Krajeski and US State Department fail miserably in Bahrain

Bahrain’s Thorns Stuck In Obama’s Side
10 September, 2012 – The Trench

Two weeks ago Sumaya Rajab, the wife of imprisoned Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab, posted an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama. Sentenced to three years in prison for “inciting” and participating in “illegal gatherings,” Nabeel would appear before the court as a beacon of freedom and justice, a man who can beaten physically but not mentally. Sumaya would appeal to Obama with these very virtues: “Victimized people of Bahrain are calling upon the universal values and principles that United States is embracing.”

The response: sit back and watch Rajab’s cruel and unusual punishment.

Despite a continual rise in Bahrain’s hostilities from February 2011’s initial democratic outbreak, both sides of Washington still doubt that they have much to gain from embracing the island’s opposition. Confronting Iran and protecting Israel, shipping routes and oil supplies plays better than supporting a relatively small opposition in a foreign land. The Obama administration has downplayed Bahrain throughout the Arab revolutions, with considerable success at home, but the opposition universally agrees that U.S. policy is negatively affecting their struggle for human rights and political representation. Most GOP presidential candidates, sadly, would offer even less words of support and back them with the consent of force.

A month after Rajab was jailed on July 9th and held at the notorious Jaww prison, Washington could only muster a letter of support signed by two Senators and 17 Representatives – apparently leaving the other 98 and 418 on King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa’s side.

The White House has been equally unhelpful throughout Rajab’s numerous arrests and his campaign to raise awareness in Bahrain. By the time he arranged a series of media appearances to kick off the summer, Rajab had come to accept the immovability of U.S. policy after previously hoping that America’s Fifth Fleet would loosen Washington’s security bond with Manama. The head of Bahrain’s Center For Human Rights (BCHR) had just watched Crown Prince Salman mingle with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta as he languished in a jail cell. Rajab and his family have also been subjected to abuses at home, including night raids and tear gas assaults. When he was rearrested in July, the State Department waited two days before expressing “concern” – at the prompting of inquiring reporters – and refused to explicitly call for his immediate release.

The State Department then claimed that it had done so “from the beginning” after Rajab’s sentencing, although no follow up can be found in the Department’s own database. No further statements have been issued.

These isolated defenses are designed to float in a sea of silence, maintaining an obligatory level of interest to ward off criticism of inaction. Accordingly, Sumaya observes that the State Department “already expressed ‘Worries’ and ‘Concerns’ about Nabeel’s imprisonment but the government of Bahrain ignored all such ‘Concerns.'” Her letter is almost too reasonable and inviting, given the situation of her family, but Sumaya wisely attempts to relate her cause to Obama and the founding ideals of America. With nowhere left to turn in Washington, she requests “your kind intervention to explicitly call for Nabeel Rajab’s immediate and unconditional ‘release from prison’ because Nabeel is a prisoner of conscience.” However Obama has yet issue any personal reaction to Rajab’s imprisonment or the abuse that Bahrain’s government is subjecting him to, both before and after his sentencing. …more