HRF Interview with Bahraini, Ahlam Oun

Human Rights Defender Profile: Ahlam Oun from Bahrain
21 August, 2012 – By Diana Sayed

Human Rights First is running a series of profiles on human rights defenders we work with in various countries. These profiles help to explain their work, motivations, and challenges.

Ahlam Oun is a Leaders for Democracy Fellowship graduate from Maxwell School at Syracuse University in New York and worked at Search for Common Ground in the Partners for Humanity Department in Washington DC, USA. She is a recent member of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and works closely with Human Rights First to blog in English on issues related to youth rights and stories of the injustice and Human Rights violations in Bahrain especially after Bahrain’s 14Feb Revolution.

Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the situation in Bahrain?

Bright side: despite the crackdown, harassment and bombardment of houses and arrests people are still protesting and demanding for their freedom and democracy. The crackdown has not waned people’s determination, I see it in their eyes and their chants, it could be described as the “audacity of hope”.

Dark side: Recently, an “unofficial Marshall law” has been implemented; midnight arrests and the waning interest of the international community are a big let down.

Do you see yourself as a Human Rights Defender?

The title of Human Rights Defenders is well-earned by prominent Human Rights activists in Bahrain like Nabeel Rajab, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja and Zainab Alkhawaja, I can never claim such title for myself. I am just one of thousands of people in Bahrain who felt the responsibility and need to be positively involved in the movement in anyway possible.

How do you perceive the current situation in Bahrain?

The situation started to be more independent; the 14February youth movement was decentralized without any leader, all parts of society came together, people were more independent, all their ideas were their own without passing through any filters. This is something caught the regime by surprise; they assumed that by arresting known leaders the revolution will stop, yet I never did.

The continue attacks on 14Feb Youth protests made the some people feel that the government authorized protests called by political parties became a safety blanket. Now the situation have changed, the government is not granting permission for political parties to protest, which allowed the political parties to rebel against the government rule and continued calling for the protests. These protests were brutally attacked and members of political parties were injured severely. This helped unified the opposition (political parties and 14Feb Youth) after the regime tried to split them apart.

What do you want – outcome based?

I want freedom and democracy for my country and my people. I have seen the discrimination from a very young age but I was never aware of the sever human rights violations because the regime did not allow such reports to be found easily. The 14Feb Revolution happened and it was the biggest wake-up for Bahrainis. The first time I visited the pearl roundabout was on the 15th Feb, I wanted to understand the reasons behind it and tried to assess the situation and then “Bloody Thursday” forever changed me and made fully join the people’s movement.

I took work off to spend my days at the Pearl Roundabout and I witnessed a variety of people, how organized they were, the tents that were created for women so that they could be educated on their ICCPR rights. This all happened almost instantly, there was a corner for everyone: artists, a makeshift theatre for plays, musicians played, children’s causes, medical stations, unions, lawyers, engineers, politicians all had something. This all signified freedom in a small part of Bahrain, there was freedom of expression for the first time.

We want the international community to apply the same rules and judgment to the violations of human rights in every country equally, specially in the gulf countries. On May 2011, Obama gave his first speech addressing the Arab Spring and since then it was clear to many Bahrainis that he will be siding with the regime. This practice is evident since the US administration waited till near the end in the Egyptian revolution to make a decision in supporting the revolution or not basing it on who is more likely to succeed and not on who deserves.

Besides, the recent $550mn arms deal between US and Bahrain made the people start building resentment toward the US administration by saying: “The barrel of a gulf oil seems to be more important and expensive that our lives.” And I don’t blame them.

What risks do you see are posed on your everyday life?

I risk being attacked or arrested at any moment like everyone else who speaks up in Bahrain. Whenever I hear the doorbell in an unexpected time especially very late at night, I assume that it’s the police, but then I quickly remember that they would break in if they were going to come after me. My family has fears for me but I fear for them more than I do myself, especially my Mum. I don’t tell her or the rest of my family the details of my activities, as it would make them worry very much, especially after they heard and witnessed the abuses that happened to women. …more