“Khalil al-Marzouq is a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned only for of his vehement criticism of the government. He must be immediately and unconditionally released,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director at Amnesty International.

“His arrest is yet another blow to the National Dialogue which the Bahraini authorities have been flaunting as a reason to cancel the visit of the UN expert on torture to the country. However harsh his speech towards the authorities, he should not have been arrested for expressing his views.”

Khalil al-Marzouq, the Assistant Secretary General of al-Wefaq, the registered political association representing the majority Shi’a population in Bahrain, and former Head of the Legislative and Legal Committee in parliament, was arrested on 17 September.

He was interrogated by the Public Prosecutor in the presence of a lawyer for seven hours.

Khalil al-Marzouq has been charged with incitement to violence after he gave speech critical of the government on 6 September at a political rally attended by nearly 6,000 people near the village of Saar. During the speech a masked man passed near the podium and gave him a white flag which Khalil put aside. The flag allegedly symbolises the “14 February Movement”, a loose network of youth groups established in 2011 which has called for the end of the monarchy. Some of the movement’s members are on trial, accused of using violence.

Amnesty International has reviewed the video of the 6 September speech by Khalil al-Marzooq and the flag incident, but does not believe there is any incitement to violence in them.

The Public Prosecution ordered Khalil al-Marzouq’s detention for 30 days pending an investigation. If convicted he faces a lengthy jail sentence and the possibility of his nationality being revoked.

Khalil and al-Wefaq have repeatedly stated that they are against the use of violence and are committed to achieving change through peaceful means.

“Over recent months, the Bahraini government has increased its threats and attacks against political associations which are critical of the government, in particular al-Wefaq. This must stop and Bahrain’s allies can no longer hide behind the National Dialogue to mute their criticisms under the pretext that it could derail the process,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

This latest arrest comes only days after a joint statement by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Bahrain, signed by 47 countries, expressed concerns about the ongoing human rights violations in Bahrain.

As a response to Khalil al-Marzooq’s detention and other serious ongoing human rights violations the political opposition associations have today announced their decision to suspend their participation in the National Dialogue which had just resumed after two months of summer break.

In July the King issued several decrees which, among other things, banned demonstrations, sit-ins and public gatherings in Manama indefinitely and toughened punishments laid out in the 2006 anti-terrorism legislation. In early September the Minister of Justice issued a decree adding new restrictions on political associations. Political associations must now notify the Ministry of Justice three days before any meeting with a foreign diplomat and must take place in the presence of an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

That being said, many of those who have worked, and are still working, for the Syrian regime were, and still are, the salt of the earth. I have personally met a great deal of decent people who work or have worked for the Syrian government. The overwhelming majority of them rejects violence and does not believe in demonization, a practice the decision-making Baathists are just too familiar with.

One ought to differentiate here between the Syrian regime and the Syrian governmental elite. The Syrian regime, in my opinion, includes everyone who is involved in the Syrian state, including those who denounce violence and otherization; whereas, the Syrian governmental elite are those who preside that regime and possess the authority to make vital decisions.

The word “regime,” at least in the current Syrian context, is very loosely defined, just like the word “opposition.” The “Syrian opposition” is a very conflicting entity, with an exceptionally problematic definition. If by “opposition” one simply alludes to those who are against the Baath and its policies, then I am not critical at all of such people. Frankly, I tend to be one of them. But if by “opposition” one means the organized political entities, such as the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, then I am highly critical -if not condemning- of them. One must recognize here that the media-sponsored West-backed Syrian opposition is just a group of political elite that are not very representative of the various Syrian populations who oppose the Assad regime. For the sake of clarity, from now on in this article, I am going to use the terms governmental elite and opposition elite to refer to the two main fighting belligerents in Syria.

The Syrian opposition elite are constantly waxing poetic over democracy, equality, and human rights. However, in reality they are not different from the autocratic regime they are trying to get rid of. Just like the Syrian governmental elite have an uncompromising spirit to silence, shame, and demonize every dissenting voice, the Syrian opposition elite have quite an appetite for such tyrannical pursuits. Just like the Syrian governmental elite denied the existence of the Shabiha, the Syrian opposition elite denied the presence of foreign terrorists and Mujahedeen in Syria, till they were forced to admit it when Al-Nusra Front publically announced its unwavering loyalty to Al-Qaeda. Just like the Syrian governmental elite, during their heydays, had an archenemy on which all of their mistakes were blamed, the Syrian opposition elite, without any serious investigations, almost immediately attribute each occurring atrocity in the Syrian civil war to the regime, as if the opposition fighters are saints and angels.

The Syrian governmental elite and the Syrian opposition elite, dubbed in the media as the “Syrian regime” and “the Syrian opposition,” are, in fact, two sides of the same coin. Both of them have plenty to eat and drink, while many Syrians are in famine. Both of them have roofs over their heads, while many Syrians are homeless. Both of them have international chaperons, while no one—apart from an extremely meager number of Syrian and foreign politicians—is interested in escorting the Syrian people through their calamity. Both of them are self-righteous, with no interest at all in any form of constructive self-criticism. Most importantly, both of them are largely made up of condescending authoritarian figures that have the same one-size-fits-all explanation for any of their misdeeds: their opponents.

In recent weeks, security forces have conducted home raids in the vicinity of the race circuit and arbitrarily arrested and detained opposition figures. Protesters have indicated they will demonstrate against the Grand Prix, with the risk that the Bahraini authorities will use repressive measures to close down the protests.

“Bahrain is already tightening the lid on protest as the Formula 1 race grows near,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The Formula 1 organizers apparently prefer to bury their heads in the sand, risking holding their race against repression it has provoked.”

Human Rights Watch said it was unaware of any public comment by Formula 1 organizers about the recent spate of security force abuses near the race site.

Race authorities also have failed to consider the impact of the event on Bahrain’s ongoing human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said. The Bahraini authorities regularly imprison peaceful demonstrators and human rights defenders, and security forces use excessive and at times deadly force against protesters. The authorities have failed to investigate and prosecute high-level officials responsible for serious human rights violations.

Since large-scale protests began in 2011, abuses by security forces have resulted in the death of scores of protesters and bystanders, serious injuries to hundreds of people, arrests of thousands more, and more than 300 formal allegations of torture and ill-treatment. In February, Human Rights Watch concluded, based on discussions with officials, that authorities have made no progress in investigating and prosecuting higher-level officials responsible for the worst abuses during the 2011 protests.

On May 26, 2011, Human Rights Watch wrote to the chairs of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile and the Formula One Teams Association, Jean Todt and Martin Whitmarsh respectively, to urge that they and their member organizations take into account the severe human rights crisis in Bahrain and consult the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Human Rights Watch has not been able to determine that either body has taken any steps to assess the ramifications of their current involvement in Bahrain.

Responding to the news media about abuses by the government during the 2012 race, Todt said: “We know protests can have a negative result. We are a governing body running sport, you can have lots of protests and there can be consequences, and I am not sure the protests would not have happened if the Grand Prix would not have happened.”

During protests that took place on April 21 during the 2012 Grand Prix, Bahraini security forces killed Salah Abbas Habib, a protester, in the town of Shakhoura. A November 2012 follow-up report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry concluded that Habib “was arrested and assaulted, and then shot with [a] shotgun” by security forces.

The chief prosecutor of Bahrain’s Special Investigations Unit announced on April 8 that his office had charged a police officer with wilful homicide in Habib’s case, but the case exposes the dangers that protesters face in confrontations with security forces and criminal charges in cases such as these are the exception.

In stark contrast to impunity for security forces, Bahrain’s justice system has prosecuted peaceful protesters, Human Rights Watch said. On January 7, the Court of Cassation upheld the convictions and lengthy prison terms of 13 prominent dissidents, of whom seven were sentenced to life in prison, solely for exercising their rights to free expression and peaceful assembly in the 2011 protests.

Between April 1 and April 10, security forces conducted a series of home raids and arbitrarily detained opposition protestors in Dar Khulaib, Shahrakan, Madinat Hamad, and Karzakkan, towns close the Bahrain International Circuit. During the raids, plain-clothes, masked, and armed police officers arrested at least 20 people, some of them prominent and well-known anti-government protesters.

Human Rights Watch has received new reports of security forces shooting protesters in the head with tear gas canisters. In the most recent incident, on April 13 in Samaheej, local sources told Human Rights Watch, Sara Ismail, 18, required medical attention after security forces shot her in the head with a teargas canister.

“The inconvenient reality for Formula 1 organizers is that their event in Bahrain has become a focal point for popular discontent, with abuses against protesters ratcheting up in a country that has become notorious for them, and is unwilling or unable to implement meaningful reforms,” Whitson said. “And those who care about Formula 1 officials should care that human suffering and repression is tainting their sport.”

The decision comes as a protest against the Friday attack on the city of Aleppo, which, the opposition claims, left hundreds of civilians killed.

“Hundreds of civilians have been killed by Scud missile strikes,” according to a statement released by the SNC.

“In protest of this appalling international stand, the coalition has decided to suspend its participation in the Rome 
conference for the Friends of Syria and turn down invitations to visit Russia and the United States.”

British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 29 civilian deaths, including women and children on Friday by the bombardment of the Tariq al-Bab neighbourhood in Aleppo.

“The regime bombardment is thought to be the result of surface-to-surface missiles. The number is likely to increase because there are more than 150 injured persons as a result of the bombardment,” according to the Observatory.

The attack on the city of Aleppo came one day after Syrian government targets in central Damascus were hit by multiple car bombings that were among the deadliest so far in the nearly 23-month conflict.

Meanwhile, in Cairo, the SNC said that it was making efforts to name a transitional government in the coming days.

SNC spokesman said that the prime minister would be named on March 2 during a meeting in Istanbul, after consultations were held within the opposition, according to Reuters.

Almost two years after the revolt against Assad more than 70,000 have been killed, according to the United Nations.

“More fighting is not the answer. Further militarization of this conflict will only perpetuate the devastation and prolong the suffering. A sectarian civil war would also gravely imperil Syria’s neighbours,” Ban told reporters at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

He said the “tragic and intolerable” situation in Syria was foremost on his mind during his just-concluded visits to China, south-eastern Europe and London, where he met with the Joint Special Envoy for the UN and the League of Arab States for the Syrian Crisis, Kofi Annan.

Annan is working for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, but he needs the international community’s united and concrete support to succeed, said the Secretary-General.

Ban noted that the Syrian Government is adding to its “brutal crackdown” by attacking heavily populated areas with fighter aircraft and helicopters. He also noted that the armed opposition groups have also stepped up their attacks.

“Each day, as the violence spirals, more Syrians are killed, injured, tortured or forced to flee their homes or their country,” he stated.

He voiced deep concern about the impact of shelling and use of other heavy weapons on civilians in various locations around the country, particularly in the city of Aleppo, where violence over recent days has already caused a large number of civilians to flee their homes.

Reiterating his concern about weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons, Ban stated that any use of such weapons would be an “outrageous crime” and a major concern for the entire international community.

“We are continuously assessing the situation and our options,” said Ban. “We have also intensified our humanitarian operations. As many as two million people are affected by violence. The only solution is a Syrian-led transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.”

He added that the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) remains a key tool, and the six-point plan presented by the Joint Special Envoy and the June communiqué of the UN-backed Action Group on Syria – which called for the establishment of a transitional governing body, with full executive powers, as part of important agreed principles and guidelines for a Syrian-led political transition – remain the foundations for a peaceful resolution.

Annan’s six-point plan calls for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, the start of inclusive political dialogue, and unrestricted access to the country for the international media.

“I call on all sides to take immediate steps to meet the Security Council requirements, and give Syria the chance it needs to move beyond the violence and onto the path to peace,” the UN chief said.

Ban’s comments came just hours after the acting head of UNSMIS, Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye, told reporters in the Syrian capital, Damascus, that he witnessed heavy shelling in the city of Homs during a visit to the area yesterday, and voiced concern about ongoing fighting in Aleppo.

“My observers there have reported an upsurge in the violence, with helicopters, tanks and artillery being used,” Lieutenant General Gaye said. “I call on the parties, again as stated by the Joint Special Envoy, to exercise restraint and avoid further bloodshed – it is imperative that both sides respect international humanitarian law and protect civilians.”

UNSMIS is tasked with monitoring the cessation of violence in Syria, as well as monitoring and supporting the full implementation of the six-point peace plan put forward by Mr. Annan.