Bahrain mocks hopes for real dialogue as it boots another journalist

Bahrain expels a freelance journalist from kingdom
19 June 2011 -BCHR

Freelance journalist Finian Cunningham was ordered out of Bahrain on 18 June by the authorities as a result of his critical journalism covering the popular uprising and the subsequent, ongoing brutal repression of the peaceful pro-democracy movement. He had been living in Bahrain for three years, and was there at the outset of the recent uprising on 14 February.

In a recent interview for US-based blogtalkradio, on 12 June, Cunningham assessed the lifting of the state of emergency and the call for “national dialogue” by the Al Khalifa rulers as a hollow, cynical public relations exercise designed to deceive from the ongoing reality of state terror and violation of human rights. It appears, he added, that Washington and London are also trying to give legitimacy to the rulers by welcoming their initiative for slleged dialogue. Such an endorsement by Western governments is preposterous given the heinous realities of crimes against civilians and can only be seen as a cynical defense of the indefensible by the US and British.

Cunningham also wrote several articles posted on Globalresearch.ca and other news agencies detailing cases of murder of civilians by Saudi-backed forces, torture of prisoners and the illegal detention of medical personnel. He also higlighted US and British complicity in these crimes against humanity and these governments’ hypocrisy over their claims of supporting democracy and international law while turning a blind eye to what is happening in Bahrain.

He is now based in Belfast, Ireland, where he is continuing to work as a critical journalist on Bahraini politics, and the brutal repression by the regime against the people’s struggle for democratic freedom. He is currently writing a book on the exploitation by the unelected Al Khalifa monarchy of the population and natural resources of Bahrain.

Writing from Belfast today, Cunningham said: “My lasting impression of Bahrain is not the brutish nature of its illegitimate rulers, but the bravery and decency of its ordinary men, women and youth in their noble struggle for freedom. The night before I left Bahrain, on Friday 17 June, I witnessed a peaceful protest of up to 150,000 people in Sitra demanding their legitimate right for freedom. This was the biggest public rally by the pro-democracy movement since the Saudi-backed crackdown that began on 14 March with the invasion. After three months of state-sponsored murder and terror, the people of Bahrain have not been defeated by the despotic regime and their despotic allies. The people are showing that they are winning the battle of wills because they have truth and justice on their side, while the regimes have only the negative unsustainable energy that comes from hate, killing and destruction. The people are stronger than ever and are more determined than ever to bring democracy and freedom to Bahrain.” …more