with highly-paid jobs and social security in order that they stay in Bahrain and produce more Sunni children.
• It basically advocates the highly contentious but as yet unacknowledged naturalization program privileging non-Bahraini Sunnis in a bid to alter the country's demographics.
• The issue has been referred to by the International Crisis Group [16], the BCHR [17], and dealt with in an independent study [18] posted by a blogger on Bahrain's informal news network.

Part six: Social Care

• To make it easy for young Sunnis to get married. There are 10,000 young Sunni men who need financial aid to get married and the Royal Court should play a role in this in order to insure the increase in Sunni reproduction. The governorates should adopt mass wedding projects in a way that guarantees that the Sunnis benefit from it - not others (the Shia).
• To encourage young Sunni men to marry more than one wife and encourage them to have lots of children. There are 12,000 unmarried Sunni girls, and this number is increasing.
• To clear Sunni areas from corruption and the building of hotels and apartments with bad reputations, that will have an impact on the morality of Sunni boys and girls.

Part seven: Coalition with the State

• To put an end to the increasing Shia proliferation in some public ministries and institutions where they make up more than 70 to 90 per cent of employees, such as the Health Ministry, Electricity and Water Ministry, Gulf Air, Alba. . They are taking advantage of institutions related to safety and security such as the BAPCO refinery, and highly sensitive positions in BATELCO. These positions could be used to monitor and spy on high ranking government officials.

Comments:

• The study specifically names the Ministry of Water and Electricity and Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) as having been 'proliferated' by Shias. It states that Shias should not be allowed to hold such 'sensitive' positions in institutes which control such important resources to the country.
• Out of the 25 senior positions available at the Ministry of Water and Electricity, 5 (25%) are held by Shias, according to the 2003 BCHR report on discrimination.
• Out of the 16 senior ranking positions available at the Ministry of Health, 6 (38%) are held by Shias, the report shows.
• This is a in glaring contrast to the fact that around 70 % of Bahrainis are Shia [19].
• In 2003, out of 572 senior positions in the public sector only 101 (18%) were held by Shias, according to a BCHR report on discrimination.
• Out of 47 Ministries, only 10 (21%) are headed by Shias.
• Out of the 68 positions at the rank of undersecretary in Ministries, 7 (11%) are held by Shias, and out of the 47 positions at the rank of assistant undersecretary, 10 (21%) are held by Shias [20].
• According to Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and Ministry of Information sources [21], it appears that Shia representation in high ranking Ministry posts has decreased even further since 2003.

Part eight: Culture and Awareness Institutions

• To rewrite the history of the country, where it should highlight the political, cultural and religious roles of Sunni leaders, intellectual and religious figures. It is important to ignore the history charted by a committee formed to write Bahrain's history, since this dangerous job was given to a Shia minister.
• The Bahrain Human Rights Society and Bahrain Centre for Human Rights are only fighting for Shias rights, and no one else. They manipulate the membership of these two societies completely and kick out Sunnis - which means that we should have our own human rights society, without their discrimination.
• To look after and support people who converted from being Shia to Sunni - and encourage others to do the same, and get hold of information that could be provided by them about the Shia community they were part of.

Comments:

• The recommendation claims that a distorted history of Bahrain privileges 'the role of the Shia' and prominent Shia figures. It ignores the fact that the majority of indigenous Bahrainis are Shia. Historical records suggest that Bahrainis became Shia after the death of the prophet Mohammed, as long ago as 632 CE [22].
• It claims the BCHR and Bahrain Human Rights Society work only to secure the rights of Shias.
  In fact, the BCHR has spearheaded efforts on behalf of various groups including migrant workers [23] in Bahrain, and Arab detainees at Guantanamo Bay [24].
  The Bahrain Human Rights Society too has been working on issues such as women's rights [25] and prison conditions [26].
• An elaborate sectarian 'switch' program is described in the Al Bandargate [27] report. It appears to show that financial assistance is being supplied to Shias who become Sunni, and that individuals implicated in the report are monitoring such conversions. This suggests that point three of this recommendation may already have been acted upon.

References

1. Dr Nizar Al-Ani is currently chancellor of the newly formed Ittihad University in Abu Dhabi (link). He was the University of Bahrain head of training and development in 2005, and before that University of Bahrain Centre of Measurement and Evaluation director. He was among 8 national consultants selected to assist with facilitation and documentation carried out by groups working to draw up an action plan for Bahrain's National Youth Strategy (link). More recently, he acted as a rapporteur for the economic department of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC)'s 8th Arab Energy Conference held in Amman, Jordan, in May this year (link). A receipt in the Al Bandargate purportedly shows him receiving a payment of BD 3000.
2. Carried out alongside or in addition to murderous military campaigns.
3. Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, Human Rights Developments and Endless Torment: The 1991 Uprising in Iraq And Its Aftermath, Human Rights Watch
4. MSN Encarta
5. Discrimination in Bahrain: The Unwritten Law, Bahrain Center for Human Rights
6. Ibid
7. CIA World Fact book
8. Ibid.
9. Bahrain's National Employment Project
10. International Crisis Group - Bahrain's Sectarian Challenge
11. BCHR report on poverty
12. BCHR report Discrimination in Bahrain: The Unwritten Law
13. Gulf Centre for Democratic Development leaked Al Bandargate" report
14. Ibid
15. Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society opens a London office, Gulf Daily News, 28 August 2006
16. Bahrain's Sectarian Challenge, International Crisis Group
17. BCHR documentary transcript 'Political Naturalisation in Bahrain'
18. Independent study
19. MSN Encarta
20. All statistics in this section taken from BCHR report 'Discrimination in Bahrain: The Unwritten Law'
21. Ministry of Cabinet Affairs gazette and Ministry of Information website
22. Voice of Bahrain group's 'Bahrain Briefing' and Wikipedia CD Selection Bahrain page
23. Holding Back and Confiscating Passports of Migrant Workers and Forbidding Them from Traveling As A Means of Blackmailing, Forced Labor and Slavery, Bahrain Center for Human Rights
24. Bahrain: Sana'a Committee seeking the release of prisoners in Guantanamao, Amnesty International, Manama meeting 31 July 2004
25. Push for treaty to protect women's rights, Bahrain Human Rights Society
26. Bahrain Human Rights Society carry out inspection of Bahrain prison, Gulf Daily News, 25 December 2005
27. Gulf Centre for Democratic Development "Al Bandargate" report

What is Bandargate?

Because a lot of people have already spared their time and energy translating the Bandargate document, I will here just cut and paste it from the Bahrain Human Rights Centre website, which is blocked by the authorities in Bahrain for exposing the Bandargate document.

BCHR: "Al Bander-Gate": A Political Scandal In Bahrain

Maintaining Sectarian Division and Penetrating NGO’s

The Al Bander report: what it says and what it means

By Zara Al Sitari, Bahrain Center for Human Rights- September 2006

A secret web lead by a high government official, who is a member of the royal family, has been operating in Bahrain with an aim to manipulate the results of coming elections, maintain sectarian distrust and division, and to ensure that Bahrain's Shias remain oppressed and disenfranchised, according to Dr. Salah Al Bandar, strategic planning’s chancellor at the Council of Ministers Affairs. As a result of leaking the information, Dr Al Bander was deported to the United Kingdom on September 13th as he is a British citizen.

The 216-page report, which was distributed by the Gulf Centre for Democratic Development (GCDD), contains almost 200 pages of cheques, receipts, letters, bank statements and accounts sheets to support this claim.

The secret web works through a media group, an electronic group, an intelligence team, a newspaper, a Shia to Sunni conversion programme, and civil societies to carry out these activities, the report says.

The total cost of these activities (so far) is said to be more than BD 1 million, and the main financier is named as Civil Informatics Organization (CIO) head Shaikh Ahmed bin Ateyatalla Al Khalifa , founder of the higher committee for elections.

It seems that the secret organization is established and has built its strategies based on the analysis and recommendations of a confidential study written in September 1st, 2005 entitled: “A Proposal to Promote the General Situation of the Sunni Sect in Bahrain”. The study, which is published in the leaked report- is reportedly written by an Iraqi Academic, Dr. Nezar Alani, who is now heading the Ettehad University in the United Arab Emirates. The leaked documents show that Dr. Alani had received an amount of BD3000.

How the web works:

Shaikh Ahmed has five main operators working underneath him, who he pays from his personal bank account at Kuwait Finance House, the report says.

Main Operator 1: Dr Raed Shams

Shaikh Ahmed's "right hand man" in running the organization is said to be CIO statistics directorate head and member of the elections committee Dr Raed Mohammed Abdulla Shams. Dr Shams has well-known connections to the Sunni Islamist Al Eslah Society and its political wing, Al Menbar.

He is said to be paid BD 1,200 per month for supervising the Jordanian intelligence cell and liaising with members of Bahraini NGOs who are allegedly paid to act on the organizations' behalf. The Jordanian intelligence cell was supplied with an office in Bahrain's diplomatic area and collectively paid more than BD 5,000 per month to monitor political developments in Bahrain, with particular attention to the Shia, the report alleges.

• A payment authorization slip included in the report allegedly shows that Shaikh Ahmed paid Dr Shams a BD 1,578 installment towards "residence costs for the Jordanians".
• The payment slip is matched with a BD 3,578 bill for room charges and meals at the Hilton hotel.
• Receipts in the report allegedly signed by a Lieutenant Colonel Amr Al Raddad, purport to show the payment of BD 6,784 in January this year, and BD 6,384 in February this year, in salaries for the four members of the intelligence team.

The four NGOs shown to be on the organization's payroll are the Jurists' Society, the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society, the Bahrain First Society and the Bahrain Political Society. The report contains correspondence allegedly showing Jurists' Society member, Al Watan newspaper columnist, and lawyer Youseff Al Hashemi requesting BD 2,643 for the society's expenses. It also contains a number of receipts which allegedly show Mr Al Hashemi receiving BD 1,000 in incentives.

• Payment authorization slips signed by Shaikh Ahmed and Dr Shams allegedly show the following payments to the society: BD 1,132 on October 21 2005 for electricity bills and books, and BD 5,500 on December 11 2005 for nine months' rent.
• The December payment authorization slip is also shown to be signed by a man named as the organization's banker at Kuwait Finance House, Hamad Ahmed Al-Muhaiza.
• Receipts also allegedly show Shura Council member and Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society member Faisal Fulad, Bahrain First society member Mohammed Al Maran, and Bahrain Political Society member Jaber Al Swaidy receiving BD 500 each for 'incentives', in January, February and March this year.
• A receipt allegedly signed by Mr Al Swaidy appears to show him receiving a payment which will give BD 3,000 to MP Jassim Al Saeedi, BD 2,000 to parliamentary candidate Jamal Dawood Salman and BD 3,000 towards the society's building.
• A letter included in the report allegedly shows Mr Salman, a candidate in the Northern constituency number eight, requesting the "head of electoral campaigns" (who is not named) for BD 1,200 to pay for his campaign tent and furnishings.
• The BD 1,200 payment is listed in a breakdown of the organization's expenditure, alongside BD 1,000 in "financial assistance" for a football game and cultural event, purportedly organized by Mr Salman as part of his campaign.

Others electoral candidates allegedly on the organization's payroll are said to be Khamis Al Rumaihi, Salah Al Jalahma and Dr Salah Ali. The report also contains a receipt for BD 10,000 allegedly signed on August 25 by an individual named Adnan Mohammed Abdulrahman Bucheeri, who it describes as being in charge of financing candidates.

Main operator 2: Mohammed Al Qaed

Shaikh Ahmed's "left hand man" is said to be CIO IT directorate manager, electronic voting supervisor and higher elections committee head Mohammed Ali Al Qaed.

Mr Al Qaed also sits on the elections committee and has well-known connections with the islamists Al Menbar and Al Eslah groups.

He is paid BD 1,200 per month as supervisor of an "electronic group" which are involved in running Bahrain's e-voting program, running websites and Internet forums which foment sectarian hatred, and SMS campaigns for the organization, the report says.
The "Electronic group" is said to be headed by Bahrain Airport Services employee and soon-to-be IT head at the Cabinet Affairs Ministry.

• A receipt from South African Celerity Systems included in the report shows the purchase of "block SMS credits" worth 740 Euros on August 1 last year attributed to a Bahrain address.
• 
  
• A bill for BD 7,639 purportedly drawn up by Mr Al Qaed details payments made to individuals working on e-voting projects, technical assistance, administrative work and to pay for printers, scanners and computers is included in the report.
• It is matched with a cheque for the same amount written to Mr Al Qaed from Shaikh Ahmed on August 8.

Main Operator 3: Adel Busaiba

The third "civil leader" is said to be CIO employee, Islamic Education Society Social Activities director and Al Asalah Society member Adel Rashid Busaiba. Mr Busaiba is paid BD 1,000 per month for activities to mobilize Sunnis against Shiites and for running a "Sunni Conversion" project and a "Sectarian Switch" project, the report alleges.

• A cheque worth BD 955 purportedly written to Mr Busaiba from Shaikh Ahmed on August 2, to pay for "advertisements" is included in the report.
• It is placed alongside an invoice to the Islamic Education Society from the Akhbar Al Khaleej newspaper publishing house requesting BD 555 to pay for an advertisement on February 27 and an invoice from the Al Watan newspaper publishing company asking for BD 400 to pay for an advert on August 2.
• An undated advert from an Arabic newspaper shows a statement bearing the name of 15 Islamic charities and 9 Islamic societies - including the Islamic Education Society and the Al Asalah Society - condemning attacks on Sunni mosques in Iraq.
• A receipt included in the report also purports to show Mr Busaiba receiving BD 1,501 on August 17 2005 for "the cost of payments towards converts from Shia to Sunni (literally, 'those who have been enlightened')".
• The report also contains charts listing small sum (BD30 to BD 150) alleged payments to individuals for electricity, telephone and water bills, school fees and educational courses, and a list of 37 names under the heading "new converts in 2005".

Main Operator 4: Nasser Lori

A former CIO employee, Royal Court assistant undersecretary for coordination and follow up and 10 per cent shareholder in the Bahraini Al Watan newspaper Nasser Lori, is named in the report as another of the five "civil leaders".

Mr Lori, the report suggests, is involved in a secretive naturalization program at the Royal Court and has well known connections with Salafi Islamist groups in the Gulf and Middle East. He is allegedly paid BD 1,000 per month through a Shamil bank account to supervise the activities of the Al Watan newspaper, which the report suggests is fully complicit in the organization's work.

• The report contains a BD 39,375 cheque written to "the Al Watan newspaper" allegedly signed by Mr Lori on July 25.
• A receipt for a BD 1,000 "incentive for the month of June" allegedly signed by Mr Lori is also included as well as two cash deposit slips: one worth BD 5,000 paid into his Shamil bank account on November 9, 2005 and another for BD 9,000 paid into his account on February 22, 2006.

Main Operator 5: Jamal Al-Asiri

The fifth "civil leader" is said to be advisor to Royal Court minister Mohammed bin Ateyatalla Al Khalifa, editor of the Al Watan newspaper, former BBC (Arabic) correspondent and former Al Eslah society magazine coordinator, Jamal Yousif Al-Asiri.

Mr Al Asiri is paid BD 800 per month as head of public relations and news for the organization, the report alleges.

He is said to be provided with BD 3,000 per month to run a monitoring body called the "Centre for Public Opinion" with his brother Yacoub Yousif Al-Asiri, and Al Watan board of board of directors head Hisham Abdulrahman Jaffer Bucheeri.

• A series of cheques included in the report purport to show Mr Al Asiri receiving BD 3,000 in January, February, March and April from Shaikh Ahmed as "salary for running a centre for public opinion".
• A receipt from July 8 also allegedly shows Mr Lori receiving BD 800 as an "incentive for the month of June".
• Receipts also purport to show Al Watan journalists receiving "incentive" payments.
• Mr Lori is also said to receive further funding to pay local media and public relations workers from government ministries and private newspapers who work as part of an "Egyptian Media Group".

  The "Egyptian Media Group" is said to work from offices in the Zinj and Riffa areas under the control of Royal Court media worker Ali Radhi Hasanain. The group was allegedly paid BD 12,000 towards its establishment and said to work by planting stories in local newspapers under false names, preparing media pieces (mainly for Al Watan newspaper), and providing local columnists with prepared articles for them to reproduce as their own.

• A cheque for BD 1,600 allegedly signed by Shaikh Ahmed and written to Mr Lori is matched with a request for BD 1,600 to pay individuals belonging to a "media support group".
• The report also includes receipts allegedly showing media and public relations workers receiving financial "incentives" and payments for "services".
• Kuwait Finance House employees Hamad Al Muhaiza and Ahmed Khayri also receive monthly incentive payments for the "work" they do for the organisation, the report alleges.

  A receipt included purportedly shows Mr Al Muhaiza receiving BD 500 on March 31 as an "incentive for the month of February".

What it means:

At a crucial time for the new democratic process in Bahrain, these allegations cast a shadow of doubt on the genuine opportunity for all people in Bahrain to live in equality and with dignity.

According to the findings of this report, policies to subjugate Bahrain's Shia majority are not left behind in the pre-reform era, but are being practiced today by high ranking government officials.

These allegations are devastating to the goodwill of people who embraced the chance for a better life under a new regime, and a provide a bitter confirmation to those who have rejected the reforms as being merely a facade.

For the sake of trust, stability and security in Bahrain, the BCHR calls for:

• an independent and honest fact finding commission into these allegations.
• Officials implicated must have their positions frozen pending an investigation, and detach themselves completely from the electoral process.
• Those found guilty of this crime against the Bahraini people should be brought to justice.

Who is Salah Al Bandar ?

Who is Dr Salah Al Bandar ?

He is a British national of Sudanese origin who was happily working as an advisor for the government of Bahrain.

One day, he woke up from his sleep and realised that what he was doing was not right. Something was wrong.. and he was in on the big dark black secret. Something inside him woke up. This thing is called a conscience. Not everybody has it.

He started collecting things from his workplace..hundreds of cheques and documents. He put them altogether in a document - now commonly known as Bandargate. This document was given to a few, in a bid to get it under the nose of the King of Bahrain to see what is happening in his kingdom.

A few days later, Al Bander was picked up from his house, taken for investigation, bundled up into a plane and sent to London in his pyjamas. What is it that Al Bander knew and which the authorities wanted to cover up so badly?

WELCOME TO BANDARGATE!

Welcome to Bandargate. It is a site to tell the truth. The truth that the goberment of Bahrain wants to hide from you. Anyone who wants to know about what is poplarly known as Salah Al Bandar scandal in Bahrain is being threatened. People are scared because the government is keeping a lid on the topic. This is one of many sites which will come up soon to expose the truth.
See you around.