Flo Razowsky arrested in Bahrain

South Minneapolis activist, international journalist, playwright and member of the Café SouthSide collective, Flo Razowsky, was arrested on Tuesday, Feb. 14 as part of a group of six international observers who responded to the call of Bahraini human rights activists to witness their revolution. Their group, Witness Bahrain, intended to stand with the Bahraini people at protests, in hospitals and in villages, and to tell the world what they saw. They were arrested by Bahraini security forces in Manama during a peaceful protest on the way to the Pearl Roundabout, the scene of the Arab Spring uprising in Bahrain a year ago.

Two other observers were arrested a few days before and forced to leave the country. They were handcuffed for the duration of their flight from Bahrain to London.

Medea Benjamin, the founder of Code Pink, was pictured holding a Made-in-the-USA tear gas canister that was used against protesters.

The group, Voices for Creative Nonviolence, has asked people to call the State Department at 202-647-4000 and leave a comment stating your opposition to the deportation of international observers from Bahrain, the brutal crackdown against Bahrainis and U. S. military aid to Bahrain’s repressive regime.

People should also call Congressman Keith Ellison’s office at 202-225-4755, Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office at 202-224-3244 and Senator Al Franken’s office at 202-224-5641 and ask them to contact the State Department and ask them to protect these observers.

Before her arrest, Razowsky filed this report with Southside Pride:

(Manama) – US Citizens Huwaida Arraf and Radhika Sainath were arrested by Bahraini security forces in Manama on Saturday during a peaceful protest near the Standard Chartered Bank downtown. Protesters had marched into the city center to reestablish a presence of nonviolent, peaceful protest leading up to the 1-year anniversary of the Arab Spring uprising in Bahrain.

Huwaida and Radhika were in Bahrain as part of an international
 solidarity effort aimed at providing an international civilian
 presence to report and monitor the situation on the ground.
 Leading up to February 14, Bahraini authorities had prevented
 journalists, human rights observers and other internationals from
 entering the country, leading many to fear a brutal crackdown. The two women are part of the Witness Bahrain initiative
 (www.witnessbahrain.org), which arrived in Bahrain in response to a call by Bahraini democracy activists for international observers.

Just yesterday, top US human rights envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner, called on the Bahraini authorities to respect the rights of Bahrainis to peaceful protest and to refrain from using excessive force. Huwaida was dragged away by numerous security forces after sitting on the ground, and it is widely reported that detainees have suffered physical abuse while on the way to and at police stations.

Both women were part of a peaceful protest marching near the Pearl Roundabout – site of last year’s peaceful round-the-clock protest in Bahrain, modeled after Egypt’s Tahrir Square – when they were attacked. Both are human rights lawyers, and both have experience as human rights activists in Palestine. Additionally, both were part of the National Lawyer’s Guild delegation to Gaza following Operation Cast Lead to investigate possible war crimes and illegal use of American weaponry on a civilian population.

Ed Felien