Bahraini rulers given carte blanche by US for bloody crackdown: Opposition leader

The Bahraini regime has been given carte blanche by the United States to employ ruthless, repressive measures against dissenting voices, says a prominent Bahraini opposition leader.

Rashid al-Rashid said the green light Washington gave the Al Khalifah regime to implement excessive repression and the international community’s apathy have emboldened the regime to flagrantly and brutally violate human rights.

“The practice has taken a heavy toll on the Bahraini nation, and thousands of people are now incarcerated, being persecuted and forced into exile as a result,” he said.

“A US-led front will never allow the establishment of democracy or a political change to take place in Bahrain as such a development translates into Washington losing control and dominance over the country,” he added, Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.

“Among the main challenges facing Bahrain’s popular uprising is the vast scale of repression and huge exercise of oppressive and brutal measures. The international community saw how violently the Al Khalifah regime tore down the monument at the center of Pearl Square [in the capital Manama] on March 17, 2011 in a symbolic end to the popular protests, and killed dozens of Bahrainis in cold blood,” Rashid said.

Anti-monarchy demonstrations began on February 14, 2011, and have been held on a regular basis ever since the popular uprising started.

Demonstrators demand that the Al Khalifah regime relinquish power, and a democratic, just system representing all Bahrainis be established.

The ruthless Manama regime, however, has responded to demands for social equality with an iron fist, clamping down on voices of dissent.

“The campaign of repression has continued unabated,” Rashid said. “Opposition figures have been standing up for the Bahraini nation’s inalienable rights over the past 12 years, and have accordingly endured various forms of abuse, arbitrary detention, physical and mental torments in detention, denaturalization and loss of communication with the outside world.”

ME