Bahrain deports US school teacher for 'inciting hatred'

Bahrain has deported an American school teacher accused of writing articles for websites linked to "radical groups" and for violating the terms of her work permit, the country's state news agency reported Saturday, as the government of King Hamad bin Isa bin Al-Khalifa prepared to intensify its crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

The unnamed woman reportedly wrote articles under a pseudonym for several online publications, said the Ministry of State for Communications, including As-Safir newspaper, which is linked to Lebanon's Iran-backed Shia-group Hezbollah, and a newsletter published by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), an advocacy group outlawed by the government.

The ministry also said that she had broken the terms of her employment agreement by working as an unaccredited journalist.

The American teacher "wasn't writing for us," Maryam al-Khawaja, acting president of the BCHR, told Al Jazeera. "That was something made up by the government."

Al-Khawaja, who was prevented from boarding a British Airways flight from London to Bahrain on Friday because of a Bahraini government order, said she had spoken to a journalist with As-Safir who said the teacher had not written for that publication either.

Al-Khawaja said BCHR was attempting to contact the teacher to determine if she has been subjected to human-rights violations while in government custody.

According to Bahrain's communication ministry, authorities were alerted to the teacher's online activities when they received a complaint about comments she made on social media. A state investigation revealed that she used various social-media platforms to write articles "deemed to incite hatred against the government."

Activists and citizen journalists who use social media to organize or report anti-government protests are routinely targeted by authorities in an attempt to crackdown on public dissent.

The teacher's deportation is not the first time that an American has been expelled from Bahrain, home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet -- several others have been deported for involvement in documenting protests.

Two American human-rights activists were deported in February 2012 for covering protests on the first anniversary of the Arab Spring demonstrations.

Inspired by the "Tamarod" (rebellion) protest movement in Egypt, Bahraini activists have called for anti-government rallies to be held on Aug. 14 -- the anniversary of Bahrain's independence from Britain.

Bahrain has been the site of mass protests since the Arab Spring gripped the Middle East in 2011, with mostly Shia citizens pushing for democratic reforms from the ruling Sunni royal family, who have met their demands with heavy-handed measures.

Despite international criticism, the government's crackdown on dissent has continued unabated, Al-Khawaja told Al Jazeera.

"They have even increased house raids," she said. "It used to be one every other night. But since the Tamarod announcement, the raids are day and night – up to 100 or more per day."

"They enter, masked and in civilian clothing, backed by security forces in uniform with guns," Al-Khawaja continued. "They break through the door or the ceiling, vandalize the home and then leave. It's about creating an environment of fear."

Fresh protests drawing from Egypt's Tamarod movement could prompt a harsh government response.

On Saturday, Bahrain's prime minister accused anti-government protesters of attempting to foment chaos and topple the government -- vowing "this island will burn to a cinder all those who seek to tamper with its security and stability."

Dual decrees issued by King Al-Khalifa on Aug. 6 also called for harsher sentences to be imposed on those accused of inciting dissent or protesting against the government, including the revoking of citizenship.

Amnesty International called the king's decrees "draconian measures [that] will be used in an attempt to legitimize state violence as new protests are being planned for 14 August."

Al Jazeera