Freedom House classifies Bahrain as “Not Free”
The “Freedom House” classification that Bahrain is categorized within the “Not Free” countries has shaken the Al Khalifa establishment to its core.
For more than a decade they have worked relentlessly to promote themselves as “democrats” with the help of their allies in Washington and London.
They have employed every possible tactic of presenting this image to counter the efforts by Bahrainis who have warned the world against the deception by the Al Khalifa hereditary dictatorship. It took this reputable body a decade to reach the conclusion that Bahrain is a large prison within which native Bahrainis had been caged for decades.
To make the matters worse, Sheikh Hamad had monopolized the oil revenues to the full, using chunks of them to buy off politicians, journalists and lobbyists to promote a false image of a “constitutional monarchy”. Many in the world have fallen in this web of deceit, after witnessing that the country under the present ruler has “a constitution”, “elections” and “parliament”.
Only few of them, however, have investigated the reality in today’s Bahrain. With oil revenues, securely held by the ruler and his close lieutenants, money has played major part in the building this web. It took the Bahraini opposition a full decade, during which they gave big sacrifices, to start reaping some fruits. It is hoped that the world has woken up to the ugly reality in a country held hostage by occupiers, torturers and despots.
The conclusion arrived at by Freedom House is the natural one. Other international bodies should have reached a similar conclusion sooner, but the policies of spin and deception have contributed to the delay in the exposure of the murderous regime in this tiny country of the Gulf. Several facts have been known for some time; which would have altered the outside perception of the reality inside. First, the country is ruled by a constitution hand-crafted to suit the Al Khalifa agenda while denying Bahrainis the right for political participation or power sharing. For almost 35 years, the opposition has lobbied for a contractual constitution to be written by Bahrainis. That single demand has remained a mirage since the abolition of the 1973 constitution by the present ruler. A constitution is meant to represent the will of the people and how power-sharing among them is implemented. That right has been denied by the Al Khalifa. Sheikh Hamad’s constitution has been rejected by the people, not withstanding its approval by a tiny minority. For any impartial observer, the constitution could not be considered legitimate without being written by the people or approved by them in an open referendum.
Then comes the issue of genocide; a policy central to the Al Khalifa political programme. Through political naturalization process, the composition of the Bahraini society has been fundamentally altered amid unheard cries and warnings.
No democracy may exist alongside genocide. Bahrainis demand not only an immediate hold to the political naturalization process but to hold the perpetrators of genocide, headed by the ruler himself, to account at an international tribunal under the protocols of the International Criminal Court.
With them, torturers must also be held responsible for the ordeals suffered by the thousands of victims who had been ill-treated in torture chambers. Freedom House must be aware of the existence of the notorious Law 56 that grants impunity to torturers. The ruler has guaranteed the safety from prosecution of his torturers. Some of these criminals have been promoted by the ruler into ministerial positions. As for the “democratic process” itself, the ruler has defended his uncle in the position of Prime Minister for forty un-interrupted years.
Is I this democracy? To add salt to the injury, Sheikh Hamad has appointed 17 of his close family associates in the 28 members cabinet. The Al Khalifa-style democracy has defied logic and modern principles and values in its details and forced the world to acknowledge a severe form of dictatorship as Democracy!
To continue safeguarding the regime, the appointed half of the shura council has recently approved a new law to execute those who inform the outside world about the Al Khalifa atrocities. Human rights activists will be the main offender under this draconian law and will thus be eligible for execution. The regime had preceded with an order to form an official human rights body to hail its achievements. The second target is the victims of torture who may talk to international human rights bodies and seek justice against their torturers.
It is widely known that the ruler himself is a possible future suspect in the case of genocide against Bahrainis. He hopes that the new law will silence the victims and prevent any evidence against his criminal policies leaking to the outside world. Killing Bahrainis for speaking to the outside world about their predicament is itself a crime of great magnitude. Freedom House must be aware of these repressive laws and rules and their experience with tyrannical regimes has led them to conclude that Bahrain could not be a free country under these draconian rules. To them, elections in themselves do not constitute democracy.
They differentiate between the “right” and “the Law”. They may or may not be compatible. The “Right” is the reference, while the “Law” must be scrutinized to see if it leads to justice and right. The Al Khalifa have written “laws” but they have ignored “justice”. This is why Bahrain is “not a free country” according to the Freedom House indicator. It now remains for the military ruler of Bahrain to decide his next move, having witnessed the utter failure of his policies and the disrepute he has brought onto himself and his family.
The Bahrainis will, nevertheless, pursue their civil resistance programme regardless of the oppression of the regime. The daily demonstrations and protests have inevitably led to the exposure of the true nature of the Al Khalifa. This is a satisfactory conclusion of a phase struggle that has been carried out against all the odds including the employment of the state’s resources to crush the will of the natives. The Freedom House report will be supplemented by major human rights reports to be published soon. Only then a clearer picture will emerge of the dark side of the Al Khalifa rhetoric. It may be too late to save this antiquated regime who had failed to take up the opportunity that the Bahrainis had offered him with good hearts and noble intentions. Time may prove that the Al Khalifa are not worthy of the trust of the Bahrainis.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
29 Jan 2010