A Statement by vice president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights-12 April 2008
“We condemns the use of violence which according to official reports led to the death of a 24-year-old policeman, and the injury of his two colleagues,” BCHR vice president Nabeel Rajab said.
A Statement by vice president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights-12 April 2008
“We condemns the use of violence which according to official reports led to the death of a 24-year-old policeman, and the injury of his two colleagues,” BCHR vice president Nabeel Rajab said.
“The killing of a policeman last Wednesday* can be seen as the devastating result of the Bahraini government’s policies of discrimination and mass naturalization, which have stoked hatred between communities in Bahrain. However, demonstrators must carefully consider the outcome of their actions, and the method of protest they choose”.
“Whether the killing was accidental or not, it is a dangerous sign of things to come unless serious reflection is taken by the Bahraini government and protestors,” he added.
“The government must realize that putting those responsible for this act on trial is not enough to resolve the situation at this point. They must also explore the factors which have contributed to such hatred and violence towards security forces. These are:
– the politically motivated mass naturalization of foreign nationals into jobs which are denied to the majority of the local community (see: http://www.bahrainrights.org/node/425)
– the authorization for use of excessive violence by security forces against civilians at nonviolent demonstrations (see: http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/346/list)
“The killing of the policeman was wrong, and should be dealt with according to fair and independent principles of law. But this violent situation has been developing for a long time in Bahrain, and this incident has shown us that it is necessary to examine how it reached this terrible stage.
“Perhaps if the government had previously dealt with the issues being raised by protestors in a nonviolent and conciliatory way, anger would not have reached such a high level and such an act would not have been committed?
“As human rights activists we support the demands of the protestors, and recognize that they have legitimate concerns. We call on the Bahraini government to do the same, to pre-empt such disastrous occurrences from being repeated in the future.
“At the same time, as human rights activists we cannot support such an action. We call on protestors to cease any violent attacks on human beings, and to consider the meaning and consequences of such actions. At the end of the day, it is a detriment to the validity of their cause.”
