Bahrain: BICI One Year Later

The BICI started out as a State Department-al Khalifa ruse and remains that today. It misdirects attention from revolutionary efforts and seeks to place the al Khalifa’s in control of the ‘narrative of reform’. Western liberals and those who embrace the goal of liberalized Western Capitalism seem comfortable in advancing the BICI as something relevant beyond that of a record of egregious wrongs against those who continue to suffer under the scourge of Western enabled repression in Bahrain. Phlipn out.

Bahrain, One Year Later
The Arabist – 16 November, 2012

From POMED’s report assessing the implementation of the BICI report:

We have found that the Government of Bahrain has fully implemented three of the BICI report’s 26 recommendations. Two other recommendations were impossible for us to properly evaluate due to a lack of available information, and 15 recommendations have only been partially implemented. Finally, the government has made no meaningful progress toward six of the recommendations, which are precisely the most important steps that need to be taken – accountability for officials responsible for torture and severe human rights violations, the release of political prisoners, prevention of sectarian incitement, and the relaxation of censorship and controls on free expression.

Nearly as troubling as the failure to address key areas has been the unrealistic assessment by the Government of Bahrain of its own progress. Bahraini government officials, including the Ambassador to the United States, have claimed in public statements to have fully implemented 18 of the 26 recommendations. It is difficult to expect the government to make significant progress on the many unfulfilled recommendations while it maintains that most of those steps have already been completed.

POMED Report HERE