Bahrain Freedom Movement Statements

Secret report exposes the rape of a country by Al Khalifa

The sensational revelations last month by high-ranking official within the Government of Bahrain made history. Perhaps it was the first time in the recent history of this troubled island that such irrefutable documentary evidence of the evil activities by the Al Khalifa hereditary dictatorship had come out to the open.

The ruling family stands accused of criminal acts of ethnic cleansing, using public money to fund its clandestine operations. These revelations were made by now but the Advisor to the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs who compiled the evidence in a 220-pages report that he delivered to the court of the ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. Copies were also handed to some political societies as well as embassies of the the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. It was a well-calculated risk undertaken by Dr Salah Al Bandar, a British citizen of Sudanese origin. For the past twelve months he was entrusted with the re-organisation of the said ministry which is headed by Ahmad Atiyyat Allah Al Khalifa, the brother of the notorious torturer (Abdul Aziz Atiyyat Allah Al Khalifa).

Dr Al Bandar soon realised that he was working within a clandestine group headed by the minister, engaged in sinister activities against the native population, paid for by the minister from his “personal account” with Kuwait’s Finance House. Although the source of funds is not know, it is expected that it comes directly from the country’s oil income under the direction of Sheikh Hamad. The report contains includes copies of paid cheques and receipts signed by the recipients of funds for their services.

These services include sending SMS messages against opposition figures, smearing the reputation of public personalities and defending the Al Khalifa in electronic sites, funding the main mouthpiece newspaper, Al Watan, of the regime, payments to religious extremists who are anti-Shia, payments for individuals and families who change their sectarian affiliation from Shia Islam and regular payments for “activists” in human rights groups who are known to be agents of the Al Khalifa. Among the most dangerous group of recipients is that which is engaged in what Al Bandar calls “the Sectarian Switch” whose activities include anti-Shia campaigns in newspapers and other media, as well as the political naturalisation programme.

The reaction of the Al Khalifa was swift. On the evening of Tuesday 12th September his flat in Manama was raided by the notorious secret police agents. He was handcuffed while the flat was ransacked. Two hours later he was driven to the airport where he was forced to board a flight to London. Simultaneously, his house in Rifaa, where his wife was stagyin, was also searched and property confiscated including computers and books.

The Al Khalifa then claimed that Al Bandar was “Plotting to overthrow the government” a charge punishable by death. It is ironic that a person who is accused of these serious offences, has not been interrogated while handcuffed at his flat or jailed. Neither has a request for extradition has been lodged with the British authorities. He was further accused of belonging to foreign intelligence agencies, most probably refereeing to British intelligence. In a subsequent meeting between the ruler and the heads of several political societies, in a damage-limitation exercise, he was quoted as saying that he did not like the British or the Americans. He said that he wanted Al Bandar to go to Sudan and solve the problem of Darfur and Fawzi Golid (the American of Somali origin in charge of the office of the American National Democratic Institute which had been closed few months earlier) to go back to Somalia to deal with the problems there.

Regardless of the motives of Al Bandar, the report is a serious document implicating the ruling family directly in a sinister plan to effect fundamental changes in the country that they had occupied by force and have since refused to recognise the right of its people to determine their destiny. The Al Khalifa have plundered the wealth of the country, its land and seashores in a way that no other government in the world had done. They have committed many crimes against the people of Bahrain, imprisoning tens of thousands of them over the past three decades, killing scores of them in their torture chambers, exiling hundreds and subjugating the rest. Bahrain is a country that is being subjected to most horrific rape by the Al Khalifa gangs. Atiyyat Allah could not have run his clandestine network without the official sanction from the ruler himself.

Instead of being reprimanded, he came out forcefully, denying any wrong-doing and lashing out against the author of the report. He has remained securely in his position enjoying the protection of the state which has failed to take a single action to calm the situation. The plots and plans contained in the report art there to be implemented and will not stop short of the total subjugation of the country when the demographic balance has been fundamentally altered. It is also deafening to note the absence of any reaction from the British government for the allegations that its intelligence services were involved in the “plot” against the Al Khalifa.

It is now clear that the Al Khalifa occupiers of Bahrain are implicated in ethnic cleansing which is a criminal act that has to be addressed by the international community. The United Nations have been approached by the people who signed a petition calling for self-determination and the involvement of the UN in drafting a new constitution for the country. The Al Khalifa rule is evil; it is an antiquated form of government which is now engaged in a serious clandestine operation to wipe out the natives of Bahrain. Silence should not be seen as an option by the international community; the Al Khalifa are not known for their adherence to international codes of conduct especially in terms of human rights and democratic standards. The “Bandargate” is a disgrace to this hereditary dictatorship and those who support their continued despotism and gross violations of human rights. Time is running out for a salvage operation to stop the annihilation of the natives of Bahrain.

Bahrain Freedom Movement
6th October 2006

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