Interview Colin Cavell – 23 June, 2011 – Bahrain Crackdown

‘US seeks capitalist Middle East’

Interview with Colin Cavell, Fmr University of Bahrain Assistant Prof., Seattle

The sentencing of eight opposition activists to life in prison by a military court in Bahrain for “plotting to overthrow the ruling system” has provoked anger around world.

Press TV has interviewed Colin Cavell, a former assistant professor in the University of Bahrain, regarding the ruling and the lack of action by the US and the UN in Bahrain and its human rights violations.

Press TV: An official of the Human Rights First, Brian Dooley, has been to the court, he said “This was not a fair or proper legal process by any standard, there was evidence of torture, denial of proper contact with lawyers and failure to provide basic legal safeguards. This was a sham trial, another stain on Bahrain’s already discredited human rights record.” Do you agree with his assessments?

Cavell: Well from the perspective of legal juries prudence when you are summarily rounded up in the middle of the night by armed thugs, and you are disappeared to some jail or prison who knows where, because your family is not notified where you are taken to, and when you are beaten to submission, and then told weeks later, you would be put on trail the next morning, and you go there, and found guilty, and sentence to either to life in prison or several multi year sentences, then this is what we call a farce. It is not fair, it is what legal expert around world refer to as kangaroo courts. Kangaroo referring to Australian animal that jumps around. Because when you have no due process, and it is arbitrary, then the courts can do whatever it wants without any rhyme or reasons, and that is exactly what is happening here with these savage sentences of these human rights activists, these defender of democracy, these fighters for freedom in Bahrain.

Press TV: Let me ask you about statement that Michael Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights made back in June 2010, before visiting the US base, he went to villages, and talked to people in Bahrain, and later announced that US will double its military presence in Bahrain to do the second phase of the construction there. Is this the reason why that the US does not want to push the Bahrain regime for reforms, and possibly lose the overall presence in there?

Cavell: Definitely the US does not want to give up its military presence in Bahrain. The fifth fleet stationed there, has a docking rights in Bahrain, and they police the entire Middle East region from Bahrain, so the US does not want to give that up. However, on the other hand the Obama Administration is engaged in a policy, I would say generational necessity, to get rid of autocratic client in the region. It’s already engaged in transplanting transitioning different the regimes in Tunisia and in Egypt, and in Yemen, its former clients autocratic states. As well as also chipping to supplant the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya as well as the Assad in Syria, which is not his client states. So it’s trying to transform the entire region, can he do so and ignore the Persian Gulf monarchy? I don’t think so. So I agree with Mr. Ali Ahmad and Mr. Jafar al-Hasabi that the Bahraini regime is deceiving the world, and deceiving itself, when it is putting on these trials and attempting to look legitimate. However there is disagreement, I do think that the US wants to transition these monarchies regimes to traditional capitalist regime and they are going slow at it, because they cannot do all transitioning and transforming at same time.

Press TV: The role of the UN is also under question; just recently UNESCO in Paris asked Bahrain to chair a meeting of a UNESCO’s mission to preserve world heritage sites. But Bahrain’s regime demolished several mosques during protests, so how does that explain the role of the UN in Bahrain?

Cavell: Well, I know Ban Ki-moon Secretary General of the United Nation has spoken out against the violence in Bahrain against the opposition. Why UNESCO is doing this I cannot explain, however, I can say that just yesterday the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek came out against the regime in Bahrain and spoke quite strongly against the violence of the regime and many others, specially the news papers in the US, they are not all claiming that Bahraini Crown Prince is the human rights advocates, there are other news papers that have charged him royally. So there is mix opinion of that in the US and also around the world condemnation of the Bahraini regime in general. …source