Blood in the Street, Injustice in the Courts, Silence from the US

Blood in the Street, Injustice in the Courts, Silence from the US
Posted by: Christoph Koettl, June 8, 2011 at 4:42 PM

While Bahraini authorities are silencing activists, opposition leaders and even medical personnel in military courts, the United States Government remains silent. We have seen the US respond to the popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, yet government officials so far have remained relatively silent on the crackdown in Bahrain – imposed on the streets and in the courts.

The most recent indications for this silent acceptance of human rights violations include the (rather secret) meetings of high level US government officials with the Bahraini Crown Prince yesterday, and the recent refusal by the State Department to testify before the Congressional Human Rights Commission.

The United States’ failure to act in Bahrain represents a tragic double standard in US Middle East policies. In Obama’s May 19th speech on the Middle East and North Africa, the President won applause for rhetoric admonishing the Bahraini Monarchy’s repression of dissent, stating that “you can’t have a real dialogue when parts of the peaceful opposition are in jail.”

Currently, Amnesty has reports of 14 Bahrainis on trial in military court (plus seven in absentia) for organizing and leading recent protests. We believe that many of them are likely to be Prisoners of Conscience.

Beyond Obama’s bold rhetoric, no action from the US has followed, and the unfair trials continue. The newest victims are doctors and nurses, put on trial for helping wounded protesters – and a poet who is on trial for a protest reading! …more