Bahrain has failed to grasp reform – so why is the grand prix going ahead?

Bahrain has failed to grasp reform – so why is the grand prix going ahead?
The repression at Bahrain’s race track is a microcosm of the government crackdown, yet the FIA still hasn’t got the message

John Lubbock and Nabeel Rajab – guardian.co.uk – 30 January 2012

The Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), a palm-lined, glitzy race track in the middle of the desert, is due to host Formula One in April. Behind the facade, however, lie tales of misery, blood and torture.

Last year, the head of security at the BIC raided its offices alongside plainclothed police with a list. The list contained the names of every Shia employee. One by one they were dragged from their desks and beaten in front of colleagues. In total, 27 were arrested, and many were left in jail for months. The BIC is responsible for purging its own people. It is hardly a place that deserves to host this race again.

The repression that occurred at the BIC is a microcosm of the broader government crackdown. The result has been entrenchment of an apartheid system in which the indigenous population are marginalised and feel like second-class citizens.

The fact that the marginalised majority are mostly Shias is frequently overplayed by international journalists seeking an easy explanation for the crisis. It plays into fears of sectarianism, and helps the Bahraini regime’s divide-and-rule policy that was exposed by Salah Albandar, a British adviser to the government, in 2006.

But it is more complicated than that. Sunni anti-government leaders like Ibrahim Sharif were also jailed because they threatened to unite the Sunni and Shia reformists who chanted the slogan: “No Sunni, no Shia, just Bahraini.”

While preaching support for democratic transition, the US and UK have remained silent towards the Bahraini regime.

The first anniversary of the start of the peaceful uprising is on 14 February and is likely to be marked by big protests. The US has issued a travel warning to this effect and moved some embassy staff. Reporters Without Borders has just named Bahrain one of the world’s top 10 most repressive regimes, while Freedom House downgraded Bahrain from “partly free” to “not free”.

Despite this, the UK is back to business exporting arms to Bahrain. It is simply shocking that Britain and the US continue to support such a repressive regime and that Formula One is even considering holding the Bahrain race at the current time. …more