During the holy month of Ramadan, life usually  slows down in the Middle East. The main focus is on observing the month of fasting and fulfilling religious obligations.

Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the scene across the Middle East has changed dramatically. Ramadan is no longer a month where wars, protests and feuds disappear; instead, it has become a month where people have used its significance to get their message across to regimes ruling body. On August 3, the Pakistani public took to streets to protest against killings in Myanamar.

Since the commemoration of Ramadan on July 19, over 25 demonstrations against the 200 year old ruling dynasty of Alkhalifah have taken place in Bahrain. These demonstrations come amidst the official warnings that any protests and public rallies will be considered illegal. On July 31, 2012, frustrated protestors took to streets in Bahrain and in the neighboring country of Saudi Arabia.

On Monday, clashes broke out between security forces and protestors in the village of Sitra. According to Agence France Presse, “wounded demonstrators are afraid to go to hospital for treatment because they are afraid that they will be arrested.” On Thursday, August 2, the security forces clashed with protestors in the village of Dair and Bani Jamarah.

Since last year, the human rights situation has further deteriorated in Bahrain. Last year, Saudi Arabia deployed more than 1,000 troops to Bahrain to help Alkhalifah government to quell anti-government uprisings in country’s capital city of Manama. Subsequently, there were over 50 fatalities, more were injured and many were incarcerated for their participation.

It was later revealed in a special report in November 2011 that security forces used torture and excessive force against those that were arrested during the assiduous crackdown on public demonstrations. The Bahrainis held the ruling King Hamad bin Isa Khalifa liable for scenes of carnage on streets, civil unrest and mass arrests.

Aljazzera International stated that ‘Forty people, including the daughter of a leading opposition activist, have been arrested hours after security forces used tear gas and birdshot to disperse hundreds of protesters demanding political reforms in Bahrain.’ Press Tv further reported that Bahraini authorities arrested opposition party al-Wefaq’s female member, Ahlam al-Khuzai, at the airport on Friday as she was travelling to Tunisia to attend a conference organized by Amnesty International.

One of the focal point of mass protests is calling an end to discriminatory measures used by the ruling monarchy towards the country’s 70 percent of marginalized Shiite population. Following the popular Arab Spring revolt across the Gulf region, Bahrainis too took to streets in mid-February 2011, demanding a transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy and to new socio economical and political reforms.

However, like any other Arab country, the problems of Bahrain could be traced back to 1975, when Sheikh Isa dissolved the national assembly, thus marking an end to country’s short lived constitutionalism and rendering democratic reforms. In the 1990s, a popular uprising and a demand to restore the 1973 constitution threatened the ruling seat of Alkhalifa family.

In 1992, the United Nations Human Rights Council placed Bahrain on a list of monitoring for its use of torture and force against opposition members. In 1999, Sheikh Hamad ascended the Alkhalifa throne and introduced new reforms to avoid repeat of 1990s mass political unrests by making promises to take country towards new reforms, democracy and constitutionalism.

On the surface Bahrain appears to be a model country in the Arab world and is signatory to eight human rights treaties from the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1990) to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (2006) to the Arab Charter on Human Rights (2008). In contrast, the country has failed to abide by most of these treaties. In December 2011, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton lauded Bahrain on being a ‘model partner’ for not only the United States but also for other countries.

According to Amnesty International “The Bahraini government’s response to the findings of an international commission of inquiry has proved inadequate as human rights violations continue.” However, the failure of the ruling body to live up to its promises has resulted in mass uprising, liberalized autocracy and suppression of human rights activists and opposition figures.

The West has come under much scrutiny in the media and with human rights organizations for maintaining its silence over Bahrain’s violation of human rights, its restriction on freedom of expression and right to assembly. Patrick Cockburn said in The Independent: “While Barack Obama and David Cameron vigorously oppose the atrocities against protesters in Syria, they handle Bahrain with kid gloves.”

The scene on the streets of Bahrain does not show any signs of dwindling down. A lesson should be learned from the ousting of governments in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Taking to the streets in the sweltering heat of July and August without food or drink indicates that Bahraini people have not given up their struggle for justice.

Image Courtesy of  malyousif

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On Friday, June 8 2012 violence broke out in Western Myanmar (also known as Burma) leading to days of ethnic and religious violence including knife attacks and rioting. According to Reuters and MSNBC as of Monday 21 have died, another 21 have been wounded, and 1,662 houses have been burned to the ground. At least 4,100 people have lost their homes and are taking up refuge in schools and Buddhist monasteries.

The Western state of Rakhine is home to the majority religion group the Rakhine Buddhists and the minority group, Rohingya Muslims. The tension has been building for years as the Buddhists and the Muslims have different ethnic, religious, and cultural ties. The former military government has also persecuted the Rohingya Muslims for many years.

According to the UN the Rakhine state – this distraught region of Myanmar – is one of the most discriminating areas in the world. Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, claimed, “the underlying tensions that stem from discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities pose a threat to Myanmar’s democratic transition and stability.”

President Thein Sein has also admitted, “what is currently happening in the Rakhine state is about putting grievances, hatred, and desire for revenge at the forefront, based on racial and religious grounds, and that’s why anarchic actions are becoming widespread.”

The recent violence began after three Muslims were arrested in relation to the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman. A few days later, on June 3, a mob attacked a bus and lynched ten Muslims who were unrelated to the case. The Buddhists are also worried about the Rohingyas taking the jobs in the area where employment is scarce.

The rioting originally broke out in the city of Maungdaw on June 8, but quickly spread to the neighboring towns and cities including the state capital city of Sittwe.

During the violence on June 11, the United Nations pulled out 44 of 150 members of its staff in the western region of Myanmar. Ashok Nigam, the UN’s resident and human coordinator in Yangon – Myanmar’s largest city – stated that the relocation was a precaution for the safety of its staff.

Mohammad Sadek of Malaysia’s Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee stated, “We are trying to call on the international community, especially the UN, to send peacekeeping forces to mediate. Thousands of Rohingya are displaced, the wounded can’t get medication, it’s a crisis.”

President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in the coastal region of the Rakhine state Sunday, June 10. Police were forced to fire shots into the air on Tuesday June 12 in order to disperse a rioting Rohingya group that was burning houses in Sittwe. As of the following day, there were soldiers patrolling the streets of Sittwe preventing individuals from carrying weapons and setting fire to houses.

Soldiers are also helping groups of Rohingya Muslims escape from Sittwe to Thae Chaung village since many individuals’ houses have burned down. The presence of soldiers in Sittwe seems to be calming the violence and residents since, according to Reuters’ reporters, more people are leaving their homes.

The 800,000 Rohingya Muslims living in Myanmar claim to be from the Rakhine region but they have been persecuted by the Myanmar government for years and are still not recognized as citizens, according to the United Nations. Instead the Myanmar government claims the Rohingya Muslims are from Bangladesh and are illegal immigrants; however, the Bangladesh government will not accept them as citizens either. During the 1990s around 250,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh to escape the persecution of the Myanmar government. The Bangladesh government eventually stopped letting the Rohingyas into the country in 1992.

Recently three boats carrying about one thousand Rohingya Muslims tried to enter Bangladesh to flee the current violence but were turned away. Around thirty Rohingyas actually managed to enter Bangladesh ten of whom were injured in the rioting violence in Myanmar and are being treated.

In the past year or so Myanmar has been working to end decades of military rule and economic isolation; however these riots and other recent conflicts have somewhat stalled its efforts. There have been several protests over recent months due to power cuts and workers have also blocked access to twelve mines in Mandalay Division because of bad labor conditions and job cuts.

The military junta in Myanmar ruled the country for decades and heavily supported  the ethnic majority of Burmans over the minority groups in the country. According to Jan Zalewski, a South Asia analyst with IHD Global Insight based in London, “the rest, the non-Burmans, were pretty much persecuted.” Zalewski also suggests a reason for the recent protests and violence during these government reforms. “As you reform and open up the media, people have an opportunity to vent their anger over everything that’s sitting quite deep. So you increase the polarization between groups.”

President Sein was elected with the backing of the military but he has worked to get rid of many of the former, oppressive policies and has worked toward the pro-democracy movement advocated by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former political prisoner Auug San Suu Kyi. Myanmar’s government over the past year has released political prisoners, held free elections, and signed peace deals with rebel minority groups; several Western governments that have previously left Myanmar in economic isolation have relaxed economic sanctions with these changes.

Some have been worried that the government will use this outbreak of violence as an excuse to tighten control again. However the European Union announced that it was ‘satisfied’ with the response by the Myanmar government, possibly implying that they believe the government has not overstepped its bounds during this crisis.

The United States Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton also made a statement saying, “We urge the people of Burma to work together toward a peaceful, prosperous and democratic country that respects the rights of all its diverse people.”

Although the violence seems to be calming, the International Crisis Group, a non-governmental research organization, warns, “How the government handles this case will be a major test of the police and courts in a country that has just begun to emerge from an authoritarian past. It will also test the government’s will and capacity to reverse a longstanding policy of discrimination toward the Muslim Rohingya.”

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