TWO STEPS BACKWARDS: BAHRAIN’S POLITICAL CRISIS ON THE EVE OF ELECTIONS

Since mid-August, security forces in Bahrain have arrested hundreds, and charged at least 23 well-known political activists and Shia clerics with acts of terrorism. Many are vocal critics of the government, and appear to have been targeted for what they say rather than for anything they have done. The charge sheet is replete with accusations of “spreading false information” and “inciting contempt against the regime,” as well as more recognizable criminal offenses. Persons who have seen the detainees claim they complained of torture, and lawyers have not been able to meet with their clients, in violation of Bahraini law.

Since mid-August, security forces in Bahrain have arrested hundreds, and charged at least 23 well-known political activists and Shia clerics with acts of terrorism. Many are vocal critics of the government, and appear to have been targeted for what they say rather than for anything they have done. The charge sheet is replete with accusations of “spreading false information” and “inciting contempt against the regime,” as well as more recognizable criminal offenses. Persons who have seen the detainees claim they complained of torture, and lawyers have not been able to meet with their clients, in violation of Bahraini law.

Beyond this, just weeks before elections scheduled for October 23, the government has taken over the independent Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS), appointing a ministry official as interim director, and closed down the newsletters and Websites of the main opposition political societies. The government has rejected international elections monitoring, and with the takeover of the BHRS, this leaves local monitoring mainly in the hands of groups close to the government.

Featuring:

Maryam al-Khawaja, an active member in the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. She has been responsible for contacting and updating international human rights organizations about the situation in Bahrain, as well as collecting testimonies from kidnapped victims and families of detainees. She was invited in October 2008 to testify before the Human rights Caucus of the US Congress on religious Freedom in Bahrain, and as a result a defamation campaign was launched against her and her colleagues in the Bahraini media. Due to her work in human rights, Maryam Alkhawaja relocated to London approximately last month, fearing that she might be arrested if had stayed in Bahrain.

Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East division, has followed Bahrain developments for more than 15 years, and has just returned from a visit to Bahrain where he met with officials, local human rights activists, defense lawyers, and families of detainees.

Moderator: Andrew Albertson, Executive Director, Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED)