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Syria, Yemen (And Beyond): Switching From West to East
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 7:40 | James Miller in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran
The scene at the "victory party" outside of the Al Nahda party headquarters in Tunisia
0950 GMT: The Bahraini regime is introducing 10-year prison sentences and fines of up to BD300,000 for "cyber-crime".
According to the regime outlet Gulf News, those who use the Internet or telecom devices "to spread information that threatened national security", for terrorism ,or to damage the reputation of others could get up to three years in jail or a fine of up to BD100,000, or both. If the offender was successful, the sentence would be up to five years and the fine up to BD200,000.
Among other provisions, anyone who accesses computer systems without authorisation faces up to a year in jail or a fine of BD30,000, or both. Those who deliberately hack into networks with the purpose of destroying them or damaging information or data could receive three years in prison and/or a fine of up to BD50,000, or both.
The sentence could be to seven years with a maximum fine of BD300,000 if the offender deliberately disrupts public facilities, such as traffic lights or irrigation systems or if he/she threatened people's lives and safety through hacking, tampered with medical reports, or led to someone's death.
Those who use the multimedia devices to steal information would face up to three years in jail or a fine of up to BD100,000, or both.
The bill is not quite law. MP voted to refer it to the foreign affairs, defence, and national security committee for two weeks for further study. However, Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs, and Endowments Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa said it was unnecessary to delay the law. He offered to sit with committee members to revise the articles in question.
0930 GMT: The Star of Canada opens its report on a Canadian citizen facing prison in Bahrain:
Naser al-Raas remembers the cramped office, the beatings, and the small gun pointed at his head. He remembers the cables used to tie his hands behind a chair and the blindfold fastened around his face.He remembers the ambush at Bahrain International Airport on March 20, just as he was preparing to present his Canadian passport to customs and fly to Kuwait, where he was born.He remembers three mock executions held under the desert sun. And he remembers the dingy cell in the notorious Al Qala prison, where he said he spent more than a month in solitary confinement, beaten and electrocuted daily, the screams of other tortured prisoners echoing through the halls.Now on Wednesday, nearly six months after he was inexplicably released from that cell, authorities are set to enter his in-laws’ home in Bahrain — where he is staying with his Bahraini fiancée Zainab — and steer him to prison, for a five-year term for participating in antiregime demonstrations that swept the country beginning in February.
0920 GMT: According to a detained officer, Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the son of the former Libyan leader,escaped from the besieged town of Bani Walid last week even though his convoy was hit by NATO fire.
Al-Senussi Sharif al-Senussi, an army lieutenant who was part of Qaddafi's security team in Bani Walid until the city fell on 17 October, said, "He was nervous. He had a Thuraya (satellite phone) and he called his father many times.
Al-Senussi continued, "He repeated to us: don't tell anyone where I am. Don't let them spot me. He was afraid of mortars. He seemed confused."
Al-Senussi is now in a makeshift jail inside Bani Walid's airport. He said, "When [Qaddafi's] left Bani Walid it was hit by an air strike but he escaped alive."
0400 GMT: The Tunisian election authority (ISIE) has announced some of the election results for the constitutional assembly. The results of 87 of the 217 seats have been announced, and the al Nahda party has won 37 of them. Al Jazeera reports that the remaining seats were distributed as follows:
"The Congress Party for the Republic (CPR) had 14, Aridha Chaabia 11, Ettakatol 10 and the Progressive Democratic Party five seats."
Without a majority, the party will be forced into building a coalition, which is probably a very positive development for the prospect of true democracy. The moderate Islamist party has released a press release, claiming that they have won 40% of the vote and pledging to cooperate with the other parties:
"We are pleased to see that the political climate has left behind the tension that was naturally part of the election campaign, and we are pleased to hear mature and responsible stances from political leaders. We certainly need to learn new democratic principles, including the fact that the opposition has an important role to play.""We stress once again that we wish to cooperate with all parties without any exclusion. We are open to all political parties inside the assembly and outside it, as well as civil society bodies such as the great Tunisian trade union and other unions.""We are in talks in order to form alliances based on a shared economic, social and political program."
So, Qaddafi is dead and buried, and Tunisia seems to be on the road to democracy. The protesters on the eastern front of Arab Spring, such as the men and women in the streets of Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain, hope that the world's attention will now be firmly focused on their cause.
Yesterday, the people of Homs, Syria, were given a brief respite from the nearly constant artillery bombardment that they have been subjected to for many days. However, the artillery shells were replaced with tanks in the streets and police conducting house-to-house raids, arresting scores of dissidents.
Nationwide, there were many protests, and more reported violence. There were even reports, and video, of small protests inside Damascus proper. However, the big news seems to have been the clashes between the military loyal to Assad and defecting soldiers in Ma'arrat an-Numan, a crucial city between Hama and Aleppo. This will certainly be a story we will continue to watch.
In Yemen, dissident General Ali Mohsen and President Ali Abdullah Saleh supposedly signed a cease-fire agreement, but reports of clashes continued after the deadline for cease-fire was passed. At least 2 were reportedly killed, 40 wounded, and the AP posted dramatic video of soldiers turning against peaceful protesters.
So, with the hope of democracy showing signs that it may become reality in the birthplace of Arab Spring, and with the the world's military involvement in the movement coming to a close in Libya, activists in three countries (Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain) are hoping that they will be "next," and the world will turn its attention to making their dreams a reality.
After all, their fate may depend on it.
