Bahrain crackdown: ‘Opposition in dire need of media spotlight’ (Tindakan keras Bahrain: Pembangkang memerlukan media sorotan)

REVIEW: Bahraini demonstrators throw Molotov cocktails at a police water cannon vehicle after clashes erupted during a protest calling for the release of a jailed activist in the village of Jidhafs, west of Manama (penunjuk perasaan Bahraini buang koktel Molotov pada kenderaan meriam air polis selepas pertempuran meletus semasa protes menyeru untuk melepaskan aktivis terpenjara di kampung Jidhafs, barat Manama April 6, 2012)

Pasukan keselamatan Bahrain sekali lagi telah dikepit pada penunjuk perasaan, seperti beribu-ribu berarak untuk menyokong seorang aktivis hak asasi manusia yang menghadapi hukuman penjara seumur hidup. Rejim, di bawah tekanan antarabangsa terhadap isu yang semakin meningkat, telah berjanji untuk mengkaji semula kes. Bahraini Majlis Tertinggi Kehakiman kini sedang mengkaji rayuan untuk memindahkan Abdulhadi al-Khawaja ke Denmark, Agensi Berita Bahrain rasmi yang dilaporkan pada hari Sabtu. Walau bagaimanapun, laporan itu memberikan sebarang jadual waktu yang mungkin bagi keputusan itu.

Al-Khawaja, bersama-sama dengan 7 lagi tokoh-tokoh pembangkang atas, telah ditangkap pada tahun lepas dan dihukum untuk seumur hidup bagi jenayah anti-negeri. Hampir dua bulan lalu, beliau memulakan mogok lapar, yang telah memberikan momentum yang lebih kepada pergerakan itu dan membawa beribu-ribu untuk jalan-jalan, serta meletakkan Bahrain pada fokus media sekali lagi. Pada hari Jumaat, seperti beribu-ribu berarak untuk menyokong Al-Khawaja di ibukota Manama, Bahrain keselamatan pasukan menggunakan gas pemedih mata-, meriam air dan bom membisingkan untuk menyuraikan orang ramai.

Pemberontakan menentang rejim Arab Saudi bersandarkan Khalifa Al di Bahrain bermula kira-kira 14 bulan lalu, dan sejak itu bantahan telah dihadapi crackdowns ganas oleh pasukan keselamatan Bahrain. Anggaran PBB bahawa 13 orang telah terbunuh akibat kekejaman polis semasa protes anti-rejim sejak awal tahun ini. Walaupun "pendirian senyap barat" semasa kepada keadaan, pakar Timur Tengah Ali Rizk percaya Bahrain semakin akan mula di bawah penelitian. "Lebih banyak dan lebih tindakan, saya rasa, akan terus mendedahkan sifat sebenar atau taktik sebenar yang rejim itu menggunakan," kata Rizk. "Ia juga menambah lagi tekanan ke atas kuasa-kuasa tertentu Barat atau negara-negara Eropah tertentu untuk menukar pendirian mereka vis-à-vis rejim di Bahrain."

Yang pembangkang Bahrain memerlukan tentang fokus media, percaya Rizk, kerana ini boleh menyumbang lebih untuk mencapai matlamat mereka dan membantu mereka mendapat "beberapa hak bahawa mereka yang menuntut." Saudi Arabia dan Bahrain adalah 2 di Amerika Syarikat yang terdekat sekutu dalam rantau ini. Armada Amerika Syarikat Ke-5 ditempatkan di Bahrain dan akan menjadi penting bagi Amerika Syarikat sekiranya kempen ketenteraan terhadap Iran. Dan Rizk percaya bahawa adalah salah satu sebab utama media Amerika Syarikat menyerang sekutu Iran, Syria, manakala selebihnya yang mutlak senyap tentang situasi di Bahrain.

Pandangan ini dikongsi oleh wartawan dan aktivis anti-peperangan Don menghalangi yang mengatakan bahawa mengekalkan Armada Ke-5-satunya kepentingan Amerika Syarikat di Bahrain. "Orang-orang Bahrain hanyalah orang-orang yang sepatutnya kepada perkhidmatan asas dan menyimpan mulut mereka ditutup manakala yang mereka lakukan." Rizk percaya bahawa hasrat Arab Saudi untuk menjaga "tenang pada keadaan" menyumbang kepada pendirian senyap Barat. "Apabila kita bercakap mengenai blackout memakai Bahrain Saya rasa pertama dan utama ini adalah hasrat Arab Saudi, kerana Arab Saudi juga takut bahawa mungkin ada kesan domino yang boleh berlaku di Teluk Parsi, bermula dari Bahrain dan kemudian merebak ke Arab Saudi, "jelas Rizk.

Amerika Syarikat mengambil pendirian hipokrit dalam situasi ini, percaya menghalangi. "Mereka telah mendakwa bahawa mereka berada di Syria ke atas hak asasi manusia, bahawa mereka adalah di Libya ke atas hak asasi manusia dan lagi mereka menekan hak asasi manusia di Bahrain. Ia menunjukkan bahawa Presiden Obama dan Setiausaha Negara Hillary Clinton adalah orang-orang munafik, mereka adalah berdusta."

 

Bahrain security forces have again clamped down on protesters, as thousands marched in support of a human rights activist facing a life sentence. The regime, under increasing international pressure over the issue, has promised to review his case. The Bahraini Supreme Judicial Council is currently studying an appeal to transfer Abdulhadi al-Khawaja to Denmark, the official Bahrain News Agency reported on Saturday. However, the report gave no possible timetable for the decision.

Al-Khawaja, along with seven other top opposition figures, was arrested last year and sentenced to life for anti-state crimes. Nearly two months ago he started a hunger strike, which has given more momentum to the movement and brought thousands to the streets, as well as putting Bahrain in the media spotlight again. On Friday, as thousands marched in support of Al-Khawaja in the capital Manama, Bahraini security forces used tear-gas, water cannon and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

An uprising against the Saudi-backed Al Khalifa regime in Bahrain began some 14 month ago, and since then the protests have faced violent crackdowns by Bahraini security forces. The UN estimates that 13 people have been killed as a result of police brutality during anti-regime protests since the beginning of this year. Despite the current “silent western stance” on the situation, Middle East expert Ali Rizk believes Bahrain will increasingly come under scrutiny. “More and more such acts, I think, will further expose the true nature or the true tactics which the regime is using,” Rizk said. “It also puts more pressure on certain Western powers or certain European countries in order to change their stance vis-à-vis the regime in Bahrain.”

The Bahraini opposition is in dire need of the media spotlight, believes Rizk, because this could contribute much to achieving their goals and help them gain “some of the rights that they are demanding.” Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are the US’s two closest allies in the region. The US Fifth Fleet is stationed in Bahrain and would be vital for the US in the event of a military campaign against Iran. And Rizk believes that is one of the main reasons the US media is attacking Iran’s ally, Syria, while remaining absolutely silent about the situation in Bahrain.

The view is shared by journalist and anti-war activist Don DeBar who says that maintaining the Fifth Fleet is the only interest of the US in Bahrain. “The Bahraini people are nothing but people that are supposed to service that base and keep their mouths shut while they do it.” Rizk believes that Saudi Arabia’s desire to keep “quiet on the situation” contributes to the West’s silent stance. “When we speak about a blackout being put on Bahrain I think first and foremost this is a Saudi Arabian wish, because Saudi Arabians also fear that there might be a domino effect which could happen in the Persian Gulf, beginning from Bahrain and then spreading to Saudi Arabia,” Rizk explained.

The United States is taking a hypocritical stance in this situation, believes DeBar. “They’ve been claiming that they are in Syria over human rights, that they are in Libya over human rights and yet they are suppressing human rights in Bahrain. It shows that President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are hypocrites, they are liars.”