Bahrain three years on: UK supports the tyranny crushing the democracy movement

St Valentine’s Day is the anniversary of the uprising for democracy in Bahrain which has been the scene of almost daily protest since 2011.

Some, today, will be blinded by cupid’s arrow, but 4,000 miles away the people of Bahrain are blinded by canisters of tear gas. February 14th 2014 marks the 3rd anniversary of the Bahraini uprising for democracy.

You are unlikely to read about this in the mainstream Western press. The interests of the West in courting Bahrain are not to be jeopardised by reporting that on January 27th an appeal court upheld sentences of 15 years for those engaging in anti-government, pro-democracy protest, or that confessions had been extracted under torture, or that doctors and nurses who attended the wounded after Bahrain’s ‘Day of Rage’ in 2011 have been tortured or have disappeared.

The Bahraini people are prisoners of an internal press which distorts the truth and an international press which, fuelled by self interest, ignores the crimes against humanity being committed.

The regime labels as terrorists “any Bahraini who is suspected of actively advocating genuine reforms”, according to academic Emile Nakhleh. The Foreign Minister, Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, has stated that these protests are “concerted effort[s] by terrorist extremist groups to target security personnel with the intent of spreading fear and division”. The street protestors however are part of a wider campaign for democracy.

Rosalyn Higgins, President of the International court of Justice, has said, “Terrorism is a term without any legal significance. It is merely a convenient way of alluding to activities, which States or individuals widely disapproved of.” Whilst Philip Luther, Amnesty’s Director for the Middle East says, “the Bahrain authorities simply slap the label ‘terrorist’ on defendants and then subject them to all manner of violation to end up with confessions.”

The West is bent on securing its oil interests in the region, as well as the safe passage of strategic resources through the Gulf. In the words of International relations theorist Chalmers Johnson, “The US has become a military juggernaut intent on world domination”. And the presence of the US 5th Fleet in Bahrain is evidence of the contemporary forms of imperialism.

Members of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, find themselves imprisoned and have had family members sacked from their jobs. Now they raise concerns about the targeting of children. International human rights organisations including Amnesty International are calling for an end to the violations. Meanwhile, a quick Google search for ‘Bahrain 2014’, comes up with a sanitised face of a country hosting the second twilight Grand Prix scheduled for April 6th.

Since February 14th 2011, Tear Gas has reportedly killed 39 people and injured hundreds. In November, a leak of official Bahraini documents revealed that Bahraini authorities intend to equip themselves with more Tear Gas canisters than there are legal citizens. 1.7 million Tear Gas canisters on an island one third the size of London with a population of 1.3 million. In January South Korea, one of the main exporters of weaponry to Bahrain, finally halted this lucrative trade following pressure and intervention by human rights groups.

Bahrain is in the process of constructing a legal framework which will further limit freedom of speech and protest. Last week on February 6th, the King of Bahrain ratified a law which will criminalise and imprison for up to seven years those who publicly insult him. The UK and US must share responsibility for these curtailments of freedom.

Last August David Cameron invited King Hamad to Downing Street to discuss the ‘strategic relationship’ between the two countries.

And then of course there was the DSEI arms fair hosted by the UK from 9th – 13th September. Greg Rickard, Sales director of the fair, tried to salve a sliver of his conscience with a better-maimed-than-dead-justification: “Our idea is to provide a less lethal option in circumstances where at the moment a country might use live ammunition. We would say to customers it is better to have 20 people in hospital rather than 30 lying dead.”

Since 2000 the US has traded in death by supplying Bahrain with $1.4bn worth of weapons.

Outside Bahrain, ‘Stop the Shipment’, a global campaign is working to halt exports of Tear Gas and to prevent future contracts and exports. Inside Bahrain the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has called upon the US, UK and UN to stop supporting the government, to put pressure on the authorities to stop violations and release political prisoners as well as prisoners of conscience.

Meanwhile Bahrain’s media machinery continues to pump out promotional material for the national aviation fair, as well as the International Circuit, the home of motorsports in the Middle East.

Bahrain has been the scene of almost daily protest since 2011. The government continues to crush the people this week in the week of action. Wednesday 12th saw the fifth consecutive peaceful rally in the capital, alongside a national strike on Thursday, and a rally on Saturday to mark the 3rd anniversary.

Today in Manama, three years on, its people are left wondering why the Saudi troops were sent in, why the pearl the national symbol of the people was torn down by government troops and why the pro-democracy struggle is being presented as a Sunni/Shi’ite conflict when the issue is about a dictatorship bent on maintaining its power and crushing its people.
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/news/barhrain-three-years-on-and-david-cameron-s-support-for-the-bahrain-tyranny-crushing-the-democracy-movement#.Uw8SKOmPM5s