No Script

Please Wait...

Al-Ahed Telegram

Prince Charles under Fire Following Official Visit to Oppressing Bahrain

Prince Charles under Fire Following Official Visit to Oppressing Bahrain
folder_openEurope... access_time7 years ago
starAdd to favorites

Local Editor

Human rights campaigners have criticized Prince Charles over a scheduled visit to Bahrain amid information that torture and oppression continue in the tiny Gulf Kingdom.

Prince Charles under Fire Following Official Visit to Oppressing Bahrain

The Prince of Wales is due to make an official visit to Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates on behalf of the British Government in November to "help strengthen the United Kingdom's warm bilateral relations", according to a statement released by Clarence House.

But the trip to the strategically important Gulf state has been attacked as "totally inappropriate" by anti-arms trade campaigners, and Human Rights Watch have described the visit as "extremely disappointing".

Nicholas McGeehan, Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch, told The Independent: "Prince Charles has taken a free-thinking, principled stance on many important issues, so it's difficult to credit that he's not aware of the serious and worsening human rights situation in Bahrain.

"It's extremely disappointing that he's agreed to help the British government ingratiate itself further with such an abusive government."

Earlier this year the Palace was criticized by a leading human rights organizations for the decision to seat Queen Elizabeth next to the King of Bahrain during a celebration for her 90th birthday.

Human Rights Watch described the decision to place the Queen next Bahrain's head of state as an "error of judgement".

A report by Amnesty International last year accused Bahrain of overseeing "rampant abuses including torture, arbitrary detentions and excessive use of force against peaceful activists and government critics."

Despite reports of abuse, British arms sales to Bahrain have increased significantly over the past five years, with the UK covering arms such as machine guns, assault rifles and anti-armour ammunition in deals worth £45 million, according to the Campaign Against Arms Trade [CAAT] organization.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

Comments