Foreign Policy: Bahrain…Prison Island
Local Editor
US Foreign Policy magazine published an article by Tom Malinowski on the 7th of May entitled "Prison Island", in which he narrated his short experience in Bahrain.
Tom had spent a few days in the Gulf country, in which he witnessed the oppression of the Bahraini regime against the peaceful protesters.
"Bahrain has badly botched its local version of the Arab Spring. And there seems to be no way out," his introduction reads.
He wrote his experience as he was detained along with other Bahraini youth.
"When the boys at the head of the column bolted, so did we. A colleague and I had been observing their nighttime march through Diraz, an older, poorer suburb of Bahrain's capital mostly populated by members of the country's Shiite majority. Teenagers and young men walked in front, women in black chadors behind them, chanting "down with Hamad" -- Bahrain's king. The protest was intended as a rebuke to the Formula One auto race Bahrain's ruling family was about to stage in late April to show the world that all was well in the Gulf kingdom after a ruthless crackdown on dissent and more than a year of unrest," the article narrates.
Further describing the scenario, Tom writes "We watched as the youth of Diraz peacefully made their way toward a main road. The riot police waited for them there. Maybe we should have stood fast, on the notion that police chase those who run. But when Bahrain's finest suppress demonstrations, they often fire birdshot and tear-gas canisters directly into the crowd. And the magic words "I am an American" have an effective range far shorter than that of a riot gun."
According to Tom, he and his colleague sprinted away with the scattered marchers down one darkened alley, then another. When it was clear the neighborhood was surrounded, they took shelter in a house.
He adds "The police broke in and pepper-sprayed our eyes; I spoke the magic words, which seemed to calm matters, though we heard screams coming from other parts of the house."
Narrating what had happened at the police station, the articles says "At the police station, we waited as they verified our permission to be in the country. Outside, police tear-gassed mothers of the boys arrested with us, who had come to demand their sons' release. The gas drifted into the station. Everyone -- police, protesters, and we two foreigners -- tasted the sting of Bahrain's crackdown on dissent and its inexorable blowback."
"In November 2011, Bahrain had a golden chance to end this kind of police brutality for good," Tom writes, adding that "King Hamad had appointed the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, chaired by the esteemed international jurist Cherif Bassiouni, to look into the human rights violations committed when the country's pro-democracy movement was suppressed last year. Bassiouni wrote an honest report, documenting the arrest and torture of opposition leaders and urging far-reaching reforms to punish those responsible and end human rights abuses."
But since then, "the momentum has dissipated. There has been no real resumption of dialogue between the government and opposition to pursue what moderates on both sides agree is the only viable solution to Bahrain's crisis -- a constitutional monarchy in which government ministers are chosen by an elected parliament rather than appointed by the king," it adds.
Moreover, Tom says that "the government has also not ended human rights abuses against protesters."
"As we would see during our visit, police torture and abuse have simply moved from police stations to the alleyways and back lots of Shiite villages. The courts have agreed to retry key opposition leaders, but the government still refuses to release them, though their convictions were based on nothing more than the content of their speeches and participation in meetings and rallies challenging the monarchy."
The situation seems to be in impasse, as Tom narrates "Also, for the first time in months, there is no approaching milestone -- no committee to be appointed, or report to be issued, or deadline to be met."
He further writes about the fabrication to convince many Sunni supporters that the opposition is actually adopted by Iran, the US and "Israel's" number one foe. "Relentless messaging in official media has convinced many Sunni supporters of the monarchy that opposition calls for democracy are an Iranian plot to impose a Shiite theocracy on Bahrain."
"Government hard-liners want the world to believe that the conflict in Bahrain is strictly sectarian, with all Sunnis on one side and all Shiites -- manipulated by Iran -- on the other. This helps them generate support from their base and from other Sunni monarchies, while making Western governments wary of the protest movement."
Tom goes on to say "Much of Bahrain's police force consists of Sunni foreigners. Sent to subdue Shiite neighborhoods that are alien territory, they seem bewildered by the youth who come at them every night."
According to the article, "The problem with US policy toward Bahrain is not that it takes geopolitics into account. It's that US officials may be calculating the geopolitics incorrectly.
"There is a growing feeling in the Middle East that, however high-minded Obama's rhetoric about democracy may be, the United States will always line up with its autocratic Sunni allies in the Persian Gulf against their opponents, especially if those opponents are Shiite. To many, it looks like the United States opposes dictators like Syria's Assad not for the sake of oppressed people, but to aid one side in a Saudi-Iranian cold war," he concludes.
Source: Foreign Policy, edited by moqawama.org
US Foreign Policy magazine published an article by Tom Malinowski on the 7th of May entitled "Prison Island", in which he narrated his short experience in Bahrain.
Tom had spent a few days in the Gulf country, in which he witnessed the oppression of the Bahraini regime against the peaceful protesters.
"Bahrain has badly botched its local version of the Arab Spring. And there seems to be no way out," his introduction reads.
He wrote his experience as he was detained along with other Bahraini youth. "When the boys at the head of the column bolted, so did we. A colleague and I had been observing their nighttime march through Diraz, an older, poorer suburb of Bahrain's capital mostly populated by members of the country's Shiite majority. Teenagers and young men walked in front, women in black chadors behind them, chanting "down with Hamad" -- Bahrain's king. The protest was intended as a rebuke to the Formula One auto race Bahrain's ruling family was about to stage in late April to show the world that all was well in the Gulf kingdom after a ruthless crackdown on dissent and more than a year of unrest," the article narrates.
Further describing the scenario, Tom writes "We watched as the youth of Diraz peacefully made their way toward a main road. The riot police waited for them there. Maybe we should have stood fast, on the notion that police chase those who run. But when Bahrain's finest suppress demonstrations, they often fire birdshot and tear-gas canisters directly into the crowd. And the magic words "I am an American" have an effective range far shorter than that of a riot gun."
According to Tom, he and his colleague sprinted away with the scattered marchers down one darkened alley, then another. When it was clear the neighborhood was surrounded, they took shelter in a house.
He adds "The police broke in and pepper-sprayed our eyes; I spoke the magic words, which seemed to calm matters, though we heard screams coming from other parts of the house."
Narrating what had happened at the police station, the articles says "At the police station, we waited as they verified our permission to be in the country. Outside, police tear-gassed mothers of the boys arrested with us, who had come to demand their sons' release. The gas drifted into the station. Everyone -- police, protesters, and we two foreigners -- tasted the sting of Bahrain's crackdown on dissent and its inexorable blowback."
"In November 2011, Bahrain had a golden chance to end this kind of police brutality for good," Tom writes, adding that "King Hamad had appointed the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, chaired by the esteemed international jurist Cherif Bassiouni, to look into the human rights violations committed when the country's pro-democracy movement was suppressed last year. Bassiouni wrote an honest report, documenting the arrest and torture of opposition leaders and urging far-reaching reforms to punish those responsible and end human rights abuses."
But since then, "the momentum has dissipated. There has been no real resumption of dialogue between the government and opposition to pursue what moderates on both sides agree is the only viable solution to Bahrain's crisis -- a constitutional monarchy in which government ministers are chosen by an elected parliament rather than appointed by the king," it adds.
Moreover, Tom says that "the government has also not ended human rights abuses against protesters."
"As we would see during our visit, police torture and abuse have simply moved from police stations to the alleyways and back lots of Shiite villages. The courts have agreed to retry key opposition leaders, but the government still refuses to release them, though their convictions were based on nothing more than the content of their speeches and participation in meetings and rallies challenging the monarchy."
The situation seems to be in impasse, as Tom narrates "Also, for the first time in months, there is no approaching milestone -- no committee to be appointed, or report to be issued, or deadline to be met."
He further writes about the fabrication to convince many Sunni supporters that the opposition is actually adopted by Iran, the US and "Israel's" number one foe. "Relentless messaging in official media has convinced many Sunni supporters of the monarchy that opposition calls for democracy are an Iranian plot to impose a Shiite theocracy on Bahrain."
"Government hard-liners want the world to believe that the conflict in Bahrain is strictly sectarian, with all Sunnis on one side and all Shiites -- manipulated by Iran -- on the other. This helps them generate support from their base and from other Sunni monarchies, while making Western governments wary of the protest movement."
Tom goes on to say "Much of Bahrain's police force consists of Sunni foreigners. Sent to subdue Shiite neighborhoods that are alien territory, they seem bewildered by the youth who come at them every night."
According to the article, "The problem with US policy toward Bahrain is not that it takes geopolitics into account. It's that US officials may be calculating the geopolitics incorrectly.
"There is a growing feeling in the Middle East that, however high-minded Obama's rhetoric about democracy may be, the United States will always line up with its autocratic Sunni allies in the Persian Gulf against their opponents, especially if those opponents are Shiite. To many, it looks like the United States opposes dictators like Syria's Assad not for the sake of oppressed people, but to aid one side in a Saudi-Iranian cold war," he concludes.
Source: Foreign Policy, edited by moqawama.org
