Bahrain “Royals” up to their eye-balls in torture, Human Rights abuse

Bahrain: Washington and London Endorse Dialogue With Tyrants, War Criminals and Torturers
by AIM – 3 August 2011 – Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission

Washington and London have both endorsed the Al Khalifas’ “dialogue and reform efforts” to give cover to their client regime

Efforts by the US and British-backed Bahraini regime to repair its international image over human rights violations are in tatters with the revelation that senior members of the oil kingdom’s royal family have been personally involved in torturing hundreds of civilian detainees, including doctors and nurses.

One of the torturers-in-chief is Captain Nasser Al Khalifa, son of the king. He graduated this year “with honours” from the US Marine Corps University at Qantico, Washington.

This criminal rule by inner-circle members of the House of Al Khalifa also exposes Washington and London’s efforts to positively talk up reforms and dialogue by their Persian Gulf ally as a cynical sham. In Libya and Syria, war and sanctions are declared against alleged human rights abusers. But in Bahrain, Washington and London say pro-democracy protesters must embrace the rulers’
so-called initiative for national dialogue.

Revelations of royal family brutality in Bahrain also make a mockery of King Hamad’s announcement last month of an “independent” human rights probe into violations that took place during the Western-backed Saudi-led military invasion of the oil-rich kingdom earlier this year.

Yet again Washington and London had trumpeted this move as a positive step to reform in the Gulf kingdom, where a minority unelected Sunni elite has ruled over a majority Shia population for 40 years since nominal independence from Britain in 1971.

But how can such a regime be taken seriously for investigating crimes against humanity when the perpetrators of those crimes are senior members of the regime? Since the popular and peaceful uprising against the US and British-backed monarchy began in mid-February, nearly 40 unarmed civilians have been killed by state forces. The head of the armed services is Supreme Commander King Hamad.

The king’s other son by his second of four marriages, Shaikh Khalid, is also named as being personally involved in meting out torture to prisoners. Shaikhs Khalid and Nasser are half brothers of Crown Prince Salman, who was greeted in Washington by President Barack Obama last month when he announced Bahrain’s “national dialogue” and “political reforms”.

The Crown Prince told media then after his White House meeting: “I fully share the President’s outlook concerning respect for universal human rights and the continuance of Bahrain’s process of meaningful reform.”

In stark contrast to such rhetoric about respecting universal human rights, many former Bahraini detainees described to Global Research a litany of brutalities that they endured at the hands of senior members of the Al Khalifa regime. The victims have told how they were punched, kicked and whipped and made to stand for days continuously without sleep. If they fell over from exhaustion, they would be kicked and punched and forced to resume standing.

Prisoners were routinely blindfolded, electrocuted, suspended from ceilings with handcuffs, or trussed like chickens on a metal pole and left to hang for prolonged periods. In many instances, former inmates said they or members of their families were threatened with rape if they did not sign confessions to scripted crimes.

Most of the torture is believed to have taken place in the underground cells of the Ministry of Interior headquarters – al Qala – in the capital, Manama. The king’s sons were present during interrogations and were personally involved in torture sessions, according to former detainees in independent testimonies. Other members of the Al Khalifa entourage are accused of participating in gross maltreatment of prisoners. They include high-ranking officers in the Bahrain Defence Forces.

One senior royal family member in particular with blood on her hands is Shaikha Noura Al Khalifa, who is a Ministry of Interior officer. Her precise relation to King Hamad is not clear, but she is one of the regime inner-circle. She is said to have overseen the torture of female detainees, including teachers, students, doctors and nurses.

One released female detainee told how she was blindfolded, beaten on the head and verbally abused. “I was called a dirty Shia whore,” she said.

The former detainee said her interrogators would refer deferentially to the torturer-in-chief present in the room by her royal title “shaikha”. At one point, the prisoner’s blindfold slipped off and she said she recognised the royal.

Other former female prisoners told how they were subjected to similar physical and mental trauma conducted by Shaikha Noura. Bahraini prison sources have told Global Research that the 20-year-old female poet Ayat Al Qurmezi, who was released last week from a one-year sentence, was also subjected to torture by the same royal. …more