Bahrain: Desperate measures by Al Khalifa to counter the people’s revolt

Another Bahraini was kidnapped by the Death Squads, tortured and then released. Ibrahim Yousuf Ibrahim Dhaif, from the village of Demstan was walking with his friends when a car pulled beside them.

His friends managed to escape but he was captured, beaten up ferociously and thrown in the street. His friends hurried to tell his family who came and took him to the Accident and Emergency wing of Salmaniya hospital. His family members were then prevented from coming to his side. His brother said that Death Squads members warned them not to do so.

Mr Dhaif is the latest victim in a series of attacks against Bahrainis by the Death Squads run and managed by Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, the minister of the royal court. Among the most notorious of these cases is that of Jaffar Kadhem who was viciously beaten by the same militias last month. He was left for dead but was hurried to hospital where he spent two weeks before regaining his strength to walk.

Instead of heeding the call to stop these attacks against Bahrainis, Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, the minister of the interior has warned that more such attacks are in the pipeline against those whom he terms as “saboteurs” and “terrorists” who insist on exercising their right to protest and express their opinion. Freedom of expression has been crushed in the past few years to the extent that possessing anti-regime leaflet amounts to terrorism punished by life imprisonment or even death, according to the terrorism law imposed by the ruling family and rubber stamped by its shura council. He urged citizens to work as spies for the Al Khalifa occupiers by reporting anyone taking part in “illegal” activity such as demonstrations or writing on the walls. This is yet another escalation in the barbarity of the Al Khalifa in their treatment of Bahrainis.

As the public uproar continues in light of the recent legislation regarding the retirement salaries of the members of the Al Khalifa parliament, it has been revealed that the total cost of this illegal theft will cost the country more than two and half million dollars annually. The ruling family has sought to implicate members of its various councils in its robbery of Bahrain. While the low paid Bahrainis receive less than 400 dollars a month, the rulers and their accomplices are treating themselves to lavish lifestyles that no native can dream of. The public sentiment at this institutionalised robbery is growing and could lead to explosion of public anger.

Another case of the gross violation of human rights is the continued detention, torture and likely indictment of Ali Hassan Salman who is falsely accused of making public the names of some torturers. He was arrested a month ago, interrogated and tortured but not yet charged with a specific punishable offence. Lawyers have argued that even if the names he had made public were true, that does not constitute a crime because it does not lead to any violence or compromise the interest of the citizens. This comes at a time when the torturers roam the country without fear of prosecution. It has been reported that the notorious torturer, Adel Flaifel, will stand for “elections” to become a member of the Al Khalifa powerless shura council. It is one of the most audacious acts against the feelings and pride of Bahrainis as he stands accused of torturing hundreds of citizens over a span of a quarter of a century. The opposition has boycotted the Al Khalifa constitution and any activity or body based on it.

In the Norwegian capital, Oslo, tens of civil society organisations signed a petition condemning the Al Khalifa’s policy against the freedom of expression. They were meeting within the framework of International Network to exchange information about freedom of expression and the International Forum for Freedom of Expression. Forty of these bodies signed an open letter asking the authorities in Bahrain to stop attacks on people’s right to express their opinion freely.

Bahrain Freedom Movement
19 June 2009