Bahrain: Internal and external activities to commemorate the Day of the Martyrs

State repression has never been made more flagrant and audacious than in the latest showdown between the people of Bahrain and the ruling Al Khlaifa family. The might of the state was used to crackdown against the freedom of expression, peaceful gathering or protest.

As the people converged last Thursday on Ras Rumman in Manama to take part in a peaceful demonstration to remember victims of state repression, they were faced by large numbers of troops, riot police, Death Squads and secret service agents. The leaders of the opposition were surrounded by the troops who had prevented the people entering the area and threatened with “blood bath” if they insisted on demonstrating. The people then dispersed in various directions and held regional protests at smaller scales. Nonetheless the point was made that the people of Bahrain have their own agenda  and national days that are in contrast to those of the ruling family. Throughout the day the youth were engaged in running battles with the aggressive foreign-staffed forces. From Dair to Manama, Sanabis, Daih, Abu Saibe, Duraz, Bani Jamrah, Karzakkan, Malkiyya, Ma’amir, Sitra and other towns and villages. It was damning public expression of anger against an increasingly-isolated regime that has resorted to extreme of repression against people with genuine peaceful demands.

The attacks on civil liberties has been spearheaded by the foreign mercenaries under the direction of the notorious symbol of sectarianism, Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, the minister of the royal court. Many Bahrainis were injured and arrested. Among those taken hostage by the regime’s police are: Abdul Rasool Al Sasfi, 16, who is retarded and is cared for by a special body for those with special needs, Yousuf Ahmad, 14, Hassan Ali Asghar, 17, Ali Hassan Saleh, 15 and Abdulla Jaffar Abdul Wahab, 18. The detention of minors is a cause of concern among human rights activists inside and outside Bahrain. Their families have expressed fear for the well-being of their children with the knowledge that torture has become common place under the rule of Hamad bin Isa Al Khlaifa.

The ruling family has become more aggressive as the Day of the Martyrs had eclipsed their own “national day” which was chosen to remind Bahrainis of the ruling family’s system of hereditary rule that is not subject to the democratic norms and practices. Over the past fifteen years it has become a national day for the Bahrainis who have rejected 16th December as nothing but a reminder of the bitter ordeal under members of the Al Khalifa who had occupied Bahrain by force. The people have attempted to celebrate on 15th August of each year to mark the withdrawal in 1971 of the British forces from the country (and from the rest of the Gulf states) after decades of struggle by Bahrainis calling for independence.

The Day of the Martyrs was also remembered in London with two events. First was the protest outside the Dorchester Hotel in Central London on the evening of Tuesday 15th December. The Al Khalifa Ambassador to London had invited guests for his family’s national day. The Bahraini opposition organised a protest outside the hotel to draw the attention of the guests and the public to several things. First that the situation in Bahrain is worsening as repression intensifies. Second that the continued detention of Bahrainis in torture chambers was unacceptable and that these hostages be freed immediately and unconditionally. Thirdly that their host; ambassador Khalifa bin Ali Al Khalifa, is a well-known torturer who had re-instated torture soon after he was appointed in charge of the national security body in 2005. There are several testimonies by his victims who gave graphic and harrowing details of the torture they had received under his tenure. There are now rising demands to bring this torturer to justice as a step to eliminate this evil practice that the present ruler had institutionalised by his notorious Law 56 which grants impunity to torturers. The guests of the Al Khlaifa were reminded of their human duty not to shake hands with torturers or take freebies from them. All guests were given expensive gifts paid for from people’s wealth confiscated by the Al Khalifa.

The annual Winter Seminar was held on Wednesday 16th December at the House of Lords. Lord Avebury who chaired the meeting called for more rigorous work to challenge the Al Khalifa policies against the natives. Several speakers had come from Bahrain to address the seminar; Dr Abdul Jalil Al Singace, the Director of International Relations at Haq Movement, Nabeel Rajab, the President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Mr Mohammad Al Tajir, a lawyer closely linked to the cases of detainees and a human rights activist. Huussain Abdulla also came from USA to tell the audience of the efforts undertaken by Bahraini Americans to challenge the Al Khalifa hereditary dictatorship. Mr Abed Chodhury, a lawyer at the Islamic Commission of Human Rights described his experience in Bahrain which he had visited few weeks ago to attend the trial of the Karzakkan group. The ruling family dispatched its own “team” to challenge the speakers, including Peter Sekton; the head of the Bahrain Society and Ken Purchase, MP.

Both came to intimidate the opposition and speak to the Al Khalifa controlled Bahrain TV about the seminar. Mr Purchase was once described by the late Paul Foot in Private Eye magazine as “Purchase the man who cannot be bought”. Both figures failed in their efforts and demonstrated how cheap some public figures can become.

Bahrain Freedom Movement
21st December 2009-