Last Update 2 June 2011
Financial Times wrote on 23 May 2011:
The government-owned Bahrain International Circuit is due to host the Formula 1 race. But about a quarter of its staff – all Shia – were arrested in early April and most have since been suspended or sacked, according to one of those detained who declined to be named for fear of retribution. The group included three women and two senior staff, he told the Financial Times.
“They were all slapping and kicking me as they led me down the corridor,” he says of the police, who conceal their identities by using Shia nicknames.
Last Update 2 June 2011
Financial Times wrote on 23 May 2011:
The government-owned Bahrain International Circuit is due to host the Formula 1 race. But about a quarter of its staff – all Shia – were arrested in early April and most have since been suspended or sacked, according to one of those detained who declined to be named for fear of retribution. The group included three women and two senior staff, he told the Financial Times.
“They were all slapping and kicking me as they led me down the corridor,” he says of the police, who conceal their identities by using Shia nicknames.
“He [the policeman] put my head between his legs, flipped me on to the floor – and then the beatings really began,” according to the detainee, who still has bruises on his kidney and upper back. The beatings worsened if he did not admit he had visited the roundabout, taken orders from Shia politicians, or seen weapons, he said.
BIC declined to comment. One person close to the government says the employees were sacked for cheering the cancellation of the race. The government denies the use of torture.
Detainees of the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC)
BCHR has collected a list of the people arrested from the BIC along with their positions, please find it on the below link:
Names and positions of F1 Detainees
F1 advised by Human Rights Watch to quit Bahrain
The international racing bodies responsible for scheduling Formula One events should take full account of continuing serious human rights violations when they consider rescheduling a 2011 race in Bahrain, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch expressed its concerns in a letter sent jointly to the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA).
Read the full HRW press release on hrw.org
Petition To Red Bull, and other F1 teams
A group has started a petition to Red Bull and other F1 teams to quite Bahrain F1 this year:
“We call on you to declare publicly that you won’t race in Bahrain this year, because the government has killed and injured hundreds of innocent people who were standing up for their rights. Your reputation, and Formula 1’s, will suffer if you reward this deadly regime.”
Sign the petition
Ecclestone: If reports are true, F1 could stand with Bahrain people
F1′s commercial rights boss Bernie Ecclestone has admitted that it will be difficult to return to Bahrain this year if there is any risk of violence in the kingdom nation. The Bahrain Grand Prix was canceled as the season-opening race this year to do to civil unrest that has seen martial law instituted and even reported deaths at the hands of the Bahrain government during protests. The issue is a complex one of safety, insurance, sanctioning fees, deadlines issued, ethical and moral implications as well as sovereignty and historic ramifications.
Formula1 blog
Facebook Campaign:
A group of Facebook users has started a Facebook page to “to pass a message to Mr. Bernie Ecclestone (The President and CEO of Formula One) with the fact that allowing Bahrain to host Formula One is unethical and morally unacceptable and definitely would be a DAY OF RAGE in Bahrain!”
facebook.com