UK Quashes Immunity of Bahraini Prince: Nasser bin Hamad could Face Arrest
Local Editor
Britain's High Court has stripped Bahrain's Prince Nasser bin Hamad al-Khalifa of immunity from prosecution over information of torture.
Human rights defenders are holding it up as an auspicious moment in the story of the contemporary Bahrain. It was the moment the High Court in London ruled Prince Nasser Bin Hamad al-Khalifa would no longer enjoy the luxury of immunity from prosecution over his role in the torture of political prisoners on his native Gulf island.
The decision followed a two year legal battle initiated by a Bahraini torture survivor - known as FF - to overturn a Crown Prosecution Service [CPS]order protecting the prince from the threat of legal proceedings in the United Kingdom. It not only paves the way for his potential arrest and prosecution, but also, activists have said, sends a signal to the ruling family.
"In Bahrain we have a culture of impunity," Said Yousif Almuhafdah, vice president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights said. "We do not have an independent judiciary, so this is a clear message to all human rights violators in Bahrain that they cannot get away with their actions."
In a statement, FF, said now that the prince had lost his immunity he would need to "consider the risk of investigation, arrest and prosecution when he is traveling outside Bahrain."
But the Bahraini government in Manama responded to Tuesday's ruling by dismissing the case as "an ill-targeted, politically-motivated and opportunistic attempt to misuse the British legal system."
It is this double standards attitude that Almuhafdah is at pains to highlight.
He said the UK should apply the same standards to everyone, not turn a blind eye to the way their allies behave.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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