Lord Avebury:We have been holding these regular seminars here in the Palace of Westminster on the situation in Bahrain, particularly on the Day of the Martyrs, for some 20 years, always concentrating on two themes: that human rights should be respected, and that the people of Bahrain should freely determine their political status, in accordance with the UN Covenants on Civil and Political Rights. It has now become clear from the failure of the regime to implement the main recommendations of the Bassiouni Commission of Inquiry that the first of these objectives can never be achieved without the second. Fundamental political reform is a necessary precondition for the realisation of the human rights that are enshrined in the UN’s, a matter to which I will return.
As regards human rights, the Universal Periodic Review of Bahrain was concluded in October, and 176 recommendations were submitted by member states. Among the matters raised by the UN Treaty Bodies to which Bahrain is a party were that the government were overdue with reports to the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and cultural Rights, and the Committee Against Torture, in each cas by five years. The High Commissioner for Human Rights had reminded all members of security and armed forces that they were individually criminally responsible for the actions they committed and urged the government to address the prevailing impunity, and to take concrete steps towards redress, reparation and reconciliation.
None of that has happened. A new weapon is being used to silence peaceful opponents of the hereditary oligarchy: arbitrary deprivation of citizenship. Extrajudicial killing, torture and arbitrary imprisonment continue. Sham trials for political offences are staged including that of Sheikh Mohammed Ali al-Mahfoodh, General Secretary of the Islamic Action Society and three of his colleagues, sentenced to five years’ imprisonment; Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, sentenced to two years’ imprisonment; Zainab al-Khawaja, imprisoned for trespassing on the Pearl roundabout, and four youths sentenced for insulting the king on Twitter.
Meanwhile, some of the main leaders of the opposition and human rights activists, originally detained incommunicado and viciously tortured to extract false confessions, are still serving life, in spite of the Bassiouni Commission’s recommendation that the convictions of people for exercising their basic rights should be reviewed. Our own Sir Nigel Rodley, one of the commissioners, reaffirmed to Human Rights Watch that the Commissioners intended this to apply to Ali Mushaima, Abduljalil al-Singace, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and other friends who have spoken from time to time at these seminars. Let me quote his words:
“…our collective understanding was that the purpose of the review would be to exonerate from criminal responsibility those who have acted peacefully in the pursuit of internationally recognised rights of freedom of expression and assembly”.
Nowadays the favourite buzzword coming out of the Foreign Office, echoing the crown prince, a supposed conciliator, is ‘dialogue’. But Alistair Burt, the Foreign Office Minister who deals with the Middle East, doesn’t answer the question of how a meaningful dialogue can be got underway when many ofd those who should be among the main participants are behind bars. I asked him specifically and he replied evasively saying that an inclusive dialogue without preconditions followed by meaningful reform is necessary to the long term stability and prosperity for Bahrain, but ducking any mention of the key issue of leading political prisoners.
More generally, the UK’s policy on Bahrain is less robust than other players such as the US and the EU. They seem to imagine that reform can be promoted by sending top lawyers to help them implement the Bassiouni recommendations, or top policemen to encourage a climate of human rights in the security forces. But the security forces continue to kill and maim people on the streets and gas them in their villages, and the work of the lawyers has been a dismal failure. All they have done is to demonstrate to the al-Khalifas that having a few British stooges knocking about the place is an effective way of muting criticism from Whitehall.
The writer Christopher Davidson, whose book about the coming collapse of the Gulf Monarchies was published earlier this year, says that Bahrain has by far the bleakest future of the six, with little hope that the ruling family can restore sufficient legitimacy to ever govern again without having to resort to martial law and extensive repression. It is being kept afloat by its regional allies and the absence of significant pressure from the international community. The western powers take a soft line on the egregious violations of human rights because it’s the regional base for the US navy, and the front line if there is ever a conflict with Iran. But what if Davidson is right and the revolution succeeds? We will not be flavour of the month with any popular government that takes the place of the al-Khalifas after a struggle that has lasted, in effect, since independence in 1971.
That might be the argument for a change of policy based on expediency. But there’s a higher argument based on principle. We supported the Libyan revolution because Gaddafy was a nasty dictator who killed and imprisoned his people, though it was not so long ago that Tony Blair was cosying up to him on account of his oil money. We supported the Egyptian revolution because Hosni Mubarak had rigged elections to maintain himself in power for 30 years. The Foreign Secretary calls attention to the Assad’s ‘systematic torture… and arbitrary detention’ highlighted in the Syrian UPR report, and gives aid to the Syrian opposition. What is so different about Bahrain, that we ignore the sufferings of the people there under the heels of foreign mercenaries, and that we are deaf to appeals on behalf of imprisoned human rights activists and democrats?
Its time for a change in Bahrain, and its time for a change in the UK’s policy on Bahrain. Lets join with the people, and say to the al-Khalifas:
Intahat Ziyara, Oodoo illa Zebara
Lamees Dhaif: We are not just confronting the regime in Bahrain. We are confronting all of the regional governments. In the GCC states the opposition is targeted. We are very
disappointed, especially at the stance taken by the UK government. The case of the discovery of five tons of explosives is being investigated by Scotland Yard. We noticed that since these detectives came to Bahrain people are now being tortured within an inch of death.
We need to encourage the international media to cover Bahrain and to pressurise the UK government to assist in bringing torture to an end. The government of Bahrain could not have survived without outside assistance. If the major powers are against a regime and there is a revolution the people will be assisted but if they are not against a regime there is no support. Support is being given to Syria but not Bahrain. It is time for the UK government to change its foreign policy towards Bahrain.
Jalal Fairooz: Today is the anniversary of the uprising of the 90s which continued until Hamad decided to proclaim himself king. Reforms are long overdue. The killing started 20 months ago: 105 were killed, 19 died under torture, ten were killed by live bullets, 13 were shot, five where crushed by cars, five suffocated by tear gas. Thirteen of the victims were under age, 22 were over 60 and 17 were women.
Prominent figures have been tortured to death in places like the YMCA. Doctors, journalists, atheletes and human rights activists have been jailed.
