With all of the social media successes throughout the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, it would be all too easy to overlook the struggles faced by bloggers and netizens throughout the region. And yet, 2011 was an extraordinary difficult year for free expression, from Egypt's shutdown of the Internet to the numerous harassed, arrested, and detained bloggers from the Maghreb to the Gulf.

Iran: No room for free expression

Less than a week into 2012, Reporters Without Borders puts the number of jailed netizens globally at 126. Within the list, Iran stands out, as my colleague Fred Petrossian writes:

In 2011, the Iranian regime was faithful to its reputation as an enemy of internet as it continued to repress bloggers and even threaten their lives. Blogger Sakhi Rigi got a record breaking 20-year jail sentence. Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, who is serving 15 years in prison, struggled for his health and for a period was deprived of contact with his family and lawyer. RSF talked about the plight of seven netizens in Iran in July 2011. These cases are just the tip of the iceberg. While a few bloggers likeShiva Nazar Ahari andHossein Derakhshanwere released on bail, others like Mohammad Reza Pour Shajari may face charges of ‘Waging War Against God' (moharebeh), for which a death sentence can be pronounced. As Omid Reza Mirsayafi's tragic death shows, the more a blogger is isolated and deprived of a network, the more he is in danger.

Egypt, Syria, Bahrain among the region's worst

But while Iran may rank worst in terms of the number of bloggers detained, life for bloggers in much of the rest of the region has been no picnic. In Syria, where the uprising that started last spring shows few signs of abating, several prominent bloggers were arrested in 2011, threatening countless more into silence. Razan Ghazzawi, a former Global Voices contributor, spent fifteen days in prison in December until being released on bail, but still faces trial for “weakening the national sentiment,” among other charges. Hussein Ghrer, released in early December, also faces trial. Meanwhile, Tal Al-Mallohi, the teenaged blogger imprisoned in 2009, is serving a five year sentence.

Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah poses with his wife and fellow blogger Manal Hassan in Tunis just one month before his arrest

A third country in the region ranks among the worst in 2011, though one wouldn't know it from following mainstream media coverage. Bahrain, where a nascent uprising was all but quashed early in the year, levied harsh punishments on several bloggers in 2011, including Global Voices Advocacy contributor Ali Abdulemam, who was sentenced in absentia to fifteen years in prison and is currently in hiding.

Bahraini blogger Ali Abdulemam at the 2009 Arabloggers Workshop in Beirut

Elsewhere in the region, the struggle continues

Though perhaps less systematically, other countries in the region targeted bloggers as well in 2011. Prior to the fall of Ben Ali, Tunisian bloggers Slim Amamou (a Global Voices Advocacy contributor) and Azyz Amami were briefly imprisoned. Amami was then arrested again and beaten by police in September. Though the arrest was not for his blogging but for a joke told near a police station, it demonstrated the tenuous state of free expression in the country.

In Morocco, a blogger and several activists were arrested in September, while Saudi Arabia went after video bloggers who had been documenting poverty in the oil-rich country. And in the UAE, a female blogger was summoned for interrogation over a tweet.

Fighting for a better 2012

Though this represents only a fraction of those intimidated, harassed, and imprisoned in 2011, it is illustrative of the continued struggle faced by bloggers, activists, and other netizens in the region. And as 2012 kicks off with such a large number of bloggers in prison, it is apparent that there is more work to be done to ensure that the right to free expression is guaranteed for everyone. And fortunately, a growing number of grassroots organizations in the region are taking up the fight for digital rights. But nevertheless, bloggers must be ever vigilant, and consider the risks they face as they take their activism online. Global Voices salutes these brave bloggers and will continue to make sure their voices are heard throughout the world.

Photo credits: Jillian C. York.

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A policewoman pulling Zainab Al-Khawaja after handcuffing her

Bahraini blogger Zainab Al-Khawaja, daughter of prominent opposition figure and human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja , who was sentenced to life imprisonment last June, was brutally arrested on Thursday. Her arrest follows the death a 22-year-old man called Ali Al-Gassab when a car drove over him, an “accident” that seems to recur since the protests started in Bahrain this year. Right after the death of Al-Gassab, news of Zainab's arrest circulated online. It was confirmed by the head of Bahrain Human Rights Center Nabeel Rajab and her sister Maryam Al-Khawaja. With her arrest, 28-year-old Zainab, mother of a 2-year-old girl, becomes the fourth member of her family to get arrested after her father, her brother-in-law, and her husband. She has always been vocal against the regime especially through her Twitter account which she uses to post updates from the protests that have rocked her country since February 14.

On Twitter, netizens wrote that as she was getting arrested, Zainab was chanting against the Bahraini King Hamad Al Khalifa, chanting “Down with Hamad.” The following video that spread through YouTube shows Al-Khawaja getting handcuffed by a policewoman. Then, another policewoman comes and beats Zainab on her face, before she was pulled to a parked police van.

Zainab was arrested while she was sitting in a roundabout on the Budaiya Highway, as part of a sit-in called for by protesters called Occupy Budaiya Street which aimed at pressuring the government to release political prisoners and pay tribute to Bahrain's 40-plus martyrs, killed at the hand of security forces since the unrest started.

According to her sister Maryam, Zainab was arrested with another woman called Masooma Al-Sayed and was charged with illegal gathering, assaulting a female officer, and inciting hatred against the regime. The prosecutor decided to detain both women for seven days under investigation. Zainab was sprayed in her eyes when she was arrested and was unable to see for an hour. In the police station, Zainab was beaten on the head, arms and legs, as she was unable to see. She recognized the voice of the policewoman who beat her, but the prosecutor refused to write it down. Her lawyer attempted to show the  prosecutor a video of Zainab's arrest, but he refused to see it. The policewoman came to the prosecutor with bandaged arm claiming Masooma and Zainab hit her. Zainab refused to sign the statement unless the name of the policewoman who hit was written down.

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Alaa Abdelfatah and Ali Abdulemam (during the 1st Arab Techies collective meeting in Cairo, 2008)

To know the Arab blogosphere, you need to know Ali Abdulemam, the Bahraini blogger who spent more time in jail than in blogging in the past year. He is one of the fathers of Arab blogging and Bahrain's most famous blogger as he was the founder of Bahrain Online, a forum that the regime blocked in 2002. When Ali’s name comes up, we think of a man who had the courage to challenge the criminal authorities and thus became not only an opposition figure but also an icon for his people and a voice to their struggle. His cell, where he was kept since September 2010 until February 2011, symbolized the oppression that a new generation is facing in Bahrain.

As we are witnessing the case of Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdelfatah challenging the military junta in post-revolution Egypt by refusing to accredit their military trials of civilians and answering their questions, we need to remember that 6 years ago, Ali Abdulemam went through the same challenge when he and his fellow Bahraini blogger Hussain Yousef refused to be bailed out because they did not want to admit to the system and its false accusations. Ali, after his release last February, has disappeared and was sentenced to 15 years in jail for ‘spreading false information and trying to subvert the regime’. Surely, just the way he was denied a lawyer when he was imprisoned last year, Ali like all other Bahrainis after the uprising, was denied a fair trial and was sentenced in absentia.

When speaking to Hussain Yousef about how he and Ali refused to be bailed out back in 2005, he narrated the story in details:

“It was March 2005, we heard of a solidarity protest that took place in front of the police station where we were jailed (Al-Qathibiya police station). We were worried about the safety of the protesters. The long interrogation sessions ended with us and Wael Bualai. They faced us with seven charges. Our lawyers said these charges will lead to the sum up of 107 years in jail! We were laughing at those charges that regimes usually use to kill freedom of speech, such as insulting the king or the royal family, spreading false information, threatening national security, attempting to subvert the regime etc. We rejected the charges, decided to go on a hunger strike, and leaked our news out somehow. We heard that the king was out of the country and that he was faced with our case by journalists wherever he went. Free people stood in solidarity with us from all over the world and Bahrain human rights center did a great job campaigning for us. Statements came out from different organizations and we continued with our hunger strike.

Then, the Interior minister sent someone to ask us to sign an apology to let us out. I asked: for whom? For the king? Or for the people? If it is for the king then let his palace ask us so, and if it is for people, let the parliament come and talk to us. I asked him in return for an apology and told him that we are on a hunger strike and that if we die it will be his responsibility and the responsibility of those who asked to jail us. He offered to bail us out for 1000 Bahraini dinars (around 3000$), and again I rejected. I was taken back to the cell, I explained the situation to my friends, and we agreed. That night we were taken to somewhere unknown and dark. Our eyes were open when we got into the bus and we had intensive security around us and a wave of cars followed us to the new place where we met a person in civilian clothes. The guy started to threaten to put each of us in a separate cell, I asked him who he was and we figured out that he was someone brought back from his vacation just to deal with us. We asked to call our lawyer to inform him of our place and he said no one would know of our place. I said it will be his responsibility if we die and the whole world will know about it. Ali called one of our lawyers. Suddenly, they treated us differently, asked us which cells we like, and we were released the following day. It was the statement of the American Association of Journalists that scared them and we knew more about the calls of the American embassy by reading the cable documents that came out last month through wiki leaks.”

This is an interesting phenomenon that we are witnessing; bloggers are going head-to-head against dictatorships and wrestling their ways out even if they were left alone. It is truly disappointing to see bloggers still getting jailed, tortured, and/or brutalized in the Middle East after the uprisings. Iran, Egypt, and Syria are only behind China when it comes to the number of bloggers and cyber activists harassed or arrested. Saudi Arabia has recently arrested, later released, three vloggers for making an episode on poverty, Kuwait interrogated and arrested five twitter users this year, while a ‘retweet’ in Bahrain might get you interrogated or even jailed.

When speaking with Nasser Weddady, the Mauritanian blogger and activist talked to us about the campaign he launched: “When Ali was arrested in September 2010, Arab bloggers and others from around the globe created one of the nosiest campaigns to demand his release by putting together a showcase for advocates rising through different platforms and multiple mediums.” In comment on what both Ali and Alaa are doing, Weddady added: “This is for liberty; it is a moral stand. These two bloggers chose their principles over their freedoms. It is not about politics, it is about principles.”

Weddady exclaimed: “Ali is a delicate case; he is not a member of a political party because he is above the frame. He was targeted by the regime because when he speaks, there’s a huge blogging community that listens to what he has to say; he has international respect. The stand of world’s democracies towards Ali’s case is shameful. His fate hinges on the world’s complacency towards Bahrain’s dictatorship. We need to realize that this is not only an Arab cause, it is a global one.”

Ali Abdulemam is not a case of his own; he is the face of his people, his generation, and a true example of how online free speech is getting raped by regimes in the Middle East. Founding the Bahrain Online forum in 1998 was a tunnel that Ali digged for Bahrainis to walk out to the world. Revealing his identity in 2002 was seen as a mix of insane courage and suicidal wrestling against a brutal regime. Refusing to be bailed out in 2005, losing his job, and living the nightmare of Bahraini prison in 2010 are all factors that make the world owe this man more than silence. It is a shame how the Arab world and the globe in general are watching the crimes done against Ali and his people, adding water on their revolution to die off. With memory we try to fight for Ali Abdulemam and with spoken words the world should get the Bahraini regime to stop its crimes and to respect the sacred human right of free speech.

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Ali Abdulemam with two of his children

Nine months after leading blogger and human rights activist Ali Abdulemam was arrested along with other political and human rights activists in Bahrain, a military court has sentenced him to 15 years in prison. The rest of activists face sentences that range from two years to life imprisonment, in the context of a crackdown to crush dissent in the country that started in September. The verdicts were immediately condemned by human rights groups such as Reporters without Borders and Amnesty International.

Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program, reports:

“The trials appear to be politically motivated, since we have not seen any evidence that the activists used or advocated violence”.

AI also reports that at least 500 people have been detained in Bahrain since pro-reform protests began in February, four have died in suspicious circumstances in detention and almost 2,000 people have been dismissed or suspended from work. Crackdown against opposition to the ruling dynasty has also reached the point of shooting at peaceful protesters and locking up the nurses and doctors that treat them.

Ali Abdulemam, who is a father of three, was sentenced in absentia. He is known as “the godfather of blogging”, after years of work as a blogger and human rights activist, mainly through his portal BahrainOnline.org, one of the Kingdom’s most popular pro-democracy outlets. Because of his relevance in promoting democratic reforms and freedom of speech in the region through the use of digital tools, his arrest triggered a global campaign during his first ordeal back in 2005. His arrest again in September raised an outpour of support and solidarity, with bloggers from all over the world demanding his release and the release of the other activists. His Facebook group has more than 2.600 members and is growing rapidly fueled by the buzz created over twitter by many users.

Shadaio @Drdoos_BPR @abdulemam You should be proud that your words can make a difference. Keep it up

maryamalkhawaja In absentia: Ali AbdulEmam: 15 years imprisonment. Known as the Godfather of blogging. #bahrain #jun1

Shortly after being released on February 23, Abdulemam disappeared again, and neither his family nor any of his closest friends know his whereabouts.

Bahrain´s authorities continue to ignore international pressure, which has resulted into cancellation of the prestigious Formula 1 Grand Prix race in Bahrain for 2011, after the F1 teams unanimously objected to the race date due to the human rights abuses in the country.

Human rights organization Front Line Defenders reports:

“The verdict and the fact that the trial took place before a military court whose procedures fall far short of internationally recognised fair trial standards underlines the determination of the Government of Bahrain to secure a conviction at any cost”

Amnesty International calls on Bahrain’s authorities to end these unfair military trials and release all prisoners of conscience immediately and unconditionally.

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Ironically, one of those world leaders celebrating World Press Freedom Day is King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, one of 38 heads of state who have been named “predators of press freedom” by Reporters Without Borders. He issued a statement today saying that he believes “a free, impartial and independent Press is the backbone of democratic development.”

However, he also offered a few disclaimers, encouraging media to “move away from provoking hatred” as well as from provoking “violence, vandalism or terrorism” and “breaking the law or violating public morals and people's dignity.”

Though the king said that “no one will be harmed because of peaceful and civilised expressions of opinion under the law,” more than 70 journalists, online writers, and bloggers have recently been fired, arrested, or threatened in Bahrain, according to an online spreadsheet released by Bahrain Center for Human Rights today.

Nearly 20 of those mentioned on the spreadsheet are bloggers or online activists. Among them is the founder of Al Dair online forum, Zakariya Al Aushayri, who died in prison on April 9, 2011. Others have been arrested, interrogated, or classified as “traitors”. Founder of BahrainOnline.org and Global Voices Advocacy contributor Ali Abdulemam was previously arrested and is now living undercover within Bahrain.

Bahrain is currently under a state of emergency since a crackdown on protests that began on February 14. See Global Voices special coverage.

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From Morocco to Bahrain, everyday people have taken on the cast iron hold of dictatorships and absolute monarchies resulting in an extraordinary collective awakening that has paved the way for epochal change in the region. The youth movement, which lies at the core of the uprisings, continues to play a prominent role in the pro-democracy and pro-reform demonstrations, which have swept through the region, unabated by government clampdowns or concessions.

To date, there have been revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, a civil war in Libya, major protests in Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Oman, Iran and Yemen and minor protests in Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Western Sahara. The protests have also triggered similar unrest outside the region, including in Azerbaijan. Fuelled by unemployment, restrictions on freedom of expression and government corruption, the protests proved to be the ultimate litmus test for government’s tolerance of freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, across the Middle East and North Africa.

The response from a number of governments has included indiscriminately firing on protesters - resulting in at least a thousand deaths and thousands of wounded - shutting down the internet and phone lines, the jamming of Al-Jazeera’s satellite and other international broadcasters, and further clamping down on press freedom whilst also offering concessions in some cases. A clear example of this dichotomy is currently unravelling in Syria, where the entire Syrian cabinet resigned as a concession to protesters on March 29 2011 but where security forces killed at least 25 pro-democracy protesters in Homs on April 17 2011.

The determination of the protesters across the region to keep the movement “peaceful,” and their success at doing so despite significant state violence has been commended by the international community. These men, women and children who have taken to the streets are part of an unprecedented movement that has built sufficient momentum over the past months to influence the current scope of events. How we, the international community, respond to this movement and support the transition process in post-revolutionary countries such as Tunisia and Egypt, will come to define our work in the region for years to come.

ARTICLE 19 urges Arab states to grasp this opportunity to begin a process of real democratisation, with the respect of freedom of expression at its core. The transition and reform processes require, and should be based on, freedom of expression and freedom of the press, transparency, and the ability of all, men and women, religious and other minorities and vulnerable groups, to speak out and participate equally and without fear in the reform process and the democratic running of their country. The stability of the region relies on such stewardship.

ARTICLE 19 is also calling on Arab governments to hold an independent and transparent investigation into the violations that have taken place over the last months, determine all responsibilities, including the line of command, and bring to justice those responsible. The right to know is a fundamental human right which takes on particular importance in situations, such as those in the Arab world, where people are disappeared, imprisoned, beaten and tortured, or worse still, killed in mysterious circumstances and secrecy.

Social Media, Grass Root Activism and the Arab Uprisings

As one Egyptian activist succinctly tweeted during the protests there, “we use Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate, and YouTube to tell the world.“

Today, more than ever, access to electronic media, the ability to spread ideas online and the cyber activism that this enables have emerged as essential elements to popular movements for greater freedom and, perhaps more surprisingly, even essential to 21st Century revolutions. This is the human rights revelation of the extraordinary cascade of revolutions which are springing up across the region.

In Tunisia, grassroots and independent digital activists such as Nawaat and Tunileaks and bloggers including Fatma Riahi, all of whom the regime had tirelessly sought to repress, played a key role in disseminating information during the uprisings. While the protests that eventually led to the toppling of Ben Ali took root in the rural and marginalised heartlands of Tunisia - far from the national and international spotlight - coverage of the subsequent police brutality, sniper shootings, and wounded protesters in hospitals first came via posts on Facebook and Twitter, and in footage on Flickr and YouTube.

Journalists & Cyber Activists: In the Line of Fire

Although the ripple effects of the uprisings differ from country to country, the ongoing persecution of journalists and cyber activists remains a serious cause for concern for ARTICLE 19. Against this backdrop of continued unrest, a disturbing pattern of violence, harassment and intimidation against journalists, cyber activists and bloggers covering widespread civil unrest is emerging.

There have been widespread allegations of human rights violations and disappearances during the prodemocracy protests, and many journalists, human rights defenders, bloggers and cyber activists have been detained in a number of countries, including in Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria. Accusations of torture of protesters and journalists especially in Syria and Bahrain are beginning to emerge, as the scale of government clampdowns is emerging.

ARTICLE 19 calls for the immediate release of all imprisoned peaceful protesters and political prisoners, including journalists and bloggers that are being detained in the context of pro-democracy protests. In addition, the authorities should immediately investigate and disclose the fate and whereabouts all those who are missing, and immediately inform their families.

Libya

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented more than 80 attacks on the press since political unrest erupted in Libya last month. They include four fatalities: Ali Hassan Al Jaber, a Qatari cameraman working for Al-Jazeera, Mohamed Al-Nabous, a Libyan journalist and blogger and more recently, two photojournalists were killed - Vanity Fair’s Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, a US photojournalist working for Getty Images.

According to reports, there has been 49 detentions, 11 assaults, two attacks on news facilities, the jamming of Al-Jazeera and Al-Hurra transmissions, at least four instances of obstruction, the expulsion of two international journalists, and the interruption of Internet services. At least 18 journalists and media workers, including at least six Libyan journalists and nine foreign journalists are missing or in government custody.

The disappearance of foreign media workers started taking place shortly after the Libyan authorities asked journalists from different international news outlets to leave the country within 24 hours. The government has also decided not to issue new visas for journalists who wish to cover the unfolding conflict.

Amongst the scores of disappearance cases, ARTICLE 19 received reports from Benghazi that three journalist Hassan Zeitouni, an Algerian journalist, Majdi Hilal, Egyptian cameraman and Mohammad Al-Shoueihdi, 26-year-old Libyan cameraman from Benghazi went missing in Ajdabiya in the late afternoon of April 6 2011 when they drove out of town towards the frontline around al-Breiqa. The first news of their detention came on April 8 2011 at midnight, when Libyan national TV showed Zeitouni criticising Benghazi and praising Tripoli.

According to reports, there are good reasons to believe that he did so under pressure. Since then, Zeitouni has been released, but the whereabouts of Hilal and Al-Shoueihdi have yet to be established. The families of the disappeared journalists have not heard from either of them.

ARTICLE 19 is calling on Libyan authorities to immediately provide information on the whereabouts of all journalists detained or missing in Libya.

Egypt

In post-revolution Egypt, the freedom of expression situation in the country took a major blow when the Egyptian military introduced a new requirement requesting that local print media obtain approval for all mentions of the armed forces before publication. In a letter to editors dated March 22 2011, the director of the Morale Affairs Directorate of the Egyptian military, Maj. Gen. Ismail Mohamed Othman demanded that they do not “publish any (topics, news, statements, complaints, advertisements, pictures) pertaining to the Armed Forces or to commanders of the Armed Forces without first consulting with the Morale Affairs Directorate and the Directorate of Military Intelligence and Information Gathering, as they are the authorities specialized in reviewing such issues, [in an effort to] ensure the security and safety of the homeland.”

The first casualty of this law is Maikel Nabil, a blogger who campaigned against conscription and criticised the army's role during anti-government protests , and who was arrested on March 28 2011, after criticising the military in his blogs. According to reports, his blog posts and comments on social networking website Facebook were used as evidence against him in the trial.

ARTICLE 19 is calling on the Egyptian military authorities to remain true to the spirit of the revolution, to repeal the requirement requesting that local print media obtain approval for all mentions of the armed forces and to immediately release blogger Maike Nabil. ARTICLE 19 is concerned with the slow pace of reforms initiated, particularly with regard to the 30-year-old state of emergency which is still in place. ARTICLE 19 calls for all provisions of the Emergency Law to be repealed.

Syria

As the crackdown on human rights defenders, political activists, protesters and journalists reporting on anti-government protests continues across the country, cases of torture and ill treatment in detention are emerging. In Madaya, a suburb of Damascus, the capital, four seventeen-year-olds, were recently handcuffed and taken from their classrooms for spraying anti-government graffiti. This follows on from an incident last week which saw fifteen teenagers arrested for writing anti-government graffiti on walls in Daraa.

ARTICLE 19 has also received reports from family members of journalists who have been forcibly disappeared and whose whereabouts remain unknown, including the Alabiya.net reporter Mohamad Zaid Mastou. Zaid Mastou was arrested on April 6 2011 by Syrian authorities while he was in a cyber cafe in Damascus. According to eyewitness reports, Zaid Mastou was beaten by government authorities during his abduction before being taken off to an undisclosed location.

Zaid Mastou had returned to Syria few days before the outbreak of demonstrations in the last month and was covering the confrontations between security forces and protesters for Alabiya.net. His family have not received any news from him since his arrest. Despite numerous requests, government authorities have refused to provide his family with any information. The situation in the country remains critical: Over 350 individuals have allegedly been killed since the protests began, at least 120 since Friday alone. The security forces have shown no restraint, using live fire ammunition against unarmed protesters. The vast majority were killed for expressing their views in the context of peaceful protests

ARTICLE 19 is calling on the Syrian government to put an immediate stop to the heavy handed and violent crackdown on the protests and the protesters and resulting violations of key human rights, including the right to freedom of expression. In addition, ARTICLE 19 is also calling for an immediate independent investigation into the killings, use of torture and ill treatment, and other violations committed by government forces.

Bahrain

At least 30 people have been killed since anti-government protests by Bahrain's Shiite majority began in February. Hundreds have been detained in the crackdown on the rebellion. Last month, the Sunni-led state saw the worst sectarian clashes since the 1990s after mainly Shia protestors, emboldened by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, took to the streets. As part of a crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in the Gulf Arab Kingdom, a human rights lawyer and at least two doctors have been detained, and there have been at least 4 reported cases of deaths in custody.

In addition, Zakariya Rashid Hassan al-Ashiri, a blogger who moderated and wrote for a website that covers news and other developments in his village of al-Dair, died under mysterious circumstances while in government custody on April 16 2011. He was charged with disseminating false news and inciting hatred, the BBC reported. Karim Fakhrawi, founder and board member of Al-Wasat, the country's premier independent daily, also died in custody under mysterious circumstances. The government has accused AlWasat of “deliberate news fabrication and falsification.” Since then, the government has announced it will file criminal charges against three of the paper's senior editors and has deported two other senior staffers.

Fakhrawi died on April 12 2011, a week after he was apparently taken into custody.

ARTICLE 19 is calling on the Bahraini government to put an immediate stop to the heavy handed and violent crackdown on the protests, and the violation of the right to freedom of expression, including the right of the press to report on the events. ARTICLE 19 calls on Bahraini authorities to conduct an independent and transparent investigation into the death in state custody of both Al-Ashiri and Fakhrawi, and into the killings, use of torture and ill treatment, and other violations committed by the Bahraini security forces.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• For more information please contact: Mona Samari, Senior Press Officer ARTICLE 19 + 44 207 324 2510 or email mona@article19.org
• ARTICLE 19 is an independent human rights organisation that works around the world to protect and promote the right to freedom of expression. It takes its name from Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees free speech.

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Suhail Algosaibi, an author and fitness professional, is a self confessed “fan” of  the Bahraini crown prince and praises his efforts to resolve ongoing crisis in the country,

“I applaud your efforts in trying to bring a resolution to the February 14th crisis, which has left a deep wound in our society.  Despite the opposition’s arrogance, you’ve persisted in trying to bring a win-win resolution to the crisis.  God bless you.  In the end they’ve shown their true colours, and no one can fault you for your efforts.”

Algosaibi has also blogged about Bahrain's opposition loosing credibility.

Peace Bahrain recently published documents leaked by WikiLeaks, which accuses prominent human rights activists in the country of being paid by Iran.They have also posted a video, claiming that Nabeel Rajab of Bahrain Center for Human Rights, is discriminatory against the expatriate community in Bahrain.

Bahrain Independent has also published several articles questioning credibility of prominent activists, including Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, who is currently under arrest.

“Following his exile due to his contribution in the failed coup and throughout the 1980s, Al Khawaja played a leading role in the IFLB (Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain) cell in Iran and was even involved in military aspects of the organization. He was later granted asylum in the Denmark, in addition to being granted a Danish passport.  In the mid-90s he established the Bahrain Human Rights Organization in Denmark, the predecessor to the BCHR, and succeeded to a certain extend in penetrating and infiltrating a number of other legitimate international human rights organizations, in an attempt to grant his (and by default the IFLB’s) activities a more Euro-centric appeal and a legitimate cover.”

In observing pro-government and pro-establishment blogs, there appears to be a pattern of operation. They invariably get down to questioning credibility of the opposition activists and those demanding reform. Most commonly used line is, that the person is aligned to Iran or the West, or  person demanding change is doing so for personal benefit. This begs a question, isn't there  a better way to debate an issue, without accusing the other side of being a foreign sell out?

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In Bahrain, cyber activists and bloggers are facing intense scrutiny from the authorities and also from those who support the current government, says France24.

“Mohamed Al-Maskati, better known under the pseudonym of “Emoodz” has been held in an unknown location since the 30th of March. The young man has been particularly active on his blog and social networks, where he discussed recent events in his country and in the Arab World. According to the organization “Reporters without Borders“, Al-Maskati reportedly received threats via Twitter shortly before his arrest from a member of the royal family. Web users have been campaigning for his release ever since, by setting up a “Free emoodz” thread and this blog on the micro blogging site.

And like Al-Maskati, dozens of influential bloggers and campaigners for freedom of expression have been targeted by the authorities”

Dubai, supposedly open minded oasis with business and foreigner friendly environment, a blogger demanding reform was arrested. Eurasia Review says,

“An emirate paper said on Sunday that police in Dubai had arrested a blogger and a human rights activist, Ahmad Mansur, who has reportedly urged free elections and called for reforms in the country.

The National paper said police in Dubai had started a criminal investigation against Mansur but declined to specify the charges.”

Even more surprising that “oepn” Dubai's about face are events in Egypt. Middle East's season of fury's toast and pride is now slipping. Los Angeles Times reports that a blogger was sentenced to three years in prision for criticizing the military.

“Maikel Nabil Sanad was arrested March 28 after writing on a blog that “he was providing evidence proving that the military has been deceiving Egyptians” during and after the 18-day revolt that started Jan. 25 and ended with Mubarak’s ouster. A military council of top generals now runs the country.

Human rights advocates expressed puzzlement at Sanad’s sentence, especially after his lawyers were assured on Sunday that his judgment wouldn't be announced until Tuesday. But late Sunday he was discreetly found guilty and sentenced to jail.”

What sort of democracy was promised to the people of Egypt where criticizing military is a punishable crime? and the sentence is given out “discreetly”?

It is clear that those who desire and demand status quo are not willing to relent, they are willing to hit back at any effort to install truly open system. When “free” Egypt feels the need to fear bloggers, what can we expect from others who still proudly wear their autocracy?

Written by Bhumika Ghimire · comments (1)
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Police here for me

Mahmood Al-Yousif, giving a speech at a local event

Al-Yousif is an influential blogger whose writings of late have been in favor of unifying Bahrainis. On March 15, he wrote:

[I] choose to come back [to Bahrain] to continue to espouse sanity and tolerance. To continue to try to show people that regardless of their beliefs, status or wealth, our destinies as Bahrainis are intertwined and it behoves us to find equitable ways to live together and ameliorate our differences.

I don’t want to point fingers nor am interested in apportioning further blame. I favor the recognition of the root causes of this strife in order to move on, no matter how painful that exercise may be.

Al-Yousif has long been the administrator of a site called JustBahraini, a unity campaign against sectarianism. He wrote recently of a campaign supporter being threatened by police.

His arrest was confirmed by his brother, as well as his son, who tweeted:

Police just came to my house and arrested my father, Mahmood Al-Yousif. @BahrainRights @OnlineBahrain

Photo by Rotary Club of Adliya made available under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) license.

Written by Jillian York · comments (10)
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Accessnow created and circulated a much needed step-by-step guide to protect privacy online. This morning a Syrian student in Jordan approached me on twitter and said that he couldn't follow the guide to enable HTTPS for his Hotmail account. I asked him send me a screen shot and proceeded to alert Jillian York of the Berkman Center to the issue.

York, who's also an Advocacy contributor, proceeded to investigate the issue further. Her first suspicion was export controls due to sanctions imposed on Syria, but the user stated he was in Jordan and that his profile info was set to Jordan as well. That ruled out the possiblity of the problem being caused by over-complying with the export controls, so she took a closer look at the issue:

I quickly created a Hotmail account to see if I could replicate the situation; sure enough, when I set my location to the United States, I could turn on HTTPS as a setting, but when I switched to Jordan, I could not. I tested several other Arab countries–Syria, Bahrain, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria–also no HTTPS. I then tested Guatemala, Israel, and Turkey: all fine. France, German: fine. Iran…no HTTPS.

The screenshot below shows the error message users from Arab countries and Iran get when attempting to activate secure connections (HTTPS) for their free webmail account provided by Microsoft.

Luckily, a temporary workaround exists for concerned users. All they need to do is change the country in their profile to the US and they would be able to set HTTPS to be used automatically. York also suggests that affected users can also switch to gmail which has the setting enabled by default globally, and she states that Microsoft has been contacted and informed about the problem. Hopefully Microsoft will handle this security risk in a timely manner.

Written by Anas Qtiesh · comments (3)
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