…from beneath the crooked bough, witness 230 years of brutal tyranny by the al Khalifas come to an end
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House of Lords, Lord Avebury hears Bahrain, hosts: “Dead End for a regime guilty of systematic torture”

by Courtesy

House of Lords seminar discusses Bahrain’s revolution
Bahrain Freedom Movement – 15/12/2011
[excerpt from seminar] – see more testimony HERE

Maryam Al Khawaja

I have different lists of violations, not different from those before the report.

Something is significant; the King said two days ago that there has been no systematic torture and that people had been trained in Syria not Iran.

At the beginning they accepted Bissioni’s report, now they say there was no systematic abuse. They effectively say that we do not accept the report.

In Jaw prison families have no access to prisoners who get no hot water in this cold weather. They get very limited exercise. This is why they went on hunger strike demanding their immediate and unconditional release. Yesterday two prisoners on trial fainted. Three other detainees were beaten outside the court in front of the lawyers. So violations have not stopped. I could also talk about the Government’s action since the report. To use the report to initiate political dialogue while not doing anything about human rights violations is problemlematic. The recommendations are not implemented, the government is not undertaking any changes. Focus should be on stopping human rights violations on daily basis.

Lord Avebury: What can Bahrain’s friends do? We should make an overall picture of the situation by all those who had spoken. It is ridiculous to think of the opposition setting down to discuss politics while they are under human rights violations.

Maryam: It was troubling to see the King welcomed by Western countries. There needs to be an immediate message to Bahraini government that they are not welcome.

Lord Avebury: I will do what I can but this government’s policy isto sweep everything under the carpet.

Maryam: We mentioned in our report that five members of Al Khalifa, two sons of king, who had taken part in torture. We do not know if the situation still continues. It is not easy to get such information. There is a cycle of violations and promises. In 2007 systematic torture came back. The youth are not going to believe the King’s promises anymore. To bring people like John Timoney to train police is not a good example. If you want to improve situation do it through Bahrainis. The formation of commission is also flawed. …see more testimony HERE