More on the political Scandal in Bahrain:
BCHR: Individuals connected with the “Al Bandergate” secret web used elderly citizens to stage a demonstration against an opposition event.
9 November 2006
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) has learned that a group of elderly citizens were paid BD10 ($25) to stage a demonstration opposed to an opposition event in Juffair.
More on the political Scandal in Bahrain:
BCHR: Individuals connected with the “Al Bandergate” secret web used elderly citizens to stage a demonstration against an opposition event.
9 November 2006
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) has learned that a group of elderly citizens were paid BD10 ($25) to stage a demonstration opposed to an opposition event in Juffair.
Pensioner Ebrahim has informed the (BCHR) that he was asked by a woman from his area (Muharraq) named “Umm Jassim” to take part in an event, he was taken to an unknown location in Juffair, given a placard to hold for a few hours and then taken back home by a bus.
Ebrahim and his wife live on a BD 200 pension . The 66-year-old pensioner, told BCHR that a number of elderly women from Muharraq were also taken to the event with him, and each were paid BD 10 after being returned home.
The women “Umm Jassim” is known to be the secretary of an activist who was named in the Al Bander report as secretly receiving monthly incentive BD 500 for his work as a president of a pro government political society. “This woman, Um Jassim, approached me and asked me to take part. I knew her before because they have a society here in the Muharraq where she does charity work,” Ebrahim told the BCHR. “During Ramadan, she would sometimes give us food supplies.”
“It was just me and the driver on the bus with lots of elderly women. I did not know where we were going because I can’t read or write. We went to this event and they gave us some placards to hold up.
“There were a lot of people there and some of the ladies who were with me got scared because there were a lot of media people taking our photos. They were afraid in case things could turn violent or get out of control.”
The event is thought to have been held at the Al Oruba club last year. Newspapers across the country showed a counter demonstration held against opposition, and it appears this is what Ebrahim and the others were paid to participate in.
A local Muharraq social worker and businessman said that he heard about the event from Ebrahim, a regular customer at his coffee shop in Muharraq. “You know, there are many old and poor people who come to my coffee shop,” he said.
“The next day after this trip, Ebrahim came to me and told me that this woman had called him to take part in this – he didn’t even know the name of the place. I asked him about where it was and when he told me I understood it was the Al Oruba club. “When I saw the newspapers with the pictures of the elderly people I knew.”
If these allegations are true, this only adds to the dismaying revelations of the Al Bandergate report which has shown that senior government officials are backing a secret web of operations aimed at manipulating the outcome of this month’s elections, infiltrating civil society, weakening political groups, instigating sectarian hatred and maintaining the marginalizing of the Shi’a majority.
To use of elderly people in this way is not only threat to their safety but an abuse of their dignity. Such a practice if happened is a deplorable manipulation of public opinion, and shows how far the activities of the ‘secret web’ have extended into civil society.
Once again, the BCHR calls for:
- taking measures against such violations
- put an end to official silence and passiveness in regard to the documented gross violations in Al Bander report
- conducting an open, decent and independent investigation into the findings of the report.
- reviewing the decision to ban publishing the content of the report