[HCCN] FW: Call 202-647-4000 to Ask State Department Help Activists Remain in Bahrain.

[J Robbins]

Paki Wieland (see below), among the detained activists, is a friend from
Northampton, Massachusetts, who is always on the front line for justice.
Please make a call to help if you can. -- JR


------ Forwarded Message
From: Pat Wheeler <wheelpl at myfairpoint.net>

> From: Voices for Creative Nonviolence <info at vcnv.org>
> 
>  
> --- Please call 202-647-4000 and leave a comment with the U.S. State
> Department asking them to halt the Bahraini government's deportation of U.S.
> citizens who are in Bahrain and have observed government brutality against
> peaceful protesters. Six U.S. citizens are now in detention including three
> from Voices for Creative Nonviolence. You can also tweet the State Department
> at @StateDept. Please help spread the word. ---
> 
> February 14, 2012
> 
> Six US citizens arrested in Bahrain, to be deported
> 
> Contact Witness Bahrain to schedule an interview.
> 
> For Immediate Release
> 
> [Manama, Bahrain] Six US Citizens were arrested by Bahraini security forces in
> Manama on Tuesday during a peaceful protest on the way to the Pearl
> Roundabout. Protesters had marched into the city center to reestablish a
> presence of nonviolent, peaceful protest on the one year anniversary of the
> Arab Spring uprising in Bahrain.
> 
> The international observers were in Bahrain as part of Witness Bahrain, an
> effort aimed at providing civilian presence to report and monitor the
> situation on the ground (witnessbahrain.org). Leading up to February 14, the
> one year anniversary of pro-democracy protests, Bahraini authorities had
> prevented journalists, human rights observers and other internationals from
> entering the country, leading many to fear a brutal crackdown.
> 
> Just yesterday, Secretary of State spokesperson Victoria Nuland stated that
> the US wanted to see the ³security forces exercise restraint and operate
> within the rule of law and international judicial standards.² But she failed
> to condemn the violent arrests of US international observers, the detainment
> of numerous Bahraini pro-democracy activists (including President of the
> Bahraini Center for Human Rights, Nabeel Rajab) and the ongoing use of
> overwhelming amounts of tear gas.
> 
> The six US citizens were part of a peaceful protest marching towards the Pearl
> Roundabout ­ site of last year¹s peaceful round-the-clock protest in Bahrain,
> modeled after Egypt¹s Tahrir Square ­ when they were attacked. Bahraini
> authorities appear to have targeted the Witness Bahrain observers, as one
> volunteer was told that she was detained for reporting on the February 11th
> Manama protest.
> 
> The six observers remain in Bahraini custory in the Naem Police Station in
> Manama. This group of internationals is the second to be deported by the
> Bahraini government. Attorneys Huwaida Arraf and Radhika Sainath were deported
> on Saturday, February 11th. The two were handcuffed for the duration of their
> flight from Bahrain to London.
> 
> Several international observers remain on the ground.
> 
> Biographies of the six arrested international observers:
> 
> Kate Rafael works at a San Francisco law firm and is a radio journalist,
> blogger and political activist from Oakland, California.
> 
> Flo Razowsky is photographer and community organizer based in Minneapolis,
> Minnesota. She is a Jewish anti-Zionist activist with Witness Bahrain and
> several Palestine solidarity organizations.
> 
> Linda Sartor teaches graduate school, and is a community activists based out
> of Northern California. She has been a human rights activist in Palestine, Sri
> Lanka, Iran, Afghanistan and Bahrain.
> 
> Paki Wieland is a retired social worker/family therapist educator in the
> Department of Applied Psychology, Antioch University, Keene, New Hampshire.
> Since the 1960s, she¹s also been a dedicated anti-war and civil rights
> activist.
> 
> Mike Lopercio is a restaurant owner from Arizona and has visited Iraq with a
> Military Families delegation.
> 
> Brian Terrell lives and works at Strangers and Guests Farm in Maloy, Iowa. He
> is a long time peace activist and a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative
> Nonviolence.
> ==============================================
> You are receiving our newsletter because you either signed up at vcnv.org or
> signed up at one of our events.
> 
> Unsubscribe wheelpl at myfairpoint.net from this list:
> http://vcnv.us1.list-manage1.com/unsubscribe?u=ad474c00c83953a2b8e225340&id=4c
> 5891c24e&e=8ff0356b31&c=dbad2d2d67
> <http://vcnv.us1.list-manage1.com/unsubscribe?u=ad474c00c83953a2b8e225340&
> id=4c5891c24e&e=8ff0356b31&c=dbad2d2d67>
> 
> Our mailing address is:
> Voices for Creative Nonviolence
> 1249 W Argyle Street
> Chicago, IL 60640
> 
> Our telephone:
> 773-878-3815
> 


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mainetalk.org/pipermail/hccn_mainetalk.org/attachments/20120215/ab5cf9be/attachment.htm>