…from beneath the crooked bough, witness 230 years of brutal tyranny by the al Khalifas come to an end
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Bahrain’s brutal crackdown spins bid for Formula One out of control

by Courtesy

Bahrain: Formula One Should Take Account of Rights Crisis
Arrests, Detentions Should Raise Questions for Racing Officials
May 26, 2011

Letter to Federation Internationale de l’Automobile and Formula One Teams Association Regarding Sadly, serious violations like arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, and alleged torture by Bahraini authorities pre-date the imposition of martial law in mid-March. There is little reason to think that ending martial law on June 1 will make much difference in Bahrain’s menacing human rights climate. Tom Porteous, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch

(Washington, DC) – The international racing bodies responsible for scheduling Formula One events should take full account of continuing serious human rights violations when they consider rescheduling a 2011 race in Bahrain, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch expressed its concerns in a letter sent jointly to the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA).

The government cancelled the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix, which had been scheduled for March, due to widespread pro-democracy and anti-government protests. On June 3, at a meeting in Barcelona, the FIA is expected to decide whether to reschedule the event for later in the year. Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa recently decreed that martial law, imposed on March 15, would be lifted on June 1, a few days before the FIA meeting.

“Sadly, serious violations like arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, and alleged torture by Bahraini authorities pre-date the imposition of martial law in mid-March,” said Tom Porteous, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. “There is little reason to think that ending martial law on June 1 will make much difference in Bahrain’s menacing human rights climate.”

Human Rights Watch questioned whether a successful Formula One event could be held in an environment characterized by large-scale arbitrary arrests, prolonged incommunicado detentions, credible allegations of torture, and mass dismissals of workers, in violation of Bahraini as well as international law. According to recent news reports, those dismissals and arrests include about a quarter of the staff of the government-owned Bahrain International Circuit, the site of the annual Bahrain Grand Prix. …more