Bahrain: From colonialism to dictatorship and occupation
Forty years after the British withdrawal
Bahrain Freedom Movement – 25/08/2011
Bahrain: From colonialism to dictatorship and occupation
In mid-August 1971 Britain withdrew its forces from all areas east of Suez, including Bahrain. The end of the 150 years of British protection heralded a new era of extreme repressive dictatorship. How much did the British legacy influence the subsequent decades? How deeply-rooted is the on-going revolution in that legacy? Can the regime survive?
Tuesday 23rd August 2011
House of Lords, London
Lord Avebury, Vice Chairman Parliamentary Human Rights Group: As most of you know, we have been holding seminars on human rights and democracy in Bahrain here in the Palace of Westminster for the best part of two decades in the hope of conributing in a small way to the struggle by the people for their freedom, and my correspondence also dates back to 1993. The Bahrain Minister of the Interior then, who was needless to say a member of the prolific al-Khalifa family, was referring to the Committee for the Defence of Political Prisoners as a ‘terrorist-controlled propaganda organisation’, and Ian Henderson, a British citizen, was head of the Bahrain security apparatus, where he presided over the systematic torture and detention without trial of opponents of the government.
Today the al-Khalifas still exercise absolute power, now with a fake parliament and gerrymandered elections as a smokescreen for the same pattern of abuse: mass arrests, show trials, torture to extract confessions, extrajudicial executions, and two added twists compared with 20 years ago: the systematic dismissal from jobs in the private as well as the public sector of anyone suspected of being sympathetic to the opposition, and the recruitment of Sunni mercenaries from Syria, Yemen and Pakistan to beef up the security forces and change the demographic balance of the population.
To protect himself and his family against international obloquy for these heinous crimes against the people, the king has appointed a commission of inquiry, to look into charges of gross abuses of human rights, but only during the months of February and March, and not up to the time they arrived in Bahrain in July when the abuses were continuing unabated. It was a mistake for the investigation to be conducted by a body appointed by the man who stands at the apex of the alleged criminal activities.. The right approach would have been for an independent inquiry by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, as indeed she contemplated originally. Even if the royal commission had preserved its distance from the government, the perception would have been that, owing its existence to the king, it would be susceptible to influence by the boss. In practice, it seems they have had a cosy relationship with the oligarchs. The chairman, Mr Cherif Bassiouni, has exonerated the king and the crown prince of any responsibility for the actions of their government; has praised the interior minister, the attorney-general and the military prosecutor; he says that there was no proof whatsoever of crimes against humanity, and he declares that if there are no signs of torture on a person’s body, that means he wasn’t tortured. As most people know, and Mr Bassiouni must surely be aware as a human rights expert, there are methods of torture that don’t leave marks, such as water-boarding, low-level electric shocks, or sexual abuse. …more
