…from beneath the crooked bough, witness 230 years of brutal tyranny by the al Khalifas come to an end
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Bahrain – The Human Rights Situation, Presented by Danish Institute for International Studies

by Courtesy

The Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) and International Media Support (I-M-S) have the pleasure of inviting you to a seminar on:

Bahrain – The Human Rights Situation
Thursday, 29 September 2011, 13.00-15.00
Danish Institute for International Studies
Main Auditorium
Strandgade 71, ground floor, 1401 Copenhagen K

Background

For years the opposition in Bahrain has demanded political reforms giving all in the divided society equal rights in the political system, in economic affairs, and in access to housing and job opportunities. With inspiration from the peaceful and successful demonstrations in Egypt, demonstrators from all branches of the opposition (Sunni, Shia, secular, fundamentalist, liberal and socialist) went to the streets and from the now demolished Pearl Roundabout organized big demonstrations demanding reforms. The peaceful demonstrations were brutally cracked down by government forces with the support of military troops from Saudi Arabia and police cadres from United Arab Emirates in March. That came through without much attention from the international press and without serious reactions from the international community. Bahrain is a close “non-Nato ally” to the USA and hosts a base for the US Fifth Navy Fleet. While the international community and the USA are much concerned about human rights violations in Syria, Libya, Palestine, and Yemen, Bahrain does not appear to be on the agenda.

Speakers

Nabeel Rajab is a Bahraini human rights defender and President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), a nonprofit non-governmental organization, promoting human rights in Bahrain. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East Division, Deputy Secretary General for the International Federation for Human Rights and Chairman of CARAM Asia. Earlier this summer, it was announced that he will be receiving the 2011 Ion Ratiu Democracy Award, presented annually by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The argument for awarding it to Rajab was because he “has worked tirelessly and at considerable personal peril to advance the cause of democratic freedoms and the civil rights of Bahraini citizens”. Rajab has played a key role in the pro-democracy uprising in Bahrain during 2011.

Maryam Abdulhadi Alkhawaja is also a Bahraini human rights defender. She is the daughter of the prominent Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja and head of the foreign relations office for BCHR. Alkhawaja grew up in Denmark as she and her family was granted political asylum in the late 1980. They lived in Denmark until 2001. She was present in Bahrain during the initial phase of the uprising and has since then been active in driving western politicians attention to the situation in Bahrain and as well as the case of her father Abdulhadi Alkhawaja who was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2011 for his pro-democracy activities.

see more program details HERE